Normally this would be just a regular cruise ship in a regularly scheduled port, but not this time. The swine flu, H1N1, or whatever they are calling it now, scared shipowners into dropping all port-of-calls in Mexico. This led to some unique itineraries ships were sailing on in order to comply with the PVSA. The vessels on the west coast could no longer sail south and had to sail north. The Carnival Splendor was one of those ships. She included a stop in Astoria, Oregon as part of the new Itinerary. Astoria was never really a big player in terms of seasonal cruise traffic, mostly relying on the occasional repositioning cruise. Good article here. Also found a georgous shot of the Splendor in Astoria:
