Cruise Liner Disasters Strike One Family Twice

More than one thousand passengers stranded without power on the cruise ship Costa Allegra received emergency supplies on Tuesday. Helicopters delivered food and flashlights to passengers of the vessel that went adrift in the Indian Ocean after an engine fire on Monday. The luxury liner is slowly being towed to the Seychelles.

Host Lisa Mullins talks with Jayne Thomas, the mother of dancer Rebecca Thomas, a crew member aboard the Costa Allegra. Ms. Thomas’ son was a crew member on the Costa Concordia when it ran aground last month.

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Lisa Mullins: I’m Lisa Mullins and this is The World. The saga continues today for more than a thousand passengers stranded on the cruise ship that went adrift in the Indian Ocean. The Costa Allegra is slowly being towed now to the Seychelles. The luxury liner had a fire in its engine room yesterday. It was left adrift in a part of the ocean where pirates are prevalent. The Costa Allegra is part of the same Italy-based fleet of cruise liners as the Costa Concordia. You might recall that the Costa Concordia was the ship that ran aground last month in Italy that left more than 30 passengers dead or missing. British dancer Rebecca Thomas is now on board the Costa Allegra. Joining us now from Sutton Coldfield in England is her mother, Jayne Thomas. Jayne, what do you know of what’s happening on board the ship right now?

Jayne Thomas: It was very hot on the ship last night. They all slept out underneath the stars. Apparently the captain gave permission for passengers to sleep out on deck, which isn’t normally allowed because the cabins were so very, very hot. And so that’s where the majority of people slept. The passageways are too dark really at night to be navigating in the ship without any light, so it was safer for people to sleep out on the top deck.

Mullins: Ms. Thomas, this must be a bit of a double take for you because we know that your son, James, is also a dancer and he was on the Costa Concordia, the ship that ran aground last month. Tell us what happened to him.

Thomas: He did manage to get away on the lifeboats, not the first time the lifeboat left the ship. It left full of passengers that James had assisted onto that lifeboat.

Mullins: Is he okay?

Thomas: He’s okay. I don’t think he’ll go back on a cruise ship again.

Mullins: You were on both liners not too long ago, right?

Thomas: Yes, we sailed on the Allegra in October and then we sailed on the Concordia in December.

Mullins: To see both your kids dancing?

Thomas: Yes, it’s a long time for them to be away, so we decided we would pay them both a visit in the middle of their contracts.

Mullins: Your daughter when you do hear from her, and there’s no reason to believe right now anybody is in danger, but I wonder when you do hear from her if you’re gonna ask her to do what your son James has done, and that is give up the business.

Thomas: No, Rebecca will make her own decision on that. If she does go back on ship we would be more than confident to go and visit again.

Mullins: How come?

Thomas: Because if a plane crashes you wouldn’t not fly every again, so my feeling is that yes, the Allegra has gotten into difficulty, but it hasn’t gotten into the difficulty that the Concordia got into. All the safety precautions that Costa has taken have actually worked, so that is a plus and a positive, and lessons will be learned from both incidents.

Mullins: Thank you for taking the time to speak to us, Jayne Thomas in Sutton Coldfield, England. Her daughter, Rebecca Thomas, is part of the crew aboard the disabled cruise liner the Costa Allegra, and her son, James, was a crew member on the Costa Concordia, which ran aground in Italy last month. We wish you the best, obviously for both your children, too. Thank you, Jayne.

Thomas: Thank you very much.

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