ssMaritime - The Author's Thoughts

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With Reuben Goossens

Maritime Historian, Cruise‘n’Ship Reviewer & Author

The Author’s Thoughts

“Classic Liners Vs the Modern Monsters of the Sea!”

Well, let me put my thoughts down for I certainly am an old salt and although I may be rather old fashioned, but I am one of the first to admit that many of the modern cruise ships do have some wonderful and fantastic facilities many having never been imagined in days long gone.

However ship design in general has become nothing short of atrocious and in many cases I mean interiors, but mostly their hideous exteriors! Mind you, once again most modern ships do have superb accommodations, but their public venues and … I must apologize in advance to my many American readers and so many have agreed with me having emailed countless times, these ships tens to have hideous and glitzy over the top almost horrendous décor, with soaring atriums as is found on all Carnival and Royal Caribbean and now Costa, Aida, NCL and MSC ships and sadly the list seems to go on. I feel that cruise ships these days should really be called floating hotels or resorts for in so many ways they are no longer ships as we used to know them, the only thing they have in common is that they happen to be on the water and sail from port to port, and then they tend to be in port almost every single day! Sadly, their exteriors are even worse than their interiors. Most designs are based on Carnivals Vista class hulls, with the pre built sections, which is done for pure strength and these are then placed together, and this style of building adds a great deal of strength to the entire vessel. But externally many of these ships tend to look more like apartment (Condo’s) blocks, rather than a ship and they are described by countless thousands of my readers from nations around the world as “great big hideous boxes” and I agree with them!

What is this an apartment block (a Condo) or a vessel? Sorry, I just cannot call it a ship!

Here are just some well known hideous and boxy looking ships

Royal Caribbean International ships had mostly been of a reasonably good design, but they were getting bigger and bigger. Then came the hideous 220,000 GRT

“Oasis of the Seas” in 2009, followed by her sister the “Allure of the Seas” in 2010 both having 16 decks and half of them are covered with balcony cabins,

not only externally, but also internally of the ship as she has two long buildings located atop of her hull. Thus the reality is that this is more of a

building sitting on a hull rather than being a genuine ship, and this is a genuine resort, with well over 6,300 guests and some 3,500 hotel and other staff.

Just imaging if there ever should be an emergency and some 9,800 people will have to evacuate the ship all at once – sounds like disaster to me,

Let alone as boarding and lining up here and there. I always though a cruise was to get away from the crowd, but here you run away to join the crowd, madness!

Have I anything good to say? Yes, they are very stable due to their massive beam!

The “Norwegian Epic" or should we call this the "Monster of the Sea” - This is what I call a hideous looking floating beast. Forward as we can see as what looks like

a giant square box topside and you will note that there is no walk around Promenade Deck, just balconies everywhere and sun (cancer) drenched open deck at the top

The aft of the ship is just totally flat and upright and all balconies, thus this is more of a building on a hull. But a 12 story superstructure with a 3 deck above water hull does not sound good!

The “Epic of ugliness” is the ultimate of bad ship design that is if you can even call it a ship, I tend to call them vessels.

Whoever designed this floating resort, what were they thinking off, she is one big enclosed box, with balconies, but where are the decks?

AIDA Cruises is German version of the Carnival owned companies and this is the MV AidaBlu and as you can see it looks simply hideous

… although it does have excellent interior facilities that is for a hotel, come resort, but can you call this a real ship? Certainly not, even though it sails!

The MV Queen Elizabeth, identical sister to the Queen Victoria as well as P&O’s Arcadia and many of the Holland America Vista class ships and those ugly Costa ships, etc.

If anyone can honestly say that this is an attractive and a sleek looking ship, rather than a box like vessel, well, you know nothing about ships or anything about good ship design.

OK, inside she is like a beautiful palace, and there is no doubt about that! A 5 star hotel, but remember, she is just another Carnival “Vista Class hull & vessel!”

When ever I now see these ships, I just see the Costa Concordia, except they have far better captains! Another Costa ship has had a fire and is adrift mid sea, the Costa Allegra! Feb 27.

But, please be wise - stay far away from any top heavy Cruise ship, especially Italian ones, such as Costa and the worst of them all MSC service & noise wise!

This was to be a Holland America ship, a Cunard ship, and ended up to be the P&O Arcadia, P&O’s very first Vista class ship!

Now Carnival is forcing a massive 141,000-ton monster on P&O to be delivered in 2015, two years after the almost identical Royal Princess in 2013.

It is sad how Carnival is destroying great & historic companies with these hideous new style of ships!

Above and Below: The Arcadia was originally ordered by Carnival Plc for Holland America Line in 2000 as their fifth “Vista class” ship. However, in 2003 she was relocated to Cunard Line to become their Queen Victoria, but not long before her launch a decision was made to transfer the ship to the British P&O Cruises fleet. As a result the Arcadia has a Cunard style mast similar to those found on the Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2. She also sports a modified QE2 style funnel with the cowling removed, instead of the traditional P&O style funnel found on the earlier purpose P&O built Oriana and Aurora. Note the similarities between the Arcadia and the Queen Victoria, although late changes were made to the superstructure to make her a bit more P&O in style, especially her forward section.

Queen Victoria is yet another top heavy “Vista Class” box on water, beautiful inside, hideous outside and a very poor maritime design!

Remember Cunard is NO longer an English Company, it is American!

Vista class hulls are considered by most maritime and naval designers as poor and they certainly are not famed for riding the sea very well in bad weather. This has already been seen on a good number of occasions with the Queen Victoria, which is a Vista class ship and others of her kind! Thus the modern ship may have all their facilities and their countless balconies, which have taken up the space where ships in the past used to have their popular covered and walk around promenade decks, but those are now all but gone, except on a few ships, but they have been replaced with far other smaller spaces, and these are usually rather crowded as many of these ships will accommodate anything from 2,500 up to 6,600 passengers. That is why I prefer to stick to Classic International Cruises that operate ex classic liners that have been updated and only have small passenger numbers, or sail with the ultimate Holland America Line, who will not overcrowd their ships and have retained that good old fashioned style of service! My favourite ships are the ms Statendam, Rijndam, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Volendam, Zaandam, Veendam & Maasdam as these ships are between 55,819-tons with 2,260 passengers, to 62,000-ton with 1,432 passengers. Simply perfect and Holland America is the one of the oldest shipping lines and the world’s most awarded Cruise Companies!

This hideously painted almost bowless box is NCL’s “MV Pride of America.” But she is better known by another name …

Many American’s & others have written me and they call her as this email stated, which was in a similar vain to many …

“the Shame of America” not just design wise but she also provides poor service and food. We found her to be a floating a disaster!”

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Now for a little Joy and Happiness of Yesteryear!

Photographs Revealing the Elegance and sheer Class of the Classic Day’s at Sea!

Photographs below represent a variety of ships, those that were built exclusively to operate on the Atlantic, thus their design called for their promenade decks being glass enclosed, whilst other ships were built for the African, Asian New Zealand and Australia services and these ships offered many open decks as they would spend a vast amount of time in warm climes. Their décor would also reflect their services in various ways and these photographs will show this. I will commence with several Trans Atlantic liners and continue with around the world liners for comparison.

SS Reliance (1914) sailed for the Dutch, American’s and the Hamburg American Line as seen here

Photograph by Fritz Wortmann – from the Rich Turnwald Collection.

This is the restaurant on board the then American 20,000 ton liner SS Reliance in 1922, now that’s class!

The 26,600-ton SS Conte Grande of 1928 one of the Grand Italian luxury liners of her day! She had a long service and was finally broken up at Savona Italy in 1962.

She and her sister the Conte Biancamano (built in 1927) were more like sublime castles at Sea as can be seen from her lounge below!

The Grand Lounge looked more like it came directly out of a castle

The SS Excalibur (1) of 1930 may have been an unimpressive looking ship, but internally she was more of a ultra luxury passenger cargo liner

Photograph by R.T. Hildebrand – Rich Turnwald Collection

The superb two story restaurant on the SS Excalibur (I) and her three identical sisters that operated 43 night luxury voyages

from New York to the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Their lounges had high domed ceilings and were as good as the

many great liners sailing the Atlantic then and much later! These four ships were known as the “Four Aces.”

Enter the “Four Aces” Feature

The greatest of all trans-Atlantic liners - RMS Queen Mary

Cunard Line’s RMS Queen Mary elegant far forward Cocktail Bar overlooking the bow of the ship!

RMS Queen Mary’s Cabin Class Smoking Room was a rather grand in style and two levels high, considering venue this was not first class it was an

Amazing venue and it proves that the great liners offered luxury not just for the rich and privileged!

Enter my RMS Queen Mary Feature

The company famed as having the “Spotless Fleet” - Holland America Line and their finest liner ever - SS Nieuw Amsterdam

This ship was and still is considered as the most beautiful ship ever to be built and the most perfectly balanced ship!

This was one of the grandest dinning rooms afloat; the golden padded domed ceiling – the Champlain Restaurant on board the SS Nieuw Amsterdam was without doubt

an example of sheer grandeur. Murals lined the walls at the forward and aft sections at the doors. Behind the photographer on the upper level was a Band Stand

Enter my SS Nieuw Amsterdam Feature

The great Blue Riband holder - SS United States – still afloat & to become a Hotel

may future generations be able to look at the sheer beauty of this ship and appreciate what a superb liner used to be like

long in to the future as she is being restored to her original self!

The ship that had no timber on board – The SS United States First Class restaurant although not as grandiose as some, but still elegant

Enter my SS United States Feature

Netherland Line MS Johan van Oldenbarnevelt was a popular liner sailing first to Indonesia, then to Australia and New Zealand

Although the forward part (aft of the glazed section) of the Promenade Deck was open, but it did have glass folding doors that lifted up to the ceiling and they could be lowered in cold climes.

The Grand Statesman Lounge on board the Netherland Line’s MS Johan van Oldenbarnevelt

Her name is carved in the panel below the marble high between the two entrance doors; all columns were solid timber

and carved with floral or animal life as found in the East Indies (Indonesia). The ceiling was inlaid with beaten copper

Enter my MS Johan van Oldenbarnevelt Feature

P&O Line’s SS Himalaya was a traditional ship with spacious open decks especially designed to sail in the tropics

SS Himalaya was a special ship and she offered a traditional British style of low key luxury and elegance, something that all Orient Line and P&O ships were famed for

Until their later ships, such as the SS Oriana and SS Canberra both setting new high standards in style!

Two great Italian liners were built towards the end of the liner days were the T/N Michelangelo (1960) and Raffaello (1961)

This is the magnificent Ballroom on the elegant T/N Michelangelo

Enter my T/n Michelangelo & T/n Raffaello Feature

SS Australis was built as the SS America in 1946 and was sold the Greek Chandris Lines in 1964

Although her lounges remained very much unaltered, except for becoming all one class, with additional cabins being added

The Australis Ball Room was a delight in design and in colour scheme, as the red and gold blended perfectly!

Enter my SS Australis Feature

However, in the days of what we may call the sheer romance of shipboard life has now almost gone, as has that sheer elegance of genuine sea travel, as it was on ships such as RMS Queen Mary, SS United States, then there was the ship that became known worldwide as the most beautiful ship ever built, the SS Nieuw Amsterdam of Holland America Line, remembered as “The Spotless Fleet” and this company it still is to this day! The author sailed with Holland America Line last October on their smaller and more traditional ships, the ms Volendam and I was amazed that at least this company has retained many of its old ways, from their bell-boys and traditional uniforms. In addition the ship had a tasteful décor and was filled with fresh flowers everywhere and she was blessed with a multi-million dollar art collection to be found all over the ship. This can be found on every Holland America vessel. No wonder they have been chosen as the Best Cruise Line for so many years in a row! But the company continues a tradition of classic service and the amazing things is that the serving staff not only remembers your name but also your tastes and remembers just what you like! I found this to be simply amazing. Although I am not fond of Holland America’s newer larger ships as they are of that modern style, but their interiors are superb and classy with an amazing art collection and filled with fresh flowers, being their signature! Personally, I prefer their “S” (Statendam) and the “R” (Rotterdam) Class ships! With average of 65,000-tons and with just 1,400 passengers, which just right and as I found it to be on board the Volendam where there was never a crowd to be found!

Back to hard reality of the modern ugly floating boxes such as the hideous Vista class of ships!

The Vista Class ship MV Queen Elizabeth (like her sister Queen Victoria) looks very much a square floating box, and she does not handle well in rough seas,

according to regular cruise passengers who sailed on her maiden world voyage and some stated that they were even ill considering they are good sailors.

But it must be said that her interiors are very luxurious indeed and her facilities are superb, just like a luxury hotel, for that is what she really is, but floats!

Personally, we are stuck with these monsters of the sea and there are some really hideous ones, such as the new top heavy MSC ships, Vista class Costa ships and all those comparable ships that are owned by Carnival and personally I would not sail on if you paid me, neither would I sail with the German Aida resort style vessels.

In recent times, the author has been advised that Carnival Cruises USA is relocating their 88,500-ton Carnival Spirit to Sydney in October 2012 and she will be based there on a year round basis in Australia. She is a cruise resort for the younger youth/family “X - Y generation” and as such she is not really suitable for the slightly more mature market! Her décor is over the top, extremely glitzy and to say the least “gaudy” and ever so what many call “vulgar American,” but that is their style in this modern era for sadly Americans are not known for their style or having any taste what so ever! I by far prefer the elegance offered by ships such as Holland America Line, Cunard and P&O England and I mean even the modern version.

Holland America Line for me is the best of all cruise companies in this category as it is a company that guarantees 5 Star cruising as I have personally experienced in an atmosphere full of style. But what I found best is that Holland America Line continues to offer the kind of elegance of days gone by, yet on a totally modern and up to date cruise ship that is filled with millions of dollars of superb and fine art as well as offering fresh flowers on every single table in all public venues. Holland America also has some of the best and most spacious cabins afloat! I suggest that you read my ms Volendam cruise review at: ms Volendam – located on my cruise site. The following are highly recommended modern cruise ships and ex classic liners that have been rebuilt into cruise ships!

A modern ship, but ms Amsterdam is one of four well designed and balanced “R” class ships. The first was ms Rotterdam, others being the Amsterdam, Volendam and the Zaandam.

The first two have side by side twin smoke uptakes, whilst the latter two have a single more conventional funnels. Although their internal layout is identical, but each has their own theme.

Read my … ms Amsterdam Ship Review

ms Volendam’s delightful Explorers Lounge with its art and flowers; at night this is also the venue for classical concerts

The magnificent Explorations Café on board the ms Amsterdam has a number of functions, a Barista Coffee Lounge, a Library, Internet Café as well as a reading room.

The Explorations Café are found on all of Holland America ships and are some of the finest rooms afloat and are filled with sculptures, art and comfortable furnishings.

Holland America Line is certainly one of my all time favourite cruise lines!

P&O’s (UK) MV Oriana is what I believe to be the last traditional, although modern P&O ship to be built, and I have sailed on her a number of times and enjoy her greatly! I have also sailed on the

newer MV Aurora, which is nice but simply not quite as good. At the time of Oriana’s building P&O retained some of their old traditions, which have sadly now been lost due to … Carnival‘i’sation!

The photo above was taken in Sydney on March 1, 2008 whilst the author was his voyage from Brisbane via South Africa to Southampton.

Anderson’s is more like an old fashioned gentleman’s club and in the evening it was the perfect venue to enjoy some champagne and caviar! Oriana has the perfect blend

of the traditional and the modern, the only problem was the bland British food on offer, which is somewhat disappointing to say the least. The only relief is the lunchtime curry,

as well as the night-time Indian, Thai and other specialty buffets. Entertainment is good as is the service!

Happily there are still some Fine ex Classic Liners Sailing TODAY!

MV Athena – an ex Classic Liner that has been wonderfully rebuilt into a superb Modern Cruise Ship!

Classic International Cruises - MV Athena a ship that retains its classic style yet she is as modern

… and as up to date technically as are its safety & navigation equipment just like a ship built yesterday!

A friend and myself joined the delightful MV Athena (built as the Trans-Atlantic lines MS Stockholm) and sailed from Fremantle on March 6 bound for Portsmouth UK. We certainly enjoyed our voyage on this delightful fully updated SOLAS 2010 compliant cruise ship that accommodates no more than 550 passengers. We enjoyed her spacious accommodations that featured something that no longer found on any other cruise ship sailing from Australia, for every single passenger cabin on board featured a spacious bathroom with a bath with a shower above and even a bidet. Now is not something that found on cruise ships today, except on a very few of the high end super luxury 6 star boutique yachts/vessels. We found the MV Athena to be quite remarkable and she has an on board ambience that has become greatly loved by Australian’s and I mean not just by West Australian’s, but with cruise lovers from all over the country and a good number of New Zealander’s as well, who are heading West to Fremantle to join her whilst she is based Down Under during our summer months each year, in addition her voyages to and from the UK and Europe have proven to be quite popular! I have now placed a comprehensive 4 page MV Athena Cruise Review on my cruise-australia site, which I wrote whilst I was on board, thus it will be very fresh and 100% honest. During the voyage, the cruise director having heard that I was a Maritime Historian asked if it was possible if I could give a lecture, and I did so, in fact I ended up giving two the second one almost at the end of the voyage.

Please Note: It is important to note that the author was on vacation and is not associated with the cruise company or any travel organisation and thus was a fare paying passenger and “NOT a guest of Classic international Cruises!”

For interest, considering I enjoyed the Athena so much in 2011, I am going on another cruise on MV Athena from Fremantle on April 14, 2012. This is a 40 night voyage from Australia to Portsmouth England sailing via the Cape of Good Hope, and Athena will visits three ports in South Africa and a host of other fascinating ports of call. I have received an email from the ship and it has been pre arranged that I will be giving two maritime lectures whilst on board; 1 “RMS Titanic 100th.Anniversary” and 2 “From Stockholm to Athena.” But, once again, please remember, I do pay my own fare, the lectures are because I enjoy giving them and I have received emails from a good number of people who have told me that they will be on board as well!

Read my 2011, 40 Day - MV Athena Cruise Review and discover what a real ship is like, and thankfully she is in such perfect condition, she will continue to sail long into the future!

There is also the ever spotlessly maintained 1961 built “Classic International cruises” MV Funchal is seen here in 2010 departing the Tyne

1 - MV Costa Concordia Hits a Reef and is on her Side

Too many Passengers Killed

Many Injured and Others Remain Missing

2 - The MV Costa Allegra

Engine Room Fire, Ship Adrift at Sea - Feb 27!

Fire is reported under control and no injuries reported!

The rather top heavy 114,500-ton MV Costa Concordia

For interest her captain crashed another ship the Costa Atlantica in 2010 in a German port

causing damage to the Aidablu. This evil captain, who is a coward, has now told the media that he will expose Costa and write a book about them!

I would say to him, You are not a very smart chappie, for I suggest that you are not facing Costa, but the super rich Carnival Cooperation in the USA!

Please Note I have NOT updated this Item: My views of the modern cruise ships of today, that cruise company tend to call “Superliners” or “Megaliners,” etc are an accident waiting to happen as they are of a poor design and simply top heavy! Mind you the utter stupidity of the captain of the Costa Concordia certainly did not help for having had a good number of drinks in the bar with a rather beautiful young lady as reported by a good number of passengers and bar staff, he decided to “Showboat” the ship to the township on the Island, meaning taking the ship as close as possible and lighting her all up for the pleasure of the Islanders and tourists. But, obviously it went all very wrong! Both the captain and the first officer decided to leave the ship by 11PM having rammed the ship ashore and it had partially keeled over, whilst his passengers were still evacuation at 3AM in the morning. But, let us look at the tragic story, as it has unfolded – it is now January 23 and I will not add any more.

The reason I have added a cruise related story to ssMaritime is because of my thoughts on modern ship design, and I suggest that you read my story just down the page entitled - “Classic Liners Vs the Modern Monsters of the Sea!”

NEW: It turns out that captain Francesco Schettino has had another incident in his record book, whist he was in command of the Costa Atlantica in 2010! Whilst entering the German Port of Warnemunde, he was manoeuvring at a speed of 7.9 knots and he collided with the MV AIDAblu causing considerable damage, which he was entirely responsible for. At the time Costa “Notified” him per letter, but was allowed to continue as master. That obviously was a gig mistake!

(Updated version): On January 13, 2012, the Italian Costa Cruises MV Costa Concordia hit a reef after the ships captain made a terrible miscalculation and obviously, as he has since admitted, the ship was of course close by the shore of Italian coast and she run aground at Isola del Giglio, Tuscany. This cased the 144,500-ton cruise ship to keel over to her starboard side and she partially sank, after hitting a reef, requiring the evacuation of 4,197 people on board. This tragedy caused at least 13 poor individual, passengers and crew member to die all due to a captain, who apparently was too busy drinking at the bar with a certain East European young lady at his arm.

The capsized Costa Concordia seen on Saturday January 14, 2012

This tragedy forced the coast guard to evacuate more than 4,000 people. The MV Costa Concordia which was built in 2006 and accommodating some 3,700 passengers and 1,100 crew was on a cruise around the Mediterranean when it suddenly hit a reef near Isola del Giglio late on Friday (European time). But we have learned since it may not have been an accident, but more of stupid captains bit or fun trying to “showcase” the ship to the Island and its tourists, etc. There are still some 20 people missing, but we can imagine the scene of many jumping overboard in a panic when the ship began to list badly. It was reported in an Italian newspaper that one of the victims was a man in his 70’s and sadly he died of a heart attack caused by the shock to his system when he jumped into the icy waters. More than 30 other people were injured during the accident, some quite seriously.

Most of the 3,200 passengers on this cruise and the 1,100 crew members were evacuated but passengers stated that it was total mayhem as there had been no lifeboat drill as yet, and it was not due until Saturday. Apparently the Coast Guard struggled to rescue over 200 people that were stuck on the ship, whilst helicopters with spotlights were used to assist the rescuers. Around 8 pm (local time) the 290m long MV Costa Concordia began taking on water and listing by some 20 degrees.

When the incident began earlier, passengers suddenly heard a large bang and they were initially advised “the ship had shuddered to a halt for electrical reasons,” then much later being told “to put on their life-jackets,” a passenger from the ship told the one of the news agencies by telephone. “We were having supper when the lights suddenly went out, we heard a bang and a groaning noise, and cutlery fell on the floor.” Some passengers in terror jumped into the sea to get off the sinking ship, according to many reports. “It was like a scene from the Titanic,” said one passenger!

The local mayor said that they were trying to find room to accommodate the rescued passengers, including pregnant women and children. “We are trying to accommodate them anywhere we can, in schools, nurseries, hotels, anywhere that has a roof,” said mayor Sergio Ortelli who added “that some passengers were even bedding down for the night in the Church.”

Ongoing rescue will go on in order to locate the 20 missing people!

The company said, “The ship was on a cruise in the Mediterranean, leaving from Savona with planned stops in Civitavecchia, Palermo, Cagliari, Palma, Barcelona and Marseille. There were around 1000 Italian passengers on board, as well as 500 Germans and around 160 French people.”

The cruise ship has 5 decks of balcony cabins, including some 58 deluxe suites with balconies, there are five Restaurants, some 13 bars, five Jacuzzis and four Swimming Pools, and she had set off from the Civitavecchia a port near Rome earlier on Friday when it ran into difficulties later in the day. Most other ships, have a boat drill prior to the ship actually sailing from the port, and that should be a requirement for all ships these days, especially, Italian and Greek ships, which have always, I am sorry to say, been the worst when it comes to evacuations in history!

The tragedy is that first they were advised that it was only an electrical fault, even though passengers somehow know it was far more than that for the grinding noise would have told you otherwise! Passengers were officially told by crew members in the captain’s name, for passengers to return to their cabins and that everything would be fine. This caused further even further confusion and was obviously was a gross error in judgement by the captain or the staff.

The Captain arrested!

Italian captain, Francesco Schettino has been arrested late on Saturday and he is has been charged with manslaughter as well as abandoning his ship long before his passengers and crew were able to get off the ship, which is a maritime crime, let alone an act of cowardice! The Associated Press reports captain Schettino was first detained in Grosseto’s jail, and the Judge placed him under house arrest! when There has been a public broadcast by the port authorities speaking with the captain who was already ashore, and he was ordered to go back to the ship as there were still many passengers on board, even though he later stated that he was the last to go. The truth is he was drunk on the job and deserted his ship, and I hope they throw the book at him! The joke is, although this incident is no joke whatsoever, the captain claimed that he slipped and fell into a lifeboat, or raft by accident and that is how he ended up ashore, and then he was ordered back on board. Well, the question arises; he certainly did not demand to be allowed to get back on board did he? No, he made no attempt whatsoever to get back on board until he was forced to by the authorities, and by now we have all heard that disgraceful conversation between the captain and the port authorities!

The captain is under house arrest for deserting his ship and manslaughter

All Britons and Australian’s on board have been found and are safe, and arrangements were being made for their return home. A number of people have been rescued during the last week, including a cabin worker and a honeymooning couple from South Korea. It would have been a tragic start to their honeymoon, but, we certainly hope they will make the best out of it once they can overcome the all the trauma! There is no doubt this will be a cruise they will remember!

This shows how close she is to shore, but worse still, she is now leaking fluids and this could well start a massive environmental disaster!

More: It has been announced that the Dutch famous salvage company - “SMIT” has been contracted by the owners of the capsized Costa Concordia to pump fuel oil from the ship that is located at the entrance at the port of Giglio, Italy. “SMIT” has a number of experts on the ship in order to coordinate the removal of the fuel on board. Obviously, the Italian’s do not wish an environmental disaster upon their shores, thus thousands of tons of fuel will need to be pumped out of the ship’s tanks as soon as possible. It is well known that “SMIT” is one of the world’s largest Maritime Salvage companies that has a long, successful and an outstanding track record for salvage operations and they have offered to salvage the entire ship, although it needs to be stated here that no official agreement has been reached in that regard with Costa as yet! But it would certainly be in Costa Cruises best interest!

As many may remember, it was “SMIT” who was called in by Norwegian hull underwriters to support the fire fighting operation alongside at Alesund, where the passenger ferry MV Nordlys had damaging fire in her engine room, and the ship also suddenly capsized to some 20 degrees. However, before SMIT could reach the ship she had reached the critical 25 degrees; but thankfully, this remarkable company with all their experience were was able to right her, and she was taken to be repaired and refitted. Thus there is nothing like the best in this industry!

Sadly she has been slipping and she could well slip into the depths of the ocean as there is a huge decline where she is!

Please Note: Does the author recommend cruising with Costa or MSC Italian Cruise lines? The answer is NO! Both these companies are OK for Italians and some Europeans, for their ships are extremely loud, and you can go deaf in the dinning room alone as well in a lounge or up on deck! During every announcement you have to suffer up to six languages and believe me, they never seem to stop coming!

I do wish to emphasise that I have not made this statement because of this tragic event, but due to the countless bad reports and reviews I have received regarding both companies over the past five years.

Regarding Costa, most say that their ships are certainly spectacular on the inside, but the poor service as well as the clientele totally ruins the experience. There have been many other reasons as well, but there are far too many to list these! But the food is one of these, “Pasta, pasta, pasta - Boring!”

MSC is by far the worst of the two and do not even think of going on this third rate cruise line for it will be a total waste of money. They will offer a fare that will seem so good, low as can be, but what is on offer is a cruise to hell for an Australian or New Zealand cruise lover! These ships are wild, noisy English is seldom spoken, and the food, Oh dear? Service, well third grade as I said, but you get what you pay for.

Thus I recommend that you stay away from these two companies and sail on ships that cruise the Mediterranean and around Europe and Britain, such as the superb Holland America Lines or P&O UK Cruises and their fares are very favourable! There are other excellent companies of course, but in a higher grade, such as Celebrity and Crystal, if you do not paying a higher fare. More can be found on my cruise site - www.cruise-australia.com.

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Classic Liners:

I trust that this page will have given you a whole new love for the beauty of all those superb and great liners of yesteryear, and thankfully we can still be in touch in some degree with them, for example by sailing with the old style world of Holland America Line who has retained so much of its traditions of yesteryear, which has made it a company that has ensured it to be it an award winning cruise company, and one with a massive following. On my last cruise almost 50% were repeat passengers!

Also, you could chose to cruise on one of the ex classic liners, such as the MV Athena and Funchal. These are not sold as luxury ships, however, the service, food and entertainment was simply superb as my review will reveal and I placed this company well above some of the far higher rated cruise companies, but the joy of sailing on a superbly maintained ship and what is a real ship that felt like a ship made my time on board worth while and such a joy! Thus this question … thus why not join me on board MV Athena in 2012!

Reuben Goossens.

Also view my 2008 MV Funchal Ship Review.

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Who is the Author of ssMaritime?

Commenced in the passenger Shipping Industry in May 1960

ssMaritime.com & ssMaritime.net

Where the ships of the past make history & the 1914 built MV Doulos Story

Also visit my …

“Save The Classic Liners Campaign” & “Classic Ocean Voyages” pages

And …

www.cruise-australia.com

Photographs on ssmaritime and associate pages are by the author or from the author’s private collection. In addition there are some images that have been provided by Shipping Companies and private photographers or collectors. Credit is given to all contributors. However, there are some photographs provided to me without details regarding the photographer/owner concerned. I hereby invite if owners of these images would be so kind to make them-selves known to me (my email address may be found on www.ssmaritime.com only), in order that due credit may be given. I know what it is like, I have seen a multitude of my own photographs on other sites, yet these individuals either refuse to provide credit or remove them when asked, knowing full well that there is no legal comeback when it comes to the net. However, let us show these charlatans up and do the right thing at all times and give credit where credit is due!

This notice covers all pages, although, and I have done my best to ensure that all photographs are duly credited and that this notice is displaced on each page, that is, when a page is updated!