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A spate of recent cruise ship meets inclimate weather has caused passengers to become exercised and in some case down right furious.
We wrote of the case of the Norwegian Spirit in the North Atlantic which due to weather conditions was forced to change itinerary multiple times due to the inability to dock or launch/recover their tenders at ports of entry. Some of the passengers aboard staged a well orchestrated sit-in and protest mid-cruise.
In the instance of the Norwegian Spirit the captain and cruise line opted to err on the side of caution.
In a separate incident, involving P&O Cruise’s Azura, the ship found itself caught by weather with many of the passengers ashore and unable to safely transport them back to the ship by tender. The Sun (UK) tells us about 1000 of the Azura’s passengers were ashore in Monte Carlo when the weather changed causing choppy waters.
As one who has moved from ship to tender and back, it can be a challenge in calm seas, and near impossible in “choppy waters.” The cruise line opted to leave the passengers ashore.
Safety first!
Comfort last!
In this instance, P&O appears to have lacked a backup plan for when something like this occurs. As the passengers weren’t shuttled to a luxury hotel equivalent to their on-board accommodations, rather they were shuttled to a school’s basketball court and offered cots (like you would expect if you were evacuating in a crisis).
P&O’s response to criticism?
“Due to unexpected poor sea conditions it was necessary to stop tender operations in Monte Carlo yesterday. Shelter and food were provided by the ship’s crew for those guests still on shore. Guests travelled from Monte Carlo to neighboring Villefranche this morning where the tendering operations were resumed.”
From out optic, the cruise line made the right decision, safety first.
P&O may have saved themselves many cycles of grief had they avoided launching their tenders that morning for excursions in Monte Carlo.
The lack of a backup plan no doubt will be a matter to be addressed by Carnival Corporation’s new Incident Analysis Group.
Disclosure: The writer of this piece is a shareholder in Carnival Corporation.
