Well, I was supposed to have brunch with Mom and Dad this morning, in Tampa. Sadly, that didn't happen. Southwest Florida gets fog in the mornings from time to time and because the channel in Tampa Bay winds so much, the U.S. Coast Guard closed the port at 9pm the night before. This has happened on other occasions, but 9pm the night before was EARLY! We had to wait out in the bay, on the water side (as opposed to the land side) of the Sunshine Skyway, until the fog lifted enough so that we were able to navigate the channel. We finally docked a little bit before 4pm, disembarked, turned the ship around, started the embarkation of the new passengers at 6:45pm, and sailed at 10:30pm. It was a LONG, exhausting day, but with the recent incident on the Carnival Triumph, the majority of guests and crew recognized that it could've been a whole lot worse!
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| Due to some fog in the Gulf of Mexico the arrival of the Norwegian Dawn was delayed by several hours on Sunday. |
TAMPA (FOX 13) -
One would assume the word "delay" would be the
last thing any cruise ship passenger would want to hear these days after
the Carnival Cruise ship Triumph disaster earlier this month.
Passengers on that ship were stranded for days in the Gulf of Mexico because of malfunctions on that vessel.
Sunday, passengers on the Norwegian Dawn and the Carnival Legend were delayed outside of Tampa because of fog.
And while many Triumph passengers called their conditions "hellish," passengers delayed in Tampa sang a much different tune.
"This morning they woke us up around 7:30 and it was party time," said Norwegian Dawn passenger David Koffman
"They had a barbecue, they had a buffet for us, served us
rum punch, we had music going," said Norwegian Dawn passenger Beverly
Malone.
"It was one more day of extra fun, one more day away from home," said Norwegian Dawn passenger Jean Hall.
To be fair, conditions were far different.
The two ships outside of Tampa were delayed for just a few hours and there were no mechanical failures.
But passengers say they think the treatment they received
Sunday had a lot to do with the public relations nightmare that
surrounded the Carnival Triumph.
"They gave everybody free punch, they gave us lunch they took great care of us," said Koffman.
Passengers on the Norwegian Dawn say they were informed of a
potential delay Saturday night and were kept up to speed all day long
Sunday.
But not everyone was pleased.
Mary Ellen Wasser of Philadelphia missed her flight because of the delay.
"I think it's going to cost more but I'm going to try to
get it, something like a thousand dollars more, but I'm going to try to
get that taken off," said Wasser.
And Justin Boyd of Virginia was stuck on the other end.
He and his family were supposed to board his all inclusive cruise at 11 a.m. Sunday.
Instead of relaxing on board, he had to wait.
"We're out here having to spend money for lunch, dinner,
drinks things that you you weren't expecting to pay for today," said
Boyd.
There have been several boats impacted by the fog, which continued to pose problems Monday.
Read more: http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/21320902/early-morning-fog-creates-havoc-at-port-of-tampa#ixzz2MJk939We
