As officers approached the Spirit of Seattle they saw a 23-year-old woman, whom they identified as Taviona Amos, at the top of the gangway yelling and swearing. Several women were trying to escort her off the ship, but she held onto the railing, and refused to move, the affidavit said. Amos' 29-year-old sister, identified as Tasha Amos, joined her. The two blocked others from getting off the ship and yelled and swore at officers, according to the affidavit. more ›

When police arrived, they found a chaotic scene of more than 100 people on the dock, many of them shouting and arguing. Officers then learned that some passengers were still physically fighting aboard the ship. Officers moved to the dock to begin clearing the ship, where they found a small group of people blocking the gangway and preventing passengers from leaving the vessel. more ›

Seattlest reader Anne asks, "Is Seattle the new Cozumel?" Seems because of the swine flu, cruise lines are giving Mexico a wide berth. Anne notes that Carnival cruise line's Cinco de Mayo cruise to Mexican Riviera has been rerouted--Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas have been replaced with San Francisco, Seattle, and Victoria, B.C., as ports of call. (This raises the question of which port we're analogous to. Cabo? Or is Victoria more that kind of fantasy tourist haven?) Same with Princess. Consumerist has the surprise cruise story, noting that the fine print covers the reshuffling. What it doesn't cover, of course, is the fact that the flu has already made it to Seattle and San Francisco. more ›

The tourists are coming, the tourists are coming(!!), we knew it was going to happen sooner or later, as today marks the opening day of the cruise ship season. This year is a Champagne bottle-breaking moment, for the Port of Seattle as the first ship pulled into the $72 million new Smith Cove terminal on Pier 91 this morning. With an expected 801,000 passengers to filter through Seattle, the new terminal will provide a swanky on-land introduction for over 200 ships. Most importantly, the new terminal will finally stop the hot-mess of traffic congestion in front of the old cruise ship docks at Pier 30. more ›

Hester Rumberg had her work cut out for her while writing Ten Degrees of Reckoning. Mainly because--as is clearly pointed out in the beginning of the book--it is not her story. It is her account of her best friend Judy Sleavin's family tragedy, aboard the Sleavin's sailboat, the Melinda Lee while sailing to New Zealand. more ›