The Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground off the west coast of Italy is seen at Giglio island January 18, …Used to be people contemplating taking a luxurious cruise only had to worry about sea-sickness, maybe a touch of food poisoning or perhaps a norovirus blitz straining the ship's toilet facilities.
Then came a spate of on-board fires that rendered a couple of these big floating hotels helpless at sea, and now the Costa Concordia disaster.
At least 11 people died and some two dozen are still missing since the giant cruise ship blundered onto some rocks near an island off the Tuscan coast last Friday night.
The evacuation of thousands of passengers and crew from the badly listing vessel was a Titanic-style fiasco, exacerbated by the fact the ship's captain was apparently on one of the first lifeboats.
Cruise industry expert Ross Klein of Memorial University in St. John's told CBC News that Capt. Francesco Schettino's actions before and after the accident are highly questionable. He also thinks it's time to revisit safety procedures and crew training on cruise vessels.
So you still want to take a cruise. What can you expect if the ship runs into trouble?
The Toronto Star reports that experts believe only about 15 per cent of people remain calm during a severe crisis, while 70 per cent have impaired judgment and 15 per cent behave irrationally, i.e. panic.
The experts say you can prepare yourself for an emergency but doing things such as knowing where your personal flotation device is located and how to put it on, and if you have kids, ensuring theirs are the right size.
You should also familiarize yourself with the ship, looking for exits and lifeboats. Ask for an escape drill if the ship doesn't do one.
Listen for all announcements - usually made in English - and the international signal to evacuate - seven short blasts of the ship's horn, followed by one long one. Also know where you can get direction if the crew speaks a different language from yours.
In the absence of instructions or help from the crew, head to the upper decks and get off the ship. Take the quickest but not necessarily shortest route and don't use elevators or escalators. If there was no lifeboat drill and aren't sure where to find one, look for crew members helping passengers.
The Costa Concordia sinking is also expected to focus attention on the cruise operator's civil liability.
Reuters' correspondent Linda Stern reports passengers buy cruise ship tickets without reading the lengthy contracts attached to them.
U.S. consumer lawyer Joseph Goldberg notes the Carnival Cruise Lines contract (a Carnival subsidiary operated the stricken ship) runs almost eight thousand words and mentions liability 20 times.
The sinking will likely trigger years of litigation as the company tries to limit its liability while passengers argue the usual contract limitations shouldn't apply in a disaster like this.
Goldberg advises would-be cruise passengers should read their ticket contracts carefully to know what rights you might be signing away.
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