In a couple of days’ time, the hubster and I will be jetting off to cruise the Mediterranean, to celebrate our silver wedding anniversary.
This will actually be my fourth cruise, and as I write this I am already wondering what disaster is about to strike …
I don’t mean to sound like a prophet of doom, but would you believe there has literally been a disaster before each of my previous cruise holidays? I kid you not!
Cruise 1 – Swine Flu
In 2009, all four of us went on a 7 night cruise to Vanuatu and New Caledonia – the perfect island getaway.
What we hadn’t counted on was the major swine flu outbreak that coincided with the month of our holiday … everybody was scanned and had to fill out forms declaring if they had any symptoms; many people wore masks in public to try to prevent the spread of germs.
As luck would have it I developed a bit of a sniffle and sore throat on the last night of our cruise. I told the hubster, expecting lots of sympathy, but instead he turned to me with a ferocious look and said just one word: DON’T!
We’ve often joked about it since then, and as soon as one of us complains of experiencing symptoms, the other will sternly order … DON’T! 😉
Cruise 2 – The Ship that Sank
At the beginning of 2012, we took the kids on a 14 night cruise to New Zealand to celebrate our son graduating from high school.
It also just happened to be the week after the Costa Concordia sank in the Mediterranean!
Fortunately there were no such dramas on our cruise 🙂 .
Cruise 3 – Gastro Outbreak
At the end of last year, I returned to Vanuatu and New Caledonia – but this time with my three best girls.
Literally days before our departure, the media reported a gastro outbreak on the Dawn Princess during a cruise to New Zealand – with about 200 passengers quarantined to their cabins. What a miserable experience that would be!
I’m sure the Dawn Princess was thoroughly disinfected before the next voyage … and it wasn’t our ship, but still, stories like this do tend to make you nervous especially when YOU are about to board a cruise ship!
Cruise 4 … ?
Let’s hope that this time, it will be all smooth sailing!
Have you ever been cruising days after disaster – or had any type of near-miss or holiday disaster?!