Cruise Ship Killer
Cruise Ship Killer (CSK) is a darkly comedic, deeply skeptical podcast that investigates deaths, disappearances, and bizarre incidents aboard cruise ships.
Cruise Ship Killer
S2EP5: We Waited For Potatoes And Missed Easter Island
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We trade two weeks of cruise ship news for a first-hand look at what 37 nights on a Princess world cruise segment really feels like, from coffee rituals and enrichment talks to bingo wins and casino lights. Pam walks us through missed ports, rough seas near Easter Island, and the small shipboard moments that quietly teach you the most about cruise safety and human behavior.
• Cruise news roundup including an arrest after a short Carnival sailing,
heavy swells snapping mooring lines as a ship drifts into smaller boats and
a medical emergency forcing an unscheduled return to port
• What it is like joining a world cruise “in progress”
• Building a long-cruise routine with sea days, talks, trivia, and the casino
• Cabin comfort on extended sailings and how upgrade bidding works
• Easter Island cancelled due to swells and what tender risk looks like up close
• Tahiti versus Moorea and how expectations collide with reality
• Gratuities, and why service can feel different
• CSK rapid-fire decisions on overboard moments, cabin knocks, and suspicious situations
• A bingo interruption for O negative blood and a late-night helicopter evacuation
Do want to learn more about Cruise Line Terminology, alert calls, and fun cruise terminology? Check out our CruiseShipKiller Dictionary!
Dark Tease And Show Premise
Speaker 2Somewhere beyond the buffet, the pool deck, and the promise of paradise, something's gone terribly wrong. On Cruise Chip Killer, hosts Kathy and Geoff break down the latest cruise ship news. They dive into the remarkable cases from today and the past, covering what's known, what's disputed, and what remains unexplained. Through it all, they entertain one highly unofficial question. What if there is a cruise ship killer? The stories are real, the theory is not.
Season Welcome And Big Guest
SpeakerWelcome to season two, episode five of Cruise Ship Killer. Hi, Kathy.
Speaker 3Hi, Geoff.
SpeakerAlright, we have a big show today.
Speaker 3We do, we have a really big show.
SpeakerYeah, no, this is really cool because we have our first guest who went on a 37-day cruise. Yes. So we've got a ton of questions. Exciting. And I know you everybody out there is thinking what we're thinking. Did she see CSK? Right?
Speaker 3I bet she did and didn't know it.
SpeakerAlright, so before we get to that, we're going to hear from you the updates.
Speaker 3The cruise news of the last two weeks.
SpeakerWe know, everybody knows that's been listening that actually we'll end recording today and someone will probably fall overboard on some ship.
Speaker 3I think so.
SpeakerSo anyway, all right, what do you got?
Cruise News Child Neglect Arrest
Speaker 3Alright, I have three uh big news stories. The first one is 29-year-old Natalie Belazaire of North Miami Beach decided she needed a little RR last weekend, so she hopped on a three-day Carnival Conquest cruise. When she returned to port, she was arrested and charged with four counts of child neglect. Seems Natalie left her four kids at home alone, which included a two-year-old and a two-month-old baby. The baby's father saw that she posted her cruise ticket on WhatsApp and asked, Where are the kids? Her response that they were with their great-grandmother did not pass the salty air smell test, so he went over there to check on them himself. He can hear them inside, they won't open the door, so he calls the police. They broke in, and all four kids are hiding in the bathroom, trembling that they've been, you know, caught home alone. The video kind of shows that the other two kids, which they didn't say how old they were, they looked to me like they were maybe about seven and eleven. The great-grandmother states she was told the mom would drop the kids off, but she never did. So you don't want to be late to the port or you miss the ship, I guess. She just had to go.
SpeakerShe went by herself?
Speaker 3Oh yeah.
SpeakerWow.
Speaker 3The judge gave her a big tongue lashing along with a strict no-contact, phone or otherwise, and a 500-foot distance order. And I just want to say to Carnival again, I'm so sorry. I wish this would have been on Royal or NCL, even when you're not trying, your name is getting dragged through the mud.
SpeakerThey're like a magnet.
Speaker 3They are. They are a magnet. They are.
SpeakerDo you think the other cruise lines are like haha, that's good. That's good that you're the magnet. Because we don't want to be the magnet.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Cruise News Storm Breaks Moorings
Speaker 3The second one is Virgin Voyage Scarlet Lady was docked in Rhodes, Greece, during heavy swells last week and broke through the mooring lines as the ship then drifted into a catamaran and two other small boats before making its way back to its berth. The weather was so bad, it then missed the overnight port in Mykonos, which that's a major bummer I've been in Mykonos. That's a really beautiful port to miss. No worries, no injuries, but I'm super excited because we have friends from Katie's pub on that cruise.
SpeakerOn that one that on that one. Oh.
Speaker 3And now they're gonna get an invitation to be on CSK podcast. So you know who you are, B and E. Don't try to hide out in those windmills.
SpeakerYeah, we want to know CSK cut the lines. That's right. Something like that, right? Yeah.
Speaker 3We're coming for you.
SpeakerYeah, we're coming for
Cruise News Choking Forces Turnaround
Speakeryou.
Speaker 3The third one is the Disney Treasure made an unscheduled emergency return to Port Canaveral after a guest choked on a piece of steak and needed urgent medical care. I did not stop there though, because I had to ask AI, which Disney character would you want to give you the Heimlich maneuver if you were choking on a piece of steak?
SpeakerOh, that's a good question. You need a princess because they wouldn't have the fluffy stuff that would you need hard body against you there.
Speaker 3Here's the top four.
SpeakerRight.
Speaker 3The first choice was Baymax, a fictional inflatable robot who serves as a personal healthcare companion, followed by Mr. Incredible, who possibly would also maybe crack a rib.
SpeakerYeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3Maui, whose massive hook may complicate the procedure, and Mickey Mouse, whose paws lack the dexterity and opposable thumbs needed for a proper grip.
SpeakerYeah. Might be more comfortable though.
Speaker 3Hopefully the guy just had a normal Disney waiter.
SpeakerBut wait a minute. So they had actually had to go back?
Speaker 3Yes. Back to port. Turn turn the ship around, as you like to say.
SpeakerYeah, turn the ship around. Yeah. For that? Yes. They wouldn't go to the this couldn't be handled in the medical base. Something must have happened. That must have been. Maybe it was a stake and a rib or something. It was like a double bonus, a triple bonus, or something. You don't know. That's really weird.
Speaker 3Could have asked a steak in his lung, and then he needs to go to the hospital.
SpeakerWe'll have to ask our guest if anything like that happened.
Speaker 3Yes.
SpeakerYeah. Hopefully he didn't have to turn around 37 days.
Speaker 3What?
SpeakerWe're going back?
unknownYeah.
Speaker 3Now you're on for 74 days.
Guest Setup For 37 Days
SpeakerAlright, so do you wanna why don't you introduce this person? Because you know this person very well.
Speaker 3I do.
SpeakerAnd you actually have you do have to give a little bit of background here. Um I'm gonna ask the first question of her, but um you have to give a little bit of background on this 37-day cruise because you you you had you had um chips in this game.
Speaker 3I did. Yeah, and I don't know, even in the casino, but I had chips.
SpeakerYeah, exactly. You lost your chips.
Speaker 3So, like a couple of years ago, Dave and I booked this cruise. It was a world cruise segment on Princess, and I mainly booked it because one of my top places that I want to see is Easter Island, and it was going to Easter Island. So I couldn't believe Dave said yes, by the way, but I was jumping up and down.
SpeakerWas it during a pub night that you asked them? After a pub night?
Speaker 3Must have been after.
SpeakerThe day before, he was excited.
Speaker 3It's gotta be after.
SpeakerIt's gotta be after.
Speaker 3So we booked it, and then I told my BFF Pam, hey, we're going on this 37-day cruise. And she was like, I think I might want to go with you. And I was like, What? Yes. So she got one of her sisters, um, who also wanted to go, and we all booked it. We were booked.
Speaker 1Wow.
Speaker 3And then later on, maybe a year later, we could not go anymore on the cruise. And so Pam still went on the cruise and we got updates daily, pictures.
SpeakerAnd here we are.
Speaker 3And here we are. She has lots of stories.
SpeakerShe's back. She's back. Which is good because that means CSK didn't get her.
Speaker 3No.
SpeakerRight. She's safe.
Speaker 3She's safe.
SpeakerShe's safe at home. Alright, so Pam, welcome.
Pam’s Cruise Style And Habits
SpeakerThank you. Um so how long have you been cruising and do you remember your first cruise?
Speaker 4Well, I think my first cruise was with my husband. Um so I assume it was to the Caribbean, because we had Briana, a teenager, and she wanted to go to the Caribbean. So all the cruises I took were either to Alaska or the Caribbean. So I would say that was one of the first ones. Although I did go to Alaska with my parents and family at least two or three times. So um, but I don't think that was one of my first cruises. I think the Caribbean was the first cruise I've ever been on.
SpeakerSo would you classify yourself as a a real seasoned cruiser or in the middle of it, middle ground?
Speaker 4Middle ground. I would say I've been on, I was gonna ask Kathy, would you say maybe 15 cruises? I think so. Yes, about 15 cruises.
SpeakerThat that kind of puts her on the high end for me.
Speaker 4But never more than seven days.
SpeakerThat was gonna be one of the questions I had, which is yeah, because we typically well, we know that typically it's seven days is pretty much the norm for for folks. So that was your pattern, seven days. So when you how would you describe yourself as a cruiser? Would you are you the kind that is a big planner, or do you just kind of figure it out as you go?
Speaker 4I am not a planner at all, and I love sea days. I love to just hang out and watch the world go by, go into the bars, the casinos.
SpeakerYou love sea days. Kathy's already cringing. I can I don't have to look at it.
Speaker 4It's amazing that we're best friends. We have so many differences. And can I just say when she asked me if I wanted to go, it was more like 37 days. Are you crazy? No, not interested. And then she's like, You can put it down for just $99. You can get your money back.
Speaker 1Oh.
Speaker 4And so I had to keep thinking about it and thinking about it. And then the more I did think about it, then I said, All right, all right, sounds good. And then I asked my sister, and she's like, 37 days?
SpeakerI mean, it is when you think about it, but yeah, I would have definitely paused. But Kathy, you're gonna get phone calls from everybody now. All the cruise lines are gonna be like, we need her as a sales rep. She just she just sold a 37-day cruise on the $99.
Speaker 4I did.
SpeakerYeah, that incentive either.
Speaker 4I've never been on one longer than seven days. I'm the typical seven-day cruiser.
Speaker 3I think you uh when you we did the British Isles together, that was 12.
Speaker 4Oh, that's probably the max we've got.
Speaker 3That was the one exception, then. Yeah. Yep. So would you say you're someone that makes friends on a cruise, or do you prefer doing your own thing?
Speaker 4I prefer doing my own thing for sure. Um, having my sister with me on this trip, she is well versed in the world and her geography, whereas I think what I learned about myself is I am really inept when it comes to geography. Because these people are from all over the world and they're telling you where they're from. And so my sister travels a lot more in Europe than I do, and so she's well versed in it. And um, so I like meeting the people and talking with them, but sometimes I feel a little intimidated when they tell me where they've been and where they live, and I have to go home and look it up and you know, um, but I really enjoy meeting them, and we did the the dinners where um when you walk up and they say, Would you like to sit by yourself or share a table? And generally we would share, not all the time, but for the most part, and uh uh we loved it. We loved meeting all the people, although almost all of them were from Sydney, uh, Australia, because the majority of the people got on in Sydney because it was a world cruise, it was 144 days for them. I only did a leg of the the cruise. So the people who got on in Sydney were doing 144 days.
SpeakerI don't think you're alone in that feeling though, where people are saying, I've been this way, that way, and you're kind of like, oh geez, not me. I bet you everybody feels that same way. And I think uh these ships need to have a very large globe somewhere where you can go up and spin it, you know, like when you're in school, you know, you can be like here, we're show me on the globe.
Speaker 4That would be such a great idea because also they're telling you what other cruises they've done. Yeah, and a lot of times I don't even know the places that they're talking about.
SpeakerYeah, it's kind of nice to be able to look on the globe and be like, he went here, here, here, and here, and here, and you go. Yeah, no, that's a great idea.
Speaker 4They shouldn't have one like in the library, but a really big one.
SpeakerYeah, I'm talking about like a really huge one. Like you'd have multiple groups around this thing, it's so big. You'd be fighting with the other group about no, we're trying to spin it this way, no, this way, right? All right, Kat.
Sea Days Bingo Casino And Spa
Speaker 3And I think I know this from your daily trip cast updates, but what does a perfect day on a cruise ship look like for you?
Speaker 4Well, after we got on and we got into a rhythm of things, we um I would say a typical day, we would get up and we would order a pot of coffee to our room and just have coffee in the room, and then kind of decide if it was a sea day, what we were going to do for the day. And we sort of fell into this um educational speech that happens every morning at 10 o'clock, and we wanted to hear it was on Pitcairn Island, one of our stops, and so we went to it, and then we didn't realize that these happen every sea day at 10 a.m. And I just sort of laughed thinking, I really am old, now I'm going to educational speeches on a cruise at 10 o'clock in the morning. But they were like really interesting, and you know, really nice pictures, you know, of and the speakers were just fantastic. And um, so we did that, and then we would go find breakfast or lunch, um, and then we would um go out on the deck by the pool, have drinks, and then in the afternoon, you know, the band they always had like an 80s band playing, and that was like really nice. Um and then we would go to bingo every every sea Day, and we did really well on bingo. And um and then we would go have drinks in the afternoon, play cards, go to trivia. We really like their trivia games, and of course the casino um we would usually do in the afternoon, and then go to dinner, and then maybe more casino at night, the shows, and um that would and that was a really nice day for us. That would I was what I would say would be our day at sea.
SpeakerI may have the answer to this question then, because what's your cruise vice? Like, is it food, is it drinks, is it casino, shopping, spa, something else?
Speaker 4Well, um, Kathy will laugh at this, but I did have my first massage on the cruise. I actually had two of them, and um I don't know why it took me 66 years to get a massage, but I really, really enjoyed it. And um, so we did that, and then we also had a mud leg rub one day that was from the spa. You know, they put cover your legs in mud and they you know rub them. And uh, but I would say for sure my vice is the casino and um bingo, another form of gambling. I'm I mean, like I'm not addicted to gambling, but I mean there's just something about the casinos, the lights, the and everything. And my both my sister and I did really well. I there's no complaints from me from me on the casino or the bingo. I thought they were quite generous with us. We um we we were definitely ahead when we left.
Speaker 1Wow.
Speaker 3Did your casino bartender have your drinks ready when you went in? Did they know remember what you had?
Speaker 4Yes, for me, a Rum and Diet Coke. And I have to say, I'm a Rum Diet Coke or a Chardonnay person. The Rum Diet Coke on the ship was so excellent. I don't know if it's maybe the the Diet Coke that comes out of the gun.
SpeakerDid you have the unlimited package? Yes. Okay. Well, that could be one of the reasons.
Speaker 4No. I mean, it's just a theory. I don't know what it was. It was it was really a good Rum Diet Coke. And um, you know how they say at McDonald's, the drinks that come out of the fountain taste better?
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 4And so I'm just thinking maybe the Diet Coke that they use um out of their fountain gun. But anyway, so we had that. And then of course Kathy would be texting me saying, Have a martini, you need a chocolate martini, or try this, try that. So then we would I'd we'd order those.
SpeakerSo you so you were living through her for a minute there.
Speaker 3Oh, not a minute, the whole 37 days. Yeah.
SpeakerYou're like, have a martini on me.
Speaker 3Yeah. I was like stalking all the cruise port cameras, and filming her going through the Panama Canal, you know, and like sending her stills, and she's like posting what were you sending any news, like of something, you know, you know, this guy fell overboard on the okay.
SpeakerYou weren't, you were avoiding all of those CSK topics. Yes.
Speaker 4Oh my God. When we left New York and we were trying to get selfies with the Statue of Liberty, you know, Kathy's like, I see you. And so we're like, yeah. She didn't really.
Speaker 3And then is there anything that the passengers do that drive you crazy, like scratching their foot with a fork from the table? Anything like that?
SpeakerStealing more than they should for bacon at the buffet, right? Yeah. Yeah. Anything?
Speaker 4I really you know, not that I can think of.
SpeakerSince you went to the spa, that would be an area where I would think something might have gone south. You're just like, ma'am, you can't do that. You know, I'm I'm not a veteran of the spa, but that doesn't look right to me.
Speaker 4I have to say, the age on this cruise, they were quite older group. My sister and I were definitely the youngest, other than a few spatterings of families here and there with little kids who we think were um home being homeschooled, but they had them on the cruise, and so they would be homeschooled. You could tell that they were doing homework on the decks and things like that. And um, but other than that, there it was a quite older group, I would say 70s, 80s, 90s. And um, so that that sounds really old, and um I know some people are like, isn't that sort of like going with the nursing home? But I have to say, I it made me sort of feel really happy to be with them. They just all seemed very happy. The husbands and wives just you know, to see them still holding hands and helping each other, and they were just having such a good time. And um, and because there was no like bathing beauties, it was really nice to go to the pool and not care exactly what you looked like, or um when you went to the spa, you could like go in your shorts, whereas you know, if you go on Royal Caribbean or Carnival, you know, everyone's in their little bikinis, and so that was really nice. I can't think of anything that um any of them really did to bother me. No, I I really enjoyed them. I they kind of made me happy being around them just to see what life can still be like at at that age. They all seemed so happy, and and most of them, this was not their first long cruise. I think a lot of them were getting off and already had another world cruise booked. So they would get off, go home, kind of do their mail, recheck in, and then they'd go on another world cruise. They uh it seemed like they all had another booking. Like they would a constant question to my sister or me was where are you guys going next? And we're like, home? Katie Katie's pub. Exactly.
SpeakerHome would be like their vacation.
Speaker 4Exactly, I know right, it would be the opposite. Right.
SpeakerRight? Oh no, we're going on vacation. What do you mean you're going, oh we're gonna get off the ship for a while?
Speaker 4Yeah, uh these were definitely um what what did you call the seasoned cruisers? I mean, they really um enjoyed cruising, and most of them were were you know already booked on another one.
SpeakerSo at that point, are they called salty dogs? At what point do you get the nickname salty dog?
Speaker 3I don't know, I'm not there yet.
SpeakerNo, I'm looking at you like you should know this. Okay, you don't know this. So 37 days is a long time. Um so start at the beginning, because I don't think anybody under knows what what cruise line you were on, where the ship was headed, um, um, where did you board, all that kind of stuff. So give us a rundown of kind of the itinerary.
Itinerary Cabin Life And Upgrades
Speaker 4So it was 37 nights. So that's just the leg of the world cruise. The total world cruise was 144 nights. So we just joined in New York. So we got on in New York and sailed to Sydney. So from New York we went to Miami and Cartagena, Panama Canal, Lima, Peru, Tahiti, Morea, um, Auckland uh, New Zealand. And um we sailed on Princess. I'm normally a Royal, but Kathy and Dave were supposed to be coming with me, and they sailed the Princess, so that's why we booked Princess. And I liked it. And we had a mini suite, and I really liked that. Before you go, you can bid on a bigger room, and I put a bid for a full suite, and I bid $15,000 and it wasn't accepted. So I didn't get a full suite. I got what I ordered, which was the mini suite. And it turned it was actually the perfect size room for my sister and me. We had a little family room, two beds, a bathroom, and and a balcony, and it was fine. You know, it's it's bigger than just a balcony room. But I just thought it might be fun since I don't plan on doing thirty seven day cruises every year of my life. Then it might be fun to get the the a full suite, but we uh it apparently were outbid. So we didn't get that.
Speaker 3And um they also uh several times it said it was sold out. Maybe it was just sold out and there wasn't a room to I didn't realize you could do this bidding. Oh yeah. You can.
SpeakerCan you keep track of it like you're buying on eBay? No. No.
Speaker 4They just tell you as a matter of fact, they tell you the night before you might be accepted. You might not even know sometimes till you're boarding. So I kept checking just to see, but they said that the first place you would notice it is your credit card. That if you were accepted, they charge you right away. And there's no going back.
SpeakerThen you would definitely know. Right.
Speaker 4So um I just kind of thought maybe it wasn't the sell-out factor, even though maybe it was. Um because they kept taking bids. You know, you could still bid. So it seems like if they were sold out, they wouldn't be taking any more bids.
Speaker 3I read that I think when you do bid for upgrades, your best bet on doing that is um getting a balcony room and bidding for a mini suite. Because that seems to be where people mostly get uh sent up to the next level.
SpeakerIf you didn't get the mini suite and you just had a regular balcony room, would you have been able to tolerate it for 37 days?
Speaker 4That's an interesting question. I have to say we were quite comfortable in our mini suite, so hard to imagine downgrading, huh?
Speaker 3The main difference though from that is um Wait a minute.
SpeakerDid you go on this cruise? No. No, okay. Just double checking.
Speaker 3All right, all right, the main difference between the balcony.
Speaker37 days and yeah, okay.
Speaker 3And the mini suite is for your 12-day cruise. Is the bathroom, and if you're in a balcony, you just get this little beam-me-up Scotty shower as opposed to the bath tub and shower.
SpeakerI'm familiar with the beam-y up Scotty shower.
Speaker 3Can you do that for 37 days? No.
SpeakerI could no, maybe not. Yeah, uh not with my wife, because she would be pulling her hair out, you know.
Speaker 4So we had a very nice bathroom and it was a bathtub. I'm a shower person, my sister's a bathtub person, so that that worked out perfectly. We had a bathtub and a shower, so that was it was a nice size bathroom. And um, I mean, I grew up with my sister obviously, and we're very close in age, and we're very close in general. So we're still good at the 37 days? I don't I can honestly say I don't think we ever got mad at each other once. Well, I can say I didn't get mad at her. I don't know if she got mad at me, but um, we got along really, really well. No problems at all. And I can't think of too many people that I can say that about, but it so it you know it was no no problem at all.
SpeakerHow long so this is uh this is a world cruise, so 100 and would you say 141 days? 144. 144 days, and you're uh a a segment of that 144. What part of the segment were you? Were you the the latter part? In other words, the people that's gonna be like, I think we're almost in the middle. Okay, in the middle. And you got on in New York?
Speaker 3So you I think you were either the second to the last stop or the last because I remember the stop before I think it was New Zealand before you got to Sydney.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 3A bunch of people got off because they had boarded there. Or people got started it in Sydney and it ended and then it was off to somewhere else. I think you were the last leg.
Speaker 4So out of the 144, we m yeah that's true. So maybe we were um the last day. But interestingly, every cruise I've ever been on, everyone's getting on for day one, right?
SpeakerRight.
Speaker 4And in New York, we're getting on, it's kind of like we're joining a party that's already in progress.
SpeakerThat's what I that's where I was going. I because it's like there's already a a a little society that's formed, uh-huh. And now you guys are getting on. Where people like in the hallways looking to see who's coming, you know? I mean, I'm kind of imagining, right? There's like this, like, ooh, we got new people coming.
Speaker 4It did take me a few, a little while to uh to remember that that these people have been on the ship for a long time. And I'm thinking's just getting on.
SpeakerDid they look at I mean I would be looking at the other passengers and they'd be like, wow, they seem really excited to see other people. You know, like look at look at they look really thrilled, right?
Speaker 4Well, it was a two-day stop in New York for them. And so when we got on, we spent one night on the ship in New York, and then we sailed the next day in the afternoon. And um so the more I think about it, the more I you know learn about that. I that just didn't even occur to me when I was getting on the ship in New York that I was joining a party already in progress. I'm just thinking I'm joining, I'm boarding with everyone else. But when you go to New York and you get to the pier, there's big signs that say um new borders and in transit. And if you're in transit, you're you're the people who are already on the ship and they just go right by. So new borders, you know, you go check in.
SpeakerAnd um the in-transit people kind of walk with a little you know cache, you know. Kind of, you know, kind of just to let you know that yeah, we we know what's going on here.
Speaker 4You don't yet out of our way people.
SpeakerYeah. Like, come on.
Speaker 4Everyone was so nice. I hate to just keep saying that, but they really were. No, it was well they have to be.
SpeakerIf you're gonna be on that little if you're gonna be that long with a bunch of people, you better be nice. Because we know what happens.
Speaker 4And you're not nice.
SpeakerRight, and we know what happens, Carnival. Right?
Speaker 4Yeah.
SpeakerYeah.
Speaker 4And then we went to Miami and I would say not that many. We got off, but we just we sort of went off because once we got our room set up, we were trying to figure out what we still what we might need or or want. And so um we we got off the ship, but like we went to a TJ Maxx and got a little tablecloth for our balcony, and because it was the table's kind of you know, rough. And you know, think we got some snacks and we we didn't want to go exploring Miami, neither neither of us were big Miami fans. And um, we just stayed a night in Miami. And then after we left Miami, I felt like we were really um leaving and on our way.
Speaker 3Wasn't Miami the one you were way late for waiting on potatoes?
SpeakerYes, yes, okay they're waiting on potatoes. Yeah, I was I was held up the top.
Speaker 3I was port stalking again, and I'm like, they were supposed to leave three hours ago. What the hell is going on? And Pam's like, we're waiting on potatoes.
SpeakerI know you thought something serious not that they could have run out of potatoes a long time ago and they already went through the potato problem. So maybe they're like, no, we're not doing that again with this crew, right?
Speaker 4But the new people are like, Well, why are we waiting for potatoes? Yeah. Well, we we just assumed we were waiting for late passengers, and uh, because we're I mean, we were like three or four hours late leaving. Kathy's like, why haven't you guys left? And and the captain finally came on and said that they were waiting for, I think, 40 pallets of potatoes.
SpeakerAnd everybody's like, these potatoes better be really good. Like scalloped.
Speaker 4Don't mix, you know, mix up people's potatoes on their fully loaded baked potato captain, right? I have to say the ship's mashed potatoes were pretty good.
SpeakerThere you go.
unknownAll right.
Speaker 3Um, so before you left, what port were you most excited about seeing before you before you got on when you looked at the ports? Well, of course.
SpeakerIgnore the salesperson, though, yeah.
Speaker 4Well, of course, Auckland, New Zealand. I've been there before and I loved it, and so I was really looking forward to that, and it didn't disappoint. Although it was pouring rain. I mean it was pouring buckets, the kind where you're hiding under your umbrella and it's just pouring off of you. And um, but we still got off and we did shopping and exploring, and um, so I loved Auckland. And then, of course, Easter Island, because Kathy and Dave had told me so much about it. But I, you know, I went in knowing that it was a 50-50 chance, and they tell you right up uh right off the bat that there's a 50-50 chance that you're not going to be able to get off at Easter Island.
Easter Island Cancelled Rough Seas
Speaker 4And so when everyone got up the morning of Easter Island, the seas kind of looked relatively calm. So we went to our um excursion where you wait for your excursion to be calm, and Kathy's texting me saying, a friend of ours who was also on the cruise said, Eric said that the seas look great, you're gonna get off. And I'm like, I'm not so sure about that because you know the sea swells were were getting higher and higher. And um and the captain kept you know, the captain said, Well, the officials from Easter Island are now on the ship, so we're gonna get together and make a decision if you we're gonna get off. And um like 30 minutes later he came back on and he said, I know this is going to be disappointing, but the already the sea swells are too are high, and the um the rest of the day they're supposed to get higher and worse, so we're not. And he said, my you know, my job is to take care of you, and I can't let you off.
SpeakerOkay, since you your vice is the casino, you had to have said when you heard that they were powwowing over whether they're gonna go or not go. You had to have run to the casino to see if you could place a bet on that.
Speaker 1Yeah, right. That would be good.
SpeakerEverybody had to be talking about like, come on, let's bet on this. Let's bet on this. Come on, let's get on the back.
Speaker 4I didn't have the what's that access of that betting that you can bet on the book.
SpeakerI think it's Polymarket, I think. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you oh my God, I should have. Yeah. Yeah. Easter island or noise.
Speaker 4Jeff, I should have thought of that. I could have done it online.
SpeakerCould have taken your bingo money in.
Speaker 3I will say that Pam sent a video of uh one of the transport boats crashing into part of the ship and broke all the windows and everything, and she was like, Oh, good decision. No, we can't get off.
Speaker 4They made the announcement that we couldn't get off. My sister and I just left the area, and then right outside, we just went outside to you know decide what we were going to do. And right below us was the tender boats, which are the emergency boats. And um supposedly they had in a medical emergency that they were trying to get to the island. But I'm thinking, if you have a medical emergency, who wants to go to Easter Island? I'm just thinking, what kind of medical facilities could they have at Easter Island?
Speaker 3It's one small hospital, I read.
Speaker 4Really? Well, so anyway, we're trying to pull the tender up to the boat, which is like right below us. And of course, everyone's watching this poor guy who's trying to get the tender up to it. And so as soon as he gets close, this wave just hits the boat, and the boat crashes into the ship, breaks the windows, dents, it took, takes like the mirror off. And so I have it all on film. It's it's pretty wild. And um, so I said to Kathy, good decision on the captain's part that we're because you could see the people who work for the cruise line in that tender, you know, and they were just being thrown around and everything. And I think the medical emergency um did not make it to Easter Island. I don't think they even tried after that. It was pretty wild seas.
Speaker 3Didn't you also say you heard someone got kicked off for getting in a fight with the spa staff?
SpeakerYeah, we had before Easter at Easter. At Easter, at Easter Island. This is when you guys were at Easter. See? Well, see, probably because there was a whole betting thing going on. Probably because they're all kibbitzing about who's are we gonna go or not go?
Speaker 4That's what someone says. Pretend like you get in a fight just so you can get off and go to Easter Island.
SpeakerSee, yeah, maybe that's why Yeah. We'll get there.
Speaker 4So the rumor mill was going crazy about that they were kicking off a couple who got in a fight with the spa people and like a physical altercation, and that it wasn't a medical emergency, it was this couple being kicked off.
SpeakerHow did you hear about that?
Speaker 4My sister um was talking to a couple, she overheard it, so my sister said, What happened? And so then they started telling her, but then we heard about it somewhere else, too. So, I mean, uh otherwise I wouldn't have said anything to Kathy about it.
Speaker 3But since we heard it from this group, and then we heard again another group, but that's when I said, Pam, get back out there, go interview the spa staff and find out what's going on.
SpeakerExactly. Exactly. Don't stop there.
Speaker 4Right. We did ask one of our bartenders. I thought, do you know anything about a fight? Oh, yeah. What a fight uh that happened in the spa. And she said, No, but that it's not that unusual. And she said, So I mean, people get irritated, they're drinking, and she said, but I haven't heard anything.
SpeakerYeah, and you're in and you had just had you already gone to the spa and done your massage and all that stuff, had you been to the spa when she said that?
Speaker 4Well, I think she's just thinking people who are drinking get irritated. I don't think she necessarily meant that it was the spa people. I think she was just saying people get irritated and then get and so and she so she said we don't always hear about everything that happens. Um did you say, but this isn't Carnival. I know. I need some scoop for my friend. Yes. So anyway, that was but we never you know heard anything more about that. But we were really disappointed on Easter Island. So they did sail around the island twice for us, and they got as close as they could, and we could see some of the statues.
SpeakerMoai okay, so that's a good segway because I gotta hear about the sea days. Well, that counts as a sea Day.
Speaker 3It does.
SpeakerIf you're doing laps, it does.
Speaker 3But the the thing about the Moai statues, because I was watching, you know, she was taking pictures or whatever. I was watching, the statues are all facing away from you. They're facing you have to be on the island. So all you're seeing is you know Moai butts. Their butts are back, and by missing this stop, that led them into a 10 consecutive day at sea.
Speaker 4Because we had been five days and we were supposed to get off, and then by missing that.
SpeakerDid you what did you do? Did you have a panic attack? I jumped overboard even though I was home.
Speaker 3I was like, I was like, I can't stand another day on the ship, even watching. I'm you know, I can't I think not to me. I was like, woo-hoo, yeah, let's go find something to do.
SpeakerDid you notice other passengers? Were the were the passengers kind of going a little stir crazy?
Speaker 4We did talk to one lady who owned a a fairly big farm, I guess, in Sydney. And um she told us she was ready to jump overboard. She's the only one I heard though. She just said she can't take it. She she just wants to get to home, she misses her animal, she misses her daughter, and she looked really sad and um was she on the world?
SpeakerYes. Okay. Yeah. So she had been on already.
Speaker 4Yeah.
SpeakerOkay.
Speaker 4But but in talking with everyone else, uh I think people were like disappointed with the Easter Island, but it was like similar to me. Everyone expect uh, you know, you kind of know. The one thing though, um we had booked our excursion through the ship, so we got our money back. But a lot of people who booked private excursions don't get their money back because uh and they say that to you up front when you book a private excursion that you're not gonna get your money back. So a friend of ours, or a lot of people who book private don't get their money back, and they're but that was an expensive excursion. I think a lot of the private ones were $800, ours was six hundred. So we just got a credit from Princess.
Speaker 3But before you get into the 70% sea day, 30% land, uh, was there a port that you would have happily skipped if you if you went on this?
Tahiti Disappointment And Island Realities
Speaker 3Tahiti. Really? Yeah. Honeymoon we honeymoon.
Speaker 4Did you say that it was Moorea? Were you?
Speaker 3Oh, Moorea and Bora Bora.
Speaker 4I was really disappointed in Tahiti. I didn't like it at all, and I couldn't wait to get back on the ship. I didn't I um What didn't you like? A lot of poor people and a lot of dogs, a lot of dogs that were, you know, homeless and some scary looking people, and it just wasn't nice. And the shopping areas that they recommended to us um we didn't like at all.
SpeakerDidn't feel safe.
Speaker 4We went to a grocery store because you know, we were just looking for, you know, a few, like you know, they tell you at each thing, at each stop, look for this, this. So we were just looking for like vanilla and things like that. And um it just um yeah, we I was expecting a lot and I didn't like it at all. But then the next day was Moorea, which I guess is um is is that where you honeymooned?
Speaker 3Yeah, Moorea and Bora Bora.
Speaker 4And we really liked that. I will say, uh, the dog issue. I am really um have the soft hot spot in my heart for dogs. I just feel so sorry for them. And uh Moorea, there was still a lot of dogs, and my sister was buying a piece of art from one of the people who were selling stuff. And um, so while he's writing up the sale, I said, Um, does someone take care of all these dogs? And he was the wrong person to ask because he is like, it is such a problem, you know, they came to the island because um people wanted protection when they first you know came to the island, so they brought dogs as protection. And he said, and they don't take care of them, and so uh there's no control over them, and so they're multiplying, and he said, and don't give them any attention because and I didn't because I knew if you start feeding one that they'll all start, you know, following you. And so I just said, It's just so sad. And he said, Well, you know, we have a lot of Chinese on this island, and you know what their favorite thing to eat is, and that helps.
Speaker 1Oh my goodness.
Speaker 4And my sister said to me, I would stop while you're ahead, otherwise she's gonna make me leave and you're not gonna get this sale. And I'm thinking, like, Wow. I mean, they're just so um and then you know, I'm walking by and this lady, you know, I'm looking at you know her dog, and she said, You know, do you want to buy my dog? And I am like that so it's just heartbreaking. So Moorea and then so we did the immediate the pier area of Moorea, and then we took a bus into town and we saw this beautiful beach, so we walked along the beach, and then the taxi driver um told us of a really good restaurant, so we went there and we had drinks and a very nice lunch, and we really just kind of hung out there and enjoyed the the island and um and we went shopping there, so that was nice, but um Tahiti, I couldn't wait to get back on the ship. I didn't like it at all.
Speaker 3I think I remember telling you because we had to fly into Tahiti. And I know 24 years ago, and it was I said it it was definitely like a third world country, and the airport was just open ground and there's chickens, you know, running around the airport, you know, and um and then you take a bus through the neighborhoods and it it did look, you know, very poverty stricken. Then you get on a boat and you and you boat over to to Moorea. Well, but I didn't know if it's a lot of people.
Speaker 4Cartegema um we had a police escort with our bus everywhere we went. There was one behind us and one on each side. So everywhere we stopped, um, you know, the police were with us. And so that was um an interesting town. Uh but I really liked that. And and so clearly it's not, I guess, supposed to be the safest place, but I so it's not like I'm not used to some of these third world countries and the poor people, because Cartagena certainly, you know, falls into that. But um Tahiti just had so many people just on the streets who looked like they're on this side, they're on this side, and you're walking between them, and they just they're all yelling at you, wanting something, and and dogs everywhere, and and we just didn't like the shopping, we didn't like what we did. There was nothing that we liked about Tahiti, which really surprised me, because you always hear Tahiti. That's kind of like you won an all-expense paid trip to Tahiti. And then when we came home, I said, you know, because Kathy and Dave want to do Easter Island, and I would love to get there someday too. And Kathy goes, we would have to fly out of Tahiti. I'm like, oh. Well, so yeah.
SpeakerWas there ever a point when you said during this 37 days that okay, I'm ready to get off this ship?
Speaker 4Not once.
SpeakerNot even when you got home.
Speaker 4No, I could have stayed on.
unknownWow.
Speaker 4My sister was ready to get off.
SpeakerShe was ready to get off.
Speaker 4I mean, she was fine. She wasn't miserable, but she was ready to get off and go home. She had you know, so but not me, I could have stayed on longer.
SpeakerWow.
Speaker 4Maybe I'm meant to do a 144-day cruise. How about it, Kath? Yeah.
SpeakerSo you sign me up? So 37 days that like you're now a member of this society that had already been established. Was there a memorable character on the ship that you took note of? You know, because you could you're gonna see the same people over and over again.
Speaker 4Well, I don't know if this is what you're talking about, but I will tell you there was um a teenage girl in a wheelchair. I know this isn't exactly where you're going with this, but we saw her everywhere. And I'm going to say she was 17 or 18, but we never saw her with anyone. And it was um it wasn't a motorized wheelchair, it was she had to um do the wheels herself. And um so you know, one when we were swimming one day, she had a wheelchair right by the pool. I mean, like right where we had left our towels. And so Phyllis my sister and I got out and we were trying to talk to her and she talked, but not very much. Then the next day I saw her and in the elevator and she said, You have beautiful hair and I said, Oh, thank you. And we get out the elevator and I said to Phyllis, Maybe she does like us, maybe we should try to, you know. Find where she is and try to hang out with her. And um but then we saw her at one of the ports and we were on the ship and we were up a couple floors up, and she is by herself. And I never saw her with a family with a group, and I'm telling you, she was not over 20. So I just kind of found that to be um a really interesting um story. I don't know why we would never see her with a family or a group, or even when she was on that port, she was by herself.
SpeakerBut um And you had how many days at sea? They say that people that are at sea for a long time can see things. So was she really a woman in a wheelchair?
Speaker 4I guess my sister and I were both seeing her.
SpeakerShe's out of the demographic range, so now I'm really confused. Okay, no.
Speaker 3You know that um that people are retiring now on ships and just living there because cheaper than nursing home.
Tipping Service And Ship Routine
Speaker 3So at some point, did you feel like you were actually living on the ship instead of just on a vacation?
SpeakerYeah, good question.
Speaker 4I suppose a little. Yeah.
SpeakerWhat was a telltale sign?
Speaker 4Seeing the same people at the same places. You know, yelling.
Speaker 3Yelling at your cabin steward. Where's our coffee? You're 10 minutes late. What's going on?
SpeakerMine would have been where's the dishwasher? Where's my dishwasher?
Speaker 4We um we had the best um room cabin guy, we loved him, and then the guy who always brought our coffee every morning. Phyllis and I, the whole tipping thing is another part of the story, but we would give this guy five dollars every morning that he brought us coffee. We would just give him five dollars. And um, so we had a whole stack of five dollar bills in one of the doors, and so five dollars for you, five dollars. And um, so all of a sudden at the end of the cruise, he wasn't our guy anymore, and we were gonna give him like $50 at at the end because he was always just so nice and so timely, and you know, like one time we ordered cereal, and he goes, I think you forgot to order milk, so I brought you milk. I mean, you know, he he was just like you know, a really nice guy like that. And so the last five days we had a different guy, and he said, he's like um when we gave him a five-dollar bill, he seemed shocked. And then the next day, you know, we gave him another one, and he was like profusely appreciative, just you know, really nice. So on the day that we're leaving, he says, um, he said, Oh, because we're dressed, you know, ready to go. Not we're not like in our our robes and pajamas, nor how we normally would be meeting him for coffee. And um, so he's like, Are you are you um doing an excursion today? And I said, No, we're going home. And he's like, You're going home? And I were like, Yeah. And so, you know, we gave him another $5 bill and then he leaves. I said to Phyllis, I think he was, you know, he had gone home and told his wife, there's these two sisters, and they give us five dollars every day for bringing their you know their coffee. So he's probably thinking, Oh, there goes our rent for next month. I think he was thinking, you know, that we were because some people were already on for, you know, some people got on in Auckland to start another leg of and so, but anyway, he just looked so disappointed, and um, it was just so funny. But um, they're the only ones that we really like tipped regularly, other than when we won in bingo. We tipped the girl that was would bring us, you know, the money. Um but the the tipping thing was sort of weird. I was telling Kathy, I'm not sure what it's supposed to be, but in in prior years, you know, if you would order a drink, they would bring you a little book to sign, and then the person would get 15%. That's what I thought. Well, these people just get automatic tips. So there's no urgency to come help you get a drink. Like if you're sitting in the trivia room and everyone's playing trivia, the guys are all hanging out at the bar. They're not really you know, busting their butt to get you drinks because they're not getting anything. So, anyway, people in the trivia room were holding up signs saying "Polly needs a drink over here." So people were bringing signs saying, you know, "hello, could we get a drink over here?"
SpeakerThat's weird.
Speaker 3That's actually that's another uh podcast, this whole tipping thing.
Speaker 4Yeah, yeah, that's right. But you know, there's no reason for them to rush to help you because they're not getting anything extra. And it's hard to get through all those crowded people, and so I mean, people were carrying signs. "Could we drink over here?"
Speaker 3I think they were busy playing bingo also. Yeah, to make some extra.
SpeakerIt sounds like it was a really successful trip. And we I would do it again. I loved it. We could keep talking to you about it because we're we're we're really pushing a lot of time here on this. This is great. I mean, this is uh yeah, we definitely could definitely keep talking about this. Um, all right, but we got to get to CSK rapid fire, which is what would you do?
CSK Rapid Fire Safety Choices
SpeakerSo these are questions for you, and uh, you're familiar with CSK, the show, right? Yes.
Speaker 3Thank you for being one of our 20 supporters.
SpeakerThat's exactly right. So, so I'm gonna we're gonna run through these questions, and you're just gonna you're not gonna think about it. You're just whatever answer comes to mind, that's what counts. All right. So here's the first question. A fight breaks out on the Lido deck. What's your immediate reaction?
Speaker 3Get my camera out.
SpeakerOkay.
Speaker 3You see someone fall overboard, what's the first thing you do? Get my camera out. Please, please don't be there when I go overboard.
Speaker 4I'd go ring the emergency bell. Thank you. And then I'd get my camera out. Thank you.
SpeakerAll right. It's 3 a.m. and someone starts pounding on your cabin door. Do you open it?
Speaker 3Absolutely not. You hear a massive argument in the cabin next door. Do you ignore it? Listen through the wall with your whiskey glass, or call security?
Speaker 4Listen at the wall with my whiskey glass.
SpeakerYou're walking an empty outside deck late at night, and you hear someone yell for help. What do you do?
Speaker 4I would go see what the problem is, I think.
SpeakerYou would go towards the problem. Yes. Okay.
Speaker 3A passenger you've seen every day suddenly disappears. How long before you start asking questions?
Speaker 4Well, once I realized that they disappeared, I would start asking questions because I'm quite nosy.
SpeakerYou find a phone sitting completely unattended at a bar. What do you do with it?
Speaker 4I'd give it to the bartender.
Speaker 3You witness something that looks suspicious, but you're not sure you saw what you think you saw. Do you report it? Probably not, no. See, she got the drink package. It's a song. Yeah.
SpeakerThe captain suddenly orders everyone back to their cabins. What's your immediate thought?
Speaker 4Uh they're missing someone.
Speaker 3Someone you just met at the bar says, Come with me, I want to show you something. Are you going? Absolutely not.
Speaker 4Someone asked me for a drink and I wouldn't even go with him.
SpeakerA stranger asks you to hold their drink while they run to the restroom. Do you?
Speaker 4I would tell them I would watch it.
Speaker 3You know who could have benefited from that? The guy in episode two, because she would have been like, it's been three hours and I'm holding his drink, and can someone check on him? Because he hasn't returned. You know, they would have rescued him after three hours instead of 24 hours.
SpeakerThat's why we're asking these rapid-fire questions. Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 3You're offered a free cruise, but you have to stay in a cabin on deck 13. Jeff, there's no deck 13. Are you going?
SpeakerThat's a whole other show, by the way. Is it a whole 13 thing? That's a whole 13 thing.
Speaker 3Is it an inside cabin? Oh, 13? Oh no, he said deck 13. Like there is no deck cabin. There is no deck 13.
SpeakerThere's no floor 13.
Speaker 3Is that a trick question?
SpeakerAre you going?
Speaker 3There is a floor 13. It's just, you know, called 12 or 14 instead. But it's definitely there.
SpeakerYou got the oh, did she answer the question?
Speaker 3Oh, if she's going? Well, we just said there isn't a deck 13. Oh, okay. If you're refusing, let the record show she's refusing to answer the question. Inside cabin, yeah, I would go.
SpeakerOkay. You see something really strange happen aboard. Who gets the call first? Ship security or cruise ship killers?
Speaker 4Cruise ship killers.
SpeakerYou're laughing because that's not a trick question. That's a Kathy always finds out first for me. She does.
Speaker 3All
Could A Cruise Ship Killer Exist
Speaker 3right. So just to you know wrap this up, you follow our podcast regularly, because I send it to you as soon as it's off the press. Um, and you are fresh off a long adventure. So, in your opinion, do you think that we're crazy or that there actually could be someone who's a cruise ship killer who throws people overboard?
Speaker 4I think it's a very intriguing concept, which is why I listen to you guys. But I'm not sure that I think there's a cruise ship killer, but I have to say there's a lot of weird things that happen on the cruise.
unknownYeah.
Speaker 3I wanted to tell you that too. Pam is an avid watcher of Dateline and 2020, also, so right.
Speaker 4So I believe all the stories
O Negative Call And Helicopter
Speaker 4are here. Which, by the way, I just want to tell you one story while we were playing bingo. I told Kathy this one. We're playing bingo and they stopped the whole ship, and the captain comes on and says, We are looking for anyone who has O negative blood who has not been drinking.
Speaker 3Well, you got that. There's no one. The small child is being homeschooled. The 13-year-old, can you please report?
SpeakerYou know what happened at that point? All those little signs that went up, need a drink over here. Drink, drink right here. Drink right here. Yeah, Rebel, let's go. Let's go. And then we think spicy margarita, please.
Speaker 4And then we think that person got helicoptered off the ship that night.
SpeakerWow.
Speaker 4And so when they helicopter off the ship, the captain comes on again and says, Everyone to their room, which is what you said, and uh, you're not allowed outside, you can't be on the balcony. And if you're taking pictures, they tell you to take turn your flash off while the helicopter's landing on the ship. And we were close to Sydney too. So you would think that they would have just waited till we got to Sydney, but it must have been quite urgent.
Speaker 3Well, though, Pam says she heard the helicopter come back, so then she thought he might not have made it, and then they just brought him back to put him in the morgue.
Speaker 4Because they landed and then they left, and then I said to my sister, they just came back again. And that was like 30 minutes later, and so we were wondering about that. So I'm wondering if maybe he didn't make it.
SpeakerWell, we'll have to find out. Maybe that's an update for the next next show. Well, thank you so much for being a guest. Yeah, our first guest. Tell your friends. I hope I wasn't too boring. Just tell your friends.
Speaker 3No, you were not boring. I thought it was all.
SpeakerNo, no, that was that was very interesting. Yeah, that was really fun. Um, all right, so till next time, huh?
Speaker 3Yeah. Anchors away.
SpeakerAnchors Away. That's it for this episode of Cruise Chip Killer. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, rate, and review, or don't. But statistically, the people who disappeared never do either. It's hosted by Kathy Pearce and Geoff Smith, produced by Kristen Smith and David Pearce. Research by our cruise line researcher Page, Log line. Additional editing and sound design by Cal Deckhand. Sources for today's episode are linked in the show notes because shockingly, we did not make all of this up.
Facebook Group Invite And Signoff
Speaker 2I just want to invite anyone and everyone out there who listens to our podcast to please come to our page. It's Cruise Ship Killer Podcast on Facebook and give us some good ideas Kathy and Geoff can banter about. But also, if you have any stories, or if you even maybe you just want to call in because you have something of interest or you can touch base on something we've already discussed, please feel free to reach out to us. Again, it's Cruise Ship Killer Podcast on Facebook. This is a Katie's Pub production.
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