The ship was built to cater to wealthy travelers. This afternoon, passengers and crew members returned to the ship from tours of New York City unaware of the crash and astonished to find the pier crowded with reporters and a tight cordon of New York police. The Rev. Walter J. Grunwald, a Lutheran pastor who serves as the ship's chaplain, planned to hold a prayer vigil tonight but said he was too distraught to know what to tell the passengers. The Peter Deilmann Shipping Co. for years offered more modest cruises along European rivers such as the Rhine, the Rhone, the Elbe and the Danube, but has moved swiftly upscale in recent years. Deilmann said tonight the ship's cruise would proceed on schedule despite the tragedy, saying a change would be unfair to more than 400 other passengers aboard.
Life goes on.
Staff writers Robert O'Harrow in New York and Peter Slevin in Washington contributed to this report. News Jobs AP Shopping Archives Entertain.