The ship hit a hidden reef - maybe it wasn't charted. If it was charted, someone was not watching. The Captain is being held responsible, but I'll bet the Navigator should carry plenty of blame. The ship immediately laid over onto its side. 5 people were killed outright. A few did not have a choice; they were tossed into the sea, others jumped. Proper launching of life boats is difficult when the ship is on its side. Stuff wasn't designed to work at this attitude. I suspect that the emergency power to run the boat hoists was compromised. Reports say that it was chaotic getting people off the ship. Tonight, there is one remaining passenger somewhere in the interior of the ship. Rescurers have spoken with him/her but have not been able to remove the person. Think about it. How would you navigate inside the ship with it laying on its side. Up is not up anymore; the floor is now a wall, and doors do operate very well. What a mess!

I thought that I had posted on this but guess not. This is why you purchase travel insurance to cover this sort of thing. It's a small portion of the cost of the trip and well worth it if something happens. We started when we traveled with friends, one of whom had a long-term illness, and we never knew whether we would make the trip or not. There are any number of things that could happen that would interrupt you trip. On a trip to Greece, a woman on our tour stepped in a hole and broke her leg. She had to be transported back to Boston on a stretcher which took out several rows of seats on the plane. Her travel insurance covered that.

We took a Princess cruise and land tour several years ago. It was wonderful. We got a room with a balcony on the top deck so we could sit out there and look at all the sights without standing on deck being cold. We went in early May and the weather was not all that bad.....in fact, no mosquitos and very little rain. It was great to wrap up in blankets and call room service for coffee. We loved staying at one of the Princess Hotels in Denali and took the bus trip. Excellent! The train ride to Denali was OK but we took the bus back to Anchorage and enjoyed it much more. Our very favorite side trip was outside Skagway on the bus tour to the Yukon. There was also a train trip but the bus ride was a great experience. We got to stop along the way if there was something interesting to see.....like a big wolf near the side of the road. The guide was really a lot of fun and knew the history of the Yukon gold rush. We also stopped for lunch at a museum/gift shop. I bought the book Alaska by James Michener there and re read it. I would suggest you read it on your trip. We opted not to have scheduled meal times and that worked out very well. We met some people who were from a tiny town here in California where my maternal grandmother was born. Small world. We took the trip to Mendenhall Glacier outside of Juneau. Take lots of pictures and keep a journal so you can share your experiences with us when you return. Have a wonderful trip!

vala is right, It's only as formal as you want it to be. It certainly isn't necessarily an evening gown. Some ships are more formal than others but you can always wear what you want to wear. Last time I wore a pair of black slacks and a satin jacket that I have. The jacket actually belongs to a dress. I wear black slacks and any kind of dressier top..The slacks are like $25 bucks from JC Penney and ..Twice I have worn stuff from Wal-Mart....once a jacket and the second time was an overblouse. I would never go in a t shirt or shorts or flip flops that kind of attire because that is insulting to not only the ships crew but also the guests around you. What I really love about cruising is you do only what you want to do, and when you want to do it. You rest when you want to, you eat when you want to do so. I don't think a cruise is so much about the ports of call, though they are fun, but more about what's going on while on the ship. After you have traveled with a particular company enough, you are invited to private entertainments and some of them are more dressy than just your usual attire. My DH and I don't even bother going because it is usually made up of "cruisers". Go to any of the cruise ship web sites and you will understand exactly who I am talking about........they are those that look down at the "common traveler just out for a vacation" They are so funny to read and you can just imagine what they are like on the ship......Heaven forbid that the ship would sink because they would sink immediately because of the position of their noses....Oh and they are also the ones that make up some of those that are in Tuxedo's and the expensive gowns.....