Royal Caribbean regarding project with Aruba Ports Authority: “We have always been honest and open”

Isn’t this priceless? Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines making the comments regarding the recent issues of the project with Aruba Ports Authority, “We have always been honest and open.” I would imagine their are several families with missing loved ones that would beg to differ with you Royal Caribbean.

John Tercek, vice-president commercial development of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) told the Amigoe in a letter that he regrets the fact that certain persons, “that have nothing to do with the project with Aruba Ports Authority and are not aware of the facts, have made defamatory remarks even before an agreement was entered.

Of course their are many people including  Dave Holloway and Beth Twitty that would ask the same about Aruba.  Trying to find an “open and honest” player between  Royal Caribbean and Aruba will be a difficult task at best. Talk about the pot and the kettle being a certain color.

Amigoe, May 27, 2007: We have always been honest and open    

ORANJESTAD — John Tercek, vice-president commercial development of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) told the Amigoe in a letter that he regrets the fact that certain persons, “that have nothing to do with the project with Aruba Ports Authority and are not aware of the facts, have made defamatory remarks even before an agreement was entered.    

Tercek’s letter was the first official reaction of Royal Caribbean on the occurrences that started more than two months ago, after the letter of Effy Namdar about a donation in the election’s cashbox in exchange for properties in the harbour area, was made public.      

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Two Passengers Rescued after Fall from Princess Cruise’s Grand Princess

What is going on lately that cruise ship passengers have been falling overboard? Like in the case of Mike Mankamyer , Daniel Dipiero, or this 62 year old woman who had been reported missing and presumed to have gone overboard. This time it was a 22 year old man and a 20 year old woman that according to reports fell overboard in the Gulf of Mexico aboard the Princess Cruise’s Grand Princess. Does anyone think that maybe a big netting needs to be out around the side of the boat like a building construction site in case of workers accidently falling?

The 22-year-old man and 20-year-old woman fell 50 to 60 feet from a cabin balcony, said Julie Benson, spokeswoman for Princess Cruises.

She said the cruise line did not know how they fell overboard. Their ship, Princess Cruise’s Grand Princess, was about 150 miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas, at the time.

The captain turned the ship around after friends of the man and woman notified the crew at about 1:30 a.m. CDT that they had gone overboard, Benson said. The ship’s crew used high-powered spotlights and rescue boats in the search. One passenger was rescued by the ship’s boats at 5:30 a.m. and the other at 6 a.m., according to a statement by the cruise line. (AP)

Are Cruise Ships Responsible For Anything on the High Seas? Buyer Beware … Ship’s Doctors can’t be Sued

Buying a ticket aboard a cruise ship these days has become buyer beware. Note to all future cruise passengers … the minute you step aboard the ship … YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS, NONE, NADA, NILL!!!

The money that cruise ships have spent on lawyers and political lobbyists has obviously paid off. Not only are cruise ships not responsible for rapes, murders, missing persons and virus illnesses aboard their floating cities; now cruise ships are not responsible for misdiagnosed illnesses of doctors aboard cruise ships.

 … the Florida Supreme Court decided Thursday that cruise lines aren’t responsible for the negligent acts of ship physicians who harm passengers during treatment.

The ruling means only the doctors can be sued. The company is protected unless it knowingly hired an incompetent or unqualified doctor.

That leaves injured passengers without recourse, plaintiff attorneys say. They argue that most doctors on cruise ships are foreign residents, putting them beyond the reach of U.S. courts for all practical purposes.

“Typically they have no insurance,” said James Walker, a Miami maritime attorney. “They typically have no assets to speak of.” (Sun Sentinel)

How convenient that a judge in Florida make such a ruling in favor of the cruise line industry, especially since Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, are based in Florida. The cruise line industry is protected by the best judicial decisions lobbyists can buy. Some one truly needs to explain how in the hell that cruise ships are not responsible for the acts of individuals that they put forth on a cruise ship to aide their paying customers. Since when is a company not responsible for an agent acting on behalf of a company?

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Royal Caribbean Sees 4th Qtr Profit … But also Weakness in the Caribbean Market

Royal Caribbean, do you want the good news or the bad news first? Good news for Royal Caribbean was that they saw 4th quarter profits as compared to 2005. The bad news is that the Caribbean market is less than encouraging and sluggish at best.

Sluggishness in the Caribbean has been offset by good performance in Alaska and Europe, a scenario also faced by Royal Caribbean’s chief competitor, Carnival Corp., the world’s largest cruise group.

Richard D. Fain, Royal Caribbean’s chairman and CEO, said bookings were “less than encouraging” for the “wave season” – the busiest reservation period of the year for the cruise industry, when many people plan summer vacations.

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Another Sexual Assault Aboard a Cruise Ship … This time the P&O cruise ship, Pacific Star

Its happened again. This time a teenager was sexually assaulted aboard the P&O cruise ship Pacific Star. According to reports the teenager who was sexually assaulted tried to jump overboard after the attack. Read the full story here.