Ship of Fools

Carnival Cruise Lines ship Tropicale heads out on the main channel of the L.A. Harbor for a Baja Cruise in 1987

I am probably the last person on this planet who would ever go an a party cruise, being constitutionally averse to revelry of any sort. So then, it was always with a mixture of pity, bewilderment and horror, that I would watch the Sunday afternoon departure of the Tropicale for seedy Baja, California ports. I used to think that the cubed out proportions of the ship absolutely ungainly, but compared to today's mega Cleopatra-esque pleasure barges, the Tropicale now looks positively dainty. Spend good money to be trapped on one of these........never!