Cruising for a Bruising

Yes a cruise for many holiday makers is the pinnacle of travelling… not for the customers of Silversea cruises though. I have just been reading recent reports that one of its luxury cruise liners called the Silver Shadow collided with a cargo ship just off the coast of Vietnam.

Ahhh the thought of going on a cruise…for many holidaymakers it’s the pinnacle of travelling. After all, it involves many care free days aboard a luxury cruise liner, more food than you can ever imagine, magnificent views, brilliant on-board entertainment and of course the lure of getting to sample the culture of many different countries. Although if you don't want to, you don't even have to get off the ship to be entertained - some ships are so big, you may struggle to find a way off anyway!

Cruise Accident a 'minor incident'

The company confirmed in a statement that the 382-passenger Silver Shadow collided with a local container ship on Friday morning as it was approaching Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. However, what I found most amusing about this rather worrying incident is that Silversea dismissed the collision as a "minor incident."
A minor incident? I’m sure the passengers on the cruise liner didn't think there was anything “minor” about the incident when they saw the cruise ship they were travelling on headed straight towards a cargo ship! This wasn't an accident of Titanic proportions, but still it cannot have been very reassuring or pleasant to be on board a cruise ship that crashes into another huge vessel - especially considering the recent incidents surround ocean liners.

Majority of cruise complaints illness related

I’m happy to say that luckily no passengers were injured and the ship, which suffered only "minor dents", according to Silversea, continued to Ha Long Bay and then on to Hong Kong, as per the itinerary.
I’d love to say that this incident is a one off and problems with cruise ships are few and far between. I'm glad to report that only a very small proportion relate to collisions or accidents, but we do have a lot of people contact us to help them make a holiday compensation claim as a result of problems they have had whilst cruising. The majority of the holiday claims relate to food poisoning or illness. Being ill is bad enough, but if it ruins the holiday that you had been saving for and looking forward to for months on end, then you will probably want to try and claim compensation.

Problems on cruise ships

More often than not the holiday complaints revolve around outbreaks of severe sickness and diarrhoea. These are sometimes attributable to norovirus, but often it's not possible to determine what the cause has been and it can sometimes be easier for a cruise company to claim an outbreak on board is norovirus because it's easier for them to avoid liability (more details oi a later post).
So next time you decide to book your cruise and holiday of a lifetime, our advice to you is that you may want to check websites such as Holiday Travel Watch and Trip Advisorfor advice and reports of any pre existing problems with any cruise liners. You might find it may just save your life!


For more information or you want to know more about us, visit the website!