Next time you are camping out under the stars...don't forget your flashlight

It seems that the cruise lines are in the news more often that not lately, or maybe being the cruise lover that I am, I just happen to pay more attention when I hear about stranded ships and subsequent canceled cruises. Actually, I don't watch the news, I learned about the latest unfortunate occurrence through one of my favorite web sites, Cruise Critic. As I mentioned in an earlier post, in mid October, the Century lost the use of both rudders while in port and canceled a Mediterranean cruise the second day out. Just this week, the Carnival Splendor had an engine room fire while adrift at sea 200 miles off the coast of California, and was pulled back to shore with assistance from several tugboats, while the crew and vacationers were still on board. Both situations were very unfortunate for the passengers, however, there was no loss of life due to either of these incidents, and as we all know, the outcome for each cruise, could have had disaster written all over it.


As I did in October, I once again tried to put myself in the shoes of all of the passengers on each of these ill fated trips. We spend quite a bit of our vacation time on ships, and although none of us enjoy the required life boat/muster drills, it's clear to me how very important it is to know what to do if an emergency occurs. I can honestly say, I've never even imagined one of our ships having a mechanical breakdown, much less a fire in the engine room that could potentially render the ship useless and unable to maneuver back to port under it's own power. Once again, my heart goes out to all of those passengers who had their vacations interrupted by unexpected emergencies while on board a cruise ship.

As I pack this weekend, for my mini-spa solo cruise on Wednesday, I may just be rethinking a couple of the items I'll be stowing away in my suitcase. For purely economic reasons, I've booked myself an inside cabin, which we've sailed in many other times and both of us thoroughly enjoy the quiet, dark, and cozy space. We rarely turn lights on at home, so limited visibility never really bothers me. On the practical side, with no electricity, a flashlight might come in handy to find my way through the cabin in the event of a power failure. The folks on this cruise who reserved inside cabins, did have difficulty finding their way around even during the daytime hours.

It is my understanding that given the option, some decided to sleep up on deck, out in the fresh air, although it's reported that the temps dropped quite a bit in the evening down to the 60's. With advance preparation and the proper amount of warm covering, that might not be too bad. On most of our trips, I actually travel with a little blanket, whether its for the plane, or just to wrap up with on deck. Not so sure a sleeping bag would fit in my suitcase...of course I'd have to own one for that to even be an option. What about one of those metallic looking blankets that they wrap around people at the end of a marathon, that might help to keep body warmth in and would fold up quite nicely into a suitcase. You would just have to think of it as a camping adventure without the tent. Roger used to sleep out on the deck of our boat when we spent the night on the water and he found it to be quite pleasant.

I'm not exactly sure why (ya right), but I also always seem to have some kind of snack food in my suitcase and/or carry on whenever I get on a ship. It's not likely that I am going to have any problem finding food when I am hungry, but a few extra bags of snacks, or some protein bars would have come in quite handy for the folks who were on the Splendor this week. Without electricity, there was much canned meat and canned fish being consumed by all those passengers. A bag of almonds (I never travel without them) and little bit of candy would make me happy in just about any situation. These folks had no cooked food or coffee for four days, which again, would not have been a hardship (pun intended) for me, I don't drink coffee and often eat food that does not require cooking. Bring on the fruit, veggies and sandwiches, which as reported, is exactly what they ate for the remainder of the week.

Now, you must remember, no electrify equals no hot water, no phones, no refrigeration, no internet and more importantly, no toilets. They didn't work for approximately 24 hours!!! Hmmm, I might have to rethink my idea about that dark cozy cabin, without warm water and a flushing toilets, I probably would have been racing for the welcome fresh air up on an open deck too. Those with balcony cabins, were able to "air out" their rooms by simply opening the sliding glass doors. Febreeze anyone?? (which I've also been known to bring on a cruise--my packing list would truly scare the average person...are you beginning to understand why we have so many suitcases!!!)

So now we have no hot water (think showers here folks), no way to flush the toilets and, as a small gesture of good will, they begin to open the bars and offer free drinks to the passengers....yikes. Liquid beverages without the benefit of functioning restrooms...gee how long do you figure a person can keep their legs crossed? When you are in the woods camping, you just go find a tree...in the middle of the ocean, what are your options?? A man would certainly have an easier time of it...however a woman is not always as lucky. Suffice to say....when the engineers finally were able to restore flushing toilets to all the cabins, a cheer could be heard all the way back to Carnival's headquarters in Miami.

One other little issue, that again would not have affected us....no electricity equals no elevators. You mean people might actually have to walk up and down the stairs...oh no...not that!!!! I rarely see the inside of an elevator on our entire cruise--the one exception I do make is if I'm dressed in a full length gown with very high heels. It's never easy to maneuver up or down 5 or six flights of stairs without the possibility of a tumble, if you are not extremely careful. Although I've done it for years, lately I'm more aware of my limitations on formal nights, and the consequences of what just one bad fall would mean, to the remainder of our vacation.

Ok, now the important part...the food service venues are usually limited to two areas-- the main dining room (5th or 6th deck) and the buffet (10th or 11th deck), which is normally near the pool. Depending on where your cabin is located (3 to 11 possible decks), that could potentially mean quite a bit of walking for some passengers. On this particular cruise, unfortunately, there were some elderly and disabled folks who were unable to climb all those stairs. Understandably, this caused some hardship for a small group of passengers--as we all know...the population of a ship runs the gamut from infants in arms, to grey haired and aging. I consider myself part of the later contingency, and regardless of the two recent cruise interruptions reported in the news, I plan to continue to cruise until the day my ashes are spread out to sea.

The true heros on board this disabled ship, were of course the crew members...it has been reported that many came to the aid of the senior passengers and could be seen carrying them in the stairwells. Remember, they were also in the same boat (yes I DID just use that analogy), as everyone else on board...even the captain, who successfully controlled the potentially disastrous situation, and brought the ship and all aboard safely back from the sea, was without a hot shower for three days. Just imagine the loss of sleep, additional physical duties, less revenue from tips, lack of clean uniforms (no electricity means no laundry services), and everything else the crew had to endure, right along side the passengers. They don't have the benefit of lights or open air in their below deck cabins either...their home away from home became a floating nightmare as well, except they had to work and continue on, business as usual, to keep the passengers as comfortable as possible.

The ship finally pulled in to San Diego...and when I say "pulled" I'm being literal. A group of tugboats, through a tremendous joint effort, were able to bring the Splendor and all 4500 crew and passengers safely in to the port in California. I can only imagine how happy all the weary vacationers were, to be on land and know that a hot meal, a hot shower and the ability to communicate with family back home, were at last....close at hand.


Carnival immediately stepped up to the plate and has already begun to process refunds back to passenger's credit cards for the full cruise fare, including airline fees. Every person will be reimbursed for any additional expense to get home, and they've each been rewarded for surviving this adventure at sea, with a fully paid future cruise vacation. Two-for-the-price of.....nothing....well that may be stretching it just a bit, but this experience is one they will be talking about for a long time to come and now they can all go home and plan the next one, for free!

Well, after reading about everyone's crazy cruise adventure over the last few days, reality sets in and I now face the unpleasant task of once again packing my suitcase....I know..boo hoo...poor little me--I'm sure you all wish I'd just shut up about it--enough already!!!! Actually, I only have one simple question this morning...."Honey, where's the flashlight and do we have any extra batteries for it"?

Happy cruising....