Worst thing that ever happened to you on a cruise?

[cindivan]

I was curious to read the responses when I saw the post. What I gathered from our posts is for the most part, we are incredibly blessed to be able to cruise. Yes, there are some (mostly) minor bumps, but traveling pretty sure ensures you will experience mishaps in places where you are not sure how to handle it.

 

Cruising is part of our travel they we love, and of course sometimes we get sick or hurt. That is part of travel. But maybe I am little harder to scare..... Or a little crazy. Our last trip we ended up in a South African ER treating our 15yo son for an allergic reaction. Oh, and this is also the state hospital that treats prisoners. The good news is it cost us $26USD for the stay and meds. And the stories.

 

 

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[JohnHall1965]

My Buddy's father had a massive heart attack during dinner on formal night and actually did a face plant into his chocolate cake . The medical staff got him stable and the coast guard sent a Med-Flight Helicopter out from Fl to life flight him off . The heart doctor in Miami told his wife that the ship Doctor made the correct decisions to keep him alive . He had open heart surgery and is fine to this day (happened in Feb 2006 on the Carnival Liberty). Actually this past New years eve we spent time at my buddys house and his father was there and we were talking about it , I asked him how he liked the choco cake on the ship, we all looked back and make jokes now , but it was a bad deal then

[ehfl]

I fell ice skating. Backside hurt for days, but fortunately, there is a good painkiller available at every bar aboard.

[artist47]

I'm curious too know funny or bad things that happened to you on a cruise. For example, missing the ship, norovirus etc.

 

Hi Stefanos (I go to a Greek church...nice to meet you, in case my gut is right.)

 

Anyway, to answer your question:

The worst thing that happened to ME personally was : I was aboard the Monarch of the Seas when she ran aground on a reef off the coast of St. Maartin. We were all evacuated in the middle of the night, put into lifeboats and sent ashore. It was a hair-raising experience and one that I would not like to repeat. Because my cabin was "outside" and very near the "tear" in the side of the hull, it was terrifying when we actually hit. I was asleep very peacefully in my cabin, and sort of in that state where you know you are sleeping/dreaming? You know that feeling? Anyway, it was like, an explosion went off in my cabin. I was suddenly all the way across the room -- thrown out of the bed at impact. I could hear water rushing in, but it didn't reach my cabin at that point. I got up, (painfully --- it really hurt, and later found I had a dislocated shoulder) and got dressed as best as I could and put shoes on...then decided I had better just go to my muster station, like we are always instructed. I grabbed the lifejacket from the closet, and went up to deck 9 (I think)...No one was at the muster station, except for a few of the actual sailing crew. I think it was 2 guys from the engine room. When they saw me, one of them kind of grabbed me and was yelling for me to be "calm". I was calm...LOL! he was the one freaking out. Anyway, the other guy says, "Hey she is hurt....and he pulled the other guy away, and that's when I realized my shoulder (left) was out of place and really, really hurting. He kind of forced me, but gently, to lay down on the deck. Pretty soon everyone was sort of running around and there was a lot of yelling. Passengers were pretty "hysterical" and not very obedient to the instructions they were given.

 

It seemed like all of them had really forgotten everything they had ever been told at the life boat muster drill, and they were all kind of panicking.

 

Anyway, then the other crew members showed up and were waiting for the passengers assigned to our station. One of the crew members had been a medical technician in the army in Israel and he was the one who set my shoulder back in the right place. It hurt like heLL. Some people criticized him for doing that, but you know what: I was grateful to him and I yelled at the ships' doctor later in the guy's defense...he was thinking ahead and he was thinking that a person with a dislocated shoulder is going to be a lot harder to get into a lifeboat and is going to require a lot of assistance....I am thankful he did what he did, even if it did hurt a lot more than if I was in a clinic where they could have given me painkillers or whatever. And also, when I realized he was Israeli, I had no fears at all...those guys are serious soldiers trained to deal with the Apocolypse itself. LOL! I was in very good hands ....

 

In any case, we all finally got into the lifeboats and the other passengers were still yelling and screaming....most of the crew was very calm from what I could see. A few of the younger women crew were very clearly nervous but they were not hysterical and they were very professional. (I'm not trying to be "sexist"...I am a woman myself! )

 

Anyway, they had some trouble with some older passengers (because they were not so agile) and with some that were, shall we say a few pounds on the heavier side? But once we were all in the lifeboat, it was all very calm....we went ashore in St. Maartin and we were very well taken care of by the restaurants and the local places there. I spent the day at one of the local hotels on the beach. (GREAT pina coladas and wonderful food.)

 

My personal belongings showed up about 3pm that afternoon. Don't know how they managed that! Everything was very wet, but nothing ruined, and the only thing missing was a shoe.

 

Stuff that did not happen to me personally but that I witnessed: I was aboard the s/s Norway when the boiler blew. It killed 7 people and wounded many more crew. I was in the buffet (aft above) and I heard the explosion. I also felt it,and it rocked us pretty hard.

 

I saw some of the people as they were transported off the ship, on gurney's under the sheets. I knew that a few were dead, because they were completely covered up. The others weren't and were somewhat alert, but it was pretty devastating...very terrifying to watch and very sad.

 

I tell you about this, so that people don't forget: anything can happen at sea. Don't take life for granted. Kiss the people you love. Hug even the people you don't like too much. Second chances are not granted in this life very often.

[ducklite]

Where to begin......

 

A broken big toe

 

A sprained wrist....not on the same cruise as the toe

 

Being robbed

 

Floating in the middle of the ocean because the ship lost it's controls

 

Missing an excursion because dh read the time wrong

 

Dh getting sick with chills/fever.

 

Mom in excruciating pain because of shingles.

 

Almost throwing up on the captain on the bridge because I got seasick

 

Almost missing the cruise because the (new) plane lost it's control panel

 

Dh getting a concussion from hitting his head while diving

 

Bus breaking down going back to the ship from an excursion and almost missing the ship.

 

Forgetting my camcorder battery in the hotel...and we weren't making a stop at St.Thomas so I could get another.Had to make due with what I had.

 

And that's just off the top of my head....

 

 

I think I'd skip cruising.

[kpgibbs]

I was on a Princess cruise to Alaska with my mom and my son. My son was 15 at the time. He made several new friends quickly. He would spend most of his time in the teen club. His curfew was midnight every night. I would always check on him before going to the cabin for the night. He was always home on time…..until the second to the last night. I had fallen asleep. I woke up at 4:00AM to find he was not there. I quickly got dressed. I started searching the ship. I was so sick to my stomach thinking the worst had happened. I first went to the swimming pool area. I ran into a crew member and described my son and asked if he had seen him. He said yes, he’s over there with his girlfriend. I look up and see a boy lying on top of a girl in a lounge chair covered up with a blanket making out. I was instantly relieved but mad at the same time. I walked up to them and slapped him on the top of the head. He looks up and IT’S NOT MY SON! I said oops, you’re not my son. I asked if he knew him and he said yes but didn’t know where he was. Of course the boy and girl were in total shock and their eyes were as big as saucers. My stomach was again in knots. I went back to the elevator not knowing where to go next. That’s when I heard a bunch of laughter coming from the deck below. I walked down the stairs and the first person I see is my son. He knew by the look on my face he was in trouble. He said “Mom I’m sorry, I left me key in the room” I told him knocking on the door worked great.

I told him he was grounded the next night. Of course being the softy, I felt bad and let him go to the teen club on the last night. But I told him he better NOT be late. He was in the room by 11:45.

That was one of the worse nights of my life. There were several teens out at that hour. I can not for the life of me understand why a parent would allow that. Maybe they didn’t know they were out. But I can’t imagine all the parents not knowing. But I do laugh now about slapping the wrong kid on top of the head. All the kids were given T-shirts and everyone sighned each others shirts. The kid I slapped signed his name and said "I will never forget your mother" on my son's shirt. LMBO!

[TrqoisWtrs]

Years, ago, cruise to the Bahamas. Friend/co-worker proceeded to get really drunk/possibly using prescription meds while we were docked in Nassau. Passed out in our cabin. Called 911 - she was removed and taken to the local hospital. Checked herself out against doc's orders; due to that, cruiseline refused to let her reboard. She was sent home, while I cruised onward, now as a solo. And that is the really short version. :eek:

 

Moral of the story - Never cruise with someone you know only as a casual acquaintance thru work. :rolleyes: :mad:

[Taxguy77]

When my wife and I first arrived to our stateroom aboard the Golden Princess we were greeted with soaking wet entrance carpet and a horrific smell. The toilet had overflowed and soaked half the carpet in the stateroom. Saw no visible excrement but the smell was overwhelming. Talked to our room steward who arranged to have carpet shampooed and a dehumidifier brought in to dry the wetness. Dehumidifier ran 24 hrs./day. We were still able to enjoy our cruise AND we were compensated with a free cruise for one of us on

our next cruise to the Mexican Riviera. All in all we were happy with the results and Princess stepping up. There were no empty staterooms for us to move into.

 

Our first cruise there was a break in a water pipe somewhere and 6 or 8 rooms flooded. They brought piles of blankets to keep dry while dressing for meeting the Captain and dinner.

When we returned to our cabin, we had a nice new carpet and all the mess had been cleaned up.

[happy trailer]

I was cruising solo on the Carnival Breeze transatlantic when Israel came under attack. The missiles started flying just as we started the crossing; within a couple of days we lost TV reception, the Internet connection became spotty, and calling ship to shore became difficult. After two phone calls to my husband with air raid sirens sounding and then getting cut off, I was beside myself, and went down to Guest Services to explain the situation. Fortunately they really came through and saved the day for me- they immediately handed me a sattelite phone and told me to call my husband, and told me not to hestitate to come down anytime 24/7 to call him, all without charge. They also comped me 90 minutes of Internet time, and told me they would print out the Israeli news reports for me anytime I asked.

 

I don't know how I would have managed without all that help- or without the love and caring from the very special people on my roll call, who surrounded me with hugs during those two long weeks!

 

Needless to say, I'm very hesitant to do another TA- even though those first few days, before all h--- broke out were so pleasant that I'd love to again and again..

[geospyder]

We have been on many cruises and have never purchased trip insurance. This month we were on a 35 day B2B. Three days prior to the second portion my wife tripped, fell and shattered her wrist. At the next port we went to a specialist and was told that she needed an operation. Rather than have the operation in Australia along with the followup and missing a good portion of the second cruise we opted to fly home.

 

Long story short, we will lose the cost of the original return flights since they were non-refundable, we incurred the cost of the new return flights and depending what the cruise line does, will probably lose the cost of the second cruise. We still have five cruises on the books. Think we may check into travel insurance :-)

[hillbilly73]

Coming out of the Money Bar in Cozumel I tripped and fell and reached out for a table that didn't give something had to and it was my shoulder. I had not drank any tequila so I was tense lesson learned. The shoulder hurt like heck and swelled to the point of looking like Quasimodo so I was transported by ambulance back to the ship every time we hit a bump anything not tied down was falling on my head. The DW ended up draping herself over me for protection. The ships doctor tried to get me to go to the hospital I was able to beg him to let me stay on board bound up and drugged up as long as I went straight to the emergency room when we got back to KC. Luckily there were only two days left on the cruise so my poor wife had to lay beside me listing to my groans dress me and even tie my shoes for two days. It was a Carnival ship the most comfortable place on the ship was a padded lounger in the serenity deck that is where a spent all day you can't imagine how good it was to find one comfortable spot. Here is where it gets funny we get the FLL airport and Delta is asking for 2 volunteers to take a bump we have flown many times over the years on bump money. My wife sees the look in my eye and says" oh no we are going straight to the hospital when we get home your in pain". I tell her "not 800 dollars worth of pain" you should of seen the strange look the ticket agent gave me. Worked out great they gave us bulk head seats with only us in the row leaving FLL and the connection to KC only 2 hours later. Flying home crowded on two completely full flights would of been murder so it worked out. She finally forgave me six months later as we were boarding our Delta flight to FLL for another cruise.:)

[artist47]

I was cruising solo on the Carnival Breeze transatlantic when Israel came under attack. The missiles started flying just as we started the crossing; within a couple of days we lost TV reception, the Internet connection became spotty, and calling ship to shore became difficult. After two phone calls to my husband with air raid sirens sounding and then getting cut off, I was beside myself, and went down to Guest Services to explain the situation. Fortunately they really came through and saved the day for me- they immediately handed me a sattelite phone and told me to call my husband, and told me not to hestitate to come down anytime 24/7 to call him, all without charge. They also comped me 90 minutes of Internet time, and told me they would print out the Israeli news reports for me anytime I asked.

 

I don't know how I would have managed without all that help- or without the love and caring from the very special people on my roll call, who surrounded me with hugs during those two long weeks!

 

Needless to say, I'm very hesitant to do another TA- even though those first few days, before all h--- broke out were so pleasant that I'd love to again and again..

 

OMG Ruth??? You didn't tell us -- was your husband okay? How did you manage when you got back? what happened then?

I can't imagine what you must have felt. GBY. :eek:

[Ashland]

Worst thing is hearing that SeaPass ding as I'm exiting :(

[happy trailer]

OMG Ruth??? You didn't tell us -- was your husband okay? How did you manage when you got back? what happened then?

I can't imagine what you must have felt. GBY. :eek:

 

Thank you for asking :). He was fine- but it was clear from the times we spoke on the phone that he was trying to hide how frightened he was (I found out later when we were together just how scared he had been). We live right outside of Jerusalem, and it was the first time in 40 years that the area was under missle attack; there were also several times that the air raid sirens went off as he was driving home from work, and he had to run for shelter.

 

I simply felt helpless- and tried not to lose hope.

 

Although the sirens went off in our town a few times, there were no direct hits so our home was fine. By the time I got back home things were back to 'normal,' but after 1500 missiles in 2 weeks, my friends needed to talk about what they had been through, so I got caught up quickly.

 

This page gives a bit of an idea of what those two weeks were like (there are several videos as you scroll down the page).:

 

http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Terrorism/Pages/Israel_under_fire-November_2012.aspx

[Cruise Junky]

12 Days on Ruby Princess, Grand Med. Itinerary with no luggage. In fact no luggage for our entire 22 day Europe Trip :(

[ducklite]

12 Days on Ruby Princess, Grand Med. Itinerary with no luggage. In fact no luggage for our entire 22 day Europe Trip :(

 

 

Ouch. That nightmare is why I pack so I am able to carry on. That way I know my luggage will arrive with me. Due to luggage restrictions on our upcoming Air France flights we will possibly need to check our bags, but DH and I will still each have a carry on with a few changes of clothing that will take us day or night plus a bathing suit.

[jaybird from SC]

We have been so blessed! The worst thing that has happened to us is that at the end of our two week cruise, they made us get off!

[artist47]

We have been so blessed! The worst thing that has happened to us is that at the end of our two week cruise, they made us get off!

 

LOL! Indeed you are blessed! Hug each other, kiss each other, and all your loved ones. And enjoy your life together, espcecially the parts you are on the sea....Toast each other at sailaway and remember that the world needs people who love each other.

[SailBadtheSinner]

The cruise ships I've been on did not have Diet Dr Pepper.

 

 

SBtS

[ontheweb]

It was our first cruise. We were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary by going on a Western Mediterranean cruise. In the port of Liverno, we were going to Florence, but I somehow managed to get us onto the wrong train. We were heading in the wrong direction. We did not get to Florence, a must see for DW who is an art teacher.

 

Ten years later for our 35th wedding anniversary, we took our 8th cruise, and once again cruised the Western Mediterranean. This time we took no chances. We spent the money for the cruise line's Florence on your own, plus DW prepurchased online timed tickets for the two major museums in Florence. Better late than never!

/

 

Actually, we had one worse experience. Our next cruise was going to be a river cruise in the Netherlands and Belgium with Uniworld over the break between Christmas and New Year's Day. We had already made final payment, and then the company chartered the ship. They did offer us other cruises which I'm sure they thought were better, or at least more expensive, but we really wanted to see Amsterdam. We made the best of the situation by flying to Amsterdam and touring on our own.

 

We still would like to try a river cruise someday, but not with that company.

[papcx]

The cruise ships I've been on did not have Diet Dr Pepper.

 

 

SBtS

 

 

I would of abandoned the cruise, demanding a full refund and compensation. ;-)

 

 

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[Sue Do-Over]

12 day Med cruise with extended family with extended stay in London. Niece opted to 'take a vacation from her medication'. She was 18 so could buy alcohol ashore... and she did.

 

Mood swings, temper tantrums, chasing boys all over the ship, disappearing for hours. Over-slept/hung over caused us all to be late for expensive excursions. Inappropriate clothing kept her out of some churches, and generally caused disruption in the group. She simply wouldn't cover her belly-ring, obnoxious tattoos, or shoulders -- instead, she'd sit at a cafe and smoke/drink while we enjoyed the tours.

 

Foul language and back-talking/sarcasm/rudeness at every opportunity, smoking in the room, destroyed door decorations on nearby cabins, just anything she could do to get attention.

 

I could have ignored the petty stuff, but she put herself in danger more than once, and that impacted OUR trip.

 

It was a rough cruise for my rule-abiding daughter (19 then), who worried about her day and night, and got stuck in their disaster of a room after the drinker vomited all over her pile of dirty laundry, and then just tossed it into the shower to rot.

 

Her mother simply said 'it is her vacation, let her do what she wants.' Never again.

[blackpool belle]

Being assaulted by an 80+ year old American "Lady" because I was sat in "HER" seat. She had cruised so many times I think she thought she owned the Company/ship and not just paid for a holiday. Because I refused to move she told me I was the rudest English person she had ever met. She then first tried to squash me by sitting on me and when I still refused to move she slapped me. I could have reported it but I suspect nothing would have been done anyway because she seemed to be feted by all the personel whereever she went but I'm afraid that didn't wash with me. I was entitled to sit in that seat just as much as she was.

[artist47]

Being assaulted by an 80+ year old American "Lady" because I was sat in "HER" seat. She had cruised so many times I think she thought she owned the Company/ship and not just paid for a holiday. Because I refused to move she told me I was the rudest English person she had ever met. She then first tried to squash me by sitting on me and when I still refused to move she slapped me. I could have reported it but I suspect nothing would have been done anyway because she seemed to be feted by all the personel whereever she went but I'm afraid that didn't wash with me. I was entitled to sit in that seat just as much as she was.

 

OMG! I am so very sorry, on behalf of the American cruising community. She is not "representative"...I am so very sorry..and speaking as an American, if I had been there, she would have recieved the "spanking" she deserved from me. LOL. That is just terrible. :eek:

Edited February 26, 2014 by artist47

[artist47]

12 day Med cruise with extended family with extended stay in London. Niece opted to 'take a vacation from her medication'. She was 18 so could buy alcohol ashore... and she did.

 

Mood swings, temper tantrums, chasing boys all over the ship, disappearing for hours. Over-slept/hung over caused us all to be late for expensive excursions. Inappropriate clothing kept her out of some churches, and generally caused disruption in the group. She simply wouldn't cover her belly-ring, obnoxious tattoos, or shoulders -- instead, she'd sit at a cafe and smoke/drink while we enjoyed the tours.

 

Foul language and back-talking/sarcasm/rudeness at every opportunity, smoking in the room, destroyed door decorations on nearby cabins, just anything she could do to get attention.

 

I could have ignored the petty stuff, but she put herself in danger more than once, and that impacted OUR trip.

 

It was a rough cruise for my rule-abiding daughter (19 then), who worried about her day and night, and got stuck in their disaster of a room after the drinker vomited all over her pile of dirty laundry, and then just tossed it into the shower to rot.

 

Her mother simply said 'it is her vacation, let her do what she wants.' Never again.

 

You are far more patient than I am...I have a daughter, and I have nephews. If any of them had acted like that, I would have sent them home from the nearest port and told them to fend for themselves...I'm so sorry your cruise was ruined. I hope you had a better one as a follow up. And yes...shame on that girl's mother..she should have paid for the girls plane ticket home from the nearest port.