jolyroger Posted January 15, 2012 #101 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Michelle, after all that you and your family have been through, thank you for taking the time to fill us in on what happened. Know that you have an extended family as well here on Cruise Critic...Take care and hopefully you get home soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethA Posted January 15, 2012 #102 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Hi Michelle, Thank you so much for sharing your terrifying experience with us, I wish you and your family a safe journey home. When the shock of what has happened sinks in I do hope you get the support you all need and deserve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValentineCruise Posted January 15, 2012 #103 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Love, prayers and aknowledgment of your courage through this ordeal from Québec, Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Host Star Posted January 15, 2012 #104 Share Posted January 15, 2012 thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts on CC... we wish you a safe home.. just a thought here... all cruise ships practice emergency drills.. however, these drills are all praticed in the best of conditions.. now we know what hapens in a real emergency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooselover Posted January 15, 2012 #105 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Michelle, happy to hear you are all safe. I hope you get home soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shogun Posted January 15, 2012 #106 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Hi There thank you for taking the time to post your story, save trip home. yours Shogun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bella cruiser Posted January 15, 2012 #107 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Hi Michelle, thanks for taking time to tell us your extraordinary story. I hope your daughter is not too traumatized by this terrible ordeal. I am so pleased that you are all OK. I hope that the insurers can get their act together and allow you to return home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell in MD Posted January 15, 2012 #108 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Michelle thank you so much with taking the time to share your experience and as all the rest have added I am so glad you are safe and will be home shortly. Ive been following this since I heard of it and I have believed that the story of chaos was something the media had sensationalized to some degree to sell the news. After you first hand account it saddens and concerns me. As seasoned cruisers we all have seen the drills the crews do while we are in ports etc. to prepare for emergencies and to see how this was executed is quite shocking. But my message is, that we can all learn a lot from this kind of tragedy. We all need to have an emergency plan. Where are we going to meet? At our cabin or at our muster station? We need to have "virtual copies" of our passports, but we also need to have our credit card numbers in case you need to buy a plane ticket. Have a small backpack with a flashlight and first aid kit ready at your cabin closet. I am the prepared type and thinking this type of thing out will be on my to do list between now and when we sail in a couple weeks. I always pay attention at the muster drill unlike most others. I always travel with some small stuff in case of emergencies but it has not been anything dedicated or thought out. I will be putting together a very small kit for myself and the wife (cash, passport photo copy, flashlight etc). Very minimal in a grab-and-go water tight container like you would take to the beach or something. As has been proven here in this instance and in the past everyone needs to take some minor level of preparedness to take care of yourself because relying on someone else is just not a good idea. Best wishes and a safe journey home Michelle. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare nbsjcruiser Posted January 15, 2012 #109 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Thank you Michelle for sharing your story. One can not imagine the fear that you and your daughter went through and the other passengers. The management of Costa and Carnival need to hang their heads in shame, what a disgrace. Do Costa think it is okay to dump you at a hotel and forget about you? Thank goodness the Australian embassy has helped you out. Wishing you and your daughter a very safe trip home to Australia. Indeed. Have a safe trip home and shame on Costa/Carnival. Somewhere I get the feeling that they're in a board room somewhere with a herd of lawyers playing CYA instead of helping their stranded and injured passengers. Disgraceful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisesquatch Posted January 15, 2012 #110 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Glad you're safe and I hope you can get home soon. Thanks for sharing your experience, it has really shed some light on the incident for me. Not to be redundant but it was VERY similar to the TITANIC, as far as situational response. Just goes to show us that when the poop hits the fan, its every man for themselves and procedures be damned. Terrible... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenworks911 Posted January 15, 2012 #111 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Thank you for sharing. Glad you are safe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeno Posted January 15, 2012 #112 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Michelle: Thx for taking the time to share your dreadful experience with us. I hope you will be on your way home very soon. All the best to you and your daughter - after this - you REALLY deserve it. I wish I could give you and her a big hug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexkrn46 Posted January 15, 2012 #113 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Thank you so much for posting, so glad you are safe. While getting insurance and travel sorted out is painful and a hassle you are alive and well. My thoughts are with you and your daughter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flcruzer Posted January 15, 2012 #114 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Glad Mickey D that you and your daughter are safe. That's the important thing. I truly hope Carnival does the right thing by you and everyone else impacted. So far it doesn't seem that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uglybutgoodbakery Posted January 15, 2012 #115 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I'm so glad you are safe and that your family is with you. Thanks for taking the time to post your experience. Love & Light to you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddles99 Posted January 15, 2012 #116 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Thank you so much for sharing your story. I hope your whole family is ok & you are able to get home soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Wildcatllamas Posted January 15, 2012 #117 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Michelle may you and your family be blessed with a safe and uneventful journey home. Thank you for sharing and make many of us aware of what was going on. May all who survived make it home safely as well. May the families who lost loved ones find solace. My family and friends depart next Sunday and there is a new kit going into our luggage. It will travel with us from now on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagel18 Posted January 15, 2012 #118 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Thanks for live report. We wish you and your daughter safe and prompt trip home and fast recovery . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare travelberlin Posted January 15, 2012 #119 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Hi Michelle, Thanks God you, your daughter and more than 4000 people have survived this horror story. Have a good trip home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warrior Princess Posted January 15, 2012 #120 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Can't believe there was no safety drill on the first day, we usually sail with Princess and have safety drill within 1 hour of setting sail. Glad you survived and hope they find the rest of the unaccounted for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyncruiser Posted January 15, 2012 #121 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Sounds like a safety drill would have been useless. People couldn't get to their muster stations, the crew told people not to get in lifeboats, then after people insisted on boarding lifeboats anyway, the crew had trouble lowering lifeboats. There are reports of waiters in charge of lifeboats who had no idea how to operate or steer them and were crashing into the other lifeboats. Sounds like all the safety drill stuff meant nothing (as is usually the case in a catastrophe). I cannot imagine the sheer terror people must have felt, with the ship listing in the pitch black, and announcements that it is merely an electrical problem when they can feel the ship sinking. When your cabin windows are now the floor of your cabin, and you can't see a thing and everyone is screaming and crying and no one, including the crew, has any idea what to do, and people are jumping into the sea and swimming for the island, and people are trying to climb against the power of gravity to get to a deck where there are lifeboats, I think the horror must be unimaginable. I am so sorry for the passengers and crew. I hope those missing will be found alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcca2 Posted January 15, 2012 #122 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Michelle, Thanks for posting your dreadful ordeal. So glad you and your family are safe, and hope you are all on the way back home very soon. God Bless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltalessi Posted January 15, 2012 #123 Share Posted January 15, 2012 thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts on CC... we wish you a safe home.. just a thought here... all cruise ships practice emergency drills.. however, these drills are all praticed in the best of conditions.. now we know what hapens in a real emergency. I agree. I have been on three cruises. I know I barely paid attention. Many people did not go, pay attention or listen. There is/was approximately 1000 cremembers for 4000 passengers. So if you assume that 1/4 (250) of those cremembers are fluent in the majority passenger language, and of those 250 how many are 100% certified to abandon ship? Before you cry 'foul' look it like this. How many of the 4000 made any effort to make themselves responsible for their own safety? Im willing to bet on the cruises I went on at least 1/2 of the passengers paid any attention to the life jacket drill. So 2000 people, would need little to no help, getting life jackets. The boats? Who knows. You end up with 2000 people being totally helpless hoping to find 250 totally squared away employees. I base this on my experience as a former marine, former police officer, current husband and father. My children can't find their clothes for school every morning. Let a tree fall in their room in a storm and all bets are off. And they have lived here for 11 years and know where everything is. To the OP, I am glad you are ok and I hope you and those that read your story can take something from this and keep the lessons learned. We are all creatures of habit. We need to make a habit out of preparing for accidents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feelin' Nauti' Posted January 15, 2012 #124 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Michelle Thank you so much for sharing your ordeal. What a nightmare!!! Glad to hear you and your family are safe and sound and weren't injured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbri Posted January 15, 2012 #125 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I am so glad you and your family are OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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