Posted on 03/18/2013 12:06:48 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
As if excrement-coated floors weren't outrageous enough, Quartz takes a look at another of Carnival Cruise's dirty secrets: Though it's exempt from a slew of taxes thanks to the fact that it's incorporated in Panama, it's gotten millions of dollars of assistance from the US Coast Guard in recent years. Sen. Jay Rockefeller last week sent a letter to Carnival's CEO in which he expressed his "serious concerns" about February's "nightmarish" Triumph stranding, and outlined how the Coast Guard and American taxpayer have continually had to come to the cruise line's rescue.
"In just the past five years I am aware of 90 serious events that have occurred on your cruise ships," he writes, before outlining the costs of just a few of them:
He asks: "Given that you reportedly pay little or nothing in federal taxes, do you intend to reimburse the Coast Guard and the Navy for the cost of responding" to the above? Rockefeller wants an answer by April 1. He's not the only senator who's peeved. Chuck Schumer today called for a cruise ship passenger bill of rights, akin to the one that exists for air travelers, reports CBS New York. Under it, ships would have to pledge to supply things such as backup power and sanitary conditions, and pony up full refunds if "failures" occur.
Carnival will soon go Tango Uniform. Would you pay good $$ for such a nightmare?
foreign flagged vessels should be billed for these rescues
I wouldn’t even pay bad money........
Never been on a Carnival cruise, but I understand that when People of Walmart are not actually at Walmart - they are on a Carnival crusise ship.
The market will decide..........
Very few Congressmen or Senators have any right to criticize anyone else concerning waste of taxpayer money, especially this democrat.
Fix your own house, Scumbag
If the U.S. truly wanted ships to be licensed in the U.S., it would stop providing blanket protection to all ships by the U.S. Navy.
Carnival definately appears to have some serious quality and safety issues. I wouldn’t be purchasing a ticket to ride.
According to some of the cruise site...this is very true...and the other cruise lines, depending on expense, rise from there....
Seeing as how the owner of Carnival owns the Miami Heat, I think offering LeBron James would be a fair payment.
“Never been on a Carnival cruise, but I understand that when People of Walmart are not actually at Walmart - they are on a Carnival crusise ship.”
I haven’t been in a Walmart for at least 6 years and have never been on a Carnival Cruise but I certainly don’t think those folks are objects of humor.
What a snob you are.
.
I.E. - there is no back up diesel generator system...would have been relatively simple and inexpensive to have installed one at construction time. Ideally, it would start itself automatically when main power was lost. Additionally, I doubt there is any kind of auxiliary passage lighting.
This happens more than we know. I have read stories of foreign, or foreign owned ship owners, large and small, calling the CG to bring them into a U.S. port when they have “run out of fuel”. They do this deliberately in order to save on fuel costs.
I’ve been wondering if Carnival isn’t being deliberately sabotaged. Odd for so many events like this to happen in such a short time period. Either wildly incompetent maintenance or something else is going on.
We, the legion of poor unwashed thrifty shoppers, surely tug our forelocks in respect to your ability to opt for more upscale venues charging three times the price for the same Chinese shit.
It appears to be the first. The cause of the Carnival Triumph fire was a leaking oil line that should have been caught by standard maintenance. The Carnival Splendor had a similar fire a few years ago. The Carnival Dream had issues with a diesel generator and the Carnival Legend had problems with a propulsion pod. I have no doubt that once the investigations are complete that better maintenance could have prevented those as well.
People don't realize on ships like these with crews of 1200 to 2200 people, only about 75 crewmen are involved with getting the ship from point a to point b. When it comes to slashing budgets, the areas that the passengers don't see are the first to take the hit.
“Fix your own house, Scumbag”
Yeah, These bung holes are Senators. How about paying for your own haircuts, instead of passing laws that give your contstituents a “haircut.”
Well, I’d be willing to bet that the overwhelming majority of passengers are US citizens.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.