Let Us Entertain You...An Anthem Opinions Editorial

Thank you Princess Cruise Line

You "Made" My Day

I was supposed to be taking my loving bride on a cruise, but fate took over and well, let's just say, I'm back !

But...the story must be told as my phone rang off the hook Sunday morning.

I was going to be a good husband following the constant reminders from my wife that loving a computer and writing a blog seemed to be more important than being a husband.

I had to relent.  I knew that half of what I owned depended on it !

So...I decided to take a break for a week and a half and clarify some priorities in my life...namely, appreciation for the woman who, for about 35 years, has had the chore of putting up with a man who believes he's perfect, but is constantly reminded he is not...

...and also being reminded of her thoughts on many mornings with a mirror under his nose!

So...after spending a couple of days in California exploring both sides of the history of American politics at both the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda and Disneyland, we were off on the last leg of our trip...a romantic cruise !

It was all so well planned. We stayed in a suite at a nice hotel in San Pedro; left my car parked; and took the shuttle to the cruise port, being greeted by the Princess cruise staff as a VIP for being an "Elite" member of their cruise line.

We were not going to be forced to remain among the first time "peons"; we were told to go to a special spot where we would be the first to board the beautiful Royal Princess.

And now...

After Princess Cruise line decided to keep 2,000+ people in a holding pen for about 8 hours and being so kind as to provide us a bottle of water to sustain our existence, they decided that the "technical problem" consistently heard again and again, hour after hour, on their loud speakers, was in reality a crew member who had transferred from the infamous Grand Princess 15 days prior, to our ship, the Royal Princess.  

We were never told anything about the "technical problem",  but it didn't take a genius to figure things out when a number of us noticed that as the hours passed, none of the luggage on the dock was being loaded on the ship.

Hmmmm !

OK...it was a health issue and I can handle that, but waiting 8 hours before canceling a cruise leaving a boodle of human flesh without food,  available planes to get them home, or available hotels to house them after 6:00pm didn't exactly inspire cheers from a crowd thinking...

 "What the hell do I do now?"

Well, I was the "lucky one". I drove, but I felt a "moral obligation" to tell the world of the "comforts" and "Tender Loving Care" Princess Cruise Line provided their "valued" guests.  

You see, us seniors have health problems and when you have to eat or die, the choice becomes no choice, although my wife, did make an attempt to "escape the pen" to find a food truck waiting outside the boarding area, with what was advertised to be "Taco World"...without tacos, managing to grab that last orange and banana left to be had...

...that by that point, could have been auctioned, fetching at least $100.

It became "GET ME SOME g...damn FOOD", but before I die, the world will know how you contributed to my demise.

And so...I grabbed my trusty I-Phone and made a call to KLAS, Channel 8 News in Las Vegas and asked if they were interested in the topic of the day...

...and before I knew it, they put me straight through to the newsroom, where I spoke with a nice man who was eager to "scoop" the USA of the latest cruise ship problem...even beating the local Los Angeles press at covering the event.

Little did I know this news person was the gentleman who was the actual TV announcer who would run the report that night.

He asked if he could interview me in my car, but that at first created a problem....

...the hotel that I had left my gas buggy...the hotel that took an hour and a half to get us at the cruise terminal less than a mile from the dock....by an unlicensed bell hop due to the real driver leaving for the day at 1:30pm...

...finally got us back to the hotel...

... only to learn my car keys were missing !

Well, they found them, but by then my passion to call the news guy back once we hit the road traveling back home starting at 7:30pm in the dark... was even stronger...

...which not being from California, had it not been for my prayers and constant conversations with a lady named Siri, I would likely have ended up in Mexico, due to one highway leading into another as autos pass you going 110 mph playing the latest in what is now referred to as "music".

O well, I had to call that Channel 8 man back, and so I did, completing the interview, believing something might be reported that evening on the local news.

All went well until the Channel 8 reporter called me back...asking me if I had a picture he would use.  

I told him I'm driving a car through hell dodging others trying to take my life attempting to find my way back home; that taking a picture in the dark would be pretty tough at the current time.

But..he had to find a picture, and he searched Facebook to find one.

And so he did...one taken in 2005 that many who know me now would look at, and say "Who the hell is that guy in the picture?"

Las Vegas has sadly taken it's toll this creature who is writing this piece due to a six letter word....

B U F F E T 

OK, picture had been secured while on the dark road back to Vegas.

Then...at about 11:15pm following the romantic dinner I had originally promised my wife that turned out to be a truck stop eating In-N-Out Burgers,  the phone rang.  

It was my Anthem Opinions Blog partner, Allen Weintraub, saying I was a "star".

Turns out the interview was the lead story on Channel 8 that evening!

Want to see it?

Just click on this link.

https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/henderson-family-impacted-by-cruise-line-cancellation/

   

A thank you to Princess Cruise lines for the exceptional treatment to a "valued" guest,  and a side note essentially telling them:

Don't mess with a guy who writes a blog !