Wolf Blitzer delivers the most important breaking news and political, international, and national security stories of the day. Tune to The Situation Room weekdays 5-7pm ET on CNN.
Passengers on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship that caught fire on Monday share their stories with CNN's Erin McPike.
RELATED STORY: Cruise line gets points for speedy response
As a cruiser on board I could not disagree more. Royal Caribbean may have handled the crisis of the fire well but from the moment they released us back to our staterooms the next 48 hours were a complete and total nightmare. The staff was unfriendly, talked in circles, and consistently lied, our six person group was never booked on a flight home and they decided stand-by tickets would be good enough, and there was no help with carrying the large amounts of heavy luggage. While at the airport multiple family's (parents and children) were split up and forced to take different flights home and we waited in lines to get on plans for over 7 hours. All we were looking for was a relaxing vacation and the entire process could not have been more stressful and disorganized.
I'd be really surprised if the investigation into the cause of the fire WASN'T a result of a smoker. I just came back from a 7 day cruise to Bernuda and am amazed time and time again that STILL so many smokers IGNORE the warnings and continue to throw their cigarette butts overboard. I don't know if it's a "don't care attitude" or if those travelers just don't understand. If fire is the number one concern for cruise ships then why don't they ban smoking on board altogether?