Murphy and His Law………The Sequel………..And Camping With Alan

Before we start today, I would like to wish a safe few days ahead all those people from Texas who may be affected by Hurricane Ike. We are thinking of you all. Please keep checking in at www.carnival.com for all the latest news on how this may affect the cruises from Galveston.

Good Morning everyone.

One of the many aspects of this blog I hope you enjoy is the fact that we not only tell you how good we are………we are good, by the way ……….. but we also share the odd time when things don’t go well.

Yesterday was a difficult day. It seems that after a long absence, Mr. Murphy decided to drop by the Carnival Splendor yesterday, bringing with him a huge dollop of bad luck.

The problems started when, without warning, the computers we use to check in guests ashore in Dover decided to bugger off. The great minds of our I/S managers, Kat and Jon, used all their powers but to no avail — if they couldn’t find the fault then nobody could have.

Computers, as we were told by James Cameron in The Terminator, would one day kill all mankind. Prince Charles recently said he agrees. He sees a time when nano-robots will learn to push buttons and end the world in a nuclear holocaust. I have no fear about a robot the size of a flea’s nostril hair climbing up onto a desk — how, exactly? — and pushing the “erase” key because we can be guaranteed that either the robot or the computer will have broken long before the bomb ever goes “boom.”

So, it was a computer which started our string of concerns yesterday. When computers go down, it means everyone has to be checked-in manually and this involves the embarkation staff using something called a “pen.” We would have started earlier with the check-in process but we had to explain to those staff under 25 years of age how to use a pen…….I would have showed them myself, but I lost my pen which is now probably being used to write shopping lists………I wish someone had been honest and handed it in.

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