I’ve been pondering the Costa Concordia disaster. No we are NOT giving up our cruise! Like the drive to the airport, the drive to the cruise terminal is probably the most dangerous part of our trip. But my heart goes out to the families of those who died, to the injured passengers and crew, but also to those who were so frightened and now have to deal with having lost everything including what was probably going to be a wonderful vacation cruise. It has become a vacation to remember, that’s for sure!
Right now, Costa is not endearing itself to its passengers,
however. From what I’ve been reading, they are refunding the money for the
cruise and giving a 30% discount on a future cruise, but doing NOTHING for the
passengers in the future—some as soon as this week—who have to alter their air
reservations. Nothing, that is, unless they booked their air with Costa.
I’m betting that a lot more people will be paying attention
at the muster drills, at least in the near future. I’m also betting that, as
time passes, people will STOP paying attention at the muster drills, much as
happens in airplanes. Look around you next time you are on an airplane and see
how many (none?) put down their papers or their books or stop their
conversations to listen to the flight attendant give the safety briefing.
Where ever you are going, please pay attention to the safety
briefings. Your attention may save your life or the life of a loved one someday.
Good for you!!! I wouldn't give up either. If at the captian's table, discreatly ask who is on the bridge!
ReplyDeleteHow right you are about safety drills. We recently paid more attention on an airbus after the pilot announced that there seemed to be a shortage of hydraulic fluid at TIA for which was our delay....hmn.
Diana
It's just too bad they didn't even have the safety drill. I agree with you that bad things can happen anywhere, and you're probably much safer on a cruise ship than most places.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic plan to keep a blog so we can follow along with your adventure!!!
ReplyDeleteAre hoping so veryyyyyyyyyy much you can come by Diego sometime....
Danial
You can't drag too much out of poor Costa - they are not responsible before you board - that's why you should purchase travel insurance & check what it covers! Those already boarded will be covered by Costa's own insurance. I don't think they'd been at sea long enough to fit in a proper safety drill - the passengers would have demanded their dinner first, which is what was happening.
ReplyDeleteOur experience is mostly with Holland America and they have the safety drill as soon as they leave port, within an hour or so. I think all the carriers that come to US ports have to do that because our Coast Guard requires it for any ships that come to US ports. Costa does not come to the US and I've never been on them so I don't know what they are required to do.
ReplyDeleteShips out of Sydney have their muster drill before we leave the pier...
ReplyDeleteLesson learnt... carry a little torch on you at all times and make sure the kids have photo copies of everything
Being a commercial pilot's wife, I pay attention to every safety briefing and never mind doing the drill on cruise ships!
DeleteI read someone's suggestion to not only photocopy everything but to put it on several thumb drives and give them to the kids and a neighbor and then email the information to ourselves so we'd have access not matter what. And carry paper copies with us.
And I've already got a torch in our box of stuff we're accumulating to take with us ! (And I'm learning to speak Australian---I didn't even hesitate, I wrote "torch" instead of "flashlight"!)
I am looking forward to meeting you Pam. Every time I read something you have written I learn something new. So impressed by your learning to "speak" Australian. Reading your take on our language makes us laugh. Bob and I watched a VERY old Australian movie last week called "A Weird Mob". It might be worth your while. Keep it up, you are making the run up to the cruise very enjoyable, thank you. Wendy T.
ReplyDeleteYour comment made my day, Wendy!
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