[deky]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

It also scared me a bit as I am planning a Royal Caribbean cruise to Jamaica from Miami with friends and given my strict budget would be staying in a lower deck.

Nothing to be scared about, RCCL is one of the premier cruise liners in the world so i bet there safety procedures are the best too, the only thing i would suggest is to be a part of the safety drill that takes place as soon as you board the ship and listen to the instructions very carefully.

Jamaica and the Caribbean are a great place to take a cruise, i bet you would have a great time.

All the best and hope you have loads of fun

[wheeler]

Deky, it was sad that you lost the ship but on the bright side, everyone got out of there safe. Glad you could share this with us.

And that was an amazing narration!!! Like many have mentioned before me, you write really well. I felt like I was in your shoes during the whole incident. Going below the decks searching for guests, the missing people, everything.

Reading this, I am reminded of another book which I read about 8 - 10 years back called FREEFALL which is a narration of a true incident involving a Boeing 727. But that's not the focus here. What I wanted to say is, this narration is truly amazing that I would love to see it published so that many more people get to read about it from a first hand perspective. Just a suggestion. But truly, this was great!

[praful]

Deky, superb narration skills man!

Loved reading each and every bit of your thread!

[austere_sly]

Deky, it was one engrossing read. As someone suggested earlier, this account deserves a place in Reader Digest.

[alabjarus]

Dhiraj, that was a gripping recount of a dark day and I am glad you shared this. Dude, you are a hero to have survived such an ordeal...salute..!

[btirthankar]

Great Story. Thanks for sharing with us.

[sujitm]

Really happy that all were saved!

Great story and narration.

[cvvikram]

Nerve Biting story indeed. Good to see that all are safe.
Thanks for sharing.

[deky]

Just got a link to one of the last videos taken on board The SunVista, thought would share it with you guys too.

The video is posted on Youtube by one of my collegues on board the ship.

YouTube - SS Sun Vista

[toiingg]

Man!!

watching it gave me goosebumps.

[anupmathur]

Deky, that video is amazing! Thanks for sharing. Kudos to your colleague who shot this at that kind of moment!

[ramkya1]

Deky,

That's a wonderful account well-written. The video tops it all, thanks for sharing this exciting real-life story, RD stuff.

Reminded of my favorite book back in school days, HMS Ulysis, was an emotional story like yours. Fortunately, this one is a postivie one.

--Ramky
======

[whitesquall]

Chilling it is!! that's all I can say about the video!

[navin]

Killer write up Deky. This is one experience I do NOT want to have.

Originally Posted by deky

Star cruises is great, you should do it, believe me you will enjoy every minute of it.

Are you sure? I have heard 2 horror stories from my friends about Star. One of whom was given a cabin with 2 single beds on his honeymoon!

Originally Posted by deky

RCCL is one of the premier cruise liners in the world

Yes along with Holland America, Norwegian and Cunard (of QE2 fame) RCCL is a reputed line. BTW Holland America, NCL and Cunard are now all owned by the ultimate party crusie line (Carnival).

I would rate Alaska (via Inside Passage and Glacier Bay), Cruising the Baltics (Scandanavia incl new countries like Estonia) and the river Rhine (Holland, Germay, Austria and Switzerland) to be the 3 best cruises one should do. Cruise lines serving these areas are organised and there is enough competition to keep prices resoanable (for the destinations they serve). On some passages cruise lines will team up to ensure that their ships sail in pairs so that in case of an emergency there is help on hand.

For the adventurous there are also smaller sailing ships (really large sail boats) and one can go island/port hopping on them in Thailand/Indonesia, the Carribean, the Mediterranean, etc these sail boats can have as few as 5 couples and as many as 25 couples. Service is really personal and one can make life time friends on such expeditions. Be prepared to Scuba and Snorkel though.

[deky]

Originally Posted by navin

Are you sure? I have heard 2 horror stories from my friends about Star. One of whom was given a cabin with 2 single beds on his honeymoon!

What i meant about Star cruise being fun was the over all atmosphere, the activities and the quality of the ships as most of them are brand new.

This particulat incident about honeymooners getting twin beds happens quite a lot on cruise liners, which is pretty bad actually. But i feel the cruise company is not to be blammed here its mostly the travel agent who needs to be blammed as most probably they dont pass the information to the cruise company correctly.

Also these days while booking your cruise you can pin point and book the particuar cabin you want whie you doing your booking.

I would rate Alaska (via Inside Passage and Glacier Bay), Cruising the Baltics (Scandanavia incl new countries like Estonia) and the river Rhine (Holland, Germay, Austria and Switzerland) to be the 3 best cruises one should do. Cruise lines serving these areas are organised and there is enough competition to keep prices resoanable (for the destinations they serve). On some passages cruise lines will team up to ensure that their ships sail in pairs so that in case of an emergency there is help on hand.

You absolutey right about the cruise in the Baltics i did that a few times in the summers as thats the best season to do. For those 2 weeks cruise our typical itenary was Harwich- Reykjavik- Oslo- Copenhagen- Stockholm-Helsinki- St petersburg (overnight)- Talinn(Estonia)- Gdansk(Poland)- Amsterdam- Harwich.

I feel really lucky that i was able to do all these places as, if not for working on cruises, it wouldnt have been possible for me to go there. I also have some great photographs of the rich culture and heritage of these countries which i will cherish throughout my life time.

Also i feel for those who love nature-mid night sun-mountains-snow-greenery-lakes a cruise in the Norwegian Fjords is a must. Its only possible in the 2 summer months of June and July. Since most of the cruise is above the arctic circle the best part is that for most of those 15 days the will be daylight for most of the time