MSC Opera detained in Southampton 27th. May 2011

[Neil Down, Southampton]

Whilst on the ship we heard that the ship was having problems with the Safety Authorities who had boarded the ship in Southampton. We met one of the BBC new reporters, who name escapes me, sorry, as we were leaving the ship.

Apparently, it was reported on tonights news, MSC Opera has been detained whilst or until they fix some safety measures which were not up to standard.

I would imagine that later news will tell us more about this problem. ....Neil

[Edna , Cardiff]

I wonder if it is the engines again Neil.
EDNA

[Bill Blyth, Dundee]

The ship left Southampton around 7 p.m. tonight and a statement from MSC says ""MSC Cruises is delighted to announce that MSC Opera left Southampton today to begin her eight-night cruise to the Norwegian Fjords. Docked at the port of Southampton since May 25, MSC Opera was visited, as per standard procedure, by Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) staff and released as fully compliant with International maritime safety regulations"

[Grant, West Sussex]

Whilst on the ship we heard that the ship was having problems with the Safety Authorities who had boarded the ship in Southampton. We met one of the BBC new reporters, who name escapes me, sorry, as we were leaving the ship.

Apparently, it was reported on tonights news, MSC Opera has been detained whilst or until they fix some safety measures which were not up to standard.

I would imagine that later news will tell us more about this problem. ....Neil

Paul Clifton was the man young Sir. Apparently he his news item was on South Today.

MSC Opera finally left just after 7, three hours late.

[Malcolm, Essex]

I wonder if it is the engines again Neil.
EDNA

Strangely Engines are not normally as a 'safety measures' than inspections are concerned about.

BBC News Item: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-13574870

[robski, Portsmouth]

I wasnt there but what I get the impression happened is that due to the ship having a heightened profile due to last weeks incident, MCA inspectors would have boarded the ship. In so doing they would have made a number of checks one of which would have been asking a number of more junior crew members simple questions regarding emergency procedures. These sorts of questions would normally be things like "Where is your muster station?" What is the GES (General Emergency Signal)" or "What should you do when you hear it?"
I imagine that it was probably clear that they didnt really know many of the answers. In such a scanario the crew would probably have had to go to the theatre onboard and be given an induction in the emergency procedures to satisfy the MCA inspectors that they had been briefed. But this is only guesswork.

[Grant, West Sussex]

Interestingly the news release that was posted on the MCA web site at 11.11 was removed by late afternoon
Newsroom - Press Releases

[robski, Portsmouth]

Problem is that there is HUGE pressure to let these ships sail and so they never or at least rarely get detained for any great length of time. The pressure is partly political, partly that there is pressure not to put the big cruise companies off calling at our ports and also the fact that the authorities want to go home on a Friday night!! Haha

[Lacey, Wirral]

The ship left Southampton around 7 p.m. tonight and a statement from MSC says ""MSC Cruises is delighted to announce that MSC Opera left Southampton today to begin her eight-night cruise to the Norwegian Fjords. Docked at the port of Southampton since May 25, MSC Opera was visited, as per standard procedure, by Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) staff and released as fully compliant with International maritime safety regulations"

That is good news.

[Neil Down, Southampton]

I feel sure that the conjecture that recent events made her more of a feature and strict inspection more probable. I have the feeling that there will be a follow-up to this in the near future.

Thank you Robski for your good interpretations and information. ....Neil

[suzzir, bangor]

Not sure if you were the lucky ones on the opera ship or not.We were due to sail on the Opera ship on the 17th May 2011 but it had broke down, we respect that things like this happen but it now the 12th June 2011 and still not had a refund had taken 2 weeks off work so no holidays left, begining to feel very let down by our tour operator low cost cruising and msc. We have cruised before and will again but not with these 2 companys

[Misty1937, Melbourne Victoria Australia]

We were also booked on the 17th May cruise to the Baltic capitals, we booked a group fly/stay/cruise along with another 14 Aussies direct with MSC. Having flown from Australia we arrived on the 15th exhausted. We saw on the TV that the ship had broken down but the report said it was being towed to Southampton and would sail as scheduled on the 17th. We spent the 16th in Winchester and on returning back to the hotel received emails from friends in Germany & New Zealand. This is how we and the other 14 found out our cruise was cancelled, not one word from MSC. Had we been informed earlier we could have looked at our alternatives when in Winchester. Our first contact with MSC was 10am on the 17th when there was a combined tele-conference at the hotel. We had the option of another cruise on Poesia which was leaving the same day or cancel. When I say we had an option I hardly call it an option as what else could we do with 2 hours notice other than fly back home. We accepted and that was the beginning of the holiday from hell. Our "cruise" was 3 days at the end of one cruise then a 3 day long weekend party cruise from Kiel - Oslo-Copenhagen-Kiel. We were then promised 4 nights at a London hotel to compensate for the 4 lost cruising nights. Communication breakdown was the order of the day. We were off loaded into a bus at Kiel and transferred to Hamburg airport where we spent the whole day waiting for our evening flight out, remember of course this was another "cruising day". It was not until we arrived in London and were transferred to our hotel we knew where we were staying. Would you believe they put us in the transit hotel at Heathrow!!. I have had contact with a lot of other people who suffered the same or similar problems with MSC. Some, like Suzzir, are having trouble receiving their refund if they cancelled. One couple had pre purchased excursions for the Opera cruise, MSC offered to refund that in the form of on board credit for another cruise, what an absolute cheek. We have been offered 30% off another cruise to be taken by the end of 2012, considering we keep getting promotional emails offering 2 for the price of 1 I find that an outright insult. We now have the matter in the hands of our lawyer. This was my 3rd cruise with MSC, I was very happy with the first 2 but believe me never again not after the disgusting way they have treated us. Apparently loyalty means nothing more to them than $$$$$$$ in their till.