The Vent and Rant Thread

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by dreams

a second similar cruise for free

I don't think any of them want to go on a similar cruise, even for free!

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I don't think any of them want to go on a similar cruise, even for free!

And who could blame them? Someone might burn the toast!
Can you imagine having to suffer through an entire week with burned toast?!?
The next thing you know, the Wi-fi might be out!


Stitchawl

[amward]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

The next thing you know, the Wi-fi might be out!


Stitchawl

Crikey,that would be a disaster!

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by amward

Crikey,that would be a disaster!

Oh, the horrors! They might actually have to talk with real people! Interact with family members! Or even worse... not be able to log onto Facebook and say 'hey, I just put on my socks! I put them on my left foot first. Then my right foot.'


Stitchawl

[ProfCrash]

The WiFi wad out. The news media made this into something huge but I would be bitching up a storm if there was raw sewage in my room and I had to wait three hours for an onion sandwich. Yes, there are people in far worse positions across the globe but the conditions on the ship were awful.

As for the compensation, Carnival is trying to head off lawsuits. They only offered what they did because they know they screwed up. It has been reported that the component that failed and caused the fire had been replaced recently and that the same engine had serious electrical problems in the weeks leading up to the fire. Toss in the fact that there should be some measure to prevent problems in one engine from effecting all 6 engines. And this is the third accident of this nature in two years.

I know I would not choose to cruise with Carnival.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

As for the compensation, Carnival is trying to head off lawsuits.

How are they going to sue? The ship is sailing under a Bahamian registry. If even ALLOWED to file, the courts will rule in favor of the plaintiff and award a $1 damages prize. Why do you suppose so many vessels are registered in countries other than where the parent business is incorporated?

Cruise ships are notorious for hiring Third World crew so they can get away with paying 17 cents per hour plus room and board. The guests never see the horror show that goes on in 'the back of the house.' Cruise lines are the 'sweat shops' of the resort industry, and people who enable them (by patronizing) are no better than the people who permit the horrid working conditions of so many clothing industries so they can have their fashion wear. There are plenty of other ways to vacation without doing so on the shoulders of the poor. Then, worse yet, bitching about it when all doesn't go like peaches and cream.

Sorry, just one of my personal pet peeves...


Stitchawl

[Stitchawl]

Just when I thought it couldn't get any more ridiculous...

"Carnival Cruise Lines was hit with a lawsuit relating to the ill-fated trip of the Triumph, filed in Miami federal court today by a Houston woman who according to her attorney suffered bruising from aggressive food lines. "

Just when I reached a point where I could not imagine a horror more terrible than being forced to endure a week without airconditioning, I was forced to become aware of the supreme test of aggressive food lines.

Oh... the tragedy... standing in line for food.... Every college student in America who has eaten in the school cafeteria should file suit for this one. Aggressive food lines... actual pushing and shoving... What in the whole world could be more tragic and damaging to a person's psyche than an aggressive food line?

If those people had any sense at all, they would have banded together into warring tribes raiding for food, water, women with epic battles on the "Lido Deck".


Stitchawl

[Stitchawl]

I just saw the video of people waiting on the food lines... No wonder food was scarce. The average size of people on that line means this must have been the S.S. Wal-mart!

Frankly, I'm surprised there have been no reports of cannibalism.


Stitchawl

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I just saw the video of people waiting on the food lines... No wonder food was scarce. The average size of people on that line means this must have been the S.S. Wal-mart!

Frankly, I'm surprised there have been no reports of cannibalism.


Stitchawl

Yet ..... have they done a head-count on passengers?

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Yet ..... have they done a head-count on passengers?

Or the crew?

[WT Sharpe]

Stitchawl, this is for you. From MattBors.com:

[Stitchawl]

There is no question that these people didn't get the vacation they were expecting. And I was wrong... They weren't under those conditions for a week. Only for five days. Five days without airconditioning isn't a hell on earth. Sure, it's not what was expected, but come on... what do people do when they go to the beach?!? Sandwiches for meals? Hell, I had pickles, cheese, and mustard sandwiches myself yesterday, because they taste good! If I had thought of it, I probably might have added a slice of onion. These are hardly starvation rations. They just aren't what they expected. Sure, they have every right to be upset about a ruined vacation, but it was ruined because of an accident, not terrorists. Frankly, having been on one cruise myself, having such a situation might have improved the interest of the week. Cruises bore the crap outta me!

The company has offered to refund all money, and even offer a free cruise. Bringing law suits for damages on a food line? Law suits for bad smells? I wonder if the Princess felt the pea under her mattress?


Stitchawl

[ProfCrash]

There was raw sewage in some areas. Lack of AC in cabins without a balcony made those cabins impossible to live in. At least one person broke her leg while trying to go to the bathroom in the dark.

It is more then just a crap vacation. There is no way that I would take a cruise with Carnival after being on that ship so a free cruise is a bogus offer. Maybe a refund twice the purchase price.

I get that you don't like cruises because of the amount that staff are paid and how they are treated but the conditions were worse then you are acknowledging.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

There was raw sewage in some areas. Lack of AC in cabins without a balcony made those cabins impossible to live in. At least one person broke her leg while trying to go to the bathroom in the dark.

Then you sleep outside on deck. It's not a jungle. There are no wild animals that will eat you. Didn't you see the photos of all the people sleeping out on the deck during the day? The night is no different, only darker. People sleep outside all the time, even on vacations. Just not usually on cruise ships. Yes, it's not what they paid for. But it's not hell on earth. It's an inconvenience. Nothing more.

In days gone by, sailing ships didn't even HAVE bathrooms. It would have taken just a few hours to jury rig toilets with privacy, venting out into the ocean. The only reason there was raw sewerage running out was because people kept using the toilets even though they wouldn't flush. To my way of thinking, that is pretty damn dumb!

It is more then just a crap vacation. There is no way that I would take a cruise with Carnival after being on that ship.

Does this mean that you would never go anywhere that had an accidental fire? Unless the fire was due to negligence, I hardly think the cruise line is at fault. If it WAS due to negligence, then I'd agree with with you completely, but as yet, we don't know any such thing.

I get that you don't like cruises because of the amount that staff are paid and how they are treated but the conditions were worse then you are acknowledging.

I fully acknowledge that the conditions were as primitive as most Third World Countries! No air conditioning, no electricity, no flushing toilets, raw sewerage on the decks...And for a whole FIVE DAYS! But instead of a population that have learned to make the best of a bad situation, in this case the population was a bunch of spoiled children who could only cry about how bad it all was.

Most campers and backpackers manage to live without air conditioning, flushing toilets, or running water, and seem to enjoy it, look forward to it, and afterwards, even do it again. What the passengers on that ship did was sit down and cry instead of figuring out a way to make themselves as comfortable as conditions allowed.

In 1987 I taught at a private boarding school in rural northern New England that experienced a major blizzard that knocked out all power. The school dorms were old wooden buildings with no insulation. So the kids (not the teachers, the kids,) got together and made tents inside their rooms out of blankets. The built fires to melt snow for water. They marked off an area to use as a latrine, one for the boys and one for the girls, and blocked it off for privacy. The kids did this. They did it for themselves. Most of them. But there were a couple that just sat down and cried at how horrible it all was. The other kids tried to make them comfortable, but they didn't want any part of that. They just wanted to go home. For four days the school hunkered down, making the best of a bad situation, playing music and singing because they didn't have electricity to play their cassette tapes.

Parents were frantic. Several managed to get within a few miles of the school and hiked in to 'rescue' their children. The kids invited them into their tents, offered them hot cocoa and tea, then sent the parents home. And the parents, after seeing how well the kids were getting on, didn't mind going, leaving their kids to continue to learn how to deal with life's unexpected events.

Face it and make the best of it, and don't cry about it. Improvise. Adapt. Overcome. And that's what the passengers did NOT do. They just cried.


Stitchawl

[Freeshadow]

Amen to that.