Brilliance o/t Seas passenger suing RCI over death of wife in storm off Alexandria

[Cruising89143]

The trip was magnificent. New Zealand and Australia are home to nicest people on the planet. Both are beautiful and fascinating, where you really don't feel out of place. My wife and I both enjoyed the Diamond Princess. There are some things that they do really well. The fitness facilities were pretty inadequate, so my wife still prefers RCI, I miss the flowrider, but all in all a very good product. I loved being able to go wine shopping in port and bringing my finds on board and even having them at dinner. Australia is crazy expensive right now, with the dollar being so weak. Our 3 days at Heron Island on the Great Barrier reef was fantastic and fantastically expensive. Had some great dives with sharks and turtles always present. I have never seen so many fish, especially big fish as I saw there. We dove one day with two giant Manta Rays. I described them to my wife as a kingsized bed with wings. A mouth that was 2 yards wide and a foot tall. Amazing.

 

Unfortunately, even leaning out of my aft cabin balcony, I couldn't see the props on the Diamond Princess. :D

 

jc

 

Glad that you enjoyed it. Sounds great and I will be looking for your review on the other side.:)

[Rancher Dave]

Well, I was on the ship when it listed.:rolleyes: We had all been ordered to not go out on our balconies and to keep the doors shut. When the listing occurred, we were too busy bracing ourselves (my friend), and flying back and forth in the room (myself) to open the balcony door (ARE YOU KIDDING ME - LAST THING IN THE WORLD ANYONE WOULD DO???!!), grab onto the railing, lean out and watch for propellers rising up out of the water.:rolleyes:

 

The ship was reported to have done at most a 15 degree list, over and over again. That was reported by the Captain.

 

I am so sorry that this man's wife died.:( I can see how she could have hit her head during the incident - I'm still recovering from my injury myself. I have total sympathy for the husband on this account. But I highly doubt he was watching propellers come up out of the water.

 

Thank you, Carol for adding some first hand reports of the listing and rules of the captain about looking over the side...

[JColquhoun]

I believe that this is the second death related to the Brilliance of the seas. The first was the unlucky guy that fell over during his honeymoon.

[nydiana]

One could have probably been able to see the propulsion pods, but not from the same ship. They would have had to lean pretty far over the railing to be able to see something that's under the ship.

 

It was the middle of the night. I can not believe anyone on the ship could see under the ship in the dark. The captain closed all outside public areas and asked you not to go out on your balcony. I know because we were on that sailing.

Diana

[wrp96]

Unfortunately, even leaning out of my aft cabin balcony, I couldn't see the props on the Diamond Princess. :D

 

jc

 

 

I'm sure that's all RCCL's fault.;)

[lurvecruise]

im so sorry for this man loss:(

[klingoncruiser]

I didn't know that modern gas turbine propulsion systems still had propellers :confused:

 

Ummmm..... The gas turbines are used to generate electricity for the giant electric engines that drive the propellers. Many are not aware that trains and big ships use electric engines to drive the propellers not diesel engines.

[bobcholmes]

Having to watch a wife slip away from you like that must have been so horrible for the husband....many were hurt that night, now someone has died as a result of serious head injuries aquired during the storm...very, very sad for the lady's family....

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2011/01/30/taxi-driver-sues-royal-caribbean-cruise-line-over-his-wife-s-death-86908-22886099/

 

I cannot help but believe someone has seen the movie "Titanic" a few too many times. Seeing propellers (even if the ship had them) out of the water, at night, in high seas, from a cabin's balcony, is impossible. I rode U.S. Navy destroyers for the better part of ten years, and I can attest to it. In the North Sea, or off Cape Hatteras, for example, rolls such as stated in that article are commonplace. But seas that high, even on a vessel scarcely 350 feet long, caused seasickness and discomfort, but little else. Bumps occurred, and medical help available consisted, for the most part, of a Hospital Corpsman, an enlisted man who had a sixteen weeks of Navy schooling, and several years experience. I can indeed sympathize with the gentleman who lost his wife, and it is indeed sad, but I think the story has been embellished, to say the least. Surely any court, anywhere, would realize it. As was so aptly stated in this thread, if money can bring back the gentleman's wife then OK, but maybe we should devote our efforts into seeing that the causes and effects are closely examined, so as to try to avoid a tragedy like this happen again. It sounds are though there is blame to go around. Just my two cents.

[compman9]

I know the Scottish newspapers very well. One I threatened with libel before a retraction and another attempted to use quotes attributed to me to personally affect a public figure.

 

So, do not believe all you read in the papers, even if they do include quotation marks. So, the fuss being made here about propellers may be completely off-topic.

 

The bottom line is, all those involved in sanctioning the decision to sail in those conditions could be considered guilty of involuntary manslaughter. However, they have not committed an 'unlawful act', so it becomes a very grey area.

 

A mistake was made that led to injury and most sadly, death. This will be very hard to prosecute, but all those involved (not just the captain), should do the right thing, and walk. Or accept being pushed. IMHO

 

As a company completely reliant on public image, RCI should and probably will, cough up - big. And on the quiet, away from courts.

 

Most of us have had slightly bumpy nights when a captain tries to make up some time. Many have experienced far, far worse, as this clearly proves. Even with stabilisers it would have been quite awful. It is all very sad, and hopefully a lesson to all cruise lines.

[Esmerelda]

I feel so bad for this man and his family. What a horrible tragedy to have to endure especially when you are supposed to be relaxed and on vacation.

 

One of the problems I see so far with this story is; who exactly did he report it too? Did he get a name? If RC states they have no record of him reporting that she was this serious... well you see where I'm going with this. There is going to have to be some proof that he actually reported it if this goes to a trial. (and it certainly may not)

 

Am I an attorney, no. I work in health care. I have seen many cases over the years.

[MAZANDSTEVE]

You've got that right. Settling out of court can and does save a lot of money. As a publicly traded company they have to think about the shareholders and profits. Settling is not an admission of guilt.

 

If getting money makes those who are suffering happy again....well, I question THEIR motives, too.

 

Gina

 

I doubt very much it will make them happy again but if RC made mistakes, why should they get away with it. And the money might help the man get some sort of life back again in the future.

[Dolly Rocker]

It doesnt say anywhere in that article that they seeked any medical assistance for her at all.

 

Also as someone who was on a cruise for 4 months working I can safely say that if you are in a storm that bad you are not going to even bother looking out of a window!!!

 

Not saying that there is not truth in it at all but I think they are trying to push the blame to RCCL

 

I feel so so sorry for the family it is such a horrible thing to happen

 

L x

[CruisinGerman]

I feel very sorry for this man's life now being turned upside down and for his loss.

 

At least maybe now a serious legal inquiry will provide some real answers and not just mere speculating on message boards.

 

.....unless a no-blame settlement is reached with no answers given.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[Daisy16178]

I do feel for the family and most certainly hope they sue RCCL for a small fortune. Having sailed with RCCL on the BOS last year and being dumped at Port Rashid in Dubai with the ash crisis along with hundreds of other passengers, which entailed nowhere to sleep and a return flight offered 3 weeks in the future I too am sueing them. There is only one thing RCCL are interested in and that's making mega money. The safety of the passenger is not paramount in their eyes. They simply couldn't care less.

 

If other ships did not venture out of port on this occasion then they should not have either. It's disgraceful. They seem to think they are a law undo themselves.

 

As for them helping the family, I for one would be very interested to hear exactly what they are planning or have done, because I will bank on it being nothing.

[CruisinGerman]

Hi, Daisy:

 

I'm sorry to hear about you being mishandled during the volcanic ash crisis.

 

Were you on an air/sea package with RCCL or did you book your air separately?

 

What airline were you originally flying back to England?

 

How did you eventually get home?

 

 

Yes, I agree that both RCCL and Celebrity tend to make a mess out of these situations (Celebrity did something similar in Nice France in October).

 

Sometimes legal action is the only way to shed things to light.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[Daisy16178]

We booked a complete package with RCCL (air and cruise). Once we knew we were going to be stranded because of the ash crisis they informed us that they would provide accommodation for us. I enquired about this 4 days before the end of the cruise. When it got to the end of the cruise they dumped all passengers at the port with no accommodation and a telephone number to contact the airline. To add insult to injury they were on a repositioning cruise and sailing back to Barcelona (obviously closer to the UK) but still left old, infirm, babies and passengers with no money at the port. They couldn't have cared less.

 

We were told to contact the airline for return flight information which was Emirates. After continuingly being left on hold on a mobile we visited Emirates in the Mall and were given a date 3 weeks in advance. So where were we going to live for 3 weeks then RCCL? After 2 days of panic and stress we arranged our own way home....Dubai to Doha, Doha to Tunis (both on Qatar airways), Tunis to Paris by Tunisair (dreadful flight), Paris to London by Eurostar, London to Birmingham by coach and then Birmingham to home by taxi. Took over 24 hours of continuous travel and made us both ill.

 

Despite me contacting them upon our return I failed to get a satisfactory answer from them so am sueing them. Even now they are playing stalling tactics saying they want the captain to attend court and have even managed to get the original court date cancelled from 23 December 2010, and at this point we are still waiting for a new court date.

 

I would never recommend or use them again. A law unto themselves.

[Mac303]

It amazes me how many people believe everything that is reported in the papers or on television news shows, my job takes me to many events as they are happening.

I am always surprised to find out that what I experienced/witnessed on the scene of the incident, is rarely accurately reported in the news, to many reporters put a personal spin on the incident or speak to alleged witnesses (without confirming if they were really there) remember if the story doesn't read well a little journalistic spin is used.

 

For the cheerleaders sometimes mistakes are truly made by your (and my) favorite cruise line, hindsight is 20-20, maybe they shouldn't have sailed that night, but once the decision was made to proceed any resulting issues are the responsibility of the Cruise line and the Captain. The passengers were not the ones in charge of what was to unfold that night they were along for the ride.

[JColquhoun]

The women who's husband died on the BOS, was also left at a port with no contact info

[Cruzaholic41]

It amazes me how many people believe everything that is reported in the papers or on television news shows, my job takes me to many events as they are happening.

I am always surprised to find out that what I experienced/witnessed on the scene of the incident, is rarely accurately reported in the news, to many reporters put a personal spin on the incident or speak to alleged witnesses (without confirming if they were really there) remember if the story doesn't read well a little journalistic spin is used.

 

That is exactly right. Unless anyone here was actually there and actually with this family through the whole ordeal, they have no idea what actually happened. The Smith case is a fine example of how bad the cruise line sounded based on Mrs. Smith's statements. Turned out, she was a cronic embellisher.

[JColquhoun]

That is exactly right. Unless anyone here was actually there and actually with this family through the whole ordeal, they have no idea what actually happened. The Smith case is a fine example of how bad the cruise line sounded based on Mrs. Smith's statements. Turned out, she was a cronic embellisher.

 

 

Wow, I did not know that about her. In the media it sounded like RC was 100% in the wrong.

 

I do believe that the lady passing away is RC fault- just my opinion

[mommabean]

Since none of us really knows this woman's medical history maybe we shouldn't decide she died as a result of what happened on the ship.

 

Consider this - "Every 53 seconds, someone in America has a stroke. About 600,000 Americans will have a stroke this year - and 160,000 of them will die. In fact, stroke is our nation's No. 3 killer and one of the leading causes of disability. But we're fighting back. The American Heart Association spends more on stroke-related research and stroke-related programs than any other not-for-profit organization, second only to the federal government. In November 1998, the American Heart Association renamed its Stroke Division. It is now the American Stroke Association...a division of the American Heart Association."

 

as I copied from this page - http://www.plazamedicalcenter.com/CustomPage.asp?guidCustomContentID=20B75BA7-43F7-11D5-81FF-00508B116BA6

 

It's likely others who were on that ship will die in the near future of one thing or another.

 

Last August a man on our cruise dropped dead of a heart attach in the Windjammer just before he was to walk off the ship in port. Was it the food he just ate? :rolleyes:

 

Gina

[gbcruise]

For perspective I was on the Carnival Conquest sailing Jan. 2nd. A single gentlemen sailing with single ladies passed away during the cruise. While talking with one of the ladies from the group she explained that one female from the group stayed in the Bahamas while a autopsy was performed. Two Carnival ship employees stayed behind to assist this female. When the body was released one Carnival employee was to fly back with the female to the states. The cruise cost was refunded for the female. All hotel and food was paid for by Carnival.

This is how you take care of tradegy.

[Cruzaholic41]

For perspective I was on the Carnival Conquest sailing Jan. 2nd. A single gentlemen sailing with single ladies passed away during the cruise. While talking with one of the ladies from the group she explained that one female from the group stayed in the Bahamas while a autopsy was performed. Two Carnival ship employees stayed behind to assist this female. When the body was released one Carnival employee was to fly back with the female to the states. The cruise cost was refunded for the female. All hotel and food was paid for by Carnival.

This is how you take care of tradegy.

 

Deaths aboard cruise ships are common, unfortunately. The scenario you just gave about cruise line assistance is actually the common response from all cruise lines when this happens. That's why I'm having a hard time with the media reports of this incident.

[marielco]

Still, don't like tabloid newspapers exaggerating the facts of this tragic event in order to sell more copies.

 

Judging by the reports on this site written by people who were on this cruise there was no exageration in the tabloid paper. If you were not on the ship it is impossible to judge what it was like and what you could or could not see!

[MikeNJ1109]

I feel very sorry for this man's life now being turned upside down and for his loss.

 

At least maybe now a serious legal inquiry will provide some real answers and not just mere speculating on message boards.

 

.....unless a no-blame settlement is reached with no answers given.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

 

Won't speak for the European model of tort liability, but if it's anything like America -- my suspicion is the case will be settled long before it reaches a jury.

 

Michael