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Last night's ABC 20/20 on cruising was such a disappointment. Rather than analysis of the C. Concordia, they went so far afield....
ABC advertised that this was about the C. Concordia disaster, and instead spent most of the hour talking about drunken passengers.
Stuff you did not hear, any where, about the C. Concordia:
1) Costa goes near that island ALL the time. I was on C. Serena, the ship that passed by a few nights ago and we had a real close daytime encounter. You could see individual houses. We were southbond out of Savona, headed toward Napoli midday.
2) Costa has a lifeboat drill once a week, before leaving the major port of Savona. On C. Serena, passengers boarded in 5 different ports in a week. I got on in Barcelona, 2 days before Savona. I was given a "mandatory" safety training session, by video, in a meeting room. A lot of English speakers got on in Barcelona, and I was at an English session. If someone had boarded in Napoli, the day after Savona, their lifeboat drill would have been on the sixth day of a seven day cruise. Those folks who got on C. Concordia in Civitavecchia the day of the capsizing have not mentioned their safety session. Of course, in the confusion after the accident, no lifeboat drill would have helped.
3) I am also a survivor of the New York City Staten Island Ferry accident where 11 passengers died. Our captain also jumped ship, so this is not a new phenomenon.
4) 20 years ago, the Greek ship, Olympios, sank off the coast of South Africa, with no loss of life. The story was on NBC Dateline a little over a year ago. That captain also left early and an entertainer became "in charge" and was one of the last off the ship. Captains certainly know how to Cover their butts.
5) Finally, about 20 years ago, I was on the Holiday, Carnival cruise lines, where a drunken passenger jumped into the netting over a pool at 4 am, no water in the pool, and broke his neck. Medevaced to Puerto Rico, but I believe he did not survive. No publicity there.
