The Incident

[msd1]

I was on the Grand Princess during the "Incident".I swear I thought we were sinking. It was really scary and the talk on the ship the entire week.

I will tell you, I was in my cabin and had we gone back to Galveston,I would have seriously considered getting off the ship.I am an avid cruiser ,this being my 5 th cruise in a year and a half(2nd on the Grand),

I hope I surely never want to experience anything like that again.

Very,very scary.I do think heads should roll.I heard a rumor yesterday that was really something.I heard the passenger that had the heart attack,actually had the heart attack after the turn.Or as a reult of the turn. I am so sure we will never know the real truth.I do think tho' that heads should really roll for this.Then the last night on the ship was horrible.Of course no one can control Mother Nature, but things were slamming and banging against the wall ALL NIGHT LONG.I was on the 12th floor and there was some sort of a room next to me that stored something.Whatever it was,it was really heavy and a lot of it. What a miserable night.So between the almost laying in the ocean, terrible rocking, and loud banging and a snoring roomate,it was the 1st time after a cruise,I was running off of that ship screaming bloody murder.:eek:

[chef_drake]

wow, sounds like you had a horrible time, one question...what made you decide to post here for the very first time? I mean how did you find this site to vent? just a question, not a critisism

[Globaliser]

... one question...what made you decide to post here for the very first time? I mean how did you find this site to vent? ...

ROTFL! :D

[spongerob]

I'm sure with all the posts from the ship, and the desire to vent frustrations publicly, Cruise Critic was mentioned a lot in discussions. It can happen. Just as I have been able to direct people to this site under more positive circumstances, I'm sure that many were informed that this can be place to report the not-so-nice stuff. Let's not be too harsh.

[Globaliser]

Let's not be too harsh.

When I got to the complaint about the snoring roommate, I became sure that I was not being too harsh. :D

[ZGirl]

I am not sure if msd1 is someone that I spoke with, but I know I mentioned Cruise Critic to several people. I enjoy this website and love the wealth of knowledge that is found here. One of the excursions we went on actually passed out business cards that had the cruise critic website listed on the back of it as a good resource for cruisers. I am sure there are a lot of people out there that need to still talk about the incident and share their experience. It sure was terrifying and it is something that I hope NEVER happens to me again.

 

Melissa

[msd1]

wow, sounds like you had a horrible time, one question...what made you decide to post here for the very first time? I mean how did you find this site to vent? just a question, not a critisism

 

I heard about this site when I was on my last cruise.

:cool:

[cnmiranda]

Lol we did hear our neighbors making love on 2 occasions during the week also:D:D:D I would have chosen the snoring!:D

[brn2crz]

I am sure it was a scary event,and am not trying to minimize anyones fear at all...But I do have a question..

 

First...Does anyone think they were truly in danger now,knowing that the ship was just doing a "sharp" turn?...

I guess what I am trying to ask is....was it really a dangerous move,and was there a possibility the ship could have been compromised,such as taking on water etc...

I mean...ok,I have had scary situations...then realized what it was and I was not "scared" anymore...

arrrggg...this is not coming out right...:(

 

What I hear is people saying they were very scared and may not sail again.But does knowing that it just "seemed" scare and not necessarily dangerous help get over the "scare"..:confused:

 

I do know one thing...The next time I am onboard anyship....I am going to question the first staff captain I can get to..."Is this turn the only choice they had"..

 

I posted on Mirandas first thread that there was a news story here a few years ago about the same sort of thing with a tanker...

Because of the narrowness of the ship lanes there,and the other traffic around,they were forced to make a turn like that to return...and someone had fallen off??

 

Anyway...Welcome home everyone...Sorry for the cold that greeted you on your return here...Its rare :)

[msd1]

I'm sure with all the posts from the ship, and the desire to vent frustrations publicly, Cruise Critic was mentioned a lot in discussions. It can happen. Just as I have been able to direct people to this site under more positive circumstances, I'm sure that many were informed that this can be place to report the not-so-nice stuff. Let's not be too harsh.

 

Honestly I wasn't trying to be harsh. It's just when you've been anticipating a cruise and something of this magnitude happens,i kinda robs you. I was on edge every step of the way.I just think a lot more could and should have been done to put passengers at rest.Altho' I've cruised a few times before I was with 6 of my girlfriends who had not.I was as terrified as they were. I'm sure we were not the only ones on edge.

Thanks;)

[cruzinchris]

I did a cursory search of some other cruise-related message boards and found this thread at CruiseMates: http://www.cruisemates.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=549697 .

 

Chris

[cnmiranda]

I am sure it was a scary event,and am not trying to minimize anyones fear at all...But I do have a question..

 

First...Does anyone think they were truly in danger now,knowing that the ship was just doing a "sharp" turn?...

I guess what I am trying to ask is....was it really a dangerous move,and was there a possibility the ship could have been compromised,such as taking on water etc...

I mean...ok,I have had scary situations...then realized what it was and I was not "scared" anymore...

arrrggg...this is not coming out right...:(

 

What I hear is people saying they were very scared and may not sail again.But does knowing that it just "seemed" scare and not necessarily dangerous help get over the "scare"..:confused:

 

I do know one thing...The next time I am onboard anyship....I am going to question the first staff captain I can get to..."Is this turn the only choice they had"..

 

I posted on Mirandas first thread that there was a news story here a few years ago about the same sort of thing with a tanker...

Because of the narrowness of the ship lanes there,and the other traffic around,they were forced to make a turn like that to return...and someone had fallen off??

 

Anyway...Welcome home everyone...Sorry for the cold that greeted you on your return here...Its rare :)

 

Yes, I and all the people we spoke to felt we were very close to going over. Again I have no nautical expertise and I can only tell you what it felt like. I mentioned in a previous post, yes, this cruise has forever changed us because I don't think we'll ever feel 100% safe on a ship again. No matter where we were on the ship the entire week the first thing I did before sitting down was check my surroundings for the exit plan. We do this when flying also.

 

I was going to write a note with my review and ask posters/readers to be tolerent if someone says they hate Princess and will never cruise them again, I understand where they are coming from. I of course will still cruise Princess, I think all of this was just a terrible mistake and of course we are fortunate there were no fatalities, it could have easily happened. If anything I think Princess will be much more cautious in the future to make sure nothing like this ever happens again:) No, I don't think we'll ever know the true story as to "why" and my largest fault with the incident is that we had absolutely no warning. That is the biggest thing that tells me the captain and his crew had not anticipated such a hard turn.

 

But we will indeed sail again, sail Princess again, we are Platinum members now (free internet!) and again, the crew was great and handled the situation in a quick and professional manner.

[msd1]

I am sure it was a scary event,and am not trying to minimize anyones fear at all...But I do have a question..

 

First...Does anyone think they were truly in danger now,knowing that the ship was just doing a "sharp" turn?...

I guess what I am trying to ask is....was it really a dangerous move,and was there a possibility the ship could have been compromised,such as taking on water etc...

I mean...ok,I have had scary situations...then realized what it was and I was not "scared" anymore...

arrrggg...this is not coming out right...

 

What I hear is people saying they were very scared and may not sail again.But does knowing that it just "seemed" scare and not necessarily dangerous help get over the "scare"..:confused:

 

I do know one thing...The next time I am onboard anyship....I am going to question the first staff captain I can get to..."Is this turn the only choice they had"..

 

I posted on Mirandas first thread that there was a news story here a few years ago about the same sort of thing with a tanker...

Because of the narrowness of the ship lanes there,and the other traffic around,they were forced to make a turn like that to return...and someone had fallen off??

 

Anyway...Welcome home everyone...Sorry for the cold that greeted you on your return here...Its rare :)

 

I think it was dangerous as well as scary.I absolutely believe the ship and passenger safety were compromised.:eek:

 

And I didn't think that until after I saw ,and spoke to people who were actually injured and the damage to the ship. More so,because of the limited communication from the captain.Not only was the communication in my opinion limited about the incident, but about weather conditions the last night.I know for me,I probably normally would not have been shaken by all the rocking,shaking and banging had it not been for the turn.Thats just me.:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[p2lockhart]

msd1, welcome to cruisecritic.com. I am sorry that your latest cruise was not as good as it could have been.

 

Sometimes Chris/CruiseFever posted the following advice on another thread and I thought you might appreciate:

Alias Names And Creepy Adult Behavior , post #67

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=295073&page=3

Tip #1 Ignore the Vocal Minority and this is a much better place

 

There are plenty of nice, helpful, friendly people on this board with no baggage that just want to talk about cruising.

 

Tip#2 Read the rules and follow them

 

They're fair. They make this a good place. If followed and enforced Tip #1 is not necessary.

 

Tip#3 You can gain a lot by just reading

 

Don't think you have to interact with someone you find distasteful to gain knowledge. Petty, clique-oriented posts and responses aside, there's a wealth of knowledge here

 

Tip#4 Chat room and Message board 101: Don't be afraid to turn off your computer

 

It's easy to get sucked into controversial, demeaning, nasty threads and get upset about it. Remember: This is not real. Odds are you will never meet these people in real life unless you want to. Hint: If this is not fun, click on something that is. You have the power. Try this.

 

Tip #5 You already registered, that's all you need

 

There is no secret club, chosen few, select bunch or special people. You don't have to go out of your way to get along with or suck up to any board member or group of board members. Your question and your response has just as much value as anybody else's. If someone condemns you for that they are wrong.

 

Tip #6 This is not a democracy

 

Make no doubt about it: We are are here at the pleasure of the board administration. They're tough but they're fair. Follow the rules and for the most part you'll be fine. If you have questions about how they run the place, ask. I've never NOT gotten an answer to any question

[brn2crz]

Thanks for your responses..I think you both have great points of view..

 

I knew when I saw the weather report for here on Thursday...That you guys were going to have a rough ride in..I tried to warn you on the other thread...But it was pulled :rolleyes:

 

We were on board Rhapsody during Ivan in 04..At one point we were 150 miles from center as we passed it though the Yucatan channel..30 ft waves for a few hours..

But...Our Captain told us from day one what was going on,what to expect and that it would be a roller coaster ride..And downright rough for a few hours..He was right..We went from complete calm to not being able to walk in an hour and half period...The horizon dipped so far that it was intimidating...So I can see how just communicating would have made a great difference..So I agree that it may have been a surprise to more than just the pax :eek:

[Genessa]

Yes, I and all the people we spoke to felt we were very close to going over. Again I have no nautical expertise and I can only tell you what it felt like. I mentioned in a previous post, yes, this cruise has forever changed us because I don't think we'll ever feel 100% safe on a ship again. No matter where we were on the ship the entire week the first thing I did before sitting down was check my surroundings for the exit plan. We do this when flying also.

 

I haven't been following the entire story - in fact, it's today's blizzard that has me reading tons of threads (stuck indoors, don't feel like cleaning).

When we cruised the Mexican Riviera and turned to go into San Francisco, the seas hit us as we were turning and I half fell out of bed, things fell in the cabin, glassware was broken all over the ship, but we had been sleeping and by the time it "hit" us what had happened, it was all done with.

 

From the sounds of it, your incident must have been a terrifying experience for everyone on the ship and why the turn was done the way it was done - I'm not qualified to venture a guess.

 

My dh was a commercial fisherman and we own a small pleasure boat, so water safety is a major concern, no matter the size of the ship and who is running it. We have always checked where exits are and sprinkler systems and lifeboats and take every part of cruising seriously. You are often so far out at sea and despite sophisticated weather forecasting can sometimes get caught short.

 

I don't feel 100% or even 80% safe anywhere anymore, but, can get a reasonable amount of peace of mind by checking the things I can check.

[madelinerose]

Nat, I have read just about everything I can about this Grand incident, but this is my first reply to any of the threads. I have to say I would have been one of the terrified pax also and I completely understand where you're coming from. Thank goodness no one was killed.

 

Our second cruise is in September on the Crown and we're on the Emerald Deck. I now have concerns due to the close proximity to the water.

 

Would you or anyone else here think I'm insane if I change my wonderful mini that was booked way back in May to another cabin on a higher deck? Am I overreacting? :confused:

 

 

Went from 60 degrees to 14 inches of snow - go figure!

 

 

... because I don't think we'll ever feel 100% safe on a ship again.

[cnmiranda]

Nat, I have read just about everything I can about this Grand incident, but this is my first reply to any of the threads. I have to say I would have been one of the terrified pax also and I completely understand where you're coming from. Thank goodness no one was killed.

 

Our second cruise is in September on the Crown and we're on the Emerald Deck. I now have concerns due to the close proximity to the water.

 

Would you or anyone else here think I'm insane if I change my wonderful mini that was booked way back in May to another cabin on a higher deck? Am I overreacting? :confused:

 

 

Went from 60 degrees to 14 inches of snow - go figure!

 

You only know your own comfort level....I hate to say nothing like this can happen again because look at what happened with that terrible incident last a week and a half ago in the Red Sea. I've never looked at it this way before the incident but now I also realize that like when we fly, when we cruise our lives are in someone else's hands. I really don't know what to say except go with what makes you feel better and safer. I understand that you may be a little put off at this point but don't let the fear take over your enjoyment of life. Personally, I would not change a cabin that I was happy with. And again, I also think Princess will be especially careful with all it's sailings in the future:) You'll be fine.

 

Finally, and hopefully this will make you feel better.... My FIL spent 8 years worth of his life at sea during his 27 year career with the navy and he's still around....:D Try not to let the incident keep you from doing the things you want to in life! Remember how you felt after 9/11? Prove to yourself that you will go on and live a happy life!!!!!!! Time heals all wounds as they say. Just my .02, take it for what it's worth.

[cnmiranda]

I haven't been following the entire story - in fact, it's today's blizzard that has me reading tons of threads (stuck indoors, don't feel like cleaning).

When we cruised the Mexican Riviera and turned to go into San Francisco, the seas hit us as we were turning and I half fell out of bed, things fell in the cabin, glassware was broken all over the ship, but we had been sleeping and by the time it "hit" us what had happened, it was all done with.

 

From the sounds of it, your incident must have been a terrifying experience for everyone on the ship and why the turn was done the way it was done - I'm not qualified to venture a guess.

 

My dh was a commercial fisherman and we own a small pleasure boat, so water safety is a major concern, no matter the size of the ship and who is running it. We have always checked where exits are and sprinkler systems and lifeboats and take every part of cruising seriously. You are often so far out at sea and despite sophisticated weather forecasting can sometimes get caught short.

 

I don't feel 100% or even 80% safe anywhere anymore, but, can get a reasonable amount of peace of mind by checking the things I can check.

 

Thanks Genessa, awesome advice and info:)

[Druke I]

Like you, I have refrained for chiming in on this thread. I've been on ships that have taken serious rolls, and it can be frightening, particularly when plates are crashing to the floor, people falling, etc.

 

Gross generalization of course, but I think you are better off lower than higher. When the ship is rolling, think of a metronome - the higher the more pronounced the swing. I don't think I would change your cabin to a higher deck.

 

As far as pitching, think of the ship as a teeter-totter - the closer to midships, the less pronounced the up/down movement.

[Pam in CA]

I have absolutely no doubt that the incident was a terrifying experience and while it was happening, people were really concerned for their safety. Hindsight is always perfect but while I'm sure the captain and those in charge felt that there was no danger during the turn and that the safety of the passengers wasn't compromised, if you're not experienced with ship lean or experienced it before, it can be very frightening, particularly since you don't know what's happening. The captain and staff did -- the passengers didn't. I would guess that the captain was too busy at the time to make an announcement but I do feel that a through announcement should have been made as soon as possible, even by the CD, explaining the situation and reassuring the passengers.

 

This'll be a cruise that you'll never forget, and will have lots to talk about for years to come.

[brn2crz]

I think it would be a great PR strategy for Princess to make a statement.

I am sure they wont,as the first rule to "try" to prevent liability claims is to remain silent,and never apologize..

I remember a while back,although I cannot remember what the incident was,but there were some pretty wild rumors going on about something that happend on RCI...It was not the George Smith thing,but something maybe about a crew member changing or cancelling someones reservation,and booking their friends in the room...

 

Anyway.a spokesman from RCI (verified and communicated by LS herself) explaining the situation and putting everyone at ease..

I realize that this board is but a small portion of the cruising public,but we all know it has great pull..

I would hope that maybe Princess could do the same and at least offer these folks some sort of explanation as to the rationale of what occured.

[madelinerose]

Thanks. The cruise isn't the fear, just the deck location (for now). ;)

 

Just my .02, take it for what it's worth.

[spongerob]

Miranda, thanks again for your fair and balanced comments.

 

Gross generalization of course, but I think you are better off lower than higher. When the ship is rolling, think of a metronome - the higher the more pronounced the swing. I don't think I would change your cabin to a higher deck.

 

It kind of puts a new twist on the discussion whether ships that are bigger and higher above the water are a good investment.

[madelinerose]

Michael, thanks. Got the metronome analogy. It's not the rolling that concerns me. I read on one of the Grand incident threads that someone was on the 11th deck and could see water when the listing occured, because of the angle of the ship. So, I'm thinking, hey, if something like this should occur and I'm on my Emerald balcony, I'll be pulled into the ocean.

 

I had the same thought about the "rogue wave" that hit the Dawn. Thankfully, that incident happened in the middle of the night and no one was on a balcony at the time. Please educate me, as I have no idea.

 

Two questions, please: At 26 degrees, would someone who was lounging on an Emerald Deck balcony be tossed into the ocean??? If the cabin door was open, would the cabin be flooded? :confused:

 

 

Like you, I have refrained for chiming in on this thread. I've been on ships that have taken serious rolls, and it can be frightening, particularly when plates are crashing to the floor, people falling, etc.

 

Gross generalization of course, but I think you are better off lower than higher. When the ship is rolling, think of a metronome - the higher the more pronounced the swing. I don't think I would change your cabin to a higher deck.

 

As far as pitching, think of the ship as a teeter-totter - the closer to midships, the less pronounced the up/down movement.