That's unfair actually as my wife and I have taken a cruise and we had a great time of it and would do it again...not all the time...but every once in a while most certainly. The only issue both of us had was that it was like sharing a summer rental with about a million people. If you have lived in proximity to New York City and used mass transit there - well its close.
The issues endured on the SS Mermaid (better know as the Carnival Splendor} are, of course, straining the imagination. By all accounts, however, they didn't serve the
Spam which showed that some modicum of good taste was preserved throughout.
If you remember the movie "Tin Cup", a completely forgetful golfing flick save only by Cheech Marin's performance, the hero golfer shot a 12 or something on the last hole to loose the US Open. He could have had a 4 or 5 but he was consumed by hitting his second shot over the water in front of the green. It fail. It fail. It fail. It failed and then, down to his last golf ball, he holed the shot out for a 12. His romantic interest said (paraphrased) 5 years from now no one will remember who won or lost but they will remember your 12...it was the best damn 12 in the history of golf".
Now back to the ill fated cruise. No one cares or wants to hear about yet another ocean cruise on the "Splendor". I've been and I don't want to hear about it. However, if you were lucky enough to be on that ship you have a story for a lifetime. Besides, you could have been on the "Dutchman".