A friend of mine just returned from a much-anticipated Western Caribbean cruise. It was the same one I took a couple years ago and raved about. We loved everything about our cruise and had a marvelous time. But Sam was not so lucky.She got caught in the Hurricane Isaac fiasco. The top two decks of the cruise ship were closed. They had 50mph winds and rain. They couldn't dock at one of their ports of call and couldn't even disembark at Tampa, where they'd left from. Instead, they had to circle around Florida in the choppy waves of the sea and dock at Port Canaveral. Then they took a three-hour bus ride to Tampa and got caught in Republican Convention traffic.
It was a disaster. Needless to say, Sam and her husband never want to cruise again. I don't think I'd want to either, if that had been my introduction to cruising. Luckily, it wasn't. I'll be cruising again someday. :)
OY yeah, I probably wouldn't want to cruise again after something like that either.
ReplyDeleteOn Andy's and my first cruise, an older gentleman "fell ill" and we didn't get to go to Grand Cayman, because we had to reroute back to America so the guy could be hospitalized. Fortunately we felt the cruise line did a decent job offering us fun alternatives in Key West instead. Still not ideal, but not as disappointing as your friends' experience.
Wow. I didn't realize how lucky we've been on our two cruises. I'm grateful that we've had good experiences. We can't wait to go again.
DeleteI wouldn't be put off so easily.
ReplyDeleteBeing an Aussie, anything can happen on our roads and oceans to make things difficult. So, if we have to take the long way around, well, that's how it goes. I'd take another cruise if I was her... you can't just give up because the weather turned bad and made everything else turn bad too. It was just a chain reaction, that's all.
Gotta have a glass half-full attitude when you're traveling... if you don't, you never see your way clear from anything. :)