Ever had a cruise? Deciding I needed a special vacation over Easter, I decided to come over to Europe booked a cruise along the Mediterranean (that's is a sea between europe and africa). The service staff seemed fine and I looked forward to a relaxing cruise. But on the first evening I went to the onboard moviedrome.. The film they showed was "Titanic"..At the time I though it would not worry me, but later that night I found I could not settle properly to sleep. Indeed I tossed and turned all night as I listened to anything that sounded like a scratch against the ship's hull. At times I really did think that it had been hit. Then i realised that I was travelling in April - the same month as the Titanic was hit. Hence for the remainder of the trip I was unable to sleep properly and spent most of the nights awake (listening for cracks) and tired out during the days. In the end I could take it no longer and got off before the cruise ended and got a flight back - suffering extra costs. <BR> * <BR>Considering the company was reckless in showing such a movie on board, I have now written a threatening letter to them asking for compensation. Do you think I should take it further I they don't offer anything? <BR>

I think that you SHOULD go a step further and see a shrink,I think you're a little wacky.

If you are truly serious, and this cruise did distress you then you may have a valid issue to raise with them. But you need to show why you didn't leave the movie earlier on since you might have guessed it was going to have that effect on you.

C'mon, folks, this is a put-on. Don't be sucked in. Do you really think a cruise ship would show "Titantic"? Get real!

Well, Falcon. I think you are in a bit of a tough spot. When you sat down in the theatre, you knew you were on a cruse and about to see a film about a cruise ship disaster. So if you couldn't predict that the subject of the film would affect you so, how would the cruise ship line have known? The cruise line might even say you should have seen the ship's doctor for a tranquilizer or something before abandoning the cruise. And as a practical matter, if "taking the matter further" means litigation, I don't like your chances. After all, the cruise line stood willing to provide you with exactly what you paid for (meals, transport, ports of call and so forth). There's probably no implied promise that you won't get the yips from a movie. Also, the cruise line probably made you sign a wicked form contract in which you promised (1) to arbitrate, not sue; (2) to sue only in some far-off state or country; or (3) to submit to the laws of whatever place has laws most favorable to cruise ship lines. <BR> <BR>Sorry that your cruise didn't work out, but I say forget the whole thing.

I must admit that I find it unusual that a ship would show a disaster movie. But if true - why did you stay in the theater if it was going to affect you like this?

Jim/Cindy/Debbie - Thank you for your views I suspect that you are right. I get the feeling they put this on as a gaga, but realizing it could cause distress to the passengers such as I. Actually I didn't think it would affect me at the time. Only later on when trying to get to sleep did i find it unsettling. So at about 2AM I got up and asked to see the captain to register my dissatisfaction. But they would not let me speak to him. I asked whether they had some sleeping tablets but they replied that they were only available under medical order and the medical was equally unavailable. So i twisted and turned all night and it was like that every night. So i got off midway Marseilles and took a flight. <BR> <BR>If litigation is out of the question, what else could I do? It was a very expensive trip. <BR>

Actually it was indeed fulhardy for the cruise line to show such a movie onboard. I think you have a very strong case for litigation and no doubt will receive puntitive damages as well. After all, your fear was well grounded, there have been thousands of ships lost to icebergs in the Mediterranean over the years. The cruise lines should be held accountable!

A few years ago while working for a charter airline in Canada one of the complaint letters was a gentleman complaining that he had seen the inflight movie already and was now forced to see it again and wanted some compensation. How someone would waste the time and energy to do this i don't know. I only wish that i could have written the letter telling him why he wasn't going to get anything from the airline except thank you for the good laugh.

Replies- <BR>Leo- I know nothing about how icebergs are formed and where they float to. All i know is that there are some around in April. <BR>Lidija-I do not see the connection.

well... you need some ice to form an iceberg , but the Mediterranean's in a warm part of the world

Falcon, when you told cruise personnel the reason for leaving the ship, how loudly did they laugh? Do you honestly believe there are icebergs in the Mediterranean? Icebergs, incidentally, are formed when a glacier calves. Yes, icebergs exist in April - in colder waters such as the North Atlantic where the Titanic sailed. Also, did you actually go and sit down at the moving not knowing what the movie Titanic is about? Because, if so, you must be the only person alive that is not familiar with the Titanic. Give me a break, but thanks for the good laugh. I needed it.

... to the falcon's delight, he's found a site full of prays!

no direct connection, just telling a story similar to yours, if yours is a true story you and the man that wrote the letter are the types to complain about everything and anything. Should i complain to the makers of my shoes when i get a blister? Same thinking.

Please don't feed the Trolls!

This is no troll. <BR>ilisa- I know that the Alps mountain range descends to the edge of the Mediterranean SEa and feared that glacial icebergs could reach the sea at that point. Besides, it wasn't simply icebergs, but also the risk of hitting rocks ahaoinst the straite between Africa and spain for example that worried me. <BR>* <BR>Lidija - I don't think i complain much. That said my experience of service in Europe has been poor compared to the US <BR>

C'mon, people, you can't be taking this seriously! If you do, I'll tell you how I sued Pompeii, because the tour I paid good money for only included buildings that were in ruins!

Now hold on you iceberg freaks. Are you unaware of the day in the 1880's when the Nile south of Memphis was block by a giant iceberg that broke loose from the glacier that flows off of Kilamanjaro? The ice got stuck in the cataracts whereby it formed a huge ice dam, and backed the Nile up for about 50 miles. When it broke loose during a warm spell (as you know Egypt in December has sub zero temperatures), it flooded the valley and washed away one of the lesser pyramids. Even today you can see high water marks on the sides of the great pyramids. Cairo was not damaged because of a diversion ditch that drained the overflow into the Quattara Depression to the west. <BR>So the threat of icebergs is non trivial.

Lidija-- <BR>If the shoes that gave you blisters are Mephistos, you should sue Fodor's and the Fodorites.

FYI-- 2 yrs ago the QE2 showed Titanic on the last nights of their transatlantic crossing. But I can't imagine that anyone who would be freaked out by it would see it and anyway the ship was really close to land.