Dear Mr. Lugmaier,

When my great friend, Dr. Laurence A. Reich mentioned to me that he knew you, I realized that I could send you a frank email. We just returned this afternoon from a 5-day cruise on the Norwegian Dawn. This was our first cruise on NCL and our third to the Caribbean.

Besides all the obvious attributes that the Norwegian Dawn and NCL offer, we were quite disappointed regarding the totality of the cruise, especially when it comes to safety. Not only were we inundated by over 600 spring break college students, but we were quite unhappy by the performance of the NCL staff when it came to maintaining order and safety on the high seas. Not only did these young people take over the pool, the four hot tubs, and the entire pool deck, but they did it in a universally inebriated condition. According to NCL’s published guidelines, alcoholic beverages could only be served to adults 21 years or older or younger adults, 18 to 20, with the written permission of their parents, who had to be on board the Norwegian Dawn.

In fact, few of these students were “carded,” most were under 21, and almost all had a cavalier disregard for their own safety or any others. The service staff continually served under-aged students alcoholic beverages while they were in hot tubs. Many of these “spring breakers” were diving in the pool, were cannon-balling from the music deck and almost every one in the pool, and certainly in the hot tubs, were with Budweisers, Coronas, or mixed drinks clutched in their hands. Because of broken glass in the pool, it had to be shut down and drained. Besides all of this mayhem, in and around, the swimming area, there was noise in the hall at all hours of the late evening and early morning. My wife was awakened five times the last night of the cruise, as were many others.

Because it was impossible to enjoy the main pool, we were forced to take dual memberships in the Spa. This added another $178 to our bill. We basically sought refuge there from the noise, the rowdiness, and the overt licentiousness that was prevalent most of the day and the evening. I for sure am not a prude or a bluenose. I was much more willing to grant these people a lot more rope than my wife, and the scores of with whom we compared stories. I also understand that older people are often hyper-critical of youthful indiscretions. But safety can never be compromised, and being on a ship, in close quarters with thousands of others, makes the upholding of standards critical. I personally encountered more than one drunken “collegian” on the elevators. We are all aware of the recent histories of the spread of sickness on board ships, the increased concern over infection, and the incidence of violence and foul play. Therefore large concentrated groups of “revelers” in, or out of, the pool areas, must be discouraged.

We learned through the rumor mill, and from some of the staff that there were numerous arrests for wanton destruction of property, breaking and entering, throwing chairs over the rails, possession of hard drugs, and young people being sent home by air from the Cayman Islands. Personally I do not know the accuracy of these claims, but I thought it was incumbent for the ship’s captain to report to the whole passenger list what had transpired and what actions his office had taken to correct these situations. We were left completely with the impression that the corporate office was totally uninterested in what went on in the ship, or decided that thousands of beer and alcohol sales far outweighed prudent judgment. We were also told by our neighbor in stateroom 9712, who happened to be a registered nurse that she personally witnessed a totally unconscious young women being carried aboard from the Cayman Island tender. Her professional opinion was that this woman should have been hospitalized.

On Thursday afternoon, at approximately 1 pm, the Norwegian Dawn was hit with a vicious wind-driven rain squall from the port side as it sailed northwesterly from Cozomel to Miami. It was obvious to all of on the deck that we were heading towards a potentially dangerous weather event. Not one warning was broadcast from the loud speaker system about the impending nature of what was approaching. No one was ordered out of the pool, and as chairs blew around the eating area that flanked both sides of the pool deck, student-aged youngsters were reveling in the pool and hot tubs. Whether there was the threat of lightning or not, I did not know. But the most basic of water safety rules demands that pools are closed when potential thunderstorms approach. It seems to me that the staff on the bridge was well aware by visual sighting and radar of the oncoming storm. The question remains, why weren’t the people on the pool decked warned to take shelter?

Larry Reich and I have been friends for more than 60 years, and I would never do anything to jeopardize or take advantage of any of his relationships. Therefore, it pains me to write this account, but I feel that it is necessary for the NCL management to look into this situation before it is repeated, and a tragedy ensues.