Having been on a cruise 4 years ago, this has hit home how nasty this could have been. It was bad enough I know, but I think the only fortunate thing about this was that it happened during dinner, and although they have different sittings on these ships most people should probably have been with their loved ones.

I dread to think how I would have felt if I was going on my usual after dinner wander whilst leaving my wife in the bar had I been on board, though. Finding your way around these huge ships is bad enough at the best of times, let alone in a panic.

Near 100ft gouge and rocks visible within the hull of the ship . The ship and crew did this journey 52 times a year, so something major has gone wrong.

It happened so close to shore too which is unusual.

Which is where rocks tend to be?

Good point. Well made.

I seem to be on a roll of them lately

Well it did happen close to shore but not where it finally tipped over. It hit the rocks further out and the captain sailed in to port but couldn't quite make it. Shouldn't be happening on a £300 million boat with 5 sister ships out there, too.

It looked nasty but obviously could have been much worse.
Don't know a lot about the structure of ships but I would have thought that they could make big sections secure and waterproof by sealing doors etc elsewhere. Having said that it looked a pretty big chunk of rock sticking out of the side.

Was just chatting about this with my Mrs over dinner, as she said that her parents had booked a cruise a couple of days ago, to which I replied "Before or after the news?!"

Anyway, they've been on a cruise each year for a few years now, and said that the travel agent they use has long advised people to avoid this particular operator. Presumably there is some kind of reputation within the industry.

Costa Cruises is owned by Carnival - the world's largest cruise operator. That said, I believe that Costa Cruises also had a bit of an incident not too long ago. The captain of the ship in this incident has stated the rock was not on his maps

It isn't a funny topic, but did anyone else laugh when they heard the quote from the Captain? Apparently he "fell into a lifeboat."

Tripped was the translation I heard.

A strange tale of how he accidentally ended up in a life-boat.

and accidentally stumbled in a taxi & accidentally said take me to the nearest hotel & accidentally booked in
I suppose its still in his genes

I would guess all down the legs of his jeans

can't think why...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/ja ... intcmp=239