Real Adventures on a Cruise

[Mary Ellen1]

I have two stories, but technically they involve me watching other people on an adventure. Does that count? :confused:

 

#1: Last November, the Carnival Freedom stopped to help a fishing vessel in distress off the coast of Nicaragua or Honduras -- 70 or 80 guys on a pretty small boat, who'd been without food, water or fuel for a couple of days. Picture below. Here's a link to my original thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1315862

 

#2: We saw a space shuttle launch several years ago from the deck of the Carnival Pride, about two hours after we'd sailed from Port Canaveral. Viewing a nighttime launch from the deck of a cruise ship was SPECTACULAR!

[Jimmy Geegitz]

I saw a dead frog once.

[sjn911]

I saw a dead frog once.

WOW well if you see one by the river when fishing being eaten by a snake..then you are really the winner of that story, unless he was in your bed...yikes..Sarah:D

[5waldos]

#2: We saw a space shuttle launch several years ago from the deck of the Carnival Pride, about two hours after we'd sailed from Port Canaveral. Viewing a nighttime launch from the deck of a cruise ship was SPECTACULAR!

 

That would be really cool!

[Crusin Hogs]

Last January on the Freedom to Panama , 60 to 75 per cent of the passengers were 65 years old or older. Seemed at least twice a day medical team was called . Had a heart attack victim headed to Costa Rica

ship was really moving to get to port. Saw them take him off . Next port

SAME thing in Panama , . Leaving Panama ,that night , Lady fell getting out of Hot tub , People who saw her fall , said

bone was sticking out of her wrist. We had to detour to Cayman Islands

was not even a stop for us. Ship stopped off shore , small boat came out

took family off , to go to hospital. 4 cruises never seen so many medcial issues

[scooterpopsnana]

Cruising on the Miracle last year when it slammed a concrete pier in St. Kitts. Put a gash in the ship that you could see through to the crew's quarters.

Carnival had to fly in welders and equipment from Miami and PR. We were delayed overnight but it was our last port and it didn't matter to us.

 

My dh said, "how are we going to get home?" My response was "who cares, we are in St. Kitts on a ship, Carnival is going to get us back to Ft. Lauderdale eventually."

 

They repaired the ship and a rep from Lloyds of London sailed back to Florida with us.

 

It was a good time and I have the pics to remember it by.

 

 

My cousin was on that ship. Her DH posted a pic of him beside the hole with a caption that read "Spent my cruise vacation fighting pirates!"

[scooterpopsnana]

Was on another cruiseline, on an older ship sailing out of Charleston. The first day the seas were so rough that no one was out and about. Everyone was in the cabins and several had "do not disturb" signs on the doors. Around noon the second day, we finally made our way to a bar for some gingerale. We were wearing the patches. Hate to think how we would have been without them. We were well into the second day before we started seeing people having fun. Some of the crew said it was the winter waters going down the Atlantic seaboard that made it so rough.

 

The handicapped public bathrooms had toilets up on a pedistal. The bathroom outside of the shopping area was a private one with only one toilet. It had a "out of order" sign on it most of the cruise. I was coming out of one of the lounges and saw the sign gone and the door unlocked. My DH helped me inside (I am in a wheelchair) and waited outside the door for me. It turns out the toilet was out of order because it had come off of the pedistal. It supposedly had been repaired and new putty was put around the base of it. The putty had not dried and we were having some pretty rough seas again. The ship starting rocking as I stood up and then the toilet fell on top of me. I was on the floor, water everywhere, pants down and could not get up and a toilet ON TOP OF ME!. I crawled to the door and DH came in. He was followed by a man from one of the shops who heard my scream. He was more hysterical than I was. My DH got me dressed and into the chair. The worker began pushing me as, he was running to the infirmary. The doctor and the nurse were pre-occupied with some paperwork problem they were having. The x-ray machine did not work. I had a bruise the size of a saucer on my hip, twisted knee and ankle and a hurt back. After three hours of trying to get a x-ray, the doctor gave up. He said "Frankly, dear, I don't think anything is broken." He gave me a tube of generic muscle rub, no other pain medicine and told me to rest. Thank God I had my own prescription for pain medication. I took some and slept the rest of the day and missed formal night.

 

The next day our port of call was Key West. I had never been there and really wanted to see Mallory Square at sunset. My hubby pushed the wheelchair down those brick streets and with every bump, I moaned. I finally went back to the ship. I found a canape tray on my table from the nurse who said she was available if I needed her. No other follow-up from her or the doctor. Never heard from the company about the incident either.

 

And believe it or not, this was not my worse cruise. But, we won't go there.

[5waldos]

....And believe it or not, this was not my worse cruise. But, we won't go there.

 

Oh dear- that is a terrible story! You were ok in the end I hope?

[jen&samcantwait]

On the pride in March of this year, 80 knots straight line winds blew our ship away from the port, all the moring lines snapped but one, was nuts to see the front of the ship just floating away from the pier. Ended up being stuck there overnight and had to skip Nassau, but was an experience we will never forget, and have the pics to prove it!! :eek:

[goofytoo]

Cave tubing in Belize when they were having a flood in Belize City.

 

We signed up with Major Tom.

 

Carnival had to cancel their excursion because buses were not allowed on the roads. Major Tom found out about buses being prohibted and brought a couple of passenger van's to pick us up. He told us about the flooding and told us not to worry because it was only in the city and would not affect the cave tubing.

 

We got in the vans and we were off. The streets just outside of the city were covered in about 2 feet of water. Children were walking to school through the water. Their buses were not allowed on the roads either, but they still had school. There were people snorkeling and spear fishing for talapia in the ditches along the road.

 

At one point we came to a road blocked by the army. Major Tom got out of the van and talked to one of the guards. They shook hands and he came back and told us that it was taken care of. We just had to get out of the van and walk through a deeper part of the water. They would drive the empty van through it and we could get back in. So of course we did. We were planning on getting wet anyway. We got back in the van and we were on our way.

 

Once we got to the tubing place we were the only group there. The guides were very excited. Apparently the river had changed course a little and it would be the first time they were on the changed river. They were having a great time re-discovering the river with us. They were very careful and we had a great time. There were only about twenty of us there the whole time we were there. Another small group of people came when our group was leaving.

 

Of course I was worried the whole time that they were going to close the roads and we would not make it back to the ship. But we made it back in time.

[scooterpopsnana]

Oh dear- that is a terrible story! You were ok in the end I hope?

 

When I got back to NC, I went to the ER. I had pulled a muscle in my back, a hematoma on the hip, and a torn ligament in the knee. My travel insurance did not want to cover the costs, but I finally won out. I did have an incident report from the doctor.

 

My husband likes to laugh about it now. I was coming out of one of the lounges where I had been in a beading class. I had chosen some of the prettier beads and wanted to save them for the next thing we were going to make. I had them in my pocket, but when I fell, they rolled out. My DH tells everyone, there she was showing everything, water everywhere and she is saying, "get my beads". Actually, I think I may have said that as I was being wisked away.

 

Thank you for asking. That was cruise #3. We are doing #7 in 43 days. I now have a scooter. ;)

[5waldos]

So---Did you get the beads???? I now have a scooter. Because of the fall? Please tell me it isn't so!

 

 

I guess I also had an adventure when we were in Cozumel at the very very beginning of the swine flu epidemic. In fact, everyone swore there was NO flu in Cozumel. Well, my entire family came home and about 3 days later came down with it. I got quite sick, and then had that awful awful cough for a month- finally ending up in surgery having coughed myself a hernia. Then managed to come down with it a second time (obviously it had mutated a bit) in the fall at the height of the epidemic.

 

But at least we waited to finish our cruise before we got sick! Other than that it was an uneventful cruise.

[SWACK]

We were traveling form England to Ireland, and took an overnight Irish Ferry to Dublin. We boarded at 1am, and since it was only a 6 hour trip, just thought we'd sleep in the lounge.

 

Apparently the Irish men drinking and singing all night in the lounge had a different idea!

[LadyTenorJD]

Cruising on the Miracle last year when it slammed a concrete pier in St. Kitts. Put a gash in the ship that you could see through to the crew's quarters.

Carnival had to fly in welders and equipment from Miami and PR. We were delayed overnight but it was our last port and it didn't matter to us.

 

My dh said, "how are we going to get home?" My response was "who cares, we are in St. Kitts on a ship, Carnival is going to get us back to Ft. Lauderdale eventually."

 

They repaired the ship and a rep from Lloyds of London sailed back to Florida with us.

 

It was a good time and I have the pics to remember it by.

 

Wow. I'm on this ship next. Hopefully this won't happen, but if it does, I won't mind being stranded on the ship in St. Kitts!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

RCCL Monarch of the Seas June 2011

Carnival Miracle December 2011 <-----birthday/holiday cruise

Carnival Dream May 2012

???? December 2012 <-----birthday/holiday cruise

[DocF]

A ferry story, not a cruise. We had to drive to Marquette, MI in the early 1950s. I think it was when my great-grandmother died. It was winter and the state ferries at the Straits of Mackinac could not deal with pack and windrow ice, so Michigan would charter the railroad ferry Ste Marie, which had a bow propeller.

 

We got stuck, the other railroad ferry, the Chief Wawatam, got stuck trying to break us loose. The Coast Guard ice breaker Mackinaw was in Detroit, so about 5 days away.

 

The Ann Arbor railroad had dispatched it best ice breaker, the Ann Arbor No. 5, try and work up into the Straits and break us out. Fortunately, the wind shifted and we were freed. This is why they do not cruise the Great Lakes in the winter.:p

 

Doc

[5waldos]

[quote name='DocF']
We got stuck, the other railroad ferry, the [I]Chief Wawatam, [/I]got stuck trying to break us loose. The Coast Guard ice breaker Mackinaw was in Detroit, so about 5 days away.

Doc[/QUOTE]

And I would bet not a warm chocolate melting cake on the lot of them!

[scooterpopsnana]

[B][COLOR=blue]So---Did you get the beads???? I now have a scooter. Because of the fall? Please tell me it isn't so!
[/COLOR][/B]

[B][COLOR=purple]Yes, I did get the beads...DH got them. I was able to make a nice bracelet with them later. No, the scooter comes from having cancer. Chemo left me with some damage that causes me to be short of breath and I can't tolerate walking. Thanks for asking.[/COLOR]
[/B]

[WorkedOnShips]

[quote name='Crusin Hogs']Last January on the Freedom to Panama , 60 to 75 per cent of the passengers were 65 years old or older. Seemed at least twice a day medical team was called . Had a heart attack victim headed to Costa Rica
ship was really moving to get to port. Saw them take him off . Next port
SAME thing in Panama , . Leaving Panama ,that night , Lady fell getting out of Hot tub , People who saw her fall , said
bone was sticking out of her wrist. We had to detour to Cayman Islands
was not even a stop for us. Ship stopped off shore , small boat came out
took family off , to go to hospital. 4 cruises never seen so many medcial issues[/quote]

I worked on a cruise ship in Alaska where the average age was 70+. We actually had a "freezer" morgue on board, but sometimes that would fill up quickly. I was friends with the Doctor on board at the time, and he would whisper "SOFT ICE CREAM", which meant they had run out of morgue room and started using regular freezer space for the bodies until we came to the next port. UGG... To this day I can't eat soft ice cream.

[Room Service!]

WOW! Some real adventures being told. They sure make for an interesting read.
Glad everyone made it through.

[5waldos]

[quote name='scooterpopsnana'][B][COLOR=blue]So---Did you get the beads???? I now have a scooter. Because of the fall? Please tell me it isn't so!
[/COLOR][/B]

[B][COLOR=purple]Yes, I did get the beads...DH got them. I was able to make a nice bracelet with them later. No, the scooter comes from having cancer. Chemo left me with some damage that causes me to be short of breath and I can't tolerate walking. Thanks for asking.[/COLOR]
[/B][/QUOTE]

Oh- I am sorry. Hope it was successful. And at least you can zoom around going Beep beep- outa my way younguns! But glad you got the beads- you certainly paid quite a price for them!

[crusinpsychRN]

I was in Cozumel and there were a lot of armed militia around carrying machine guns. After I reboarded 2 guys in their 20's came running at full speed to the ship chased by 2 militia who were screaming for the guys to halt. The boys just ran. They were stopped by crew and the militia guys wanted to arrest them. There was a lot of shouting. After about 15 minutes the captain showed up and was able to convince the militia men he'd confine the boys for the rest of the trip. Never did find out what they'd done.

I was 13 and traveling on the Queen Elizabeth. The first night the seas were very rough. We were at dinner and the water in the glasses was moving a lot. The waiter served my dinner and came back asking me something unintelligible. I said "Excuse me?" and he repeated whatever he'd said but I still couldn't understand him. After his 3rd try I was too embarrased to say I couldn't understand his rather thick English accent and just said yes. He proceeded to pour thin, slimy green liquid all over my lamb. Mint sauce. My stomach was already reacting to the waves. I backed up as fast as I could and nearly lost it.

I went to my cabin and shortly after the waiter came to my cabin with an apple asking if I felt better. He asked if I wanted a tour of the crew area and he took me to all kinds of places I'd never have been able to see. He a a perfect gentleman. I can't imagine that today! I'd see him all over the ship doing maintenance and in the DR. He was very nice.

[5waldos]

[B]I went to my cabin and shortly after the waiter came to my cabin with an apple asking if I felt better. He asked if I wanted a tour of the crew area and he took me to all kinds of places I'd never have been able to see. He a a perfect gentleman. [I]I can't imagine that today! [/I]I'd see him all over the ship doing maintenance and in the DR. He was very nice.[/B]

And isn't that sad- I don't think the people have changed, I think our fear of them has.

[sjn911]

[quote name='DocF']A ferry story, not a cruise. We had to drive to Marquette, MI in the early 1950s. I think it was when my great-grandmother died. It was winter and the state ferries at the Straits of Mackinac could not deal with pack and windrow ice, so Michigan would charter the railroad ferry [I]Ste Marie[/I], which had a bow propeller.

We got stuck, the other railroad ferry, the [I]Chief Wawatam, [/I]got stuck trying to break us loose. The Coast Guard ice breaker Mackinaw was in Detroit, so about 5 days away.

The Ann Arbor railroad had dispatched it best ice breaker, the [I]Ann Arbor No. 5[/I], try and work up into the Straits and break us out. Fortunately, the wind shifted and we were freed. This is why they do not cruise the Great Lakes in the winter.:p

Doc[/quote]
That is a good one...makes me think of Gordon Lightfoot's song...I always loved and not that old really..sad history...Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald...
[url]http://gordonlightfoot.com/wreckoftheedmundfitzgerald.shtml[/url]
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0DqPSF2fyo[/url]

[fourcruisin]

[quote name='scooterpopsnana']My cousin was on that ship. Her DH posted a pic of him beside the hole with a caption that read "Spent my cruise vacation fighting pirates!"[/QUOTE]

Good one! I have a bunch of pics. It was pretty cool to see so much activity going on all night outside the ship. The shops at the port area stayed open later so a lot of people hung out and enjoyed the extra time in St. Kitts.

[5waldos]

[quote name='sjn911']That is a good one...makes me think of Gordon Lightfoot's song...I always loved and not that old really..sad history...Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald...
[url]http://gordonlightfoot.com/wreckoftheedmundfitzgerald.shtml[/url]
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0DqPSF2fyo[/url][/QUOTE]


Also a great favorite of mine- thanks for the link- never saw it and the pictures of the Edmund Fitzgerald are quite haunting.