# Oh the horror! Cruise ship story **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 12, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446 "2010-11-12T16:53:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/61 "2010-11-12T23:23:29Z")
Eh, worse things happen at sea, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/62 "2010-11-12T23:30:41Z")
I read the paper today, and this definitely sounded like a miserable experience. Toilets wouldn’t flush (I imagine that after a couple of days an unflushed toilet is pretty unpleasant), couldn’t use the swimming pools (because some necessary pumps weren’t working), dark rooms, waiting hours to get food (and the last people in line only saw tomatoes and lettuce left at the buffet table) - if the description is accurate, then I would be complaining too. At least the cruise line refunded the money, but in the case of someone with limited vacation time (most US companies start off at about 10 vacation days a year) it’s a real downer to use up your vacation time for an experience like that. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/63 "2010-11-12T23:40:04Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > 4 days without hot coffee, sleeping in the dark, peeing in a bucket, eating cold food. We call that camping around here. Hmm - I have 3 different backpacking stoves, and 2 different camping stoves. I ALWAYS can have hot food and coffee on campout. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/64 "2010-11-12T23:49:09Z")
One replacement cruise is hardly recompense for this suckatude. It only gives them what they already paid for and doesn’t address the crap they had to deal with. They deserve 2 cruises at least for no new money. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/65 "2010-11-12T23:52:13Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > One replacement cruise is hardly recompense for this suckatude. It only gives them what they already paid for and doesn’t address the crap they had to deal with. They deserve 2 cruises at least for no new money. I think they are refunding the money for this trip too, so they will get their vacation after all and for free. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/66 "2010-11-12T23:55:03Z")
The thing is the huge difference between what they were expecting and what they got. Expecting a week of luxury and getting four days of ‘camping’ is a pretty big swing. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/67 "2010-11-12T23:59:50Z")
They might not even have been obligated to do that much. I read an article recently (I think it was in the Los Angeles Times) saying that for most contracts you sign when you book a cruise, it’s pretty clearly said that there are not very many reasons that require a refund. One of the examples they had was changing the cruise destination (e.g. because of weather) - that didn’t mean you could demand to get your money back. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/68 "2010-11-13T00:32:18Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > You mean they give us the stories that they think will make them the most money. I know the media hasn’t asked me what I want but they always try to blame me (as a member of the public) whenever anyone questions their motives and/or skill. They may not have asked you, but you can bet they poll all the time, and measure ratings on a story by story basis. If the news were targeted to you and me and the average Doper, it would all look like NPR and the NY Times. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/69 "2010-11-13T00:34:04Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > 4 days without hot coffee, sleeping in the dark, peeing in a bucket, eating cold food. We call that camping around here. Gee, when I was in the Boy Scouts they taught us how to make a fire. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/70 "2010-11-13T00:35:46Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Gee, when I was in the Boy Scouts they taught us how to make a fire. They had a nice big fire. They just didn’t have any marshmallows. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/71 "2010-11-13T01:06:51Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Look, if I’m on a cruise ship and it turns into “four days floating around at sea with no power and limited food,” and then a news reporter sticks a microphone into my face and asks me what I think, I’m not going to think, “Well, gee, my experience certainly wasn’t worse than that of a starving person in Haiti, so I should probably not complain about this at all.” I’m going to tell the reporter the truth, which is that it sucked. Situations are allowed to suck even if there are worse situations elsewhere in the world. I almost started this thread myself, but a later news report changed my mind. When I first started seeing this on CNN, it was stated very early in the article that the power outage was the result of a fire. Now, perhaps my understanding is wrong, but I think you don’t want a fire on a ship. You want to get that sucker contained five minutes ago, otherwise everyone’s screwed. So it sounded like a good thing that all they lost was power, and I wondered why the passengers weren’t just glad to be alive and eating anything, on the ship and at least limping back to port. But this morning, there was an update which added that, apparently, the crew presented the power failure as just a power failure for no specified reason, instead of the close call I’m speculating it was. As such, it just looked like incompetence. And if that’s so, I can’t blame the passengers for being aggravated. Can’t expect them to say “We’re alive; pass the Pop Tarts” if they didn’t know that they were not in the worst-case scenario. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/72 "2010-11-13T01:28:59Z")
What I don’t get on this story is Carnival couldn’t or didn’t do more for their customers. What they ended with is a full week of negative advertising towards the cruise industry. Sure accidents happen they had a fire and lost power but they didn’t have any logistics or contingencies to account for bad things happening? With all of Carnivals money they couldn’t get another boat out there or helicopters delivering generators. The boat is a giant resort, to me I think they could have easily kept people happy if they were willing to pay out the nose to do it, instead they will forever be tainted wih the news reports of the incident. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/73 "2010-11-13T01:47:56Z")
It was probably faster to tow the ship home rather than wait for an empty (if they even had one) cruise ship to get there. Those things are not fast. Procuring generators and helicopters take time along with installing the generators. Where on a cruise ship is there even room for the generators needed? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/74 "2010-11-13T02:24:58Z")
They need to get to work on installing nuclear generators on all cruise ships. Chop chop! Get on that! ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/75 "2010-11-13T03:24:31Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m constantly amazed at how badly the journalist profession has fallen. This story has been headline news this week. > > I’m sure it wasn’t pleasant on that ship. But, it was only three days. The exaggeration and sensationalism of the news reports is pretty sad. I miss the days when journalism was a noble profession. > > I read there was a magicians conference on the ship. Over a hundred of them. They volunteered to entertain and keep spirits up. I imagine a lot of people pitched in to make the situation better. Magicians? Here you are, dirty and smelly, undernourished because you skip meals to avoid lining up, and going through caffeine withdrawal. Then a wandering magician accosts you on deck, thinking that however exhausted you may be, you are not too beaten down as to be unable to select a card–any card–from the pack they offer. (Actually I kid, I love close-up magic of any kind, particularly card tricks.) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/76 "2010-11-13T03:29:13Z")
Maybe the magicians could have started pulling rabbits out of their hats. The bastards probably ate them all themselves, though. But it could have been worse. It could have been a clown conference. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/77 "2010-11-13T03:29:17Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I live in SD county where that damn story has been headline news for several days. They even showed (live) the ship being towed into SD bay like it was returning from war full of wounded veterans. Now, I understand this type of coverage for the people who were on Capt. Sullenberger’s flight into the Hudson, but there is nothing special about this. They merely pee’d over the side and ate cold hotdogs for a few days. Maybe it’s been a slow news week where you live. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/78 "2010-11-13T03:36:21Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > That wouldn’t have been an option for us. It got pretty cold at night. It has been getting pretty cold at night, here in SoCal, down to the upper forties. I may have to put the lining back in my overcoat. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/79 "2010-11-13T03:46:32Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > 4 days without hot coffee, sleeping in the dark, peeing in a bucket, eating cold food. We call that camping around here. You are so doing it wrong. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446/80 "2010-11-13T03:51:39Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > This is about the coverage, not really about the people themselves. The media has a fucked up set of priorities, and this is just the latest manifestation. I’m pretty sure the media has exactly one priority, which I can sum up thusly: $ People dying in Chile has fuck-all to do with the average American’s life. If you have a problem with the media making money, well, all I can say is that reporters’ kids have to eat, too. Besides, you can always tune in to NPR instead of a local news channel if you want world news. Or get your news from the internet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-the-horror-cruise-ship-story/560446.md?page=5)