Summit passengers injured in excursion mishap. (Merged threads)

[crusinmama06]

That is just horrifying. :(

 

Thanks Melissa for the updated story. I wish all of the injured well. And pray for a speedy recovery. :(

[jayred1]

We just returned from the Summit yesterday and wanted to share that the ship's Captain and staff did an excellent job of communicating and caring. We did not know any of the passengers injured; however, the Captain kept the entire ship informed of the situation and status of the injured. These announcements were made daily during the remainder of the cruise.

 

Additionally, they provided everyone a few free minutes of phone and internet to allow us to communicate with our families so that they would not be concerned after seeing the news. And a special prayer service was also provided by the ship's staff. I can't speak from a position of being directly affected by this accident; however, as a fellow passenger, I applaud Celebrity with how it was managed.

 

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those families who were impacted and hope recovery goes well.

[woodofpine]

An accident like this always reveals public tolerances for risk; much of the time that tolerance isn't even recognized. The sort of tour vehicles present appear to be flat bed trucks with bench seating bolted on. The structural protection present it minimal to non-existent. There's nothing 'wrong' with that per se, it's just a matter of tolerances.

 

After all, in the USA, we allow our children to be transported daily on similar flat beds by school districts; vehicles that would be considered unacceptably dangerous or illegal for use by a common commercial carrier (ex. Greyhound) or a public transit authority. But what the H, they're ONLY our children (the ones were supposed to be hyped about looking after on ships;)) So we exempt school buses, it's cheaper...:rolleyes:

[turftoe]

We just returned from the Summit yesterday and wanted to share that the ship's Captain and staff did an excellent job of communicating and caring. We did not know any of the passengers injured; however, the Captain kept the entire ship informed of the situation and status of the injured. These announcements were made daily during the remainder of the cruise.

 

Additionally, they provided everyone a few free minutes of phone and internet to allow us to communicate with our families so that they would not be concerned after seeing the news. And a special prayer service was also provided by the ship's staff. I can't speak from a position of being directly affected by this accident; however, as a fellow passenger, I applaud Celebrity with how it was managed.

 

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those families who were impacted and hope recovery goes well.

 

I was on the Summit with jayred1 (still trying to get my land legs back) and want to echo everything said. Perhaps one of the most telling things was an encounter I had with a young man from the Shore Excursions desk the next morning in Grenada. He had booked several people onto the trip and still upset at thinking that he had spoken with folks, encouraging them to take the trip, and then they had gotten hurt as a result. He mentioned that the Millennium had a similar thing happen in South America, but it was on a private booking. The ship still stuck around a day to try and help before continuing the trip.

 

While we stayed an extra hour or 3 in Rousseau, we were not late to our next port. There were no complaints that I heard from folks who were not directly involved. I hope that the folks involved were treated well and Celebrity is doing everything that they can.

[MandyGirl]

Are there any recent updates regarding the passengers who were transported to Miami?

[Ladywhite]

I am also just returning from this cruise, but i wasn't able to obtain any of the names of the injured. I was concerned as one or our table guest, that we shared dinner with the first 2 nights of our sailing, we never saw or heard from her after this accident. Everyone at our table was concerned to her whereabouts. We never ran into this very nice lady after the first 2 days of our cruise even just on the ship and hoping she wasn't one of the injured. Is there anyplace i can find out this information? Who was injured, where they were from? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated! :)

[jayred1]

Turftoe was correct in adding that we delayed our sailing to Grenada until 9pm (originally scheduled for 5:30) so that the medical staff on-board could assist in treatment and allow those less injured (2) to be treated and released to continue the cruise. Five Summit staff remained on Dominica until Celebrity's guest care response team arrived on the island.

 

As for updates, Celebrity is recognizing patient confidentiality concerns as will the Miami hospital. Unless others who were travelling along provide additional information, I doubt we will hear any names/hometowns. Hopefully someone will see any further general news releases and post any updates on this board. I know lots of fellow passengers were sharing concern for those injured.

[lobster129]

Also back from the Summit. I agree that Celebrity did an excellent job in keeping fellow passengers informed of the status of injured passengers from the excursion accident. They kept us informed to the maximum amount legally appropriate. The US law (HIPPA) will not permit sharing any patient information on name, age, condition, etc. I also was impressed with their care of the injured passengers and assisted they provided as well as the offer for all on the ship to email or phone friend/family "back home" to assure they were not involved in the accident.

 

I am deeply concerned about the excursion Celebrity offered (and the passengers selected) that was the source of the accident. After experiencing Dominica's narrow winding mountainous roads with few guard rails, I would want an extremely safe vehicle to ride IN. Riding ON that open air excursion on bench-like seats would be dangerous, even without "brakes" failing problems.

 

Despite any waivers on the excursion that Celebrity had passengers sign for the tour, I feel that Celebrity DOES share some accountability in even offering this open air tour for this island's terrain. I doubt Celebrity would have permitted passengers who signed up for this excursion to cancel when they saw the open air vehicle (and get their $$ back!) Celebrity does share responsibility by offering this tour. They should not be endorsing any tours not safe for their passengers. Just IMHO

[Infi]

Thanks Jayred and the other Summit cruisers for letting us know about how the ship handled the situation. It sounds like they were very conscientious and did a great job. Kudos to Celebrity.

 

I, too, am curious as to the condition of the passengers in Miami. Our local news had been following it religiously but dropped the story over the weekend. Any new insight from CC news on the situation? As for now, let's just hope that all the injured are well on the path to full recovery.

[qe2]

I heard from a relative of those taken to Miami that one passenger was released from the hospital and another remains in intensive care. Hopefully everyone will recover.

[theluckylaowai]

As the Celebrity Summit Captain said each day, our thoughts and prayers are with the injured passengers and we wish them a speedy recovery and return to their homes and loved ones.

 

Related to this and shore excursions generally, I wonder how thoroughly and often these "three hour tours" are vetted by cruise ship authorities. Just as an example, my wife and I went on the Bucco Reef glass bottom boat and snorkel tour in Tobago. Now, I understand that Tobago is a third world country and that is a big part of the charm and why we go there. But, I found the excursion lacking in two ways: compared to other areas of the Caribbean, the reef is not that inspiring, either in fish or coral. Secondly, the crew did not have enough snorkel equipment for all the passengers, even considering some brought their own. Safety on the boat was never an issue, no complaints there. But, the bus to the reef was full requiring someone (me, one way) to sit in the front jump seat, no seat belt with the windshield about 12 inches from my nose. That was a big safety issue.

 

Getting back to the Dominica situation, I wonder how recently Celebrity personnel had checked out the involved vehicle, road drivability and driver competence? Perhaps I'm being cynical, but I wonder if as much time is spent vetting the tour operators as is spent vetting the on shore shopping relationships? To a large degree, these tours are caveat emptor, and the unforeseen is bound to occur occasionally, but if Celebrity is going to sell the tours, they do bear responsibility for the vendors upholding basic safety requirements. It looks to me like an open truck, with bench seating on pot holed and wet roads does not meet that standard.

[xeonpro]

Anybody hear any updates on this?