Any guesses where this is? I thought I’d try something other than buildings. Here’s a hint…it’s still New England. Guesses, comments and observations welcome! 🙂
Tag Archives: Ships
Cruise Ship Nightmares
I am counting my lucky stars these days. Joe and I had a great cruise on The Carnival Imagination but Carnival is being plagued with bad news stories these days.
The string of bad luck started January 13, 2012 with the sinking of the Costa Concordia, one of the worse passenger ship disasters since the sinking of the Titanic.
At the time I wasn’t aware that Carnival Cruise Lines was the parent company for the Costa Concordia not that it would have made any difference to me when I accepted the free cruise from my time share.
Blissfully unaware of any issues at Carnival we looked forward to our mini cruise. We joked about the ships that had engine fires or became disease riddled. Stories like that were always popping up in the news. But when you consider the number of ships that are plying the seas it stands to reason that there will be a mishap now and then.
Our cruise was wonderful. In spite of less than perfect weather it was relaxing and pleasant. So it was with some surprise that I listened the horrendous reports about the Carnival Ship Triumph which became stranded in the Gulf of Mexico not far from where we had been. It was a mini cruise that followed one of the itineraries I had the option to choose. We went out of Florida, not Texas. A different choice and we could have been on that ill-fated ship. Still I felt it was just a “fluke”. Now I am beginning to wonder.
Carnival and Royal Caribbean are the largest cruise lines according to industry statistics with Carnival cornering approximately 21 % of the total cruise market worldwide with a fleet of 23 ships.
But back to the string of bad luck. Costa Concordia is by far the worse with an actual sinking and loss of life.
Then we have Triumph that drifted in the Gulf of Mexico . Passengers reported over flowing toilets, sewage in the halls, cold and spoiling food before they were towed to port.
Following the Triumph in quick succession we had the Elation…
Then , Dream
and now Legend!
Carnival Elation had to be escorted by tugboat because of a malfunction in its steering system.
Carnival Dream lost power and toilets stopped working . Even though they were in port at the time no one was allowed to get off the vessel.
Carnival Legend was on the last leg of a seven-day cruise through the Caribbean when technical problems affected its sailing speed.
It’s been reported (but I haven’t been able to verify) that in a months time 3 other Carnival Ships have reported problems.
Carnival announced this week that it is conducting a “comprehensive review” of all of its ships. Until things improve I think I’ll stay away from Carnival Cruises.
I’ll be heading off on another cruise in May, north to Alaska. I’m looking forward to seeing the glaciers and wildlife of our 49th state but we won’t be cruising with Carnival. This trip is on the Princess Cruise Line. I haven’t heard anything bad about them lately. 🙂
A Ship called Friendship
Moored proudly in Salem Harbor is the majestic reconstruction of the tall ship Friendship of Salem. The original Friendship was built in 1796 for merchants Jerathmiel Peirce and Aaron Waite by the same shipwright that built the Essex which gained fame in the War of 1812.
The Friendship is a 342 ton, 3 masted , square-rigged East Indiaman that made 15 voyages during her career to Batavia, India, China, South America, the Caribbean, England, Germany, the Mediterranean, and Russia in her search for exotic spices, sugar and coffee. Her hold filled with cargo, she would return after a 2 year mission in triumph.
Her career ended when she was taken as a prize of war by the British in September of 1812.
The reconstruction is based on a model of the original Friendship that resides in the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) along with paintings and the ships logs.
The 171 ft. vessel took 2 years to construct in the ship yards in Albany, NY. arriving at the National Park’s Maritime National Historic Site in September 1998. She is the largest wooden, Coast Guard certified, sailing vessel to be built in New England in more than a century.
The new Friendship is part of the National Park Service’s larger exhibit area at Salem Maritime National Historic Site. She is a fully operational sailing vessel but stays close to home so that everyone can come aboard.
The ship is operated by a volunteer crew under supervision of the National Park Service. Friendship sails as an ambassador ship for the Essex National Heritage Area.
She is a beautiful work of art as she sits serenely a rest but it is hard to imagine what everyday life must have been like for the sailors that crewed these merchantmen.
| Name: | Friendship of Salem |
| Owner: | National Park Service |
| Builder: | Scarano Brothers Shipyard |
| Launched: | November 1996 |
| Acquired: | September 1, 1998 |
| Homeport: | Salem, MA |
| Status: | in service |
| Badge: | Woman in classical dress offering a bouqet of flowers |
| General characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | Full rigged ship |
| Length: | 171 feet bowsprit to spanker boom |
| Beam: | 30 feet |
| Height: | 20 feet keel to deck at midship |
| Decks: | main deck, ‘tween deck, and holds |
| Installed power: | onboard generators |
| Propulsion: | 21 sails, twin diesel engines |
| Speed: | 7.2 maximum / 5.8 average knots |
| Boats and landing craft carried: |
1 jolly boat |
| Complement: | 25 crew, up to 45 persons |