Ships That Sail
ReutersI was unpacking my beach bag and felt something slimy inside. I lifted the conch from the bag, and out of it came a slowly slithering, long, and very ugly snail. I gasped, yelled, and threw it at my husband! Caring for nature as he does, he took it to a deck and tossed the conch and snail into the water. Back in the stateroom, I was hyper-ventilating and all my husband did was laugh. I might have recovered, but they served escargot at dinner. I became nauseous and was the brunt of well-intentioned jokes at our table that evening.
All of us took another cruise together the following year, but by then the thrill was gone. I mean, if you love eating all day and all night (I don’t), and being in stuck in quarters that enable any claustrophobic tendencies (that’s me), then I suppose you will be fine with a cruise. It is not my choice, especially after so many horrid news stories about cruises lately.
We know by now the very sad story of the cruise ship that sank off the coast of Italy. Lives were lost, many were injured, and the Captain bailed. It was the Titanic redux without the class and violins. There is no minimizing the tragedy of this event and the cowardice of a captain who had forsaken his passengers.
Yesterday I read a story from the Palm Beach Post News that told of the Ruby Princess liner on which passengers and crew had been stricken with norovirus. The article stated, “Officials with the Santa Clarita, Calif.,-based Princess Cruises said 81 people, or 2 percent of 3,133 passengers, and nine of 1,186 crew members were suffering from the highly contagious sickness that causes upset stomach, vomiting and diarrhea. The ship was returning from a seven-day Caribbean cruise and is scheduled to arrive in Port Everglades on Sunday.” This is what happens when you are too closely confined with thousands of other people (strangers) for days. At least that is my admittedly non-professional opinion. But it gets worse.
I also read that there have been reports of rape by ship employees on luxury cruise liners.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2086029/Cruise-ship-employee-Fabian-Palmer-faces-charges-having-sex-girl-14.html
No, cruises are not my choice for a vacation. If these events that recently occurred were not so horrible, I could agree that the TV reality show Survivor could take on a new venture in traveling on cruise ships. Beware of ships that sail and pretty conchs in the sand.
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Posted by Cher Duncombe
on February 5, 2012. Filed under Cher Duncombe, Columns.
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About Cher DuncombeSomeone once told me, “Used-to-be’s don’t count.” I have pondered this often and find that they do count. We are the sum of our life experiences.
I used to be an English and Speech teacher. There will always be a part of me that wants to teach. I used to be an Investigator, first for the government and later in my own private investigations business.
I will always probe beneath the surface of issues and people, looking for the gem-like quality hidden in the text of words and personae. Today I am a writer and all of the used-to-be’s are part of the continuum of this journey.
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Ewww snails
I never ate escargot or oysters or mussels…and I’m not planning to eat them any time soon. I took me a while before I could eat shrimp and I only eat it when my dad makes it. That aside, not sure what I would think of a cruise vacation. I love to explore and see things and on a cruise…the feeling I have now is that I’d feel trapped. And as much as I love to chat about food and drinks…I do not have to be surrounded by it 24/7. But I won’t know it for sure until I actually experience one.
But like you said, recent events with the Italian cruise doesn’t motivate me to have a look at cruise holidays any time soon. And don’t get me started about reports of rape (shakes head). Just horrible!
Sweet TJ, I love mussels in garlic and butter but snails—escargot—never again! Maybe if I had not seen it first…alive…maybe, but now never again.
I think you should try a cruise and see if you like it. The first one was fun and I’m glad I did it, but after that it was pretty boring. My advice would be to make sure you have flu shots, not that those help against a norovirus, and take a patch to wear behind your ear for motion sickness. You will thank me for that one later! 
Haha. My dad has this sea fish phase every now and then and prepares a huge pot of it. It smells incredible, but no not a huge fan of it. I’m slowly learning to eat more though haha.
Ah the norovirus! My grandad got the it over Christmas and couldn’t visit us because of it. It’s an intense virus! When I’ll go on a cruise, I shall tell you all about it! Maybe send smoke signals if I need saving “Sweet cher, saaaave me. I’m sooo bored!!” hehe. I shall definitely keep your advice in mind
Oh TJ, I had not known that the norovirus was the cause of your grandad’s illness. I am so glad he recovered. Fear not about taking a cruise. I happen to know that many of us would be there to rescue you!
Ah yes! I kept forgetting the name of the virus when I spoke to you. I think my mom also got it, luckily I didn’t get it, though I wasn’t feeling that well.
Haha! I have my own rescue group
SO lovely!
Yes, TJ, the Expats Express by land or sea or air we take care of each other! Rescued me more than once.
I actually love cruise ships, but I think that’s because I have planned vacations where I’m never more than one full day at sea. If it was any other way, I can see where I’d feel trapped.
The rape on a ship doesn’t surprise me. I went to Alaska by myself years back, and I still remember an incident when I think two guys were trying to roofie me. It’s just so easy to drink and get carried away and stumble between rooms. Very unsafe.
Oh, man! That’s so scary, Jen! Glad things ended up okay, though I’m sure that kept you on edge for the rest of the trip. Going to Alaska, though, sounds very cool.
“I went to Alaska by myself years back”…that is a story waiting to be written, come on Jen!!!
I;m with Garry. Come on, Jen! We want that story.
So glad it turned out okay, Jen!! And yes…I’m awaiting the story toooo hehe.
They tried to “roofie” you? How horrible, Jen! There are some good parts about being on a cruise, but it is good to be wise about your surroundings. It has become a fad, I think, but many—unlike me—really seem to enjoy it. Proceed with caution and go to the ship’s safety session!
I had to laugh at that snail story. Sorry!
I went on a Disney cruise for our honeymoon and boy did I get seasick! After that, though, I had a lot of fun. It was only three days, so not much time to get bored. My folks love cruises because you can go to a different place every day and come back to the same room and same friends at night. I can see the fun of it if you take the right cruise and hop off onto land every day. But spending the whole time on a ship eating, drinking and sunning myself doesn’t sound like fun to me.
Janene, it’s okay, I laugh at the snail story now too but not then! I had some patches for motion sickness, but did not use any till the second day, and boy, did I ever need it. After several hours I was fine but would recommend those for anyone taking a cruise. It was fun, I admit, going to Coco Cay. The rest…not so much.
I’ve never been on a cruise I just can’t see the point of being trapped on a ship for days. Plus get drunk one night, do anything embarrasing and you are trapped having to face all those people the next day and there is no escape, nightmare. And yet Cher, you went back again the following year? The stopping at different destinations sounds great but the forced confinement onboard, still it could actually be good for a romantic type holiday I guess, now i’m reconsidering.
Garry, if it were not for family going the second year, I would not have considered it. Now we visit other places together without doing a cruise. So much more fun! There is a young couple who live in the house next to mine. We were talking about vacations and the subject of cruises came up. The couple had gone on one for their honeymoon but said never again. Their reasons were different than mine. They just didn’t get what all the hoopla was about cruises and said once was enough. Like me, they are happy they tried it, but no more cruises for them. Get some patches if you go.
Patches? No smoking at all…ooh no, no way.
Garry, you can smoke on the decks! The patches are for motion sickness, and though I never experienced it before, I sure did when the ship started sailing off. Whoa!
I had the seasickness once on the ferry to France when I was a kid, horrible but for some reason not coming back though. Another minus point for the cruises.
Hahaha Sweet Cher! Now I am picturing an EP sign high up in the sky and you guys running over the waves….in a superhero outfit!! Now we need a cool tune hehe
TJ, what a great image! I need to find a quick way to get to the Florida Keys without singing Jimmy Buffett songs.
Just give us sand, surf, Margaritas at night, good coffee in the morning, and we will have all the power it takes to find you and bring you to the party!
Expats Arriving! Woohoo!
Woohooooooooo! Hahaha! It would be so cool