So, just how safe is Cruising?

As news came over the weekend of yet another engine fire, this time on the Azamara Quest, my daughter asked me why anyone would even consider cruising in the wake of the events of the last couple of months. She has only been on one cruise, and whilst I know the more seasoned cruisers amongst you will not be worried about this incident and general safety of cruising I thought that I should reassure those people who are not so experienced that cruising really is the safest way to travel, and that’s official.

Between 2005 – 2011 cruise ships carried more than 223 million passengers and crew, and during that time only 6 passengers and 22 crew members lost their lives due to marine incidents.
The cruise industry is heavily regulated by a number of independent bodies whose prime concern is safety.All ships are equally safe whatever their size, and have to meet certain criteria, one of which is that are capable of being safely evacuated within 30 minutes.
The industry learns from any and every incident and is constantly updating and reviewing safety policies and procedures. For example, following the Costa Concordia incident earlier this year, the global cruise industry launched a comprehensive operational safety review to learn and implement anything they could to make cruising even more safe. One result is that all safety drills will now be carried out pre-sailing rather than during the first 24 hours of the voyage.
Every ships has staff trained for specific roles should an incident occur and they are constantly being retrained to ensure that safety is offered at the highest level in any eventuality. You may even see them doing drills whilst you are on board.
Just incase you have watched Titanic, be assured that every ship has a greater lifeboat capacity than the number of people the ship can carry, so on a ship that carries 2000 people you would typically find lifeboat capacity for 2500 people.
Going back to the safety drills which all passengers are required to attend, you will be given instructions from safety trained, qualified members of staff who will ensure that you are clear on the procedures should an emergency arise while you are on board.
I hope that this has reassured you that you really are in the very safest of hands while you sit back and enjoy your cruise.