Wow, they are acting like the Cruise Ship fire is another miner disaster!

[KansasVoter]

I swear, you would think this ship sank and people barley made it out alive!

I have heard the MSM say words like "disaster" and "nightmare" and "terrible conditions"......what a joke.

They all had water, food and they were safe. I will admit it ruins the vacation and it a pain in the ass but there are millions in the world that would LOVE to live in conditions like that and MANY in the USA who have no homes at all!

I cannot believe how much coverage this gets while people, mainly kids are dying of cholera in Haiti with much less coverage!

I am so sick of the media in this country!

[SoCalNative]

1. But it is!

Nobody had better come between me and my Midnight Buffet!

:rofl:

[KansasVoter]

2. LOL....I was ready to argue with you!! :-)

[Warpy]

3. Butbutbut a bunch of spoiled yuppies and Gen Suck retirees

had to eat SPAM! The sheer horror of that certainly trumps anything those miners went through! They were used to being in a hole in the ground, after all.

But SPAM. My god. How will they ever explain that to their friends?

[KansasVoter]

4. Reminds me of Top Ramon in college!

[Canuckistanian]

55. I thought he was a gay Latino porn star

You knew him in college?

[Dawson Leery]

6. LOL!

[sad sally]

53. Heard one of the "survivors" say it was vienna sausage not spam.

Maybe someday someone will write a song about the Splendor survivors; how they suffered for two days on end while being towed to shore.

[Warpy]

56. Well, there was a little suffering involved

because the engine room fire knocked out power to the ship. The refrigerators died and so did all the food in them. There was no way to cook the rest, so they were living on cold cuts that weren't cold and getting riper. The elevators to all the lower decks also weren't working, which made it tough for the retirees. Worst, the toilets were inoperative, as was running water.

Still, I'd probably have stayed on deck and enjoyed the hell out of that ocean air 24 hours a day. Fasting would have been fine with me had there been soda or bottled water to drink.

There are certainly worse examples of privation.

[Hawkeye-X]

5. This is news? *snore*

This is SOP for Carnival - and they are going to go out of business real soon because they have to fix ALL of their ships at their expense.

Watch them TRY to sell the ship(s) to RCL/Holland/Norweigan - they will not want their crap - RCL just built one of their largest ships in the world - called Allure of the Seas/Oasis of the Seas. I recently cruised on the 7th largest ship in the world - and still enjoyed it.

Hawkeye-X

[LibDemAlways]

14. Carnival owns Holland America. Very different cruising experiences, for sure,

but they are part of one big conglomerate.

I've been on RCL a number of times, but last year took Holland America to Alaska. The high pressure tactics they use to sell future cruises were a complete turn off. I had no sooner unpacked my bags at home when I got a call from the cruise line trying to sign me up for another voyage. I received several such calls until I finally told them to leave me alone. They were worse than used car salesmen.

[AC_Mem]

18. Royal Caribbean is the best

As far as the cruises I've been on (7) - Carnival is just not as nice. It seems like it has a younger, more rowdy crowd. RC has better food, better service, better class.

Royal Caribbean, pay the extra to get a balcony!

Annette, who loves to cruise!

[Journeyman]

7. It is a minor disaster. . .

. . . oh, never mind.

(But they did have to use the toilet in the dark for awhile, and I understand there were a few hours where you couldn't flush -- so that makes it "exactly like" being trapped by a cave-in. . . . Okay, not exactly like it, but it's played like it on television!)

[KansasVoter]

10. Good one! Minor!!!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

8. It reminds me of Naked Gun 33 1/3 when Frank Drebin starts a prison riot because the Chateau

Lafite was served at room temperature instead of slightly chilled.

[KansasVoter]

9. I love those movies!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

13. Mind you I haven't watched them in over 10 years but I still remember that scene. nt

[Drunken Irishman]

11. I believe this was the exact same cruise ship I was on last year...

[AmandaMae]

12. yep, the "news" is really a joke most of the time.

[pinboy3niner]

15. Ironic that they hype the 'terrible' cruise ship conditions on Veterans' Day...

Oh, the humanity!1!!

Perhaps we should take up a collection to buy them a clue?

[KansasVoter]

17. Great Point!!!! Eating pop tarts = storming the beaches at Normandy!

[pinboy3niner]

21. I was thinking of something less dramatic...

I spent my 21st birthday on a mountain in the A Shau Valley, VN. We'd spent 30 days out in the jungle doing search-and-destroy missions and ambushes and we were supposed to get a break guarding the perimeter of a firebase for 5 or 6 days. But my unit was lifting an artillery battery into the A Shau for a 1-day fire mission and they grabbed my Infantry platoon to secure the arty.

After the arty fired their mission, we got socked in by fog and couldn't get extracted for 3 days. By then, all the NVA in the valley knew exactly where we were, and each night I was sure we'd get overrun.

The top of our mountain was covered with bomb craters filled with red, muddy water from recent rains. The trees there had been blown into ragged spires, and charred splinters floated in the water in the craters. We ran out of water, all four canteens per man, but it would have been suicidal for anyone to attempt going down to a stream to fill our canteens.

So, to celebrate my 21st birthday, I took a Swiss Miss packet my mom had sent from home and used the water from a bomb crater--that everyone had been pissing in for 3 days--strained out the charred splinters, boiled it really good, and made some hot chocolate. At the time, I was sure I was going to die that night, and that hot chocolate was a real luxury.

I guess that's my favorite 'war story.' No carnage, not even a firefight, but it illustrates the hardship grunts endure in the field even on days when nothing happens.

[KansasVoter]

28. Wow....good story! Thanks for your service to our country!

[nolabear]

16. Spam and Pop Tarts... The horror. The horror.

I feel for the wedding that didn't happen, but they did get an adventure, a great story, and a refund. SCORE!

[gateley]

19. Too many Americans would be more than happy to get that Spam and those Pop Tarts. nt

[KamaAina]

20. On an interisland Hawai'i cruise, they'd have Spam at the buffet!

those are run by Norwegian, which, I hear, is almost as bad as Carnival.

[grace0418]

23. We took NCL to Alaska and had a pretty great time. I'm not much of a cruise person either.

The only complaint we had was that this particular voyage booked a tour group of 800 people who tended to think it was their private cruise ship. But other than that we had a fabulous time and I'd do it again (never thought I would say that).

[grace0418]

22. And I love the people who were whining about "They offered us a free cruise at a future

date but we were like NO THANKS! That's like a restaurant offering you gift certificate for a free dinner after they give you food poisoning."

I was thinking, hell yeah, I'd take the free cruise. How many cruises embark every week and how often does something go seriously wrong like this? Not very. Yeah, that trip sucked but you're offered a full refund AND a free cruise in the future? I'd say that's a pretty good deal and I'd take it. And I can imagine if the cruise line knows you were one of the passengers on that particular cruise, they're going to treat you pretty damn well the next time around.

That's a damn better deal than people stranded in airports ever get. People really need to stop whining about their gold shoes being too tight.

[KansasVoter]

24. Great Point........

There are 100s of cruises every week and very seldom is there a major issue.

People love drama.

[WolverineDG]

29. I know! I want the cruises these folks are turning down

the horror of having to bathe in only cold water, having to eat Spam & Pop Tarts, stuck without a/c when it's 60 degrees outside. Oh the humanity!

dg

[bvar22]

25. Meh.

They ought to charge them extra for the adventure,
and the stories of heroism and hardship they can bring back to their vanilla suburbs and bore their neighbors with.

[dflprincess]

49. It's one of those events that's miserable (not newsworthy)

when it happens - but in a few months, maybe sooner, they'll be laughing about when they tell the story. I saw a clip of one couple who was on their honeymoon who may already be moving in that direction. The bride told the media "No one will ever top our bad honeymoon story." And she even smiled a little when she said it.

[cbdo2007]

26. I can see that...

Three days without cell phone for an American is probably just as horrible as being underground for 3 months for a Chilean.

I mean geez, even the miners had phone service.

[slackmaster]

27. I love DU's relativistic way of looking at things.

Stranded in Venice, Italy for a few days, OMYGOD what a nightmare.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8174966

Stranded on a ship off Mexico for a few days, quit your whining.

[cbdo2007]

30. Yeah, that would have been horrible to be stranded in Italy....

hahaha ha hah ha. People here are nuts.

One of my wife and my best memories while we were dating was being literally stuck on the highway in Texas for 2 days in an ice storm. You really learn a lot about someone and their character when you're stranded beyond your control and then how people deal with that situation. We sure didn't get a free cruise out of the deal either. :)

[slackmaster]

31. My philosophy for travel preparation includes planning for unexpected delays

You learn that the hard way if you are into backpacking.

If you aren't physically, mentally, and financially prepared to get stuck for a few days somewhere, you probably shouldn't go.

[cbdo2007]

51. That's an excellent point!

[Odin2005]

34. Cruise ships are decadent BS, actual travel is not.

[slackmaster]

38. If people complain that traveling to Venice is so expensive that they can't afford to be stranded...

...then maybe Venice is decadent BS for them, relatively speaking.

Cancun is pretty nice and not nearly as expensive.

I believe the biggest source of pain for most people whose travel plans go awry has nothing to do with money or inconvenience, but rather precious time off that they've saved up and may not be able to recover.

[WinkyDink]

37. Since you brought it up:

A post from your link:

"There are disabled people in those airports.

And people without money.

And we are going broke and facing severe financial consequences as I type this."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yes, I can see the comparability to the CRUISE SHIP.

[Odin2005]

32. It's because it's full of spoiled rich FUCKWADS!

If it's rich fuckers that are whining the MSM is all over it.

[slackmaster]

40. Carnival offers 4-day cruises from Los Angeles to Baja and back for as little as $219

Their rate for a peak time, M-F starting December 19, is $574 for a suite. That's way cheaper than staying in a modest hotel nowhere near the beach in San Diego (where I live).

[Odin2005]

46. Wow, I thought it was $1,000s, my bad!

:blush:

[slackmaster]

50. Carnival is sort of the Motel 6 of cruise lines

No worries.

:grouphug:

[pinboy3niner]

52. After this, it's the Motel 5

[Odin2005]

47. Wow, I thought it was $1,000s, my bad!

:blush:

[tammywammy]

42. Seriously? You believe that?

I've been on a cruise. It cost me $400 and half a tank of diesel (I drove a diesel Beetle at the time, my friend picked up the other half for the drive home). I made less than $25k a year when I went on a cruise.

Plenty of people go on cruises not just "spoiled rich FUCKWADS."

[WolverineDG]

54. +1,000,000

I love how most of those lambasting Carnival & cruising have never actually *been* on a cruise.

dg

[Manifestor_of_Light]

33. No way I would go on a Carnival Cruise.

One thing they do to keep safety standards low is to register under a flag of convenience, i.e. a country with very low standards for cruise ships. Usually it's Liberia.

I went on a Disney cruise 20 yrs ago with the parental units and my daughter -- when it was the Big Red Boat. Ran up and down 8 flights of stairs and ate lots of yummy fruit. Sure as hell didn't gain any weight. The boat was built in the 60s, so the elevators were totally inadequate. It was fun.

[TexasObserver]

35. No hot water. Eating Spam and Pop Tarts. Vacation hell.

The events are not comparable, but as vacation messes go, this one is pretty big.

[slackmaster]

39. Just a few more days, and I believe the passengers would have mutinied and turned to cannibalism

:argh:

[TexasObserver]

41. When the alternative is uncooked SPAM ....

[slackmaster]

43. I heard the Navy slipped in a few MREs

:nuke:

[TexasObserver]

44. MREs are the perfect answer for these folks.

The commercial company should use those, assuming they can be obtained quickly.

I have no idea if they can be obtained outside military channels.

[slackmaster]

45. There are "rescue MREs" available to civilian agencies, National Guard, etc.

They are identical to the military ones but lack the heaters and some of the frills like matches. There are also several companies that sell pricey MRE clones to the general public.

I buy military ones at gun shows. They're a bit on the old side, but they last a very long time under proper conditions. And the tiny little bottles of Tabasco sauce are cute.

I saw video during the Hurricane Katrina debacle of a woman complaining bitterly about how she'd been given "cold Army food" to eat. I had a hard time getting up a lot of sympathy for her. She was not in any danger of starvation.

[H2O Man]

36. The untold suffering!

You do realize, I hope, that many of these poor souls did not get their first pair of alligator shoes until they were five, or the keys to a lamborghini until they were seventeen? Yet you dare mock their suffering?

[dflprincess]

48. It was the lead story on both CBS and ABC "news" this evening

(I was at the gym and could see several TV sets).

As I recall, NBC did lead with Obama in Korea but did mention the cruise ship much later in its broadcast.