I have a cruise already booked for June in the same area. (Different cruise line). I would book it again in a second. It was an unfortunate incident, but unlikely to happen again.

Posted By travelgirl on January 18, 2012, 6:11 PM

I leave on Sunday for a one week Caribbean cruise on the biggest ship, Allure. I expect the Captain will address the tragedy during the muster drill, and would be shocked if all did not pay very close attention to this important beginning to their vacation. We all do need our own sense of personal accountability and responsibility.

Posted By vvmitchell on January 20, 2012, 7:45 AM

We are More likley to Cruise if better bargains come our way.

Posted By ronnieb on January 23, 2012, 7:42 AM

Since this incident was the result of a blatant disregard of the approved course and good sense, no, I am not afraid to cruise. It might even be safer for little while since captains will probably be more alert and sticklers for the rules to avoid another tragedy.

Posted By caryn on January 23, 2012, 8:18 AM

Less likely? Not a chance! Everyone's antennae have perked up a bit, especially the cruise lines.

Have three cruises booked this year, including hosting a group in September.

As far as I'm concerned this is a one-off and probably won't happen for another100 years.

Posted By mlboyer on January 23, 2012, 10:23 AM

To Ronnieb: Better bargains?!

I'm paying only $100 more for a mini-suite balcony (read living room, big balcony) on Princess this year than I paid for the identical accommodations in 1999!

Better bargains? How much better to they have to be?!

Posted By mlboyer on January 23, 2012, 10:25 AM

No, I won't stop cruising...I LOVE it, espec. the Boston to Bermuda (as I live an hour away from dock).....the key wording in the article was " passengers need to
mindful of their own safety" and I am........

Posted By Joanne Moceri-Taveira on January 23, 2012, 10:54 AM

The morning BEFORE this accident was announced, my husband and I announced to our 8 grandchildren and their moms and dads, that we were taking them on a very special CRUISE this year in NOVEMBER for our 50th wedding anniversary. None of them had ever been on a cruise before! They were so so excited and can't wait! Needless to say, as adults we turned off the TV and did not mention a word to them about anything of this tragic event! No, we are NOT cancelling any of our plans! We both feel that most likely this will NEVER happen again in our lifetime. And we both feel ships will be safer, people more aware and most especially the cruiselines will sure to be MORE CAREFUL than they have been in the past! So yes we are still going in NOVEMBER 2012 with all 16 of us and also booked a little 4 night excursion for ourselves in APRIL 2012 as we are doing what PAUL HARVEY & ANGEL did for their 50th! CELEBRATE ALL YEAR! We both deserve it! Marion & Roland Russo, Lebanon, CT.

Posted By MARION RUSSO on January 23, 2012, 11:15 AM

I have never been too interested in gigantic ship cruises, but have thought of doing some as I grow older. Now I know I'll never go on one! Even if it's unlikely to happen again, I question the training given to the crew on these ships.

Posted By JoAnn on January 23, 2012, 11:45 AM

We have already cut down on our cruiseing [24 cruises] because of getting less for more. After this wreck we will think even harder about an all inclusive.

Posted By Len on January 23, 2012, 11:49 AM

It is now apparent that when you have 3000 plus people on a giant ship that it is almost impossible to get them off in time to prevent loss of life in the case of a sudden extreme accident.

Posted By Patrick Kennedy on January 23, 2012, 11:58 AM

just (jan 16) got off the royal caribbean's enchantment of the seas out of baltimore on a 9 night cruise to the bahamas,key west, etc.
we had our muster drill prior to leaving the dock on day 1. the crew took their duties very seriously and l was quite impressed. l was even more impressed a few days later upon seeing the crew only muster drill. lt made me feel very safe. Kudos to RCL.
l will probably take MORE cruises now since l'm guessing cruise lines will have to further discount or offer even more incentives due to a large number of potential cruisers will wait until the scare wears off or give up sailing altogether.

Posted By patrick corbett on January 23, 2012, 12:31 PM

My husband and I began cruising with our children, now grown up with families of their own, when they were barely 10. Since then, we have missed some ports because of safety. Even though we were sorry we didn't get to see some cities, we were always glad for the care the captain of our cruises put on our safety. From the Falklands Islands to Marseille and others.
Even though our cruise line Princess is owned by Celebrity, the parent company of Costa Concordia, we intend to continue cruising and have not cancelled our next one to Northern Europe this year.

Posted By Stargazer on January 23, 2012, 12:36 PM

My wife and I have been on several cruises, including Carnival. Because Carnival clearly has incompetent captains, incompetent crew, a culture of hiding bad news from the passengers, and reluctance of execs in New Jersey to help stranded or distressed/wet passengers, we will definitely be more reluctant to cruise with Carnival. Carnival needs to immediately announce better safety training for all crews, and to announce stress tests for all captains.

Posted By Park Weaver on January 23, 2012, 3:30 PM

I have been on many cruises, mostly with 2000-2500 passengers. My concern is that the larger the ships get, the more difficult it is to handle evacuating all of these people. New megaships are coming out with 5000 capacity. My husband had a good point that I'm not sure is valid but does make one wonder... the really big ships are getting taller, with more decks, but the hull of the ship can only go so deep so it can get into many ports. Is it possible to have a ship that is "top-heavy"?! I'm sure the people who design these monsters has this all figured out but I'm not sure I would like to be on deck 15 in a major accident when the lifeboats are on deck 4. Did the Concordia end up sideways because it is in such shallow water? If in deep water, whould it just fill up with water and sink or tip over like it did in shallow water? All in all, I will always cruise, but I will always be sure I know how to put my life vest on and where my muster station is before any chaos begins.

Posted By Patricia of Northern CA on January 23, 2012, 3:46 PM

The Concordia tragedy won't discourage me from cruising. I figure I'm safer on a cruise ship that I am in my car every morning when I leave for work.

Posted By Kim of NorCal on January 23, 2012, 4:13 PM

I agree with the comments that the mega-ships with more passengers is disconcerting when thinking about evacuation in an emergency. My husband and I have tried a mega ship cruise and found the service to be far superior to smaller ships so we don't sail mega ships anyway, but I would like additional infomation available to me regarding the safey training and practices of the crew and the safety technologies of the ship on which I plan to sail, before I book my cruise. This could easily be provided on the cruise lines web site. I plan to continue cruising but would feel much more confident with the additional information. I hesitate to assume that cruise lines will automatically step up their safety and security procedures because of the Conta Condordia incident.

Posted By Carolyn on January 23, 2012, 4:41 PM

This tragedy and also the Carnival Splendor that I was on when there was the fire in Nov 2010 don't affect my plans for cruising. Even the Splendor accident made me a little more aware of how cruise vacations can be a little more vulnerable to major disruptions - weather, the Splendor fie and another recent cruise where loss of one engine cost us the private island day I was most looking forward to. I feel safety on cruise ships is pretty high, even compared to flying commercially - the only way to be safe is to stay home and who knows what might befall you there in the way of a man made or natural tragedy - you gotta live life.

On the other hand I am likely to cruise less because of rising costs in tips which I won't sitff the crew for and I even tip extra, high drink prices, more fees and costs for items on board, and on my most recent Carnival Liberty cruise - no free drinks at the Captain's party, no shrimp cocktail in the dining room every night, poorer bread selection at dinner and only a few nights did the main dining room menu offer gourmet meals - the main dining room menu even had mac and chesse one night and mostly things like chicken specialties most nights. Better Lido eateries and food (fast food) didn't make up for the loss of fine dining. Even the specialty "fee" eateries on board are getting expensive - $50 for one seating for two at the steak house on Carnival Liberty. A good deal on a stay at a good all inclusive resort is looking like a much better deal and value these days and equipment failures and break downs are more likely to be LESS disrupting - out of service elevators or bad A/C - than problems with a cruise ship.

These other things make me want to cruise less. People die and run into man made and other disasters with any kind of travel or vacation.

Posted By Richard Miles on January 23, 2012, 6:20 PM

Will I cancel or give up cruising because of the recent tragedy off the coast of Italy? NO WAY!!
I look at cuises as an 'adventure'. Now, should the cruise ship I happen to be on encounter such an incident, or anything similar; I would look at it as 'The Adventure' of a lifetime. I am a lot more uneasy about flying than I am about cruising. Think about it, how many planes have 'gone down' as opposed to ships (cruise ships or cargo ships)in ratio? And how many people have been killed or injured in those planes going down as opposed to those from ship disasters? Much of the problem leading to deaths aboard ships in such incidents is due to 'human' action....mostly due to 'panic' and not paying attention to what's being told to them (language barrier or not). You have more chance to survive a 'shipwreck' than you do a plane crash, if you just stay calm, follow instructions (or if none are being given, using 'common sense' to figure the best way out of the situation. And, if no leadership is being given, take the initiative and 'take the lead' yourself. Can't wait until my next cruise!

Posted By R.L. Prasuhn, SSG USA(Ret.) on January 23, 2012, 7:16 PM

May only drive away First time crusiers alone.
Otherwise may pickup business.
Or force changes in cruise lines alone, mergers, pacts etc??

Posted By Stephen Russell on January 23, 2012, 8:09 PM

I absolutely refuse to travel by cruise ship UNTIL the preventable idiocy and criminal behaviour of employees of the entire CARNIVAL GROUP is brought under control.

Posted By Filson Figg on January 23, 2012, 8:25 PM

In a heartbeat. Intend to go sometime in the next year or two

Posted By Mar on January 23, 2012, 8:32 PM

While I love to travel I've never been that interested in cruising. Did enjoy cruising with a group of friends. I must admit that this incident will make me think twice about future cruising. Maybe I'm being unfair.

Posted By Leslie Bonner on January 24, 2012, 7:33 PM

I will always continue to cruise but I have stayed away from Costa Lines and will never cruise with Carnival since my mistake of using them this past October out of Galveston.

Posted By Larry Russell on January 25, 2012, 9:29 PM

No way! The captain of that ship was an idiot. I would hope that cruise lines that we went on would be more careful about choosing a captain, though! We love to cruise and REALLY enjoyed our Costa Cruise a few years ago.

Posted By libsue on February 2, 2012, 7:23 PM

I've cruised four times but think there are just too many disconcerting incidents
over the past ten years or so that raise safety and security concerns. The major airlines and major quality international hotel chains are much better prepared to avoid catastrophe -- & better prepared when tragedy strikes. Higher standards for safety
& security. I'm sticking to air travel in the future.

Posted By HC on February 4, 2012, 1:24 PM

Ive cruised many times>>4 Star Member

Posted By Jessie on February 10, 2012, 11:35 AM

Yes, I'd happily take another cruise but not on a Carnival line. The executives and employees of that company clearly did not have their eyes on the ball. I would not reward them with my business.

Posted By MMR on February 20, 2012, 7:40 AM