Re: Cruises

All sea going vessels in certain conditions, are unsafe. The sea and weather are fickle and uncontrollable.

What matters is that the ship operators keep track of the weather and shipping forecasts and take appropriate actions to ensure that the ships are never in danger.

It is the nature of ships to rock and roll. You get used to it. I've been in a Hurricane force 12 in the Atlantic, where cabin windows on the lower deck 5 were smashed in by fierce waves and flooded. It happens, but the ship doesn't sink.
It's uncomfortable, but the ship doesn't sink. It's par for the course at sea.

Notable that the same situation is true of flying. Airliners are ok in certain conditions but if you get caught in wind sheer and other infrequent conditions the plane could easily crash.

Re: Cruises

It is more likely you get killed crossing a road or in a car than on a cruise liner.

That newspaper link you posted was about a fight between two people that caused the death, not because the ship was unsafe

Re: Cruises

[QUOTE=Realist;1571483]I've had the fortune to make such a visit. A few years back there were regularly officers on the dining tables. We landed on the CTO's table on P&O ship Arcadia. CTO is the Chief Technical Officer, the main boss of running the ship itself.
He invited the whole table down below which was very interesting.

Firstly went into the "Control room" down below. Not what I was expecting really. I had imagined something like the bridge of the starship Enterprise, gleaming computer panels, flashing lights etc. It was all very dated, big panels, large buttons, some gaffer tape here and there. Quite a contrast to the actual Ship's Bridge up top.

Then it was down some tricky very steep metal steps into the bowels of the ship. Very noisy, quite cramped in places. Saw the large engines and prop shaft areas, saw the water generation systems but the most memorable thing really was something I could only describe as the "poo shaker" !

Imagine if you will a large flat cylinder about 5 meters across and 2 meters high sitting on a tripod of 3 springs. A large pipe fed labelled "sewage" came in from above and piped human waste into the cylinder. Then the entire machine was mechanically vibrated / shaken constantly which is presumably to ensure that all the poo was nicely broken up and turned into sludge. Absolutely delightful !

All in all a very interesting visit. A stark contrast below to the gleaming hotel like conditions above that passengers enjoy.

I was lucky to have been on the CTO's table and gotten this visit free. I wouldn't want to pay £70+ for it TBH.[/QUOTE]

Sounds like a good visit to the 'Bowels' of the ship Realist, I had the opportunity of visiting below decks on the last cruise but the cost was well out of order....
We didn't have your good fortune of sitting with the chief engineer...

Re: Cruises

Actually they were quite interesting in themselves, the crew quarters are very small and usually shared but teeny cabins with tiny ensuites unlike on my son's ships. You could stand in the room and touch both side walls

The kitchens also because of the sophisticated recycling and organic waste disposal/storage (no throwing everything overboard any more) The sheer scale was was impressive, the ship has a wide gangway running the length of the ship between massive dry storage, deep freezers, cold rooms etc the gangway is wide enough for tow fork lifts to pass and still safe for pedestrian traffic.

The logistics of restocking was explained which was really interesting the ship arrives unloads one set of passengers, loads the next set and all their food and booze within 24hours.

I found the engine room fascinating; all the drive engines are 16MW electric motors on pods for manoeuvrability so the 'engines' on the ship are actually diesel generators.

The bridge was less interesting than the navy ships I have been on to be honest though much bigger and more comfortable they are mostly on autopilot. Apparently it only really springs to life when entering harbour and docking.

Re: Cruises

Talking of cruises - next month my middle son's ship is having a 'family day' so I get to go to sea for a day with lots of food/BBQ and undoubtedly having to look after my grandkids

I haven't been on such a day for a while, last one was on my youngest son's minehunter when we just went to the middle of Sydney harbour and had a BBQ and they demonstrated their $5mill undersea remote controlled vehicle.

This ship is an oiler; an early start then out of the harbour into the Pacific for a few hours of food and frolics before returning - there are always demos by the crew - though I can't see them refuelling anything with civilians on board. they might fire the 50mm machine guns I guess. Now that is cruising!

God knows how much it costs because the harbour traffic has to be shut down for a short period to get the ship out of its dock at Garden Island and later back in again (using tugs). I don't care I am not a taxpayer any more.