A buddy went on a cruise...

He just got back from a cruise of Cabo, P. Vallarta, etc. and had kind of a weird thing happen. One morning after a night of partying he was preparing to disembark and head into town. Not wanting to deal with bathroom issues (ie. hangover sh*ts) he was going to take some Immodium but forgot it in his room. Instead of going back upstairs, he went into the medical center to get some. When he asked for the medication, he was told he would not be allowed to leave and would, in fact, be quarantined in his room for 30 hours! Now, this was on a Princess ship and he told me you wear a card key which sort of tracks your movements and also acts as a charge card in lieu of cash. This also give the ship the power to restrict your movement and activity on board the ship. After protesting unsuccessfully, he returned to his room PO'd. Despite being told not to leave his room, he went up to a deck and laid in the sun. Upon returning, there were 2 messages on his phone "checking" up on him. The second one said they were going to come to his room and that if he was not there the matter would be brought before the ship's captain, which could lead to his being sent home! He put on his headphones, and moments later there was a pounding on his door. He got back just in time, and explained that he had fallen asleep listening to music and didn't hear the phone. They warned him again not to leave his room--he wasn't sick in the slightest--and ultimately he lost a day and a half of his trip.

Now, I understand that cruise lines are hyper sensitive about on-board illnesses. But at no time did they examine him or even take his temperature! It's pretty F'd up that they've decided to deal with the issue by just treating the passengers like lepers and locking them away, rather than examining them and looking for any potential problem on the boat. What if he really had been sick?!

 

He wasn't alone. He was with his girlfriend, sister and bro-in-law. He was alone when it happened because he wanted a head start into town--the others were easing into the day--and they ended up missing each other through the ordeal. They were supposed to meet up at some place in town, so they didn't know about it until much later. He's in the process of filing a complaint. And as far as WHY go on a cruise, well, I'm with you there on that one...

 

Speaking for myself, I can honestly say I've never been accused of anal retention!