November 11, 2010

"A cruise is bad enough -- locked aboard a floating death-trap with people -- other people! -- with no means of escape."

"And then the ship stops. And the toilets stop working. And everything stinks like a sewer, which is a nice smell to smell when you're already possibly sea-sick. And then, worst of all, you find out that you're surrounded by magicians. What could be worse than a no-way-out floating sewage-smelling magician convention?"

On the up side, consider that people who go on a cruise are people who go on a cruise. How sensitive can they be?

121 comments:

Robin said...

Could have been worse, they could have been mimes.

campy said...

Mrs. campy & I go on cruises often. We enjoy them. How sensitive are we?

TML said...

Hey! We've been on THREE cruises (Royal Caribbean). They were awesome. Take that back! (And we're not Hillbillies) (Sorry, that was politically incorrect: Hill Williams or Appalachian Americans)

Quaestor said...

Cruise ship? What the hell?! It's like being stuck in a goddamned shopping mall for week with no way out.

campy said...

As a Royal Caribbean shareholder I thank you for your patronage, TML. :-)

TML said...

Campy, I made a freaking KILLING buying RCL at $9.13. A freaking killing, I tell you. Sold the call all the way up till it spiked above $35 and they all got assigned. We bought cuz we knew how good a company they are.

Anonymous said...

I am extremely sensitive.

I cry at the drop of a hat.

And I've been on three cruises.

traditionalguy said...

Try Crystal Cruises. The professionalism varies from line to line. Crystal is Japanese owned and operated.Royal Caribbean is pretty good too. They are Norwegian owned and operated, or they were.

Ricardo said...

I'd be OK with the lack of food and sanitation and electricity. But the people would drive me nuts. Who wants to go on vacation just to be around other people? Especially whiney people, complaining about the lack of services.

As my whimsy leads me.. said...

Really, if the toilets were not working, why didn't they just throw their toilet waste overboard? The plankton and other little critters in the ocean would have been tickled to get something besides whale, dolphin, and fish doo-doo.They wouldn't have had enough buckets for every cabin, but surely they could have figured something out.

Toy

mesquito said...

At lest it was in the cold fresh pacific rather than the piss warm Gulf Of Mexico.

Njall said...

sounds like my 6 years in the Navy - except for the part about the magicians

Unknown said...

I just heard them on the radio. They were all troupers! Praised Carnival. One lady wrong a cute song about it to the tune of Gilligan's Island.

test said...

"Quaestor said...
Cruise ship? What the hell?! It's like being stuck in a goddamned shopping mall for week with no way out."

You're on the wrong side of the ship. There's a pool and a bar.

test said...

"They wouldn't have had enough buckets for every cabin, but surely they could have figured something out. "

In the old days it was called the poop deck.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

We went on a cruise and it was terrible.

Other people have been on different cruises and claim to have had a great time, so I suppose we can try it again.

This was a Christmas cruise to Mexico. The ship was full of....gasp....children. Not that I have anything against children, but not on a cruise ship.

The staff ordered us around all the time. First we had the disaster drill, with Brunhilda, the concentration camp guard in charge.

Food...forget it. You didn't get many choices for the sit down dinners and we were forced to sit with people we didn't know, didn't like and eat the assigned food. Assigned seating. The other choice was to stand in long chow lines for a tired looking buffet.

The crew kept trying to get us to have photos taken, so they could sell them to us at inflated prices. I finally had to yell at them....I DO NOT WANT MY DAMNED PHOTO TAKEN.....AND IF YOU PUT THAT PARROT IN MY FACE ONE MORE TIME I'M GOING TO TWIST ITS EFFING HEAD OFF!!.

The only thing to really do was to drink. Hence my outburst above.

The last thing they could have used to complete the ambiance was a cattle prod.

I'm willing to try an Alaska cruise, however.

traditionalguy said...

Thank the Eternal Father strong to save... when Carnival puts 3000 souls in peril on the sea.

kjbe said...

Add this to the reasons why have never warmed up to the idea of a cruise.

MadisonMan said...

Nice that the cruise turned out to be free. It would have been an interesting adventure if you're the type to roll with the punches when things go wrong -- way wrong -- on a vacation. Otherwise, what a thing to endure.

I say this as someone who has never been on a cruise.

The Crack Emcee said...

And then, worst of all, you find out that you're surrounded by magicians. What could be worse than a no-way-out floating sewage-smelling magician convention?

Fucking hilarious. What could be worse? Shit, she coulda been with a bunch of mimes!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Camping at least you can walk back to civilisation.. or something.

The Crack Emcee said...

Ha!

I just saw Robin's comment! See?

MadisonMan said...

I took the ferry from Tobermory to Manitoulin Is once, that was as long as I want to be on a boat.

After a while, it's just boring. Maybe if I took an entire suitcase full of books, but even then...

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

To paraphrase the Meadehouse..

Are these people trying to get some of that Chilean mine action?

Dust Bunny Queen said...

The maitre de in the dining are was a real stuck up dick. Yelling at all of the underlings, many of whom couldn't speak English. I speak Spanish so we struck up some friendships with them.

The guy who was stuck making up the rooms was from some place in Africa, also didn't speak English (French I believe) and worked really hard in the background.

At the end of the cruise we got a bunch of envelopes with "suggested" tips....as if we didn't drop enough money for the tickets, and in the bar.!! They want more.

We stiffed the maitre d (prick). Gave our hispanic buddies their money. The poor black guy stuck in the bowels of the ship knew he wasn't going to get tipped very much and looked so dejected.. so we gave him $100. Made his day and ours too.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Drudgedy @ drudgereport?
Pelosi's cracked face to the left. A thread bear European Union flag that appears creased in the middle. "Cracks" seen on the space shuttle to the right.

Trooper York said...

"On the up side, consider that people who go on a cruise are people who go on a cruise. How sensitive can they be?"

How many cruises have you been on?

Or is that beneath the dignity of a fancy pants colleger professor?

Seriously?

chickelit said...

I'm actually going on a Carnival cruise next week (different ship) leaving out of Long Beach. This has been planned for months and
wasn't my idea-neither am I paying for it.

I've never been on a cruise. I used to be "against" cruises. I am sensitive.

Unknown said...

The line makes all the difference. We've done Royal Caribbean and they've always been great, although The Blonde really hates that most of their new ships could pass for aircraft carriers.

I'm guessing dbq went on another line. If you notice, things like this, and those people being lost overboard, always happen on Carnival, which is basically one big booze cruise.

Ann Althouse said...

On the up side, consider that people who go on a cruise are people who go on a cruise. How sensitive can they be?

Smile when you say that, Mrs Meade. It's a very nice vacation and most, not all, but most, of the people are quite nice.

lgv said...

Spending vacation packed on a shop with thousands of others, herded on and off the boat, subjected to canned tourist traps on land is not my idea of a vacation. Maybe because I live in a large metropolitan area, I prefer to get away from throngs of people.

As a lover of oceans, cruise ships are the utmost polluters of our sensitive ecosystems.

Google cruise junkie to get the site that documents all the gross violations of environmental laws that have occurred repeatedly in the industry.

Supporting the cruise industry is not a priority for me. I enjoy a little schadenfreude when a norovirus hits a ship

AllenS said...

Where are the Somali pirates when you need them?

former law student said...

The Blonde really hates that most of their new ships could pass for aircraft carriers.

Too true. I never realized till I saw one up close that they're the size of the Merchandise Mart.

Cruises are good for family get-togethers though -- people come from all over, no one has to be the host, and so you can sit, relax, and enjoy each other's company.

Fred4Pres said...

Is this a metaphor for the Tea Party?

SteveR said...

"Fellas its been good to smell ya"

Revenant said...

Several family members have taken crusies on the Crystal line and have nothing but praise for it. I went aboard one of their ships when it stopped here in San Diego. I have to say I was impressed. It isn't something I'd do, but if you're the kind of person who likes traveling in style and meeting new people, it looks like the way to go.

It is interesting to see the ships docked, too. The port is right there in downtown, and the cruise ships are bigger than most of the skyscrapers. They're an amazing feat of engineering, really.

Trooper York said...

We had eleven kids under the age of eleven at three tables full of family. All of the kids insisted at sitting at the table with me and the wife. Because they love their Aunt who plays with them at every family party. I kept the little bastards in line but they got to eat lobster and steak. None of that chicken finger shit they try to feed you.

The waiters loved us because I greased them the first night and often thereafter. The kids behaved and told them thank you and please. It was the adults at the other tables that the waiters hated.

They thought they were too good to act like human beings to the help. They can’t relate to real people in real time. And they hate to tip.

Who does that remind you of?

Trooper York said...

If you want to know what kind of weirdo’s you meet on a cruise you have to check out a website that tells you about cool trips to happening places.

Which is not Canada. Just sayn'

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

I read the article, and it's almost exactly the opposite of Goldberg's snarky comment. A few disappointed or seasick people had some problems, but most people made the best of it. The description of everyone getting drunk on free booze in the lounge the last night and singing songs together sounds like most of them found a way to make the best of a bad situation.

I've been on camping trips that were a lot rougher than this, and we CHOSE that roughness. Their food was cold, and their beer was warm, and they had to use improvised outhouses for 13 hours. Not the worst experience in the world.

And this woman is a freakin' genius:

Lissa Letts of Overland, Kan., said she drove to San Diego to meet the returning ship to sell passengers T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase: "I survived the 2010 Carnival cruise Spamcation." Passengers snapped up the shirts at $20 apiece.

Phil 314 said...

On the up side, consider that people who go on a cruise are people who go on a cruise. How sensitive can they be?

Professor;
I know a cruise is no match for a drive to the Quad Cities and the sights there (not to mention engaging photos of the historic architecture) but the hoi polloi must have their diversions, too.

And Professor T Coddington Van Voorhees VII shares your sentiments

Diane Wilson said...

TML said:
And we're not Hillbillies) (Sorry, that was politically incorrect: Hill Williams or Appalachian Americans

As an Ozark-American, I resemble that remark.

Anonymous said...

Good-bye to all. I get the message - I must leave. I promised and now I must not visit this good blog.

I will return in Jan. 2012 so that I can remind you all how much the GOP sucks and how it will be defeated by the fantastic Obama-Biden Administration across the country.

Okay, no hate mail, please. Good-bye.

N.B.: The cruise reminds me of the GOP as a party.

traditionalguy said...

All of the great cities from NYC, to Boston, to Philadelphia have started as sea ports where wealth passed hands as inland products are shipped overseas and vice versa. That in turn supports great jobs that support a population. A few cities are up river such as London and Savannah. Chicago is a river town but mainly a port to an inland sea, Atlanta made it with only trains and plains, but no navigable water. Think how many cities are Mississippi related with its tributaries.( Everybody would enjoy reading Twains great remembrance and hilarious stories of Life on the Mississippi.) Ships are great inventions.

BJM said...

@DBQ

with Brunhilda, the concentration camp guard in charge.

Brunhilda moonlights? She was the ward matron when I had surgery in the UK.

BJM said...

@Diane

Ha ha! So few people get that remark.

Lovely cat, what breed? A color point shorthair, a Somali or an Abby?

KCFleming said...

Never been on a cruise; but She does, so we will, some time.

I was turned off of them by reading A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, by David Foster Wallace, 1997.

"I have now seen sucrose beaches and water a very bright blue. I have seen an all-red leisure suit with flared lapels. I have smelled suntan lotion spread over 2,100 pounds of hot flesh. I have been addressed as "Mon" in three different nations. I have seen 500 upscale Americans dance the Electric Slide. I have seen sunsets that looked computer-enhanced. I have (very briefly) joined a conga line.

"Organized shuffleboard has always filled me with dread. Everything about it suggests infirm senescence and death: it's a game played on the skin of a void, and the rasp of the sliding puck is the sound of that skin getting abraded away bit by bit.
"

I dunno. Just makes me wanna eat glass.

The Dude said...
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Anonymous said...

At least the shipboard entertainment didn't include Dylan. Though I figure it's only a matter of time.

Peter Hoh said...

Whoa, Fred. I don't seem to remember you taking snide shots at the Tea Party before. Is this a new development?

As for the link -- yeah, I think that Bartlett's critique of his former party have been spot on.

Trooper York said...

Pogo if you went on a cruise with me you would have a blast.

First we would hit the wine tasting.

Then the martini tasting.

Then the pool area to take some sun and enjoy a cigar and a few cocktails.

Then the steakhouse for steak sandwiches and fries.

A siesta.

A little hot tub with the wives.

Then dress for dinner.

Maybe some lobster and filet mignon with a good bottle of sangiovese. Garlic mashed potato.
String beans in a butter sauce.
Chocolate mousse cake and espresso.

Then repair to the sports bar to catch the game. Maybe a cognac or some port to top it off.

What's to worry.

You're on a cruise dude.

Trooper York said...

Or you could do something really cool and groovy like wander around the city and take pictures of strange men in shorts squeezing fruit in the farmers market.

We all have our own ideas of fun. Just sayn'

Quaestor said...

I think it was Sartre who said "Hell is other people. Funny, I never thought of the old agitator as the cruise type.

Trooper York said...

Satre was a French Communist. What could be worse than that?

Ok. Keith Olberman. But besides that?

KCFleming said...

Troop, that would be heaven.

And if that David Foster Wallacve guy ever got on, I'd toss his sorry ass in the drink, except for that he's already dead I think.

So then I'd absolutely have to throw him overboard, 'cause he's creepin' me out, bein' dead and all.

Anonymous said...

Who wants to go on vacation just to be around other people?

Maybe you're the guy they all want to get away from. Ever think of that?

Quaestor said...

"No Exit" was one of his. Now it's all beginning to fit.

Trooper York said...

Well Pogo, I am cruising in the Caribean between Christmas and New Years this year. St Martins, St Thomas, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos.

None of which I will see because I will be on the deckchair reading and enjoying a cigar and a few cocktails.

Not to late to sign up!

Trooper York said...

David Foster Wallace just doesn't know how to party. Don't worry we will fix him up before you know it.

Quaestor said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Quaestor said...

I could tolerate Olberman on a cruise, provided he was the featured course on rugby night.

Long pig, yum.

Trooper York said...

The last cruise I went on all the workers were from Croatia or Transylvania or something like that there.

We would just have to tell them that Olberman is a communist and we never would have to see him again.

Just don't eat the corn beef hash at the buffet. Just sayn'

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Then the pool area to take some sun and enjoy a cigar and a few cocktails.

There was not one moment when we could near the pool without it being full of a bunch of screaming teenagers and some little children, doing cannon balls into the water or trying to slide down the slide standing up. Running back and forth, knocking over tables.

Rest and relaxation. Ha.

I guess their parents were all at the bar or casino also, which is the only place we could go that was kid free.

The really little kids were kind of cute because they were attending some puppet shows and were somewhat behaved.

Even in our room there was no rest. Screaming, whining, yelling at each other and running up and down the hallways.

Probably the issue was that it was a holiday/Christmas cruise. Either that or we were on the ADD deliquent children's cruise convention.

I'll never go on a holiday again.

Carnival Cruise Line ship.

campy said...

Yeah, a Carnival ship over Christmas is not the place to be.

We sail Celebrity, Royal Caribbean's more sedate line. We're both pushing 60, and hardly ever meet anyone younger than we are on a cruise.

Trooper York said...

DBQ, you were sadly misinformed. There is always a bar or ship area where no kids are allowed.

Usually called the serenity lounge. At the bow usually on the top deck. No kids. Nos screaming. No shit.

You need to cruise with some experianced cruisors.

Trooper York said...

I might have to set up my own cruise. Like Rosie O'Donnell.
Just so youse guys can have some fun!

SteveR said...

Bartlett's way of thinking for republicans is how we ended up with John McCain. And I don't care if Deleware is democrat for the remainder of the expanding universe.

Trooper York said...

Dude! Does the sun get in your eyes in left field?

Dust Bunny Queen said...

DBQ, you were sadly misinformed. There is always a bar or ship area where no kids are allowed.

Yes, we know that. That's why our bar bill was way more than the cost of the tickets.

:-)

I do hear that the Alaska inland passage cruise is very nice. We probably just got on a bad ship, cruise from Hell.

Trooper York said...

Hey my bar bill was more than the cost of the cruise!

But the bonus was that you didn't have to pay for the food which is generally pretty good.

SteveR said...

Left field with Peter, Fred and I is an extreme shift.

former law student said...

Trooper York said...
I might have to set up my own cruise. Like Rosie O'Donnell.

Troop -- I think Olivia cruises has the Rosie market all sewn up.

www.olivia.com

Trooper York said...

Fls, it wouldn't be a gay cruise although you certainly would be welcome if you are gay.

No it would be a chubby cruise. We would have an event on the cruise offering our clothing and stuff for fittings and makeovers. I actually believe it or not have some tenative plans along those lines.

Chubby people and crusies go together like pizza and beer.

Trooper York said...

Plus I would hire my favorite celebrities of the sixties and seventies to hob nob with the hoi polloi.

Think Charo! Stella Stevens! Julie Newmar!

It will be....wait for it....awesome!!!!!!!!!

Trooper York said...

And Burt Ward could slide down the Bat Pole for you gay dudes. Just sayn'

Anonymous said...

Sartre. Huis Clos. No Exit. Hell!

Amartel said...

"On the up side, consider that people who go on a cruise are people who go on a cruise. How sensitive can they be?"

Okay, well now my feewings are hurt. Two cruises. One good, one great (Tahiti!). No shuffleboard. No creepy people. No child armies roaming the ship. No food complaints. Very friendly staff. Clearly the quality of the experience depends on the line, but I question whether David Foster Wallace, ironic hipster guy (ret.), was ever actually on a cruise ship as opposed to recycling old episodes of the Love Boat and hoping that no one would notice.

Unknown said...

Troop, on our first cruise together, who was the entertainment?

Cuchi cuchi, Charo herself. And Herman of Herman's Hermits (he did a pretty good show, too).

Phil 314 said...

I am cruising in the Caribean between Christmas and New Years this year. St Martins, St Thomas, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos.

Who will mind the store...or do you not get a post-Christmas rush?

Trooper York said...

Those shows are the best. i wish I was there.

I remember one with Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge. And another with Speedo and the Cadillac's. That's entertainment.

Trooper York said...

Closing that week c3. Business is usually bad that week.

Photog714 said...

people who go on a cruise are people who go on a cruise. How sensitive can they be?

It's not that the death didn't have a big impact on [Marie Osmond]. Please understand. She's "unique," she tells us, and that suicide was "probably the hardest thing I've been through."

Another demonstration of uniquely liberal empathy and "sensitivity." And a very impressive demonstration it is.

This is the kind of mind that voted for Barack Obama. Thanks, Professor.

Christy said...

I'm with Campy, Celebrity is terrific. All the lines cater to a special demographic. Just find the one you fit and go.

I disdained cruises and turned my Mom down a dozen times until it got through my skull that she needed my escort. I joined her and fell in love with cruising. I booked another trip on the same ship two months later. Ship-organized excursions have always worked well for me. I've tubed the White River in the Mountains of Jamaica (and drunk rum with a toothless old guy carrying a machete atop one hill); repeatedly snorkeled the underwater National Park in St. John's Trunk Bay (frequently listed as one of the top 10 beaches in the world;) taken a float plane to a remote Alaskan spot to see petroglyphs, splendor, and wildlife; hiked a temperate rain forest watching the salmon spawn outside Sitka, Alaska; explored Mayan ruins; Swam with sting rays; yada yada yada. I love cruising. But then again, I am a genuine hillbilly and good food, a good library, and good computer service is all I really need to be happy.

traditionalguy said...

Photog714...The professor can be mistaken; but show us where she went wrong. Argue a case. Thankfully, empathy is not an argument, because if it was, then she would always win.

Alex said...

Cruise ships are emblematic of the unsustainable peak oil culture we live in. It's the ultimate in decadence and waste. Those people would have been better off living on an eco-village for 2 weeks, learning sustainable living.

The Dude said...
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Trooper York said...

Alex trolled.........
"It's the ultimate in decadence and waste."

Thanks Alex. That's why I love it so.

You couldn't have given it a better endorsement.

Trooper York said...

"If you don't want to run into Alex or any other Birkenstock wearing, tofu eating, granola crunching, global warming crying, pompous elitests....why go on a cruise. Just tell them Kathie Lee sent you!"

Peter Hoh said...

Apparently, I didn't get the memo that cruises were something to look down on while sipping lattes and listening to NPR.

My best friend and his wife go on a cruise once or twice a year. They both listen to NPR, though I've never seen either of them sip a latte.

I've never even bothered to price a cruise as my wife gets seasick easily and isn't the least interested in hearing how it really isn't that bad on a cruise ship.

traditionalguy said...

Alex...That was the most mistaken comment that I have ever seen. The ships use little fuel, and the per person per mile is the lowest that exists. High Speed trains are the idiocy of all times on fuel per passenger mile since no one rides them. And why do free men and women in your world have to go to camps to be deemed righteous according to the Law of Gaia? Do you still buy into CO2 is a pollutant BS?

Diane Wilson said...

Lovely cat, what breed? A color point shorthair, a Somali or an Abby?
Blue Abyssinian, by the name of Snazzy. We have three Abys; they are wonderful cats.

traditionalguy said...

NFL Thursday night is singing the National Anthem...see you guys later.

ContraMan said...

I never thought that cruises and the people who take them were quite as bad as The Althouse That Roared seems to think they are.

I guess she been so land-locked in Gawd! Madison Wisconsin for so long that she's never enjoyed a cruise to The Galapagos, or Antarctica as I have. The people on these cruise were fascinating, coming from all over the world to listen to and be guided by very bright articulate naturalists.

Annie, get off that tiresome bike trail, and hit the high seas before making such snarky ill-informed remarks about the folks who cruise.

Trooper York said...

I saw a lot of hippie type granny glasses wearing NPR types on the last cruise I was on. Right before they accidently got hip checked into the pool. Just sayn'

Trooper York said...

It was all in fun though. They were rooting for the Dutch in the World Cup. You can't have that crap now can you?

Palladian said...

I can barely conceive of anything worse than going on a cruise.

It's all my least favorite things, together: sunlight, warm weather, people, tourism, swimwear, buffets, faux luxury, parrots, children, sweet drinks with umbrellas... All rolled together, dropped into a giant, gaudy petri dish and shoved out to sea.

If there isn't the promise of rum, mutiny and sodomy on board, count me out.

Trooper York said...

Palladian you will love the Trooper cruise. Lots of single malt and Latino bus boys just the way you like it buddy. This cruise will have something for everybody.

Trust me it will be...wait for it....epic!!

Palladian said...

and NO a "gay cruise" does NOT count. Sure, they have the rum and the sodomy, but it's the mutiny that's essential.

MamaM said...

Annie's "snarky ill-informed remarks" generated another interesting and informative thread, bringing in a different-from-usual set of commenters with varied opinions and stories.

Regardless of whether I agree with her take on a given situation I appreciate her ability to set-up and provoke (call forth) response.

Trooper York said...

And you know two of the things they sell the most of on a cruise?

Art and perfume.

Waddaya think of that perfume boy?

Photog714 said...

traditionalguy said...
Photog714...The professor can be mistaken; but show us where she went wrong. Argue a case.

Show us where she argued a case. All I saw was snarky condescension.

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Trooper York said...

I never took you for a fraidy-cat Sixty?

I mean did you ever ride the Subway? If you can do that a cruise ship is a breeze.

In fact it is less dangerous than hanging around these threads. (I think Titus's middle name is Chlamydia) Just sayn'

Trooper York said...

That's just not very Gritty of you dude.

The Dude said...
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Trooper York said...

Dude they are the best Cohiba's and Romeo and Julieta's you can buy. I stocked up in Canada by the way. One of the whole reasons I went on the trip if you want to be honest.

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Trooper York said...

Hey what do you think I used those rotten kids for. No self respecting customs guy is going to check out a dirty diaper bag.

Don't worry they were well wrapped.
Hee.

But they are all gone. Have to wait for the Christmas trip.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

People used to sail around the world in worse conditions.

When our modern conveniences break down, we sure do freak out.

Now if there had been zombies...

BJM said...

@Sixty

I'm with you, I radiate guilt, they'd be on me like white on rice.

Randy said...

Those singing the praises of Celebrity cruises might want to check out this thread about how the cruise line took care of its passengers aboard the Celebrity Century when their cruise was canceled due to mechanical problems after one day at sea. They didn't. They basically herded them off the ship in Nice and said "You're on your own!" The compensation offered was minimal as well.

Carnival's response to the Splendor situation has been the total opposite. True, these problems are rare, but the responses tell me something about the companies.

I've sailed on Celebrity. It was fine, but I'm in no hurry to go back or do business with any line operated by RCI. While I have no interest in sailing Carnival, I have sailed on other lines they own, and will do so again.

I get a kick out of all of you acting smug and superior to people who happen to enjoy cruising. You aren't.

Peter Hoh said...

Randy, there's a similar smugness emanating from those who are certain that they are superior to the people who act all smug and superior to people who happen to enjoy cruises.

Randy said...

Do you think so, Peter? Was my single comment here smug? Because I think the comments funny? Because I don't think they're superior to someone who happens to enjoy an occasional cruise? Really? Wow. I had no idea. That sure wasn't my intent. Thank you so much for letting me know.

The Dude said...
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Peter Hoh said...

Randy, no, you didn't cross the line.
I was aiming my remark at Photog:

Another demonstration of uniquely liberal empathy and "sensitivity." And a very impressive demonstration it is.

Peter Hoh said...

Randy, I'm sure that the tenor of my comment would have been clear to you had we been conversing over dinner.

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I think Alex was the only one acting all smug and superior to those who cruise -- and Alex is a deliberate troll. It seemed to me that there were a couple more who seemed offended that our hostess raised an eyebrow at the thought of going on a cruise.

Photog714 said...

peter hoh said... It seemed to me that there were a couple more who seemed offended that our hostess raised an eyebrow at the thought of going on a cruise.

Our hostess didn't merely raise an eyebrow at the thought of going on a cruise. She took a condescending swipe at people who do enjoy cruises, just as she aimed her condescension at Marie Osmond.

This is why I linked her snarkiness here with her vote for Obama. Most of his support came from people who subscribe to the elitist faith that the American people need to be supervised by those who know better.

Deny it though she will, our worthy hostess is an elitist. Page through her postings and you will find many, many examples like the two mentioned above, all sharing this common trait: Our worth hostess, in one way or another, places herself above others and condescends to them.

- If only those "cruise people" had acquired the cultivated tastes of our worthy hostess, they would choose better vacations.

- If only Marie Osmond had the moral sensitivity of our worthy hostess, she would have handled her grief differently.

We've seen essentially the same mindset again and again from our betters in Washington. If only the rubes would understand the beauty and beneficence of Obamacare, they would approve. Since they lack our capacity of understanding, we must force it upon them for their own good.

Randy said...

Thanks for the clarification, Peter! As we both know, there are many times when a comment that just happens to come after another isn't in response to the first one above, but something said earlier. Like you say, if we were talking over dinner, I wouldn't have misunderstood.

Peter Hoh said...

photog, really, I had no idea that those who go on cruises are the non-elite. Like I said, I must not have received the memo.

SusanS said...

"I'm willing to try an Alaska cruise, however."

Are you kidding me? LOL! You picked the most expensive, busiest time to cruise. And then picked Mexico, one of the cheapest itineraries.

Kids on a cruise, heck yeah! It's the best vacation for kids of all ages and their parents.

Every heard of "my time dining?" You definitely didn't do your homework before choosing your vacation.

When you go on your Alaska cruise, get ready for the photographer, still. And try to pick a ship with more dining options. And good grief, don't choose the new Disney Cruise to Alaska if you do not like children.

Anonymous said...

I'm still willing to assume that Althouse was aiming for curmudgeonry rather than snobbery. Wish she'd clarify, though; it didn't come off too well.

Photog714 said...

peter hoh said... photog, really, I had no idea that those who go on cruises are the non-elite. Like I said, I must not have received the memo.

You don't need a memo. Just read what your beloved professor wrote:

The cruise ship smelled like a toilet. But the "up side" was that "people who go on a cruise" aren't sensitive enough to be terribly bothered by living in a floating sewer.

Why not just accept the plain fact that your beloved professor has a streak of elitism in her, and it shows in just such posts as this one (and the one about Marie Osmond).

It's not exactly a rare mindset among the professoriat.