Greek Cruise Crash?
Ponzi and I “do” cruise ships, booking most of our travel through Vacations to Go (although, we’re probably going to skip any kind of travel agency next time, since they’re relatively useless anymore). This morning, four days after something happened, we received this note from VtG:
At 4:00 p.m. local time on Thursday, April 5, Louis Cruise Lines’ Sea Diamond struck underwater rocks near the coast of Santorini, Greece, and began taking on water. Passengers and crew abandoned ship, and 15 hours after the collision, the vessel sank into the Aegean Sea.
All but two of the ship’s 1,156 passengers and 391 crew members were safely evacuated by military and commercial ships and local fishermen. A 45-year-old Frenchman and his 16-year-old daughter are still missing. Divers have been searching for the missing passengers and at press time a remote-controlled undersea probe was being readied to search the sunken ship, resting in approximately 300 feet of water.
The ship was in the midst of a 4-night Greek Islands cruise and was minutes from anchoring in the harbor when it sailed into rocks marked with warning lights and clearly indicated on navigation charts. The captain of the Sea Diamond and five other officers and crew members have been charged with causing a shipwreck through negligence, breaching international shipping safety regulations and polluting the environment. The captain has said the ship was on a normal course when a strong current caused it to move suddenly to the right, and although the order was given to turn the ship to the left, the ship could not be turned in time. The investigation is continuing.
Oh, wow. I don’t know what I’d do if that were to happen while we were aboard. I’m glad that most of the passengers are safe, though. I’d never heard of Louis before, but we’re not quite cruise aficionados (not enough grey hairs). Been on Royal Caribbean long enough to know we probably won’t be on Royal Caribbean again – and been on Holland America long enough to know that it probably suits us best.
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9 Comments
Royal caribbean alaska cruise
April 11th, 2007
at 12:20am
Starting post: Greek Cruise Crash? by at Google Blog Search: royal caribbean alaska cruise
The Chris Pirillo Show
April 12th, 2007
at 5:33pm
Personal Blog Looking for a new Computer Keyboard Gas Prices vs. Summer Vacation Dual Monitor Duel: DVI Divinity Twitter Hacks Parental Control Software Suggestions? Greek Cruise Crash? Easter Egg Hunt for Toys and Candy What is SMB – Small Business? Political Cartoons Did NASA Fake the Moon Landings? Hot Wife Video First! First! First! Deep Sea Observatory: Science Fact Pirillo?s Picks for 04/04/2007
Windows Fanatics
January 22nd, 2008
at 2:25am
If you can, rely on your existing phone for your connectivity. Some devices do work as a modem, and will work very well. I would also recommend reading: Alaska Cruise Tips Our Alaska Cruise ScheduleGreek Cruise Crash?Cruise Ship Engineering Sponsor Our Cruise Connectivity
Greg
April 9th, 2007
at 2:46pm
Really, you like Holland America? IMO it’s gone way down in quality since Carnival bought it. Lisa and I sailed Holland America for our honeymoon in 2003 and were rather underwhelmed. The service was mediocre. The ship got into port WAY late and almost made us miss our train, and they tried to nickel and dime us over $25 in shipboard credit our travel agent had arranged.
‘Course, now that we’ve got a young kid, it’s family-friendly resorts, Disney cruises, or Carnival for the next 10 years.
Nik
April 10th, 2007
at 1:19am
my cousin was on that ship!!
Michael
April 10th, 2007
at 1:28am
Of course, Carnival runs most of the cruise line business. Only been on two cruises, both Carnival, and have not had bad experiences. Then again, my expectations are not that high. The first one was great, the second one, not as good but may have been just the particular route we picked. I am looking forward to an Alaskan one sometime.
Emerson Hankamer
April 10th, 2007
at 1:38am
Hi Chris,
I read your blog Greek Cruise Crash? and I am concerned that you believe Vacations To Go no longer adds value to your cruise planning process. I’ll work harder to communicate the benefits of working with us in the future. For now, here’s a brief list of reasons of why I think you are better off working with a Vacations To Go agent:
Price: We have the most comprehensive list of last minute deals in the industry on our 90-Day Ticker. Many deals are lower than you’ll find if you go direct.
Rates: We have the most extensive list of specialty rates on every line, including 55+, past guest, interline, military, group, police/firefighter/teacher, singles and theme cruises.
Cruise Counselors: Call a cruise line or even a mega-agency like Expedia and you’ll get an underpaid, disinterested and largely unqualified agent to handle your trip. Most have no incentive to objectively find you the best deal, particularly at a cruise line where they can’t recommend any line but their own, and few agents have a direct extension or the ability to call you back. If you don’t book on the first call or have a problem, you must restate your issue every time you call.
In contrast, our cruise counselors are your single point of contact thru the entire pre- and post-cruise process. They take full responsibility for everything and will provide a prompt, educated and professional response when you call. If anything does go wrong, our team usually has the problem resolved before our competitors would even be aware of the issue.
Newsletter: We’ll keep you up to date on the most important issues in the industry, even sinking greek cruise ships, because we feel it’s our obligation to inform you of everything that may impact your vacation. I doubt any cruise line or competitive agency discussed the accident in greece or any prior sensitive topic that travelers deserve to know about.
Personal Touch: Although we are one of the largest sellers of cruises in the US, customers are still our number one priority. I hope you will reconsider working with us in the future. If so, I will personally ensure that your trip is handled flawlessly.
Best wishes,
Emerson Hankamer
President & COO
Vacations To Go
Betsy Weber
April 10th, 2007
at 3:26pm
How ’bout a Gnomedex cruise?! ;-)
Bets
Jim Roberts
April 19th, 2007
at 5:32pm
Chris,
We book through a local travel agent and always compare his prices with the big internet agencies- and he’s always the same or beats them. He hand delivers our tickets to us and always gets us onboard credit, not to mention a gift. It’s been nice to know he checks the details for us. In fact, one time the price went down after we had already paid- and he got us a credit of nearly $500– is that “useless” in your book? One time we did have an issue and he took care of it. I didn’t have to call the cruise line or send any emails. We like the personal service our agent gives us- so I guess I disagree with your comment about them being useless. Oh, if you like HAL you would probably like Celebrity. I find the quality excellent and not as many gray hairs as HAL- although a little older than Royal. JR