The most striking image to date in the saga of how maritime safety has changed since the Costa Concordia wreck might well be the sight of two elderly passengers standing with their baggage on a Lisbon pier, debarked for having missed a muster.
Seabourn, the line that booted them, is standing by its decision to force the California couple to disembark the Seabourn Sojourn on May 12, after the wife missed the ship's mandatory passenger safety drill before the ship departed from Lisbon.
And the agent who booked them said the lesson learned is simple: He will relate this experience to other cruise clients so they are fully aware what the ramifications can be if they don't show up at a drill.
The agent, Steven Shulem, president of Strictly Vacations, in Santa Barbara, Calif., said the couple had booked a 20-day, three-leg cruise from Rome to Hamburg, Germany, and had participated in the drill when the ship left Rome on May 4. At the start of the second leg, from Lisbon, another drill was announced and held, per industry policy.
But the 84-year-old woman wasn't feeling well, and since she had participated in the drill before leaving Rome, she decided to skip it, Shulem said. Her 90-year-old husband attended both drills.
Within an hour of the Lisbon drill, the two found themselves watching from shore as the Sojourn sailed off.
"I think Seabourn could have handled this differently," Shulem said. According to his client's account, when the elderly lady didn't show at the drill, a crew member was sent to her room. She told that person she wasn't well.
"Fifteen minutes later, an officer was at their door, telling her the couple needed to disembark," Shulem said. "The staff packed them up and put them off."
Passenger safety drills have taken on new urgency — backed by strict compliance — since the Costa Concordia shipwreck on Jan. 13, which claimed the lives of 32 people off the Tuscan coast.
A Seabourn spokesman said: "Mandatory attendance at the emergency drill conducted prior to every voyage is a strict company policy to ensure the safety of everyone on board. No exceptions are permitted."
He added that "a guest who is too ill to attend may attend a makeup drill when their health permits." Seabourn did not elaborate on why that option wasn't offered in this case.
"Everyone knows the story of the Concordia," Shulem said. "It's just common sense" to attend the drills.
CLIA said it provides its travel agent members with information to assist customers in preparing for a cruise, including information about the importance of participating in muster drills and reviewing safety material and videos provided in cabins.
Mike McGarry, the association's senior vice president for public affairs, said, "In February, CLIA's member lines, along with the European Cruise Council and Passenger Shipping Association, voluntarily adopted a policy that calls for the mandatory muster of embarking passengers prior to departure from port. This policy has been communicated widely to a global audience."
Shulem said that the couple, who are longtime clients, cruise once a year. They were assisted in Lisbon by Strictly Vacations' 24-hour emergency services vendor, since Shulem was aboard the Oceania Riviera's christening cruise when the incident occurred.
"They said they'll never cruise Seabourn again," he said.
Holland America Line, a sister Carnival Corp. brand to Seabourn, in February disembarked a passenger for refusing to participate in a drill.