Thursday
Dec032009
December 3, 2009 Lost at sea
The mega-mondo blatantly bloated Oasis of the Seas carries about 7000 passengers. You couldn’t get me on the thing, but carry-on luggage only might be a good idea if you choose to cruise:
When I arrived at the ship, it took four hours for my luggage to reach my cabin. With the petulance of a man who had been up almost 20 hours, had no change of clothes, needed a shower and in five minutes’ time was expected for dinner, I called a man in Guest Relations. “It is hard to find one piece of luggage among 15,000,” he said unhelpfully.
Did I detect a note of pride in the way he said 15,000? Undoubtedly, it is the biggest collection of suitcases ever to put to sea. I knew that ought to have made me feel better. - telegraph.co.uk
Reader Comments (7)
My brain suddenly overloaded with more thoughts than it could handle when I saw that......floating.....thing. And you wouldn't get me on it either.
1) Why can't people take their own bags to their cabins or isn't that allowed?
2) I'd like to see the Somali pirates try and take that one for ransom (7000 angry passengers......hmmmm......nah, they wouldn't stand a chance).
3) What a brilliant laboratory for finding out how a nasty virus can spread, how long it takes and how many times it has mutated by the 7000th passenger!
4) If you fell off, would anybody notice?
5) if you stowed away on it, would anybody notice?
6) Does it have its own Police and Fire Dept. - Okay, no.1) was an actual question, the rest were the ramblings of strangled mind on night shift. ; - )
1) Because it would be an utter and total mess since the pax wouldn't find their cabins in this maze and wander around for hours with their luggage. Solution: Keep a small bag with a change of clothes for the evening and beauty supplies with you. Cruise onebagging so to say.
2) Shouldn't be a huge problem to kidnap. Get some kidnappers on board as regular pax. Have them bring the ship under their command and then get the reinforcement on board when you are close to Somali waters. With 7000 pax and certainly 500 or more crew you could kill one every hour for more than 300 days. Human shields could also be easily arranged, as well as bombs that will sink the ship if a military or counter-terrorist attack is started. Lovely scenario. Better not give them any ideas. The ransom would be wonderful. You could even require a personal ransom per family member.
3) The risk of doing business ... or cruising!
4) The question if anybody would notice might not be very relevant. If you fall off and get in the undertow of such a vessel in the middle of the ocean, your chances of survival are not very high even if you survive the fall itself. Water gets hard as concrete when you don't hit it right from 60 foot high.
5) This question is directly related to number 2. Let's not think about it too much.
6) An elaborate sprinkler system certainly. Security personnel and holding cells, too.
If I were one of the "pax" I would find no pax.
1) Most people taking cruises pack so much stuff they either wouldn't want to carry it, it would cause too much confusion, or they like the idea of having their luggage delivered And every piece of luggage is x-rayed to make sure no guns or bombs are smuggled on board.
2)Most Somali pirates, who do the actual takeovers, are from poor villages. They would stand out like a sore thumb on a cruise ship. The warlords who plan the attacks and profit the most never get personally involved. Recently, some passenger ships going past the east coast of Africa have been employing extra security, mostly ex-Israeli commandos, to travel with them. While they are not armed all the time, weapons are kept locked up for their use. About a year ago, with only sidearms, one ship's "extra" security personnel thwarted a pirate attack.
3)I'm sure it will happen.
4) There are cameras that monitor the outside of the ship so there is a good chance that person might be seen.
5) Yes.....maybe. If they want to eat they have to give a cabin number.
6)There are security personnel and the entire crew is trained in fire fighting. There is also a morgue--just in case.
You can do a cruise with just a carryon if you want - plenty of people do.
My wife and I have done a number of cruises. We ALWAYS take a carryon bag with a full change of clothes(and a bathing suit), medications, paperwork, camera(s), etc. on board with us, just in case. That way, if the rest of the luggage doesn't show up in time to change out of traveling clothes, we're ready. It's also what the cruise lines recommend. Anyone who doesn't do it is just plain foolish.
But I agree that the Oasis of the Seas is too big for me, even though my brother in law is can't wait to go.
Shouldn't be a huge problem to kidnap. Get some kidnappers on board as regular pax. Have them bring the ship under their command and then get the reinforcement on board when you are close to Somali waters. With 7000 pax and certainly 500 or more crew you could kill one every hour for more than 300 days. Human shields could also be easily arranged, as well as bombs that will sink the ship if a military or counter-terrorist attack is started. Lovely scenario. Better not give them any ideas. The ransom would be wonderful. You could even require a personal ransom per family member.
*takes notes for thriller set onboard cruise ship*
*makes reservation on cruise ship for, er, research. yeah, that's it. research. tax-deductible research*
I've never been on a cruise, though I'm not averse to the idea; and it would be cool to be on the Oasis of the Sea just for the experience, like some people climb Kilimanjaro "because it's there." However, my understanding is that one needs to have a pretty good variety of clothing (including formal clothing on some ships), and washing stuff in the sink at sea isn't really going to work (won't dry very well), so really light packing would be difficult. They do all the schlepping for you, so no reason not to bring extra, unless you're flying to the departure port, of course. However, as some have already said, it's probably a good idea to carry on a small bag with a change of clothing, undies, pjs, and toiletries.
P.S. Apparently there have been people who "fell off" and were only witnessed by a spouse (which were investigated as murders for obvious reasons), or not missed until the ship returned to port. OOPS.
That's a classic Roald Dahl method of divorce! :) Throwing the spouse off the Lido deck.
As for the pirate/ terrorist scenario, it may sound very naive and thriller scenario like (would certainly be a good movie!) but I don't think it is too difficult to arrange. Especially for terrorists that would be a lovely target. They could kill more people than on 9/11. Getting the bombs on board with the food and laundry cargo, which is certainly not x-rayed, wouldn't be terribly problematic if you can establish an inside connection.
I like the swimming city concept and the sociological perspectives something like this offers for me to ponder.