iceberg in tampa bay
tommyThe word from folks who know such things: Sl ots at the Seminole Hard Rock Ca sino are tight. Another word is that those on the Ocean Jewel are even tighter. But there are several other reasons not to make the trek out to sea to ga mble.
After investing millions of dollars in the endeavor, The Ocean Jewel has been plagued with transportation issues, weather problems and stupid choices. The company filed for bankruptcy in late July, and yesterday they announced their intent to lay off 415 employees.
Titan(ic?) Cruise Lines owns and operates The Ocean Jewel, and the CEO claims it’s just “bad luck.” But on Monday, when they forced customers and employees to endure a night stranded on the Gulf with no way home, it turns out they could have fixed a transport shuttle in 2 hours. But they did not reach an engineer until 7:00 the next morning. I would think you have to reach someone that night.
Not only that, but should an unrelated boat have dropped by to help get these folks home, they would have been shot at. Good gravy!
However, to make up for holding them hostage, the ship offered everyone free drinks. An open bar to help you forget your troubles. Fantastic! Except, of course, for those non-drinkers who now had to endure angry irritated drunks as a bonus.
With the decisions this company keeps making, I’m not surprised it is failed. I am confident you’ll see suits being filed shortly. They should just drill a hole in the bottom of it, and pretend it never existed.
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August 25th, 2005 at 3:21 pm
Lets not forget the fact Ocean Jewel was supposed to be berthed in St. Pete but — even after city handouts — simply ran the shuttle from St. Pete to the Ocean Jewel off shore.
This ranks up their with BayPlaza as one of the best shams that St. Pete has had to endure.
August 26th, 2005 at 11:19 am
Great column in the paper a few weeks ago that basically said, “When you sign a contract, unread, from a bunch of failed garbage-industry goombas from Jersey, you can only expect that you’re gettng swindled, and poorly, too.”
My first thought? “F*ck you, Troxler. Turn off the Sopranos.” My second thought? “Although I suppose he’s right . . .”
August 27th, 2005 at 5:28 pm
[...] The Memorial Causeway Bridge has finally opened. With as many problems as the Ocean Jewel and the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway, it seemed actually being able to use it was a pipe dream. But in spite of all that, you can now see cars heading in either direction. [...]
November 12th, 2005 at 1:02 pm
Anyone care to wager if members of Titan management will be arrested for embezzlement? You have to remember that the mayor and city council, no matter the year, or the person occupying the seat, has always been notorious for making bad decisions, and embarrassing stunts. Examples: building a sewage treatment plant at Albert Whitted Airport, forfeiting the land where the Vinoy condos stand, forfeiting the land occupied by Eckerd College and neighboring condos, Bay Plaza, the Russian submarine, the Russian cruise ship, hiring Alan Harvey to be City Manager, multiple Grand Prix races, (pronounced “grand priks” in St. Petersburg), flipflopping on parking meters downtown, refurbishing the Kress Building for city services instead of the Suwanee Hotel, refusing to replace the old wooden Weedon Island bridge with a concrete one, and then letting a developer steamroll over everyone and make the county road leading from 62nd Ave NE, to the bridge, disppear. The list goes on and on. Oh, don’t forget the shameful display one council member made in an interview in the St. Petersburg Times, where he shamelessly kissed Neil Elsey’s butt, in singing that carpetbagger’s praises. It brought a new meaning to the word sycophant…accent on the “sick”. St. Petersburg City Council is known nationally as being a sucker for any sparkly gimmick that gets dangled in its face. The Ocean Jewel of St. Petersburg, aka the S. S. Stinky, the O.J., the Ocean Joke, gone but not yet forgotten as an example of malfeasance, misfeasance, or just being blinded by the sparkly lights.