LuvBNatC

Micki

 

If NCL had done this (and I doubt they would) I'd be sending "shame on you" emails to top Execs in their corporate offices.

 

John

PS

I don't know such people at the other cruise lines

Speaking of NCL, (I'm working from memory here, but I have a file on this several inches thick with all the details if I need to back myself up)...

Back when the SS Norway had a boiler explosion that ended the ship's sailing life in 2003, 8 or 9 crew members were essentially boiled alive and more than a dozen were seriously injured. I believe most them were from the Philippines, and NCL offered the survivors' families $10,000, citing that the crew contracts with NCL were governed by Philippine law because that's where they were hired, and that's all they'd get in court there.

The crew had a maritime lawyer in Miami named William Huggett who was going to fight for more, but he suddenly dropped dead. I don't know how/if the case was ever resolved.

But I would say offering $10K as compensation for losing the family breadwinner is unconscionable.

The cruise lines' main concern is the bottom line and pleasing the stockholders. There's an endless supply of crew in poor countries that would never go to bat for them against some monstrous American corporation, so there's no incentive for the lines to be decent about their treatment.

Holy crap! Last week, Richmond, VA, outside PetSmart, I was approached by a woman with bad teeth who was new to town, just been on a job interview, sister was supposed to pick her up but her fuel pump broke, had been waiting in the cold 2 hours, but some "taxi" guy (there are literally NO taxis in this neck of town--should have tipped me off) offered to take her home for $15, but she only had $4. "Home" was a good 30 miles one way.

Me, the sucker, gave her a dollar. Now I feel like a chump. :o Thanks for the warning!

Your journal is lovely. Always nice to add the personal touch.

I hope you fill it with wonderful observations and memorable adventures. Bon Voyage!

Buying supplies for 3 cats, I spend a lot of time in PetSmart (PetsMart, whatever. Can never remember how they capitalize it). Quite a few people bring their dogs (who poop and pee all over the floor), but I never see anybody with a cat.

I think it's because so many cats tend to fly off the handle when they encounter strange animals. I was thinking which of my cats I'd take with me anywhere who might not go postal on me, and it's got to be Fred, my 15-year-old.

He posed with me for my book jacket at a professional photo shoot and behaved like a supermodel. Only once or twice did he make a half-hearted attempt to leave.

But I didn't see how truly peeved he was with the whole thing until I saw the proofs of all the pictures the photographer took. In some of the last ones, the look of disgust on Fred's face as he stared straight at the camera was priceless. But he never moved.

I guess cats' personalities are just more unpredictable than dogs', which is why you don't see them out socializing as much.

Denise, I've always thought that "Men are from Dogs, Women are from Cats." When you consider all the men occupying the corner officers, it explains why Corporate America promotes working like a dog instead of a cat.

I just think it's too bad no cat has ever been trained to be a seeing-eye cat or whatever so it could take a cruise like some companion dogs do, complete with special poopy turf laid out on their balconies.

Then I could write "How to Cruise Like a Cat." :D

Karen

Why, thank you! :) Turning the journals into a book is something I've always wanted to do but more pressing projects (like making a living) keep getting in the way. I hope someday not too far off, I will. I've had quite a few shipboard romances and "insider"-type experiences, so the book wouldn't be lacking in the "steam" department. But writing about people still living is a tricky proposition, and has also held me back.

A few years ago, I wrote a novel set on a cruise ship that was meant to be first in a series (sort of like "The Love Boat" with a changing cast of characters but without the silliness). One agent was interested, had me rewrite the whole thing to shorten it, then rejected it.

Since then, I've stuck to non-fiction. The truth isn't as vulnerable to bad advice as fiction.

But if you'd like to see what I have done lately, visit www.worklikeacat.com. If I could combine cats and cruising, I'd be all set. Unfortunately, they don't allow cats on cruise ships. :D

I just came across this old thread, but I hope there's still some interest.

Buying a new "cruise journal" is one of my delights in planning each cruise. I usually find them in Barnes & Noble, and over the years I have standardized on hard-bound 4x6 size for several reasons:

1. Spiral notebooks were getting me searched in airports, even before 9/11. The curly wire always aroused suspicion for some reason.

2. Spiral notebooks become a storage problem because the wires get tangled. Also, the pages rip out too easily.

3. I often write on airplanes, and a smaller notebook makes it easy to cover with my hand to discourage the "looky-loo" in the seat beside me. Whenever someone sees you writing, they always seem to assume you're writing about them. If they're interesting enough, I often am! The smaller notebook is also easier to carry around in my purse. The little Moleskins are nice.

Since I often cruise alone, my journal becomes my best friend. I can sit on deck for hours, recording everything I want to remember. People have approached me and said, "We've walked around this deck all morning, and you're still here, just writing away!"

Well, I do happen to be a writer by profession, so that makes it easy. I enjoy escaping from computers to longhand.

If you're new to journaling, I have one suggestion. Buy a notebook with high-quality paper, use an archival quality pen, and only write on one side of the page. I've got journals in plain composition books written on both sides in ballpoint that have bled through. I learned my lesson the hard way.

And for the sake of your finger, make sure the paper is very smooth or you'll get a callous if you write a lot. I have a permanent one on the outside of my ring finger on my right hand.

At last count, I think I have 34 volumes of cruise journals. Since I have no children, I'm wondering who will read them next (if anybody). Quite a few of them hold some juicy stories!

I've done back-to-back cruises a few times, and always seemed to pick up a cold while visiting shore in between the sailings and be miserable for the second week. Now I always take Cold-Eze.

Have also suffered Montezuma's Revenge with a vengeance after eating one piece of raw potato that was an appetizer at Carlos & Charlie's in Cozumel. Now I never go without Immodium.

Another time I became deathly ill (fever, chills, diarrhea) about 2 days after returning from a cruise. Don't know if I picked it up on the ship or in the airport, but I suspect it was norovirus. Lasted 4-5 days.

This year my father started getting a cough toward the end of our week in Bermuda that got increasingly worse. He couldn't shake it even after we got home.

So after all the weird little tummy/bladder troubles, sinus attacks, headaches, cuts, bug bites, etc., I and companions have sustained on cruises, I have assembled a little medicine kit that's a virtual OTC drugstore, with more in it than I keep in my own bathroom!

All sightings on the Norway:

In 1988, I sailed with a group of about 30 people with the actor Jonathan Frid, who played a vampire named Barnabas Collins on a daytime soap, "Dark Shadows," that was huge in the late 1960s. It still has great cult status. Like many actors who play roles that define their careers, Frid was trying to detach from his Barnabas persona, but he's finally relented and is appearing at the annual DS convention in NY to celebrate Barnabas' 40th anniversary in August.

In 1990 (I think) I accidentally ended up on a "Wheel of Fortune" cruise where people were being tested to become contestants on the show. Vanna White got on 3 days later in St. Maarten and was very reclusive. All week, people had their pictures taken with a life-size cut-out of her because it was the closest they were going to get.

Pat Sajak got on the ship in Miami briefly for photos, but got off before we sailed.

Also made a transatlantic crossing in 1997 with the maritime historian John Maxtone-Graham and his twin brother (who isn't identical, but close enough to make you look twice). My friend couldn't remember M-G's name and kept calling him "Maxwell-House," so everyone started referring to his brother as "Decaf" to tell them apart.