Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Tragedy at Sea

I would be totally remiss if I didn't comment on the still unfolding tragedy of the cruise ship in Italy. Problem is I don't know what to say! How do you begin to capture the horror of what that experience must have been like for the passengers? And how do you wrap your head around the totally unnecessary actions of the captain that caused the accident? Of course, we can't even get started on his response to all of it! I feel for all of the families of those still missing. It's just so terribly wrong to be taking a vacation, a break from how hard life can be, and then experience something far worse.

Last night on the news they posed the question of how this will impact people's decisions to cruise or not cruise in the future. For anyone who had fear before, I'm sure this seals the deal. Other people made the valid point that there are car accidents all the time that don't scare us too much to ever drive again. And even though plane crashes are rare, they are more common that what we are seeing happen with this cruise ship but people still fly, albeit most of us with a healthy dose of anxiety. On the flip side of the coin, I'm already noticing deals on cruises popping up in response.

As someone who has cruised multiple times in the past, I know I will cruise again. I feel safe on board. Maybe too safe, to be honest. I recently heard of a sexual assault that allegedly happened onboard a cruise line and was flabbergasted that I had not even thought of such a thing happening, even though in my daily life and work I think about those things all the time. I believe this horrible incident is the result of one person or a small number of people in positions of power using terrible judgement. Therefore, I put faith and hope in the fact that it would be unlikely. And so I could cruise again.

I'd love to hear other people's opinions. I don't know how to overstate the deep sadness and empathy for the fear and loss involved in this, first and foremost. But it's a normal human experience to think of how this will impact us or the travel experience, in general. In the meantime, let's all pray that some of the missing are tucked snugly in emergency blankets on a beautiful coastline without phone access.

2 comments:

  1. It's really so sad and horrifying. The captain of that ship acted in such an irresponsible, reprehensible way. We had been thinking of going on a cruise with our kids this spring and now I'm kind of glad that we're not, but that being said, I definitely still want to go on a cruise in the future. This is a very rare incident, fortunately.

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  2. I have no desire to go on a cruise, but my husband does, so I've always assumed that someday, I would suck it up and take one for the team.

    I'd never heard of a cruise ship sinking, other than the Titanic. I never even thought of them as boats, really, more like resorts with a great view. Before this, I bet I wouldn't have thought to familiarize myself with emergency procedures and the location of lifeboats. And I can't even swim!

    I will still go on that cruise someday, but I will be wearing a PFD the entire trip. I'm dead serious.

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