Cruise Bruise Blog
February 13, 2009
February 13, 2009
Crew Members Blocked From Sending Emails
I know I really shouldn't be surprised at this news. It is just that I can hear my mother in the background screaming at the top of her lungs, "while you live under my roof, you will do as you're told, young lady". Those drunken words were uttered at three in the morning as she demanded I do the ironing in spite of my pleas that I was sleepy.
It didn't matter that my third grade teacher would be screaming at me in only a few hours to perform mathematic problems, my tired brain would not be able to compute. Those shirt collars would have been meticulously pressed as I rubbed away the sleep from my eyes, not a wrinkle from shirt breast to tail, otherwise the day would turn ugly. Slavery. It comes in many forms, and no matter how I look at it, it brings back painful memories, even for an American white girl.
It is just hard to believe that half a century later, in modern times, people are still being deprived of reasonably chasing their G-rated, non-violent dreams, while they are not on the clock.
Only a day past Lincoln's birthday, which was also the birthday of my oldest daughter (Happy 34th Geelah!), and on a Friday The 13th, I am brought back to the issue of cruise ship industry slavery aboard cruise ships on the Paraskavedekatriaphobia (fear of Friday the 13th) Day, no less.
Today is also the day the modern Father Of Friday The 13th, composer Gioachino Rossini, whose fear of Fridays and the number 13 came to a conclusion ironically when the two days merged on November 13, 1868, the day of his death.
More trivial, other famous people who died on Friday The 13th were Tupac Shakur, killed Friday, September 13, 1996, Benny Goodman, Friday, June 13, 1986 and U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Friday January 13, 1978.
Today is also the fourth month, my first milestone of cancer recovery. I am suppose to be at the doctor today, but I find myself complacent in ignorant bliss, an old habit that is hard to break.
In recent months I had noticed that crew members had quit emailing me, no secrets to be told, no words of encouragement sought, no tearful pleas, they had slowly faded away, while I faced the demons and then conquered them 140 miles away from home. Until today.
A crew member for one of the major cruise lines is reporting that they have been cut off from email upon arriving on their assignment. While surfing the web, most of it anyway, was not a problem, access to at least one major free email provider was blocked by Surfcontrol in a silencing of the lambs lock down.
Since most of the crew go home to third world countries where they have no or can not afford access to the internet, stories would have to be told during a few moments in ports of call at internet cafes.
How bad of an employer do you have to be, before fear of the world finding out how poorly you are treating your employees reaches the point where keeping employees away from any form of communication becomes a high priority? What is next, hidden video cameras in crew cabins?
In the past four months I have also noticed that the number of people looking for work on a cruise ship has increased, the result of an economy decimated by corporations given too much intellectual credit and undeserving power. Daily, I find people asking how they might get hired by a cruise ship. Having been in domesticated slavery myself, decades ago, I can't pave the way from starvation to slavery, under any set of circumstances. The price for food should not be abuse.
February 13, 2009
USA Today Hawking Ship With One Of The Worst Norovirus Histories
USA Today is hawking a 34-day voyage out of Sydney that will take place aboard Holland American Line's (HAL) Volendam embarking out of Australia in 2010.
This would be the same Volendam that in the past 17 CDC inspections has had an average score of 95.33, a mere "B" Grade. It would also be the same Volendam that has racked up a long list of Norovirus victims consistently over the past three years as follows:
- One major outbreak in 2008 that affected at least four ten-day cruises from January 2, to mid February, though there evidence it continued on through at least February 21.
- Two major outbreaks in 2007 that was actually one outbreak improperly managed my incompetent fools, documented by the CDC as early as January 21, 2007 with evidence that shows it ran through at least May 11th, 110 days minimum!
- One major outbreak in 2006 that ran from at least March 3, 2006 to at least April 16th.
Since HAL cruises cater to the retired set, and Norovirus is most dangerous to that demographic group, it is not only irresponsible for a major newspaper to promote that ship, but to promote that line as a whole.
Along with the article pumping voyages out of Australia, where most Aussies would not know to look for the history of the Volendam on American web sites, there is a 160x600 banner promoting Holland America Line. Who paid for that "news" report? Holland America Line.
Lining up to take the lead in major Norovirus outbreaks among ALL ships in all fleets, worldwide are HAL ships Amsterdam, Maasdam, Noordam, Ryndam, Veendam, Volendam, Westerdam, Zaandam and Zuiderdam. Given how many different crew have been aboard those voyages, this is clearly a management problem.
If you are an avid follower of USA Today blogger Gene Sloan, you really need to consider any advice he gives, as bought and paid for the cruise lines at the expense of integrity, with HAL leading the pack this month.
This is the same blogger who announced recently that Norovirus outbreaks had declined in 2008 aboard cruise ships, without any facts other than CDC major outbreak headlines to back him up.
Apparently, Sloan doesn't actually read through the details of the outbreaks to figure out how bad the incidents really are. The headlines alone only skim the surface of the problem.
Volendam has been known for 10-day Pukefests (the sinister step-sister of Jamfests) From Hell. To promote it for a potential 34 days of alternating Porcelain White God worshiping and breathing in a hellishly strong stench of chlorine and vomit is unthinkable.
This is again an example of why Cruise Bruise is a necessary part of cruise industry news. If you only read what the major media outlets want you to see, you really have no idea at all what is REALLY going on.
We're you or someone you known born on Friday The 13th? See Here
