Princess Crown "Tsunami"
Steering problems aboard Crown Princess 7/18/06
These photos taken just minutes following what was described by the captain as "steering problems," do no justice in capturing the emotion and sense of helplessnes passengers felt as the recently innaugurated Crown Princesss suddenly, without notice, leaned so far to the starboard side that lower cabins actually took in sea water.
People, chairs, tables and anything else that wasn't nailed down slid or flew intil it was stopped by a stationary object. Passengers and crew members suffered lacerations, broken or fractured bones and contusions. But worst of all was the fright.
As the captain made the first announcement attempting to bring calm to hysterical passengers, he unfortunately
created even more fear instead. Most of the approximately 4,300 people aboard did not realize that he had just sprinted 2 flights of stairs just prior to making the announcement. What sounded like anxiety-provoked hyper-ventilation in his voice was no doubt the lack of breath any middle-aged man would sound like after sprinting up a good number of steps.
The following minutes were pure chaos as passengers trecked to their staterooms in 6 inch high (more or less depending on your location on the ship) looking for loved ones and their life jackets. Meanwhile, screams of horror, "the ship is sinking" or "where are the kids?" could be heard everywhere.
As the swimming pools emptied as a result of the ship's tilt, accumulations of water in the upper decks and shower-like spraying water down the stairwells and elevator shafts, created a feeling that the air-tight integrity
of the ship had given way.
It wasn't until the captain announced that Crown Princess was back in control and that the episode was caused by an unanticipated steering problem that family embraces and tears of love and relief could be seen everywhere.
Sam Warsaw, Passenger
Cruises Plus
Lutherville, MD
These photos taken just minutes following what was described by the captain as "steering problems," do no justice in capturing the emotion and sense of helplessnes passengers felt as the recently innaugurated Crown Princesss suddenly, without notice, leaned so far to the starboard side that lower cabins actually took in sea water.
People, chairs, tables and anything else that wasn't nailed down slid or flew intil it was stopped by a stationary object. Passengers and crew members suffered lacerations, broken or fractured bones and contusions. But worst of all was the fright.
As the captain made the first announcement attempting to bring calm to hysterical passengers, he unfortunately
created even more fear instead. Most of the approximately 4,300 people aboard did not realize that he had just sprinted 2 flights of stairs just prior to making the announcement. What sounded like anxiety-provoked hyper-ventilation in his voice was no doubt the lack of breath any middle-aged man would sound like after sprinting up a good number of steps.
The following minutes were pure chaos as passengers trecked to their staterooms in 6 inch high (more or less depending on your location on the ship) looking for loved ones and their life jackets. Meanwhile, screams of horror, "the ship is sinking" or "where are the kids?" could be heard everywhere.
As the swimming pools emptied as a result of the ship's tilt, accumulations of water in the upper decks and shower-like spraying water down the stairwells and elevator shafts, created a feeling that the air-tight integrity
of the ship had given way.
It wasn't until the captain announced that Crown Princess was back in control and that the episode was caused by an unanticipated steering problem that family embraces and tears of love and relief could be seen everywhere.
Sam Warsaw, Passenger
Cruises Plus
Lutherville, MD
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