Carnival Triumph

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My wife and I were on the Carnival Triumph trip just prior to the next one or so-called "voyage of hell." We were sent an email before the trip stating that the ship was having problems and would not be going to Cozumel. We were also offered a full refund. We opted to go and were given onboard credits of $65 each. It's probable that the people on board this so-called "voyage of hell" were given the same option.

We arrived in Progreso around noon and left around 8:00pm on the following day. The ship arrived back in Galveston an hour or so late. At that time, it was stated over the intercom that the vessel was having problems with the propulsion equipment. The captain would come over the intercom and make a speech in heavily accented English and the cruise director would come on next and say the same thing as if she was interpreting what he was saying.

The makeup of the passengers on both trips was, most likely, similar. If so, there was a significant amount of passengers on both trips who qualified for the overweight, obese, and morbidly obese category. One would think that these people would jump at the chance to refrain from eating for a few days as it would help them to loose weight or to get in better shape. However, I noticed that these were the same people who were hitting the buffet lines and dining rooms a half dozen times daily. I don't think these prople were harmed by the lack of food during that period.

I can only imagine the deprivations that the children went through. After all, if there's no electronic source of stimulation for them, what did they do to alleviate boredom. It would be infriging on their rights to tell them to, God forbid, read a book. They might accidentally learn something instead on listening to music, texting, or engaging in some other sort of nonsense. These poor little things must have really suffered. In addition, they were deprived of their favorite foods for awhile - pizza, hamburgers, fries, and all of the other garbage that they eat. No doubt, they cried for McDonalds and dreamed of a Big Mac. Shame on you Carnival.

When the power shut down, so did the gambling. Some of the adults, having minds of children, probably also suffered. Now they can no longer sit at the slot machines or one of the tables and listed to sounds and watch bright lights. Now they have to stare off into space or carry on a limited conversation with their limited vocabulary. And they have no use for the library because they don't or can't read. Poor things.

There was a lot of theater from some of the passengers on board. I noticed one of them kissing the ground after she left the ship. Pure theater!! Another said that was her last cruise and that if someone wanted her free cruise to contact her. More theater!! These people will be back on a cruise telling those at their tables in the dining rooms their great experiences on the famous Carnival Triumph's "voyage of hell." After all, it's probably the only drama in their otherwise stale lives. Too bad, Opra doesn't still have a show. A few could go on TV and tell how they were emotionally scarred and made combacks with the help of God, friends, and relatives (and, perhaps, a few dollars from Carnival). One filed a lawsuit within a few hours after getting off. Probably looking forward to a few bucks in order to supplement her child support and welfare payments. This trip really caused heavy emotional stress on these poor, poor people and will probably scar some of them for life. If they could get compensation for PTSD from Carnival, the government, or anyone, they would certainly do it. Most probably feel that they are due a few dollars for going through this experience. This trip gave most of the passengers on board the one major event in their entire lives that they can carry on a conversation about. Many lead uninteresting, boring mundane lives. Most have never been to war, served in the Peace Corps, backpacked through a third world country, or did anything else that deprived them of their comfort which they feel is owed to them simply because they live in the U.S. Don't you just feel sorry for the voyage of the damned?

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