Crown Princess Incident

[FinelyCruising]

From the reports here in NYC it seems a strong possibility exists that passengers on board have varging degreees of trauma, and also those pasengers may have sustained some very serious injuries.

 

My post here is to wish all share with those on board my thoughts and prayers and quick medical attention for those in need. This appearas to me to be a very sigificant incident and one out of the ordinary that have been experienced on the seas in any recent times and my hope for the members on these boards is that we pull together and focus on those on board who really need us and so many others to be there for them.

 

God Bless for your safety, your expedient medical attention and your need for our support in this very frightening time and possibly horrific time that you are experiencing.

 

My Best to you All.

[ILov2cruise]

180% would be totally upside down. Don't think we'd be seeing any pics of it heading back to PC if that happened. Not much new info, but here's something from Orlando Sentinel.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-bk-ship071806,0,5565996.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

 

 

NY1 said it took a 180% turn. Write to them, I'm sure they don't have a clue what happened and is reporting what they heard the same way we are repeating what we hear.

Just hope everyone is ok.

 

Makes me think twice about cruising on her in Sept. Seem like lately princess is jinxed.

[Brandy07]

My friends and I were suppose to leave Thursday the 20th. Please, G-d speed to all of you. If anyone needs help contacting people or just need to talk, I am a nurse and will help. You can e-mail me at compdok@verizon.net

 

Brandy07-Joyce

[arabrab]

News report with more details on injuries, which sound more extensive than previously reported:

 

50 injured on cruise ship off east coast

By Florida Today

Originally posted on July 18, 2006

 

FLORIDA TODAY/Christina Stuart

The damaged cruise ship returned to Jetty Park about 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Initial reports say the ship listed suddenly to one side, injuring about 50 passengers.

Order Picture

COMPANY STATEMENT

Company Statement:

After departure from Port Canaveral at approximately 3:25 p.m. eastern time today, Crown Princess experienced an unexpected list to the starboard side as she began sailing north towards her final port of New York.

 

Initial reports are that a number of passengers did sustain serious injuries. There are also numerous reports of injuries such as cuts, bruises and fractures. We are currently assessing the full extent of passenger injuries, and have returned the ship to Port Canaveral to transfer the more seriously affected passengers to a medical facility ashore.

 

We deeply regret this incident, and are doing everything we can to make our passengers as comfortable as possible under these difficult circumstances.

 

We are also investigating the cause of the ship's sudden list, which is unknown at this time. We can confirm that the watertight integrity of the ship has not been compromised, and it is safe for passengers to remain onboard while the ship is alongside in Port Canaveral.

 

The cruise will be terminated in Port Canaveral, and arrangements are being made to return the passengers home. A full refund will be given to passengers, together with a full reimbursement of any additional expenses.

 

We will provide details about the next cruise after we are able to fully evaluate the situation.

 

Crown Princess is currently on a 9-day Western Caribbean sailing, roundtrip out of New York, with calls at Grand Turk, Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman. Port Canaveral was the last port of call before returning to New York.

 

For additional information, please contact 1-800-PRINCESS

 

• Video: Cruise ship in trouble (from Tampa Bay's 10 News)

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An accident at sea left the Crown Princess cruise ship listing and limping into Port Canaveral with at least 50 passengers treated for injuries. Officials said 20 will be transported to hospitals.

 

"The magnitude of injuries is unknown," said Jim Watson, spokesman for Cape Canaveral Fire-Rescue.

 

A spokesman for Merritt Island Fire-Rescue listed the following cases: one pediatric case being flown to Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando via air carrier, one adult case being flown to Holmes via helicopter, seven critical cases being brought in via ground transport to Wuesthoff Hospital.

 

State Road 401 was shut down as a landing zone

 

There were ten ambulances on standby, with three helicopters and four public transportation busses on the south and north sides of the port.

 

Wuesthoff Hospital in Rockledge is preparing for patients. Emergency medical technicians are on the ship now. The injured will be either airlifted by helicopter or carried by ambulance.

 

Port Canaveral officials said they believe there is no structural damage to the Crown Princess.

 

The injured and their families will be taken off, but other passengers will be asked to remain on the ship until Wednesday morning, said Port Authority CE

[suefalls]

Prayers to all.

[Tristan]

I feel so badly for those on board. My heart and prayers go out to them.

[TexasMom2]

Carol and Nancy and all the other passengers, get home safe and sound. Our prayers are with you.

[jfrenaye]

What a mess. Make sure Princess puts you all up in first class hotels. The JW Marriott or Ritz Carlton in Orlando are nice. The Hyatt at Orlando Int'l Airport is good, or The Renaissancenear Sea World. All peaceful hotels where you can get really good comp meals and try to start relaxing again.

 

Laguardia is a downright mess. They showed people in the terminals sweating and there were a lot of people.

 

The local news here in Orlando said that the Crown is still seaworthy but it's pretty obvious that they will send all of you home.

 

Good luck to all aboard.

 

Seems a little cold and calculating for your first couple of posts

[libertybelle41]

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected.

 

 

Thanks CruiseCritic for keeping in informed.

[brentrn]

NY1 said it took a 180% turn. Write to them, I'm sure they don't have a clue what happened and is reporting what they heard the same way we are repeating what we hear.

No, a 180 degree turn mean turning about to face the direction you were coming. That's what would happen with a hard port turn.

[PhoenixCruiser]

Oh my gosh...when I saw the news, I logged on as soon as I could (CC is very busy and understandably slow). I'm so relieved that the first post I clicked on was from you guys!!!

 

Hang in there, hug each other and everyone else who needs one, and I will get busy praying for everyone who is hurt. Have you been able to contact your families? I haven't been able to read every page of this, and I am sure someone has chimed in to help, but if you need mine e-mail me at tracyaroche at cs dot com.

 

One minute I am getting caught up on your wonderful adventures, and the next...this. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone onboard, and I am so relieved to hear that you all are okay!

 

T

 

Carol and Nancy, Tracy perfectly summed up what I want to say!! ((((hugs))))! I hope you both have a safe trip home.

 

###

[wrp96]

Carol and Nancy, glad to see you've posted and are okay. Email me if you need me to do anything for you.

[patval]

I want to first say my prayers and thoughts are with the everyone on the Crown Princess.

 

What I am about to say is not to be rude or mean just reality and coming from an Economist with a PHD from MIT I hope everyone will understand.

 

If you stock in the parent compnay of Princess I would call your broker and advised them of a sell point on your stock or in plain english what price to sell when the price drops. I say this because the ship had some sort of a mechanical issue with the steering mechanism so they are going to have to dry dock the Crown and see what the issue is. I do not believe the Captain, Corporate Captain, and the Board of Directors are gojng to just say well we fixed the computer part on bridge of we go. They are going to want to dig deeper and find the root if the issue so liability can be evenly distrubuted.

 

The reason I say about the stock price this is going to cost Princess tens of millions of dollars. The first thing is lawsuits that will be filed by passengers and possible crew. The next is the people on this sailing already saw all he islands and were heading back with 2 sea days to NY so my point is that 75% of the cruise was done but, Princess is going to have to refund the money of the cruises plus a free cruise and a per person not whole cabin credit between 200-600 USD. The next issue is the dry dock you are going to have to cancel all sailings that are left in July and most of August and offer them the same deal or a little less in the onboard credit area. When not if the ship is in dry dock that alone will be at least 1 week of work not including the time to get the part and finding a dry dock without having to go to Europe so it might be in the Virginia where they will find a place to put the Crown in or go to Freeport Bahamas to get it done. Also we have to keep in mind the alot of broken glass, tbales, and flooded elevators are involved and most important the US government AKA Cost Guard that will not let the Crown sail without these issue taken care of. The material to fix the glass, tables, TV's, and a crew to pump and check the intergrity of the elevators has to be accounted for. This might take weeks to get it is not like they have the Crown design element on glass sitting on a shelf and the same with tables only the TV 's wont be an issue and maybe elevator repair crew.

 

 

Just thinking about it if they would have to go to Europe this would be impossible because most or about all the ship yards that could handle the Crown are already taken with other mega ships so Princess needs to hope that Freeport or somewhere in the Virginia area there is a dock available.

I am sorry for everyone affected by this and happy to hear that so far Princess has been an angel to people and lets hope this will continue.

 

Paul

[A Sixth?]

Wow. What a disaster.

 

Rethinking my Crown booking in January based on a Princess administration thing.

 

I went to their web site to see how they are reporting on this mess, and read their press release.

 

http://www.princess.com/news/index.jsp

 

Then I thought I'd re-read their press realised on the Grand...it's no longer there. Nor is the Star.

 

If you go to their site, they've deleted almost everything on those two recent events.

 

Just hope that any passengers who were injured heal as fast as possible.

 

One last thing. This sounds like waht happened on the Grand on the surface. I don't believe in coincidence's, does the Grand Class have a serious problem? Princess had better do more explaining this time. Deleting press releases doesn't instill confidence.

[KelJ]

Carol and Nancy, I'm so glad you're both okay. We're all looking forward to hearing from you once you're home safe and sound. I can't begin to imagine the ordeal you've been through. Kelly

[FunshineBear]

My thoughts and prayers are also with the passengers of the Crown and their families. This was a terrible incident that Princess can't deny was their fault.

 

My sister and her husband were on the ship on their honeymoon. Luckily they're ok, just a banged up knee (she went for xrays) and lost shoes. From what she had said, it was very scary and kids were flying out of the pools. And my family's been cruising for 15 years. (This was the first on princess. But I'm certainly not going to go on that line after this) The captain had come on the intercom and said something was a mistake so they can't really backtrack either and claim a rogue wave or something.

 

From what my sister told us, Princess isn't arrainging for any travel for anyone. They're only (hopefully) reimbursing them as well as giving them back the money for their cruise. So I'm going to imagine that flights back to New York out of MCO are going to be at a premium. So with all of the trauma of what happened on the ship, they now have to find a hotel and flights.

[KelJ]

I have tried to post this three times now, so I hope I don't end up with a triple post. Nancy and Carol, I am so glad to hear that you're both okay. We are all looking forward to hearing from you when you're home safe and sound. I cannot begin to imagine the ordeal that you and others have gone through. Kelly

[zydecocruiser]

Sounds a little similar to NCL's incident...

 

"05-21-01

Norwegian Sky Accident

More than 70 people were injured yesterday when Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Sky's autopilot failed near Canada's Vancouver Island. The ship made a sudden turn, causing the rudders to swing and turn hard to list. Glasses and plates crashed and passengers went flying. Passengers had just finished lunch when the ship suddenly started to list. Seventy-eight people were injured, but only two stayed in Victoria, BC, for medical care. The Coast Guard has authorized Norwegian Sky to resume its cruise schedule."

 

If this is the case, may well be a software bug and/or design issue.

 

Similar to airplanes, cruise ships have data recorders, so they will probably be able to determine the exact cause.

[MoonPet]

I was under the impression that Princess was going to help all the stranded passengers with flight arrangements. If I can help anyone by looking up flights, post what you need here.

 

I am not a travel agent, but my internet access might be faster than what is on the ship - so if you want information about flights before you call your airline, I can search airline schedules.

 

I can't think of any other way I can help here from NY, but I'll try my best.

[Gigi1220]

My prayers are with everyone. This is shocking! Does anyone know how long it takes for them to figure out what went wrong? I am sure this is not a good thing for Princess.

 

Again...I hope everyone gets home safe.

[dobie]

Carol, and Nancy, I have been enjoying your posts from the ship. I am glad that you are both OK, and my thoughts are with all of you on the ship. I hope that those passengers who were taken to hospitals recover and I am so sorry that this had to happen to everyone. It must have been very frightening. I have been trying to track the news, but being in AZ it makes it difficult. When you get a chance, please post again. Thank you for taking the time to post from the beginning....we knew a heck of a lot more than did CNN or any other news network. Hang in there...

[firstcruise05]

Nliedel:

 

My husband and I sailed with you on the Mariner for our Honeymoon in October. I had seriously considered this cruise as well, we live in CT so I was looking for a close port...The Explorer and the Crown were really our only 2 options. Instead we decided to do Disney this year in October and do a cruise another year.

 

I am so glad you are okay and hope that everyone on the ship makes it through this ordeal in one piece.

 

So, it seems like no one knows exactly what happened to the little girl...I hope she is okay.

 

Our thoughts and prayers are with you all during this time.

 

 

A ship, from what I understand, can only handle a 45 degree list without tipping over. A 9 degree list is the maximum list that can be sustained with passenger comfort we were told on our last cruise. A 12 degree list sounds about right for what you are all describing. Sounds minor but very dangerous and scary.

[KamloopsCruisers]

Carol & Nancy,

 

I am relieved and thankful that you are both O.K. What an ordeal you have all been through. I'm sending out prayers for all the passengers and crew, especially the little girl who was seriously injured.

 

Girls - get home safe - that's an order! Then pour yourselves several good drinks - you deserve it.

 

Sending hugs,

 

Sue

[bmpssp72]

DH (a minister) and I will be praying for the injured passengers, the Princess staff who, I imagine, are quite distressed and may have suffered injuries as well as passengers, and the families of all involved over the next several days. Experiences like this leave effects lasting more than just a day or two, obviously, so please know that your friends here on the board will be keeping you in mind for some time to come.

 

As an aside, DH and I have been planning for our first-ever cruise since last October (on the 12/16/06 Crown Princess). I've been avidly reading boards for several months now and am questioning if cruising is perhaps more of an "adventure" than we might have considered... what with people going overboard, viruses, fire, listing ships... But really, accidents and illness unfortunately happen everywhere. I really feel for all the Princess folk who have to deal with the aftermath, as well as (of course) feeling just awful for the passengers & family members who were scared out of their wits, the injured, and those whose joyously-awaited upcoming vacations will be abruptly disrupted because of this incident.

 

Thank you, Cruisecritic, for making it possible for us to get real-time info and to keep current on the situation as it untangles before us.

[LizaMM]

All PAX on this cruise are in my thoughts...espescially those who have been injured.

 

Thank you so much for posting and keeping us all updated. As it has previously been stated those of us here on the boards are often more up to speed than what the news reports and in general we are a community of people who not only enjoy cruising but also have a bond with are fellow cruisers.

 

My prayers are with all the people who experienced this.