I watched with great interest the calamity that struck the Carnival cruise ship Triumph in February when a fire in the engine room left the ship adrift without power for several days.
In July of 2012, Susan and I took a four-day cruise from Galveston, Texas, to Cozumel, Mexico on Carnival Triumph – the same ship that went adrift. This was our third adventure on a Carnival cruise ship and we had a wonderful experience each time.
Now, a lawsuit has been filed by passengers that were on board when the ship lost power. The class-action suit states that Carnival knew about the problem or should have known about the electrical problems before the ship left port because of previous problems. Carnival is saying that the previous problems were checked out and corrected by the manufacturer of the alternator in question plus a third party troubleshooter.
What those passengers experienced surely was extremely uncomfortable.
When you go on a luxury cruise, every effort is made to make you comfortable from the first time you step on the ship. Last July, we went straight to a restaurant on board and had a wonderful snack/meal while we waited for our bags to be delivered to our stateroom. We took our dinners in the formal dining room and our waiter (from Peru) treated us like royalty.
With the power off in February, Triumph passengers had to sleep on deck and in other common areas and relieve themselves in buckets, bags, showers and sinks. They claim some of the food they were given was not safe to eat. The suit claims there was a great chance for injury, illness and disease.
As I understand it, Carnival is offering the 3,000-plus passengers rebates of the full cost of the cruise, a credit for a free cruise in the future and $500 in cash as compensation. That is in addition to transportation and hotel costs when the ship finally got towed back to Mobile, Alabama, for repairs.
I don’t know who will win this lawsuit and I can’t determine its validity. Truthfully, I can see both sides.
On one hand, it would be a horrible experience to go from being pampered to having to worry about how to use the bathroom. I have seen a sewer line back up in my garage – I wouldn’t want to see that happen in a small stateroom at sea.
But based on my experiences with Carnival, they don’t take shortcuts. The food on board is extraordinary. The restaurants, the decks, the gymnasium, the theaters and all the common areas are kept very clean. They even polish the banisters on the stairs daily.
The employees are courteous, friendly and they work very hard to make the trip a joy for the passengers.
In our litigious society, most don’t strive for just compensation but they want to “win the lottery.” If someone asked me if I would take two free cruises and be paid $500 for a few days of inconvenience, I might take them up on that offer. I have waited in airports before when airlines overbooked and offered me a free flight voucher if I would standby for the next available flight.
And on the other hand, our cruise in July was to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. Having to use a bag instead of a toilet would certainly have diminished our experience of an anniversary cruise. It would have created a lasting memory but not the kind you want.
The biggest worry would be if the ship were not stable. The Triumph is like a floating 10-story hotel. In our four days aboard, there were only a couple of times when I felt movement on the ship. I was actually more nervous when Oklahoma had the big earthquakes in 2011.
Accidents happen. Maybe there was negligence but it’s hard to say.
It is a very complicated process to get thousands of passengers off a ship and then get thousands more in the same day. Those arriving and leaving have to go through customs. There is a small amount of time when the housekeeping crew has to race through the empty cabins and get them spotless for the incoming passengers. And delivering and storing enough fresh food for more than 4,000 passengers and crew members for three hearty meals a day for four days is a huge assignment.
Would I take a Carnival cruise after reading about this debacle? You bet I would.
In fact, should Carnival offer some amazing discounts on the Triumph this summer, I might try to talk my lovely wife into another four-day adventure.
I hope this lawsuit doesn’t damage Carnival too much or cause prices to soar. That would be a shame. Everyone should try a cruise sometime. It is a great change of pace and it is almost always a very safe way to vacation.
• A grasshopper walked into the bar and the bartender says “Hey we have a drink named after you.”
The grasshopper says “You have a drink named Marvin?”
• Knock knock. (Who’s there?) Dwayne. (Dwayne who?) Dwayne the bathtub – I’m drowning!
• Knock knock. (Who’s there?) Annie. (Annie who?) Annie thing you can do, I can do better!
• Knock knock. (Who’s there?) Little old lady. (Little old lady who?) Gosh, I didn’t know you could yodel!
• Knock knock. (Who’s there?) Anita. (Anita who?) Anita hug right about now.
• Knock knock. (Who’s there?) Dishes. (Dishes who?) Dishes the police – open up!
• There was an engineer, manager and programmer driving down a steep mountain road.
The brakes failed and the car careened down the road out of control.
Half way down the driver managed to stop the car by running it against the embankment narrowing avoiding going over a cliff.
They all got out, shaken by their narrow escape from death, but otherwise unharmed.
The manager said, “To fix this problem we need to organize a committee, have meetings and through a process of continuous improvement, develop a solution.”
The engineer said “No that would take too long, and besides that method never worked before. I have my trusty pen knife here and will take apart the brake system, isolate the problem and correct it.”
The programmer said “I think you’re both wrong! I think we should all push the car back up the hill and see if it happens again.”
• Q: How many thought police does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: None. There never *was* any light bulb.
• Q: How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Only one, but the bulb has got to really WANT to change.
• Q: How many Carl Sagans does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Billions and billions.
