Can’t get enough of the Costa Concordia story.

The Bleat ^ | January 18, 2012 | James Lileks

[Eye of Unk]

Overpass will start on Friday evening Papenburg The Disney Fantasy is expected on the night of Friday, 1/20/2012, leave Papenburg and transferred to the Ems to the North Sea. Planned arrival at Eemshaven is Saturday afternoon. After a short stop in Eemshaven, the ship will start its first recruitment drive. The passage of the Disney fantasy about Ems will be carried out without stopping, with the support of the barrier. For more information about the function and operation of the plant is under lock www.nlwkn.niedersachsen.de following timetable for the transfer, which may change at short notice according to the weather conditions on: Friday, 20 January 2012 Approx. 22.30 Clock ship waiting position at the harbor lock Saturday 21 January 2012 Approx. 01.00 Passing the lock clock (Papenburg) Approx. 04.00 clock passing the bridge Fries (Weener) Approx. 06.00 clock passing the Jann-Berghaus-Brücke (empty) Approx. 10.00 clock passing Emssperrwerk (Gandersum) Approx. 12.20 Clock Passage Emden eastern mole Ca. 16.00 clock arrival Eemshaven After the sea trials, is the Disney Fantasy expected in Bremerhaven. All specifications are subject to wind and weather conditions, water levels and subject to change. Time shifts are possible! The departure of the vessel in the harbor and the Papenburg Passing the lock will be broadcast live on the Internet. A webcam is below: to find www.meyerwerft.de. The transfer of the vessel is again conducted by a team of Lotsenbrüderschaft Emden. The Emslotsen have transferred in previous years, the ships of Meyer Werft. The whole team was coached this maneuver at the computer-controlled simulator in Wageningen (Netherlands) to be prepared so even better. The Disney Fantasy Ems Passage in the North Sea will again astern. This type of transfer has been proven due to better maneuverability. The transfer of the ship is managed with the assistance of two tugs. (I thought it would be good to hear of something different)

[Eye of Unk]

That was a translation from a German website.

In summary the Disney cruise ship Fantasy will begin its sea trials january 20th.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

Cruises are an extremely economical way to take a luxury vacation. I've done probably about nine but I am finding that there are many people on board these ships now that spend a great deal of their lives on cruise ships.

My granddaughter, husband and four year old just returned from one and my little great grandson loved the kids club and didn't want to leave. There were four year old twin girls at the club who were on their fifth cruises.

My four daughers, two sons in law and I just returned from nearly three weeks in Istanbul, Greece, Ephesus, Israel, Rhodes, Malta and Barcelona. My one daughter is a pro at arranging the day trips at these locations and we had the vacations of our lives for about $3,500 per person, including air.

The trip was fantastic. We were on Celebrity and BTW, we saw the Concordia in Barcelona. It sounds like Concordia had a very bad captain.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

I’ve been on many different lines and they are all good. I shop for itinerary and cost.

[AndyJackson]

Having spent a fair amount of time driving submarines around the Mediterranean, this is just another example of a screwed up maneuver. It is really simple. The Captain botched a turn and put his ships on the rocks, like driving your car into a bridge abutment on the highway in clear weather with no traffic. A competent driver would not even do that drunk much less sober. This was not a "hidden" rock. He was simply too close to a pile of rocks and a rocky coastline than is prudent when operating a vessel. A lot more inquiry will not reveal a lot more fact. You don't steer your vessel for the rocks. Period. Rule one of the common sense navigator whether dead reckoning, eyeball reckoning, GPS navigating, stellar navigating or any other kind of navigating.

As for the captioned article, it is simply not credible, and reads like an anti-capitalist diatribe, especially about the food. Europeans don't tolerate bad food, even the Germans.

[Tatze]

I’ve been on two cruises, one on a older smaller Carnival ship they have since sold off. Meh. Too small and old, so not a great experience. And the other was Disney Cruise, on the Wonder. Excellent experience, can’t wait for the next one, on the Dream or Fantasy!

[Eye of Unk]

This happened TODAY january 20th its the conveyance from the shipyard in Germany down the Ems River, its the Disney Fantasy, official launch date is supposed to be March 31st.

[Eye of Unk]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/20/graphic-the-final-moments-of-the-costa-concordia/

[DManA]

“I’m a victim of my instincts.”

Gotta say that is a new excuse I’ve never heard before.

[Daffynition]

In this morning's HC I was surprised to read the US didn't send reps to help the US citizens:

The cruise company did get the surviving passengers back to the mainland via ferry, then provided buses to transport them to Rome, where they were put up in a Hilton hotel. Although diplomats from several countries sent staff to the hotel to aid their citizens, the U.S. embassy did not, Goduti said.

She said she called the embassy but was told it was closed to observe Martin Luther King Day and would not reopen until Tuesday. She called home, and a friend got in contact with U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman's office, which got the embassy to open so that American passengers could get replacement passports.

Goduti and Papa had to go to the embassy, which charged them $270 to replace their passports, Papa said. They left for home on Sunday.