Carnival Splendor
If you haven’t heard the buzz about the Carnival Splendor I don’t know where you’ve been. As a San Diego resident this story has been in the top news all week.
For nearly a week, the Splendor, was stranded in the middle of the ocean just 44 miles off the coast of Mexico. For thousands of travelers, what was supposed to be a splendid vacation, turned out to be a nightmare. It all happened when a fire broke out in the engine room the same day the ship set out to sail. The damage wiped out most of the ship’s basic functions – no hot water, no electricity, no way to flush the toilet and what…no entertainment! I’ll save the gory details for the news anchors and for those newlyweds who started their marriage off with the honeymoon from hell.
Carnival Elation 2008
Daddy and I experienced our first cruise on the Carnival Elation and we had a blast. To the right is a photo of us before boarding. So, is it any coincidence that I brought up the idea to go on a Disney Cruise for our 5 year wedding anniversary next year, right before this indecent happened? I don’t know, but, Daddy asked me if I was thinking twice about that idea, especially since Pinky would be traveling with us. Quite honestly, I still think we should go. I really think this was one of those rare occurrences. Not to say that those poor travelers weren’t pissed off and scared out of their minds. In my personal opinion, Gerry Cahill, Carnival’s CEO did all he could do at this point. Getting your money back and a free cruise won’t bring back a week, but it makes up for something. Besides, I’m sure couples, families and friends discovered new ways to bond, learned more about each other under extreme circumstance and created a barrel of memories that will last a lifetime. I’m sure they will look back and laugh at it one day. Then again, I wasn’t there, so I can’t really say anything until I’m in that position.
Anyway, I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t phased by this cruise ship fiasco. Gene Sloan of The Cruise Log, a blog in association with USA Today Travel, asked his readers, “Does this week’s highly publicized stranding of a Carnival cruise ship in the Pacific Ocean make you think twice about taking a cruise?” 73% of the voters indicated that they would NOT think twice about going on a cruise, while only 9% said they’d wait a while, and 18% said definitely not!
Before I even knew about this poll. I took a poll of my own. It’s not a laughing matter for those who were on the ship, unless they have a funny bone in their body, but I just thought it would be funny to update my Facebook status to: “who wants to go on a cruise?”
Here are the mixed responses I got back! Bottom line, I’m still down to go! Only time will tell if I can get the rest of the crew on board. Tell me what YOU think about it, would you still go on a cruise after what happened? Inquiring minds want to know!