gooch47

This actually happened to us with a Hawaiian Cruise Line. And we had already paid in full. Luckily our credit card company stepped in and refunded us the entire amount.

Obviously I don't know for sure that it was because I was a woman. I do remember on one trip each boat had four people. On the one I was on, the only other woman on the whole tour was put with us. And no fish. We went on a tour at a lake near Haines, Alaska, and the guide was amazed I was the only one on the boat who could cast worth a darn.

The Rug Store in Istambul. Apparently they thought all Americans were millionaires. Showing rugs that cost many thousands of dollars. No way to escape. Can't remember the port, but one stop in Australia where the bus driver had no idea what the itinerary was supposed to be. We were supposed to go to some kind of "Gnome City" which I had no interest in, but he said there was no such place. We stopped at a place where we were supposed to "interact" with dolphins. Nope. Gift shop only. Any of the fishing trips we booked. Apparently since I was an older female they figured I couldn't fish when I was actually a very accomplished, experienced fisherman. We never caught anything anywhere. The guides also probably figured they would never see us again so didn't try very hard at all. One trip in Alaska, every other boat with all males aboard came back with fish. Us? Nothing. Any trip that had a shopping stop. Many of them unscheduled.

I hope you are not not believing my story. It is as true as I can remember. We definitely didnt get into our cabin until midnight. Because we tried to follow the directions of the crew I'm pretty sure we were the last two to board. Parking and traffic was a disaster even though we flew in and it wasnt our problem. Imagine all the passengers already parked in the garages and lots and a whole new group trying to find places. The workers outside probably weren't NCL employees. To make matters worse, quite a few of them just left when their shift was over. I did feel sorry for the crew on the ship. It had to have been a nightmare for them, too.

Mine was actually before the cruise started. March 13, 2011, on the NCL Spirit. We arrived at the port in New Orleans, they took our bags, but it was very early so we went into the French Quarter. We came back to the port. No ship. We decided to wait in the mall. It closed at something like 4:00. No ship. We went outside the mall and there was a huge line to get into the building. Actually several lines. As people arrived, especially the NCL busses, they just started their own new line. We waited and waited. No restrooms, no place to sit, no food or water. No ship. They finally started letting individuals into the building to use the restroom but you had to surrender your passport or driver's license to claim when you came back out. They brought out trays of sandwiches and bottles of water but those disappeared immediately. I think the ship arrived at something like 7:00 p.m. I can't really remember. They had diverted to Key West to offload a medical emergency. I have absolutely no problem with them doing that. People were lined up on the ship to get off. Of course it takes a while to offload the luggage. Once people started to disembark, the line outside disintegrated. It was a huge crush of people just trying to get as close to the entrance as possible. We stayed back, actually afraid of being injured. We finally got to the door. We followed directions of the workers. I think we were the only two who did. We were told to sit in a certain area and our group would be called to check in. They never called our group. We finally broke rank and got in a line to check in. We finally got to our cabin at midnight Nothing to eat. Exhausted.

Our waiter missed the ship once. We were in Tauranga, NZ, the first cruise ship to visit there after 9/11. It seems like the entire population of the area came to the pier to wave goodbye and thank us for coming. That, of course, caused a horrible traffic jam. Our waiter got stuck in it. Fortunately our next stop was also in NZ so he made it by land. He said he didn't get in trouble.

Thought of another one. Our Princess ship pulled into the harbor at Monte Carlo. There were dozens of huge yachts there. The captain came on the PA system saying, in a singsong voice, "My boat's bigger than your boat."

Had an obviously new assistant waiter ask me over and over again if I wanted vinegar on my pancakes. I finally just said yes. He brought syrup.

We arrived at the Port of Miami and our ship wasn't there. We were a day early, LOL. Much better than being a day late, I guess. We were booked on a cruise out of Barbados. We decided to go down a few days early and stay at a hotel. Then we got a notice from Delta that they weren't flying to Barbados on the day we had booked and the only flight that was available was on the day of the cruise. We got delayed in Washington, D. C. and arrived in Barbados with only about an hour to spare. Pick up luggage, go through immigration. When we got outside we found a Princess Rep who put us in a taxi to get to the pier. I can't remember but we probably had booked transportation with them. The ride to the pier was scary. We were the last ones to board. But we didn't miss the ship. We've been in the last group to board after ship sponsored excursions. Once after a fishing trip in Alaska, once after an offshore island resort tour in Fiji, maybe. The one in Fiji we were over 1.5 hours late getting back. I remember sitting on our balcony in Alaska frantically watching for our granddaughter and her parents to get back from walking into town. It was close to sail away and here they come, moseying up to the ship. I could have killed them.

I think the answer is every cruise anyone has been on since mid-January.

Two of them, actually. First was a Carnival Cruise that I won at a casino. Next to us was a cabin with 4 20-somethings. Across the hall were their four friends. All day and all night we got to listen to them going back and forth slamming doors and the balcony door. Pure misery. The other, sadly, was also one of my favorite cruises: 28-day circumnavigation of Australia. But towards the end it was just too long. I wanted to go home.

I came down with almost identical symptoms as the OP on January 12, but I hadn't been anywhere near a cruise ship. Casinos, yes. Cruise Ship, no. The Urgent Care doctor diagnosed me with the flu. Plain ol' flu. But I had virtually no fever and no aches or pains. Looking back I'm pretty sure it was Bronchitis.

I'm a little confused by this. Our daughter-in-law was taking multiple rounds of very potent chemotherapy and her immune system was virtually destroyed. Her oncologist gave her masks to wear to prevent her coming down with anything.

I take a medication that has coughing as a side effect. Add that to the fact that I had bronchitis back in January and still cough from time to time from that. I am very careful to cough into my sleeve or even down the neck of my shirt if it is stretchy enough. That is only common courtesy.

Find a restroom?