blog post

I am attaching a link to a very comprehensive article publishsed by Travel Weekly, a respected publication for travel agents. I will first summarize it, then let you know my thoughts on it.  I also want to hear your thoughts.

  Cruise lines are doing safety and emergency response audits. CLIA, one of the professional organizations I belong to, is calling the International Maritime Organization to set global standards. The Congress will hold hearings and meetings about it.

This is a worldwide concern.  The Concordia was carrying 3200 passengers and 1,000 crew. There were 26 nationalities onboard.

A discussion among the cruise lines determined that the size of the ship did not affect it's safety.  They expect that lifeboat drills will take place before the ship leaves the harbor. There is a question about whether the safety drill should take place at the Muster Station where the lifeboats are located, or in the ship's theatres and lounges, so people can sit down. One cruise exec called this disaster and it's aftermath, "It will be like the airports after 9/11". There is a question about the training of captains. One cruise exec said that it used to take 25 years to get promoted to captain, but the lines probably accelerate training because there are so many slots to fill". Or maybe, there should be more than one captain. The question about the crew's ability to speak severall languages come up, in terms of the rescue. The question about "woman and children first" and "the captain must stay with the ship"? Cruise execs said that it is based on the cruise line company's policy but that the accessibility of passengers and accommodations should be on a personal basis.

My opinion:  Yes, this is the 9/11 of the cruise industry.  As I stated in a previous blog, I have never been worried about safety on cruise ships, and I am going on my 19th cruise next month.  My clients have also never expressed safety fears on cruises. Yes, this is a global issue and all ships, not just those owned by an American corporation, need a global standard of safety.

In my opinion, safety drills must take place before the ship first leaves the harbor, must take place at the Muster Station with lifejackets on each person.  Crew needs to be fully trained in all safety and emergency procedures. For people who don't speak the majority language on the cruise ship (i.e., I was on the Costa Fortuna two summers ago and there were only 200 of us who spoke English), there needs to be someone who speaks that language.  Maybe Muster Station assignments can be made with that in mind. In my opinion, the captain and crew must demonstrate their responsibility to the passengers and assist in the safety of all of the passengers, before they go in the lifeboats. The ship's captain needs a lot of training and experience and I think the idea of two captains is a good one.The issue of "women and children first" is a tougher one.  I am a woman with children so of course I want to safely get off the boat.  But I also want my husband to safely get off of the boat.

What are your thoughts on this? I would love to hear them.

http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Cruise-safety-revisited-after-Costa-Concordia-disaster/?cid=eltrdb