The reason that I even bring this up is because of the close parallel to our recent vacation. As we did for Justin when he graduated from high school, we planned a cruise for the four of us to celebrate Jason’s graduation. In reality, it is a flimsy excuse to take the entire family on a cruise. It’s Jason’s celebration, but we all benefit.
We decided to go big time and sail on the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas. This is one half of a set of twin boats that are the largest cruise ships in the world. When you see it docked next to other cruise ships, it looks like Barry Bonds on steroids verses the 90 pound weakling that gets sand kicked in his face at the beach. You could sit other ships inside the Oasis. The ship has everything including rock climbing walls, an ice skating ring, surf simulators, a miniature golf course and a 17 feet deep diving pool used as part of a Cirque du Soleil type water show. This is in addition to several theaters and more places to eat than you can count. They can house 6,000+ guests on board in addition to over 2,000 crew members.
We flew into West Palm Beach late on Friday and arise early on Saturday to get on the ship as quickly as possible and begin to explore. We got through the lines quickly and were actually able to get to our rooms around two that afternoon. We grabbed a quick lunch and then began to explore the ship and found it absolutely amazing. When it actually did begin to leave the port, it was so big we barely felt it start to move.
That evening, we enjoyed our first dinner in the dining room which included a lengthy conversation with our waitress concerning our arrival in the Bahamas the next morning and our subsequent departure for St. Thomas later that afternoon. Little did we know at the time that an adventure was coming our way, an adventure that was sealed during that conversation. I had looked at the itinerary incorrectly and believed that we would leave at 4 PM which was confirmed by our waitress and as a result, I did not recheck the next morning. A relatively small mistake that led to a huge escapade.
We took our time getting off the boat that morning as we knew the ship wasn’t leaving until late that afternoon. Once on land, we grabbed a taxi and headed to Atlantis to take a walk through the shopping areas and then on to the beach. We knew that we would have to head back to the ship early because Justin’s dress shoes had a blowout and his soles needed replaced. We knew there was some shopping downtown so we left about 2 ½ hours before the ship was scheduled to leave at four PM.
We were not able to get on the first ferry as it had reached its limit and we were forced to wait an additional 20 minutes for the next one. No worry, as we had left plenty of time for the return. When the next ferry arrived, we got prime seats and could even see our ship in the distance. That is when the adventure began.
As we looked at the Oasis, Jason mentioned that it looked like it was moving and, indeed, it was. It was turning around! As one often does, we did all we could to just convince ourselves that it was just turning around before it would leave in two hours. However, there was a knot in my stomach that I just could not get rid of. Ships don’t turn around until they were leaving.
We didn’t panic until we got back to the port and not only was the Oasis of the Seas not there, there also wasn’t anyone from Royal Caribbean. We were now stranded in the Bahamas with nothing but our bathing suits, tee shirts and four wet Royal Caribbean towels. We had no phones, no passports and very little cash. We had stepped off the ferry and into a nightmare.
After a bit of work we found the port agent William who did offer some help in finding a flight that would get us to Miami that night and then continue to St. Thomas in the morning. In finding him, we also found two other people that had missed the boat, Stella and Terri. The one good thing was the fact that Royal Caribbean had gone to our rooms and taken our passports out of the safe and gotten them to William. With those in hand and Stella and Terri tagging along we rushed to the airport.
It took almost an hour but we were able to get tickets and make our way to the gate. Seemed odd with only four towels as carry on, but it did make security easy. Imagine how we looked and felt. We had spent several hours on the beach and were covered in sweat, sun block and sea water. I pitied the person sitting next to me on the plane.
We were able to use Stella’s phone when we landed in Miami to check out Travelocity and find a hotel near the airport. Then after waiting over 30 minutes for the shuttle to pick us up, we stumbled into the hotel around 9 PM. After surveying the room we walk to a nearby McDonald's and pounded down burgers and fries which was a far cry from the formal dinner we were to have on the ship that night. This was the night the boys were going to break out their suits for the first time after looking at them hanging in their closets for nearly a year. Instead we sat at McDonald's in our bathing suits.
When we got back to the hotel, we took our turns in the shower and after the boys and I were done, we wrapped ourselves in towels and Julia washed out suits and shirts in the hotel laundry. I won’t even go into the trouble that Julia had getting quarters as the hotel didn’t seem to have any.
The next morning we got up early to finish drying our clothes with the hotel hair dryer. There is one thing to miss about the lack of humidity in Arizona. You can hang something up wet and have it almost completely dry by the time you sit down. Not so much luck in humid Miami. After grabbing a quick breakfast we were once again on the shuttle on the way back to the airport.
We soon found ourselves in St. Thomas again looking for a hotel near the airport. William the Port Agent had gotten in touch with someone that would be at the airport. She approached us as we were looking for the cab station with two suggestions for hotel accommodations within walking distance. It almost felt like big brother was watching as we did not identify ourselves and she knew who we were. Maybe the bathing suit travel wear gave us away.
We were able to walk to a quaint but rustic old hotel on the water and after moving three times to find a room that was made up and not filled with bugs, we made our way to the beach and began to enjoy our time in St. Thomas. Things began to look up when we found a bar just down the beach that was giving away free appetizers and rum punch. Nothing better than free anything, let alone rum punch.
In the end, we had a good time that day in St. Thomas and we got to spend more time with the boys than we would have on the boat so all was not lost. However, we almost did lose Jason that night. Sometime well after midnight, Julia was awakened by the sound of the door opening to the outside. After clearing her eyes, she noticed that Jason was standing at the door with it wide open in his underwear. He was still asleep ready to venture out to the beach which was just 100 feet away. After partially waking up, Jason stumbled back to bed and barely remembered the incident the next morning.
Finally, the morning came and we were off to meet the Oasis. After jumping through a few hoops, they let us back on board and we were officially back on our cruise vacation.
Certainly not a planned adventure, but certainly one nonetheless. At the time, it seemed horrific, but in the end we had more laughs than you could count. In some ways, it really wasn’t that much different than my little adventure since I discovered I had cancer. In the beginning, you are devastated and not sure what to do. However, with the help of a little knowledge, you somehow get through. Not to suggest that cancer is a laughing matter, but you would be surprised how many laughs I have had as I have recounted my trip from near oblivion to where I am today. You just have to stay strong and keep fighting and you might be able to find some free rum punch on a beautiful beach.
