Cruise ship out of control - collided with shoreline

[lewis31061]

My husband and I were on the Vantage River Odyssey beginning Nov. 9,2009 for a Rhine and Danube 2 week cruise. On Sat., Nov. 21, the ship lost steering ability and we ran into the bank, then veered back and hit a barge destroying the dining room and kitchen areas of the Odyssey. We were towed to Koblenz and evacuated from the ship. It would have been a disaster if it had happened at meal time, but no one was in the dining room at that time of day. We got $200 refund checks. R. Brock

[sdhester]

You had a close call!

From my experience, I was concerned that Vantage was not adequately concerned about safety. They did not respond to my concerns with any commitment to improve safety. Your event could easily resulted in loss of life - as, indeed, our event could have caused loss of life.

A pattern of disregard for safety is a serious liability for Vantage. Harry Lewis needs to address this matter!

[sdhester]

I immediately sent a FAX to Harry Lewis the day after this happened, and followed up with a certified letter when I got home. I eventually got a negative response from Vantage stating that they did not intend to make any improvements in their safety procedures. Consider this when thinking about booking with Vantage.

[rvwingard]

I just viewed your video, how surprising, as we just boarded the River Odyssey on August

9th of this year in Budapest Hungary. Evidently your cruise was coming back that way, and we were the next cruise scheduled. We were told we had a Captain that was just filling in and about half way through our cruise they changed Captain's yet again. I am interested to know if your Captain and ours were the same.

[sdhester]

I have the name of our captain at home, but not with me. It is unusual to change captain's in the middle of a cruise. I wonder if the change was in response to the collision. 

My main concern is that Vantage change the procedures for staffing the helm. I think they should have two qualified helmsmen on duty at all times, and that those two both be accountable for safe steerage. Harry Lewis, CEO of Vantage, needs to take action to insure safety of his passengers.