Ships of Shame - Sixty Minutes

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Hi Sue, no you are not blind...Security are doing their job...you just don't see it everywhere.

 

That's so true, and when something comes up, they come out of the woodwork very quickly!

[Aus Traveller]

At least the 60 minute show covered several cruise lines in different parts of the world, but it was not balanced reporting. What did we expect??????

 

The 'party-type' activities and too much alcohol aren't limited to cruise ships. This behaviour is seen in the nightclub areas of every city. I think there would be more drink spiking in nightclubs than on a cruiseship where security is fairly tight and zero tolerance to drugs. Ten years ago security on P&O was increased as a result of the infamous incident.

 

From my observation, in the last year or so P&O Australia ships have more of a 'party' atmosphere than they have had for several years. Prior to that it was only on the shorter cruises (3 day or 7 night), but our last 14 night cruise (earlier this year) had a lot of first-time cruisers who were 'party people'. This must be more of a challenge for security staff rather than when they have families and older people as the vast majority.

 

The partying hasn't reached the levels it was on the Fairstar where the drunks had to be 'hosed out' of the Animal Bar and at dawn security officers would be seen encouraging the drunks to eat soup and sandwiches before going to sleep it off. I heard young men proudly boasting at the end of the cruise that they hadn't ever found their own cabin and they seemed to think that sounded clever.:D

[takeout]

Well said Aus Traveller !

[Sandielle]

Would you believe that after all the hype & crap on these boards over the last few days..................I forgot about it:o. Does anyone know where I can see it online? I'm having trouble finding it.

 

Karen, I just couldn't be bothered with it. I knew it would just be a 'beat up'. I'd rather watch something a bit more educational - and did! :rolleyes:

[Sutho]

To me the report was not as bad at all. It didnt seem extreme and heavily biased.

 

If you want heavily biased you only need to refer to the Today Tonight segmant a few years back where the channel 7 reporter claimed P&O Australia staff slipped him drugs in an envelope through the cabin door. Now that story in my mind was a complete fabrication.

 

The 60 minutes report seemed to be more factual and covered a wider variety and was factual about laws regarding policing etc.

 

It did use the shock tactics like Costa Concordia to raise the interest level in viewers to get the "shock" appeal.

[Mothballs]

I watched it for a few minutes then realised it was a load of rubbish and changed the T.V back to the ABC.I have been watching a fascinating series about Australia and how this country was formed.

Last night was about dinosaurs and Lark Quarry was shown.Winton is one of my favourite towns to visit in Australia.

Regards Elaine.

[Aus Traveller]

To me the report was not as bad at all. It didnt seem extreme and heavily biased.

 

If you want heavily biased you only need to refer to the Today Tonight segmant a few years back where the channel 7 reporter claimed P&O Australia staff slipped him drugs in an envelope through the cabin door. Now that story in my mind was a complete fabrication.

 

The 60 minutes report seemed to be more factual and covered a wider variety and was factual about laws regarding policing etc.

 

It did use the shock tactics like Costa Concordia to raise the interest level in viewers to get the "shock" appeal.

I suppose the main problem 60 Minutes had compiling the story is that they had around 15 minutes of air time and they covered events in different parts of the world with interviews. Therefore my objection that they didn't say or cover certain aspects can probably be explained by shortage of time.

 

However they did say that incidents happening on ships sailing out of Australia (and they were using the Pacific Sun as an example) would be investigated by (in their words) police from a third world country. Where would they get that idea when the most high-profile death on an Australian ship was investigated by NSW Police. Ahh.....Maybe the reason is that they didn't let the facts get in the way of a good story.:D

 

Having read a fair bit of the inquest material into the tragic Diane Brimble death, I feel that police from virtually any third world country might have done a better job than the two NSW Water Police who were flown to Noumea to investigate. (Apologies if I offend anyone.)

 

I didn't see the Channel 7 episode you refer to - it isn't my usual TV station, even for the bit of TV that I watch. However, I think it is highly unlikely. For a start, crew on the ships value their job and there is absolutely zero tolerance regarding drugs.

[Royalty X]

I didn't see the Channel 7 episode you refer to - it isn't my usual TV station, even for the bit of TV that I watch. However, I think it is highly unlikely. For a start, crew on the ships value their job and there is absolutely zero tolerance regarding drugs.

The Channel 7 Today Tonight story was a joke. It's on YouTube if you search "today tonight ship shame" you should find it.

The 60 Minutes story was actually a rehashed Dateline story from America with clips of Pacific Sun chucked in to make it local.

[Cruise ship fan]

Its because the Pacific Sun is registered in Malta, so the ship is basically a building on Malta soil. The Pacific Sky on the other hand was registered in Britain, therefore giving the Australian Police more power on the ship, due to our relationship with Britain. The Pacific Sun is the only P&O ship currently registered outside of Britain.

[Aus Traveller]

Its because the Pacific Sun is registered in Malta, so the ship is basically a building on Malta soil. The Pacific Sky on the other hand was registered in Britain, therefore giving the Australian Police more power on the ship, due to our relationship with Britain. The Pacific Sun is the only P&O ship currently registered outside of Britain.

I see the point you are making, but some other incidents/deaths I have read about have been investigated by the police at the next port of call.

 

The official reason given at the time of the Diane Brimble incident in choosing between New Caledonia (the next port of call) and Australia was that the ship had left from Australia and the vast majority of the passengers were Australian. From what I read in the official reports, Malta police weren't even considered.:) A key point was that the medical people on the ship believed she had died from a heart attack. That is why NSW Water Police and not Homicide were sent to board the ship in Noumea and sail on it while making investigations.

[Mothballs]

I think I heard it mentioned in the report before I turned it off that a passenger goes missing every 2 weeks.I don't want to sound morbid but I wonder how many people choose to go overboard.You don't have to appear depressed to commit suicide.People take their own life in various ways and as a nurse I saw failed attempts.During my stint at CityRail fortunately I didn't see any but heard some horror stories.

Sorry if this offends anyone.

Regards Elaine.

[Royalty X]

I think you've misread Cruise Ship Fan's post AusTraveller. He's saying the Sun is registered in Malta (the Sky was registered in London) and so the 60 Minutes report was suggesting that if something happened on the Sun, then Maltese police would investigate.Of course 60 Minutes also failed to mention that the ship has been sold, and the remaining 3 ships in the fleet are registered in London.

[The_Big_M]

I suppose the main problem 60 Minutes had compiling the story is that they had around 15 minutes of air time and they covered events in different parts of the world with interviews. Therefore my objection that they didn't say or cover certain aspects can probably be explained by shortage of time.

 

Perhaps, but then if they were objective they wouldn't be making conclusions about "Ships of shame" and all the negative hype they were running with in advance. It's like labelling all the media as crap because of the quality of a specific 60 minutes report... :D

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

Sounds like I did the right thing by not watching it.

Jilly:rolleyes:

[KylieV]

For what its worth, here is the story:

 

http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/videoindex.aspx?videoid=5a4968ca-f4ab-4041-b508-e3641a700d96

[happyaussies]

I think the story was about passengers having the same legal rights at sea as we do on land!

 

That's the message I got from the programme!

 

B&B

[Aus Traveller]

I think you've misread Cruise Ship Fan's post AusTraveller. He's saying the Sun is registered in Malta (the Sky was registered in London) and so the 60 Minutes report was suggesting that if something happened on the Sun, then Maltese police would investigate.Of course 60 Minutes also failed to mention that the ship has been sold, and the remaining 3 ships in the fleet are registered in London.

No, I haven't misread it. That is exactly how I understood his post and also what was said in the 60 Minute report. :)

 

However, in instances that I know of, the investigating police were not from the country of registry. With the Diane Brimble 'incident' apparently the official discussion was between having the New Caledonia Police or the Australian police investigate. There was no mention of Malta or UK. In another case I read about of an American ship (I think it was Royal Caribbean) with American passengers, a young man went missing (most likely murdered) and it was investigated by the Turkish police as the next port of call was Istanbul.

 

I don't agree with the 60 minute statement that an incident on an Australian-based ship would be investigated by the police from the country of registry (they called them "third world countries").

[Australian family]

I think the story was about passengers having the same legal rights at sea as we do on land!

 

That's the message I got from the programme!

 

B&B

 

That was how I saw it too. Very frustrating for relatives that there is no authorities as such for them to turn to.

 

The father whose daughter disappeared from a cruise in Alaska, and then her luggage was thrown out.

[icat2000]

The father whose daughter disappeared from a cruise in Alaska, and then her luggage was thrown out.

That must be awful. How can a cruiseline simply do that. Don't they have a care of duty to contact the next of kin and arrange for their possessions to be picked up. Otherwise why do we bother giving them details to contact people in an emergency.

[karmac]

The father whose daughter disappeared from a cruise in Alaska, and then her luggage was thrown out.

 

Here's more on that story

 

http://www.internationalcruisevictims.org/LatestMemberStories/Merrian_Carver.html

[thied]

Here's more on that story

 

http://www.internationalcruisevictims.org/LatestMemberStories/Merrian_Carver.html

so what happened to the legal action ?

 

After additional months went by, we still did not have all requested information so started the process to take legal action against the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line.