Tag Archives: fire onboard

Carnival boss Arison makes personal apology

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Carnival boss Arison makes personal apology

By Phil Davies

Carnival boss Arison makes personal apologyThe boss of Carnival Cruise Lines parent company Carnival Corporation issued a personal apology over the weekend to passengers involved in the Carnival Triumph accident.

Micky Arison used his Twitter feed to express his feelings after more than 3,100 passengers had their short cruise ruined due to an engine fire which left the ship drifting powerless in the Gulf of Mexico.

The crippled ship was finally towed back into port in Mobile, Alabama, on Friday and the majority of passengers were driven by coach to New Orleans to catch specially chartered flights to Houston or Galveston, where the cruise originally departed.

Passengers complained that toilets and drainpipes overflowed, soaking many cabins and interior passages in raw sewage.

Carnival Corporation chairman and chief executive Arison said: “We are very sorry for the difficult conditions experienced by our guests on Carnival Triumph but glad that all guests are off safe and sound. I want to thank all the Carnival Cruise team members for their tireless efforts.”

He faced criticisim in January last year for failing to travel to Italy and take personal charge of the Costa Concordia crisis in which 32 people died.

Carnival Cruise Lines chief executive Gerry Cahill boarded the ship to personally apologise to passengers.

“I know the conditions on board were very poor,” he said. “I know it was difficult. I want to apologise for subjecting our guests to that.

“We pride ourselves with providing our guests with a great vacation experience and clearly we failed in this particular case.”

Carnival said passengers will be reimbursed in full plus transportation expenses, a future cruise credit equal to the amount paid for this voyage, plus a payment of $500 a person in compensation.

The company has cancelled 14 cruises due to repairs needed to Carnival Triumph.

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Carnival Triumph docks in Mobile

By Jerry Limone
The disabled Carnival Triumph was towed into the port in Mobile, Ala., on Thursday evening, docking at about 9:20 p.m. Central time. Passengers began debarking at about 10:15 p.m.

Debarking the entire ship was expected to take up to five hours, as few elevators were working on the Triumph. There were more than 4,200 people onboard, 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew.

Chartered buses were taking passengers to New Orleans or Galveston, where the ship had departed last Thursday on what was supposed to be a four-day cruise.

Carnival is putting passengers up in hotels if they choose to travel to New Orleans, which is about a two-hour drive from Mobile. Carnival is paying for homebound flights from New Orleans.

Before debarkation began, Carnival Cruise Lines CEO Gerry Cahill went onboard to talk with guests and crew, Carnival said.

In a statement on Carnival’s Twitter account, Cahill said, “I want to again apologize to our guests and their friends and family. The situation has been incredibly difficult, and we’re sorry for what happened. Our company was founded on the idea of providing great vacations to fun-loving Americans, and clearly we failed on this cruise.”

An engine-room fire on Sunday left the ship without power. With most toilets not functioning, guests were instructed to use red plastic bags for solid waste, according to passengers disembarking the ship.

Many of the passengers left the ship wearing bathrobes from the Triumph, as they were not prepared for cold weather. It was in the low 40s in Mobile on Thursday night.

“Of course the bathrobes for the Carnival Triumph are complimentary,” Carnival joked on its Twitter feed.

Some passengers who were interviewed by TV news programs after leaving the ship lauded the efforts of the crew.

Carnival is rewarding hotel crew members who are close to completing their contracts, sending them on an early vacation while compensating them for their full term, said the line. Other hotel crew members will be transferred to other Carnival ships.

Deck and engine crew will stay onboard to help reposition the Triumph to a Mobile shipyard.

“They will then have hotel rooms Friday night and onward, as they will stay with the ship to help with repairs,” Carnival said.

Thomson limits Dreamliner refunds to £10 premium

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Thomson limits Dreamliner refunds to £10 premium

By Phil Davies

Thomson limits Dreamliner refunds to £10 premiumThomson is to refund only the £10 premium paid by passengers per flight if their holidays are affected by delayed delivery of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Boeing has told Thomson that its first Dreamliner will not be delivered as scheduled this month because of on-going safety tests which have grounded all 50 aircraft in service around the world.

Thomson has warned consumers that if delivery is delayed beyond March it may not be able to offer Dreamliner flights to Florida and Mexico as planned from May.

The Tui Travel airline is working on contingency plans which may include using 767s on the long-haul services.

Holidaymakers paid extra for Dreamliner flights, and many booked premium seats that they may or may not be able to get on the replacement flights.

Thomson has said that if it can’t offer customers the Dreamliner flight they paid for, it will refund the £10 per person per flight premium it charged.

The company will also try to offer customers who paid for premium seats on the Dreamliner an equivalent seat on a replacement aircraft. If this is not possible, it will refund the difference.

Thomson says normal terms and conditions apply to anyone wanting to change flights or cancel their holiday because they no longer want to fly on the Dreamliner.

This means paying an amendment fee of £50 per person, up to 21 days before departure, to change flights. After that it would be 90% to 100% of the original cost.

Anyone wanting to cancel their holiday would lose their deposit. Those opting to cancel 69 days or less before departure would lose their deposit and have to pay a cancellation fee.

Thomson said normal terms and conditions applied because it had every faith in Boeing’s ability to fix the safety issues, and once the Dreamliner was back in service Thomson would have “absolutely no hesitation in flying it,” consumer watchdog Which? reported.