I recall thinking with some amusement at how nervous I felt on a routine shore excursion. Boats went out several times an hour. We were about 100 feet from shore. The other passengers ranged in age from infants to the elderly.
A couple of months later, one of the boats on that same shore excursion capsized, killing several passengers.
I noticed that news because of my experience so recently before the accident. I did not notice when 15 died on the gangway of the Queen Mary 2 in 2003, two days after Holland America's Veendam bumped into a Norwegian Cruise Line ship. Two weeks later, the Empress of the North ran aground. Yes, the same Empress of the North that ran aground this week.
Cruising is as safe — or as dangerous — as it ever was. The only difference this week was the media attention.
Article comments
1 - Howard Dratch
Some time ago I wrote an article, Cruising: The Cruise Ship Journey here on Blogcritics.
One comment I made was "Would I take such a cruise for fun? I think if I worked in an office or factory or was otherwise trapped most of the year, wanted warm (hot) weather and some beach time, liked to eat and drink a LOT, or perhaps was a honeymooner; it would be fun for a break from routine. If I wanted a little taste of a foreign country without fear, an adventurous trip in a glass and steel bubble; it would fit the bill."
I did not address safety in that article as you have done. It is quite safe but, I think, too many people (as you imply) think that all the corners will be rounded and all the risks eliminated. As you point out: they are not. Life continues to be risky.
Here on the "Costa Maya"and in our nearby village of Bacalar the cruise passengers are coming in droves. One "shore excursion" on Laguna Bacalar is a speedboat "adventure" with a line of 11 small, high powered boats touring the lake at high speed. For us, they are contaminating, noisy, incredibly dangerous and are dominating a once peaceful lagoon. For the "adventurers" they are a dangerous voyage led by guides of varying competence in overpowered boats in varying states of repair. They probably believe that they are made safe by the cruise line.
Another tour to the Mayan ruins of Kohunlich ,which are wonderful, stops in Bacalar at a restaurant on the Costera (coast road) which caters to them (and is also the hang-out for an anti-American group).
I have been impressed with Carnival's ships and crews and feel safe on board. Which doesn't mean I don't check to see where the muster station is, the state of life preservers,and keep my medication and a flashlight nearby.
Vacationers should remember that merely because they are on vacation; the robbers, crazies, terrorists and possibility of accidents are not.
Last week I heard of a tourist van on the Costa Maya having a fatal accident. Last year a young singer was killed while diving off Cozumel because there were not enough enforced rules keeping boats away from dive sites.
Carnival(and, likely, other lines) works hard to protect its passengers. But the glass and steel bubble is just not impregnable.
You gave a good warning to potential cruisers. Bravo.
2 - welsh
actually, a british columbia ferry sank so thats 4