Cruise Bruise Blog
December 1, 2008
December 1, 2008
Back From Vacation
This past year has been a wild ride, not just for me, but for my family. A long complete rest was overdue. While getting ready to host the Thanksgiving supper, I did far more than I should in a single day. We all make sacrifices for various reasons and goals. This year, was the first year all my girls have been home for Thanksgiving since they all became adults. For me, it was worth it to push myself beyond what I should have. I am now back on my feet.

December 1, 2008
Pirates Attack Cruise Ship
For the second time in recent history, a cruise ship suffered an attempted seizure by pirates off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf Of Aden. This time the ship was M/S Nautica owned by Oceania Cruises headquartered in Miami, Florida. Nautica was on a  32-day cruise from Rome to Singapore with a reported 690 passengers and 386 crew aboard her when two pirate boats open fired on the small cruise ship. One of the pirates' skiffs came within 300 yards of Nautica and fired eight shots at her. At this point, an off-duty cruise ship officer alert the bridge, the Nautica sped up in an attempt to evade the pirates. Reports on the number of passengers and crew aboard have widely varied in initial reports.  The Danish Navy part of an international force protecting the waters responded with a notification to a warship from France. The French put a helicopter in the air to aid the intended victims and thwarted the attack by six to eight armed pirates on two speed boats who were observed speeding toward the Nautica. Reports say that with the helicopter hot on their trail, the pirates abandoned the hijacking. "The (Danish) navy's tactical command on Sunday led a military operation, dispatching a vessel from the coalition to the aid of a civilian ship threatened by pirates, thereby preventing an act of piracy," Danish navy spokesman Jesper Lynge said. The Danes took command of Task Force 150, the international coalition patrolling the pirate infested waters of the east coast of Africa. As of today, the ship is cruising in the Red Sea en route to Oman. Her webcam is here

December 1, 2008
Terrorist Attack That Killed Over 130 Scares Off Cruise Lines
After terrorist attacks on the city of Mumbai, India, cruise lines began canceling calls at the port. The first line to cancel was Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, pulling the planned call by Legend Of The Seas. RCCI was followed by Oceania Cruises, Azamara Cruises and Seabourn Cruise Line all canceling their stops in Mumbai. Oceania Cruises' M/S Nautica had a brush with pirates over the weekend and quickly announced the Mumbai port call by Nautica would not take place.

December 1, 2008
Cruise Ship Passengers May Be Arrested For Illegal Gambling
The Indonesian government says that cruise ship passengers that land in their country, then take a ferry or water taxi to a cruise ship anchored outside their jurisdiction in international waters may be violating national laws that apply to gamblers in transit according to Riau Island police officer Brig General Indradi Thanos. If or when they begin to crack down on tourist arriving who then continue onto a cruise ship is not clear. Clearly, planning this type of a trip could be highly risky, with a term in jail the cruise ship passenger was not counting on.

December 1, 2008
Coast Guard Medevaced Cruise Ship Passenger Off North Carolina
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) medevaced a cruise ship passenger this past Saturday while the ship was about 130 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
The USCG received a call at 1140 hours from a crew member aboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines' Explorer Of The Seas who reported the ship had a male passenger, age 61, requiring an emergency evacuation from the ship for a medical condition. The USCG sent a rescue helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina to Explorer. The rescue team then hoisted the man and his wife aboard their helicopter and took them to Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City.

December 1, 2008
Jamaican Columnist Is Critical Of Cruise Industry Calling It "Soulless"
For the second time in a month, the term "soulless" has been used to describe the cruise industry. This time, columnist John Maxwell, writing for the Jamaica Observer says in very understandable terms what cruise ship calls at ports are really all about. "The cruise ship business is even more soulless than the land-based package tour. Cruise ships are floating amusement parks designed to delude you into believing that you are taking part in a mind-expanding experience - traveling to foreign countries to partake of the local culture. In fact the stops in the various islands of convenience are basically to buy cheap water and to allow the crew a day to clean the ship and make it ready for the next day of cruising and boozing and goofing off at great expense." You won't read that in any travel brochures nor on any cruise line website.

December 1, 2008
Cruise Ship Jumper Sought In Port Everglades
Princess Cruise Lines terminated the employment of six crew members aboard the Emerald Princess. The five were being held to be processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection  in Port Everglades, Florida so the six could be deported from the U.S. when one of the crew members escaped. Now labeled as a "cruise ship jumper" the man is on the run, in hiding from U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.

December 1, 2008
Cruise Ship Passenger Medevaced Off Galveston Texas Coast
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) received a request to medevaced a male passenger, age 52,  this past Saturday around 1936 hours. The cruise ship, Carnival Conquest was off about 180-miles southeast of the port of Galveston, Texas. The passenger was said to be suffering from symptoms of an apparent acute stroke. USCG Air Station Houston launched an HH-65C helicopter rescue crew to medevac the passenger, and Air Station Corpus Christi launched a Falcon jet to provide over-flight coverage. The passenger was taken to Herman Memorial Hospital in Houston, Texas.

December 1, 2008
Severe Storm Damages Disney Wonder Gangway
Severe weather in Osceola and Brevard counties affected Port Canaveral and a cruise ship docked there embarking passengers. The storm, said to have generated high winds and a couple tornados, caused the main gangway for passengers and crew members to get to the Disney Wonder Cruise ship to collapse into the water while loading passengers. No passengers were on the gangway slipped into the harbor. Disney Wonder had to be moved to a cargo pier to load the remainder of the guests. This is the second time in the past month high winds and seas have caused troubled boarding for passengers. It would seem that fail-safe procedures could be put into place to ensure gangways do not simply fall into the sea, while passengers are embarking or disembarking.

December 1, 2008
Antigua See Huge Drop In Cruise Ship Passenger Spending
Antigua is getting slammed by the tightening of tourist wallets, especially those arriving via cruise ship. President of the Antigua and Barbuda Cruise Tourism Association (ABCTA), Nathan Dundas says that local tours are way down, running 20-50% off normal. Dundas claims that when the Aida cruise ship was in port this past week, only nine of the forty scheduled tour buses were utilized.

December 1, 2008
Dominicans Prohibited On Their Beach While Cruise Ship Tender Calls
Dominicans are saying that they are prohibited from the beach at Cayo Levantado, Samaná, where cruise ship passengers are being let off. Bahia Cruise Services says that they are applying certain security measures in the areas where boats are received, “to guarantee the physical integrity of the visitors, as well as of the ships and its crew.”  One cruise line, Norwegian Cruise Line is charging a whopping $40 fee per person for a tendered excursion to the beach, complete with BBQ. It is not hard to imagine why the cruise lines might not want locals on the beach while the gringos soak up $40 worth of sun, sand and sugary tomato sauce lathered meat.