| dd/mm/yy |
Events |
Incident |
| 3.8.09 | Anchorage Daily News reports a 45-year-old woman has gone missing, presumed overboard, between Douglas Island and Glacier Bay National Park. The last known sighting of the woman was about 12:30 a.m., when she ordered room service while the ship was near Douglas Island. She was reported missing by a friend about 9 a.m., after the ship was already in the park. In a statement released Monday, Holland America said the ship's crew conducted a thorough search and was unable to find the woman, whose family has been notified of her disappearance. The ship sailed from Seattle Friday bound for Alaska on a seven-day cruise and departed Juneau bound for Glacier Bay on Sunday. The Coast Guard deployed an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Sitka and diverted the patrol boats Long Island and Liberty and launched two rescue boats from Station Juneau. The Civil Air Patrol is also assisting the search with two aircraft and the park service is combing the shoreline with multiple vessels, the Coast Guard said. They are focusing their search on Stephens Passage, Lynn Canal and Icy Strait. The water temperature in the area is about 57 degrees. UPDATE: About 4:30 p.m. a helicopter found a body washed up on the west side of Douglas Island. The tide had apparently carried the body to shore and left it high on the beach as it receded. The body was taken to Juneau to be positively identified. | Pax Overboard |
| 8.6.09 | Associated Press reports at least three crew members tested positive for swine flu. The seven-night, round-trip cruise had departed Seattle on May 29 and returned Friday. It visited Ketchikan on Wednesday. A medical epidemiologist with the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, said her department was informed Tuesday that three crew members were affected. More were reported with symptoms Wednesday. Specimens were collected and sent to the department's lab in Fairbanks for analysis. Swine flu was confirmed Thursday. None of the officials had an exact number of cases available. Subsequent reports from Agenece France Presse put the number at five crew members comfirmed illwith swine flu. | Swine flu |
| 13.7.08 |
From a passenger: Just finished 7 day cruise in
Alaska...ending 7/13...something happened that caused smell of kerosene
inside several decks..we were on deck 6..woke up to the smell..opened
the balcony..made smell worse..closed it back..woke up again later and
smell was better..listened to passengers talking....some slept out by
pool deck smell was so bad..heard 200 gallons of diesel was in bilge
pump....somebody else said it affected everybody on deck 2....some on 6
didn't notice at all....got up morning of departure opened door to
hallway...still smelled kerosene...made son-in-law sick....I'd like to
know what really happened??? |
Noxious smell |
| 5.6.01 |
The company reports that a crew
member noticed a sprinkler head missing from a passenger cabin which
led to discovery that a branch of the sprinkler irrigation did not
connect to the main water supply. The problem was fixed on May 31. |
Fire sprinklers defective |
| dd/mm/yy |
Reported Outbreaks |
| 15.2.09 | From a reader: My mother and her husband are sailing aboard Holland America’s Zaandam, which departed San Diego for Hawaii on February 5. Several days ago, she called, saying passengers were reporting bouts of diarrhea and vomiting. Sick passengers were being isolated in their rooms for 36-48 hours. According to her, self-serve buffets had been converted to staff-served and regular cleaning crews had been replaced with special personnel. Extra hand sanitizer had been placed in her room. Tonight, she called again, saying she and her husband had been sick with diarrhea, vomiting, fever and a neck rash for four days. UPDATE: The CDC reports 21 of 590 (3.6%) crew and 74 of 1408 (5.3) passengers have reported ill. The cruise ends in San Diego on February 20. |
| 3.4.08 |
The ship reported 13 of 611 (2.13%) crew and 100 of 1428 (7.00%) passengers had reported ill on a 15 day Hawaii cruise that began March 19 in San Diego and which disembarked April 3. |
| 20.11.07 |
The ship reported 9 of 616 (1.3%) crew and 91 of 1371 (6.64%) passengers had reported ill on a 15 day Hawaii Cricle cruise from San Diego. |
| 11.12.06 |
The ship reported that 4 of 617 (0.67%) crew and 64 of 1431 (14.47%) passengers had reported ill on the 26 November -11 December Hawaiian circle cruise from San Diego. Symptons were consistent with gastrointestinal illness (e.g., norovirus) |
| 2.9.03 |
According
to passengers, there was an outbreak of
gastro-intestinal disease on the cruise ending August 30; they were notified the third
night of the cruise by a letter delivered to each cabin that Norwalk
was on the ship and instructing them to take proper precautions. 40 passengers
were off-loaded in Ketchikan and an estimated 60 others at two
other ports. Among those disembarked at
Ketchikan were two octagenarians
(because one reported an ongoing health condition that included
gastrointestinal sensitivities for which he took medication). Despite
promises onboard, the 82 and
95 year olds were not given necessary assistance by HAL once they
left the ship (including having to carry their own luggage up stairs).
They are awaiting reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses that they
were told were arranged to be paid in advance. |