Advice to cruisers: Get real

My job is to serve readers. I’m not paid by cruise lines or airlines or any other travel supplier, nor does our company take any free trips.

So please, cruisers, take this advice in the friendly spirit with which it is meant: Get real. Get real in your expectations.

Yesterday the Carnival Splendor was all set to moor at Grand Turk. The captain made two hard-fought attempts to get us there; after all, we’d spent the fuel to sail 200 miles each way to get here. And when a cruise ship misses a port of call, it costs both the line and it’s shore-side suppliers money. Nobody wants the passengers to make it ashore more than the bean counters.

But the weather simply wouldn’t allow us to dock. Stepping outside on a deck made the situation obvious; gusts were in the 45 mph range, and simply standing there without getting blown over was tough enough. Yet still last night, some cruisers were complaining about the missed port, and yes, blaming the cruise line.

Get real, people. Cruising isn’t a trip to Disney World – which itself occasionally has shut because of weather. While every one of us would like our vacations to be perfect and go exactly as planned, that doesn’t always happen. Airports get snowed in. Cars break down. Life happens.

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