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MATTHEW WAITEAn eight-hour excursion turns into an ordeal when a new casino boat has trouble docking.
ST. PETERSBURG - What started as a successful first voyage of the Ocean Jewel of St. Petersburg turned into a public relations flop for the casino boat when docking problems kept tired passengers onboard early Saturday for more than three additional hours.
Ready to go home, passengers began packing around the exit doors about 2 a.m. as the boat pulled into the Port of St. Petersburg. Company officials said breezes on an otherwise ideal night kept pushing the 450-foot, seven-story ship, preventing the captain from docking safely.
The dock was just a few tantalizing yards away as the ship maneuvered toward it again and again, but each time the wind forced a retreat to deeper waters. Finally, a tug boat was summoned from Tampa, a two-hour trip across the bay.
The result: An eight-hour excursion turned into a 12-hour endurance test for weary customers, who finally stepped onto the dock about 5 a.m.
With most of the ship's 1,200 passengers in the main entrance area, the air conditioning was overwhelmed. As minutes turned to hours of waiting, tempers rose with the heat. Several elderly passengers suffering from the stifling conditions required attention.
Security officials pleaded with passengers to go to other areas of the ship and wait for docking. Many did, with dozens of people sleeping on slot machines or snoring open-mouthed in the sports bar.
Gamblers who hours before spoke glowingly about the boat said they were furious as they filed off the Ocean Jewel after 5 a.m.
"This was just unbelieveable," said Donna Rodwell of Clearwater Beach. "It's a shame that the whole thing was done wrong.
"They shouldn't have taken out the (ship) without knowing what they were doing."
Titan Cruise Lines officials tried to minimize the damage as passengers grew restive. Waitresses who hours before were bringing single-malt scotches to gamblers were bringing water and food from the galleys as fast as they could get it out. Dealers who had been slinging cards all night were passing out bags of chips and pretzels.
Titan executives, jubilant all night that their multimillion-dollar venture was finally under way, walked the ship and expressed concern the problems would overshadow what started as a good night.
Titan CEO Harold Steffes Jr. could only shrug. They can't control the weather, and safety trumped convenience, he said.
"I'm not happy," he said. "We had a great night. The bottom line is, the weather is going to kick up. No one can be more emotionally tied to this than I. It happened. It is what it is."
Charlie Paxton, meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said winds in the area of the ship were about 15 mph at 2 a.m. and 12 mph at 4 a.m. The Coast Guard is investigating a report the Ocean Jewel grazed a barge while trying to dock. Neither vessel had serious damage, said Coast Guard spokesman Rob Suddarth.
Problems docking the main casino ship will be a short-term worry. Executives said high speed shuttles would start sailing from the Port of St. Petersburg in a week or so, leaving hourly to accomplish in 30 to 40 minutes what took the Ocean Jewel 2 1/2 hours to do: get to international waters.
That was no consolation to angry passengers early Saturday. Rumors spread from one end of the ship to the other, changing as they went. What earlier had been mere glitches - the ATM machines going on the fritz, or a handful of bathrooms flooding because of a clogged pipe - turned into dire complaints.
Even the casino giving away 6,000 reward points - the equivalent of $10 - to returning customers was booed as being too little.
"We're going to do everything we can" to satisfy angry customers, Steffes said. "How can you justify or rectify an inconvenience?"
For as angry as some passengers were, others were also understanding.
"I feel so bad for them," said Lesli Ambry of Atlanta. "There's nothing they can do."
Ambry was on vacation with her husband, Mason. She's also due to deliver a baby girl in December. The couple had been waiting near the exit door since 1:30 a.m. A security guard brought her a chair; others brought her water to make her comfortable.
"I just want to get off the boat," Ambry said at 4:30 a.m., a half hour from the doors' opening. "I think I will, eventually."
During the ship's second voyage later Saturday, it left 45 minutes late and docked about 90 minutes late Saturday night. A tug boat was on hand. Most passengers said they were not too upset by the delays.
"I'm open to the fact there's kinks," said Marit McKnight, 29, of St. Petersburg, who was on the second voyage. "You can't always have control."
Fellow passenger Sharon Robinson said the delays - and other problems - were frustrating.
"No food, no entertainment, boring, very stressful," said the 53-year-old Lithia native. "At one point, I counted 300 people and none of them had a smile on their face."
Despite a few disgruntled customers, the second trip made up for the problems with the first, said Julie Christman, the Ocean Jewel's creative director.
"They're happy. They won money. A lot of people say they're coming back," she said, as passengers disembarked Saturday night.