Is it just me that thinks it mind boggling that some people on the Italian cruise

[snagglepuss]

ship are reported to have gone to bed after hearing the "massive groan" of the ship hitting rocks? I don't mean to disparage anyone who endured that nightmare and my condolences to families who have lost loved ones but I am fascinated how people react in such situations. It's hard to know how one would act in such a situation but given how distrustful I am of authorities in certain situations, I can't see myself waltzing off to bed after hearing something that has been described as a tremendously large groan and I am reminded how some people immediately evacuated the 2nd tower on 9-11 while others stayed.

Were people on the cruise taking their cues from others? I'd be interested to hear how DUers in a similiar situations have reacted.

[Kalidurga]

1. Oh I probably would have been one of those people.

If I understand it right ships do have a natural tendency to make noise. Maybe this was a much bigger noise than normal, I don't know. I wouldn't know what normal is, but if someone said that's normal don't worry. I wouldn't have worried.

[snagglepuss]

19. That's an understandable response but having seen what happened in this

instance will you trust authorities the next time you are in a novel situation and something odd happens that authorities shrug off?

[teddy51]

2. You know what? With the way the staff (apparently) reacted to this disaster, it would not surprise

me at all.

[snagglepuss]

7. Perhaps we lay too much importance on authorities displaying calm demeanors.

We read too much into a calm demeanour. We assume it means competency.

[WolverineDG]

3. My high school was gassed as a prank by seniors

Instead of talking about Columbine, you could be talking about McAllen, had those assholes carried out their plan to shoot students as they left the building, but I digress....

once that stuff hit the ventilation system, everyone had the same thought "GET OUT OF THE BUILDING." The only thing that kept it from being complete pandemonium was the fact that we all knew where the nearest exits were (thanks to all the damn fire drills people complain about).

When I've gone on cruises, I always pay attention at muster drill, read & re-read the emergency cards & practice putting on my life jacket. Yes it's a PITA, but having been in an emergency situation, I know it's not wasted time.

If I had been on that boat, I would have gotten off asap.

[snagglepuss]

4. Have all the cruises you've been on had muster drills? This cruise didn't have one which

seems par for the course given the captain's attitude. That said I suspect lots of people would not have bothered to participate. Being safety conscious seems to have become associated with being uptight. IT sounds like your experience at school impressed the importance of preparedness.

[jberryhill]

5. The cruise had just started

Most of the people had likely never been on a ship before.

You sometimes see people freak out on airplanes during minor turbulence.

But in an environment where people have no reference for "normal", there's no telling what they will do.

[snagglepuss]

13. Perhaps the lesson to be taken away from this is that if one is in a novel situation

one needs to be extra cautious because one is at a distinct disadvantage.

[WolverineDG]

8. I understand it's a more recent trend

to just have people report to a theater to watch a video, but the cruises I was on (last one was 5 years ago), we reported to various places for "attendance" then were told how to read the signs & where to locate our muster station. We then had to report to there. The first 2 times, we had to put on the life jackets. The last time, we just had to have them in our hands.

Sounds like they're going to start making people go through the whole muster drill again. Yes it's "boring" & hot & you look silly standing there in the life jacket, but if you actually face an emergency, at least you know where to go & how to read the signs.

[joshcryer]

18. Apparently in the US the master drill happens before leaving the port. Over there...

...they have to do it in the first day, so they were planning to do it after they were well underway.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. I have this obsession about looking for exits when I check into a hotel

I don't think I could enjoy a cruise because of that. I'd be practicing evacuation in my head the whole time.

[WolverineDG]

16. I usually try to find at least 2 ways out of a room

and I always look for the nearest exit on an airplane (yes, I turn to look behind me like they tell you too )

[riderinthestorm]

20. Oh. My. Gawd! Proud to be lib, and Wolverine, I do this too!!

In fact, in a restaurant, I have to sit so I can face the door and I check out everyone coming in or out as well.

[snagglepuss]

21. I once heard a radio interview with a retiring fire chief and he

said when he travels the first he does when he checks into a hotel is conduct his own private fire drill ie he leaves the hotel using only the stairs. He said that he would never stay in a hotel without doing a practice drill because he said stairways in hotels can be something of a maze. He also said he never travels with duct tape to place around doors should there be a fire and people are told to stay in their rooms.

[Saving Hawaii]

24. That last bit would be because of the MGM Grand Fire in LV.

Most of the fatalities caused by that fire weren't even on the fire floor. They were people who died from smoke inhalation well away from where the fire was actually burning. They ran into the hallways, got choked out on smoke trying to escape, and died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Something like that anyways. I'm not gonna haul duct tape around with me (just keeping the door shut is probably good enough), but it's very good advice to stay in your room and wait for somebody to come get you out. Hotels are designed to limit fire spread and you're much better off just hanging tight instead of trying to escape.

[riderinthestorm]

6. Some accounts I've read (admittedly not lots), the ship started tipping right away, dishes sliding

and smashing to the floor at the dining tables etc.

I won't go on a cruise just because I'm one of those who must have died on the Titanic. When I go out on a boat, I want to see the land at all times in case I have to jump ship and swim to shore in an emergency. It's always been this way with me. So for me? Yes, that first crack would have had me running for the lifeboats....

[snagglepuss]

37. What I find creepy are the number people who have disappeared while on

a cruise. I personally find nothing appealing about being on a massive ship, I'd rather sit in a cafe on the Italian coast. What baffles is the number of people who've said they were terrified of water. Why go on a boat cruise i that case? It's utterly horrific to think that there might still be some survivors in air pockets that won't be found in time.

[SoCalDem]

9. Years ago on a Windjammer cruise

we hit some REALLY rough seas, & we took turns sleeping...Just in case..

We also had life jackets on the bunk...

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. I had that same thought. But I've never been on a cruise.

So I don't know.

[jonthebru]

11. Not to stand up for anyone or to put anyone down, but

I worked on a cruise ship many years ago. We had our safety exercise on the second day. We left at night, in the morning alarms went off and everybody had to go, then go eat brunch. This ship had left port a few hours before the situation occurred. The emergency drill was to be held the following afternoon so few of the passengers had a clue where to go unless they had read the map on the door of their suite.
Our crew was mostly English speaking so in an emergency passengers would have gotten good information. This ship had passengers and crew from many countries. Things could have been much worse.
This ship hit something really hard. The sound and vibration went through the ship and was felt by everyone with scary effect. Once the lights went out it would be time to take out that little flashlight you always carry (If you don't carry one, its time to begin.) and find a way off the ship. When it listed then, damn, its time to go.
Keep your party together, no matter what. You can't jump in the water unless everybody in your party can safely jump and swim. Stay with Grandma. None of this applies in the middle of the Ocean a long way from shore. But this would not have happened there.
The boarding of the lifeboats was a frickin' mess. Those on the high side were useless very quickly, those on the low side were dangerous because the ship was still shifting.
What a beautiful ship, gone because the captain wanted to show off.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. We had a friend who worked on a cruise ship 20 some odd years ago

He said every single trip someone got busted for smuggling drugs. Usually an employee but also passengers.

[riderinthestorm]

15. Thanks for your perspective Jon! Honestly, I shudder at the thought of taking a cruise

It's not on my bucket list and I have no desire, ever, to take one.

I agree the boarding of the lifeboats for the Costa Concordia was a huge problem from what I've read! Brawls, crew members jumping in ahead of passengers... the dining staff were the most calm and handled virtually all of it from what I've read. I also read that it was obvious the ship was in trouble almost immediately so it's pretty wild to imagine anyone blowing it off (hello? the power just went off and your ship is at a 45 degree angle to the water??)....

Did you read that the Captain actually abandoned the ship early on?? Crazy.

ETA a belated welcome to DU!

[muriel_volestrangler]

36. Do you have a link for reports of brawls?

The reports I've read all said people behaved well (apart from the captain, who got off quickly, and refused to reboard for an hour, despite the harbour master telling him it was his responsibility to be running the evacuation on board, and to report the number of injured, deaths and so on). The criticism I've heard is that they didn't start soon enough - if they'd told people to get to their muster stations when the situation was unsure (although they hadn't practised it, that's all the more reason for doing that bit early), then they could have got more into the lifeboats as the list became apparent.

[riderinthestorm]

39. .

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/reality-check-with-polly-curtis/2012/jan/16/costa-concordia-women


Here's another: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2012/01/16/costa-concordia-disaster-retired-british-cop-tells-how-men-pushed-past-women-and-children-to-reach-lifeboats-86908-23701859/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2086826/Costa-Concordia-cruise-ship-accident-French-survivor-tells-husband-gave-lifejacket.html

[WolverineDG]

17. I've only sailed on Carnival

and they always had muster drill BEFORE we left port.

[Saving Hawaii]

23. Yeah. Somebody else said that in the US its required before you leave, in Europe on the 1st day.

[snagglepuss]

38. Thanks for this enlightening post. How true about carrying a flashlight.

It'd be utterly terrifying to be try to find one's ways in the dark on that massive ship.

[bottom line]

22. is it just me.........

I am more boggled that not any news related article I've seen tackles the OBVIOUS: That how that ship was allowed to be built THAT TOP HEAVY (for profit, for profit, for profit)!
This is where the entire world's economy is TOP HEAVY for the 1%.

[JCMach1]

26. Dunno, ANY ship that gets a gash that large is likely to go down...

I could be wrong, but that looks like the actual rock still stuck in the hull.

If so, how fast were they going? The captain was the idiot here, not the engineers.

[Snake Alchemist]

27. Would you rather they tip to the side or do the nose dive? nt

[bottom line]

28. time

I'd rather they had some time
DU che to the idiot

[Snake Alchemist]

32. It took hours for them to submerge.

Accident occured around 10PM and the last passengers were evacuated aound 6AM the next morning.

[bottom line]

34. tip & recommend

"shortly thereafter, plates started sliding off tables"
I guess, I'm supposed to tip & recommend?
Yes, it was a ROCK!

[Snake Alchemist]

35. Not sure you're going to find a ship that won't do that after hitting that large a rock.

At least it avoided the two worst case scenarios. The Poseidon Adventure (completely flipping upside down) or going completely vertical and nose diving.

[hunter]

25. Once or twice my mentally ill me's paranoid depression gene has saved ass...

...bloody European wars or American Civil Wars, ruh, oh, I'm out of here, run, run away...

... but most of the time it just fucks us up.

Evolution sucks when it works like that. Sure, your sickle cell anemia gene protects you from malaria, but some of your kids will be screwed.

[babydollhead]

29. i have a weird reation to emergencies, i get instantly tired and have to go to my bed

Our neighborhood has a problem in big rain storms, the park behind out house blows a manhole cover and a geyser of raw human seage shoots up 4 feet and floods the park and the neighborhood. Neighbors go house to house making sure the electricity is off in the basements. I do not know what my problem is, I get dead tired, and go up to bed. I can hear the rain and the glugging spewing , and it lulls me to sleep.

[snagglepuss]

33. I wonder if your response explains the captain's behavior i.e.

his not immediately reporing the incident, telling the coastguard when they called him that there wasn't a problem, abandoning the ship.

[hobbit709]

30. I've been on enough ships that a loud groaning noise would not be normal.

Hitting rocks like that would not feel like normal wave motion to me. Especially if the ship stops.

[lunatica]

31. They knew they were within swimming distance of land.

They trusted authority and were in denial. And in all fairness only a few people were killed.