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View Full Version : Celebrity Captain gets a DUI

bepsf
May 19th, 2006, 10:12 PM
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Ship_Captain_Alcohol.html

Gee - can you guess which ship?:rolleyes:
Grumpy1
May 19th, 2006, 10:28 PM
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Ship_Captain_Alcohol.html

Gee - can you guess which ship?:rolleyes:Brian! You drove the poor man to drink!:eek: Your review must have really got to him:rolleyes:
Bramcruiser
May 19th, 2006, 10:39 PM
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Ship_Captain_Alcohol.html

Gee - can you guess which ship?:rolleyes:

I just saw the announcement - strangely on the Princess board. However, they are talking about it over on the Celebrity board too. It seems that the Mercury is just tainted with bad news.

Brian, I think this ship deserves a movie!
Aussie Gal
May 19th, 2006, 10:45 PM
Brian,

You certainly know your ships! You must have had a feeling about the Captain. He apparently has been arrested.

Jennie
bepsf
May 19th, 2006, 10:51 PM
Brian, I think this ship deserves a movie!

I vote for "Last Voyage"...

...bad movie for a bad ship - but at least there's an ending to both!
venicecruiser
May 20th, 2006, 07:42 AM
Seems like Mercury's problems are never-ending..............

Claudia
Krazy Kruizers
May 20th, 2006, 08:49 AM
Read about this on another site. Also one of our radio stations had it on the news this morning.
jhannah
May 20th, 2006, 09:26 AM
Yep, Brian ... you drove the poor man to drink! ;)

Very sad ... but drinking on the job is more common than we might think. We've learned it happens quite often among truck drivers. And we saw it not too long ago with a ferry skipper, didn't we? Let's just hope the inspections continue to keep everyone on their toes, and discourage violating company safety regs by those who might be inclined to do so.
sail7seas
May 20th, 2006, 10:40 AM
Defintely a 'career buster'. Doubt he'll be on any bridges in the foreseeable future. ;)
arzz
May 20th, 2006, 04:22 PM
I hate to make light of a disconcerting occurence such as this, but......as I contemplate this situation, I was wondering how Celebrity shares the information with their passengers that they are leaving Seattle with a, shall we say, very recently promoted Staff Captain -- and I cannot come out with a good scenario--

''Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to apologize. Our ship will be detained in Seattle an extra 90 minutes today because: (you choose, or perhaps you can come up with a better one)

--The Coast Guard Safety inspectors have detained us.....

--Our Captain has been arrested for DUI (or is it SUI in this instance?)....

--The Coast Guard Safety Inspectors detected inappropriate alcohol fumes on board....
tomc
May 20th, 2006, 04:33 PM
They would probably say something like, "Captain Etoh was taken ill and Captain 'x' will be guiding you on your most enjoyable cruise."
bepsf
May 20th, 2006, 04:41 PM
They would probably say something like, "Captain Etoh was taken ill and Captain 'x' will be guiding you on your most enjoyable cruise."

Knowing Celebrity - they wouldn't say anything.
They'd pretend that nothing unusual is happening, and ignore direct questioning.

"Enjoy that half-glass of champagne!"
:rolleyes:
mariner
May 20th, 2006, 04:42 PM
Gives new meaning to Captain's Cocktail.

Guess who could sign on as wine steward.

Yasooo
RuthC
May 20th, 2006, 06:38 PM
Good thing you got off when you did, Brian.
Crazy
May 21st, 2006, 12:33 AM
Captain got fired. Read on a RSS feed.

Emily
cruznon
May 21st, 2006, 01:13 AM
As you can imagine, this subject is quite a topic on Celebrity. One person said they were on pier as the Mercury sailed and heard the announcement to passengers as they left. This poster reported that nothing was said about the situation, just the usual announcements about evening entertainment,etc.
caribbean dreams
May 21st, 2006, 02:12 AM
This whole thing really made me think, On our last cruise (different cruiseline) i was in the ships store and the captain walked in and bought a bottle of vodka, then in the next port i bumped into him again at a liquor store near the ship, buying another bottles of Vodka.
I really did not think to much about it until now.
exactly how drunk was the Captain driving the ship that my family and i were vacationing on.
sail7seas
May 21st, 2006, 01:10 PM
Makes me wonder why a Captain would be in a store ashore buying liquor. Why would he dream of paying 'retai'?

Officer's Bars are a lot less costly. :)
Whatever drinks a Captain (or any officer may or may not be drinking) is much less costly aboard the ship than anything we buy in any port.
So....sometimes things are not what they appear to be. Maybe he was buying a few to bring home with him? Liquor is more pricey in some locations than others. Isn't it higher in Canada than lots of U.S. areas? Maybe his wife was aboard and was leaving soon and she was taking a few home with her? The speculation can be almost endless.
the2ofus
May 21st, 2006, 01:32 PM
If a person bought all their liquor on board, there would be a record of how much alcohol was bought by that person over a given period of time. Alcoholics go to great lengths to conceal the true volume of their consumption.
sail7seas
May 21st, 2006, 02:21 PM
Good point, '2ofus'.

The good news out of all of this is thankfully, he was removed from the ship before there was an accident/injury.
Krazy Kruizers
May 21st, 2006, 02:34 PM
We have seen a couple of captains in St Thomas buying alcohol to take back on the ship. Never really thought about it before until this incident.
kryos
May 21st, 2006, 07:25 PM
This whole thing really made me think, On our last cruise (different cruiseline) i was in the ships store and the captain walked in and bought a bottle of vodka, then in the next port i bumped into him again at a liquor store near the ship, buying another bottles of Vodka.
I really did not think to much about it until now.
exactly how drunk was the Captain driving the ship that my family and i were vacationing on.
I brought this up on another thread a while back ... and was told that I was wrong. But, I distinctly remember being told (perhaps at a cruise director Q&A or some such event) that while the ship's crew can drink (within very strict limits) on their off hours, the ship's senior officers were not permitted to drink at all while stationed onboard ship. I don't know if that's just a cruise line rule (can't remember if I was told this on a HAL or a Princess ship), or whether it is Maritime law ... but the reason for the regulation, I was told, is that even if a senior officer was off-duty, an emergency onboard could put him back on duty real quick ... and also make him accountable for protecting human life. So, anytime the ship was at sea, senior officers had to go "dry."

Anyone else hear this? I was told I was wrong on the HAL board, but maybe I got this information on another line's ship ... perhaps Princess or Celebrity (the only lines other than HAL that I have sailed)?

Blue skies ...

--rita
Grumpy1
May 21st, 2006, 07:35 PM
I remember that discussion, it was on this board. But, as I posted then, I have drunk wine and stronger drinks with ship's officers, and their drinks were poured from the same bottle as mine. So, while I don't know what the regulations are, or whether it varies from line to line, I do know that it is not universally enforced.
sail7seas
May 21st, 2006, 07:46 PM
We've enjoyed a number of dinners at tables with Officers and they always share wine with us.

In all honesty, I cannot say whether they may have only had a sip 'to taste' it before it was poured for their guests or if they enjoyed refills of their wineglasses.

We have Never been at an Officer's table and Not had wine.

In addition, when it is a Captain's Table, we always meet for drinks before going to the table in one of the Lounges and Captains have a drink with us. Again, for all I noticed or recall, they may have only had a sip.

I have most assuredly seen any number of Captains any number of times on all the ships in the Ocean Bar or Crows Nest or whichever Lounge having drinks.

There are assuredly strict rules but I have no clue what they are.......and probably don't even care. It isn't my job to be the on board 'drink police'. There are others who would be responsible for that role. IMO
Tricia724
May 21st, 2006, 07:47 PM
I was surprised when we were invited to the Captain's table on an RCCL ship to see that the Captain did not have any wine with us. Before the wine was served, he was shown a red and white, and a sample was poured for his approval. He took a very small sip of each and then approved the pour. The steward then removed his glasses from the table and only the guests drank the wine....the Captain drank water.

Likewise, at the end of the dinner we were served an after-dinner drink which contained a small amount of liquor. The Captain left his drink sitting on the table. When I commented about how good it was, he pushed his drink over to me. (I'm not proud...I drank it.)

I had assumed that since the Captain was "off duty" he would be able to enjoy a glass of wine, but perhaps he is never really off duty. I don't know whether he didn't drink because of law, company policy, or personal choice, but I was impressed.
sungoddess
May 21st, 2006, 09:41 PM
Hi,

I was a senior Hotel Officer onboard HAL for 5 years, and here are the rules: There is a BAL for on duty and one for off duty. Officers are encouraged to socialize with passengers and host tables, but you always need to be aware of when your next shift starts. The BAL level for off duty is fairly low, due to the fact that an emergency could happen at any time. Crew often buy bottles of alcohol ashore to take home or for a crew party because it is much cheaper than buying aboard.
sail7seas
May 21st, 2006, 10:13 PM
Interesting......I really thought it would be less costly for crew to buy liquor aboard than duty free in St. Thomas (or whatever port.) Thanks for explaining.

:) :) Doesn't security confiscate the bottles until 'the end of their cruise'? Kidding, sorry, kidding.......couldn't resist.
sungoddess
May 21st, 2006, 10:31 PM
You know, that is the best thing about being a crew member, our bottles aren't confiscated!!! Crew members typically get a discount at the shops onshore, in addition to the duty free price, so it ends up being very cheap!
kryos
May 22nd, 2006, 05:11 AM
Hi,

I was a senior Hotel Officer onboard HAL for 5 years, and here are the rules: There is a BAL for on duty and one for off duty. Officers are encouraged to socialize with passengers and host tables, but you always need to be aware of when your next shift starts. The BAL level for off duty is fairly low, due to the fact that an emergency could happen at any time.
Thanks for clarifying that. The policy makes good sense.

Maybe the "dry" policy I had heard about in the past perhaps only applied to "hard" liquor. You could probably consume a small amount of wine in a social situation without it having too much affect on blood alcohol levels.

I have seen senior officers in various bars onboard ship (the hotel manager and cruise director), but from my personal experience, they were either drinking water or picking up a soft drink.

In some respects, I feel sorry for that Celebrity Captain. I'll bet he had some sort of a serious problem to jeopardize such a great job just for a drink. Surely he must have known the Coast Guard could be coming onboard the vessel. You would think he would have had the sense to make sure he was stone cold sober before arriving into port.

He's probably dealing with a whole world of regret right now. It's a shame.

Blue skies ...

--rita