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We're back...

The vacation wasn't nearly long enough, but they really never are. Except retirement, but that's not REALLY a vacation....I digress.

Anyway, we have returned safely from our cruise. I know that some of you were worried about Jill and I contracting the swine flu since our cruise was porting in Ensenada, Mexico. Well don't you worry, Carnival Cruise Lines takes absolutely no chances with the health and welfare of their customers. What that basically means is that we did not stop in Mexico. I can just hear some of your thoughts out there, "Well, better safe than sorry, right?" NORMALLY, I'd agree with you, but let me tell you why I don't this time....

First of all, at the time of our arrival, there were no existing cases of Swine Flu in Ensenada: ZIP, ZERO, ZILCH. Second, when the decision was being made to skip our port of call, there were already 4 confirmed cases in San Diego, and at least 64 total cases in the US. Now, I slept through a lot of math classes in my day, but I'm pretty sure 4 is greater than 0. Now I know that San Diego is bigger (about double the population) than Ensenada, but still is it really safer to take us back to San Diego where there are existing cases of the flu, or stop by a remote city with no cases...

Now, I might not be so annoyed about this whole thing except that this port of call was one of two for the whole trip, and was by far the better of the two. Catalina Island was a nice little pit stop, but really it's a golf course, some interesting scenery, and some really expensive boutique shops that cater to LA's wealthiest. Ensenada was the reason everyone was aboard that ship. Also, the way that Carnival handled the whole situation was pretty shady. First, they told us we weren't going to the port because they were concerned for the health and safety of everyone aboard the ship. OK, I appreciate that, but what are you going to do to compensate me for it? Then, we sail past the port (within about 250 yards) and were told that the ship still went to the port, but that the port was closed (which was NOT the case), therefore, it wasn't Carnivals fault that they couldn't stop at the Port. WHAT?!?!?! That's not what you said last night, still, OK so what does that mean to us? Well here's $20 because we couldn't stop at the port...Excuse me? I paid how much for this trip, mostly because I wanted to actually stop at the ports of call, and now because I can't do that, by your choice I might add, I'm only getting how much back...I don't think so! So, today's mission is to call and complain to the customer service of Carnival...especially when I know that my sister got 50% off a cruise because a hurricane interrupted one of the port of calls, and that wasn't the cruise line's choice, that was mother nature calling the shots.

I know this is a long post and that it may seem a bit childish, but really I don't take many vacations, and when I spend money on something I expect to get what I pay for, not changing excuses and poor service. Having said that, I will probably cruise carnival again because our past experiences have been really good...