When I first sailed on a cruise ship in the late 80s, a 39,000 ton ship was rather large. The first ship I sailed on, the Starship Oceanic was originally designed in 1965 as a transatlantic ship and was short by modern standards: 782 feet long. The contemporary, and much larger, transatlantic ship, Cunard’s QE2 […]
Why We Don’t Sail Carnival
It’s not because of the poop cruise. It’s not because of the Concordia. Yet it’s indirectly related to both those things. Here’s an example. Seabourn had two small ships, carrying 112 passengers. Seabourn was sold to Carnival, and those small ships were replaced with three larger ships with more than double the tonnage carrying 208 […]
Some Thoughts on Cruising
I’m incredibly saddened by what’s been happening with the Costa Concordia, and, as a former cruise ship crew member, I thought I’d write some points from that perspective. First, I’m shocked that the captain left the ship. I’m more shocked that the staff captain did also; the staff captain is responsible for crew discipline and […]