Speaking of Traveling...

... which I was a couple of weeks ago, a good friend of Mark's World, Suzanne Kathro, recently set sail on a cruise. Suzanne is the genius behind a superior, award-winning blog which you can find here:

The Farmer's Wife

However, she has quite a fascinating account and we decided that my blog is best suited for discussions of gastric-intestinal disruptions. Hence, the unfortunate, scary account of her misadventure is printed below. This is our small way of getting this simple message across:

AVOID CRUISES AT ALL COSTS!



Suzanne's tale:

Well, lets just say I was on the vacation from hell. The cruise from hell to Hell to be specific.
No, I wasn't stuck on a plane for 14 hours; my torture lasted quite a bit longer. We arrived on the ship,
the cabin was spacious, beautiful and very clean. It was the Liberty which is Carnival's newest ship.
Had I done a little research I would have found out that this ship was involved in quite a debacle last
fall. Between 750-800 of the passengers and crew became very ill with something called the Norwalk
virus while cruising in the Mediterannean. The CDC flew to the Azores to meet the ship and assess
the disaster. They also supervised the "clean up."

Hmmmmmmm. It seems they didn't clean up as well as they should.

When we turned on the TV in the cabin there were lots and lots of informational bits about washing
your hands ... wash your hands ... wash your hands ... blah, blah, blah. Within 24 hours, both myself and another
woman came down with the Norwalk virus (think gastro-intestinal flu from hell). I was so alarmed and
weak that I insisted on being wheeled down to the infirmary in a wheelchair. They knew immediately
what it was and gave me a shot and some pills. They also gave me some complimentary 7-up and water.
HA! Big deal. I was reported to the CDC and both the other woman and I were quarantined to our cabins
for 2-and-one-half days.

That ruined our first port of call ... and I missed what Carnival calls a "Fun Day at Sea."

The food for the rest of the cruise was ruined for me because I could barely stand to put a morsel in
my mouth. They wouldn't tell us how many other passengers were sick (plenty I bet). Did I mention that
the toilets on our deck broke?! Twice!

We were able to get off at Grand Cayman which was pretty much leveled by Hurricane Ivan. It's
rebuilding but pretty much resembles a scrubby sandbar. So much for paradise. The Margaritaville
restaurant priced everything in Cayman dollars which created a huge surprise when converted to U.S.
bucks: Four Cokes and a small maragarita was $25. We did visit a small spot on the island that was called
"Hell." You could actually mail postcards that would be canceled with "Hell, Grand Cayman." Funny ... not.

We waved at the Mexican Yucatan because the captain determined it was too choppy and too windy
to dock the ship. We waved as the cruise director promised us another "Fun Day at Sea." By this
time, folks were looking for some sturdy rope and a tree. The captain certainly knew the situation BEFORE
he chugged over there so why bother? They claimed that Cozumel and Playa del Carmen ports were
also closed, but I contend that he could have spent the time sailing up to Key West for the day.

Anyway, we waved at Cuba each time we passed by.

The flight back home included a crew that believed the cockpit was a good spot for "watercooling." One of the flight attendants spent over half an hour locked in the cockpit with a Coke, chatting or
whatever. They also allowed a blind and mentally challenged person who was preboarded in Fort
Lauderdale to simply exit the plane on her own without a customer service rep to accompany her.

I reported the cockpit incident to Southwest and the FAA. Southwest assured me the report would
be forwarded to management but since the crew are members of the union they cannot be spoken
to about the event unless I put the complain in writing - which I did.

So that was the vacation in a nutshell. Next time I'm just going to return to the lovely resort in
Mexico and sit on a beach for a week.

I told my doctor that if anyone says, "Let's take a cruise, it sounds like so much fun," he should
run like hell. A cruise ship ain't nothing but a floating petri dish!

Hope Mary is doing much better. Tell her she's not allowed to use anymore electrical appliances.
And I hope you are having tons of fun at work.

Suzanne

Wow, Suzanne! Next time you want to sit on a beach for a week, I have a FAR better idea and it's even
in this country! There are many fine hotels along A1A in central Florida. Check out Cocoa Beach, for
instance! Plus, I guarantee to escort you to only the finest, disease-free dining and entertainment spots!

More later,


Mark