Cruise Bruise Blog
January 17, 2009
January 17, 2009
When Song Birds Touch The Soul

It has been my honor to be part of the forward movement over at the International Cruise Victims (ICV) web site. As you know, I am the webmaster there, and make the updates to the web site from time to time.

This week, we have done one of the first major updates of 2009 on the ICV site. I have added a photo album there, to show the work of the ICV since their founders joined forces to give cruise victims a voice,  support, and work towards legislation that would ensure an accountable, and uniform method for preventing incidents at sea, and when that fails, to investigate those cases with the highest possible integrity and standards.

Also, during this upgrade, I added several pieces of music to the site. Each musical work of art is from the memorial service of an ICV member who died after boarding their cruise ship. The story behind each song is given at the bottom of each page.

The music is some of the best you will ever hear, and I'm sure you will never forget. Each of the talented artists who created these melodies has created a memory of someone dear to their heart, and ensured that person is never forgotten.  If you have a few moments, pop on over to the pages listed below. Song birds will truly touch your soul.

Music Heard On The Ashley Barnett Page
The music was written by the Oscar nominated film composer, John Debney.
John has scored many, many films in his career but perhaps most notably the
soundtrack from, "The Passion of the Christ."  Ashley Barnett had the
pleasure of working for him for two years and at the time of her death, John
was in the process of scoring the film, "Cheaper by the Dozen 2".  He
composed the main theme at that point but rewrote it in honor of Ashley.
Listen Here

Music Heard On The Merrian Carver Page
The Butterfly Music (lyrics by Merrian Carver):
For the Service of Remembrance for Merrian, two members of our church took
Merrian's writings about the Butterfly and turned it into a song for this service.
Listen Here

Music Heard On The Daniel Dipiero Page
Bryan Poirier wrote and performed this at Daniel DiPiero's memorial service. Bryan, Daniel’s cousin, is a member of New Third Coast out of Traverse City, MI.  He had this written and took it to the studio while the DiPiero's were still in St Thomas dealing with the loss of Daniel.
Listen Here

January 17, 2009
When Sick Ships Kill - Passengers Die On The Ship Of Their Dreams

Three new cases have been added to the archives, in my on going move towards adding more tragic stories of deaths at sea. All of these three deaths were a result of becoming sick during an illness outbreak aboard, yet each were different.

The common thread in all the cases is a failure of the crew to properly do their job, using the highest standard of sanitation aboard the ship, especially during food preparation, and preparing food in accordance with standards that make food and beverages safe to consume.

Carnival Jublilee Norovirus Infection
The first is the case of Russell Lum, who died from a severe Norovirus infection aboard Carnival Jubilee. Lum's death was caused by extensive blood loss from a tear in his esophagus he received when vomiting. This story is here

RCCL Viking Serenade Shigellosis Epidemic
The second case is of Shigellosis, a foodborne illness,  responsible for creating one of the largest epidemics at sea, in modern history. Shigellosis sickened over 600 passengers and crew aboard The Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's Viking Serenade, killing one. The story is here

Celebrity Horizon  Legionnaires' Disease
The last case is that of an outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease, the result of improperly sanitized drinking water aboard Celebrity Cruises Horizon. Several passengers from New Jersey were hospitalized, one died. The story is here

Other Cases Already On The Site:

Edith Horn - Norovirus
Jonathan Kallas - Norovirus
Lorenzo Lombardo - Meningococcal
Marlane Yeates- Norovirus
Pasquale Cantone - Legionnaires
Sari Monaco - Norovirus

January 17, 2009
Weekends Are Meant To Be Free

Beginning this week, I will not be updating the web site on the weekends. The Saturday edition will go up on Friday along with the Friday edition, as this one did. The Sunday edition will go up on Monday along with Mondays.

However... having said that, IF anything of major importance happens between Friday evening and Monday morning, I will update the blog. Such would be the case in a passenger missing at sea or a cruise ship fire, grounding, collision, sinking . . .

I need to spend more time 'living' my life, while documenting the unfortunate details of so many others'.