EMPRESS OF THE NORTH MAJESTIC AMERICA LINE SICK SHIP POOR SANITATION NO COMPANY RESPONSE

March 29, 2007

Martha M. Day, Ed.D.

3101 Ridge Road

Cedar Hill, TN 37032

615-319-1099

Email User

Majestic America Line

Ms. Candy Westfall

Director of Risk Management

2723 N. Hayden Island Drive

Portland, OR 972172101

March 30, 2007

Re: Reservations 498154 and 498158

Dear Ms. Westfall,

On January 2, 2007 my family purchased a cruise on the Queen of the West steamboat for March 21-25. Our travel party included Patricia Day, Robert Day, Justin Day Ladd and me. We looked forward to this trip with great anticipation excited about the fact that we could look forward to the personal service that one might expect from a cruise serving just over 100 guests.

A couple of weeks before the cruise we were called and informed that our ship was being changed from Queen of the West to Empress of the North, a larger ship. We were also told that reservation 498152 was being upgraded to a larger cabin but this never materialized. This change seemed simple enough and little did my family know that this change in vessel would only be one in a huge number of catastrophes that followed to ruin our much anticipated vacation to celebrate Patricia’s milestone birthday.

My family is extremely disappointed with the entire Majestic America Cruise Line. In fact, I have never had such misfortune to deal with a company with such a poorly fabricated infrastructure to handle contingencies. The events that I describe below represent a breach of our contract by Majestic America Line as laid down by the law.

1. When we arrived at Embassy Suites to check in for our cruise we gave the reception personnel all of our cruise documents. We were asked if we would like to participate in a pre-cruise tour to Portland for $30 per person. We indicated that we would and were promptly charged an additional $120.00. Later, we discovered that we had tickets for the tour (they were in the packet that we gave to your reception personnel) and we had to go and seek a refund.

2. The Portland tour lasted over an hour more than scheduled. The last hour of the tour consisted of the tour bus driver driving around in circles in downtown Portland. The driver informed us over the bus’ public address system that the Captain of the ship said to, “kill some time and not bring us to the ship for awhile”.

3. Our first sight of the ship was quite an experience. We sat on the bus and watched emergency personnel wait for Majestic America Line (MAL) personnel to bring a passenger with a compound fracture off of the ship. Later, we were told by a fellow passenger that the ship had no first aid equipment or trained health personnel (even in first aid) on the ship and that the passenger who was injured had to be lifted off on bed linens.

4. When we finally arrived on the ship we were routed to the lounge to meet with the Captain. The Captain stated that a gastrointestinal virus had been on the ship over the past week and that we need to throw away our hand sanitizer if we had any because that was not effective in killing the virus. The Captain said that we should wash our hands a lot and use the “wet naps” that the ship provided. This advice goes against standard medical protocol. Physicians and nurses commonly use commercial hand sanitizer as a medically acceptable practice to prevent the spread of disease. At no time were we given the option of taking a later voyage due to the virus. We were already sailing by the time we were even TOLD! My sister has two immunological diseases and it is unsafe for her to be in an area of known high risk of pathogen transmission. MAL was negligent by not informing us of this PRIOR to departure.

5. Upon arrival our rooms were not prepared. Robes were missing, slippers were missing, our luggage was nowhere to be found, our room refrigerator did not cool and we could not get the hot water to operate in the shower. We did fill out a comment card stating that these problems existed in our suite but they were never addressed by MAL staff.

6. We were assigned to late seating supper. At no time in the booking process were we asked what our preferences were. Prior to the meal, I inquired with MAL staff about changing to early seating and I was directed to the Maitre D’. I explained to the MAL Maitre D’ that we were travelling with a 10 year old child who was accustomed to central standard time and that we would be asking him to dine at midnight. I was informed by the Maitre D’ that it was impossible to change our seating and that there was little chance that any change could be made for the entire voyage and to see him again the next day.

7. When we finally did arrive at late seating dinner, we were met by a myriad of things that were listed on the menu but that the kitchen was “out of”. How does a ship run out of provisions on the first evening of the voyage? We were told over and over by our waiter Billy that, “The first night of the cruise is always the most difficult in the dining room and that the wait time and food quality would be better tomorrow”. By the way the food tasted that night we had to agree that we had nowhere to go but up. When we were served dessert, our waiter giggled and said, “Your Mississippi Mud Pie is now a Mississippi Mud Puddle, sorry, we are having freezer problems.”

8. The next morning for breakfast we were immediately told by our waitress that, “We are out of waffles, raspberries, blueberries”. We all decided on fruit, bacon, hash browns and eggs. Our hash browns arrived burnt, the bacon tasted strangely rancid, the omelettes we ordered arrived cold and when we asked for jam for our toast it never arrived. In addition, we were never offered a refill for our coffee. As unbelievable as it sounds, another passenger actually came to our table and asked for our butter because they had waited so long for their wait staff to bring it that they gave up!

9. The next night for supper we actually did obtain early seating for dinner but we were told that it was a “one time shot” and we would have to “check back” tomorrow to see if it could be arranged again.

10. At the second evening’s supper my nephew ate pork roast which no other member of our party consumed. When I saw it, the pork looked somewhat pink but I thought that perhaps that might have been due to a glaze or a sauce added to the meat.

11. On our second day at breakfast we were again told that the kitchen was “out” of several items. We were also told that there was a back up in the dining room and that it would be 15-20 minutes before we could get breakfast. We again ordered fruit plates. After my nephew tried some of his fruit he said, “Mommy this fruit tastes funny”. My sister tried the fruit and then told Justin not to eat any more of it. Also, we were told by a fellow passenger that their waiter “took back” a couple of plates of fruit at their table stating that it “didn’t look good”. A fellow passenger who dined at our breakfast table after we were midway through with our meal also ordered the fruit, took two bites and then pushed it away with a disgusted look on his face.

12. Next, we were told that we would have a change in itinerary because the ship had not “taken on enough water” for the cruise. The Captain joked that that staff was “going without showers to conserve water” and they were not happy about it. Instead of going on our original schedule, we were diverted to Astoria instead.

13. My father went to Calliope several times for coffee and although he almost never complains about anything, he reported that Calliope was very inconvenient because the coffee creamer was always out, there were never stirrers and there was no place to put your trash. Although the cruise advertisements stated that light snacks were available in Calliope around the clock, each time we went it was out of nearly everything, the popcorn maker sat empty and the counters were dirty.

14. On the third day of the voyage my nephew became violently ill. He began vomiting, experiencing severe cramps and later had bouts of severe diarrhea throughout the late afternoon and evening. We contacted the MAL staff and were told that we all needed to be isolated and that one of the staff was removed from the ship the previous day for gastrointestinal virus and that the virus was still going around the ship. No medical personnel were available yet the MAL staff gave us medical advice not to allow my nephew any food or fluids because that would just “make it worse”. When we asked the staff about dehydration problems they stated that, “they didn’t know”. I was told that I had to be isolated and was moved from the Vista Veranda Suite to a cramped cabin with no balcony next to the gift shop on the first level of the ship. Needless to say, I got absolutely no rest because of the noise from the lounge. My nephew continued to have frequent bouts of vomiting and diarrhea throughout the night and developed a low grade fever. The head of housekeeping came to examine him the next morning and we were told that stool samples needed to be taken to follow Centers for Disease Control protocols but no person ever came back to do that. The chief purser informed us that we were confined to quarters, we could not participate in any activities and tours and my family would have to disembark the ship at the next port. When I asked the MAL chief purser if MAL would cover our transportation, lodging and meal expenses incurred to early disembarkation, I was told no and given a telephone number to call.

15. On the fourth day of the cruise my father and I ventured to the dining room to breakfast. Several of the wait staff huddled in a corner laughing and joking whilst we sat waiting for no less than 10 minutes. When we finally did get asked what we wanted, we were again told that there was a back up in the dining room and that breakfast would be a 15-20 minute wait. We were however offered some tasteless saran wrapped day old pastries. I finally gave up and ate oatmeal. $1200+ dollars for a four day cruise seems exorbitant for instant oats.

16. When I called you originally Ms. Westfall, you stated that the company had no specific policies in place to make arrangements for travellers who are forced to disembark due to ship’s caused illness and that the president of the company, the only person who could make such a decision, was on a plane bound for Lisbon. I find it shocking and inexcusable that a company would be left with no responsible person in charge to make such decisions on behalf of the safety and comfort of their guests. Further, I am upset that no member of the company has even inquired about the status of our health.

17. Upon arrival at the Embassy Suites in Portland, my family was shocked and dismayed to find that several other passengers on the cruise were also forced to disembark due to illness. Some were told that they would be reimbursed for expenses and some were not. Why are there so many inconsistencies?

18. After speaking with and exchanging contact information with the other passengers and also the knowledge of the food service problems and refrigeration problems on the ship, many of us suspect that food infection may be the culprit to this very severe and debilitating illness that so many passengers experienced.

19. We also came in contact with people scheduled to embark on the next MAL cruise and we feel it very, very irresponsible of MAL that the MAL staff did NOTHING to inform them that problems existed on the ship.

20. Upon my return home I began investigating reports about the Empress of the North on the Centers for Disease Control website. I was appalled to find that failed miserably on its health and food service inspection on February 25, 2007. Eight pages worth of violations! The worst score in the Empress’ history reported just days before my family’s voyage! In addition, I discovered that 15.4% of the passengers and 9.1% of the crew were ill with a gastrointestinal illness on the previous cruise when the Captain of the Empress said it was just a “couple of people”. In short, we were sailing on a floating catastrophe.

To resolve the problem as amicably as possible, my family insists that Majestic America Line to provide a full refund of our cruise fares and full reimbursement for the cost of hotel stays, meals and rental car expenses when your staff directed my family to disembark the ship whilst reserving my right to claim against you if these conditions are not met within a reasonable time frame. Enclosed are copies of the cruise confirmations and all receipts in the amounts listed:

$678.18 Forced Disembarkation Expenses, Rental Car, Fuel, Meals, Hotel

$2436.40 MAL Reservation 498154 3/21-3/25 + $45.68 for water/beverages

$1956.01 MAL Reservation 498158 3/21-3/25

TOTAL EXPENSES: $5116.27

In addition, my family spent $1462.80 on airfare! A hugely expensive disaster!

My family wishes to put this nightmarish experience behind us. What was supposed to be a celebration of life turned out to be a life threatening experience. There is no excuse for Majestic America Line’s lack of action towards protecting the health and safety of its passengers, substandard food service practices that do not adhere to standard HACCP food management practices, and a lack of company policy directives to handle such situations. In addition, no member of your staff ever bothered to check on our health status after my family disembarked from the vessel or made arrangements to collect stool samples as is directed by CDC. I expect an expedient response and corrective action by MAL and to satisfactory compensation for what my family endured.

I will wait for 21 days from the date of this letter before arranging for the matter to be corrected by legal counsel at your cost and seeking help and public recognition from the Centers for Disease Control and Better Business Bureau. Further, if MAL does not take corrective action to remedy this malady placed upon my family, I will take it upon myself to inform the travelling public of this travesty through public forums such as: Trip Advisor, Cruise Line International Association, The Travel Channel, Igo Ugo, Cruise Critic, Travelocity, Conde’ Nast Travel, Budget Travel, Oregon Board of Tourism, Federal Trade Commission, Fine Living, American Association of Retired Persons, Arthur Frommer Travel, Andrew Harper Travel, Hilton Hotels, Opinionated Traveler, Yahoo Travel, The National Society of Commissioned Travel Agents and The American Society of Travel Agents.

Please contact me immediately at the above address and at the telephone number listed above.

Yours sincerely,

Martha M. Day, Ed.D.

Enclosures: Cruise Confirmations, Rental Car Receipt, Hotel Receipts, Airfare Receipts, Meal Receipts, CDC Investigation Update Empress of the North, CDC Inspection Report Empress of the North