Royal Caribbean ship arrives in port with whale pinned to bow

mercedes · February 5, 2009

Another day, another bizarre tale from the high seas.

Several travel bloggers including the Hartford Courant's Jeanne LeBlanc today are reporting on a Royal Caribbean vessel that apparently pulled into a harbor in Chile a few days ago with a Greyhound bus-size humpback pinned to the front of its bow.

The incident was first reported Saturday in Chile's Spanish-language El Mercurio and is just now making the rounds of Cruisedom.

El Mercurio reports passengers were unaware of the whale strike, but -- as LeBlanc points out -- that doesn't seem to be the case as at least one passenger already has posted a picture of the whale affixed to the front of the ship on the message boards at ######.

The x poster, who snapped the photo while tendering between the ship and the port, says the captain of the ship told passengers the whale had been dead before it was hit.

This isn't the first time a whale strike has been reported on a cruise ship. A similar incident happened in 2006 when a Celebrity ship pulled into an Alaskan port with a humpback on its bow, and another Royal Caribbean ship reportedly hit a whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2004.

JoeyandDavid · February 5, 2009

This isn't the first time a whale strike has been reported on a cruise ship. A similar incident happened in 2006 when a Celebrity ship pulled into an Alaskan port with a humpback on its bow, and another Royal Caribbean ship reportedly hit a whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2004.

Apparently even the whales prefer the Royal Caribbean brands :tongue:

sailingrose · February 5, 2009

This isn't the first time a whale strike has been reported on a cruise ship. A similar incident happened in 2006 when a Celebrity ship pulled into an Alaskan port with a humpback on its bow, and another Royal Caribbean ship reportedly hit a whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2004.
Apparently even the whales prefer the Royal Caribbean brands

Love it Joey!

coloradocruisers · February 5, 2009

This isn't the first time a whale strike has been reported on a cruise ship. A similar incident happened in 2006 when a Celebrity ship pulled into an Alaskan port with a humpback on its bow, and another Royal Caribbean ship reportedly hit a whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2004.

Apparently even the whales prefer the Royal Caribbean brands

Right. But it sounds like they're just dieing to hitch a ride.