Stranded on the Star!

A few days ago I heard that the luxury liner NCL Star with more than 2000 people on board was reported as dead in the water off the Victorian Coast.  The Norwegian Cruise Line’s 91,000 tonne vessel had to be towed into Port Phillip Bay after it had lost power about 70km from the city on the morning of 9th February.  NCL have confirmed that the ship’s propulsion system stopped working en route to Tasmania from Melbourne and the ship was expected to miss several ports of call.  A spokeswoman has said that the ship had full power and all the on board services were fully operational and the weather was also favourable.  They said the ship was in no danger at all and the comfort of the guests was top priority.  This is not the first time that the NCL Star has come into trouble.  I know that the ship was having issues on the sailing over the Christamas period and then the sailing on 16th January also had lots of problems and a big chunk of the itinerary was cancelled.  The NCL Star is obviously having some engine problems and maybe they need to actually cancel some sailings to address the problem.  I know that the customers I have spoken to that have been affected by one of these sailings said it really ruined their trip that was planned.  You don’t expect to go away and most of the cruise itinerary you are expecting to be changed or cancelled.  Since the incident last week a spokeswoman for the Norwegian Star and NCL said that Norwegian take the matter very seriously, as all guests are entitled to a safe and hospitable environment in which to enjoy their holiday.  I think after the few sailings where problems have occurred NCL really need to sort the ship out.  NCL are a brilliant brand and have some amazing ships.  They don’t want to lose people from this problem with the NCL Star.