Todays News on Tipped Cruise Ship

[lv2cruisgrl]

Cruise ship officer's error caused list that injured 94

 

Princess Cruises declines to give details of incident

The sudden lurch of the Crown Princess cruise ship last week that sent 94 passengers to the hospital was caused by a bridge officer's mistake, Princess Cruises said Tuesday.

 

Los Angeles-based Princess didn't specify the mistake, or add much detail, saying the incident is still under investigation by regulators.

 

But in an open letter to passengers posted on the line's Web site, Princess President Alan Buckelew said human error was the cause of the incident. "The appropriate personnel changes have been made," the letter said.

 

Princess declined to spell out what those changes were. It said the error was not made by the ship's captain, who continues to command the $500 million vessel, but by another officer who is no longer on active duty.

 

Several officers besides the captain of a cruise ship are typically qualified to steer, including the staff captain and first officer.

 

On July 18, the 3,100- passenger Crown Princess suddenly listed 15 degrees to the side for about 30 seconds as it left Port Canaveral on its way back to New York. The tilt sent objects cascading across the deck. Princess treated 240 passengers onboard.

 

In his letter, Buckelew said all but one of the hospitalized passengers have been released.

 

Separately, a New York law firm said Tuesday it had filed claims against the parent company of Princess, Miami-based Carnival Corp.

 

In a statement, Parker & Waichman said it represents five passengers from New Jersey and Long Island, N.Y., who suffered broken bones and cuts from being thrown to the deck. The firm didn't say where or when the claims were filed and efforts to reach an attorney designated by the firm as a spokesman were unsuccessful.

 

The National Transportation Safety Board, the Coast Guard and authorities in Bermuda where Crown Princess was flagged are investigating what happened on the ship. Early reports, attributed to crew, blamed a malfunction in the steering, possibly from an autopilot failure.

 

Keith Holloway, a spokesman for the NTSB, said the agency hasn't released any findings about the cause of the Crown Princess accident and had no comment on Buckelew's letter.

 

Crown Princess was delivered in June from the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy and was on its fourth cruise when the problems occurred.

[JAMESCC]

I was on this cruise and it was extremely scary believe me. Now I'm dying to understand and know the full report on this.I'm dying to know what this officer did and why he did it? Why he was not properly reading gauges right? There better be a full absolute clear report from the NTSB,Coast Guard or better yet both. I am facinated at what could possible make a ship that big make that hard a move. I had no idea a ship that size could even make such a move. Where can and when we get a full report on this? Also this was my first cruise and am NOT ruined from crusing but will avoid Princess next time just because of the experience. I am going to look into the Explorer of the Seas next from RCL.

[lv2cruisgrl]

I was on this cruise and it was extremely scary believe me. Now I'm dying to understand and know the full report on this.I'm dying to know what this officer did and why he did it? Why he was not properly reading gauges right? There better be a full absolute clear report from the NTSB,Coast Guard or better yet both. I am facinated at what could possible make a ship that big make that hard a move. I had no idea a ship that size could even make such a move. Where can and when we get a full report on this? Also this was my first cruise and am NOT ruined from crusing but will avoid Princess next time just because of the experience. I am going to look into the Explorer of the Seas next from RCL.

 

Sorry you had that scary experience, I am sure it will be investigated as Princess would be crazy to not do everything they can to ensure passenger safety. Glad it didnt scare you away from cruising, I think you will really like RCL and the voyager class of ships.

[sgriff17]

i know this has been said a million times, but I can't believe this happened to Princess twice in such a short time. many outsiders probably think this is the norm for all cruise lines now :( Sad, b/c Princess is such a good product.

[JAMESCC]

Thanks and I don't want this to ruin me from cruising. I want to go again just to experience a normal eventless cruise. The Crown princess was great up until that point but it was still a marked vacation. The Explorer of the seas looks awesome. Have you been on it and whats it like? The picture look awesome. Any kind of video out there on it that I could watch? Thanks for the help

[lv2cruisgrl]

Thanks and I don't want this to ruin me from cruising. I want to go again just to experience a normal eventless cruise. The Crown princess was great up until that point but it was still a marked vacation. The Explorer of the seas looks awesome. Have you been on it and whats it like? The picture look awesome. Any kind of video out there on it that I could watch? Thanks for the help

We are doing Explorer in May of 2007 but have been on Mariner, Adventurer and Navigator and loved them all so I am sure Explorer will be just as good. Counting the days until Freedom in Oct.

[Matisse05]

Thanks and I don't want this to ruin me from cruising. I want to go again just to experience a normal eventless cruise. The Crown princess was great up until that point but it was still a marked vacation. The Explorer of the seas looks awesome. Have you been on it and whats it like? The picture look awesome. Any kind of video out there on it that I could watch? Thanks for the help

 

James, EOS is a beautiful ship. There is a link to my 2004 sailing on her below. Sorry, my video is posted; the pics should give you an idea of what to expect.:)

 

BTW, glad you are okay from the Crown ordeal.

[JAMESCC]

Thank from all I have read and pictures I saw it look amazing. Its much bigger than the Crown princess that i was on and thats saying a lot. I can't wait to see these new Genesis class ship in 2009. Have you seen the dimentions of that thing being built? I mean that is going to be some monster ship! I can't wait to see this thing. I hope they make a video like the one I saw on the History channel of the Freedom of the seas. They made a documentary of the making of the ship and it was facinating.

[wolfcathorse]

I think the problem is that these new ships are coming out so fast that personnel are being overloaded to learn how to operate them too fast. The Jr officer simply wasn't well versed in the operation of the ship. That takes time and experience. I'm sure Princess is a fine carrier, and nobody should be concerned sailing with them. I'm not booked on Freedom of the Seas until a 1 1/2 after her debut. That gives the crew time to really know the operation of her.

[Aprille]

lovrccl - can you provide a link to this story, please?

[Cruisin'40]

I'm rather suprised they determined the cause so quickly! I hope they aren't just rushing to judgment and not really looking for design flaws. While I am no engineer, I did see the ship in Port Canaveral and to me it looked kinda tall and "tippy".

[Troy4444]

We had a 19 Degree tilt on the Rhapsody of the Seas in April but the ship is not as tall. We were eating dinner and the ship was in calm seas. The stabilizers malfunctioned and it felt like the ship was tipping over. 2 or 3 tilts and everything came crashing down. Nobody was really hurt, just stuff.

 

Troy

[ddbaab53]

I'm glad that people are still willing to cruise. Incidents happen weather in a car, on a bike, in the air or on a ship. I'm glad that they are investigating and I do hope they ar not making someone an excapegoat.

 

Wolf may be on the right track. There are so many new ships out there that it seems hard to believe that there are enough well versed people in the operation of a ship of these sizes that can take the helm.