Ever take a picture and not realize the significance?  Just a week before my own cruise vacation I wrote an article about cruising being a safe vacation.  I still maintain that cruises are a safe and economical vacation for just about anyone, but of course, the cruise industry was destined to be in the spotlight once again and I had no idea just how close I would be to the action.

My family and I took a nine night cruise to Bermuda and the Caribbean aboard Royal Caribbean”s Explorer of the Seas.  After a wonderful trip, complete with nearly perfect weather we were returning to our port in Bayonne, NJ.  We splurged for a balcony room this time and found it to be a wonderful upgrade.  As the sun rose on our last morning at sea I went out on our balcony to get photos of us pulling into harbor and the NYC skyline at dawn. 

I snapped photos of another cruise ship, probably a mile ahead of us that was also heading into the NYC harbor area and on to the Hudson river.  I would learn later that the ship I was snapping photos of, was the Norwegian Breakaway, the cruise ship that was soon to make headlines after mechanical difficulties greatly delayed it’s docking, and it was found to have a dead whale on it’s bow.

So at some point my ship made a hard left and docked in Bayonne, while the Breakaway continued into the Hudson River and though it’s mechanical difficulties were quite minor and no one was in any danger, the media jumped all over it’s difficulties like fleas on a dirty dog.

I’m not sure that a delayed docking is exactly news.  I mean, it seems to me the equivalent of a bus getting a flat tire.  Remember the old saying, shit happens?

Anyhow, I still highly recommend a cruise vacation to anyone who might be considering it.  I spent nine nights falling asleep to the sound of the ocean, having my meals brought to me and reading my new Kindle paperwhite in the sun.  If my arrival in Bayonne had been delayed for a bit, I seriously doubt I would have cared.  

Jean Marie Stanberry-Guest Blogger

Jean is author of “Laying Low In Hollywood”, “One World United”, “The Illusion of Order” and just released, “Blood, Sweat and Fears”.  You can learn more about Jean and all her books on her website jeanstanberry.com or you can follow her on Twitter @jeanstanberry