I’ve laughed, drank and played through the muster drill. I certainly won’t anymore.

Thirteen times to be exact. Cruising is one of the main pleasures of my life– the feeling of being surrounded by the deep blue sea is one of the most freeing feelings to me. Amazing food, exotic locations, think-less daily travel… all exhilarating. At least it always has been.

When I first heard about the tragedy onboard the Costa Concordia, I was not so concerned. The passengers could see land. In fact, they ran INTO it. How hard would it be to swim there if need be?

I’m all about how you deal with bad situations. You can either dwell on something or you can realize there is a problem and try to figure out a solution. Unfortunately, the officers on board the Concordia did not work to solve the problem that fateful sailing.

The crew was left to fend for themselves while the officers abandoned ship and corporate charged through all the international red-tape. Yes, this is an extreme circumstance, but if all passengers are required to rehearse a potential disaster at the beginning of every cruise, shouldn’t the parent company have the same disaster plans in place on a corporate level?

Check out the images courtesy of CruiseCritic.com. Honestly, what finally gave me and many other cruise-goers chills are the terrifying direct accounts from a passenger to CruiseCritic. That person has been me so many times. My family. My passport and money. All submerged in a dark tomb. 

“there would have been 200 in a lifeboat made for 115…”

“I have just heard reports that the captain and officers left the ship before passengers, we never saw one of them all we were left with was poor scared cabin staff and waiters. Our life boat was steered by an engineer with a waiter on his shoulders, life boats were hitting each other…”

Here is the rest of the survivors account of what happened. 

Will this tragedy keep me from cruising. Nope. Will this event make me pay a lot more attention during the muster drill? 100 percent!

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What are your experiences with cruising? Have you had any horror stories or do you have a favorite experience? Let me know!