Thinking about cruise ship crews during this horrible year....

C

CarolfromTX

Senior Member
Location
Central Texas
So we have taken exactly two cruises. One on Carnival, with our daughter and grandkids, and one on Viking by ourselves. The thing that impressed me the most, on board, was the staff. They were, on both cruise lines, friendly, gracious, helpful, wonderful people. Most came from developing nations like Indonesia or India. Or Romania or Latvia. They were all lovely people. Working on a cruise ship was a good, maybe even great, job for them. They could support their families well. They were all proud of the job they were doing. And then I thought of Cozumel. Its economy is based almost totally on tourism. Cruise ships put a lot of food on a lot of Mexican tables. We bought some jewelry there, granddaughter had her hair braided, we swam with the dolphins. I've got to wonder who's feeding those dolphins now, let alone the people of Cozumel.

And you're whining about politics and "Is the vaccine safe?" I think about those people often. They made me feel special. Was it genuine? I don't care. It felt genuine, and that's what counts. I want a freaking vaccine!! And so do they. AND I genuinely liked them. The people who have suffered the worst from this pandemic are the people in poor countries. The people who have suffered the most from lockdowns are the people who can least afford it. Killing economies means killing people. But you stay safe in your basement.
 

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I would add: I have suffered mentally from this pandemic, but not particularly financially. Pensions, social security, even the stock market are all good. Pretty sure that's not the case for much of the world. The cure, IMO, is worse than the disease.
 
Are you suggesting we all take cruises to help out? Carnival has cancelled all cruises for November. Even they know it's not a good idea
 

No I’m not. I’m saying that this virus has affected people in ways that have nothing to do with being ill. All cruise lines have shut down. This is Tazia, our bartender on Carnival. She is now out of work. This is the face of the pandemic. She was warm and caring and beautiful inside and out. It makes me sad EA9C3CA0-9738-46B5-AA95-9A5B8916DE72.jpeg
 
I've also thought a lot about tourist-dependent areas and occupations. They have to be suffering terribly during this pandemic.

An insistence that a vaccine be proven safe before rolling up my sleeve doesn't cancel out concern and empathy for hard-hit countries and people whose livelihoods are affected by travel restrictions.

DH & I had 2020 vacations on the books. Paid up and ready to go: an early April week in the DR, a June trip to the east coast for a reunion, a July week in Seattle for my entire family, plus several spring & summer RV trips. All were canceled.

Will our nearly $1000 airline credit for the DR trip still be valid when resorts reopen and it feels safe to get into a plane again? I doubt it.

This pandemic is no picnic for anyone. We're trying to make the best of a difficult situation.

Most of the whining I hear is from people complaining about how restricted they are, not from those who disbelieve politicians, and certainly not from folks who expect the vaccine to be fully vetted for safety and efficacy before taking it.

@CarolfromTX, of course you're frustrated and want your 2019 life back. We all do. The happy news is that there appears to be light at the end of the Covid tunnel.

p.s. If you want to help small businesses that are suffering, www.Kiva.org is an innovative international charity that lends a hand, $25 at a time. You choose the people & businesses you want to support. The borrowers repay the funds and then you lend it out again.
 
Carol: You have made many good points. People in countries that have less (much less) than we have are suffering terribly. This I am sure. I wonder how they are getting by with little to no income. Unlike the U.S. where we all get handouts whether we need any or not, many of these lesser countries do not give money away or even food for that matter.

Weeks ago, my wife and I took a couple of cases of canned vegetables that we bought from a warehouse sale to drop off at one of the food drop offs that also handout free food. When we arrived there, I would imagine that there were 25-35 cars waiting for food. They had their car in line with the trunk lid open. No one was permitted to get out of their car.

We have contributed money through the church to food banks in our area and also cases of canned food that we buy at Hanover. Every 2 weeks we have been buying 5-6 cases of different cans of vegetables to drop off at the food bank in front of the old K-Mart not far from me. It’s open 3 days a week. I always see a lot of the same people out there, either dropping off or picking up.

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StarSong said:
I've also thought a lot about tourist-dependent areas and occupations. They have to be suffering terribly during this pandemic.

An insistence that a vaccine be proven safe before rolling up my sleeve doesn't cancel out concern and empathy for hard-hit countries and people whose livelihoods are affected by travel restrictions.

DH & I had 2020 vacations on the books. Paid up and ready to go: an early April week in the DR, a June trip to the east coast for a reunion, a July week in Seattle for my entire family, plus several spring & summer RV trips. All were canceled.

Will our nearly $1000 airline credit for the DR trip still be valid when resorts reopen and it feels safe to get into a plane again? I doubt it.

This pandemic is no picnic for anyone. We're trying to make the best of a difficult situation.

Most of the whining I hear is from people complaining about how restricted they are, not from those who disbelieve politicians, and certainly not from folks who expect the vaccine to be fully vetted for safety and efficacy before taking it.

@CarolfromTX, of course you're frustrated and want your 2019 life back. We all do. The happy news is that there appears to be light at the end of the Covid tunnel.

p.s. If you want to help small businesses that are suffering, www.Kiva.org is an innovative international charity that lends a hand, $25 at a time. You choose the people & businesses you want to support. The borrowers repay the funds and then you lend it out again.
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Thanks SS, I will have to check out the site for contributing.
 
StarSong said:
Thank you for your inspiring story of frequently dropping off food at a local food bank. I will check out our local food bank to do the same. We must all pitch in to help out those who are hurting.
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We have several food manufacturers in this area. Hanover makes a lot of different canned vegetables and I can buy a case (24 cans) of Mixed Vegetables for only $7.20. So, when I go, I generally will get maybe 10 cases, but only give the food bank 2-3 cases per trip. We also have a huge Apple products plant that cans several styles of apples from applesauce to canned apples, to just about anything apples. The head man knows I give it away to a food bank, so he sells me the cases from $2.00-$4.00 per case, depending on the product. There are lots of these types of companies in this area and if I spend about $100.00 a month, I can buy mucho cases. I just spread it out over a month.

I have a nice state pension as does my wife, so it’s just our way of giving back. It’s unbelievable how many people are in need. Up until about 4-5 years ago, I thought the commercials on TV requesting food donations was just a come on. I had no way of knowing the actual need. Then, a whole row of row homes in the city burned to the ground and it made me aware of the need to help people.

I never believed in giving handouts, but what I do is not a handout, it’s a hand up to help people that have a temporary need for help. Elderly people that live alone are in the most need fir help. One older lady who is now in her later 80’s, lives on Medicaid for insurance and a $550.00 monthly check. She can’t even afford cable TV, so I hooked up an inexpensive antenna and she can receive about 5 channels. She has two children, but they don’t even visit her. I bring her to our house for holiday dinners. BTW, I visited her children and asked them to visit her and they say they will, but they don’t. I’ll bet if she had a lot of money, they would visit.
 
@911 your story simultaneously makes me sad for those who are suffering, and proud to cyber-know you. Mr. Rogers (one of my heroes), told this story:
"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

You are one of the helpers, 911.
 
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