Where did you say we were going?

[happy daze john in oz]

A Carnival cruise ship sailed from Sydney last week bound for an 8 day cruise of New Caledonia.

However things did not work out. Due to hurricanes in the region the skipper decided it would be unsafe to go there so he set sail south.
First port of call, Melbourne, where 200 got off.

Then on to Hobart where one couple on honeymoon got off for the day and went to work.

Now the passengers are to engage in a class action against Carnival for not going where advertised.

Well good luck to them , we have often not been able to get into a port due to rough weather. Just this cruise to NZ did not get into Gisborne due to very high seas and one the following week could not get into Aukland for the same reason.

The skipper will tell all passengers that his first duty is to passenger safety so I doubt if they will get much from this action.

[John Arton]

John in OZ
Doubt the lawyers will get anything out of Carnival. They can claim force majeure and I would hazard a guess that in the small print in your ticket there is a disclaimer that ports visited could/would change in the event of the port being unsafe to enter. Plus the fact that Carnival most likely have far more slimy (whoops sorry! meant more qualified) lawyers that the average passenger could afford.
rgds
JA

[happy daze john in oz]

Have to agree John, yes it is in the print and not just the fine stuff. It is clearly indicated at time of booking that forces beyond the company may result in a change to plans.This was such a case and Carnival being part of "Carnival', the parent company of Carnival and others, they will screw any lawyer who even thinks of challenging them.

[Richard Quartermaine]

My daughter, son-in-law and two of my grandsons are doing the same Carnival cruise in March. I think Melbourne and Hobart could be a let-down!
Richard

[Jim Brady]

Around 1962 Canadian Pacific could see the writing on the wall that the Western Ocean trade was on it's way out so they decided to diversify into the cruise business.A South African guy by the name of Max Wilson came on the scene and set up Pied Piper Cruisers cruisers that the working man could afford was his slogan.Empress of Britain was the chosen ship which I was on at the time.Left Liverpool first port La-Coruna we arrived there on Good Friday for one day only,can you imagine the passengers disappointment when they went ashore and found that everywhere was closed.Left Coruna another Spanish port arrived Sunday,same as Coruna every where closed.I realise that cruising was in it's infancy but whoever was responsible for the itinerary that Spain was still a very catholic country and was not yet geared up for the tourist trade.The next and only other port was Tangier.As the passengers were kicking up a bit of a fuss over the two Spanish ports Max Wilson decided to throw in Monte Carlo to keep them happy.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi All.
I guess the old saying, you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time comes to the fore here.
cheers Des

redc.gif

[happy daze john in oz]

My daughter, son-in-law and two of my grandsons are doing the same Carnival cruise in March. I think Melbourne and Hobart could be a let-down!
Richard

Think you will find by then the cyclone will be gone and they will get to the ports on the original listing.

[Ivan Cloherty]

I think they should have sailed to the original ports in the bad weather, then the complainers would know 'what going to sea' really means, passengers should be like us, once you've signed on you live with it, cruisers seem to think that everyone sails on smooth waters and that we all had the life of Riley

[Keith Tindell]

I think a lot of people today need protecting from themselves, every year here the coastguard are called out to holiday people stuck halfway up Culver cliff, this despite bloody great big signs at the top warning of the danger. Mindless bloody idiots, never mind the poor sods who have to go and get them, . Perhaps if they were ignored for 24 hrs, and spent the night on a ledge might drive something into a dense brain. Kt

[Dennis McGuckin]

Keith, I guess we all have the same kind of problems with stupid people.Not only do we have the volunteer coast guard called out all of the time.
Now with the heavy snow fall and weather warming, the back country is an avalanche hazard for skiers and snow boarders.
Once again our volunteer Search and Rescue are risking their lives to save these ejeets.
Sometimes they are out all night, as volunteers, they also have to go to work for a living.
There has been talk for years about charging the culprits for the rescue.
Helicopters an all.
Doubt that will ever happen.
We have it all the time on our local ski hill.
Out of bounds are clearly marked.
When I was on the Ski Patrol, we had to do a sweep of the mountain at days end.
Often there would be a car or two in the parking lot.
We couldn't go home until we found the owners.
And yes. The bar was the first place we checked.