It was all going so well

Herald.ie
It was all going so well on my cruise then the storm hit 
Waves smash against the cruiseship MSC Lirica, 
The guy doing the background music on the ship sure has a sense of humour.
As we're buffeted around in the worst storms to strike in a quarter of a century, he's the one picking the music to calm
our nerves: "I am sailing, I am sailing ... through stormy waters, to be near you, to be free."
With the phones down, "Can you hear me?" seems so apt. Then we're treated to Bobby Darin's Beyond the Sea and the
refrain of "never again I'll go sailing". And by the time Sloop John B is piped with "this is the worst trip ... I wanna go
home" some of us are creased up laughing.
Covering a major cruise ship event is supposed to be easy and fun.
lunch
With MSC -- one of the world's most respected lines -- coming to Dublin for the first time, there was an air of excitement.
Ireland's top travel agents and tour operators were on board for lunch, a tour of the MSC Lirica and talks about the new
Irish operation.
The Lord Mayor was there to say nice things, the Italian line's chiefs were in town to cement ties, the trade and
journalists were on hand.
The travel industry -- with heavy hitters like Thomas Cook, Amadeus and the Irish Travel Agents Association -- left after
lunch, while a few travel journalists and agents stayed for a planned leisurely overnight trip to Cobh.
The gang disembarking were jealous of us, but it was they who had the last laugh.
By morning, the coast looked like the movie The Day After Tomorrow just before the tidal wave takes out Manhattan.
We're going nowhere.
Stranded in the Irish Sea, and not knowing where or when we'd dock, our group (the biggest and noisiest Irish
contingent) are feeling sorry for ourselves. With phones on and off, we communicate our plight to the outside world with
Facebook and Twitter.
We see ourselves as heroic Leonardo DiCaprios or Kate Winslets. We expect sympathy: in fact, friends and colleagues
either collapse in stitches or are sick with envy.
Which is understandable. Even when you're swaying from side to side and the winds are over 90kph, it's still not the
worst thing in the world. Get delayed in an airport and you're trying to sleep on a bench, surrounded by tired and angry
people.
Get stuck on a ship like Lirica and you've got half a dozen bars in which to drown your sorrows. Or you could go for a
Balinese massage, have a three-course lunch or simply pig out on Italian food at the buffet. You could watch a movie in
your cabin or go to a wine-tasting.
And when you tell your friends that you won't be home because you've got two more days of this -- and a surprise trip to
Amsterdam as your next port -- you can see why they're green with jealousy.
That said, green is the predominant colour on board. Out of our 10 or so souls of travel writers, MSC big wigs and one
travel agent, more than half are looking queasy as the waves reach up to the fifth deck.
cabins
One lady is mortified after redecorating the lobby beside reception. Another is eating the sea sickness tablets. One guy
proudly describes how he doesn't get sea sick before he dashes to the loo to erupt.
At the height of the storm, off Land's End in England, the ship is like the Mary Celeste without the atmosphere. It's eerily19-08-12 Herald - Print A rticle
herald.ie/…/it-was-all-going-so-well-on-my -cruise-then-the-storm-hitsailing-by -wav es-smash-agai…
quiet, with most people back in their cabins, do-not-disturb signs in place.
But, truth be told, it's calm by last night and thoughts are already turning to whether we can sunbathe on deck today.
The MSC people have played a blinder, too, and most Irish passengers due to get off or on at Cobh have been reaccommodated.
It's not always plain sailing, but you can't beat cruising for a holiday. Next time, I'll stick to the Med, though