> ANYWAY: I was just saying that in the news there are stories about a cruise ship in the Atlantic that was hit by a 70 foot wave that came out of nowhere. Yes, that part of the Atlantic is sometimes called the Bermuda Triangle.
>
> It was said that the waVE knocked out windows and sloshed through passenger cabins. Some reports said it broke across the pool deck. There were no serious injuries, and the cruise line refunded half of what the passenges paid for the cruise and offered them another cruise at half price.
>
> Still, there were people who where unhappy and blamed the whole thing on the cruise line.
>

Having just booked another cruise (Alaska this time), that news item was of particular interest to mrs_bat and me. Like you, I was pretty impressed that the ship withstood the wave as well as it did, and I'd gladly endure a similar incident in exchange for no serious injury, discounts equal to a free cruise and one heck of a story to tell.

> Unless you have had the chance to stand on a dock beside one of those modern cruise liners, you can't believe how big they are. Most are over 900 feet long and several are over 1000. Think three football fields end to end. They tend to be ten to 14 decks high and many are more than 100 feet wide. 100,000 tons is not unusual. Think floating cities.
>

It really is mind-blowing, especially when you're walking directly from outdoors into a huge wall that is actually the hull of your ship. Not only are these things gigantic 14-storey floating cities, but they have 5000 people checking in or out in a matter of hours once a week - including clearing Customs, and almost enough staff for each couple on board to have someone following them around 24/7.

Say, why is it that Americans always measure the dimensions of big things in "football fields"?

> If a good deal on a cruise pops up on my computer next week, I'm ready to go. I wouldn't hesitate to sail on that ship.
> Howard

If you're going to be boarding the Royal Caribbean Serenade on June 26, let me know.

^v^:)^v^
F"hooked on cruises now"B