4 Months After the Concordia Tragedy, a New Costa Ship Debuts

Aboard the just-launched Costa Fascinosa, things can’t help but feel a little symbolic. An appropriately understated welcome — the christening lacked the aerial acrobats, lasers and celebrities Costa is known for — has given way to cruising as usual, exactly what a line coming out of a period of mourning is looking for. The mood [...]

After Concordia: The Priest and the Little White Lie

We’ve all done it. Maybe you slip away for a weekend without alerting your family. Maybe you feign feeling poorly to add an extra day onto a vacation. Maybe you take a week-long cruise, and tell the members of your congregation you’re off on a spiritual retreat. Ok, not too many of us have done [...]

After Concordia: Master Mariner Details Sunken Cruise Ship’s Last Moments

With Concordia’s voyage data recorder (VDR) — the so-called “black box” that could reveal how the disaster unfolded — in the hands of Italian investigators, one experienced mariner has sought to explain what he thinks happened. Capt. John Konrad, a U.S. Coast Guard licensed master mariner of unlimited tonnage and editor in chief of maritime [...]

After Concordia: Is Chivalry Dead?

If you had been on Costa Concordia when the ship capsized, I asked my friend Moustafa, an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen and a devoted family man, which escape strategy would you prefer: all families together or women and children first?

After Concordia: Vada a Bordo!

A psychologist could probably write an entire dissertation on why tragedies and disasters seem to engender catch phrases and T-shirts. 9/11 had its “Let’s Roll” and in the cruising world, the 2010 Carnival Splendor Fire led to shirts stating “I Survived the 2010 Carnival Cruise Spamcation.” Only days after Costa Concordia ran aground and capsized, [...]

After Concordia: A Tale of Two Captains

Precisely how is a captain supposed to act when a large ship encounters an emergency such as the one Costa Concordia faced on Friday night? Hitting the history books, we found a scenario with some similarities to Friday’s accident — but with a captain who reacted a lot differently.

After Concordia: Is Cruising Safe?

In light of the capsizing of Costa Concordia over the weekend – a disastrous event in which 12 people died, more than a dozen are still missing and its captain is under house arrest on manslaughter charges — it’s not an unfair question to ask: Is cruising safe? It certainly wasn’t for passengers and crew [...]