Saint John — Passengers of the Carnival Sunshine were met with smoky rubble and stunned citizens when they pulled in to the Saint John port Monday morning.
The visit comes on the heels of Saturday’s attack, when a 100-foot Gorilla carrying a distressed maiden tore through the city, more or less demolishing the entirety of the uptown area.
Although the beast was promptly killed and the woman safely retrieved, the estimated cost of damage is upwards of $350 million.
“It seems like every time a cruise ship comes in, it’s either raining, excessively foggy, or we’ve just been ravaged by an incredible simian behemoth,” said Port Saint John president Jim Quinn. “You can’t win.”
While some of the more desperate street vendors have decided to still set up what remains of their tattered shops, the majority of locals just walk around, dazed, in the wreckage that was once their homes. Nevertheless, the visitors have, for the most part, been fairly positive about their experience in the decimated port city.
“It’s still much nicer than home,” said Detroit’s Carla Howard.
“Oh, it’s no big deal,” said David Tusk, travelling from Cincinnati. “We see this stuff all the time.”
It’s likely that part of what is causing favourable reception is the fact that city officials have yet to remove the monstrous carcass from King Street, providing an excellent photo opportunity tourists are unlikely to find anywhere else.
“Stick your head in the mouth while your brother lifts it,” a heavy-set Florida man told his daughter before snapping a photo.
The body will remain uptown until local authorities find some practical way to remove it.