Bad luck tried to steal our cruise but we fought back!

[Capt. Johnny]

First off this is not a post complaining about anything on our last cruise. It is a post explaining how the worst day of cruising in the Caribbean is still better than the best day at the office.:D

 

With that said, my DW and DS were on our first cruise on the Disney Magic in March 2006 to the Eastern Caribbean. Three things then happened which could have just ruined the whole paradise adventure if we let them.

 

1. In St. Marten, my DW tripped on a curb and fell flat on her knees, elbows, wrists, and face on the every so hard concrete. She had an amazing amount of serious road rash. We went back to the cabin, bought some triple anti-biotic ($$$) in the gift store and headed back out. There was no way she was going to miss St. Marten.:eek:

 

2. That evening my wonderful and charming DS knocked my wifes only pair of prescription glasses off of the bed in our cabin and they found themselves right under my shoe with all 260 pounds of me in that shoe at the time. Crushed, one lense popped out, looking like she was from a freak show. I spent 45 minutes bending and twisting those glasses until they could sit on her face without falling off. In some amazing turn of events I was able to get the lense back in with those little fish line holders they have these days. Off to high tea she went totally amazed, but un-fazed by the second attempt on our paradise vacation.:eek:

 

3. So we go to dinner in the Animator's Palate on the Magic and at some point my wife yells. Her diamond ring is sitting in her hand right were it should be, minus the diamond. This is where I wish I had won that lottery and bought the big 6 carat diamond as the just over half carat diamond was gone. She left the dinner, went to the front desk to report it and started checking the ship. Yes, I said checking the ship. She had grown attached to that diamond over the past fifteen years. I couldn't shake her from this tradegy, she was depressed. We went back to our cabin that evening and on a total hunch and to make her feel better, I got down on my hands and knees and checked the floor. This was really much more of my husbandly duty to try and find the diamond than an actual attempt. In my mind I was sure it was lying back on that street in St. Marten where she had fallen. While I'm on hands and knees on the floor I actually find the blinking shiny little devil in the cabin, on the floor between the bathroom door and the closet. I stand there speechless holding the lonely diamond in my hand when my DW realizes what I found. Hang on cause this is where it gets just a tad funny. DW screams and screams in pure excitement. Only one small problem, her screams of excitement could very easily be interpreted as the screams of someone who needed help as well. Now my mind is racing with the thought of members of the crew coming and knocking on our door, finding my DW with terrible black and blue bruises on her knees, wrist, elbows, chin and nose, and glasses that have just recently been de-mangled by me. It was enough to make me cringe. On top of that this all happened when we were totaly sober, really.:eek:

 

I see many messages on these boards on the bad breaks and terrible things that can happen on a cruise. We are just getting ready for our next one, this time with RCCL, back into the Caribbean. Vacations are a state of mind and we just wouldn't give in. It was an awesome cruise and we can't wait to go back. We were survivors and I had a few Konk Coolers in the Bahamas to celebrate!!:cool:

 

Anyone else out there have a "you won't believe what happened to us" cruise story??

[fungirl28]

I just wanted to tell you that I love your attitude. I'm a glass-half-full type person and I always try to make the best out of a bad situation(I'm NOT pretty when I cry). You and your wife had some serious bumps and you didn't let it ruin your vacation. Welcome to RCI and happy sailing

[cb at sea]

Are you sure I wasn't on vacation with your family??? I thought these things only happened to me!!!!

[LABCHICK]

Nothing like that has ever happened to us, but you sure are one lucky guy to find that diamond. I would die if I lost my 3 carat stone. So would DH. Enjoy your next cruise. I hope things go alittle smoother.

 

Judi :)

[kruzerci]

I have a pretty good one :D -

 

Back in 2003, we took a 5 day cruise on Carnival's Imagination to Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman with my kids, my brother and his family, and our parents. The trip didn't get off to a great start!

 

Day 1 (Pre-Cruise)- We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale after driving all night from Atlanta (something we never should have tried and will never do again !!!) After we got to Ft. Lauderdale, we checked into the Embassy Suites and decided to fill out all of our boarding documents and luggage tags before we got on the ship the next day. After searching for an hour, my wife remembered she left the Carnival ticket booklet on the kitchen counter at home :eek: ! Luckily, we drove down a day early, so we got our neighbors to overnight it to the Embassy suites and we got it the morning of the cruise.

 

Day 2 (Boarding Day)- Left the Embassy Suites and headed down to the Port of Miami. Right after we got out of the hotel parking lot, we got stopped at a red light. I look in the rear view mirror and see a car coming behind us, and it doesn't look like they were slowing down. Well, they didn't. So, we get rear ended on the way to our cruise :mad: . My Explorer wasn't in too bad of shape since the car that hit us was a Mustang, but I still had a torn off bumper and all of the wheels were way out of allignment.

 

Fast forward to Day 4 (Ocho Rios)- All of the family except my wife and me went to Dunns River Falls. We just had a relaxing day on the ship. At about 3:00 PM we began to wonder why nobody was back yet. We waited a little while longer and finally we saw my parents with both my kids and my brother's kids, but no John and Jody (brother and sister in law). My mom told me that Jody slipped on the rocks and broke her arm and elbow at the falls and they were at the hospital (IN JAMAICA :eek: !!!) To make a long story short, they missed the ship and had to fly back to Miami and missed the rest of the cruise.

 

Day 5 (Grand Cayman)- We had a cabin flood and the toilets throughout the hall were backing up into the bathrooms. This problem lasted until the last night.

 

Day 6 (At Sea)- Air conditioning went out on our entire deck.

 

Day 7 (Back at Miami)- We were very glad to be on our way back home!!!! We needed a Royal Caribbean cruise-- DESPERATELY! :D

[Alexis]

You are proof that no matter how bad it can get, it can be turned around with a good attitude.

I applaud you both for your great attitude.

I am so glad it all worked out for you. ;)

[Sheffie]

DW screams and screams in pure excitement. Only one small problem, her screams of excitement could very easily be interpreted as the screams of someone who needed help as well.

 

Or maybe they thought you got lucky and were having a REALLY good time! ;) ;)

 

What a great story! Glad things worked out well!

[Sheffie]

Last year, minutes before we were leaving our hotel for the Serenade, I rammed my suitcase into my big toe and literally lifted the skin right off the tip of it. There was so much blood that it pooled in my flipflop. (Big time ouch.) My DH ran up to the corner pharmacy to get some triple-antibiotic (must be what wonderful DHs do), and some bandaids for it. I just knew that my cruise was ruined! We love to snorkel - okay, imagine salt water on that toe. I kept the toe well bandaged so that no one would stub into it, and I don't know how I got so lucky, but I NEVER felt any pain in that poor toe the rest of the cruise. My DH still cannot believe that it didn't hurt in the salt water.

[babyfacebabe86]

I just wanted to tell you that I love your attitude. I'm a glass-half-full type person and I always try to make the best out of a bad situation(I'm NOT pretty when I cry). You and your wife had some serious bumps and you didn't let it ruin your vacation. Welcome to RCI and happy sailing

 

 

I'll be getting off explorer when u get on...:p

[Janice M]

Capt. Johnny

 

Thanks for the great story. We need more with your attitude. I fractured my foot on a cruise ship and I did not let that spoil my cruise. My DH had to push me in a wheel chair and he had a detatched rotator cuff. He got the injury playing with our grandson at home. He had put off surgury to go on the cruise. No we did not sue RCI or get a free cruise. This was 5 cruises ago and we still love RCI.

 

Jan

[lori450]

Great attitude!

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

Thanks for sharing your story, and kudos for the positive attitude! :)

 

By the way, I'm an MHS graduate . . . Go Warriors!!! :D

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

I commend all of you for having such great attitudes...KUDO'S!!!

 

 

***

[Capt. Johnny]

Thanks for sharing your story' date=' and kudos for the positive attitude! :)

 

By the way, I'm an MHS graduate . . . Go Warriors!!! :D

[/font']

 

No way, I graduated MHS in errr, uhmm, '82:rolleyes:

[fungirl28]

I'll be getting off explorer when u get on...:p

You picked a great ship for a first cruise. Are you all packed yet? I'm getting a little frantic trying to get everything together.:D

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

No way, I graduated MHS in errr, uhmm, '82:rolleyes:

 

Yeah, time marches on, huh? :( '87 here. I still have no clue where 20 years have gone !!

 

Now then, back to our regularly scheduled topic . . . :D

[Capt. Johnny]

Bumpity bump, bump, bump:D

[Lisichka]

I really don't have a lot of bad stories, but I have to say my cruise on the Carnival Destiny was less than perfect. After getting off that ship, I swore I would never go on another cruise again. The dining room smelled like urine, and made me gag every time we went there to eat. My son's bed crashed 4 times during the cruise (yes.....the legs buckeled, and he was on the floor 4 separate nights). One day we found.....well, who knows what kind of stains on the newly made bedsheets.

 

On my last cruise I had an experience that probably is going to make me look and sound really blonde: I am a little claustrophobic and panic when I find myself in rooms or places that I cannot control getting out off. One night I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Our cabin was pitch black, even though it was a balcony cabin. I do not like to turn the lights on for fear of waking the children. After I was ready to come out of the bathroom, I realized that for the life of me I could not remember where the light switch was, or where the door knob was. As I start feeling around the bathroom walls, I cannot find either. It is pitch dark, and I feel myself beginning to panic. Finally (though probably less than a minute passed), in total panic mode and fear, I scream for the kids to come and get me out of the bathroom, that I cannot find the light switch or the door knob. My 12 year old promptly turns on the light.....and stares at me in disbelief. There I was: in the bathroom....the door wide open. I had not even closed it, and could have just walked out.

 

I know. You don't have to tease me. My kids do it on a daily basis. I am sure this will be one of those stories that will be repeated many times over..... :o

[stanford's girl]

Here's my contibution:

My husband and I were on our honeymoon cruise on a Princess ship 22 years ago. We decided instead of going into port, we would just stay on the ship and get some sun. After a great day by the pool and watching the ship sail from PV, we went back to our cabin to get dressed for dinner.



I opened the door and went in first, after I kicked my flip flops off by the door. We were so busy talking that neither of us looked down at the floor. All of a sudden I felt this sharp pain in both feet and looked down.The floor was covered with broken glass everywhere and my feet were bleeding!!!



We looked at our porthole window and saw that there was no glass in it!! Now we're both wondering what the heck happened. Called the front desk and they sent someone up. Seems that as they were bringing up the gangplank, it took an unexpected swing and smashed through our porthole window.



They sent me down to the ships doctor and he cleaned out the glass and bandaged my feet up. Then he told me that I would need to stay off my feet as much as possible. I started to laugh and said "since I'm on my honeymoon, I don't think that will be a problem!! By the time we got back to the cabin, they had already put new glass in the porthole.



Did they offer us anything for this? No



Did we demand anything for this? No



Since this was our first cruise, did it stop us from cruising? No



All cruises aren't perfect and things can go wrong. You just have to not dwell on the bad stuff and continue to enjoy yourself.



In spite of what happened, we had a wonderful honeymoon!! :D

[MercedMike]

I see many messages on these boards on the bad breaks and terrible things that can happen on a cruise. We are just getting ready for our next one, this time with RCCL, back into the Caribbean. Vacations are a state of mind and we just wouldn't give in. It was an awesome cruise and we can't wait to go back. We were survivors and I had a few Konk Coolers in the Bahamas to celebrate!!:cool:

 

LOL -- what a great attitude! With that kind of mindset you are going to enjoy anything that happens to you.

 

Just a hint for the future, and for lurkers ... having spent many years in the diamond business, and lots of time on my knees looking for itty bitty diamonds that I managed to drop -- the secret is to get the brightest flashlight you can find and shine it around. Those little devils are so sparkly that you will amost always pick up a flash of reflection from them!

[Lisichka]

Then he told me that I would need to stay off my feet as much as possible. I started to laugh and said "since I'm on my honeymoon' date=' I don't think that will be a problem!! [/size']

 

:D Too funny!!

[AudioFilly]

Glad you bumped the post. I missed it the first time around.

 

I'll share our family vacation motto with you. Even though it actually came into fruition on a land based vacation, we have found it is good for cruises as well.

 

Our first day at an AI in Cozumel, couldn't wait to get out to the beach and start snorkeling. I was having problems with my mask leaking, so I bobbled my way back to the shallow area to try and fix it. I say bobbled because it is hard to be graceful trying to walk in fins.

 

I was standing there concentrating so hard on the mask that I stopped paying attention to the current. Suddenly it seemed to swirl me around and knocked me off my feet. I ended up coming down really hard on my knee on the coral reef beneath me. Let me tell you, the coral burned like fire.

 

I finally managed to get my husband's attention. He helped me hobble up to our room. We got into the shower to scrub out the wound. He was still standing there washing out our swimsuits and I went to step out of the tub. As I am stepping out, I have a flash of realization that the entire floor is Mexican ceramic tile and there is no bath mat or towel down there. But it doesn't matter, because I have had this realization too late. I've already begun to shift my weight and there is no stopping the forward momentum.

 

Sure enough as my foot makes contact it is like stepping onto wet ice. I just see myself falling straight towards the toilet. And the edge seems to be lined up perfectly with my ribs. I decided mid-fall that there was nothing I could do to stop and would probably only do more damage by trying. So I just relaxed into it, closed my eyes, and waited for the pain to come.

 

When I opened my eyes I found myself on the floor twisted like a pretzel. I was wedged between the toilet and the tub. One leg was turned funny in front of me and the other leg was still hooked over the edge of the tub. All I could see was my husband's horrified face.

 

After a few rounds of my saying, "Don't touch me!" and his assuring me I was going to need help, we finally managed to get me out of the bathroom and onto the bed. I took a quick inventory of all my bones, relieved to find that miraculously nothing felt broken. He was now leaning over me dabbing my original injury with Neosporin when he looked up and with perfect deadpan delivery said, "It ain't vacation until somebody bleeds!"

 

Now anytime we are on vacation and have any kind of mishap come up, one of us will look at the other and utter our new family vacation motto. Then we just laugh ourselves silly. Anyone overhearing us probably thinks we are complete lunatics, but we don't care. We're on vacation! :D

[CruisinMommas]

Last fall while on our cruise we had luggage damage to start. But On the 4th day of the cruise while we were in St. Martin's I fell off the segway( the human transporter). I hit the ground head first and got a gigantic bump on my forehad. We ferried back to the ship and saw the dr. He said take tylenol and keep ice on my head. So our lovely room attendant Tess kept a constant supply of ice for me. I rested in bed for the rest of the day. The next day I was bound and determined to see San Juan and we did.

I was walking around the ship with purple circles under my eyes much like a racoon. We still had a great time on that cruise. We were back on a ship in Feb, but no more daring excursions for me. I still have a tiny lump to remind me no no.

[BEVGOO]

Sunday New Year's Day 2000. Woke up with a horrible toothache and couldn't contact the dentist. On Monday he rushed me in and said I had to take antibiotics and have a root canal done asap. All I can think is "WE LEAVE FOR A CRUISE IN 12 DAYS". The infection clears up and I get the root canal and a temporary cap in time to leave for the cruise. During all of this time I am not eating a lot because of pain, etc. I am thinking this is good to get rid of the last few pounds b/4 the cruise. No big deal and I can eat all I want on the cruise.

 

January 14th, we leave Ft. Lauderdale and the seas are so rough everyone except my DH is seasick. I stay in bed for 2 days while he toughs it out. I DO NOT EAT ANYTHING AT ALL FOR THE FIRST TWO DAYS OF THE CRUISE.

Third morning, we dock in St. Thomas. I get up and eat breakfast and go on with the next 8 days of the cruise. Thank goodness it was a 10 dayer. Never had that problem b/4 or after this cruise.

 

THIS IS THE ONLY CRUISE I CAME HOME FROM SKINNIER THAN WHEN I LEFT!

[ontheopenseas]

Our first cruise on Disney was a three night cruise. It was the first cruise for my children. I had planned for months and months and we were all so excited!

 

The first night I decided to be adventurous and try escargot for the first time! Big mistake!!!! I never was so sick in my life and hope to never be as sick again as I was for the next 24 hours. It definitely made me appreciate the bigger bathrooms on DCL! That toilet and I, we were the best of friends, we were the worst of friends! DH got me some tummy medicine and watched Jerry Maguire over and over in the cabin. He actually found this relaxing. The kids were off happy as clams (not snails!) in the kids clubs. I wasn't able to eat my dinner the next night which was sad since I had already eaten in my head many times while planning.

 

However, when we awoke the following morning I felt fine. We had the most perfect day at Castaway Cay. And if you ask us how our cruise was, we will all tell you (and mean it!) that it was wonderful. It turned out one of our tablemates had the same problem after eating her escargot. I hope she enjoyed her cruise just as much in the end!