Source: Cruise Junkie dot Com


Events at Sea by Fred Olsen Cruises


The events listed have been reported in the public domain or to cruisejunkie by passengers or crew members onboard.  The list is by no means comprehensive.  For that reason it is necessary to be cautious in drawing conclusions from the potentially limited data.  Keep in mind that some companies may be more transparent than others about things that go wrong; conversely, some companies may be better at concealing events and thereby project an appearance that is inaccurate.  With that said, the following list is still interesting, as are the patterns seen viewed separately by ship.





dd/mm/yy
Ship
2008
Incident
28.1.08
Balmoral
The ship's inaugural sailing scheduled for January 30 has been canaceled. After arriving in Dover four days later than panned, a number of unforseen technical isues emerged and led to the cancelation. The Caribbean cruise scheduled for February 13 remains on schedule.
Canceled Sailing
dd/mm/yy
Ship
2007
Incident
18.9.07
Black Prince A 29-night round trip voyage from Liverpool was cut short following damage to the ship's propeller.  Two subsequent cruises have also been cancelled to allow for repairs.  The ship was on its homeward leg while in the Corinth Canal when it sustained the damage; the decision to end the cruise was made after divers in Algeciras found more extensive damage than had originally been assessed.  The ship will proceed to drydock for repairs.
Damaged Propeller -- Cruise Cancelled
28.7.07
Black Watch The ship, with 700 passengers, was quarantined at Stockholm after an outbreak of Legionnaires disease onboard.  Seven elderly passengers were taken to hospital while the remaining passengers were not allowed to go ashore.  The ship was disinfected and then left on its return voyage to the UK, returning to Dover two days earlier than originally scheduled.  Tests onboard the ship have not yet located the source of the illness; there is suspicion that the source may have been onshore.
Illness
--
Legionnaires
dd/mm/yy
Ship
2006 and earlier
Incident
7.7.06
Black Prince
The ship was deep-cleaned after the illness outbreak on the previous cruise.  This caused a delayed departure and shortened the cruise to Copenhagen and St. Petersburg from 12 days to 10 days.  As the cruise line materially changed the itinerary, passengers could cancel without penalty -- approximately 20 percent of passengers booked on the cruise departing today cancelled out.
Itinerary change
4.7.06
Black Prince
About 100 passengers have been affected by a vomiting virus similar to the one that hit the vessel earlier in June.  On that trip, 136 passengers were confirmed to have been affected by norovirus.  A hand full of passengers were ill on the cruise that followed and then a large outbreak on the current cruise which left Leith on June 22 and returned from its 13 day excursion of Iceland and Greenland on July 5.  The ship will be thoroughly disinfected before the next cruise (including replacement of carpets and some furnishings). Illness
9.6.06
Black Prince
126 of 412 (30%) passengers contracted gastronintenstinal intestinal illness during the current cruise (84 (20.38%) were reportedly quarantined).  The ship left Leith, Edinburgh on a seven day cruise to the Norwegian fjords and is due back in port on Saturday.  It will depart for its next cruise one day late in order to fully sanitize the ship. Illness
27.4.04
Black Prince
Enroute to her first journey after engine repairs, the ship broke down just off Southampton docks.  412 passengers waiting to take a mini-cruise to Ireland and the Channel Islands had to wait until evening for the ship's arrival, which had been left without power.
Engine failure
29.3.04
Black Prince
One of the ship's two main engines broke down on its transatlantic crossing.  The March 11th cruise ended on March 29, and the following cruise is also cancelled.  The ship will re-enter sevrvice April 27.
Engine Breakdown / Cancellation
5.12.02
Black Watch
Mechanical trouble -- problem with one of the engines and a propeller -- and delayed 2 days in arrival into the port at Southampton.  The next cruise was delayed.
Engine problems
3.12.02
Black Watch
Mechanical problems with one of the engines and a propeller forced the ship to slow down, causing it to arrive at Southampton two days late.  The following cruise is delayed.
Engine problems
4.3.02 Black Prince
Ran aground on a sand bank while leaving Casilda, Cuba.  After several unsuccessful attempts to free ship, passengers evacuated and bused to Havana for flights home. Grounded
14.1.98
Black Prince
Ran into a freak wave that smached three windows on the bvridge and caused electrical equipment to fail.  The ship returned to Dover for repairs and then resumed its cruise.
Freak wave