fire onboard Insignia

[Wendy The Wanderer]

... Lesson for me….I can fit a daily amount of my pills in a small plastic box 1.5”x 1.5”x .5’…which is very light and fits easily into my trouser pocket with my small wallet. I will NEVER travel again without this daily pill box ON my person. Subsequent daily refills can be kept in the safe, drawer, bag or wherever convenient. One days pills gets you a long way…..lol

 

Yup. Never thought about where we leave things when we are out of our cabin. I guess we will have to re think this subject. We don't expect this sort of thing to happen, but it sure can.

 

Yes, lessons learned! Taking a daily dose in a baggy sounds like a great idea, I will do that. I just can't imagine keeping my meds in the safe all the time--pretty inconvenient. I've been carrying a list of medications around with me for months due to my frequent medical visits after having surgery this summer--I'll keep doing that, for sure. And try to keep the meds at least together on the desk or in the bathroom so they can be found easily.

[pinotlover]

On another note, has O said when the ship might sail again? Will it make its Christmas cruises or even the 180 day rtw cruise on time? Wonder what booked passengers are hearing from O on any upcoming cruise?

[wiks]

Oceania has already said they will inform their upcoming guests when adequate updated information becomes available.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[LHT28]

On another note, has O said when the ship might sail again? Will it make its Christmas cruises or even the 180 day rtw cruise on time? Wonder what booked passengers are hearing from O on any upcoming cruise?

 

The Dec 17th was cancelled on Friday

Next up RTW in Jan still in limbo

 

I am sure once the damage assessment has been done then some timeline on repairs will be determined

 

It has been only 4 days ...it takes time to assess all that my be required for repairs

[randm49]

May have missed prior post, but, how does Oceania crew get into the your Cabin safe without combination ?

 

We have been aboard when checking into the room when the previous passenger had left the safe locked. They have a security code that can open the safe in that case

[randm49]

The Dec 17th was cancelled on Friday

Next up RTW in Jan still in limbo

 

I am sure once the damage assessment has been done then some timeline on repairs will be determined

 

It has been only 4 days ...it takes time to assess all that my be required for repairs

 

I have heard the ship will be more or less sealed until investigations are finished. Then assessment has to be done and after that there would be insurance settlement. Then repairs, which may have to be done at a proper repair facility.

 

The best thing to do if you are on a future Insignia cruise is to sign up with the cruise critic link for that sailing to keep informed.

 

With that said I would personally have my doubts that the RTW will start in Jan. It may start at a later segment. We will have to wait and see what Oceania says.

[newbie60]

I am guessing at this but maybe when the power is off the safes are no longer locked

Or security will have a master code so would need to go to each cabin

 

Maybe someone has a definitive answer it would be good to know

 

Just off Insignia November 23. When we boarded the ship in Miami, the safe in our room had been closed/locked by the previous passenger. A security person came and had a key that she inserted into a odd looking hole on the front of the door. I suspect it was a master skeleton key that would work all the safes.

[LHT28]

We will have to wait and see what Oceania says.

 

exactly my point

[LHT28]

Just off Insignia November 23. When we boarded the ship in Miami, the safe in our room had been closed/locked by the previous passenger. A security person came and had a key that she inserted into a odd looking hole on the front of the door. I suspect it was a master skeleton key that would work all the safes.

 

That is what I thought someone from ship would have a way to get inside the safe somehow

[PaulMCO]

I have heard the ship will be more or less sealed until investigations are finished. Then assessment has to be done and after that there would be insurance settlement. Then repairs, which may have to be done at a proper repair facility.

 

The best thing to do if you are on a future Insignia cruise is to sign up with the cruise critic link for that sailing to keep informed.

 

With that said I would personally have my doubts that the RTW will start in Jan. It may start at a later segment. We will have to wait and see what Oceania says.

 

 

Would be interesting to see if anyone on the Insignia has issues with smoke smell on their returned luggage. Might indicate how bad (if any) smoke damage to the ship. Any delays they make -- propagate as a day delay causes the July cruise to be delayed a day unless they skip ports in the 1st RTW.

 

The RTW is very important to Oceania. They could use Regatta and make changes to her schedule. Would inconvenience alot of passengers.

 

Here is another perspective -- from the sharks point of view --

 

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/

Edited December 14, 2014 by PaulMCO

[buggins0402]

Despite the fact that we all hate muster drill..it warrants attention, even though we "think" we know the particular ship and will know what to do, every instance is so very different. Pay attention

 

True. They told us at muster, that the ship horn will blow the alarm (forget what it is 7 short and one long?). Many heard it....but it went right by me - duh! It was the Bravo on the PA that alerted us and of course losing power.

 

As for the Carnival ship passengers looking at Insignia - they probably heard the horn blasts and they could see the smoke.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

...

 

Here is another perspective -- from the sharks point of view --

 

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/

 

A very interesting take, obviously cynical, but perhaps realistic. I think he's wrong that customers are not concerned about the crew--I think many of them are, people here have expressed this. But if the ship is out of commission for, say, a month, then the hotel staff particularly will have to return home, and that will in fact be catastrophic for them--and they may have to pay if he's right about the cruise line tying litigation up in knoots.

 

Looking bad for the WC, for sure.

[buggins0402]

A very interesting take, obviously cynical, but perhaps realistic. I think he's wrong that customers are not concerned about the crew--I think many of them are, people here have expressed this. But if the ship is out of commission for, say, a month, then the hotel staff particularly will have to return home, and that will in fact be catastrophic for them--and they may have to pay if he's right about the cruise line tying litigation up in knoots.

 

Looking bad for the WC, for sure.

 

Only those of us that stayed the night at the Doubletree can attest that O and NCL had a full staff attending to the needs of the crew. That evening they had the desk set up the same way as they did for us that morning..with key cards and crew room assignments. They were all in the breakfast buffet the next morning and the casual restaurant the evening before so they were taken care of in that regard, almost the same as the guests. We talked to one crew member who we knew and he said he was going home for now, but had his next assignment. He seemed happy to be going home for the holiday. O had arranged all their flights.

 

Funny how you get information, but the cab driver that drove us to our Miami Beach hotel had driven some of the crew somewhere. The cab driver told us that they told him they were each taken to their cabins and given 10 minutes to collect their things.

 

He cites in his little blog some of the St. Lucia news articles about the island's response. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll have some time to relay some of our interactions with the St. Lucians. They also were quite kind.

Edited December 14, 2014 by buggins0402

[PaulMCO]

 

Looking bad for the WC, for sure.

 

Or maybe people on the Regatta. Remember she could substitute. "O" has alot invested in the WC and 2 per year after that.

 

Did talk with O today regarding our 17 Dec cancelled cruise. So far very accommodating. Still deciding what cruise to take as I really need a vacation.

The logistics of airlifting 600+ back to Miami and getting them settles is truly a super task and O is to be commended as many in the past have really failed when a ship has a breakdown.

 

It would be interesting to see if we ever here what really happened via the NTSB, USCG or Marshall Island Island government.

Edited December 14, 2014 by PaulMCO

[Mura]

That article seemed to me to be unduly cynical, and it seemed to me that he only bothered interviewing people who were unhappy about what was happening. The passengers were certainly inconvenienced in the early hours (no water, little food, etc., flight delays) but from reports we have seen here I find it amazing that O did so well in so little time. But it certainly doesn't seem that "no one seems to thinking about the crew members or their families". That's not been the case with posts here and I'm sure Oceania personnel have the same concern for them!

 

I worked for maritime attorneys for 25 years and I wish Herb were still around so I could get HIS views on this legal situation -- although we didn't work for passenger lines so perhaps he wouldn't know any more than any of us do.

 

Of course, I am biased too! I have loved this line since it was created and want it to be shown that they did well in handling such a deadly situation. That doesn't mean if it is shown that indeed they were at fault that most of O's fans won't be able to admit that fact. But it's awfully early days at this point.

 

I'm as impatient as anyone else to learn the finer details.

 

Mura

 

P.S. Paul, I had also wondered about the possibility of substituting Regatta for Insignia on the world cruise but it seems the logistics of doing so would be beyond daunting. They would be accommodating the world cruisers but sacrificing all of Regatta's passengers in the same time frame.

[ORV]

 

P.S. Paul, I had also wondered about the possibility of substituting Regatta for Insignia on the world cruise but it seems the logistics of doing so would be beyond daunting. They would be accommodating the world cruisers but sacrificing all of Regatta's passengers in the same time frame.

 

Yes, but if they swapped itineraries and only cancelled the Regatta sailings for the time it would take to get Insignia back in operation then it might work better to their advantage.

 

I think they might want to cancel a couple of Regatta trips as opposed to delaying the World Cruise.

 

But, the logistics of all this is above my pay grade. I'm sure they have "top men" working on it.

 

[HeatherInFlorida]

Selfishly I have to really hope they don't substitute Regatta for the WC because we're back on her in April. And Oceania would make just as many people miserable either way. At dinner with Captain McNeill a gentleman was saying he doesn't consider it a "real" World Cruise anyway because you can take so many segments. He and his companion had no interest in it because the same people would not be on the cruise throughout. But he recognized you might not be able to find 650+ people who can take 180 days out of their lives to cruise the world (not to mention the cost).

 

I digress from the subject and I apologize. I am really hoping that the accounts here on this thread are born out to be true for the majority of passengers and crew on Insignia. Reading here certainly seems to indicate that Oceania came through with flying colors both for the passengers and the crew. I would hope that no one would expect everything to be hunky dory thoughout such a horrifying emergency. We can only hope that O did the absolute best they could and so far that appears to be so.

[Bowie MeMe]

Yes, lessons learned! Taking a daily dose in a baggy sounds like a great idea, I will do that. I just can't imagine keeping my meds in the safe all the time--pretty inconvenient. I've been carrying a list of medications around with me for months due to my frequent medical visits after having surgery this summer--I'll keep doing that, for sure. And try to keep the meds at least together on the desk or in the bathroom so they can be found easily.

 

At the drugstore or pharmacy department there is a small plastic pill holder that holds one day of pills labeled AM and PM. I have 2 in my purse to use if I am not home for the daily/weekly container. Keeps the pills from being roughed up and keeps moisture out also. Think I will start to put the important night pills in there also -- I have some pills that warn not to go off of suddenly. I also have a couple of copies of passport photo page printed off computer and stuck in travel wallet -- it would do in emergency for ID.

 

I think all of us who travel often have had a bit of a wake-up call. Things do happen and thankfully not that often. Just need to rethink how stripped down we want to go out on the town. A serious but more minor glitch might be a fall or sudden sickness where you might need some money for a cab back to the ship/medicine for the day/ or phone numbers for lost credit card reporting on your body always (again we have on-line and then paper copy folded and the name of credit card coded somewhat -- though the only person that causes a problem for is me :D I forget the code for the trip. I also carry a tiny first aid kit with band aid tissue lip balm and numbing patch for the back. It can be a long day with a blister or back ache or some such.

[LHT28]

another story

 

you may have to click on the story title

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/local-ontario/

[computerworks]

What an idiot.

[Mura]

I didn't watch the whole thing but I have to agree.

 

One point only: he claimed no crew members were helping the elderly and/or disabled passengers, but we have reports from other passengers that indeed they DID.

 

Mura

[LHT28]

I didn't watch the whole thing but I have to agree.

 

One point only: he claimed no crew members were helping the elderly and/or disabled passengers, but we have reports from other passengers that indeed they DID.

 

Mura

 

I guess there were just not enough crew to help everyone at the same time ;)

[Mura]

Hmmm, since there isn't a one to one ratio of crew to passengers you must be right! Or the gentleman quoted saw what he saw -- I'm not saying he didn't -- and assumed that he was seeing everything. Given the crowds in those photos, he certainly could have missed seeing crew giving assistance.

 

Mura

[no fuss travel]

I saw the news report and honestly felt he thought he was reporting actual facts, but obviously he did not see and hear everything that was happening at the same time. It is amazing how reporters always seem to manage to find the "Grinch" of each situation like this. This board has shown the dedication of the crew, as well as how Oceania has responded to the situation. In any emergency situation, you cannot please everyone and obviously this man was not pleased with what he thought was an adequate response. I was actually a bit ashamed to be a Canadian when I heard what he said on the news.

[Mura]

I think your assessment is on the mark ... but you shouldn't feel ashamed of being a Canadian because of what HE said.

 

Besides, he's speaking pretty much in the heat of the moment. When he's had time to think about the experience, he may well have a different assessment.

 

I didn't mean to suggest that he wasn't being honest about what he saw ... or thought he saw.

 

Mura