There was a press conference at the end of our few hours of ship touring yesterday. Many of us sat in the onboard planetarium, named Illuminations, with Micky Arison, chairman and chief executive, Carnival Corporation; Pamela Conover, president and chief operating officer, Cunard Line; and Commodore Ronald Warwick, master of Queen Mary 2.
They took questions on everything from whether tugs are needed to maneuver the ship into place when it reaches a port (no, not necessary on most occasions, it’s that manageable and powerful) to whether the ship is filled with paying passengers on its maiden voyage (yes, it’s packed and there’s a waiting list).
The questions were standard – until one writer finally stood up and asked about security, and more to the point, whether or not the Queen Mary 2 already was jinxed.
If you don’t know or hadn’t heard the background for these questions, here’s one reason the question was asked…
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/11/16/mary.deaths/
And this:
http://www.itv.com/news/1789442.html
Additionally there have been reports that the Queen Mary 2 could be a target for terrorists. Of course, that’s something that’s been floated about all cruise ships since 9/11. But there was a recent report that something specific had been mentioned about this ship at this time, about the same time the latest security code increases have been heaped upon us.
No corroboration that I can find, at least at this point, for the ship as target. But then when have we ever heard anything more than words like “chatter” and “increased activity” as they apply to security threats, and then have it left at that, being told that release of any more information would be counterproductive.
Not a surprise, Conover wouldn’t answer the security question, saying instead that of course we understood why they couldn’t talk about specific security measures. Just be assured that the ship and its passengers are well protected.
Arison, for his part, tooted the cruise industry horn by saying what a great job the business had done immediately after 9/11, instigating security measures designed prior to the attacks on New York and D.C.
“It took us one day and it took the airlines forever” to react, he said, and put measures in place.
What he doesn’t give you, in that answer, is perspective. It's worth nothing the following:
Cruise passengers in 2003
http://www.cruising.org/cruisenews/news.cfm?NID=152
Passengers through Sea-Tac in 2002
http://www.portseattle.org/seatac/statistics/
Notice the numbers. Logic tells us that it might be a tad more difficult securing the world's airports than the world's cruise ships, given the gigantic disparity in number of passengers and locations.
Then he took on “the jinx.”
As you have seen, 15 people were killed at the shipyard at Nazaire, France, at an open house on the Queen Mary 2 for families of the construction workers. A gangway collapsed. And two more people were injured in a shakedown cruise off Southampton last week.
“Jinxed? The reality is that this (the collapse in France) was an unfortunate incident… tragedy. It was a tragedy.”
He went on to tell us that accidents like this happen in other shipyards and we just don’t hear about them. The reality, he said, is that these are construction zones. And we, the media, just don’t cover these things.
“The ship was not named nor owned by us yet (when the accident happened). We certainly send our condolences to the families. We have moved on.”
He called the departure of the ship from France on its delivery cruise to England anything but somber, as he said most European media described it.
“It was one of the most spirited departures I’ve ever seen.
“This is the luckiest ship in the world… because of her advance bookings.”
And then there's today's storm.
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