Crown Princess Incident

[SA Traveler]

I was just reading through this thread and have to respond to PATVAL - I don't know what HAL cruise you are aware of that had a problem like this that was handled better - but I was on the Ryndam when a problem with the autopilot (per the captain) caused the same thing. (The sea was like glass - not a wave issue) We heard everything from a 15 to a 35 degree list. Many injuries and total chaos. It didn't make the news and we received free drinks for one hour. No discount on a future cruise much less a free one or a refund. I would sail HAL again only if I couldn't get a similar itinerary anywhere else. They just refused to acknowledge that it was a big deal. I think Princess does a much better job at damage control. I would sail on the Crown if I liked the itinerary. I doubt I'd sail on the Ryndam again.

[Merion_Mom]

I have been lurking since this started and am sooo glad everyone is ok and home. I just can't beleive some of the banter on here... but what can ya do:cool:

 

 

Merion Mom:

I was crying when I read your ordeal getting home. I too would feel the same way.Shame on that TSA guy. Did he know you were on the Crown?

He did after I started crying. It was sort of, "Um, were you on that cruise ship?" "sniff, sniff, Yes" "ooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh"

 

I'm glad to see that those on the ship felt it was handled well by Princess.

 

How do you,the ones on the ship, feel that they are sailing so soon on July 22nd?

 

CuriousCat

Now THAT is a very good question, cat. Not so good. It is absolutely NOT that I think that the ship is unsafe. I just think that they should take a little more time to be sure that they have fixed/changed whatever went wrong AND to fix the interior damage. So much carpet was soaked. To my mind, it needs to be pulled up and replaced, NOT just dried and cleaned. Mold is too much of a possibility. Cabins on Lido Deck (i.e., pool deck) were inundated. Some on Riviera Deck (just below) were flooded, too. Stairways and elevator shafts were conduits for waterfalls. I would want to see those electrical systems replaced. Electrics + water = bad combination.

 

One piece of damage that I'm not sure I saw mentioned (and I think that I didn't post this before................) The grand piano that is in Crooner's Bar on Deck 7, Promenade Deck, was turned UPSIDE DOWN by the list.

 

Think about that. Think about the force that could do that, what it would take.

 

And to the person who was asking about the deck levels on the Crown, as compared, say, to the Adventure: Deck 7 Promenade is the first outside-accessible deck on the ship. When I and others say that the water was above window level on Deck 6, that's the highest deck without outside access.

[Merion_Mom]

I was just reading through this thread and have to respond to PATVAL - I don't know what HAL cruise you are aware of that had a problem like this that was handled better - but I was on the Ryndam when a problem with the autopilot (per the captain) caused the same thing. (The sea was like glass - not a wave issue) We heard everything from a 15 to a 35 degree list. Many injuries and total chaos. It didn't make the news and we received free drinks for one hour. No discount on a future cruise much less a free one or a refund. I would sail HAL again only if I couldn't get a similar itinerary anywhere else. They just refused to acknowledge that it was a big deal. I think Princess does a much better job at damage control. I would sail on the Crown if I liked the itinerary. I doubt I'd sail on the Ryndam again.

Let me share some of the discussion and speculation that went on among passengers yesterday.

 

We think that the captain and crew were trying to figure out if we should go on to NY or return to Port Canaveral in the first place, then, should we terminate the cruise and MAKE everyone get off, or give people the option and sail on to NY a little late, allowing those who choose to, stay on.

 

After you throw in the Tropical Depression, now Tropical Storm Beryl, they decided NOT to sail on to NY. Sort of just the straw that broke the camel's back or made the decision for them.

 

By the way, we asked our waiter, Simon, on Tuesday night, what happens to them. (financially; we knew that Princess had taken care of US; what about the staff???) He said that in a situation like this, Princess pays them their full regular $$$$, daily gratuities share and all. KUDOS to Princess!

 

Doubtlessly buoyed by the knowledge that Princess was refunding my entire cruise fare, I was flinging around tip money for the past 24 hours. (and I hope that Vicente gets along well with my Uncle Jack. :D)

[blcfree]

I too have kept quiet but have really appreciated all the posts. Some of you have the most terrific outlook and I thank you for it. MerionMom....you really need to come back to MOS

[flagger]

Carol,

 

Hugs hon I am so glad you are home safe and sound. Just an fyi, you were selected for special search everything because of a code on your ticket/boarding pass. One thing that kicks it out is a one-way ticket, or one bought within 24 hours and also between certain cities. Unfortunately you hit the TSA lottery. Sorry you got barked at. I just happen to know someone who is a supe with TSA out in Phoenix and that was his response to me about why.

 

I feel for those who are extended beyond their means and don't have enough to purchase tickets on their own on credit and will have to wait for Princess to make their arrangements. Much better to be pro-active IMHO.

 

Aren't the pools on Princess fresh water? If so, it will be far less damaging to electrics than salt water.

[Host CJSKIDS]

Umm ... I guess because those reports came from passengers on board. "Local stations" wouldn't be likely to have staff on every cruise ship afloat, would they? In reality, the media did a superb job covering this Carnival/Princess mess.

 

We all should be relieved that there were no fatalities. But as with the Star fire, that bit of good news doesn't change the underlying fact ... something went enormously wrong with a Carnival-owned ship. Again.

Time for Carnival to put serious $$ into fresh engineering studies.

Meanwhile, let's hope the company genuinely takes care of the Crown passengers and crew; otherwise, this is exactly the kind of thing that the civil court system was created for. And it's why I'm happy to be an American, protected by those courts ... if this same thing happened in most countries, the injured would be at the complete mercy of the cruise line. But not here. God bless trial lawyers.

 

Hate to tell you this but it's not what our civil court system is for when is comes to cruise lines. Cruise lines operate under maritime law, not ours. This would not play out like most court cases and is a very difficult and costly procedure. Suing a cruise line is not an easy thing and won't be easily won. This is the one time that being an American won't help in the least bit!

[OuiOnboard]

....By the way, we asked our waiter, Simon, on Tuesday night, what happens to them. (financially; we knew that Princess had taken care of US; what about the staff???) He said that in a situation like this, Princess pays them their full regular $$$$, daily gratuities share and all. KUDOS to Princess.

Now that is class!!! That is why Princess is my favorite cruiseline.

[Host CJSKIDS]

The local news has the coast guard on stating that the Captain is being investigated as he did not call in the emergency. The first call to the Coast Guard was made by the mother of one of the passengers who got a call from her daughter on her cell phone. The Coast Guard then had to place a call to the ship to find out about the emergency and that is not how things should be done.

 

Here is a great local website where you can see local coverage, incuding this report from the coast guard.

http://www.wesh.com/video/9329788/index.html

[Merion_Mom]

cjskids: PURE speculation on my part.............

 

We were outside of whatever boundaries there are, because the casino was open, so TECHNICALLY, I'm not sure that the Coast Guard has jurisdiction UNTIL the Captain calls them???? Not sure that someone with a satellite or powerful cell phone beating him to that punch is such a big deal, either.

 

Hell, before *I* could post on Cruise Critic, one of my fellow passengers had called Channel Six in Philadelphia and been interviewed on the air!! :rolleyes:

[FunshineBear]

The local news has the coast guard on stating that the Captain is being investigated as he did not call in the emergency. The first call to the Coast Guard was made by the mother of one of the passengers who got a call from her daughter on her cell phone. The Coast Guard then had to place a call to the ship to find out about the emergency and that is not how things should be done.]

 

Um, this is kinda odd and funny but I think that was my mother. My mom was on the phone with my sister who called on her cell right after it happened and then my mom called Princess. Princess put her on hold as they didn't know about it. I'm assuming they called the Coast Guard then.

 

That is unless there's alot more daughters cellphoning moms right after. Anyone know if the call was directly to the Coast Guard or to Princess themselves to clear that up?

[smeyer418]

Hi Nancy and Carol...

 

I am glad that neither or you was significantly hurt. I am also sorry this happened to you.

 

For others FYI the Jones Act(yes the real use of it this time) does protect crew who are hurt in American waters on any vessel(to some extent) when the ship is determined to be unseaworthy....Unfortunately most crew sign a waiver. The Norway incident where some of the sailers were both killed and seriously hurt was this way.

 

Hey just don't take it out on the Red Hook Pier...All the best get home safe and sound.

[Merion_Mom]

Carol,

 

Hugs hon I am so glad you are home safe and sound. Just an fyi, you were selected for special search everything because of a code on your ticket/boarding pass. One thing that kicks it out is a one-way ticket, or one bought within 24 hours and also between certain cities. Unfortunately you hit the TSA lottery. Sorry you got barked at. I just happen to know someone who is a supe with TSA out in Phoenix and that was his response to me about why.

Thanks, flagger. :) (I think that I said that in post #304 :D ;))

 

Warm greetings and deepest gratitude to all my WGIG buds! :)

[Love Boat Dream]

I am away from home and I could read the CC site (when I could get it up!) but I couldn't post until just now. Just as I had been reading every word you had written about the cruise, I read everything I could (couldn't access some pages) on this thread.

 

I just want you to know that one more person who never met you cares about your well being (and that of the other CCers and all the passengers!) and i am so glad you are ok!

 

I'm sorry you had a rough trip home though!:mad:

 

And, I was just about to ask you how you liked the Kennedy Space Center tour! ;)

[goodml]

Thanks Carol and Nancy for keeping us all updated on everything. Glad you're home safely now Carol. LMAO with the husband comment by the way. When I read that earlier I remembered reading a comment you made about the ex way back when you had your first cruise "experience":D . I was waiting for your response and it was a good one.:D

 

Anyway, glad you guys are ok and also that you had a great trip up til that point.

[flagger]

The local news has the coast guard on stating that the Captain is being investigated as he did not call in the emergency. The first call to the Coast Guard was made by the mother of one of the passengers who got a call from her daughter on her cell phone. The Coast Guard then had to place a call to the ship to find out about the emergency and that is not how things should be done.

I disagree and this has been addressed up thread. The FIRST responsibility of a captain is to deal with the emergency at hand and assess. I bet the person with the cellphone called within moments. The captain is first and foremost responsible for the souls on board. Same sort of rules apply to airline pilots. Aviate, Nagivate, Communicate.

 

Fly the airplane in an emergency

Figure out where you are

Communicate after the first two steps have been completed.

[Host CJSKIDS]

Um, this is kinda odd and funny but I think that was my mother. My mom was on the phone with my sister who called on her cell right after it happened and then my mom called Princess. Princess put her on hold as they didn't know about it. I'm assuming they called the Coast Guard then.

 

That is unless there's alot more daughters cellphoning moms right after. Anyone know if the call was directly to the Coast Guard or to Princess themselves to clear that up?

 

 

The person from the coast guard stated that the mom called them directly.

[Merion_Mom]

Hi Nancy and Carol...

 

I am glad that neither or you was significantly hurt. I am also sorry this happened to you.

 

For others FYI the Jones Act(yes the real use of it this time) does protect crew who are hurt in American waters on any vessel(to some extent) when the ship is determined to be unseaworthy....Unfortunately most crew sign a waiver. The Norway incident where some of the sailers were both killed and seriously hurt was this way.

 

Hey just don't take it out on the Red Hook Pier...All the best get home safe and sound.

Hi, Sid. Sorry that we didn't get to return home to you. :)

 

OH, by the way to everyone....................

 

Customs in Port Canaveral:

 

Customs? What Customs? No desk was open or manned; no one looked at me, no one stopped me, no one even asked to look at my papers, no one even asked for my filled-out customs form................

 

Just walked straight off the ship, boinking on my way out, and straight onto a bus to the airport.

 

Weird. It wasn't until about 5 minutes later that it hit me that I hadn't "gone through Customs".

[joetrizeo]

Stop arguing about list degrees until the final report is out!

The ship monitors roll constantly and will give a definite figure once the investigation is complete. Baring any catostrauphic mechanical failure, the ship is designed to roll that much, for swift manuverability in emergencies, not under normal sailing ofcourse.

As for the roll being more severe on higher decks is it NOT. 15 deg roll is 15 deg roll, on deck 0 all the way up to deck 15 or whatever. It is true the arc displacement is greater however it is not the arc displacement or any rotational acceleration which caused the tipping damage. That would be true if the ship rolled and accelerated pushing everything (throwing it) to the side. This is not the case. The X component of the Normal force of Gravity (in the direction perpendicular to roll) is what caused everything to overcome its 1) coefficient of friction or 2) center of mass, to topple over and crash. Thus if you had a china cabinet at the center of roll rotation and a china cabinet on deck 30, they would see the same component of normal force and fall the exact same. Anyone else with an engineering degree or who has taken Statics, Dynamics, or even Gravitational Physics or Trig want to back me up?

Measured with a protractor, this IS a 15 deg list.

 

[PhoenixCruiser]

Yes, it was great to see my kids............surprised the hell out of them, too. They had to clean up a whole day early! ;) They didn't quite make it. ;)

 

LMBO at this Carol, glad to see you still have your sense of humor :D

 

When the love of my life had he seizure I was out of town, when I was finally able to fly home and visit him in the hospital, one of the first things he said was, honey, I'm really sorry but the house is a MESS! Yes, it was, however it didn't really matter :)

 

Glad you made it home safely (((((hugs)))).

 

###

[nymshowdown]

I too have been reading through.

 

My prayers are out to all who experienced this and those injured. Hope you all have a safe trip home.

 

A comment about comparing Princess' decks to other cruise lines, Princess counts decks open to crew only in their deck numbers. Lines like Carnival don't. (Example: The gangway on the Carnival Liberty is located on Deck 0 while the gangway on Grand-class ships is located on Deck 4) I am not implying that this happened, but if water did reach Deck 7 (Promenade, first deck with outside areas) It could be compared to water reaching Deck 3 or 4 on other cruise lines.

 

Yes Princess pool's are fresh water.

 

I have to say, I have read about so much praise to the crew of not only the Crown Princess, but also the Star after the fire. Also, the way Princess has been compensaiting not only passengers but crew seems impressive. Once again, hats off to Princess for dealing well with emergency situations.

[FunshineBear]

Thanks Cjskids. My mom had also just seen that bit of info on the news about the mother/daughter cell phone call and thought it was her.

[rykersdad]

Carol It's Meant to Be....... time to go out and get another doxie!!!:D and stay put at home raising her!!!

[rolloman]

 

That has got to be the most ridiculous statement I have ever read. Of course she mean the hallway in the cabin in front of the bathroom and leading to the door, and not the passageway.

 

Sorry if I offended your friend Mindy. Her post read hit door then passageway not hit passageway then door. Regardless, the post was an exaggeration as the list was 15 or so degrees not 38 and higher. The dramatization of the facts keeps new cruisers from cruising. The real problem which needs to be resolved is the fact these ships do not properly secure items or bolt equipment to the deck. I understand the need to make it seem as much as an elegant land hotel but the plain reality is there are too many variables which can cause a ship to float unstable. There was a time when I was in 15 degree plus lists for 2 days in a row on a warship during rough weather. Its a sad day when one big jolt trashes an unprepared ship. Maybe now along with fire retardant balconys Princess will proceed to take care of this with lessons learned. The upside for you Merion Mom or Carol whichever you prefer, by the time this thread is over you will be in the 7000 club.

[rolloman]

 

That has got to be the most ridiculous statement I have ever read. Of course she mean the hallway in the cabin in front of the bathroom and leading to the door, and not the passageway.

 

Sorry if I offended your friend Mindy. Her post read hit door then passageway not hit passageway then door. Regardless, the post was an exaggeration as the list was 15 or so degrees not 38 and higher. The dramatization of the facts keeps new cruisers from cruising. The real problem which needs to be resolved is the fact these ships do not properly secure items or bolt equipment to the deck. I understand the need to make it seem as much as an elegant land hotel but the plain reality is there are too many variables which can cause a ship to float unstable. There was a time when I was in 15 degree plus lists for 2 days in a row on a warship during rough weather. Its a sad day when one big jolt trashes an unprepared ship. Maybe now along with fire retardant balconys Princess will proceed to take care of this with lessons learned. The upside for you Merion Mom or Carol whichever you prefer, by the time this thread is over you will be in the 7000 club.

[jillybabes]

Carol, So glad to see that you made it home safe and sound...It was wonderful to read all your posts and that you and Nancy kept upbeat attitudes especially with all that went on. Glad to hear that the pictures were found, please post a couple when you can... Take care and keep posting:D Later, Jill:cool: