What is the US Congress going to do about this? Micky Arison’s Carnival Corp tells Costa Concordia passengers they are only worth $14,400. Arison appears cheaper than Sir Bruce Ismay of the RMS Titanic disaster.

January 27, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Video of Panic and Rescue – American couple among the missing on Carnival Corp’s Costa Concordia…

“Carnival is rotten! The people run for their lives, some losing their life, and the best this huge cruise ship company can do is off only a piddly 14,000 Dollars? Because a drunk Captain sunk the ship they were on, how can they ever trust Carnival again? Compensation has to be HUGE! It would be a terrible thing to go through, knowing your Captain bailed off the ship, and left you to die! Tom – San Diego, CA.”

Comment seen regarding CNN announcement of Carnival Corp’s offer to surviving passengers.

Women and children first! Not on Carnival Corp’s Costa Concordia with the Captain heading to the lifeboat and rich Russians paying off crew members with fists filled with cash to get off first…

Carnival Corp is an American company totally not regulated by the corrupt US Congress…

(Left: Micky Arison) Cruise and Liner History: Mickey Arison’s Carnival Corp tells Costa Concordia passengers they are only worth $14,400. Arison appears cheaper than Sir Bruce Ismay of the RMS Titanic disaster. He wants them to stay loyal to Carnival for 30 percent off on future cruise!

(Left: Missing Costa Concordia Americans: Barbara and Jerry Heil (hyl), of White Bear Lake, Minn., were on the Costa Concordia when it struck a reef near Tuscany. They are still missing. The US Government and congress has done everything to see that these American owned ships are unregulated. Arison’s attitude – of let the passengers eat cake – is evident in his hiding out in Miami while passengers suffered in Italy.

Photo of Costa Concordia… found on the internet with a caption illustrating how insensitive Carnival Corp is…

Where is the US Congress? Have the cruise lines payed them off? These political hacks were comped on cruises and paid off with large campaign contributions: Reps. Charles Rangel (NY) Bennie Thompson (Miss.), Yvette Clarke (N.Y.), Donald Payne (N.J.), Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (Mich.) and Virgin Islands Del. Donna Christensen. All of these congressional representatives condone the “slave conditions” aboard the American owned ships for workers who are paid less than minimum wage.

Rep. Charles Rangel (Democrat-New York) on a Caribbean Cruise took lots of money from cruise industry to suppress any laws regulating cruise ships. Rangel has been cited many times for his corrupt operations. Rangel is one of the major reasons congress is not doing anything to monitor the American owned cruise industry. Most congress members have been paid off by the cruise industry.

Mickey Arison’s Carnival Corp. — the parent company of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that capsized off the Tuscany coast– has offered survivors of the January 13 disaster $14,000 and change compensation for the horrofying ordeal. He also will give them a 30 percent discounts on future cruises to stay loyal to the Carnival brand. “The company is not only going to refund everybody, but they will offer a 30 percent discount on future cruises if they want to stay loyal to the company,” Arison said, noting they’ve been contacting the survivors via phone.

The cruise ship’s captain Francesco Schettino was released from jail last week and is currently under home arrest near Naples. He was arrested the day after the crash in connection and is charged with manslaughter and abandoning ship.

Of the 4,200 on board, 120 were Americans.

This frightened child’s life is only worth $14,000 according to Arison. Carnival Corp, operating out of Miami, pays no US taxes. The cruise industry has bought off congressional members to not interfere with these American companies like NCL, Royal Caribbean and Carnival Crop not to pay taxes and be subject to US laws.

In all, 13 people have died, and another 19 — including a retired Minnesota couple — remained missing early Monday.

Rescue official Franco Gabrielli said there might have been stowaways on the vessel that have not been accounted for.

“There could have been ‘X’ persons who we don’t know about who were inside, who were clandestine,” he said.

The decision was reached during a meeting between Carnival Corp., Costa Cruises and consumer groups, the Italian Association of Tour Operators said.

Passengers scrambling to get off the doomed ship. Their horror is worth nothing according to Micky Arison’s Carnival Corp. The company is earning billions and paying no US taxes. Isn’t that the American way in Washington DC.

Carnival Corp’s COSTA CONCORDIA and other tragedies at sea. The SS MORRO CASTLE…

January 24, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Cruise and Liner History… Our thanks to shipgeek.com and Mark Perry for this excellent video: The SS Morro Castle was launched in 1930, and had her maiden voyage from New York to Havana in August of that year. Only four short years later, a mysterious fire broke out on board that has never been explained, rapidly spreading throughout the liner and forcing the evacuation of her passengers in lifeboats. Of the 555 people on board, 133 lost their lives. Featured here are 16mm home movies from that period, the first being “Sandy Sails Morro Castle” for the sail away footage, followed by amateur movies of the ship still burning on the beach in New Jersey. This video is dedicated to those who lost their lives in this terrible tragedy.

Latest on Carnival Corp’s COSTA CONCORDIA…. Russians bribe crew members to get ashore… Micky Arison’s Carnival Corp tried to offer survivors a 30% discount on future cruises…

Passengers climb off the stricken COSTA CONCORDIA… life boats proved useless…

Wealthy Russians ‘bribed crew with fistfuls of cash to skip lifeboat queue’

THE captain of the stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia may have been “distracted” by too many people being on the ship’s bridge, it has emerged, as two more bodies were recovered from the wreckage.

The revelation about Captain Francesco Schettino was made by third-in-command Silvia Coronika in a statement to investigators, who said Schettino took the disastrous course by showboating, to impress the head waiter of the ship.

Carnival Corp offers 30% discount to shipwrecked Costa Concordia passengers on future Costa Cruises. Is this a sick joke?

January 22, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Carnival Corp thanks passengers of the sinking COSTA CONCORDIA by offering a 30% discount on future cruises. Are they kidding?

Carnival Corp’s CEO Micky Arison. His company is now offering a 30% discount to shipwrecked victims of the Costa Concordia on future cruises. Is this a sick joke? Who is doing Carnival’s PR? Descendants of Joseph Geobbels?

Cruise and Liner History: The offer of a 30 percent discount on future cruises, made by the owners (Micky Arison’s Carnival Corp) of the recently shipwrecked Costa Concordia (Costa Cruises), has been faced with a number of angry responses from passengers of the ill-fated luxury liner.

(Left London Tabloid on sinking ship: Carnival Corp – The owners of the Costa Concordia are offering survivors of the disaster a 30 per cent discount off future cruises as they battle to stave off law suits expected to cost hundreds of millions of pounds. One British survivor of the disaster, which claimed 12 lives with 20 people still missing, branded the offer as “insulting”. It was disclosed that in an attempt to help survivors the ship’s parent company, Carnival, has been telephoning passengers daily asking if they are suffering nightmares or sleepless nights. They did live up to their advertising. Costa Concordia promised a “cruise vacation you will never forget.”)

As many as 12 people died in the crash, which occurred a week ago, near the Giglio islands off the Italian coast; a further 20 people are still missing. The ship was carrying more than 4,000 people.

The holding company has come under fire for their offer of a discount at this stage. According to a Telegraph report, one of the British survivors of the disaster was disapproving of the offer and called it “insulting”.

Left: Costa CEO, Pier Luigi Foschi, offers surviving passengers discount on future cruises.)

“It is a ridiculous and insulting offer. I’m very disappointed in them. They are not accepting their responsibilities at all. Our only back-up is separate legal action,” said Brian Page, 63, an accountant from Southampton.

The company is now facing a wave of multi-million dollars law suits. In fact, more than 100 passengers have joined a class action against the cruise owners. Their lawyers have indicated the law suits will be filed in both the U.S. and Italy.

Costa Cruises’ parent company – Carnival Cruises – have said they are doing everything they can to assist the passengers of the ill-fated ship, in claiming compensation and refunds from the company. They’ve also, apparently, sent letters to passengers, with instructions on claiming lost valuables.

Furthermore, apparently Carnival Cruises is also making contact with survivors, asking if any of them suffered from nightmares or sleeplessness as a result of the ordeal they underwent. Unfortunately for the company, lawyers as well as psychologists are less than impressed. They claim such calls can only create more uneasiness on the survivors’ part and that the calls breached guidelines on treating disaster survivors.

GETTING THERE IS NO LONGER HALF THE FUN! COSTA CONCORDIA YOUNG DISABLED PASSENGER TOLD TO “SUE US” BY MICKY ARISON’S CARNIVAL CORP – CEO Micky Arison hires Burson-Masteller. A group of corporate media flacks to control Carnival Corp nightmare!

January 20, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

The Carnival Corp manner of cruising… watch this video about one of their ships…

COSTA CONCORDIA YOUNG DISABLED PASSENGER TOLD TO “SUE US” BY MICKY ARISON’S CARNIVAL CORP – Is it time to boycott Carnival cruises and their brands? Is the captain to blame or the American owners? Carnival Corp hires Brit media flacks Burson-Marsteller to handle cruise line nightmare? From the elegance of cruising in the past to the horror of “schlock” treatment by Miami based Carnival Corp.

(Left: American billionaire and owner of the Costa Concordia) American billionaire Micky Arison has hired a UK public relations firm to save Carnival Corp and the debacle resulting from the Costa Concordia disaster. Arison has been hiding out in Miami. He’s become a modern day Sir Bruce Ismay (the RMS Tiantic owner and coward) and is a cruise line version of President George W. Bush during the Katrina disaster.

(Left: This is the collection of extraordinary Brit media flacks – Burson-Marsteller – who have been hired by Micky Arison to handle Costa Concordia debacle and downplay how passengers were treated. Pathetic, huh? Considering one of them is a Rupert Murdoch hack. ) Clarence Mitchell, a British press agent and flack, media manipulator, connected to Rupert Murdoch, is handling the mounting corporate nightmare and faces a big task. He apparently handles cover ups and other related media corporate cover-ups. Arison, who is hiding out in Miami, wants Brit Burson-Marsteller to keep press and public away from him. He’s more concerned with his Florida basketball team than his passengers. His “Costa/Carnival” employee told a young disabled Argentine man to “sue” the American company if they were dissatisfied with the “showboat” cruise.

I love ships but would avoid any Carnival product like the plague. Arison represents everything that is wrong with corporate America. I sailed last year, Grill Class, on Cunard Line’s Queen Victoria and witnessed first hand the Carnival mystique of being totally ripped off by a third rate brand of this megalomaniac company.

Horrified passengers aboard Micky Arison’s nightmare ship Costa Concordia. One of his employees said passengers were exaggerating on the dangers. Look at the photos. A Costa Cruises (Micky Arrison’s Carnival Corp) executive has accused passengers of “sensationalism” over the disaster which saw its ship capsize off the coast of Italy. Assistant director Monica Bova said to hear passengers who were safe and sound on the docks say “no-one saved us” was outrageous. ”I have read, seen and heard so much nonsense from these survivors, who tended as usual to choose sensationalism rather than information,” she said.

Our thanks to Kirby Sommers for the following…

THE LATEST IN THE CARNIVAL CORP COSTA CONCORDIA MESS…

Click here to read more from Kirby Sommers

Micky Arison’s Carnival Corp told a young Argentinian disable man to “sue us” if he wanted anything from the greedy American/Israeli Company that owns Costa. In other words, Arison’s cruise line is telling passengers to “bugger off” if they want anything from the Miami based company that controls many ships.

Fernando Tofanelli, an Italian Argentinian student who lives in Surbiton, Surrey, asked the company for money to buy food and medicine, but says he was told he would not receive any kind of stipend unless he took legal action.

In a letter to Costa Cruises (owned by Arison’s Carnival Corp), he accused the cruise operator of “washing its hands” of survivors of the disaster, leaving them “destitute and traumatized”.

KIRBY SOMMERS reports on THE MURKY WATERS OF CARNIVAL CORP (OWNERS OF THE COSTA CONCORDIA) – Is the disaster the captain’s fault or the owners?

January 20, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

COSTA CONCORDIA – The captain’s fault or…? Is Carnival Corp making the captain a scapegoat to avoid questions about management or problems with the ship?

Carnival Corp’s first ship the Mardis Gras (former Empress of Canada) ran aground on maiden voyage.

History repeats itself. Carnival Corp’s Costa Concordia hit land and so did Carnival’s first ship. In 1972 the maiden voyage for Carnival Cruise Lines left port from Miami. The company would lose money in the early years (as one might expect). But to top things off the new cruise ship ran aground on a sandbar just outside the Port of Miami!

History of Carnival Cruises and History of Carnival Corp

Carnival Cruise Lines is a British-American owned cruise line, based in Doral, Florida, a suburb of Miami in the United States. Originally an independent company founded in 1972 by Ted Arison, the company is now one of eleven cruise ship brands owned and operated by Carnival Corporation & PLC. The company has the largest fleet in the group, with 23 vessels currently in operation that account for 21.1% of the worldwide market share. Executive control of the company is provided by the North American division of Carnival Corporation, headquartered in Doral, Florida.

The company is known for cost cutting, being anti-union, and now one of the great maritime disasters since the RMS Titanic.

Our thanks to Kirby Sommers for the following…

The Murky Waters of Carnival Corp (owners of the Costa Concordia)

by Kirby Sommers

Click here to read more from Kirby Sommers

In response to the largest passenger ship disaster since the sinking of the Titanic 100 years ago, Carnival Corp (CCL), has placed the blame entirely on Capt Francesco Schettino. A spokesperson for the company stated that Schettino made an “unapproved, unauthorized” deviation in the course of the Concordia whose hull was torn open on Friday 13th when the ship struck rocks off the island of Giglio, Italy.

As survivors speak angrily about their horrifying ordeal, images eerily similar to those seen in the movie Titanic have emerged. Sandra Rogers a 62 year-old grandmother from Minorca told a reporter from the Daily Mail: “There was no women and children first policy. There were big men, crew members, pushing their way past us to get into the lifeboats.”

Carnival Corp (CCL) claims the partial sinking of the Concordia will cost them approximately $85 million to $95 million in lost earnings for the year. When compared to the $6.5 million dollars Carnival paid for their first ship in 1972 one can safely conclude the company which now owns over 100 passenger ships has deep enough pockets and insurance to absorb this loss.

The origin and rise of the largest cruise company in the world is rooted in what some might call murky waters.

Meshulam Riklis and Ted Arison (born Theodore Arisohn) founded Carnival Cruise Lines. The pair became friends in Tel Aviv (the then British Mandate of Palestine) while attending school during the early 1940s. In 1971 Arison approached Riklis who owned, among other businesses, American International Travel Services (AITS) of Boston to help him get back into the cruise business.

CRUISING AT YOUR OWN RISK. The RMS TITANIC tickets are smilar to Carnival Corp’s contract. US Congress has done nothing to regulate cruise industry. Nothing has changed for the rights of passengers.

January 19, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

CARNIVAL CORP (owner of the Costa Concordia) has a history of management problems regarding their ships and many lines…

Carnival Corp (owners of the Costa Concordia) have had a history of unsupervised near tragedies. A fire began with an unsupervised cutting and welding operation in a laundry room on board the Carnival Ecstasy on July 20, 1998, while the ship was sailing off Miami Beach, Florida with 2567 passengers aboard, where crew were welding a laundry folding machine called a Mangle. Should this happen on a 4 or 5 thousand passenger ship, in rough seas, there would be more loss of life than the Titanic. These large ships are considered by some as floating death traps and the US Congress (paid off by cruise line lobbyist) refuse to do anything about this.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of fire aboard the Ecstasy was the unauthorized welding by crewmembers in the main laundry that ignited a large accumulation of lint in the ventilation system and the failure of Carnival Cruise Lines to maintain the laundry exhaust ducts in a fire-safe condition. Contributing to the extensive fire damage on the ship was the lack of an automatic fire suppression system on the aft mooring deck and the lack of an automatic means of mitigating the spread of smoke and fire through the ventilation ducts.Passengers received a full refund and were offered a complimentary cruise for the inconvenience.

Cruise and Liner History: Costa Concordia owners (Israeli-American Mickey Arison’s Carnival Corp) have come under scrutiny after reports of delays in giving the order to evacuate the stricken ship.

Cruise at your own risk – to learn what rights you don’t have, read the Costa Concordia (Carnival Corp) ticket/passenger contract by linking here.

(Left: RMS TITANIC passage contract.)

It’s all fun and margaritas when you first book a cruise. But that “ticket” is actually a contract that can run more than a dozen pages, and gives away more rights to the cruise ship company than you may realize.

“People will buy the ticket without knowing this, and they won’t even look at it before they step on the cruise ship,” said Joseph Goldberg, a Harrisburg, Pa.-based consumer attorney who reviewed the ticket contract posted on the Carnival Cruise Lines website for Reuters.

Carnival dominates about half of the cruise market, and its contract, which runs almost 8,000 words and mentions “liability” 20 times, could be considered typical for the industry.

“It’s not until something does happen that you find out how stuck you are,” Goldberg said.

(Left: Costa Concordia’s owner (Carnival Corp) Micky Arison has been hiding out in Miami).

Carnival Corp Costa Concordia’s passenger contract gives “cruise guests” on the doomed ship very little rights.

Something did happen, of course. The Costa Concordia, operated by a company owned by Miami-based Carnival, ran aground in Italian waters on Friday, leaving at least 11 passengers dead and some 24 more missing. That was an extreme and unusual event, likely to have lawyers fighting for years over the various and sometimes contradictory laws, agreements and contracts that may come into play, according to Lewis “Mike” Eidson, a Miami trial lawyer who specializes in representing cruise passengers.

SOPA – More “neo-Nazi” like laws from the U.S. Government to shut down the internet. Backed by congress, the MPAA and the US Chamber.

January 18, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

“Defeating this is a victory for free speech. Sad to see how big money and corporate greed can work to curb free speech if we the masses are less vigilant.”

Social History: More “Nazi” like laws from the U.S. Government to shut down the internet. Call your representatives today and complain to the neo-Nazis that are ruining the USA. What do United States Chamber of Commerce and the Motion Picture Association of America have in common? These groups are trying to shut down the internet and are the lobbying group behind this Nazi/American law.

Are Christopher J. Dodd (CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America) and Thomas J. Donohue (CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce) a modern day version of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels? They would be very comfortable with Hitler’s philosophy regarding freedom of speech.

Master propagandist of the Nazi regime and dictator of its cultural life for twelve years, Joseph Goebbels would be very comfortable in Washington help shut down the internet.

From the RMS TITANIC to the USA (Carnival Corp) owned COSTA CONCORDIA… nothing is unsinkable.

January 17, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

(Carnival Corps) Costa Concordia Survivors: Crew Fled In Life Jackets!

“Cruise ships can be “death traps” IMO. I’m sure evacuation was confusing, 4000 panicked people trying to escape a sinking “tin can”? Wow. Evacuations need to be practiced repeatedly to be effective and it’s IMPOSSIBLE to do this on a cruise ship with “weekend warriors”…”These top-heavy lavish-tubs are unsafe even dockside! One wonders if Capt. was sober, and seems Navigator & Pilot were not at all skilled; –even worse is being trapped in the ship’s Glass-elevator (-where divers may still find some poor souls)!!!” “These ships are floating hell holes… the crews don’t speak english… they aren’t trained…with greedy Americans making all the money like Carnival Corp…” “Never again aboard a giant ship…” A few of many comments…

Royal Caribbean’s new Oasis of the Seas. The largest cruise ship in the world. Imagine having to evacuate this floating condo with over 9000 passengers and crew in a major storm or fire at sea. Good luck!

Absolutely terrifying video of passengers trying to reach lifeboats on stricken Carnival Corp liner Costa Concordia. U.S.-based Carnival Corporation, the owner of the luxury cruise ship sinking off the Italian coast and the world’s largest cruise line, faces millions of dollars in losses from the accident and perhaps years of litigation over damage claims. Carnival is based in the southern city of Miami, Florida and annually attracts about half the world’s 15 million sea-going tourists to its 101 ships. The corporation runs 11 cruise lines, including some of the best known global brands — Carnival, Cunard, Holland America, Princess and others.

Cruise and Liner History: From the RMS TITANIC to the Carnival Corp’s COSTA CONCORDIA… nothing is unsinkable.