Royal adds new storm team

I'm pretty surprised that a company of their size didn't already previously have a team like this.

I think its great that they are making a change so quickly to prevent this from happening again. Yes, it is unfortunate that this happened to so many cruisers - but no-one was badly hurt and they did receive compensation for the cruise.

It sounds like the officers and crew responded to the crisis very well. RCL should be proud of them. It gives me confidence that if something were to occur on a ship I was on, proper procedures would be followed.

Stuff happens - the smart ones had trip insurance to make them whole.

Melissa

I think its great that they are making a change so quickly to prevent this from happening again. Yes, it is unfortunate that this happened to so many cruisers - but no-one was badly hurt and they did receive compensation for the cruise.

 

It sounds like the officers and crew responded to the crisis very well. RCL should be proud of them. It gives me confidence that if something were to occur on a ship I was on, proper procedures would be followed.

 

Stuff happens - the smart ones had trip insurance to make them whole.

 

Melissa

ITA!

From everything I have read the crew did a fantastic job.

I haven't gone searching for threads on this event but I'm sure people have mentioned the idea that perhaps profits were ahead of safety on this one. Would the captain make that call to sail or would head office tell them get out there we've got thousands of paying passengers. They are rightly taking allot of flack for the decision.

I'm pretty surprised that a company of their size didn't already previously have a team like this.

While this storm was bigger and faster than expected~ I am am surprised as well...

The Captain should be praised at holding the ship's position and maintaining the safety of the passengers and crew.

~Steve

But what about CELEBRITY??? The article does say the changes affect ROYAL ships....but it does not say anything about the other lines owned by RCCL.

Becky

Then weather warnings were out there. They chose to ignore it or were told to ignore it and take a chance. This time they made the wrong decision and now there trying to cover there mistakes.

Celebrity ships don't move a foot without Celebrity HQ approving it...when something goes wrong, HQ approves every word of any announcement or news release....I've lived though one of those situations and the officers said specifically that they weren't allowed to tell us anything or give us anything without HQ approval. (ship broke down).

The new Royal Weather Assessment Team is IMHO purely a public relations move. I suspect the team, or at least an individual in HQ with that responsibility already exists and just didn't do their job.

Celebrity ships don't move a foot without Celebrity HQ approving it...when something goes wrong, HQ approves every word of any announcement or news release....I've lived though one of those situations and the officers said specifically that they weren't allowed to tell us anything or give us anything without HQ approval. (ship broke down).

 

The new Royal Weather Assessment Team is IMHO purely a public relations move. I suspect the team, or at least an individual in HQ with that responsibility already exists and just didn't do their job.

As usual you nailed it. Many people will believe anything RCCL tells them. i remember your problem and how badly Celebrity handled the situation, what a nitemare that had to be.

I think its great that they are making a change so quickly to prevent this from happening again. Yes, it is unfortunate that this happened to so many cruisers - but no-one was badly hurt and they did receive compensation for the cruise.

 

It sounds like the officers and crew responded to the crisis very well. RCL should be proud of them. It gives me confidence that if something were to occur on a ship I was on, proper procedures would be followed.

 

Stuff happens - the smart ones had trip insurance to make them whole.

 

Melissa

How about first time cruisers who have been so traumatized that they will never want to cruise again. It is very fortunate for all on board that everyone are safe. RC shouldn't even start that sailing...

I would not have wanted to be on that ship for anything. It must have been a horrible experience for people with a week vacation, wasted in a scary ocean, instead of enjoying the Bahamas. At least they got a full refund and 50% towards a next cruise, unlike our experience with Royal with a week to Aruba and Curacao, which, due to (previously known) engine problems, never made it there. Our compensation was $150 and that was the last time I cruised with Royal.:mad:

I haven't gone searching for threads on this event but I'm sure people have mentioned the idea that perhaps profits were ahead of safety on this one. Would the captain make that call to sail or would head office tell them get out there we've got thousands of paying passengers. They are rightly taking allot of flack for the decision.

RCL probably would have taken as much flack or more if they had cancelled - specially from those cruisers who were arriving and ready to go.

Melissa

RCL probably would have taken as much flack or more if they had cancelled - specially from those cruisers who were arriving and ready to go.

 

Melissa

Totally agree! They were going to be criticized regardless of what they did. From all accounts, the storm exploded once it reached the ocean and the gulf stream. It was not predicted to intensify the way it did.

RCL probably would have taken as much flack or more if they had cancelled - specially from those cruisers who were arriving and ready to go.

Melissa

Right you are!

So, a "storm team". Will these be meteorologists with real crystal balls?

Seriously, as an aviator for 40 years, my life depends on my analysis of the current weather, along with meteorological forecasts. Like the captain of a ship, I am trained in this.

I spent hours at the RCCL forum here (along with others) trying to bring some sanity to those (most of whom were NOT on Anthem) to attempt to get them to understand the realities of what happened. Much of what we said was for naught. "They should have stayed in port", "fire the captain", etc. The ignorance I heard from folks was astounding!

I am most certain that the RCI "Storm Team" will also be there for Celebrity, but to what affect? Not much!

Welcome to cruising, and to what mother nature can do faster than you can deal with it. However, and as proven by Anthem, the ship and crew can. Yes, a very bumpy ride, but minor damage, a few injuries and that was it. This won't be the first or last time.

I leave you with this photo. At least Anthem did not get hit by a rogue wave as SS Michelangelo did in 1966. Three people died. The captain was NOT fired either.

Interesting picture but not relevant....rogue waves are not predictable by anyone. We are talking about weather patterns which are predictable, but in some cases not with great accuracy. There apparently was some warning that the blow up condition might happen...yes, might. The captain, presumably with some assistance from HQ (no, he doesn't make these decisions on his own) made a risk assessment that they would be able to pass through the area in reasonable seas. Unfortunately they (the team) was wrong. In hindsight, it might have been prudent to avoid that area....we'll never know why they chose to just stay on course....was it revenue protection, concern about customer reaction if they diverted resulting in an arrival delay or really confusing data.

I think the captain did a terrific job and cudos to the captain and crew for weathering the storm. I don't think the just announced weather team will make any difference at all....I'd guess there's a good chance that the team will only exist on paper and there will be no changes....and honestly, I agree that a team might not have made any different decision....weather forecasting remains an art although it's getting to be more and more of a science.

I get the Weather Channel.

The National Weather Service forecast waves of 30+ feet plus hurricane strength winds.

I'm not in to fault finding without knowing all the facts. I do know this. Marine weather forecasting is very accurate. You don't have land masses to make forecasting difficult.

My impression is that the company knew the potential for the storm to be intense and decided to sail anyway using probabilities from various models that the track would be different than it actually was (i.e., further east and into the Atlantic).

Th NTSB will investigate and find that in the case of all mishaps there is a series of mistakes both human and mechanical that produce that mishap. It will be a while before those findings will be available publically. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured but I'd be a little concerned going forward about RCCL's safety concerns facing similar circumstances in the future.

Fortunately, no one was seriously injured but I'd be a little concerned going forward about RCCL's safety concerns facing similar circumstances in the future.

and fortunately, this type of weather situation rarely happens....

I get the Weather Channel.

 

The National Weather Service forecast waves of 30+ feet plus hurricane strength winds.

Exactly what are hurricane force winds? What speed? 30' seas for a ship that size are not an issue. But what exactly are "hurricane force winds"? ;)

Exactly what are hurricane force winds? What speed? But what exactly are "hurricane force winds"? ;)

Saffir-Simpson wind scale...

"Tropical Depression" ...up to 38mph.

"Tropical Storm" ...39mph to 73mph.

"Hurricane" ...74mph and up.

I find it somewhat interesting that given the established forecast--and the potential for intensification also forecast--that the itinerary proceeded as planned. We have had major re-routes or delays over a dozen times on cruises due to weather systems (as recently as 2 weeks ago in Hong Kong with wind and wave forecasts considerably below what was forecast here--let alone encountered).

Not sure what made this situation different. Meteorologists, virtually to a person, have pretty much said sailing through this weather was a big mistake. RCCL, frankly, has said basically the same thing.

I am quite certain that Miami had a lot of input--if not the final decision--to sail. After that, the Captain was put into a very difficult position where it sounds as though he performed admirably. The question which will need to be answered is was it necessary to put him, the crew and the pax in that position.

This might sound weird, but I feel bad for the captains. We all hate micromanagement, and now they'll have people on land trying to say what's best at sea?

Yes, it was scary for those people and maybe the captain could have acted differently, but more management is never the answer. It makes me think of the time we were troubleshooting a high priority issue at work, and the longer it took, the more meetings we needed to say we hadn't fixed it yet.

This was just posted in today's WSJ: http://blogs.wsj.com/riskandcompliance/2016/02/22/crisis-of-the-week-royal-caribbeans-stormy-cruise/

I'm curious to know if everyone feels that RCI did enough to compensate passengers.

Sorry, I don't think the link worked. Here's what one crisis management expert said:

“Royal Caribbean sailed their communications in the wrong direction. They left their passengers–who are also their money-generating customers–in a precarious position by claiming their captain had sole discretion to put thousands of passengers at risk. Its response on Twitter was lackluster and in a way assumed only 50% of responsibility by offering a future voucher for 50% off, thereby requiring those passengers to continue to spend money with them. Its statement that its offer was for ‘what they went through’ was unjust, uncaring and flat-out tired. The company really needed to communicate the depth of the situation, which seemed to have been incredibly scary. It put the responsibility on the captain, deflecting its own liability.

“How can future passengers truly feel secure about their purchase power knowing their safety [depends on the] discretion of a single-person, the captain, and not the corporation with which they are doing business? The experience sounds nightmarish and its communications matched.” WSJ 2.22.16