I wish I could say I hadn't felt shanghaied being aboard the Norwegian Joy on the cruise that left Los Angeles on November 24th, but I did. I wish I could say I understand the business practice of not informing booked passengers of the real reason for the change in boarding within the voicemail messages and texts sent out on November 22nd, but I don’t. Informing people of the reason for the delay while they are standing in line waiting to board the ship on the 24th may be legal but it is unethical. It is also disrespectful of their decision-making rights.

I understand that some of the more fortunate guests living in the LA area made the decision to postpone their cruises after reading the letter given to us as we stood in line at the terminal. For the majority of people who flew into LA, this “option” was not a real one but only words on a paper.

Once we got aboard the ship, it didn't feel like a vacation at all. There was stress and tension everywhere. There were also long lines for everything because we weren't allowed to touch anything for ourselves, even grab a glass of water. We had reservations for Thanksgiving dinner, but once we saw how long we'd have to wait in line to get into the restaurant, we paid extra and went to a specialty restaurant. The cabin was typical of a balcony cabin, but because the attendant had to disinfect and sanitize all the rooms continually, we only saw her once a day, instead of the standard twice a day. The crew really tried to make the best of the situation and worked very hard. Read more