Albert Spiteri, Marsascala
The Maltese on board
Between September 9-16, my wife, my grandson and I were on a cruise holiday on the Norwegian Gem. It was a great experience and fun all round.
However, we were extremely disappointed at how badly Norwegian Cruise Lines and their local agents treat Maltese passengers.
The "Welcome Aboard" brochure, page 21, under Safety and Security, reads: "In addition, you will be asked to take part in an obligatory lifeboat drill on the first day of your cruise..." My wife and I have already been on other cruise ships and a detailed and physical mandatory lifeboat drill was always given to all new passengers before the departure of the ship from port.
On the Norwegian Gem all new passengers boarding in Malta (probably all Maltese) were asked to attend at the Spinnaker Lounge on the 13th level to nothing more than a short talk or lecture (whatever) with a two-minute demonstration on a young girl chosen randomly from among the few tens that attended. The actual physical drill, mandatory by law for all new passengers, never materialised for us Maltese. There was absolutely no pressure at all for all the new passengers to attend!
To our amazement, before we sailed out of the port of Barcelona on September 14, the new passengers coming onboard there (mostly Spanish and Americans) received the normal full, detailed mandatory drill before the ship sailed out. Some of the Maltese passengers protested but it was far too late in the day to do anything about the gross insult and discrimination against us Maltese. Our next port of call was to be Valletta and for us the end of the cruise.
Valletta and Barcelona are the ports where the Norwegian Gem takes on new passengers. At Valletta, they have SMS as their local agents. In Barcelona, the only passengers that take the city tour and return on board are those who had boarded at Valletta. All the rest were terminating their cruise there to be replaced by new passengers.
Our tour of Barcelona started at about 9 a.m. and we had to be back on board by not later than 6 p.m. While on shore I realised that we had not been given any contact person on land in case of an emergency. Therefore, I used my cell phone and dialled the ship's phone number written on my sailing card. The call produced a machine answer, in extremely low volume at breakneck speed. That message told me that if I needed help I should dial another number with some 12 digits. After some 10 or 11 repeats on my cell phone, I finally managed to make some sense out of the digital mumble and write down the number given. Then I dialled that number that was supposed to save me in case I needed saving, only to be told, again by some machine, that the number does not exist, or something to that effect.
I explained the situation to my wife and we decided to return to the ship by not later than 5 p.m. Back onboard, my wife gave the people at the reception desk a good piece of her mind and they, to appease, later sent to our stateroom a bottle of California chardonnay, which, of course, we accepted. We did not say that the matter was to end there and then.
To add insult to injury we discovered spelling and grammatical mistakes in the only sentence of official information written in Maltese and signed by the On-board Management!
The moral of it all: Should we go on accepting such discrimination while paying through our Maltese noses for the benefit of it all? I and others with whom I talked on board the Norwegian Gem agreed that we should definitely not.
12 Comments
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Joseph Farrugia
Sep 23rd 2008, 22:25
It was the duty of the captain to see that the safety drill is undertaken by all . He failed in this sacred duty to he passengers. . Had a fire broke out which entailed an abbandn ship operation bedlam would have arisen and passegers killed throiugh the stampede. . Then of course we would have had a maritime enquiry and send letters of sympathy to the relatives of those who passed away because the drill was not held. . Enjoy your cruises Captain.
Albert Spiteri
Sep 23rd 2008, 22:07
The fact that they sent a bottle of wine simply means that they accepted full responsibility.
Besides, as I wrote earlier, the apology has to be public, to us, to the other Maltese on board, and to Malta in general. Then I may be tempted to consider, somehow, not going for NCL's and SMS's jugular.
Albert Spiteri
Sep 23rd 2008, 22:02
I accepted the wine, and drank it together with my wife. Whether the case is closed or not is up to me and my wife alone. A bottle of wine does not put any prejudice on our rights to take whatever action we deem necessary. And we have decided that it is not closed. If Norwegian Gem and SMS come up with a public apology to us, the Maltese who were on the ship and to Malta in general, I may, maybe, consider the case closed!
The fact that they sent a bottle of wine simply means that they accepted full responsibility.
Vince Theuma
Sep 23rd 2008, 15:23
to albert S...the moment you accepted the bottle of wine, that means that for you it closed there.
hadrian agius
Sep 23rd 2008, 13:43
I agree 100% with Mr.Spiteri. I had cruised before so we didn't bother going to the drill. But people who cruise for the first time have a right to know how to act in an emergency. We had gone in June, the cruise was perfect apart from what Mr. Spiteri said. For example on our last day at Barcelona, we were given a letter about things on offer for our young daughter, nothing was given to us on our first day in Malta.
J Martinelli
Sep 23rd 2008, 12:52
Lucky for you, Albert, that you do not seem to have attended a pre-excursion talk about visiting Malta, the day before returning home. You probably missed the event since the only announcement on the ship's daily newsletter was a faint one liner at the back of the leaflet.
I attended such a talk at the end of the cruise (Aug. 19 - Aug. 26) and which was poorly attended, only to be informed that the Mosta church was the largest Anglican Cathedral on the island! During the Power Point presentation not one Maltese name of towns and other places of interest was pronounced properly - not even close. A DVD was also presented which was of good quality - except the commentator stated that the Upper Barracca Gardens were constructed by the British!!
Needless to say, after the talk was over I approached the gentleman and mentioned the blatant mistakes and I was promised corrections.
I wonder if the changes were ever made.
With regard to the safety drill, I think that knowing which deck to assemble at in case of emergency is sufficient. A life-vest demonstration was given to us upon departing Valletta at the start of the cruise.
Albert Spiteri
Sep 23rd 2008, 12:03
Lifeboat drill: the master of every vessel is bound by international law to make the officers, crew and passengers adequately acquainted with the procedures of lowering and the use of lifeboats in case of emergency. What happened on board the Norwegian Gem was a national insult because all Maltese, about 300 of us, were treated as second-class passengers.
Similarly, all Maltese were without any land contact once we went down off board to tour Barcelona.
Norwegian Cruise Lines and their local agents should be queried by one and all, especially Maritime Authorities.
Albert Spiteri
Sep 23rd 2008, 11:22
Cont:
What happened to me happened to ALL the Maltese, about 300, who were on board that cruise. That constitutes much more than just a personal insult -it's a national insult and whoever is in authority should step in. For the information of the stupid ones I say that a full, complete lifeboat drill on passenger ships is law. The captain is legally bound to see that each and every person on his ship has received that drill. In this case, the Captain went short by about a career from doing his legal duty. He should be made to face the music
Albert Spiteri
Sep 23rd 2008, 11:10
@ Wenzu Tanti.
I opened my letter by stating, "It was a great experience and fun all round". There's not a single word to indicate that we all did not have fun. But no thanks to Norwegian Gem or their local representatives. We had our fun because, we found it in us to enjoy our experience. Then, when we arrived back home, I wrote to the Times because I, like my wife and my grandson, value our self-esteem and self-respect.
Vince Cachia
Sep 23rd 2008, 11:04
Dear Mr Wenzu Tanti I think you are one of those, who, when slapped turn their faces to the other side so that they can repeat the procedure!!!
Anna Farrugia
Sep 23rd 2008, 10:07
Dear Mr Wenzu Tanti,
I'm sure that if what Mr Spiteri went through happened to you, you would not accept it lying down.
wenzu tanti
Sep 23rd 2008, 09:52
How can one generate such an amount of self inflicted aggravation during a cruise holiday. I pity the wife who had to listen to all that moan and groan.