Norwegian Dawn damaged by wave

[ToyStory]

I was on the NCL Dawn last June. My mother-in-law of on the ship last week and she encounter rough waters on the way down to Florida and back to New York. The Atlantic can get rough when those low's fronts come.

I was on the Dawn Princes back in 1997 and we were on our way back from Cozmel to Fort Lauderdale when a low front passed by. Those seas were rough and that ship was rocking. You could be walking straight and a wave hit the boat and you were knocked around. The waves were around 20 ft. I can't imagine what those passnegers went through.

I watched the honeymooner's interview and he said the Captain didn't know of the storm. Give me a break.. Just someone trying to get money or be on TV. I would of loved to be on the pier in NYC today with those reporters just waiting to grab passengers for their story. Which ones would they choose the ones that are the most dramatic.

At least know one died or was seriously hurt.

 

[Aisling]

I Wonder how much money the "whining honeymooner" will ask for - he's scared for life you know.

According to the NY Newspapers the passengers watched CNN on the way S and saw they would be in the middle of the storm. The captain said he radioed the Coast Guard that the ship was in distress. The Coast Guard said no such call was made.

Yes, I heard this on our local news this evening.

I am puzzled as to why everyone automatically assumes the captain did no wrong. It sure looks like he thought he could survive the storm and didn't want to call for help.

I agree. At least that's how it seems from the information starting to come out from the passengers. Not counting the whiners, it's possible that some of the passengers' accusations on the captain are true.

 

[CPM]

Yes, I heard this on our local news this evening.

I agree. At least that's how it seems from the information starting to come out from the passengers. Not counting the whiners, it's possible that some of the passengers' accusations on the captain are true.

I'm sure a captain can be at fault sometimes, maybe this time. But, I guess I always figure that he wouldn't put his own life or that ship in jeapordy. I would think that's what they are trained for.
Passegers that are watching this on their cabin TV's really aren't trained to make informed decisions on which way the captain should go. It will be interesting to hear his side or someone from NCL's side.

 

[georgeat]

I guess all industry has to assume (and you know what assume means) that every potential customer has no common since. Buy coffee, it is hot. Take a cruise, its in the ocean. Fly on a plane, it is in the air. Does anyone out there have common since anymore (not counting the lawyers who take this type of case)?

 

[Lewisc]

I guess all industry has to assume (and you know what assume means) that every potential customer has no common since. Buy coffee, it is hot. Take a cruise, its in the ocean. Fly on a plane, it is in the air. Does anyone out there have common since anymore (not counting the lawyers who take this type of case)?

Talk about common sense; if there is a large storm, go around it. Ship gets damaged and is in distress call the coast guard.

INSTEAD try to go through storm to stay on schedule. At best the passengers would have had a BAD CRUISE. The passengers saw the pathof the storm on CNN. It wasn't a secret. INSTEAD of calling the coast guard lie about calling the coast guard.

I have no interest in hearing NCL version of events. I'll wait for the coast guard version and whatever comes out if NCL allows law suits to proceed.

AFAIK NCL lost all credibility when they lied about calling the coast guard.
Compensation should START WITH a complete refund. The captain's idea of compensation was free drinks DURING THE DURATION OF THE STORM. Tables and glass were flying, people were sick and the captain is offering free drinks. Sorry but there was no common sense.

 

[Corryn]

Last night I was watching the guy on FoxNews at 11 and he had two "survivor's" on. I taped it. They said it was not one wave. They said it was a day/night full of 50, 60, 70 foot waves! He said there is a camera at the front of the ship and there is a video screen in the lobby where everyone could watch and it had a scale on it to measure every wave and he said the waves were all that big, but it was the 75 foot one that the man called a Liberation Wave, not a freak wave, because after that one 75 foot wave the captain decided to pull into port.

It seems after watching it, that the passengers felt the captain should not have continued through the storm and should have went into port when the storm first started. They said at the beginning of the storm while they were eating dinner things started falling from the ceiling, then a hellish night, and then a hellish morning the next day.

And the video was amazing

 

[mrsltg]

Honestly, the captain of the Dawn probably has 20-30 years of experience with maritime operations. He is also going to be the MOST FAMILIAR with the workings of his ship and what she can handle. Whether or not the passengers get nauseous is really not his concern. Getting them to wherever they are going - alive - is. While I don't know the captain from Adam I am willing to put trust in him just as I do the captain's of the cruise ships that I have been on, the pilots on the plane, the engineers the on the train... Is it possible that the call was put to the Coast Guard and it was not received? Further, NCL has no ability to allow or disallow lawsuits - that's up to the courts. What I find interesting, and pathetic, is that this man disembarked on Sunday and he's already spoken to a lawyer and is filing? That, in itself, is very telling.

Erin

 

[lbgraves]

I would bet anything that he took out a prenup for his fiance to sign the second after he proposed.

Honestly, I don't think that watching the waves hit the ship on TV was the best thing for them to be doing. That would have made it worse for me...definitely not what I would want my kids watching if we were in that situation.

 

[kaseyC]

The results of the formal investigation will be key. The passengers have so many conflicting reports. Just go lurk on the NCL boards on Cruise Critic where some of the passengers are posting their experiences. There is a battle raging.

It will be interesting to see NCL's response to the complaints and media attention. IIRC, they did not respond so well to all of the service issues with the launch of the Pride of Aloha last summer.

 

[mmouse37]

Corryn....just noticed your countdown clock....have a great time and enjoy the vacation with the girl scouts!!!! I guess you will be be pretty busy today!!!

Have a fantastic trip!!!

 

[Lewisc]

My point is NCL can prevent some (most?) of the lawsuits by making a refund and a reasonable future discount offer. I don't think free drinks is enough compensation.

Sorry but getting passengers back to their destination alive is really not what people are paying for a cruise. Going through 50 foot waves, known in advance as per weather chanel meteroloigst, resulted in damages even before the "big wave".

The passengers who were injured they should be seeking legal advice. Really no reason to wait.

What I find pathetic are all the people attacking the guests rather than NCL and the captain. They decided to go through bad weather, I guess to keep on schedule.

Airline flights get cancelled and airports get closed in bad weather. Flights are routed around storms. The pilot doesn't get to make all the decisions. This captain decided to go through the storm. He may have a lot of experience but look at the facts. The weather was known in advance, the ship went through and we've seen the results.

edited to add
NCL is giving customers one day pro-rata refund, the ship made it back to NYC one day early and a $200 stateroom credit. PATHETIC, if I was on that cruise I'd be talking to an attorney.

Honestly, the captain of the Dawn probably has 20-30 years of experience with maritime operations. He is also going to be the MOST FAMILIAR with the workings of his ship and what she can handle. Whether or not the passengers get nauseous is really not his concern. Getting them to wherever they are going - alive - is. While I don't know the captain from Adam I am willing to put trust in him just as I do the captain's of the cruise ships that I have been on, the pilots on the plane, the engineers the on the train... Is it possible that the call was put to the Coast Guard and it was not received? Further, NCL has no ability to allow or disallow lawsuits - that's up to the courts. What I find interesting, and pathetic, is that this man disembarked on Sunday and he's already spoken to a lawyer and is filing? That, in itself, is very telling.

Erin

 

[invaderzim]

Well, we can all debate the pros and cons of the captain's decision until we are blue in the face -- but the fact still remains that this particular ship is the ONLY one we are hearing went through this storm and sustained damage. Surely there must have been at least 4 or 5 other ships in that general vicinity that would have been hit by these waves and been tossed about. What that says to me is that all the other ships in that path took alternative routes and saved their passengers from this mess.

 

[T1130]

My friend was on the Dawn. She said it was not as bad as everyone is making it out to seem. Her 4 year old son slept through the whole thing. Her brother had 6 inches of water in his room.
This trip was last minute for them. She called me a couple of weeks ago to ask my opinion on different cruise lines. ( I should have been a travel agent) I told her she would be better off taking a trip to WDW. She has a 4 year old who is dying to go to WDW and she also has a 7 month old baby. I told her the prices are really good right now She told me no because she is afraid to fly.
When I watched the news on Sat. night and saw what happened.I said you should have just flown to WDW. Her brother was on Hannity and Colmes last night.

 

[izzinmac]

My point is NCL can prevent some (most?) of the lawsuits by making a refund and a reasonable future discount offer. I don't think free drinks is enough compensation.


edited to add
NCL is giving customers one day pro-rata refund, the ship made it back to NYC one day early and a $200 stateroom credit. PATHETIC, if I was on that cruise I'd be talking to an attorney.

Your information does not match what I'm reading in the original post on this thread and more current news items. Everything I read says the passengers got a 50% refund on this cruise plus a voucher for 50% off on their next cruise. Seems fair to me!

 

[makaira]

Just to add my two cents, not that I'm any kind of expert. But I work at a marina and have been boating offshore for almost 30 years. The weather forecast for Sat was Northeast winds at 30 knots, gusts to 40, seas 9-12 feet up to 20 nautical miles out (don't know how far the Dawn was out). I have been 100 miles offshore with 2-4 foot seas and all of a sudden a 10 or 12 footer rolls through with no warning. My point being, the predicted wave heights were definitely tolerable for the Dawn and rogue waves can happen even in the calmest weather.

 

[invaderzim]

edited to add
NCL is giving customers one day pro-rata refund, the ship made it back to NYC one day early and a $200 stateroom credit. PATHETIC, if I was on that cruise I'd be talking to an attorney



This is what they gave the passengers who were supposed to sail out on Sunday. Because the ship didn't return until Monday and they lost a day, NCL gave them a one day refund plus the onboard credit for the inconvenience. The returning passengers from last week go the 50% refund and 50% off their next cruise. Both of which I think were very reasonable and fair. Let's face it -- they got 50% of their cruise money back for a one-day incident. They still had 6 excellent days on the trip.

 

[Aisling]

I just heard on the news that the captain wanted to get the ship back to NY half a day early in order to film a Honda commercial onboard, and that's what made him take the chance with the storm .

Has anyone heard this?

 

[goofymama]

It is amazing how stories get screwed up in the grapevine. It was a rogue wave which is largely unpredictable. If you go to the Cruise Critic site it tells of many ships being hit by and damaged by rogue waves that were far worse than that which hit the Dawn.

All of the passengers on board at the time were given a 50% refund and 50% off the next cruise. Also, those in the 60+ affected rooms were flown home from Charleston.

The $200 onboard credit was for the people scheduled to leave on the NEXT cruise. Plus there fare was prorated as they missed one day. Those booked in the damaged room were cancelled and received a full refund plus 50% off their next cruise.

Whether the captain made mistakes remains to be seen. But the immediate filing of lawsuits shows what a sad state our litigious country is in. No one was hurt, it was the last night of their cruise and the passengers have been compensated. Absent a malicious intent to harm the passengers or gross negligence (which neither appear to be the case at this point), nothing else needs to be done, IMHO.

 

[invaderzim]

Very well said, goofymama! As I said a couple of posts back, what more do they want? 50% refund and 50% off next cruise is basically 100% refund. PLUS they still got a great 6-days.

 

[KAR3600]

What I find amazing is the ship docked in NYC at 10:00am, and was sailing down the Hudson River at 5:00pm, with new passsengers. From the reports I heard 65 staterooms needed to be cleaned up, as well as common areas. I think the crew must be amazing to achieve such results in a short amount of time.