Lifeboats anyone?
Every minute of every day can be catastrophic at sea.
Doesn’t get any more serious than a Mayday.
"Abandon Ship" is more serious than "Mayday".
A loaded cruise ship near shore in choppy short seas in shallow water with loss of propulsion and hence steering is an emergency
Period
Doesn’t matter if the captain hasn’t raised the abandon ship bells yet
1300 passengers removal via chopper is Herculean
Anchors on such sized motor vessels are not like anchors on bass boats
They will not hold in inclement weather and they depend on ocean floor condition
A ship that size displacement will drag anchor pretty easy
Anchors are for anchorages....sheltered areas....which is why they are called anchorage