The Poop Ship Chronicles ....
I didn't set out to write about the poop ship, I didn't want to, but it was forced upon me. I need to put the Carnival Triumph behind me. Maybe not so much the Triumph itself, it's just a ship after all, but some of the people who sailed on it.
If you don't know the story of the Triumph I'll give you the quick version. Before I do I have to say if you don't know the story you mustn't watch CNN because they covered it relentlessly even as meteors fell to Earth and a mini-war was fought in the Sierras. So here is the story: 6,000 people set sail on a three day tour, fire in the engine room, no power, no water, no toilets, towed to Alabama, some passengers not happy.
It's some of those unhappy passengers that totally bother me because it was the same ones over and over again. I understand, it was a week from hell, but nobody died, nobody got seriously ill, no plague infested the ship, they just had a bad week and had to find alternative methods of, well, pooping. For this week of misery the left the ship with their money back for the cruise, all travel and other expenses paid including anything they spent on the ship, $500 cash, and vouchers for a seven day cruise in the future. Basically they go home with close to $10,000 for a couple of bad days. I should also mention those most awesome white Carnival bathrobes they all stole on the way out.
But this is the age of the cell phone and instant video and some of these people couldn't resist a chance at their couple of days of poop drenched fame. CNN was only happy to accommodate these select passengers. More than once CNN talked of families being reunited on the air as they talked by cell phone. No mention was ever made that these very same people wouldn't have been in contact anyway because they were on a cruise and out of cell phone range.
Now the first lawsuits are beginning even though when you go on a cruise you sign a waiver so basically you can't sue the cruise line. But never let it be said that a mere signature, not to mention maritime law, stopped a ship chasing lawyer from attempting to making a score. As there were no serious injuries there really isn't a chance in hell of anybody winning anything. As The Washington Post said, "It was a drama, but not of danger. It was a drama of discomfort."
Poop happens, get over it.
I didn't set out to write about the poop ship, I didn't want to, but it was forced upon me. I need to put the Carnival Triumph behind me. Maybe not so much the Triumph itself, it's just a ship after all, but some of the people who sailed on it.
If you don't know the story of the Triumph I'll give you the quick version. Before I do I have to say if you don't know the story you mustn't watch CNN because they covered it relentlessly even as meteors fell to Earth and a mini-war was fought in the Sierras. So here is the story: 6,000 people set sail on a three day tour, fire in the engine room, no power, no water, no toilets, towed to Alabama, some passengers not happy.
It's some of those unhappy passengers that totally bother me because it was the same ones over and over again. I understand, it was a week from hell, but nobody died, nobody got seriously ill, no plague infested the ship, they just had a bad week and had to find alternative methods of, well, pooping. For this week of misery the left the ship with their money back for the cruise, all travel and other expenses paid including anything they spent on the ship, $500 cash, and vouchers for a seven day cruise in the future. Basically they go home with close to $10,000 for a couple of bad days. I should also mention those most awesome white Carnival bathrobes they all stole on the way out.
But this is the age of the cell phone and instant video and some of these people couldn't resist a chance at their couple of days of poop drenched fame. CNN was only happy to accommodate these select passengers. More than once CNN talked of families being reunited on the air as they talked by cell phone. No mention was ever made that these very same people wouldn't have been in contact anyway because they were on a cruise and out of cell phone range.
Now the first lawsuits are beginning even though when you go on a cruise you sign a waiver so basically you can't sue the cruise line. But never let it be said that a mere signature, not to mention maritime law, stopped a ship chasing lawyer from attempting to making a score. As there were no serious injuries there really isn't a chance in hell of anybody winning anything. As The Washington Post said, "It was a drama, but not of danger. It was a drama of discomfort."
Poop happens, get over it.
