Posted on 01/16/2012 9:06:35 AM PST by C19fan
We’ve been on three cruises - two on Carnival and one on Princess - to the Caribbean out of Fort Lauderdale (we live nearby). On all three, we were subjected to the lifeboat drill while still in the channel. I thought the drills were very professionally done.
Not everybody can be a “Sully” Sullenberger.
You’re right. :)
And if there was a current moving away from shore...
It was dark and maybe they couldn’t see the shore...
Or the ship was between a swimmer and the shore...
I have been paralyzed in cold water - it took less than a minute.
feminism or no feminism, it did not matter since the crew left men, women and children behind.
also, the itallian maritime history of not doing the women and children first policy.
It seems from this thread, the hotel crew were tending to the passengers on lifeboats. The non-european crew must have been focusing on doing what they were trained in abandon ship drills and running for the crew boats.
all in all it is a PR nightmare, again, for itallian cruise ships.
My understanding is that the entire population of the island was fewer than the 4000 cruise ship passengers.
So in addition to the cold water, if a person jumped into the cold water on the side opposite the island, could he swim AROUND the ship toward the island, IF indeed there were any lights on that side of the island to swim toward?
We are talking DARK as a pocket and cold, in and out of the water. It sounds like my worst nightmare.
Listened to a passenger interview this morning, he spoke of how difficult it was to climb a rope ladder up from inside the ship, to get to the outside which was actually the SIDE of the ship that was out of water by then -
Also mentioned that a passenger on the 2nd deck from bottom actually saw the rocks cut thru the floor of her room - she managed to escape with 3 broken ribs.
Just a horrible tragedy, and it could have been even worse, winter in the Med is not tropical by any means.
The connection to feminism is because it was feminists who decried chivalry as being some conspiracy to keep women in bondage, and started giving dirty looks to men who held doors open for them, and things like that. Of course, in a situation like this, they still want the chivalry.
Basically, they want to be treated equally when it suits them, and given special privileges when that suits them better.
You are right. We’ve been on 7 cruises—all on Holland America and the lifeboat drills always happen before leaving the dock or shortly thereafter.
However, in this case, I believe a lot of folks got on after the cruise began in another port.
What I want to see is how they’re going to get that ship out of the position it’s in.
That should be very interesting.
Giglio Italy is at the same latitude as Boston MA. Brrrrr.
Yeah, that’s COLD right about now.
As close as they were, they could have back stroked it. It would have taken 5-10 minutes, even in clothing. The water was 57 degrees which is chilly but not fatal for that short of a time.
The elderly, however...
Anyhow, they had an emergency drill and asked us to line up with women and children being closest to the boats; men closest to the bulkhead. I smiled to myself when a 30-something gentlemen gave me a glance and stepped in front of me so that I was closest to the bulkhead and he was closest to the rail [obviously I was closest to the bulkhead since I was more of a man ;).
I stopped smiling when I realized he had two children; they probably stood a better chance with him in the boat than me. Even though he was technically an "adult" and me a "minor," I stood a better chance of making it without a lifeboat than he did.
My point is that even as a young dumb teenager in highschool, I could rationalize this and can't understand how some "man" could push his way past women and children to a lifeboat......then I realized we're talking about skinny jeans wearing eurotrash that should more appropriately be referred to as eurofags. Although some of the pansies and criminals we have in this country aren't much better.
But you're right.....it is common decency.
And the way I was raised....If I made it home and my father found out I pushed past some woman or child, he would've drowned me in the kitchen sink himself.
That's cold, but not like freezing water. We used to body surf in water that cold without wetsuits and it would take about half an hour before the shivering set in. We'd come out and sun ourselves for a half hour and then head back in. Needless to say you work up quite an appetite doing that. An elderly person would be in trouble, though.
That sounds like my dad too. A lot of his lessons were tough, but I'm a much better man thanks to his "old school" side.
Darwinism at work. What’s the big deal? Survival of the fittest.
If those pregnant women, elderly, and small children aren’t strong enough to fight their way onto the lifeboats, then they don’t deserve to live.
Mark
(if it wasn’t clear enough, that was sarcasm)
Middle of the night and pitch black.
There is no connection here. Men, women AND children were abandoned by the crew. I think we should point toward getting better crews on these ships and not worrying about trying to tie this to anything else.
That was a cheap shot and had nothing to do with C19fan’s point.
&&&
Exactly.
I was just thinking over the weekend, with sadness, the changes that I have witnessed in my lifetime. I am a boomer woman, and my 8 brothers and sisters and I were raised with a set of attitudes about the differences between the sexes that is entirely different than one sees exhibited in most of our culture today.
A girl was taught to act like a lady, to grow up to be a wholesome and dignified woman that a good man would cherish as his wife and as the mother of his children.
Boys were taught to honor and respect women and to look out for their safety and comfort, to be chivalrous. I can remember hearing boys in my generation instructed to treat other women as respectfully as they would treat their own mothers.
Today, respect and chivalry are frequently treated as quaint and outdated concepts. Far too many women are foul-mouthed, dress immodestly, and sleep around. They speak disparagingly to men and badmouth their husbands.
Men, meanwhile, have been told to treat women as equals, but many women want it both ways. Some of the very women who demand to be treated as equals in terms of pay and opportunity expect to be treated with deference by men when it suits them.
In many homes and in many schools, boys are not taught to cherish girls, but they are taught that girls are smarter and more able. Boys are taught to look upon many of the wonderful masculine traits as undesirable. I feel very sorry for boys and men in our culture today.
Sorry to go on so, but this topic really gets me riled up.
Meant to include you in my post at #99.
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