• Carnival cruise ship passengers tell of ’horrible’ conditions after disembarking | World news | guardian.co.uk
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/15/carnival-triumph-docks-alabama-ordeal

    Encore un paquebot à la dérive, mais cette fois-ci plein de passagers et… d’autres choses…

    Après un incendie en salle des machines, le bateau est resté 5 jours à la dérive, sans aucune source d’énergie dans le golfe du Mexique. Pas de ventilation, pas de sanitaires, 4200 personnes à bord (dont 1000 membres d’équipage) : un cocktail d’enfer !


    Carnival Triumph is towed towards the docks in Mobile, Alabama, Photograph : Sipa USA/Rex Features

    As the ship was towed into port on Thursday, passengers transmitted details of the grisly conditions on board. Joy Dyer, in texts shared with the Guardian, said “floating waste is all over the place” and described the smell as “rank”. Passengers were forced to conduct bodily functions using showers, sinks and red bags, Dyer said. She was among a number of passengers who had taken to sleeping above deck to escape the stench of the rooms below – where “slick floors are usually human waste overflows”.

    Les croisiéristes ne sont que modérément inquiets.

    Stinking ship saga unlikely to pull cruise industry far off course | http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/16/mexico-carnival-industry-idUSL1N0BFD1Z20130216

    “I don’t lose sleep over this,” said David Crooks, a Boston-based executive with World Travel Holdings, which owns huge travel cruise agencies including CruisesOnly, Cruise Inc and CheapCruises.com.

    When asked about the possible impact on consumer demand after the problems of the Triumph drew media scrutiny, he said: “If the price is right, people will travel.”

    Ce témoin est parfait : son discours, son nom, le nom de ses sociétés ;-)

    Enfin, la maison mère de tout ça ne se fait pas non plus trop de souci.

    Carnival, which operates 100 ships worldwide in a stable of brands that includes flagship Carnival Cruise Lines and Holland America Lines, Britain’s Cunard Line and Italy’s Costa Cruises, declined to comment on the possible impact on bookings due to all the unsavory publicity it received over the Triumph.

    De plus, d’après les conseillers juridiques, Carnival ne devrait pas craindre grand chose :

    Insurance could cover everything from the cost of the sewage clean-up to compensation packages offered to passengers, Kornfeld said

    (…)

    “You know, shit happens. It’s not worth the trouble. Most people are going to say ’I had a really crappy vacation and I’m really upset, but I’m not hiring a lawyer to sue Carnival.’ The individual claims will be too small,” he said.

    On appréciera les mots particulièrement choisis de Linda Kornfeld, juriste spécialisée dans la chasse aux indemnisations au profit des (sociétés) titulaires de contrats d’assurance.