An
Exciting Adventure
The
first time that I went on a cruise was about two years ago, or in about
2012. In fact, it is the only time I
have ever been on a cruise. We
originally were planning another vacation for my summer before eighth grade,
but then an opportunity came along. For
my parents, however, it was more of a choice.
My sister, Daisy, had been invited to go on a cruise to the Caribbean
with her friend for two weeks. My
parents didn’t want her to go by herself, because she was only a sophomore in high
school. The only apparent solution was
to go on the cruise and chaperone.
Luckily for me, it meant that I got a free trip out of it. When booking the rooms, my sister was
supposed to sleep with her friend, and my Mom, my Dad, my brother Hunter, and I
were to share a room. My sister’s room
was already booked in the lower level of the ship, but for my Dad, that simply
would not do for the rest of the Flicks.
So he booked us the presidential suite, in which I was really excited to
stay in. So off we went, on to one of
the most exciting vacations I have ever been on.
Our ship was set to sail from Miami, Florida. A long way away from Roanoke, Virginia, we
had to leave a day earlier to get there on time. My sister had left ahead of us with her
friend, and they had been staying in Miami for about a week. We were to meet them there and board the ship
together. After a long car ride, we were
finally settled in and about to meet them for dinner. Of course it happened to be at the same time
that a tropical storm was blasting through Miami. We all met up and had to sprint our way
through a wall of rain to make it into the nearest dry place, which happened to
be a T.G.I. Friday’s. I had actually
never been to one before, so it was a great time to sit around with everyone in
the warm, dry restaurant, laughing the night away while the storm was soaking
everyone who got in its path.
The next morning was the big day. We were supposed to be at the dock early in
the morning to board the ship. It was
really exciting to see all of the ships that would take some lucky vacationers
to tropical paradises and exciting adventures, but it was a little intimidating
to see how many people were swarming around the docks. Nervously, I walked up
the dock to board our ship. We had to
wait around the deck for a while our room was getting prepared, and I got the
chance to look around the deck, for which the pool, drink bar, and lounge
chairs would provide me limitless entertainment for the next two weeks.
Eventually, our room was ready and we were all settled
in. I was able to meet the man who would
be taking care of our room, and he was really funny. He would fold up our towels and make animals
out of them, and would use whatever I had laid out to incorporate into it, like
sunglasses or a flower. After I had
unpacked, I took it upon myself to explore the ship and meet some people. I eventually knew where most of the fun
activities to do on the ship were, and even met a girl whose name is Rachel,
who would prove to be my best friend while we were on the ship. In fact, she
still is my friend. We face-timed almost
the entire week after the trip. We still
text each other to this day, but she lives in Florida, so I really haven’t seen
her since.
I believe it was the second night that I went to the
first onboard party. I went with my new
friend, Rachel, and we had a blast. We
got a ton of free stuff, got our pictures taken, and we danced. I think we must have danced for about three
hours straight that night, dancing to whatever and with whoever wanted to dance
with us. My family and I also volunteered my brother into a dance contest. We thought it was hilarious, even though he
didn’t at the time. Let’s just say that
I got a lot of sleep that night. It was a good thing, too, because it was the
night before our first excursion.
Our first stop was in Cozumel, Mexico. My family and I had decided that while we
were there, we would go visit the ancient Mayan temples. We walked around the grounds, and I even got
to pet a baby alligator. Before I knew
it, it was time to get back on the cruise ship and go to our next
destination. It just so happened to be
to the Grand Caymans. We went on a boat
ride out to a place called Stingray Bay.
My sister, my brother, my sister’s two friends, Alex and Taylor, Rachel,
and I got to sit on the front of the boat. Once we got to the shallow spot in the
middle of the ocean where tourists went to pet stingrays, we did just
that. After our stingray excursion, we
went and visited Hell. Don’t be
alarmed. It is actually a town called
Hell. Our final trip was to the Isle of
Rotan. On this island, we first went on
a horseback riding tour, and then went snorkeling at a cute little local
restaurant.
In what seemed like such a short time, our trip had come
to its final day. On the last night, we
were invited to have hors’ devours with the captain, because my Dad had booked
us in the Presidential Suite, it had made us VIP passengers. It was at one of their lounges, and it was
called the Piano Man Lounge. It was
named after one of Billy Joel’s most famous songs, “The Piano Man”. I was really excited to go for three
reasons. The first was that I got to meet
the captain of the cruise ship, of course.
The second was because I knew that they were going to have some really
awesome sweet treats that I was anxious to try. Lastly, I was really excited to
go because it was at the Piano Man Lounge, and I had just learned how to play
Billy Joel’s song on the piano, and I thought it was cool to go to a lounge
that was named after it. We arrived at
the lounge at about a quarter until seven, and were received by some members of
the staff. I was wearing a dress and a
nice sweater, because we were supposed to dress nicely for the event. We stood around for a while and talked to
people, and then my family and I sat down at the bar that surrounded a huge
grand piano. Most importantly, it
surrounded the man who was filling the air with the sweet notes of a
melody. I sat for a while and just
listened. Eventually, I decided to
request for him to play “Piano Man”. He
laughed and said that almost everyone who comes in requests that song. I admitted that I loved that song, and told
him that I had just learned how to play it.
He invited me to join him on the stage and play with him. I was a little
nervous, but I decided, why not? It was
an amazing experience. I forgot a few
notes, but I got to sing and play “Piano Man” with the man playing piano in the
Piano Man Lounge. In what seemed like a
short time, our vacation was over. It
was a fun two weeks, filled with adventure, sun, and laughter. I had a great time spending it with my
friends and my family
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