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Iceberg straight ahead!

So once again, the burgs show why they are still to be feared and respected. Even in an age of superior technology, ships are still at the mercy of mother nature.

S/M, re. MS Explorer.

The G.A.P. said it was a 'fist sized hole'
however;

" the Argentine navy later said it observed "significant" damage to the hull".

Remember the Explorer has a sister ship.

Both ships were specifically designed for Artic/Antartic sailing.

I think the G.A.P. should be chastised for their public release....' fist sized hole'

There should be a review of the hull design, in particular, the thickness of the iron plating.

Not to be corny.....remember the Titanic

First off I would like to say to Dennis in Canada...I took your comment very offensive. Just because the woman was going after the last shrimp dinner does not mean you have to blame it on a certain type of person from a certain country. No matter where you are from there will be someone of that nature who will do that sort of thing.
[I am American, but I would choose not to push in front of someone. Instead I would just choose another course. It all just depends on the person...not the country from where they come from.]

And for Maureen...I can understand your concern on the food and how there is not vegetarian choices on most ships. I, myself, try to eat as little meat/seafood as possible.
If you would like a suggestion, my family and I enjoying going on the Disney Cruise ships, where there is a vegetarian selection on every dinner menu...and there is always vegetarian choices throughout the ship for snacks or other meals. The food is delicious and the experience on the ship is amazing! I would stronglyyy suggest that you would give it a look :)

[And no, I do NOT have an affiliation WHAT SO EVER with Disney! I am just a very happy guest of their services- and I am only 18.]

Another version of TITANIC...the difference is how we react over it today thanks to the technology and communication. For those survivals, what's a memory!!!

Cruise Lines are a joke for the following reasons:

- ridiculously expensive; the service you get does not warrant the amount paid

- low-paid workers; they cut costs on labour by hiring third world people that will work for peanuts

- hygiene; cruise ships are not kept clean or sanitized so when you're in your little hut on board, just think of all the germs from the many different people that have slept right where you do

- food; bad food, no food inspection, bought from countries that have little or no health and safety standards

- crime; not only do you have to watch out for criminals, but you now must watch out for crew staff from exploiting you. Great way to gain trust from your customers

- Bureaucracy; the cruise lines won't change for the better because there's enough fools in the world to allow things to continue the way they have. After all, read all the comments from people stating cruise lines are a great thing. Yeah ok, care to explain why? I see them as nothing more than an overpaid boat ride with substandard service. To each their own I suppose...

Having sailed most of my life in all waters of the globe, any Ocean Master would have been more cautious and in regards to radar, in that area, you don't need it, sonar should be up and running and monitored constantly.
Accidents do happen, however in this pristene section of our world, it should never happen.

I commend the crew for getting the people off, but cannot the Captain nor the chief for there lack of seamanship. My hope is that no real harm comes to the region from fuel oil or bilge garbage thats going to pollute the area for ever.

I worked on cruise ships for many years and one of mine sank outside Athens. You always think of the passengers but my heart goes out to the crew who become like family.

They not only lose a job but people who they have been surrounded with and lived with in some cases for many years. I know when my ship went down some of the Greek crew had all there belongings on board even a pet bird. It is scary no matter how much you are trained and prepared. Your home has just sunk....My ship was the Jupiter and I still have fond thoughts of that little ship to this day.

I cannot believe the fear mongers! This was an adventure cruise, not a luxury cruise. But, people will believe the worst as always. We have cruised several times, and will continue to do so. To all of you who will believe the worst and refuse to cruise, RIGHT ON!!! The cruise lines will offer bigger discounts to those of us who stand with them!

Reference the comment about radar and how could this happen. First of all, ice is mainly transparent to radar so the reflections you get from it are normally much more weak than that from the steel of a ship or land. Often, nothing shows up at all. Second, much ice that is encountered outside of the primary ice zone is pretty much flush with the water and therefore presents no vertical component to show up on any radar system.

This leaves human observers to look for to avoid ice and and vessel design to deal with that which is missed. It must also be understood that ice floating flush with the water is very hard to see as well.

Accidents happen when you travel to the more extreme environments of the planet. An investigation should shed light on what may just be an accident without significant blame buit may suggest how to reduce the risk of it happening again. At present, we should be thankful that all survived and extend heartfelt thanks to all who assisted those in distress.

Lives were all saved. The main concern now is the environmental impact caused by the Explorer.

I have cruised a number of times. To date the MOST frightening thing is the food !

As a vegetarian who has had to give up eating onboard the ships...one cruise they ran out of food for Kosher passengers (vegetarians were asked to give up their allottments) another cruise continually served pork...unfortunately the Muslim guests could not eat it.......(veggies can you give up your allottments) then there is a standard small piglet stuffed with an apple !!!! on every smorgasbord....or squid/octopus on everything except dessert.

So when the really bad weather hits and the waves roll over the ship...it doesn't matter your sooo weak from hunger you hardly notice. I have given up cruising, but should I need to lose weight - hi ho hi ho off to sea I go.

My terrifying experience was when a women pushed me out of the way to get at the last of the shrimp at dinner time. I believe she was American.

In 1999 I did a caribbean cruise on The Mercury (Celebrity cruises). On the 3rd night we sailed into a severe storm with massive waves. Usually on a ship that size you don't feel the waves, but we did that night and part of the next day.

Our waiter and Maitre D, which had been on cruises for years said they had never seen such huge waves.

They certainly saved money on food that night, there were maybe 1/3 of the usual sittings as most were bunked in their cabins like true landlubbers.

As silly as it sounds, it was probably the most memorable part of the trip, I will always remember watching the old ladies in their 4 inch high heels trying to walk in the hallways with the ship rocking harder than Led Zepplin.

It was great!

I have cruised the Antarctic, I have cruised the Arctic and thus know, there is a lot of radar equipment on the bridge, to watch for just about anything. How could this have happened? Radar turned off or someone not paying attention?

I worked as an expedition staff member on Explorer last year. That ship has some of the finest bridge crew, deck hands and kitchen staff I have ever worked with.

Going to the Antarctic is worth the risk, especially with the crew of Explorer.

We were on this ship in 1999 in Antartica - before the Canadian company owned it - the numbers given of 9 crew make no sense at all - 100 passengers - we had 5 - 10 crew in the dining room alone - laundry done each day - cabins cleaned each day etc, etc.

We traveled with Abercrombie and Fitch - there was almost a 1:1 ratio. I think the accident in the Amazon was in 2000 or 2001 - that's when it was sold.

All I know the captain we had was not there - there was so much electronic gear... We have not heard the end of this by a long shot.

AND if anyone is interested we shot more film in Antartica than we did in Africa (3 weeks) - it has the most breathtaking scenery.

The advantage of the MS Explorer type ship is that you can go where no large cruise can enter - we were lucky with the weather and landed 2-3 times per day for 6 days in the zodiacs. Yes we are members of the infamous hot tub club...:)

I was traveling with my partner in Greece and we had taken a cruise ship from Rhodes (Rodos) back to Athens to finish our trip and return back to Canada. In the wee hours of morning a storm hit the Aegean Sea and we were awakened by these amazing waves and drops of the ship.

I don't recall ever waking out of a dead sleep to vomit *well without alcohol involved anyways* and was alarmed by the violence of the sea. It wasn't a massive cruise ship but was big enough, about 5-6 decks.

I think the most alarming part of the experience was when I got dressed and went out of my cabin to see if I could get a glimpse of the storm. The crew were running about in life jackets, which had me instantly uneasy. They assured me that everything was find and I should return to my cabin, but I was transfixed on their lifejackets.

It was pretty terrifying but at the same time, when I went up to one of the outer decks and watched out the window, the waves smashing up and across the upper decks was amazing to see and we did arrive safely (albeit 2 hours late) in athens that morning...

Research the history of this vessel. You will find its history enlightening.

This is not your typical cruise in any way. Although the food is VERY good, and they have the traditional banquets, the fare is not what you would traditionally think of in a luxury cruise. It is an adventure cruise, where you are exploring Antarctica on the ground, typically twice per day.

My wife and I were on the MV Explorer in late 2004. The crew were very professional, and prior to departure we had a 1 hour briefing on emergency procedures. This was especially important due to the climate we were traveling in and to.

Passengers are made well aware of the risks. Although they are not great they are still there and vigilance is required.

It is a great ship that has met with unfortunate incidents in the past (1989 I believe). Hopefully it will be salvaged and repaired to sail another day.

It is a unique little ship that allows access to islands and bays that large ships could never get to.

I have worked on cruise ships for 18 years in my career and have never had any real problems to contend with.

Yes you can get bad weather and there can be a fire or power outages that can leave the ship in a state.
I still feel it is one of the safer modes of transport to see the world.

Just look at how many car accidents there are on the roads at any given day and the hundreds of thousands of people injured or kill. The thing is you do not here about them because it is 2 to 4 people at a time.

As for striking ice…… well this was a Antarctic cruise!! These are dangers of taking such a cruise. If you are not willing to take those risks, there are many itineraries where you will never see ice.

I’m very surprised that this cruise ship sank from a small hole and a crack. All modern cruise ships have many water tight compartments that can be closed from the bridge. I know some of you are thinking “so did the Titanic”.

Since that tragedy, there have been many improvements to this system such as capping off the segments so water can not rise above a certain deck. This will not allow the water to spill over the segment walls causing the “ice cube tray” effect like in the tragedy of the Titanic.

Some even have double hulls, a hull inside the outer hull. The QE2 has shown how well this works in saving a sinking ship. The QE2 ran aground many years ago causing the ships outer hull to flood, but due to the inner hull, the ship remained a float.

The crew was able to get the QE2 into dry dock to make the repairs. It takes a lot of damage, or mass human error by the crew to sink most modern cruise ships

. I recommend that people interested in cruising should talk to a travel professional and learn the ins and outs before making a judgement if cruising is something for them. It is not for everyone, but for many it is a great way to vacation.

Just think, 7 days in Caribbean on a floating resort with more things to do that you could ever imagine. Unpack once while getting to see 4 ports of call, enjoy 5 star food service, what more could you want? That is just my opinion.

Well Andy’s comment is typical of what the general public thinks of cruising. TV and other media has only been showing the “bad” of the industry as of late and thus corrupting the general publics views on cruising.

I work part time as travel agent and I’m an avid cruiser. I have never had one bad experience in the 8 cruises I have been on. People need to know, just like any vacation, there are risks.

People tend to let loose on vacation with no concern for their personal well being. This leads to incidents of bad judgment. As said before, you have over 2000 people on some of these cruise ships. Included in this group of people are people you should not associate with.

So you need to make good judgements on who you socialize with and what you socialize about. If you have $1000 in your “in room” safe, do not share that info with anyone. If you are at the night club on the ship, be on the watch for predators.

Have a buddy system in place with the people you are traveling with. Not only does this apply to a cruise vacations, but all vacations. Precautions you would take at home in your daily life should apply while you are vacationing!! Everything you hear about cruising can happen and does happen on land vacations.

As for getting sick, there are ways to combat that as well. Most cruise lines provide hand sanitizer stations in the public areas. Use them before and after eating or in passing while out for a stroll on deck.

Also take “Air Born” or vitamin C pills to help your immune system.

Cruises are the best bargain in vacations and in our experience the ships are totally safe and a great value.

The incidents reported compared to the millions who cruise every year is a very small percentage.

Incidents happen on resorts and in vacation areas all over the world Canada included.

And by the way, ever go to a resort that held a compulsory emergency drill for guests?

This cruise is a lot like the Toronto Maple Leafs - looks great, until they hit the ice!

Safety is taken very seriously aboard cruise liners. A least on a ship there is a good chance of surviving if it sinks- not much chance if your plane falls from the sky

My wife and I were on a Med. cruise this past September and we found that the greatest risks were moving around on-shore in the huge tourist crowds.

For example, when we were visiting the cities of Florence,Italy and Debruvnik, Crotia there were 3 or 4 'other' cruise vessels in habour; meaning there were approx. 2000 X 5 = 10,000 tourists in the streets trying to have a 'unique' experience. Never again!

We ruise all the time and have never had a problem except for one time with the Norwalk virus.

As in anything, there is always an element of risk involved. Modern cruise ships carry in excess of 2,000 passengers and crew. They are like small towns. As with small towns, there are always a few sick people, perverts and of course the village idiot to contend with.

This incident was just an unfortunate event.
Th evacuation went smoothly which is a testament to the professionalism of the officers and crew.

We have been considering a cruise but there has been too many incedents lately!

People getting sick,programs about sexual assaults on the ships,and god knows what else!
Now they are hitting icebergs?
Shades of the Titanic!!

And some of those monster ships they are building now look downright dangerous!

Think I will fly somewhere...much safer me thinks!