To kick off or not to kick off

Its been reported that at least one person was kicked off a Holland America ship recently because they were not taking part in the Muster drill.

I have no argument with what happened, as much as I hate the drills it is something we all must do. My argument is with the timing of this incident. I see this as a little late and a distraction from the real issue.

Several bodies have been recovered from the Costa Concordia with life vests on. So I can only conclude that these people attended the muster drill or at the very least watch the video on TV in their staterooms prior to the accident. So the question I ask yet again is what happened to these people Carnival?

These deaths were not due to lack of knowledge of safety. These people were in vests, following directions that your crew were giving and somehow they were simply forgotten.

This question is the elephant in the room that no-one seems to be talking about. Its irritating to see the big corporations carry on as if its all over now. They are re-starting their advertising campaigns, talking about new ships, new shows, food, destinations and everything else except the obvious.

I find this despicable. This is an example of corporatism at its best. Minimize, distract, and avoid to save the bottom line.

If the media were to actually ask what happened to these people then the answers would really hurt.

The crew in its utter dis-organization in the final moments left these people to die by mistake.

So how safe is cruising? If you simply look at what happened you can see how the first major safety operation was conducted on a cruise ship.

Yes a great majority made it off safely. Lets not forget that this ship did not sink in the Atlantic at sea, it Partially capsized hundreds of feet from shore. Everyone should have made it out.

Now your going to hear, the crew was amazing, they saved 4000 lives, without the Captain, they are heroes and how dare you bring this up.

Anytime, even one life is lost, a rescue operation IS A FAILURE. Especially this one.

I'm not going to beat a dead horse here, so long as Carnival owns up to what happened. Pays the families of the dead huge sums of money, and takes a well earned-earnings beating for a few quarters and learns a lesson that it has to do better next time..Because as fate will have it there will almost certainly be a next timr since we don't live in a perfect world.

In the meantime, yes cruising is safe, go to the muster drills, and dont be a pain in the ass to the crew when they do the drill for you, since that person standing in front of you showing you how to dawn the vest may be the same person saving your ass.

Till next time.