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deb1220

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  1. Love
    deb1220 reacted to Jan115 for a blog entry, Alaska Cruise Highlight ~ A Day in Glacier Bay   
    This was it, the reason for our cruise to Alaska - to see glaciers before they melt. We were aboard the Grand Princess, on a 11-day cruise which left San Francisco on July 29, 2013.
    The Captain told us the previous day that the best place to initially observe the glaciers would be port side, and a naturalist from Glacier Bay National Park would be on board to narrate about our wondrous surroundings.
    We reached Glacier Bay about 6:00 a.m., and as the morning wore on, the skies became sunnier and the water bluer than we could have imagined, setting up what would become one of the most breathtaking visual displays of nature that we've ever seen.

    We woke up early, grabbed our cameras and binoculars, donned a couple of warm layers and headed up top, where we could get a good panoramic vista. There were already a few hardy souls up there when we arrived, wrapped in blankets sitting in chairs by the railing. This looked like a good idea, so we did the same. I won't lie. It was freezing up there on deck! It wasn't long before we ran back to the cabin for another layer or two. We purchased a nice hot Irish coffee from the nearby cart to warm our insides and hunkered down bundled up in our chairs as the ship slowly glided through the bay.

    My new high-powered binoculars did not fail me as I scoped the waters for wildlife and calving glaciers. I spotted a few sea lions swimming by and a few whale spouts in the distance, and I heard from others that a moose was seen swimming from one shore to another. As beautiful as the hills of Ireland and Scotland were on our cruise last summer, they were no match for the beauty of these snow-covered rugged peaks, mountains, inlets, majestic glaciers and crystal-clear waters. The mix of clouds, sun, shadows and mist lay over the glaciers and mountains in such a way that they sometimes appeared to be magnificent works of art.

    As the ship made its way through the bay, we marveled at the splendor of it all, including two glaciers - Margerie Glacier and then John Hopkins Glacier - and were lucky enough to witness calving at Marjerie. One especially large chunk of ice starting from the top of the glacier came down crashing into the sea below and, fortunately, was captured on video by my husband. I had gone inside to warm up and, of course, missed the whole big calving event, but we are so lucky to have it on record!

    Our day in Glacier Bay truly exceeded our expectations. It was humbling to stand in the presence of some of nature's finest wonders, I and hope to some day return again for another glimpse.
    This is just a taste of what we experienced on our recent Alaska cruise. For the full report, READ MY FULL REVIEW.
    Check out my "Best of Alaska" Photos
  2. Love
    deb1220 reacted to BrianDavidBruns for a blog entry, Triumph Isn't the Grossest Ship at Sea   
    The Carnival Triumph safely returned to port after an ordeal at sea. I’m happy to say that, during the intense media coverage on CNN and other networks—which I was corralled into—passengers unanimously praised the tireless hard work and positive attitude of the crew. There were many horror stories about poor sanitation on the crippled ship. Alas, these are not always relegated to disaster. Allow me to share a particularly gross ship I worked on for months. We crew endure this for you, dear passenger.
    Gross things are common on cruise ships. No, not the gastronomic atrocities occurring nonstop at the buffets—horrifying as that may be to quantify—but what lies below the waterline. Not the slimy, oil-tainted waters of the bilge, either. I’m talking about what life is like on the crew decks.
    Carnival Triumph recently made the news when a fire left it without propulsion, little running water, less electricity, and utterly bereft of sanitation. One passenger reported “sewage running down the walls and floors” and said travelers were being asked to defecate in bags and urinate in showers because toilets weren’t functioning. Understandably shocking, considering how rarely passengers endure such privations. The crew deal with it every day. It should be noted they bring it on themselves.
    Crew are generally denied food in their cabins because it invariably ends up in the toilets in a most nonbiological manner. Hiding evidence of a smuggled, late night snack is always the same: flush it. After all, there are no portholes twenty feet below the sea. But ship toilets are very, very sensitive. The crew? Not so much. When working on RCI’s Majesty of the Seas, fish bones backed up the sewage system so often that the entire aft crew deck smelled like feces. Literally. And this was where the crew kitchen and dining room were located!
    Oddly enough, this disposing of contraband was the only time many flushed the toilets at all. This can be partly explained by the wide variety of nationalities that compose the crew. Hygiene standards vary radically from nation to nation, but are all but absent in some developing nations. Such is the resource pool from which the cruise industry hires its labor. When first indoctrinated into crew, on day one, everyone is educated on what is required for first-world hygienic standards. They are ordered to wash daily and to use deodorant, whether they ‘need’ it or not. Many even comply. But when working a minimum of eighty hours a week without a day off for ten months straight, focus flags.
    On Majesty of the Seas, these men—for they were invariably so—lived in tiny, shared cabins along the main corridor leading to the crew mess. Tucked between were communal showers and toilets. Everything was crowded, everything stank. And it was stiflingly hot. Because the cooling system was also spotty, all doors were always open. Three times a day, on the way to every meal, I passed dozens of overworked zombies brushing their teeth beside toilets filled to the brim, lids wide open. A perfect appetizer for a enjoying a meal in a latrine.
    I learned about such things in dramatic fashion upon signing onto Majesty as a junior officer. After returning to my cabin, I discovered a man wearing officers’ whites bent over my desk, examining the contents. While there was no pretext of privacy on a cruise ship, having my own cabin had given me delusions of it. Upon hearing me enter, the man shoved the drawer shut and irritably snapped, “Cabin inspection. I have reports that you routinely order room service. This is highly improper and will not continue. We have a cockroach problem in the stern deck, and I will not have it spread into this section of the ship.”
    I didn’t have time to explain that I had just arrived because he brushed me aside to search my shower. Because cabin inspections were conducted by each department head and, since I was a department head, I suddenly realized the man searching my toilet was the most powerful officer beside the captain himself! He dropped the toilet lid with a slam, trying to hide his disdain behind a professional countenance. His grimace worked through.
    “No fish bones,” I said cheerily. He glared at me and replied, “I am seeking a shoe.”
    “Um… shoes?” I asked, confused. He corrected me sharply, “A shoe! The entire sewage system is backed up ship-wide because a crewman flushed a shoe down the toilet this morning.”
    Brian David Bruns is the best-selling author of Cruise Confidential and Ship for Brains, the latter from which the above story is taken.
  3. Love
    deb1220 reacted to Jan115 for a blog entry, Trumping the Triumph Travesty   
    y
    An engine fire ... a cruise ship dead in the sea without the power to provide the basic of needs. A pleasant ocean escape to the Caribbean becomes a bad cruise to nowhere. Such was the picture on board the Carnival Triumph on its 4-day sailing last week.
    The unpleasant details of life on board that cruise need not be repeated here. We've all seen the video footage and heard the news reports. When the disabled ship finally reached the dock in Mobile, Alabama, greeted by 200 Carnival personnel who would assist in getting the tired passengers home, TV cameras were on hand to fill us in with more images and interviews of anyone willing to talk, providing sensationalized news coverage at its best - playing off other people's misery. The sorry thing is that the general public sitting at home on their couch eats this stuff up, only encouraging more of this. Such is journalism, I guess.
    Who do I feel sorry for the most? The first-time cruiser. Imagine you're embarking on your first cruise. You've been on the fence for a long time about cruise travel, but you decide to make the leap, choosing a nice, short 4-day Caribbean cruise to get your feet wet, so to speak. You're all relaxed, you've found your way around the ship, having a great time, thinking - yeah- this is pretty nice. Suddenly, you learn that a small fire has broken out in the ship's engine room. Although it has been quickly contained, the fire has knocked out most of the electrical power to the ship. The vessel has crawled to a halt, aimlessly adrift, and you soon discover that there is no air conditioning, no running water, no working toilets, and no hot food. The ship is slowly being towed to dock in Mobile. It's an agonizingly slow process, with wind, sea currents and a busted tow line impeding the way. You are told it will take days to reach land. Gone is your dream cruise vacation. Instead, you find yourself on a floating sewage barge. Some first cruise. You tell yourself you should have trusted your instincts and picked that all-inclusive resort. Here, on this ship, there's no escape.
    Despite what some passengers have said to the contrary, Carnival seems to have fairly and adequately compensated its passengers. Each passenger was given a full refund, paid transportation home, and a future cruise credit. I don't know what else they could have done to satisfy their passengers, short of giving them a fully-paid cruise - on Carnival or any other line the customer chooses.
    The real shining stars of this cruise are the crew of Triumph. Stories abound of crew members who never ceased to smile, offered words of comfort, remained professional, and otherwise made the best of a bad situation. They are to be commended and, I hope, appropriately compensated for their efforts.
    The same cannot be said for Carnival. Assuring the safety and comfort of its paying customers is, or should be, the cruise line's #1 priority. Regrettably, Carnival dropped the ball on this one. It was unnecessary and inexcusable for cruise passengers to be exposed to the foul conditions caused by the power failure. It was reported at one point that there were five working toilets for 4,000 souls on board - far from comfortable.
    What could Carnival have done to better assist its passengers during this unfortunate journey, and what steps could the line take to prevent another incident like this in the future? Dare I say that some of the following suggestions may seem elementary and overly simplistic, but I can't help myself.
    Perhaps the cruise line should have reconsidered evacuation of passengers, even if some risk was involved. Surely, somewhere a ship could be found to make the transfer, at least giving passengers the option of getting away.
    Portable toilets. It sounds like a ridiculous idea onboard a mega ship, but I have to ask. Why don't cruise ships have a supply of porta potties stored away on board for emergencies such as this? Not possible? Drop 'em in by helicopter.
    Portable generators - huge ones. I don't pretend to know the inner workings of getting electrical power to all areas of the ship. I only know that when average Joe Homeowner has a power outage, he powers up his portable generator. There must be a large-scale way to do the same on a super-sized cruise ship.
    Lifeboats. Why are they there, if not for evacuation of cruise ship passengers. Bobbing at sea in a lifeboat at sea might be preferable to conditions on the ship - at least to some folks - no matter how risky it might be.
    Above all, an emergency back-up plan. With each new ship comes bigger sights, bigger sounds, bigger everything - requiring big power. It would seem that cruise lines would have in place adequate back-up power relative to the size of the ship it is selling to its customers.
    In the meantime, while the potential for litigation brews, investigation of Triumph's engines are under way. Reports of past engine problems have prompted discussions of whether or not the ship should have sailed in the first place. Time will tell. Just as the Costa Concordia forced changes to safety and security all throughout the cruise industry, so may Carnival re-examine its response to shipboard emergencies as relates to passenger safety and comfort. At least I would hope so.
    What about that first-time cruiser? Will he choose to cruise again, or has this hellish five-day cruise to nowhere turned him off to cruise vacations forever? If you were to pole the veteran cruisers on board that cruise, asking if they would continue to cruise, I would bet the majority would say "hell, yeah!" Hundreds of ships sail every year without a single major incident. Nevertheless, just like any other form of travel, incidents and accidents sometimes occur. Some of them may be simple annoyances, some may be terrible ordeals, and every now and then one may even result in fatality. Each one can be a learning experience for all involved. For the cruise line, it is a way to change, improve and correct that which is faulty.
    Just as the old hippy expression says: ***t happens. There is an abundance of seaworthy ships, and there are fascinating places to explore. Opportunities for new discoveries are as endless as the sea. So get back out there, trump the Triumph travesty, and choose to cruise!
    To read more of my personal cruise and travel stories, visit my blog: Seven Sea Journeys at CruiseCrazies.com
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