Here is the Diamond dock incident..

[cydspal]

Friday, May 21, 2004 · Last updated 11:37 p.m. PT

 

High winds push new Alaskan cruise ship into pier

 

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

VICTORIA, British Columbia -- High winds pushed a new cruise ship into the end of a pier here when it tried to dock Friday evening.

 

The Diamond Princess aborted the usual mooring procedure and tied up across the outer end of Pier A, waiting for the winds to drop.

 

"You could hear the scraping and the crunching," said witness John Selman, who was out at the tip of the breakwater when the ship passed a few yards away.

 

Paint was scraped off the starboard side of the ship.

 

"To my understanding there were no injuries," said Michael Cormier, harbor authority CEO, who was at the pier for a ship welcoming ceremony that was canceled because of the mishap.

 

The master and B.C. pilot planned to sit tight and wait for the wind to ease before moving, he said.

 

The vessel, which can carry 2,670 passengers, was southbound after making its first trip on the Alaska run.

 

The ship was en route to home port in Seattle.

[NitaBcruising]

Wow, thanks for the post!

 

Nita

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Hi, We were on the MS Oosterdam that was in Victoria with the Diamond Princess. We just got home this evening. I jumped on this board to see if anyone had anymore info of what happened. Of course rumors were flying on the Oosterdam. The Diamond Princess was actually suppose to be in port an hour before us. We were to arrive at 8 pm we actually arrived at 4:30, it was kinda a firendly competion all week between Oosterdam and Diamond. Because we were arriving in Victoria early they moved the Dining times up so we may get off in Victoria to do some shopping. Our early dining time was moved to 5 pm. We had a great table by the aft windows near the starboard side. We were watching the Diamond Princess come in. At one point it looked as though she was going to crash right into where we were seated for dinner. We seen her drop anchor out behind us. The next thing we knew was that she was laying up against the pier. At that point we really did not know much of what was going on. We got off the ship to take the shuttle bus into town. The weather was terrible, extremely cold and windy. We boarded a double decker bus. The driver said he heard that the passengers of the Diamond Princess could not get off at all and the ship was stuck. We did not shop long because very few stores were open and the weather was so bad we returned to the shuttle bus to take us back to the pier. We then learned from this driver that he had heard that prior to getting into Victoria they needed an ambulance because there was a passenger in need of emergency medical attention. Just then as we were approaching the pier and ambulance did go past us going fast with the lights flashing. Once back aboard our ship we watched off our balcony as numerous ambulances lined up and was taking stretchers on board. There was 6 ambulances total that we saw all seemed to leave with people in the ambulances. We were also told that some one had died on the ship but prior to the accident in Victoria. Like I said most of this came from the rumor mill. The ambulance part is factual. As soon as I can upload pictures tomorrow I will post so you can see the way she layed againt the dock and the ambulances lines up.

 

Our TA was on the Diamond Princess so I am looking forward to hearing from her Monday.

 

Lisa L

 

Monarch of the Seas-March 2002 West. Carib.

MS Zuiderdam-April 2003 East.Carib.

Monarch of the Seas-December 2003 Baja Mexico

 

Till we set sail on the MS Oosterdam-Alaska

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[CruiseFever]

Wow! I didn't think things like that could happen these days...thanks for posting

 

Happy Cruising

 

Chris

 

www.LifeIsCruising.com

 

Next up:

Caribbean Princess 06/26/04

Star Princess 10/24/04

Diamond Princess 12/22/04

Carnival Miracle 03/13/05

Carnival Valor 10/30/05

 

[srphnx]

The current (on board) story is that one of the azipod was rotated during docking impacted the ground and thus more or less disabled it, she is seaworthy but only at reduced speeds.

 

Life is at it's best when your address floats

<FONT color=red>Alaska</FONT>

Diamond Princess 05/04 ~~ Mercury 06/02

Rhapsody o.t. Seas 05/98 ~~ Legend o.t. Seas 09/95

<FONT color=red>Mexican Riviera</FONT>

Diamond Princess 12/04

Diamond Princess 11/04 ~~ Diamond Princess 04/04

Sea Princess 01/02 ~~ Vision o.t. Seas 04/02<FONT color=red>

West Coast-Baja Mexico</FONT>

Ecstacy 09/01

<FONT color=red>Eastern Carribean</FONT>

Century 12/97

<FONT color=red>Western Carribean</FONT>

Century 9/96

 

[ov911lady]

I "googled" the Diamond for any other news stories and I found this... (Cut and pasted from the original site) Web posted May 13th.

Anyone sailing on this voyage recall this story?

 

JUNEAU EMPIRE and THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

A TEMSCO helicopter remained stuck on a beach Wednesday, waiting for the Federal Aviation Administration's approval to leave after an emergency landing.

 

The FAA was considering whether to investigate.

 

Tim McDonnell, vice president of tours and marketing for TEMSCO Helicopters Inc., said the pilot did everything right when he put the helicopter down as a precaution while returning four cruise ship passengers from a flightseeing tour of glaciers and mountains at about 2 p.m. Tuesday. Warning lights went on and he put the helicopter down on the shore at Taiya Inlet, about four miles southeast of Skagway.

When the lights went on, he did what he was supposed to do," McDonnell said.

 

FAA operations specialist Derril Bergt said the four passengers and the pilot had to scramble up the beach as the tide came in, leaving the helicopter in the water.

 

The five were picked up by a rescue boat from the passing state ferry Fairweather.

 

He said he didn't know how deep the water got around the helicopter. He was not in communication with the person who was at the helicopter.

 

Company officials Wednesday said they did not know why the emergency lights went on or if anything was wrong with the helicopter.

 

McDonnell said all five were uninjured. The passengers were returned to the Diamond Princess in Skagway, which departed on schedule.

 

He said officials with the FAA were to fly in to figure out how to recover the helicopter.

 

Bergt said he did not know if the incident would prompt an investigation, but said the FAA would assist if needed.

 

McDonnell said TEMSCO has gotten approval from the FAA to continue its flightseeing tours.

------------------------------------------------

Janelle

 

check out my photos from Diamond Princess/Mexican Riviera trip 4-2004

http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/janelandbob

 

check out my review from Diamond Princess 4-10 thru 4-17,2004

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?q=Y&s=927093444&a=tpc&m=494100541&f=887097554

 

[Desert Nurse]

Just got home from the Diamond. No one was injured in the incident. The reason the captain tried so hard to dock was because there were ill passengers (he called them "poorly") who needed medical attention. We were aft on a lower deck during the incident and didn't feel a thing. Also, there were 4 tugs on the ship at that time trying to prevent her from moving in the wind, but the wind caught her anyway. As for the death, unfortunately this is more common than you may realize. I have now been on 4 Alaskan cruises and they all had someone expire during the voyage. With the age and health of some passengers, it isn't really that surprising, but very sad.

 

Anyone remember when the old Star Princess was moored in Skagway about 12 years ago and a gust of wind took her into the pier demolishing the pier? It's amazing how wind can move these big ships.

 

The difficult embarkation and disembarkation did not spoil our cruise. We had a wonderful time and I will post more later!

 

Cricket

 

Diamond Princess, Alaska 5/15/04

 

Diamond Princess, Mexico, 9/25/04

 

Island Princess, Hawaii 3/20/05

 

 

 

[Captain Rhone]

The Diamond Princess doesn't have any Azipods.

 

http://www.princess.com/inaugurals/images/video_image_c.jpg

[Pam in CA]

According to Cruise News Daily, the damage was minimal and has been repaired. There were scrapes and a propeller was bent. They've got divers onboard right now in case further repairs are necessary. Because the ship left late, it'll skip Juneau but not because of needing to sail on reduced power.

 

Song of Norway & Song of America, 1986-88; Royal Princess 2/99; Sun Princess 1/00; Ocean Princess 12/00; Royal Princess 4/01; Grand Princess 12/23/01; Sea Princess 2/9/02; Explorer of the Seas 12/21/02; Coral Princess 8/9/03; Nordic Empress 12/27/03; Regal Princess (4/20/04)

 

-- Caribbean Princess (12/26/04) -- Roll Call

-- Royal Princess (4/21/05) -- Roll Call

[debperry]

We are currently on the diamond princess. What a mess! We didn't board until after 6pm, we waited all day at a 'command center' for approval to board. They cancelled 2 ports from our intinerary, Juneau and Victoria. We are incredibly disappointed. Although they did give each cabin a $500 on board credit, Juneau was the highlight port stop. I don't know why they didn't cancel skagway, being the most northern port. They almost had a mutiny last night around midnight when several passengers held a 'rally' in the atrium and demanded to speak to senior mgmt. Nothing came out of it, princess said anyone who didn't want to continue could get off within the next 3 hours and get a full refund. It was after midnight already. The ship is beautful and the weather is nice, but we are very disapointed, but are making the best of it.

[NightOne]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by debperry:

I don't know why they didn't cancel skagway, being the most northern port. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Deb, looking at the situation from only a logical point of view without any other knowledge...

 

1. If I am reading the itinerary right, Skagway is the Day 4 port. Perhaps, the soonest they could get to either one after the delay is on day 4. It seems like the ship is about 11 hours behind schedule. The estimated to arrival to Juneau was 11:00 am. Add 11 hours to that and you get there at 10:00 pm. Too late to do anything. 10:00 was the original departure time for Juneau. That would put them right back on schedule.

 

2. If they chose Juneau instead of Skagway as the day 4 port, there is the scheduling issue of the port. Maybe the port is full of other ships on that day.

 

3. Also, if you pulled into Juneau other than the previously designated day, all of your shore excursions could be kaput. In fact, depending on other ships in port, maybe there would be little to no shore excursions that we're not already sold out.

 

Skagway is expecting DP to be there on day 4. Juneau is not.

 

 

Again, I am just looking at this from a layman's point of view.

 

 

Time until Sailing

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Hi, As I promised here are some picture of the Diamond Princess Dock accident in Victoria. Sorry I did not spell very good in the title. It is Titled "Diamonf Princess Dock Accident"

 

http://www.cruisemates.com/mbindex/PGindex.cfm

 

Just copy and paste.

 

Thanks,

 

Lisa L

 

Monarch of the Seas-March 2002 West. Carib.

MS Zuiderdam-April 2003 East.Carib.

Monarch of the Seas-December 2003 Baja Mexico

 

Till we set sail on the MS Oosterdam-Alaska

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[ahracer]

You know i'm really glad i'm not on that cruise....not because it boarded late and is missing a port but hearing all of the whining and complaining passengers all week would drive me crazy. It is a shame that people let uncontrollable circumstances ruin there vacation.

 

Scott

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> You know i'm really glad i'm not on that cruise....not because it boarded late and is missing a port but hearing all of the whining and complaining passengers all week would drive me crazy. It is a shame that people let uncontrollable circumstances ruin there vacation. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Thank you.

 

-------------------------

Sun Princess, 03/2004; Pacific Princess, 07/2003; Star Princess, 05/2003; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Sun Princess, 05/2001; Sun Princess, 04/2001; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Regal Princess, 10/1999; Sun Princess, 08/1998; Holiday, 05/1998; Westerdam, 09/1997; Regal Princess, 11/1996; Royal Odyssey, 09/1995; Starward, 11/1993

 

 

[Jacqueline]

Scott, I felt the same way ! Could you imagine having to hear that whining sound for a whole week.

I was ingenious to offer people a whole refund of they got off, but I am sure that they would rather stay on and complain.

There was a mechanical accident and it is upsetting the plans for the week not to mention that this is a new ship.

Stuff like this happens. It is bad luck, for sure. I can empathize with that. I have been in storms and missed ports too.

But if there was no internet for three days I dont know how I could cope with being on a SHIP. At least the TV signals were coming in.

 

Jacqueline

Constellation 3/20/04

HAL Westerdam 7/30/04

Tahitian Princess August 2003

Grand Princess Western Caribbean 2003

Brilliance of the Seas Baltic 2002

Ocean Princess- Alaska 2001

Celebrity Zenith- Bermuda 2001

Grand Princess Med 2000

 

[bjkTX]

Actually - three of the TV channels were blocked the whole trip as well :-) On the 15 May cruise we didn't hear any "whining" onboard at all about the long delay in getting on the ship - even though many got caught in the rain. People just wondered what had happened, and with no "official" word from the ship the rumors went from sick people to bomb threats. So an announcement once we got underway would have resolved that issue. The 22 May gang probably has a lot more to "whine" about if they choose to do so - they paid their money and Princess offers Personal Choice - so let them (us) while if we feel like it :-)

 

For those who are scheduled on the Diamond you are in for a treat - the ship is beautiful, and the crew (while you could tell they hadn't worked together very long) was great. My only other experience on princess was on the Golden, and it felt like we were back on it except for the different dining rooms.

[J18ktleo]

Actually, I remember when we sailed on the Sun in 1990 and we couldn't get into Skagway at all cuz' the Star had taken out the dock...we were bummed that we missed the railway ride (after taking it last year, we didn't miss much!) Part of traveling is rolling with the punches and mother nature ALWAYS has interesting things in store for us...there's no guarantees and the cruise lines always seem to do their best to make it up to the passengers!

 

Cunard Princess 1983; Royal Princess 1985; Dawn Princess 1990; Carnival Fantasy 1993; Epirotiki Odysseus 1995; Carnival Ecstasy 1998; Sun Princess 12/1999; Renaissance 12/2000; Carnival Ecstasy 8/2001; Carnival Spirit 12/2001; Grandeur of the Seas 6/2002; Celebrity Infinity 8/29/2002; Carnival Triumph 6/14/03; Grand Princess 1/11/04; Caribbean Princess 9/4/04; Diamond Princess 1/8/05