• Salvage plan for wrecked Costa Concordia unveiled in Rome

    By Dan Askin, Cruise Critic

    The plan to remove the massive wreck of Costa Concordia, which lies half submerged off the Italian island of Giglio after capsizing in January, was revealed Friday in Rome. At least 30 people died after the ship ran aground.

    Reuters

    Click to enlarge the image.

    In an unprecedented effort, American-owned Titan Salvage is working with Italian firm Micoperi, and will use pulling machines connected to a custom-built subsea platform to hoist the hull upright in one piece. The firms won the right to perform the work during a months-long bidding process.

    The first step is stabilizing the ship to prevent further slippage down the sloped sea bed on which it rests. That is expected to take about a year, Costa said in a statement. This will be achieved by attaching "tieback chains" from the submerged part of the ship -- starboard side, closest to shore -- to a structure built nearby.

    After Concordia is stabilized, the subsea platform will be built along the port side -- the non-submerged side -- and huge caissons, in essence steel boxes, will be welded to the exposed side of the ship. The caissons will be filled with water. "This gives the ship extra buoyancy," explained Mark Hoddinott, general manager of the International Salvage Union. "Caissons have the effect of making the ship wider, and the water will add mass, which improves the 'turning moment' to bring it upright."

    Pulling machines will then be connected to the subsea platform, and two cranes fixed to the platform will pull Concordia upright -- facilitated by the water-filled caissons. The ship will still be flooded, so it won't float; instead it will rest on the platform. When the ship is upright, caissons will be welded to the starboard side of the hull. The caissons on both sides will then be de-ballasted -- after treating and purifying the water to protect the marine environment -- and filled with air.


    "This strategy has been used on a smaller scale by both the US and Royal Navy," added Hoddinott. "But no one has removed a ship of this size." Concordia is 950 feet long and weighs 44,612 metric tons (or nearly 100 million pounds), according to Titan-Micoperi.

    Once upright, the wreck will be towed to an Italian port and dealt with in accordance with the requirements of Italian authorities. Gianni Onorato, Costa Crociere S.p.A. president, told Cruise Critic in early May that the ship will ultimately be scrapped.

    No details on the cost of the project have been officially released, but a Costa spokesman told CNN that the figure could exceed $300 million.

    According to today's statement from Costa, the "one piece" approach -- rather than slicing the ship up and barging it off bit by bit -- will "minimize environmental impact, protect Giglio's economy and tourism industry, and maximize safety." After the ship is removed, the sea bottom will be cleaned and marine flora replanted.

    While the project is ongoing, the operation base will be located on the mainland near Piombino, where equipment and materials will be stored. This will mitigate impact on the island's port activities and leave Giglio's hotels open for tourists during the peak summer season.

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  • Elderly couple booted from cruise ship after refusing to attend safety drill

    By Dan Askin, News Editor, Cruise Critic

    An elderly couple was booted from a luxury ship Saturday after the wife refused to participate in the mandatory safety drill that begins every cruise.

    Cruise Critic member Seabourntraveller, who's chronicling a sailing on the 450-passenger Seabourn Sojourn, offered an account of the incident, which occurred while the ship was docked in Lisbon, Portugal. "[The passengers] in [cabin] 627 did not respond to numerous requests, phone calls and announcements to proceed to the Restaurant for the muster drill, and, much to their chagrin, they are spending the next 12 days somewhere other than Seabourn Sojourn," ST wrote.

    Seabourntraveller said the captain announced on the ship's PA that those who refused to participate in the muster drill -- during which passengers gather at assigned lifeboat stations and learn what to do in an emergency -- would be debarked. "He was not bluffing, and they were re-packed, removed and escorted off the gangway."


    This is the second reported incident since January's Costa Concordia disaster in which a passenger has been booted off a ship for not participating in the drill. Seabourn sister line Holland America went the same route in February, debarking a passenger for muster drill "non-compliance."

    Mike Driscoll, publisher of the weekly industry newsletter Cruise Week, reported that the husband, 90, attended the drill, but his wife, 84, said she didn't feel well. "She refused, saying she had done it before," wrote Driscoll, citing Steve Shulem, the California agent who booked the couples' cruise.

    Driscoll reports that the two were on the second leg of a three-leg (back-to-back-to-back) cruise, but it is unclear if "done it before" refers to the first leg or some other cruise experience.

    We've reached out to Seabourn via e-mail for comment.

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    The muster drill is just one of several cruise ship safety protocols that have been scrutinized in the wake of January's Costa Concordia tragedy. Some 700 passengers who had boarded in Civitavecchia on January 13 had not yet participated in the drill when Concordia struck a rock; they were scheduled to attend the drill the next morning.

    The International Maritime Organization (IMO), a U.N. agency tasked with improving maritime safety, requires via its Safety of Life at Sea conventions (SOLAS) that passenger ships hold a muster drill within 24 hours of embarkation. In February, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) announced that its 26 members -- which include every major line -- would hold muster drills before a ship leaves port. At the time of January's accident, most lines were already holding drills before departing, but there were exceptions. Because Concordia operated on a "triple-homeport" schedule -- passengers could board in Barcelona, Civitavecchia or Savona -- musters were sometimes scheduled for the next day. This was still acceptable per the 24-hour window dictated by SOLAS, the ship safety regulations adopted following the sinking of the Titanic.

    What lines do with muster skippers is up to them. "The only enforceable piece is that the ship completes the passenger muster as required," said Lt. Cmdr. Dan Brehm of the U.S. Coast Guard's Cruise Ship National Center of Expertise. "What [officers] do to the passengers who don't show up is a company policy at that point."

    As for Saturday's forced debarkation, Cruise Critic readers have mostly taken Seabourn's side. "I agree wholeheartedly that the captain made the right call in disembarking cabin 627's passengers, who apparently could not be bothered to follow his rules," wrote markham, echoing a common sentiment. Seabourntraveller was baffled that, in light of what happened on Concordia, any cruiser would flout the muster requirement.

    Still, some had sympathy for the debarked duo. "The last image I have of them is this very elderly couple standing on the cruise pier in Lisbon all by themselves with their luggage," wrote an unnamed passenger in an e-mail to Cruise Critic. "I hope these poor dear people made it home."

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  • Ex-Cunard crew member sentenced to four years for sex offenses

    By Jamey Bergman, Cruise Critic

    A former Cunard crew member was sentenced at Swindon Crown Court on Friday to four years in prison for sexual assaults against children under his care while he was a Cunard employee.

    Paul Trotter, 34, of Pontefract, West Yorkshire, received the four-year sentence along with an additional extended period of four years on license once released. Trotter was assigned a lifetime placement on the sex offenders' registry and banned from working with children.

    The series of charges against Trotter involved 13 boys between seven and 13 years of age, and possession of more than 900 indecent images of children according to The Independent Web site. The court heard that Trotter filmed himself spanking the boys and used the films for his "sexual gratification."
    In a statement following the sentencing, Cunard President Peter Shanks promised continued support for the families affected and announced that the U.K.'s National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) had completed an audit of Cunard's childcare policies and programs.

    "We are implementing the recommendations to make sure we have in place every possible check and safeguard for children," Shanks said, adding that the NSPCC will perform an annual audit of Cunard's procedures.

    Trotter pleaded guilty in April to 12 charges of child abuse under the Sexual Offenses Act, including assaulting children and taking, making and possessing indecent images of children while working onboard Cunard's three ships. 

    The offenses took place between November 2007 and August 2011 when Trotter worked in Cunard's "Play Zone" children's clubs onboard Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria. The abuse came to light in August 2011 following a tip-off to the police.

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  • Carnival Cruise passenger rescued after jumping overboard

    By Dan Askin, Cruise Critic

    A Carnival Spirit passenger jumped overboard yesterday into the Pacific Ocean and was quickly rescued by the ship's crew.


    In a statement provided to Cruise Critic, Carnival said witnesses saw a 28-year-old man jumping off the ship as it steamed for Hawaii on the fourth day of a 15-night cruise. Search-and-rescue operations were initiated and the passenger was located and brought back on board, where he received treatment at Spirit's medical center. 

    Carnival's CareTeam is providing support to the guest and his family, said the line. 

    Cruise Critic readers on board the ship provided additional reporting of the dramatic rescue.

    "Shortly after Captain Volpi announced we were in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and had passed the point of no return, the man jumped overboard," wrote member cruisingcouple2008 on his Facebook page. "We immediately heard the BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO PORTSIDE alert and the ship came to a quick slowdown from 23 knots to about 4 knots. We turned around and the lifeboats were lowered. Within moments, the man was located and the quick work of the staff of the Spirit rescued the man alive." 

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    Smarks, who is also on board, said on the message boards that the man jumped from Spirit's adults-only Serenity Deck. 

    The majority of man overboard scenarios don't end in a rescue — but it does happen. In February, fast-acting crew members rescued a crew member who jumped off of Carnival Magic. Last October, a man who jumped overboard from P&O's Ventura was pulled out of the water alive. More strangely, a Carnival Inspiration passenger who went overboard in June 2009 was rescued when he was found hugging a pilot marker in a shipping channel near Tampa. The man told authorities that he climbed up on a railing to get a better view of the pilot boat when he slipped and fell overboard. 

     Carnival Spirit is in the midst of a 15-day Hawaii cruise that departed San Diego on Friday and will return to San Diego on April 28.

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  • Saga Sapphire inaugural cruise cut short due to engine problems

     

    By John Deiner, Managing editor, Cruise Critic

    April 15, 6:30 p.m. ET -- Already delayed a week because of a shipyard strike, the inaugural voyage of Saga Cruises' Saga Sapphire has now been scuttled in mid-cruise because of engine problems.

    The Sunday Mirror's John Honeywell first reported in his blog that the recently refurbished ship, due back in Southampton on April 18, is now waylaid in Valencia, Spain, and that passengers (who will receive a full refund and a discount on a future cruise) will be flown back to the U.K. on Monday. Passengers set to embark on Sapphire's next cruise will now be flown by charter to Marseille on April 25.

    In a follow-up report, Honeywell notes that the cruise will skip El Ferrol, Spain, and Leixoes, Portugal, and passengers will receive a 50 percent refund.

    Saga spokesman Paul Green told Cruise Critic by email Sunday evening that after problems that "could not have been detected or foreseen" developed with one of Sapphire's engines, it was decided to cut the cruise short. Even though the "ship remains safe to sail," Green added, the line "operates on the precautionary principle and will only set off if we have a fully functioning back-up engine." Honeywell reports that "replacement parts are being flown to Valencia and the company is carrying out what it describes as a 'forensic engineering inspection' to discover the cause of the problem."

    Sapphire -- which formally sailed as Croisieres de France's Bleu de France -- has had a difficult journey en route to its maiden voyage for Saga, having faced delays due to striking workers during a nearly four-month refurbishment in the Fincantieri shipyard in Palermo, Italy. The makeover included the addition of 46 balconies to cabins, new restaurants and a "View From the Top" outdoor cinema.

    Furthermore, according to Honeywell, while the ship was recently berthed in Southampton, an "inspection by officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency uncovered a total of 55 'deficiencies' on board, ranging from lack of training in fire drills, to an incomplete lifeboat inventory. The faults were not considered serious enough for the MCA to detain the ship." In addition, two crewmembers went overboard and were quickly rescued during a March 29 lifeboat drill.

    This incident is just the latest in a string of recent cruise ship engine problems. Last week, the Plancius, an ice-class vessel operated by the Dutch company Oceanwide Expeditions, suffered a partial engine failure and stranded its 73 passengers and 42 crew on a South Atlantic island. In March, Azamara Quest suffered an engine room fire that injured five crewmembers and left the ship adrift off the southern Philippines coast. In February, an engine fire left Costa Allegra inert in the Indian Ocean. Cunard's flagship, Queen Mary 2, has also been plagued with engine troubles over the past year.

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  • Cruise ship stranded in South Atlantic after partial engine failure

    By Dan Askin, News Editor, Cruise Critic

    A Dutch polar expedition ship carrying 73 passengers and 42 crew is stranded at a South Atlantic island after suffering a partial engine failure.

    The Plancius, an ice-class vessel operated by the Dutch company Oceanwide Expeditions, is anchored in a bay outside South Georgia's Grytviken, a "former whaling station and now a popular stop-off spot for cruise ships visiting Antarctica," reports Agence France-Presse.

    A press release issued Thursday by Oceanwide says all passengers and crew are "safe and sound" and that there is no threat to the environment. The "Atlantic Odyssey," a 32-night Ushuaia-to-Cape Verdes Islands voyage that began March 29, was interrupted on April 9 when the Plancius experienced a "mechanical dysfunction of the main propulsion system causing a reduced propulsion power." As a result, the ship can sail at a maximum of 4 to 5 knots in calm conditions, said the line. That means it won't be able maintain course in the rough seas of the open ocean.

    All passengers -- mostly Dutch and American -- will be taken to Montevideo, Uruguay, on the chartered passenger vessel m/v Ushuaia, which is scheduled to depart from Grytviken on April 18. The m/v Ushuaia should reach Montevideo on April 24, at which point passengers will be flown home. In the meantime, the line called onboard spirits good ("given the circumstances") and said passengers are embarking on walks as part of a makeshift excursion program organized by expedition staff.

    After passengers are transferred to the m/v Ushuaia, a tug boat will help tow Plancius to a port equipped to make repairs. Oceanwide has not said where Plancius will be fixed. We've reached out to the company by e-mail to see what the passenger compensation will be.


    According to Oceanwide's Web site, Plancius was built in 1976 as an oceanographic research vessel for the Royal Dutch Navy and was named "Hr. Ms. Tydeman." The ship sailed for the Dutch Navy until June 2004 and was eventually purchased by Oceanwide.

    This incident is just the latest in a string of recent cruise ship engine failures. In March, Azamara Quest suffered an engine room fire that injured five crewmembers and left the ship adrift off the southern Philippines coast. In February, an engine fire left Costa Allegra inert in the Indian Ocean. Cunard's flagship, Queen Mary 2, has also been plagued with engine troubles over the past year.

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  • Oasis of the Seas cruise ship picks up 23 Cuban refugees

     

    By Dan Askin, CruiseCritic.com

    The world's largest cruise ship picked up 23 Cuban refugees in the Caribbean Sea on Wednesday.

    Royal Caribbean's 225,282-ton, 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas was sailing from Falmouth, Jamaica, to Cozumel, Mexico, when it spotted a small boat, said the line in a statement. Oasis approached the boat and picked up 23 refugees, including 19 men and four women. (Thanks to Cruise Critic member bajathree, who's onboard, for the tip.) 

    Once onboard, the refugees received food, water and medical treatment, said the line. Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez told Cruise Critic that the new passengers were housed in Oasis' conference room with a few crewmembers until the ship arrived in Cozumel this morning.

    According to Royal Caribbean, the U.S. Coast Guard was notified, as is the line's standard practice when dealing with distressed mariners. At the direction of the U.S.C.G, the 23 Cuban citizens were disembarked in Cozumel, where they were handed over to the Mexican authorities. 

    Passenger and youtuber Spensaf1 posted a video of the refugees being handed life jackets and then transferred from their makeshift craft to a yellow boat. One of the onlookers can be heard saying, "it's lobster night tonight. Going to be eating pretty well tonight."

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  • Carnival Triumph sails from Galveston after legal issue settled

     

    By Jamey Bergman and John Deiner, Cruise Critic

    The 2,758-passenger Carnival Triumph, which a judge had ordered held in Galveston, is sailing today as planned, according to the Facebook page of Carnival cruise director John Heald.


    The legal snafu developed after the relatives of a German tourist who died in the Costa Concordia disaster filed a $10 million lawsuit in federal court in Galveston, according to Bloomberg news service. Now, according to Heald, the line has "reached agreement on this matter and [it is] expecting the US Marshals to release the ship very soon." He followed it up soon after by saying the ship "will be sailing shortly."

    Carnival Cruise Lines is the parent of Costa Cruises, whose ship hit a rock off the coast of Italy and capsized on January 13. More than 30 people died in the tragedy, and the ship remains on its side near the island of Giglio.

    Bloomberg reported that the warrant ordering the ship held in port states that the “court finds that the conditions for an attachment of defendants' joint and collective property within this district, mainly the MS Carnival Triumph, appear to exist upon an admiralty and maritime claim.”

    Earlier in the day, Carnival told Cruise Critic in a statement, "We are aware of the situation and are working through the appropriate legal channels to resolve it. The litigation in question relates to a matter that involved a European-based cruise line that is a sister line to Carnival Cruise Lines. We are optimistic that the issues regarding the Carnival Triumph will be resolved and the ship will depart on its scheduled voyage later today."

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  • Silversea cruise ship collides with vessel in Vietnam

    By Erica Silverstein, CruiseCritic.com

    Luxury cruise ship Silver Shadow, which ran into a local vessel in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, on March 16, sustained only "limited minor dents," according to Silversea Cruises. The line reports that the incident is under investigation.

    Silversea, which acknowledges in a statement that "there was contact between Silver Shadow and a local commercial vessel," says "guests' safety was never compromised." The ship, which was on a nine-night cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong, reached the port of Ha Long Bay, where tours took place as scheduled. Line spokesman Brad Ball told Cruise Critic in an e-mail that the ship remains fully operational and is embarking on its next itinerary from Hong Kong today. No itineraries will be impacted.

    Although Ball did not address the reasons behind the incident, Cruise Critic member oregon50 was onboard and reports, "Today, in Gulf of Tonkin in dense fog the ship had a mild collision with a small freighter. No great damage and only a 90-minute delay reaching destination."

    A CNN report, including an interview with passenger Andrew Lock who is onboard, says the collision left a hole in the local vessel (here referred to as a container ship). Passengers headed to their muster stations, but the captain soon announced that the ship was not in danger.

    Ball had no further comment regarding the identity of the other ship. 

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  • Princess cancels two cruises due to propulsion issue

    By Ashley Kosciolek, Cruise Critic

    An issue with the propulsion motor on Caribbean Princess caused the ship to cut its most recent sailing short, and according to a statement from Princess Cruises, it has also prompted the line to cancel two subsequent sailings scheduled for March 18 and March 25. 

    The ship, which arrived back in its home port of San Juan for repairs on Wednesday, is currently serving as a floating hotel for passengers aboard the March 11 sailing, who will be allowed to stay on board until Sunday, when the voyage was slated to end. The ship stayed overnight in St. Maarten — the itinerary's first port of call — on Monday after arriving more than four hours late.

    Those on the shortened sailing and those on the March 18 and March 25 sailings will each be issued a full-fare refund and a 25 percent future cruise credit. Those on the March 18 and March 25 sailings will have their airfare either refunded or credited if booked through Princess. If not booked through Princess, those affected can submit any airfare change fees to the line for reimbursement. Princess' statement also says the line will refund any transfers, pre- or post-cruise hotel stays, and government fees and taxes. 

    The necessary repairs will tentatively be completed in time for the ship's April 1 sailing from San Juan. 

    Several members on the Cruise Critic message boards have suggested that the Caribbean Princess experienced similar issues on previous sailings. "We were on the Caribbean Jan 29 - Feb 12 and were delayed departing St. Lucia for Grenada by several hours due to propulsion problems," says kappellof. "We were scheduled to depart about 6:00pm and didn't depart until close to midnight." 

    "We were on the CB in Jan. for a B2B and both weeks they had problems with the propulsion system. One time we ended up docked for several hours until they could get it going," tigercat added.

    Princess representatives, however, have denied those claims, stating that there were no other propulsion problems on recent voyages. 

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  • Caribbean Princess delayed by propulsion issues

    By Ashley Kosciolek, Cruise Critic

    An issue with the propulsion motor on Caribbean Princess will likely impact the remainder of the ship's current itinerary, according to a statement from Princess Cruises. 

     As a result of reduced speeds caused by the problem, the ship arrived more than four hours late for its scheduled call on St. Maarten on Monday, and it will stay there until the situation is fully evaluated by the line's technical team. 


     Princess has not yet released an updated schedule for the seven-night Southern Caribbean voyage, but a few folks on the Cruise Critic message boards have said the ship is still in port. 

     "We are currently on the Caribbean princess, at this point we have been told to be on board by 6:00pm for departure at 7," says said BCFamily. "We have been told that they have significant damage to the port side propulsion engine and that they will have a revised itinerary later this afternoon." 

     Additionally, several boards members booked on subsequent sailings and are wondering whether the necessary repairs will affect them. "We are boarding this coming Sunday," says decibel123. "Does that mean our cruise could be cancelled? We are flying out from Montreal and did our own air transportation. Would Princess reimburse our flight?" 

    Issues like these beg questions of what, if anything, the line will offer in the way of compensation. Join the discussion here, and stay tuned for more information as it becomes available. 

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  • Cruise lines stay the course following robbery near Puerto Vallarta

    By Dan Askin, Cruise Critic

    Cruise lines are staying the course and keeping Puerto Vallarta on the schedule, days after 22 Carnival passengers were robbed just outside the Mexican resort town during a ship-sponsored tour.

    "We are aware of the recent incident," said Julie Benson, Princess vice president for public relations. Benson said Princess' security has reviewed the situation and, "based on the information available at this time," decided that it was safe to proceed with Sapphire Princess' call today.

    "Princess Cruises does not offer this specific tour, nor do we offer any excursions to this area," she added.

    The ill-fated tour took Carnival Splendor passengers to El Nogalito, an area some 40 miles outside of Puerto Vallarta known for its lush natural setting. While they were returning to the ship, masked assailants stopped the bus and robbed the cruisers of their money, watches, cameras and other valuables. A statement from Carnival said there were no injuries, and all passengers returned safely to the ship.

    Calls by Disney Wonder, due in port Wednesday, and Carnival Splendor (Thursday) also remain unchanged, according to spokesmen from each line. Like Princess, Disney does not offer the tour in question.

    After the robbery, Carnival announced it was canceling the tour in question — a guided nature trail excursion sold and booked through the line — indefinitely.

    Meanwhile, Guillermo Ohen, director of Puerto Vallarta's Tourism board, told Cruise Critic that the operator chosen by the line went off course, deviating from the route as planned. Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen refuted that claim, saying that the tour was operating as scheduled at the time of the robbery.

    On Saturday, Latitude International, the public relations firm representing the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board, called Thursday's robbery an "extremely rare incident." A statement on Latitude's Facebook page said, "minutes after we learned of the incident representatives from the local and state government, tourism leaders and tour operators [moved] to provide assistance to those involved and police and the district's attorney office started their investigation."

    The robbery comes at a rough time for the beleaguered Mexican Riviera cruise region, which has seen numerous lines pull out over safety and security concerns, as well as issues with demand. Lines have primarily cut calls in Mazatlan, which has seen its scheduled ship visits plummet from 200 in 2010 to roughly a dozen in 2012, but Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta have also suffered.

    Earlier this month, the U.S. State Department issued a new travel warning for Mexico. It re-affirmed an earlier warning, in effect since April 2011, saying that millions of Americans safely visit the country annually, and that the majority of drug-related violence happens near the Mexico-U.S. border and along drug-trafficking routes, rather than in resort towns.

    This is not the first case of cruise passengers being targeted while on shore excursions. In November 2010, 17 Celebrity Mercury passengers on a tour bus in St. Kitts were robbed at gunpoint. In 2009, 18 cruise passengers on two separate ship-sponsored tours were robbed, again at gunpoint, in the Bahamas.

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