Queen Elizabeth cruise

[Kelvin Davies]

According to the BBC, Queen Elizabeth has just spent 4 days going around in circles in the English Channel as she was unable to berth in Amsterdam, due to high winds.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-30586835
Maybe they just don't try hard enough these days?
During the Korean War, my Dad was 3 days late getting from Portsmouth to Den Helder on HMS Skye.
They had sailed just as the Admiralty issued a "no sailing" order for Portsmouth due to a sever storm coming up the Channel. But the Captain had arranged for his wife to be at Dover Castle and he wanted to wave!
My Dad was one of only 3 crew (of a total complement of 40!)who were not sea sick and, despite being a bunting tosser, he spent a couple of days up to his thighs in a mixture of coal dust and sea water, keeping the boiler going.
They don't make them like that any more!

[dirk septer]

Cruise ship companies are well known for trying to cut corners to save some money.
Princess Cruises is infamous for missing/passing by ports of call. This saves them
lots of money; they can now sail at a lower speed to reach the next scheduled destination at
the scheduled time, thus saving fuel.
No pilot and/or tug assistance required saves more money. Passengers who prepaid port taxes
for this location, never get a refund.
On the few times I sailed with Princess, two ports were missed for no real urgent reasons.

The captain of Holland American Lines, in contrast, did his uttermost to dock his vessel in rough weather with no available tug assistance in Ushuaia, Argentina.

[Cornelia Klier]

There is no reason for taking risks and speeding, safety and comfortable trip is more important. Daredevil captains like Mr. Schettino no thanks.