A Little Something
To Help You Sleep Madam?
By Mike Groves
I was recently contacted by a lovely lady who felt so compelled to write to us here at Cruise Bruise regarding her ‘first’ cruise, that she actually contacted us the same evening she walked off the ship; the MS Balmoral after some forty days on board. Sadly I have only been able to put pen to paper now, mainly due to my own time constraints and also playing ‘ping pong’ emails with Frances trying to get to the bottom of a few things – something we always do before going to print.
Now before I start I have to say that the owners of the MS Balmoral are in fact a cruise line I rather like – Fred Olsen Cruise Lines . This is not because they were good enough to offer me a position* some months after my previous employers no longer wanted me around – was it something I did? - I have also found them to be a well-established ‘family’ business. Founded by Petter Olsen in 1848, they tend to; more than most, put their passengers and crew first above all else. Indeed their motto is ‘It’s all about the people’.
I have also met numerous officers and crew from Fred Olsen during my time with my ex employers; like the Scottish play their name shall not be mentioned, and they were always very knowledgeable, very polite and a happy bunch altogether and so were their passengers I might add.
In fact I remain in the whole positive about this company but feel after extensive research I still have to write the following – ‘Dear Fred Olsen, one of your guests has been seriously let down, can we please fix this?’
*It was apparent from the off that I would not pass the stringent ENG/1 medical due to my injuries.
I was initially contacted by Frances, who is in the prime of retirement and a solo traveler at precisely 23:51 hours (GMT) on the 5th November 2009! She had only left the ship that day in Dover before returning to her home in Wales; clearly this was pressing on her mind to write at that hour of the night and after an exhausting day I am sure.
Frances boarded the MS Balmoral in Dover on the 09.26.09 for the start of Fred Olsen’s momentous New World Transatlantic Cruise, which would see the MS Balmoral sailing to over 21 ports of call in 40 days with the few obligatory sea days thrown in for good measure and where Frances would later disembark in Dover on the 10.05.09 one would hope, a very happy sailor sporting a new anchor tattoo an all? Err……NO!!
Frances is not a happy sailor at all in fact and unless Fred Olsen’s own customer services starts speaking with her they will lose one of their prime customers [retired traveler] if not a few more from this particular cruise - number BLO919.
Frances booked an outside cabin with a large window facing out onto deck 4 which she describes as surprisingly ‘a bit shabby’ for the price however she was not overly concerned by this, knowing that the whole idea of a cruise was to enjoy the ship and not fester away inside the cabin – quite right! Sadly it would soon be the cabin that would become her main source of concern.
On the 10.04.09 and some nine days onboard the MS Balmoral while reading inside her cabin, Frances decided she would turn on the air conditioning. Sometime later Frances awoke and described the following in her own words –
"I must have fallen asleep, then awoke - briefly aware of what my befuddled brain recognized as exhaust fumes, fell asleep again and awoke with the most severely pounding double sided headache, very dizzy, cabin full of fumes."
Describing herself as somewhat of a proverbial night owl, she knew almost instantaneously that something was not quite right and reported this immediately to the ship’s duty staff on reception who were apparently pretty non plus about it all?
They did however then go on to say that this was a result of routine maintenance and engineers had said the fumes would clear within minutes. Well that was a quick answer wasn’t it?
She asked that this incident be recorded by reception before then stepping outside onto the open decks, in her words ‘to try to get rid of the dizzy feeling’.
Although not criticizing Frances here, we would like to say here at Cruise Bruise that if you do ever feel a little dizzy or unwell/not fully compos mentis then please do not go out onto open decks but remain inside or call the ships medical personnel, bearing in mind the number of passengers lost over the side at sea. Of course this was Frances first cruise so like many travelers she would not be aware of the numerous losses at sea.
At no time was she contacted again for the routine follow up as she should have been, and she is also not aware of any technical staff attending to her cabin to check the system. The following morning she met another traveler from deck 6 whose experience on that previous afternoon was identical to hers, except she awoke believing the ship to be on fire. One can only imagine how scary that must have been for this passenger in those first initial seconds!
Our second passenger also complained in person to the reception desk and was sadly met with the same ‘negative and dismissive’ attitude but whilst standing there, she overheard one of the reception staff informing yet another guest (over the phone) that the engineer’s knew there was a problem and they were working to fix it. Not that she is assuming if indeed this guest was also complaining about the same problem, as Frances rightly pointed out.
Still receiving no follow up whatsoever from onboard customer relations, which in itself is inexcusable for those responsible onboard the MS Balmoral, Frances decided she would go and track down the Guest Relations Officer (GLO). Determined soul isn’t she, and rightly so!
Describing the GLO as a man " . . . not to be overly available or helpful as I was to find out, an arrogant and intimidating young fellow whose main role when seen around the ship seemed to be posing and chatting to the young women in Reception!" This guy sounds a positive delight! I’m digressing again aren’t I?
In short Frances eventually got this man to sit down and listen to her concerns and the on-going situation regarding the unexplainable fumes in her cabin and so it would appear, at various other locations around the MS Balmoral? She also asked to be moved to a ‘where there was a through flow of fresh air’ and was prepared to pay if this required her to be upgraded. It is stated from ‘our caller’ that rather than being sympathetic to her concerns and offering any reassurance whatsoever, the only thing she received from the MS Balmorals GLO was a rude ‘nothing doing, all full up’ reply? Charming!
However it is alleged, that clearly this wasn’t being rude enough as he then "made a great show of peering at his PC monitor, sucking his teeth tensely as though any cabin move was a desperately complicated maneuver".
Eventually Frances was offered the same cabin on Deck 5 but declined it as this would still not afford her any clean air and again asked that her complaint be recorded and she would like to meet with this young man again the following morning, in order that she could gain his feedback from the engineers directly. Once again she was given yet another account for the fumes, the GLO informing her that they were not in the cabin, they were in the corridors and were a direct result of bunkering the previous day.
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‘A Little Something To Help You Sleep Madam?’
Smokey atmosphere on board the MS Balmoral
By Mike Groves QGM
Cruise Bruise Security And Safety Advisor
December 4, 2009
