What cruise lines don't want you to know

[JEDI]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/13/opinion/walker-cruise-ships/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

-Carnival Triumph was a rerun of Splendor, which also had engine room fire
- Fires are frequent on cruise ships , investigations of illness outbreaks rushed

The industry avoids U.S. labor laws, taxes, oversight by incorporating in foreign nations.


Fires are frequent on cruise ships?? (and not little kitchen fires)

 

[BoomerD]

Yep...the US of A should ban all non-USA flagged cruise ships from docking/embarking at US ports.
Of course, that just means they move those operations to non-US ports...like Ensenada, Mexico...(which already happens)

 

[Imp]

Welcome to the good ole days of life at sea?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Yep...the US of A should ban all non-USA flagged cruise ships from docking/embarking at US ports.
Of course, that just means they move those operations to non-US ports...like Ensenada, Mexico...(which already happens)

The majority of commercial shipping in the U.S. sails under a different flag. Want to know which country has the most commercial shipping registered under it's flag in the world? It's Chad which doesn't even have a sea coast.

 

[waggy]

The majority of commercial shipping in the U.S. sails under a different flag. Want to know which country has the most commercial shipping registered under it's flag in the world? It's Chad which doesn't even have a sea coast.

yeah. i remember reading a article about that. but for the life of me i can't remember why.

 

[Wreckem]

For a cruise ship to be a US flagged vessel it has to be built in the US and manned by US crewmen.

Only Newport News has the capability of building the large modern cruise ships that are coming out these days. And last I checked, they give preference to the US Navy. So they'd never be able to build a cruise ship. It's not like they or any other US shipbuilder would want to as Govt contracts are much more lucrative than cruise ships.

FYI, there is only one US flagged ocean going cruise ship. That is NCL's Pride of America that sails the Hawaiian islands.

 

[Wreckem]

79 fires in 23 years is actually pretty low, considering these ships are more or less floating cities. You also have to consider how many voyages, nautical miles, and passengers that would be. You also need to take into account, how many of those 79 fires were on ships sailing from the US. Here is a hint. It is not that many.

In comparison there have been around 300 commercial airliner accidents in the same time frame.

 

[FallenHero]

79 fires in 23 years is actually pretty low, considering these ships are more or less floating cities. You also have to consider how many voyages, nautical miles, and passengers that would be. You also need to take into account, how many of those 79 fires were on ships sailing from the US. Here is a hint. It is not that many.

In comparison there have been around 300 commercial airliner accidents in the same time frame.

Is there a source with the number of cruises worldwide in that timespan or some central database to look up some of that info?

 

[Wreckem]

Not sure. The 79 fires I mentioned was taken from the CNN report. I didn't verify its accuracy. Other than that the number of fires on ships sailing from the US has been minimal.

Here is the best source of incidents at sea.

http://www.cruisejunkie.com/#Marine_Accident

 

[RossMAN]

/me waits for [redacted]

 

[Pocatello]

There are more people wanting to take a cruise on a luxury ship more than ever. I'm suspecting the cruise liners are cutting corners some where, like maintenance, to keep up with the demand.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Very interesting read. Thanks for sharing.

Interesting that the writer used to be a lawyer for the cruise industry.

 

[Wreckem]

There are more people wanting to take a cruise on a luxury ship more than ever. I'm suspecting the cruise liners are cutting corners some where, like maintenance, to keep up with the demand.

Carnival Cruise ships aren't luxury(nor is their sister company Coasta). They are mass market, and in all honesty Carnival is the worst mass market line. The more upscale lines tend to have less problems, although they to have had issues, just not as often.

Also, most cruise lines meet demand by building newer and bigger ships. RCI has almost launched a ship a year since 2000. They have new ships coming on line in 2014, 2015, and 2016 as well. NCL has a new ship launching this year and next. Celebrity just got done launching IIRC 6 new ships in 7 years.

 

[Vdubchaos]

The industry avoids U.S. labor laws, taxes, oversight by incorporating in foreign nations.

Every industry/Corporation does this.

 

[AstroManLuca]

The majority of commercial shipping in the U.S. sails under a different flag. Want to know which country has the most commercial shipping registered under it's flag in the world? It's Chad which doesn't even have a sea coast.

Chad doesn't have a flag of convenience. You might be thinking of Liberia, which is 2nd. Panama has the most ships that fly its flag.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_flags_of_convenience

 

[Quantos]

79 fires in 23 years is actually pretty low, considering these ships are more or less floating cities. You also have to consider how many voyages, nautical miles, and passengers that would be. You also need to take into account, how many of those 79 fires were on ships sailing from the US. Here is a hint. It is not that many.

In comparison there have been around 300 commercial airliner accidents in the same time frame.

To be fair, there are A LOT more planes than cruise ships.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Meh, twas a fluke.

As long as they allow me to eat as many steaks, lobster tails, and molten chocolate cakes as I dam well please at dinner, I will continue to use them.

vacationstogo.com ftw.

 

[Eureka]

To be fair, there are A LOT more planes than cruise ships.

And to be fair, there are a lot more people per cruise ship, with a lot more activity.

An aircraft is a relatively sterile environment, meant for short duration point-to-point travel.

A cruise ship is long duration, meant to be lived on and worked on. With things being cooked on board, all the electrical entertainment, and the closed environment, accidents are going to occur.

The more important thing to focus on is accident response. If the crew is prepared to respond properly, then everything can go just fine.

 

[BUTCH1]

From the article, "Crew members say that infected workers often do not complain of their illness out of fear of not being paid or of losing their jobs. Cruise lines tell the passengers to use hand sanitizers, but the culprit may be norovirus-laden salad."

Doesn't exactly inspire confidence seems like they pack these things as many people as possible to maximize profit from booze sales and gambling, the industry has degraded to a floating cesspool in a nutshell..

 

[SearchMaster]

I've been on over a dozen cruises and am going in another one next month. If incidents like this keep supply high and demand low, I'm all for it.

 

[Anubis]

never understood the appeal of a cruise

 

[Pantoot]

never understood the appeal of a cruise

Pretty simple really, its a great way to see the world and not worry about any of the logistics of where to stay and where to eat and you only have to unpack once.
You do miss out on a lot when you go back to your refuge after only 6-8 hours visiting a location, but some think its a fair trade off.

 

[rsutoratosu]

So i get that they said toilets were not working, would you pop in a bag and toss it overboard ? lol

 

[rudder]

The majority of commercial shipping in the U.S. sails under a different flag. Want to know which country has the most commercial shipping registered under it's flag in the world? It's Chad which doesn't even have a sea coast.

No company can afford to comply with all the regulations to have a U.S. flagged ship.

 

[Aharami]

i also read an article about how cruiselines take a lot more than they give to the island ports that they visit. I've never been a fan of cruises and articles like these reaffirm my opinion.