Mutiny at Sea?

[advocado]

Timely article from the New York Times.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/business/16bug.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[jhannah]

Holy cow! What do these people think? A typhoon is nothing to scoff at. So they missed some ports. I know that's disappointing, but geez people ... safety has to come first.

 

I was not at all surprised at Ms. Brown's comment that, "First there was a group of what I’d call rabble-rousers, led by a lawyer." :rolleyes:

[kakalina]

" Frist, let's kill all the laywers" Wm. Shakespeare

[bUU]

Who's "Frist"? :)

 

It is interesting how different people interpret that line in the play, some viewing it as condemning lawyers, and other viewing it as expressing the power of lawyers.

[RevNeal]

I can understand being upset about missing ports ... but ... safety comes first and the Captain is the Captain. The Captain is the "Master" of the ship. The Captain is responsible. The Captain is in charge. Period.

[hammybee]

The Princess Cruise was reported "live from" on the front page of CC. Here is a link to it:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/features/articles.cfm?ID=591

 

There is an element of media sensationalism to the whole deal, from many perspectives.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Wow! That really is incredible. And it really supports what I've felt for awhile. A lot of people really don't understand the power that weather and the sea's behavior can have on a ship at sea and if they're locked into making every port, they really shouldn't be cruising.

 

I do think the cruise lines owe the passengers a clear and rational explanation of the reason behind not being able to make a port.

 

It's generous and fair when the line gives us credits for missed ports, but they are under no obligation to do so.

[dakrewser]

I do think the cruise lines owe the passengers a clear and rational explanation of the reason behind not being able to make a port.

 

That only works if the passengers are "clear and rational," Heather. Which, as numerous threads I've read over the past week or so show is becoming less and less the case as time goes on.

[hammybee]

Wow! That really is incredible. And it really supports what I've felt for awhile. A lot of people really don't understand .............................

Ship happens. I become increasingly convinced that there needs to be an onboard orientation to cruising, for all passengers. Take the opportunity to review the rules/consequences and communicate what cruising is all about.

 

Tell them that the ship is not a hotel. It rocks/rolls.

 

Talk about the Norovirus and URI and how and why they spread.

 

Talk about the weather, sea conditions, port conditions and mechanical issues can play havoc with any schedule. And then tell passengers upfront, what the policy is when and if.

 

In otherwords, manage passenger expectations and do it in a way that empowers passengers to manage their own reactions when ship happens.

[mamaofami]

Hammy, I agree. Unfortunately, people come with expectations that their cruise will be perfect. After all, they paid for it.

 

Just where do they think they would be sight seeing on a land vacation if the weather was storming? Would they expect a refund from the hotel, the island, the country?

 

Travel is an adventure.

[Two if by Sea]

Just where do they think they would be sight seeing on a land vacation if the weather was storming? Would they expect a refund from the hotel, the island, the country?

 

Well, naturally. If it's raining while I'm at a resort beach hotel, I expect them to move either the rainclouds, or the hotel, whichever is easier. :) :)

 

Being on a ship is a BONUS -- sometimes they can actually move away from the weather and keep you out of the worst of it. If you're on a Carribean island as the storm is bearing down, you will be in the storm.

 

What would be nice, but I suppose generally impractical, is for the cruise line to arrange ALTERNATE ports of call when it becomes clear that they'll have to miss the originally-scheduled ones.

[HeatherInFlorida]

....................

In otherwords, manage passenger expectations and do it in a way that empowers passengers to manage their own reactions when ship happens.

 

Hammybee, I am in 100% agreement with you ... no question about it.

 

But I also agree with Dave that so many of the passengers simply aren't rational and I wonder if they would even bother to listen.

 

It reminds me of all the kids we read about who don't know the name of our President or the Speaker of the House, they can't find one ocean from another on a map and worse. These same people grow up and seem to think they're cruising on a darned pond inside some kind of a bubble.

 

So I'm just not sure an orientation is quite going to do the trick.:(

[hammybee]

These same people grow up and seem to think they're cruising on a darned pond inside some kind of a bubble.

 

So I'm just not sure an orientation is quite going to do the trick.:(

 

There are more people cruising than ever and therefore there are more irrational, fearful and nut job folk, at sea.

 

Perhaps the approach used in the U.K., whereby one has to sign a waiver stating they have read and understood the terms and conditions of booking, in order to make a booking, on a cruise ship, might help some people to better understand, this ain't no pond. :)

[Sea King]

I can understand being upset about missing ports ... but ... safety comes first and the Captain is the Captain. The Captain is the "Master" of the ship. The Captain is responsible. The Captain is in charge. Period.

 

not so fast Greg

 

the home office is in charge:eek:

 

just ask any captain, HotMan, or GRM

 

if you have enough persons complaining about something (a missed port is a "biggie") and enough complaints are filed (or better yet a thread starts up on CC or some other board), you can just about be guaranteed the home office will be "calling" directly to speak with the Master

 

what is really amazing, and totally perplexing IMHO, is the "power" the customer has over the crew on board ..

 

want a "free" bottle of wine? just mention your "posting name" to an officer and sit back and watch the results .. looking for a credit because of a/c or any mechanical problem, yell loud enough, threaten to go "public" and then look under your door for the envelope

 

quite frankly, the whole thing situation is "sickening" ..

 

don't blame the lawyers when the inmates can get away with running the asylum .. blame the CEO and others for allowing it

[hybrn8]

as they splash the airways and print media with these glorious, positive (and never negative) wonders which come with the cruise 'experience' - they are trying to fill cabins, natch! But, they are getting inexperienced folks expectations way too high and then they are not communicating very well when stuff goes sideways! I find the bigger the ship, the further the passengers are from the inside scoop on what's up!

[advocado]

Imagine the following; In response to the tub-thumping lawyer (or others) demanding to get the ports they paid for, the captain yields to pressure and while tendering to the dock, a tender is hit by a wave and the passenger who insisted on getting to the destination, falls overboard and suffers a greivous injury. You can list the names of defendants in the lawsuit. Holland America Lines, Captain So-and-So, Navigator What's-His-Name, etc, ad nauseum.

[pipedreams62]

How about giving all of the unruly passengers a free shore excursion.

 

Like swimming with the

 

 

[HeatherInFlorida]

..............

Perhaps the approach used in the U.K., whereby one has to sign a waiver stating they have read and understood the terms and conditions of booking, in order to make a booking, on a cruise ship, might help some people to better understand, this ain't no pond. :)

 

I love it!!!!:D

 

And maybe a sign over the gangway warning ...

 

"This ain't no pond you're goin' on!!!"

[hammybee]

 

quite frankly, the whole thing situation is "sickening" ..

 

don't blame the lawyers when the inmates can get away with running the asylum .. blame the CEO and others for allowing it

 

I agree it's sickening.

 

Unlike you, I put the responsibility on inmates, everywhere. That some of them cruise is not the issue. It's the "I live, therefore I am deserving of reward, compensation and more than the next guy" entitlement mentality and it permeates the culture, regardless of sex or age. And when it gets really outragious, as it did on these two cruises, the media makes it an event and here we are talking about it.

[Sea King]

I agree it's sickening.

 

Unlike you, I put the responsibility on inmates, everywhere. That some of them cruise is not the issue. It's the "I live, therefore I am deserving of reward, compensation and more than the next guy" entitlement mentality and it permeates the culture, regardless of sex or age. And when it gets really outragious, as it did on these two cruises, the media makes it an event and here we are talking about it.

 

respectfully, don't necessarily agree with what you said; the pax initially cause the problem; the CEO's allow it to bloom on the basis that "PR Rules"

 

the media: it could care less other than to boost ratings on tv or circulation in the print; once the day ends, this kind of story ends; the problem is the "fall out" continues

 

completely agree that "entitlement" permeates our culture ..

 

wish the IRS would react the same and offer refunds as freely as the cruise lines:D

[bermuda triangle]

How about giving all of the unruly passengers a free shore excursion.

 

Like swimming with the

 

 

 

LOL ... Were you the photographer of that beast? If so.. where did you take it?

 

Laura

[sail7seas]

Oh my word..... what a mouth!!! :eek:

 

Then again, it's mouths like that about which we're speaking, isn't it?? So many looking for something for any reason on earth or at Sea!!

 

 

 

[RuthC]

There's two little rules of life that have been brought home to me time and time again:

No good deed will go unpunished, and

Crime pays.

This is an example of the latter. The passengers getting $250 for their trouble and missed ports was more than fair. But they also got 50% off a future cruise! :eek: Do you really think Princess would have been so generous had there not been a mutiny? I, for one, do not. :rolleyes:

[HeatherInFlorida]

......

Unlike you, I put the responsibility on inmates, everywhere. That some of them cruise is not the issue. It's the "I live, therefore I am deserving of reward, compensation and more than the next guy" entitlement mentality and it permeates the culture, regardless of sex or age. And when it gets really outragious, as it did on these two cruises, the media makes it an event and here we are talking about it.

 

Hammybee, I think you are so right on point. And maybe you have to have lived a while to remember a time when people didn't live with this sense of entitlement.

 

It does permeate our culture as Sea King says. And I don't know what came first .... the chicken or the egg. But when companies started to bow to these pressures, everyone just wanted more. It's never enough. If Harry got $250, Joe wants $300.

 

Gimme, gimme, gimme ... sickening is a very good word for it.

[kakalina]

Who's "Frist"? :)

.

First :o