Cruise Bruise Blog
May 21, 2009
May 21, 2009
How Many Passengers Did Cruise Ship Doctor With Swine Flu Infect?
A 52-year-old Australian doctor who traveled to New York on April 20, 2009 to work aboard a cruise ship has arrived in Taiwan via Hong Kong and been diagnosed with the H1N1 Swine Flu upon arrival at the airport with a fever of 101°F/38.3°C .
The cruise ship doctor arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Cathay Pacific flight CX468 from Hong Kong on Monday, May 18th after traveling from the U.S. on Cathay Pacific flight CX831 the previous day.
Passengers who sat in the three rows in front and behind the patient should closely monitor their health for seven days.
The doctor has been living in Taiwan's Taitung County for 20 years, the Chinese-language United Evening News reported. He left the country for the U.S. to work on an undisclosed cruise ship.
Three weeks ago, a female crew member aboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's Serenade of the Seas, became ill on May 2 while the ship was in Alaska, after embarking in San Francisco. A second crew member had symptoms on May 4th.
Serenade Of The Seas left San Juan on April 18th through the Panama Canal, calling at Huatulco, Mexico on April 26th, then at Acapulco, Mexico on April 27th. If the pair have H1N1, it is suspected they caught it while in Mexico.
May 21, 2009
What Really Happened Aboard Seabourn Spirit? Somalian Pirate Attack Exposed
You would think that if an employee fought to save his life, the life of a co-worker who had been hit by gunfire, the lives of all crew and all passengers aboard as well as saving the ship from becoming a bargaining tool in a demand for ransom, that the cruise line would have at least enough gratitude to pay the medical bills of the employee who fought so bravely.
You would be wrong. Stop just for a minute to ponder how that makes you feel to know that an injured hero has to pay his own medical bills for injuries he suffered acting above and beyond the call of duty to protect his employer's interests in this particular situation.
Michael Groves, the hero who worked aboard Seabourn Spirit and was given the Queen's Gallantry Medal by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on May 16, 2007, alleges in a lawsuit the cruise line wouldn't even pay his medical bills.
Carnival Corp has maintained that the incident aboard Seabourn Spirit was a minor event, that was only a minor inconvenience to passengers that day. If it was a minor incident, then the Queen would not have given the crew members medals. Medals are given for bravery during dire situations, not non-events.
Initial reports say that one crew member was "lightly" injured and no passengers were injured at all. I'm not sure which crew member the media was referring to being lightly injured.
Would that be the crew member shot by the pirates in the head, left unconscious and bleeding on the deck, dragged to safety by the crew member with a life long, loud ringing in his ears and partial hearing loss from having a rocket-launched grenade knock him off his feet?
The official cruise line statement issued immediately after the attack was more than misleading.
"The ship's crew immediately initiated a trained response and as a result of protective and evasive measures taken, the occupants of the small craft were unable to gain access to Seabourn Spirit. The ship has moved away from the boats and is now sailing from the area. All passengers and crew are safe."
Everyone was not "safe", the "trained response" did not go as planned and the incident turned out to be much worst than the public was lead to believe. You can read the totally updated story, view the videos and photographs here
May 21, 2009
Drowning Female Passenger Gets Medevac Off Coral Princess
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) was called to medevac a woman who had nearly drowned in the swimming pool aboard Princess Cruises' Coral Princess on Sunday May 17th.
Coral Princess was 30 miles west of Bodega Bay, California when the USCG was notified the women needed medical assistance the ship could not provide.
At about 1345 hours the USCG airlifted the female passenger to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
Bodega Bay, population 1,435, is located 68 miles North of San Francisco, in close proximity to the community of Santa Rosa, 31 miles away. Santa Rosa is the 'big' town of the region, population 154,241.
Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital is a 192-bed acute care hospital providing a wide range of specialty services. A Level II Community Base Trauma Center serves Sonoma and Mendocino Counties.
May 21, 2009
Fuel Clean-up Begins On Sunken Cruise Ship Sea Diamond
Two years after the cruise ship Sea Diamond sank off the coast of the holiday island of Santorini, Greek authorities are to begin the operation to pump hundreds of tons of fuel out of the vessel, reports said Monday. Three remote controlled robotic submarines belonging to Dronik Maritime Consultants will carry out the operation, pumping out the approximately 450 tons of fuel contained in the ship.
The 22,000 tonne Sea Diamond, operated by Louis Cruise Lines, hit a reef on April 5, 2007 close to the holiday island and sank early the following day.
The ship's owner, Cyprus-based Louis Hellenic Cruises will pick up the estimated 6-million-euro (8.1 million dollars) bill for the work, estimated to cost 6 million euros, which is expected to last more.
Two passengers died in the tragedy. Our story and videos are here
May 21, 2009
Aruba In Economic Decline Worst Than Thought
Aruba is reporting that cruise ship calls and cruise ship visitors are down. Overnight visitors and residing visitors are down. Their average inflation over twelve months increased with 0.4 percent points to 6.8 percent, compared to the same month in 2008.
Looks like pay back time for the botched investigation that should have been an easy case to solve, the case of Natalie Holloway.
There was also the case of Amy Lynn Bradley. Both women went missing after contacts with men tied to Carlos And Charlie's bar in Aruba. Neither case was solved.
