Conquest Captain Boots Man off Ship for Starting A Protest !!!03/16/08 Cruise

[SFlCruiser]

I disagree with most of you. Granted, I wasn't there to witness the man's behavior but I expect the cruise line to make EVERY EFFORT to fullfill the itinerary I purchased. IF the ship really did cruise in circles for hours, Carnival is at fault. It was a fuel saving ploy. We cruised the Hawaiian Islands last summer on NCL. We had a medical emergency on the leg from Kauai to the Big Island. The Captain was honest about it, announced the emergency, pulled into Honolulu, offloaded the sick passenger into a waiting ambulance, then ran flank speed to Hilo. We arrived a couple hours late but early enough for most passengers to make their excursions. People appreciated the effort.

We are taking a Mediterrean cruise on Carnival this summer (first trip on Carnival) and I would be livid if they missed a port and only offered me MY port fees back as compensation! If you want a boat ride, rent a boat. We take cruises to go to exotic and different locals.

[sixgun8]

Looks like all the petition signers are crawling out from under their rock.

 

 

of coruse the incident has media attention now and the threats of a law suit, so they are going public and soon to be extending that hand out expecting it to be filled with cash. gues what, it aint gonna happen.

[BND]

The Captain is the ultimate authority and has ultimate responsibility for the ship and the passengers. That's how it works at sea. He was completely within his rights as the Captain to toss that guy off for any reason. The fact the guy thought a petition was going to do anything tells me he is either ignorant of maritime law or just someone who likes to stir the pot. The Captain can decide for any reason at all not to go to a port and he doesn't owe anyone any explanation except for his bosses at the cruiseline. He was absolutely right about taking it up with the cruiseline upon their return. And as others have said, Carnival does not guarantee any port.

 

And for the poster who said he'll never cruise Carnival or any related cruiseline again because of cancelling ports, etc., (I hope he likes land vacations - oh wait, flights can be cancelled, etc,) as far as I know, this is not exclusively Carnival. If cruiselines guaranteed ports, you better believe you'd have a heck of a ride through hurricanes to ensure those ports were made. Let's get real people.

[Chief93]

This guy is a tool. Also, a helpful diagram of chain of command while on a ship at sea:

 

 

God

.

.

.

Captain

.

.

.

Everyone Else

[nats21]

of coruse the incident has media attention now and the threats of a law suit, so they are going public and soon to be extending that hand out expecting it to be filled with cash. gues what, it aint gonna happen.

 

Come on. It's one thing to defend the Captain's decision, it's another to go off into La-la Land where people don't get sued for stupid reasons.

 

I expect that Carnival will settle this out of court to avoid further negative media attention. That's how it always has and always will work.

[neverpar]

So what were the port charges for Jamaica? If they were only 25.00 that's all the ships pax's were entitled to...I went out to Carnvial and pretended to book the same cruise.....the port charges were 90.66 for the same cruise...so the 25.00 is fair.

For the people who may have had excursions booked, all they would have to do is email or call the people they booked through, and I'm betting there would have been no charge for the pre-paid excursions...if they were smart they had all the documention needed to do so...if they didn't that was poor planning on their part.

 

Read the whole thread people...(who are on the jerk's side) a ship just can't show up and expect a berth to dock!

[janerd]

Why is it always the U.S.Coast Guard that flies out to evacuate people.I mean if the ship is closer to Grand Cayman or Jamaica why don't they send a helicopter out to get the ill passenger?Almost all ships are flagged Bahamas or some other country.Would it have not been faster for whatever country was closer to send help.If the health and well being of the person is all that matters then why send a U.S. helicopter out all that way,when some other place is closer.We were near Haiti last year and the U.S Coast Guard came all the way from Miami to get a sick person,we turned north to meet the helicopter.Jamaica was a whole lot closer than the U.S. So does anyone know why.Just wondering.Mike.

[Stircrzy]

Hmmm...something don't pass the smell test here....

 

 

Look how many "1 post" wonders are showing for the last few pages of this thread...and how many of them support the "victim".

 

Cap't should have kicked his a$$ overboard...or as in other mutinys, had him walk the plank.

[Stircrzy]

Why is it always the U.S.Coast Guard that flies out to evacuate people.I mean if the ship is closer to Grand Cayman or Jamaica why don't they send a helicopter out to get the ill passenger?Almost all ships are flagged Bahamas or some other country.Would it have not been faster for whatever country was closer to send help.If the health and well being of the person is all that matters then why send a U.S. helicopter out all that way,when some other place is closer.We were near Haiti last year and the U.S Coast Guard came all the way from Miami to get a sick person,we turned north to meet the helicopter.Jamaica was a whole lot closer than the U.S. So does anyone know why.Just wondering.Mike.

 

I do not know the answer to your question, but I personally would rather have the US Coast Guard come and get me if I am in trouble...even if it takes a little longer.

[T2S]

First let's get it clear, Stev-O (that was how he introduced himself to me) was NOT from Texas, he was from Arkansas and I feel sorry for anyone living in Arkansas to say he lives in their state. I was there, on the ship, out on the deck at midnight to watch this woman get airlifted out of a huge ship by the Coast Guard in one of those baskets. Her life was in danger and anyone else who was a captain of a ship would have done the same thing.

 

I sat next to him on the deck and in that 10 minutes, I found out that he was bringing his son and his 2 friends on this cruise for graduation, the military rejected him cause of his age, how many terms he had served, he was a bouncer in a bar, he has a daughter traveling the world, he has a beauty queen for a wife, and oh yeah, he was a body builder, at age 50. "I'm better fit than most 20 year olds" he said to me. Talk about someone full of himself.

 

We thought it would be over, but the next day we saw him WASTE his vacation gathering signatures. Then while shopping we heard commotion and when we went to the piano area, there he was, standing there yelling at the captain, WITHOUT A SHIRT ON!:eek: Everytime someone else spoke, he would stand there flexing his muscles. How could you take someone seriously acting like that. Then a man shouted for him to put a shirt on. He became the joke of the ship.

 

With that said, yes, we missed the port in Jamacia. This was our very first cruise. A little disappointed but by the time we made it back to our rooms, there were notes under every cabin door stating we were going to miss the port. I was amazed at how the ship handled the situation and my husband said that he'd bet that they would kick him off the ship at the Caymans or put him in the brigg the rest of the way back---Good for the Captain!

 

I don't expect a refund, things happen and young woman lost her baby. How can anyone gripe about a refund when her life was at stake. All I can say is, 'what an idiot!'

[forensic]

I do not see where it made ANY difference that the ship was going in circles. Once the ship puts in a distress call to the US Coast Guard to come and remove anyone from their ship, for any reason, they HAD to follow the orders of the US Coast Guard as to where to stay and I am sure that the Captain of the ship was given certain Long. & Lat. to stay within. Obviously they wanted the crew member flown to the US and not taken to an Island Hospital or they would have gone ahead and docked In Jamaica. This type of complication is often life threating if it were my life I would want to go to the US - how about you?

 

Passengers have 'NO RIGHTS TO COMPLAIN ABOUT MISSING A PORT FOR WHATEVER REASON' - read your contract. The Cruise Line does not have to give any money back.

 

What the Cruise Lines CANNOT GET is that their COMMUNICATIONS ARE HORRIBLE!!

 

Most people can deal with anything IF you tell them the truth!

 

CRUISE LINE MANAGEMENT: LEARN TO COMMUNICATE!!

All they had to do was "immediately" ask people to report to their assigned dining tables for communications purposes. Then explain that there is a crew member with a serious health problem. blah, blah.

 

NO QUESTIONS! THESE ARE THE FACTS - THE END!

 

I am glad if they were thrown off the ship - cruise lines should do more of it!

[janerd]

I do not know the answer to your question, but I personally would rather have the US Coast Guard come and get me if I am in trouble...even if it takes a little longer.

 

What if you had a major heart attack and GC or Jamaica was 30 minutes away and the U.S. was 3 hours away?I'm thinking you would want the closer hospital,I know I would.Mike.

[zhal]

I see an oppertunity here, first off, since they tried to get results to their ship skipping the island and the ship offered 25$, sounds down right stupid of the liner to even offer a meger sum.

At least this family went to the captain voiced their concern over this and walked the plank, not good for the liner now.

I would have offered at least 25% of their fee back to keep them happy, and maybe some other stuff.

Since this did not happen, Im sure by now this will cost the liner more money in legal fees and what ever they have to do to defend against this.

 

Liner is STUPID

[flamingos]

Just to let you know that this thread is linked from the foxnews.com story on this.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,347748,00.html

 

That might explain the "one-post wonders".

[jetskier]

People forget that we have a US Naval base in Cuba and the Coast Guard can respond from there.

 

I also concur the guy is barking up the wrong tree. I cannot understand why folks dont get it that when you cruise the ports are not guarenteed. It is clearly spelled out in the cruise contract.

 

Dave

[Stircrzy]

What if you had a major heart attack and GC or Jamaica was 30 minutes away and the U.S. was 3 hours away?I'm thinking you would want the closer hospital,I know I would.Mike.

 

I'll take my chances that any air ambulance sent by the US, manned by Coast Guard personnel trained to do their best to stabilize me until they can get me to a major US hospital will stand me better than being treated in some near third world country.

 

But I understand your preference, too!

[Cruiseboy06]

I'm wondering how new posters are coming in and defending "passenger" ..

 

 

my bets are he will get an attorney and try sue Carnival, but at the end the judge will throw out the case.. JMO,

[Stircrzy]

Too bad Fox won't be able to figure out that 98% of the posters with "1" post will be coming from the same computer...

 

Obviously the majority of posters here are seasoned cruisers, with a few missed ports under our belts.

 

Kudos, Captain of the Conquest. You treated him nicer than *we* would have.

[vacruizer]

Hmmm...something don't pass the smell test here....

 

 

Look how many "1 post" wonders are showing for the last few pages of this thread...and how many of them support the "victim".

 

Cap't should have kicked his a$$ overboard...or as in other mutinys, had him walk the plank.

 

I was just about to post the same thing..... Not really seeing much support from the rest of us - there seems to be an abnormal number of first posts in support of this guy.

 

For all of you upset - the cruise line doesn't have to take you anywhere - just so you know. They can cancel all your ports without reason at all if they want to and they don't owe you a dime. It's the captain's decision and his word goes. Cruise lines, including Carnival, are not in the business of making their customers unhappy or they wouldn't be in business at all. If they miss a port they generally have a reason and it could be any number of things from weather, timing, not enough fuel, etc.

[Cruiseboy06]

Too bad Fox won't be able to figure out that 98% of the posters with "1" post will be coming from the same computer...

 

Obviously the majority of posters here are seasoned cruisers, with GH a few missed ports under our belts.

 

Kudos, Captain of the Conquest. You treated him nicer than *we* would have.

 

 

I'm not a seasoned cruiser yet.. going to have 4th cruise under my belt this Fall. i dont mind about missing a port if it was an emergency..

 

If I were on that cruise i d think OH WELL Probably i would have worry about the crew member..

[mktresearcher]

I'm wondering how new posters are coming in and defending "passenger" ..

 

As someone else mentioned earlier, this thread is linked on the front page of Foxnews.com. Apparently, it must be easy to register, so people do so to comment. I've had an account here for a couple of years, but hadn't visited the site in a year or so. I logged back in to comment.

 

On a separate point, I think there are three issues, and only one appears to be a point of disagreement for the most part.

 

Issue 1 - I don't think anyone is saying the captain did the wrong thing by skipping the port for a medical emergency. Everyone is in agreement there.

 

Issue 2 - I don't think anyone is saying the captain did the wrong thing by kicking a disruptive person off the ship. I say that with a little trepidation because I think a person should have the right to complain if they're getting a raw deal, but the bottom line is, if the guy was ruining the trip for others because he wasn't following the proper complaint channels, then yeah, kick him off. It's the captain's call 100 percent.

 

Issue 3 - This is the issue where some people (including myself) spoke up, and I don't see it being addressed by the defenders of the cruise line. Is a $25 refund a fair refund? I would argue that the refund should be the amount that the cruise line charges to add the stop to the itinerary. If it's really only $25 per person, then it's fair, but I suspect that the passengers paid a lot more than $25 for the purchase of that stop. To a great extent, the cruise line is transferring risk to the passengers, when the cruise line should reasonably absorb some risk itself as a business.

 

I would propose it another way. If you bought a 100-day round-the-world cruise for $50,000, and it was advertised as having 50 stops, how would you feel if the cruise line eliminated all of the stops and just steamed around the world non-stop? If you would be perfectly content to get a credit of $1,250 (50 ports x $25) on your $50,000, then the $25 refund is fair. If you think more of a refund is in order, then you agree in theory that there's some point at which a trip is "ruined" by having port cancellations, and the damage is more than $25 per port.

 

I'm not defending the guy's actions and I'm not attacking the captain. I just know that when I saw the $25 refund mentioned in the Fox News article, I thought, "Wow, that's a pretty cheapskate move by the cruise line."

[janerd]

I'll take my chances that any air ambulance sent by the US, manned by Coast Guard personnel trained to do their best to stabilize me until they can get me to a major US hospital will stand me better than being treated in some near third world country.

 

But I understand your preference, too!

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think the helicopter coming to get you has a doctor or nurse on board,usually 2 pilots and a rescue diver.The ships doctor went with our evacuee.But I guess it's your life.Mike.

[big_duck]

As someone else mentioned earlier, this thread is linked on the front page of Foxnews.com. Apparently, it must be easy to register, so people do so to comment. I've had an account here for a couple of years, but hadn't visited the site in a year or so. I logged back in to comment.

 

On a separate point, I think there are three issues, and only one appears to be a point of disagreement for the most part.

 

Issue 1 - I don't think anyone is saying the captain did the wrong thing by skipping the port for a medical emergency. Everyone is in agreement there.

 

Issue 2 - I don't think anyone is saying the captain did the wrong thing by kicking a disruptive person off the ship. I say that with a little trepidation because I think a person should have the right to complain if they're getting a raw deal, but the bottom line is, if the guy was ruining the trip for others because he wasn't following the proper complaint channels, then yeah, kick him off. It's the captain's call 100 percent.

 

Issue 3 - This is the issue where some people (including myself) spoke up, and I don't see it being addressed by the defenders of the cruise line. Is a $25 refund a fair refund? I would argue that the refund should be the amount that the cruise line charges to add the stop to the itinerary. If it's really only $25 per person, then it's fair, but I suspect that the passengers paid a lot more than $25 for the purchase of that stop. To a great extent, the cruise line is transferring risk to the passengers, when the cruise line should reasonably absorb some risk itself as a business.

 

I would propose it another way. If you bought a 100-day round-the-world cruise for $50,000, and it was advertised as having 50 stops, how would you feel if the cruise line eliminated all of the stops and just steamed around the world non-stop? If you would be perfectly content to get a credit of $1,250 (50 ports x $25) on your $50,000, then the $25 refund is fair. If you think more of a refund is in order, then you agree in theory that there's some point at which a trip is "ruined" by having port cancellations, and the damage is more than $25 per port.

 

I'm not defending the guy's actions and I'm not attacking the captain. I just know that when I saw the $25 refund mentioned in the Fox News article, I thought, "Wow, that's a pretty cheapskate move by the cruise line."

 

That is (approx) the port fee. The cruise fare pays for the meals, the beds, the meals, the entertainment, the meals; all provided whether or not the ship stops anywhere.

[vacruizer]

Aren't there some other cruise lines out there where you get nothing for a missed port? I think the $25 is actually a nice goodwill gesture on behalf of Carnival. I haven't missed any ports yet, but if it ever happens, oh well. I know they had a reason and didn't do it just to ruin my vacation, and I'll happily take the $25 and have a few extra drinks.

[Sams_mom]

I just know that when I saw the $25 refund mentioned in the Fox News article, I thought, "Wow, that's a pretty cheapskate move by the cruise line."

And herein lies much of the problem. People who have never cruised before (or if they have, have never had a port cancelled for one reason or another) see that $25 refund and think the guy had a "right" to be angry. And all of them are going to click on the link on the Fox site, create a log in, and voice their opinions as one-post-wonders.

 

All cruiselines (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess, Carnival, etc.) miss ports occasionally. None of them refund 25% if it was a four-port cruise.

 

There is some risk to cruising. Why do you think we advise brides to not make beach front wedding plans in the Caymans? That port gets missed more often than any other port on the itinerary. But we all get on the ship knowing that missing a port is always a possibility, and even if we think the tenders could make it to shore because the waves don't look that high, it is not our decision to make. We all take our $25 bucks and order a bucket of beer.

 

Steve-O is a loud-mouthed narcissist and the Fox news guy should have read the whole thread before he stated that a significant number of posters supported him.:rolleyes: