Pirates fire on U.S. cruise ship in hijack attempt
Associated Press
9:43 AM PST, December 2, 2008

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fg-pirac ... 6947.story


NAIROBI, KENYA -- Pirates chased and shot at the U.S. cruise ship Nautica with more than 1,000 people on board but failed to hijack the vessel as it sailed along a corridor patrolled by international warships, officials said today.

The Nautica was on a 32-day cruise from Rome to Singapore, with stops at ports in Italy, Egypt, Oman, Dubai, India, Malaysia and Thailand, the Web site said. Based on that schedule, the liner was headed from Egypt to Oman when it was attacked.

The captain of the M/S Nautica ordered passengers inside and gunned the engine, allowing the ship to outrun the pirates' speedboats in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday, a company spokesman said.

In a statement on its Web site, Oceania Cruises, Inc. said pirates fired eight rifle shots at the liner, but that the ship's captain increased speed and managed to outrun the skiffs.

All passengers and crew are safe and there was no damage to the vessel, the company statement said. Rubacky said the ship planned to return through the Gulf of Aden.

My notes:
No damage to the vessel? Really? How could you miss a freaking cruise ship? Eight times! Back to pirate school.
Return through the Gulf of Aden? Oh yeah, give 'em another chance, thats nice. I wonder if they will have the web cam turned on, so we can all watch?

I have never been on a cruise...

I see no reason to start now.

The Love Boat aint' what it use to be!

Cruising has never appealed to me, either, and that doesn't help (but I think in this century pirates would be less of a problem, say, in the Caribbean). The only time I ever even flirt with the idea of a cruise is in a daydream I have of an Arlo & Blunderites cruise. (If I share that dream with Arlo, I imagine that for him, it's a nightmare of incredible proportion.)

Cruises didn't appeal to me either...until we went on one. I am not a sun worshiper or a beach bunny.
We cruised Alaska's inside passage in August; the sights and opportunities for photos aboard ship were amazing (glaciers!!), the food and entertainment on the ship were great (we stayed out of the casino and casino-oriented parties) and we did enjoy ourselves. On the "formal dress" nights in the dining room, we opted out...and ate in their 24-hour buffet instead. There were also other restaurants we could have gone to. We didn't need any stinkin' formal wear!
In the evening, they had song-and-dance stage shows, free first-run movies in their theater, movies on the tv, several bars, lots of stuff to do! They also had a lot of stuff to do onboard during the days when we were cruising and not stopping at a port...they had classes and lectures about the animals and Alaskan environment, naturalists came on board and lectured over the tv and PA while we were cruising the glacier bays, there were crafts classes;we were never bored. We had a wonderful time! Even blunderites can find something to do that's fun!

My parents used to be cruise instructors and travelled all over, until she got tired of the water and decided to see this country. Later, my father sold cruises and now my brother works for a cruise line.

Been on two and enjoyed them both. The latest was the same Alaska inside passage cruise Sue spoke of, which we did in 2000. It was great! Gorgeous scenery!
I remember sitting in the Red Dog Saloon in Juneau, and this lady sitting next to me at the bar said to me" I can see Russia from my house". I wonder if it could have been....................nah!!!

The Inside Passage is a whole 'nother thang. I didn't mean that when I said cruises didn't appeal. I meant that the tropical ones don't appeal. I love a good beach as much as anyone; days and days at sea, nah. But the Inside Passage ... WOW.

We have been on one cruise. Two weeks in the Med. It was fun. They had a big final show that I got to take part in.

This is me doing Jail House Rock and Hound Dog...





Very Fun. Heck of a day at sea, sir.

I can see folks on future cruises going through the Gulf Of Aden...Barney Fife type instructor explaining, "Now this my ladies and gentleman, is a fifty caliber Browning automatic weapon, if fired upon..."