Sorry....I forgot it was Sunday...pardon the mild expletive...perhaps I should have said 'Blood and sand' 
Cruising
- Thread starter gynn
- Start date
Yes, I was around then...can do that...bloody hell, Eric...... the babe magnet
Aw, thanks hon. Most people would have given all the criedit to the car
But ... to get back on topic sort of: why are folks referring to this accident as a "tragedy"? So many things these days are deemed tragedies that "tragedy" has lost all meaning. Somehow, a cruise ship ran into Italy. A few folks died. Admitedly, and I'm not without sensitivity or compassion, this is terrible for their families, loved ones, and friends. But a tragedy?
for the families it is a tragedy(they went on holiday and died)...for the rest of us it is just an accident that we are far removed from.....it is all relative Eric.
I guess if you had lost someone you cared greatly about, you would see it differently.
The point I was trying to make was that, for the media, everything is becoming a tragedy, to the point where "tragedy" is now meaningless, a term thrown out whenever something bad happens.
I love it when at the safety demo they tell you to cross your arms, hold your nose and then jump thirteen floors or more (150 feet?) into a force 10 gale! Better than bungy jumping!
I can't work out how holding my nose helps, although crossing my arms must be better than crossing my fingers.
Then they tell you the little whistle is to summon help! You're in the middle of the Atlantic surrounded by 30 foot waves and icebergs but don't forget your whistle.
I still risk it, I like cruising and I look after my little whistle!
I can't work out how holding my nose helps, although crossing my arms must be better than crossing my fingers.
Then they tell you the little whistle is to summon help! You're in the middle of the Atlantic surrounded by 30 foot waves and icebergs but don't forget your whistle.
I still risk it, I like cruising and I look after my little whistle!
It is certainly a disaster - but I'm sick of this accident being compared to the Titanic, nothing else is on the news at the moment in Italy. It isn't remotely similar except that a ship hit something that it shouldn't have. Oh, and according to the British ambassador the English passengers behaved with typical British stoicism which is sinilar i suppose. I imagine the general pandemonium there seems to have been was mainly down to the Italians -no good at queueing up and behaving in an orderly fashion.
My parents have been on the Concordia and over the years have cruised their way round much of the globe. They gave up a couple of years ago as the air conditioning gave them both bronchitis and they ran out of new destinations. It seems to be a popular type of holiday and for older people is a good way of travelling and seeing different places. Doesn't appeal to me though I must admit.
They didn't actually bump into Italy, but into some rocks between the Isle of Giglio and the coast of Tuscany then tried to get into a port. Amazing when you think of the sophisticated technology they have onboard - the inquest will hopefully find out what really happened but much suspicion falls on the Captain and his first officer. The truth will come out in the end and I dread to think of the insurance costs of an accident like this one.
My parents have been on the Concordia and over the years have cruised their way round much of the globe. They gave up a couple of years ago as the air conditioning gave them both bronchitis and they ran out of new destinations. It seems to be a popular type of holiday and for older people is a good way of travelling and seeing different places. Doesn't appeal to me though I must admit.
They didn't actually bump into Italy, but into some rocks between the Isle of Giglio and the coast of Tuscany then tried to get into a port. Amazing when you think of the sophisticated technology they have onboard - the inquest will hopefully find out what really happened but much suspicion falls on the Captain and his first officer. The truth will come out in the end and I dread to think of the insurance costs of an accident like this one.
Yes, I got your point Eric.
It seems that some have already decided where the fault lies. The Captain and First Officer have been arrested.
I wonder if they will end up in prison.
For many years, here in aviation, we tried to have a no blame, positive safety culture. But now, like everything else, we blame...
If the ships officers made mistakes, will we learn anything by sticking them in jail?
I wonder if they will end up in prison.
For many years, here in aviation, we tried to have a no blame, positive safety culture. But now, like everything else, we blame...
If the ships officers made mistakes, will we learn anything by sticking them in jail?
Probably won't learn much at all ... but, in this media mad world, there seems to be a need for a fall guy. And the only place they seem to look is on the bridge, or on the flight deck.
Very true Eric, we live in a blame culture world.
When accidents happen, very rarely is it one event, more likely several things contribute to it, 'the Swiss Cheese effect' when all the holes line up.....
Sad really
When accidents happen, very rarely is it one event, more likely several things contribute to it, 'the Swiss Cheese effect' when all the holes line up.....
Sad really
True Eric, I still believe in accidents and human falibility. We all make mistakes and even the most sophisticated technology can fail or be affected by outside agents.
People die every day in the strangest of circumstances - there isn't always a reason or a person to blame. Responsibility is hard to pin down at times and the genuine fatality through accident has become a rarity with the American "blame" culture.
For people in positions of responsibility it's a kind of lottery - bad day at the "office" - you could be the scapegoat.
I've been giving this issue a little thought ... maybe it's not only the blame culture. It could also have to do with the general trend to simplification ... dumbing things down .... that we find in the news. To go back to the Exxon Valdez: sure the skipper was drunk; but was there any in depth analysis of the wisdom of transporting oil through those waters? Any question of tanker design? Did any talking head wax poetic about a US economy dependent on fossil fuels? One finds a simple, yet dramatic story something the dumbest viewer can swallow ... then the media runs with this for a while until the next "tragic event." "Pilot error" and "careless, drunken navigators" are much more newsworthy than things which need a little thoughtful analyisis on the part of the viewer. Nothing turns folks off these days like being asked to think beyond the superficial.
That's because we've all got used to the "ready meal", pre-packed perfectly shaped fruit and veg etc, etc.
Life ain't perfect, people make mistakes and accidents happen.
We were going to book a Baltic cruise this week, to St. Petersburg, but my travelling companion doesn't fancy life on the high seas now.
Back to the drawing board, after weeks of planning.
Terrible, what's happened in Italy.
Still, there's one good thing, it didn't happen in British waters. The ship would have been stripped bare by scavengers by now.
As happened to the Napoli, when it got beached off Sidmouth, in 2007.
Back to the drawing board, after weeks of planning.
Terrible, what's happened in Italy.
Still, there's one good thing, it didn't happen in British waters. The ship would have been stripped bare by scavengers by now.
As happened to the Napoli, when it got beached off Sidmouth, in 2007.
Mummy thinks that table, hanging from the roof, won't take the weight of me...and Shelley Winters.
I don,t mind cruising, wife enjoys it and so long as I can stay away from all that food I'm O.K. My "ship" is a 16ft clipper and two paddles in the middle of "nowhere". Favourite cruise has to be Vancouver to Alaska, happening again in August, hope we have a good "driver" lots of rocks on the way.
Appears the Captain was showing off.
Cruise disaster: Captain 'neared Italian rocks to greet friend on shore’ - Telegraph
Cruise disaster: Captain 'neared Italian rocks to greet friend on shore’ - Telegraph
