I was watching the news coverage about the heat wave and they broke away for a "breaking news story" about a cruise ship. As soon as they mentioned the ship's name I called DC who sounded OK (albeit a little shaken up). He said there were a lot of injuries.

Apparently he and his daughter were in their rooms when the ship listed VERY sharply. (Again, everyone in his family are OK).

The ABC affiliate here just had a caller from the ship (as Sr Vitelli described) and he pretty much confirmed what DC said (a lot of injuries). This caller said that water actually came onboard some of the lower levels and the swimming pools onboard lost a lot of water when the ship listed. They showed a live picture of the ship sailing back to port (apparently one of the local tv stations dispatched a helicopter to get those shots).

I'm sure there'll be lots of news coverage coming up in the next hour or two.

Wow, this really sucks. What a way to end a great vacation. I'm glad he and his family are ok, but it appears others were injured, so that's not good.

For those of us who aren't getting the tv coverage, MSN finally has a story on the ship incident. How scared everyone must have been.

TIS

web page

Thank God DC and nearly all the other passengers are ok. And many thanks to all here who tracked this awful incident and posted about it. Another virtue of these boards and the people on it.

From what I just heard on our local news, people who were on the ship may have to make other arrangements to get home.

They are being allowed to stay onboard tonight, but the kitchen was so severely damaged that the word "destroyed" was used. In other words, they can't feed anyone. People are said to be doing whatever they can to book flights, etc., in order to get home. In a statement, the cruise ship company said that passengers will be "compensated" but didn't elaborate. I didn't hear any estimate on how long repairs to the ship will take.

Two of the injuries were quite serious, and those people were airlifted to a hospital and are in critical condition. Thank God that the vast majority of the passengers just suffered cuts, bumps and bruises. From all accounts I've seen (and heard), this was bad, but could have been a lot worse.

Signor V.

My prayers are with you & every-one on that ship!
God Bless!

I'm not 100% sure I heard correctly but WABC reported that full refunds were to be given to passengers.

Has any of the news coverage said what went wrong?

Something was mentioned about a mechanical issue with the ship's steering mechanism but I'm sure thats not "official" yet.

I told my hubby about it and he seems to think that the bilges(sp) were uneven and that might have caused the ship to list. But who knows

I'm happy to hear that DC and family are apparently okay, but that must've been so scary!

All those involved are in my prayers.

Thanks to everyone who posted their best wishes and their concerns.

It is about 7:00AM on Wednesday and we are still on the ship. I just made a reservation at an Orlando hotel for this evening and also was able to make a reservation for a flight out of Orlando for tomorrow afternoon.

Let me tell you, this was scary, very scary. The ship basically went on it's side and we almost turned over. Thank GOD that the captain knew what he was doing. He saved our lives by his quick reaction.

Apparently something in the automated computer malfunctioned and the stabilizers on one side of the ship malfuntioned and that is how we began to 'tip over.' The captain reacted immedeatly and disengaged the computer and manually brought the ship back to it's upright position.

I had just left the top deck with the pools ( thank goodness) and returned to my cabin with my kids and
the next thing I knew was that the furniture in the cabin began to tumble! I went flying across the cabin with the furniture. Luckly my kids were in a postion in the cabin where they secured themselves and ducked down at the bottom of the bed. After throwing them their life jackets I told them to stay put as I heard screaming coming from other cabins and the halls. I worked my way out of the cabin and there were people scattered all over the halls crying and shaking. Several other gentlmen and I made our way around the halls knocking on cabin doors to see if anyone needed help. We helped some people who were shaken up a bit with some cuts and bruises. I must say that the crew on this ship, from the stewards to the waiters were just fantastic through all this. They quickly responded and you could see that they all had been trained to respond and take control. They were just fantastic. The poor captain of the ship came over the loudspeaker giving instructions and you could hear the cracking in his voice obviously from his realizing that we came very close to turning over.

My wife was up in the health club and she had just gotten off one of the machines and was walking out when the ship tipped. She said that machines and free weights began to fly all over the place, going through glass and people were flying all over. Luckily she grabbed onto a railing and braced herself along with several others until the ship went back into the upright position.

She made her way down and we found each other and were obviously both very relieved that we all were ok.

She went into the cabin with the kids and I continued on to try and help people who were injured.

The pools on the upper decks are filled with 7 feet of water. When all was said and done there was probably about 6" to a foot of water left in them. The water emptied when we tipped and ran down the elevator shafts flooding them.


People began to panic thinking that the ship had taken on water.

People were helping each other, we made search parties looking for children who had been seprated from their parents, and we assisted people that had been injured over to the triages that were set up.

I guess that once I saw that my whole family was ok I went into adrenlaine mode and didn't really think about what had happened being more concerned about helping those who were hurt or shaken up.

A few hours later after everything had setteled down, I began to think about what actually happened and it finally sunk in and I had a sick feeling realizing that I could have lost my kids and my wife.

It was a sureal experience.

But again I thank GOD that we are all ok and I am just praying for one of the little kids who is in critical condition right now.

You all probably know more details than I actually do about the amount injured, etc. But I can tell you that there were people laying all over the place with bad cuts and twisted limbs. It was very heartbreaking.

Again the crew on this ship was just fantastic.

And I must personally thank my 'MOST VALUED AND TRUSTED' friend SC for his sincere concern and his call to me.

Thanks again to all who voiced their concern.


Don Cardi

CARDI!!!!! Here's a hug. {{{{{}}}}. Good to hear from you.

I'm glad that you and your family are alright. Hope you have a relaxing night in Orlando.
Thank you for the riveting account. You painted a picture we just don't get from the news.

Thank God! Every-one is safe!

DC,

Glad to hear from you and to know you and your family are safe!!! What a horribly frightening ordeal. Please let us know when you arrive back home safely.


TIS

I just heard about what happened...thank God you and your family are safe.

DC,

I am so glad to know that you and your family are ok. I hope you didn't get hurt when you went flying across the cabin. DC you are a great man for helping out making sure the other passengers were ok. God Bless you. Let us know when you get back home.

Jeez, what a horrifying story! Thank God you and your family were uninjured. And, kudos to you, my brave friend, and other courageous people for caring about the others on board.

That said, I think there should be a serious, in-depth investigation of the cruise ship industry. Do others here get the impression that there seems to be an unending parade of cruise ship mishaps--ranging from regular outbreaks of gastric and other physical illnesses, to breakdowns, fires, disabled systems--many of them life-threatening to large numbers of people. I just cringe, after reading DC's vivid description, to think of what could have happened in another second or two. Cruising has really taken off in the last decade, and I think health and safety regulation is far behind reality.

DC, my friend, I am so very relieved to hear that you are doing well. I can't imagine how frightening it must have been for you and your family. What a nightmare it COULD have been, but thank God you are all well. I know from past experience that my kids are often off doing activities on a cruise, so I was glad to read that the little Cardis were with you when this happened. And I think how badly your wife could've been injured in the gym, with the free weights flying around!! I always knew, deep in my heart, that working out was bad for you!

Seriously, God bless, and glad you're all on your way home, safe and sound.

I can't even imagine your mindset when all this was happening. My very first thought (after hearing the name of the ship on the news) was whether you and your family were OK and hoping that you were all together.

You have no fuckin' idea how happy I was to hear your voice, bro!

Knowing you as I do its no surprise to me to read what you did to help the others (after realizing your family was all OK).

Enjoy your day in Orlando.

This made the Today Show
scroll down there are 2 video's about it.

Cruise Ship

Don Cardi just called me and he said that he and his family are doing good. He said that he is staying on the ship tonight instead of the hotel. Since he helped out so much yesterday someone from the ship asked them to stay on it. Then tomorrow they will bus them to the airport.

They're really keeping him onboard while they investigate a rigged roulette table.

DC - I am very glad to hear that you and your family are alright. The ship is mighty lucky to have you and the other courageous people who helped those in need of aid.

You still feel that way? LOL!


Don Cardi

For some strange reason I cannot access the second page of this topic. The computers here are on overload with people still trying to book flights online, etc.

So I have not been able to read the messages posted as of late on the second page here.

Just an update. We were originally supposed to leave and go to a hotel this morning/early afternoon near the airport where our plane will be leaving from tomorrow. However the cruise people here invited us to stay on board for the last evening even though we are docked. They are still providing food and drink for us and have even brough a comedian on board to preform for us tonight. They invited many of us who helped out during the crisis to stay for the last night saying that they really appreciated the assistance that many of the passengers here provided during the crisis.

So we figured what the heck, lets stay on board and enjoy the night here.

The only passengers left here are those of us that they've invited to stay, and those people who've come from different parts of the world/country who are still trying to get confirmations on connecting flights to their homes.

Again, I know some of you have posted here on the second page of this topic, but for some strange reason I cannot access the second page. So when I get home I'll respond to all of you who have been nice enough to take the time to post here.

I'm going to get drunk!!!!!

Thanks everyone.


Don Cardi

Holy Schist! When this thread started I never paid attention to the name of the ship. In my daily stupor I never gave it a thought that DC was on this wobbly ship.

Thank God all is well with you and the family. Do you feel like big disasters (or near ones) are part of your life? 9/11 and now Tippy Canoe? Damn. A safe return to Staten Island, please.

Glad you're okay, Cardi :p

I'm glad to hear everyone is OK and Godspeed.