It started out as a normal girl’s trip. Five of us that have
been besties since birth decided we should go on a cruise together. The first
couple of days were fun, we snorkeled in Cozumel, sat in the hot tub, watched a
comedy act and caught up on each other’s lives. It seems like two completely
different trips. I haven’t seen some of them in years, as we have been spread
across the country. Christine in Oregon, Amber in Huntington Beach, Debbie in Phoenix
and Brooke in Austin; all gathered in Texas to go on a the Carnival Triumph,
for what we thought would be 4 days of relaxing.
As our boat headed back to Texas Sunday we heard over the
loud speaker at 5:30am, “Alpha Team Alpha Team please report to engine room 6.”
At that moment we figured something was wrong, who wakes up a whole boat at
5:30am. We heard a few more announcements, something about the stair case being
closed, and really the rest was a blur. Amber shouted “THE BOAT IS ON FIRE” We
started to get our stuff together, but what do you get in this situation. My
only thought was we were going to die, I grabbed my cell phone with a mostly
died battery and the plug hoping there was a place to plug it in and I could
talk to Valentino one last time. I opened the door to see what was going on and
a guy was running down the hall yelling “ Life-jackets.” We could see the smoke
in the hall. Frantically, we ran to our life-jackets and realized we only had
four. I didn't get one, in my mind I was certainly going to die. As we ran up to
our Muster Station Amber yelled about workers to get me a life-jacket The
seemed so calm telling us we would get one. All that could run through my mind
was the first days safety training saying “Fire is the most dangerous thing
that can happen” and that was happening.
When we finally got to our Muster Station I felt the panic attack
set in. I felt as though I was going to throw up and cry. They came over the
loud speaker announcing the fire was under control and we could go back to our
rooms. That was not something we were willing to do, actually we never left. We
brought our mattresses up there and camped there the rest of our trip. There
was a comfort in being close to the lifeboats. We met Kindle and Brittany, to girls
from Houston at won a free trip and Scott and Shelly with their special needs
daughter from Dallas. They became our family. We watched out for each other and
helped each other out in such a hard situation.
Within 30 minutes the power and water went out on the whole
boat. And within 30 minutes every public toilet was filled with feces. They
came over the speaker telling us that we would need to pee in the shower and #2’s
in a red plastic bag.” Peeing in the shower was the worst advice they gave us.
There is nothing to hold that in on a cruise ship, it didn’t take long to
realize the sink was the place to go. Unfortunately it wasn't before our floor
was covered in pee. Being a 3rd world traveler and camper I came
prepared with Lysol spray and Clorex Wipes so our bathroom was not as bad as
most. Later in the week a guy told me how to make a potta-potty out of the
night stand in the room, which improved the red bag situation. Throughout the week
they would get a few public restrooms working, I never trusted them, too many
people using the same bathroom, I’ll take the sink in our room thank you. The
first two days the ship was leaning in our favor and our hall was not flooded,
however that changed by the second to last day. There was the smell of sewage
throughout different areas of the boat. It was pretty gross.
The first day we got the food on the way up to the top. Brittany
and Kindle jokingly asked a worker for cake, a bit later he came with a big
smile and a platter of cake for us. So nice, all of the workers on the boat
were so so nice. These guys are constantly over worked and underpaid. They ship
people in from all over the world because no American would ever do their job
for such little money. A few of them told us they were not getting fed during
this whole situation. It is ridiculous how Carnival treats their employees.
Back to the food. So there were cucumber sandwiches, I never
saw an onion one. And it wasn't the food I would normally eat, but I was so
grateful that we had food that my expectations dropped a lot and I ate what
they had with one exception. They started putting mayo on things. I did not
trust that and did not eat things with mayo.
The lines were super long and people were hoarding tons and
tons of food so it took much longer than it had to. There were ways around it,
by not going to the popular foods. So I never had a hamburger because I was not
willing to stand in a 3 hour line for it. By the 3rd day they
started serving the food which made it way faster. The food got better day by
day, maybe because they wanted us to forget, or maybe they stocked the cruise
ships passing by with better food. All I know was when I had one square of
chocolate they were passing out it tasted like the best thing ever. I never appreciated
chocolate so much.
The only way we could get cell phone reception was when
another ship passed and only certain phones could get out. My phone was not one
of them. Fortunately others allowed me to use their phones and I did get a hold
of Valentino. But to get a phone to call out was a process. I held the phone up
in the air while it tried for a few minutes to call out. After about 15 tries
we would get out sometimes that call was successful and sometimes it would drop
and we would have to try again. Whatever the process I was just grateful to get
a hold of Valentino and will never take modern technology for granted again.
The second time I spoke to him he said that Austin had another UTI. To me this
was the hardest part of the whole trip. My son was very sick and I could be
there to take care of him. I was stuck in the middle of the ocean, traveling
5mph to get back. I felt helpless. This information made my second day stuck
out at sea my hardest. Yet there were very few places to go to be alone. It one
point I retreated to our sewage room to just be able to cry.
For me the second worst thing was the rumors that were
flying around the ship. With 4000 people on the ship all crammed in the public
areas it become very much like a small city. At one point I heard that someone
was electrocuted. Seriously, I could believe most of what people said. Yet it
was hard to believe the cruise director as well. She had a British accent and
every time she came over the loud speaker it sounded like an announcement out
of the Hunger Games. Just waiting for her to end with “May the odds ever be in
your favor” or “New rule only one person will be allowed to survive.”
Interesting enough she even looked like Effie from the Hunger Games, this could
not be chance. I am sure she wasn't that bad, she tried to stay positive in her
announcements and everything was going “brilliantly” however as the days wore
on you could her the stress in her voice.
In this hard situation it was clear of one thing; Carnival’s
strong point is not organization. Every day we were told a new arrival time and
new destination. Lines were ridiculously long. I believe a tug boat was not
called for 10 hours after the engine explosion (that may have been a rumor but
I think that one was true) And none of this was more apparent as the day we
arrived in Alabama. At about noon we
could see land. I think this made people go a little crazy since we were not getting off til 11:00 at night. But nobody has ever been as happy as we were to
go to Alabama. They asked people to stay in their cabins to disembark. That
wasn’t going to happen. There were crowds of people everywhere pushing and
shoveling. We actually were able to get off as one of the first groups because
Christine was pregnant. As we got off Christine, Debbie and I hadn't gotten our
flights, we left Amber with our luggage and received out flights. Once we got
down, Debbie wanted to be on the News, within 2 minutes of her leaving to the
news crews hoards and hoards of people came out to get on the buses. By the
time she came back we had no chance to get on. There was no line, no organization,
no signs, just 1000’s of angry people trying to get to New Orleans or Houston.
It was crazy. Two and a half hours later we were able to get on a bus and 2
hours after that we arrived in New Orleans ending the craziest trip ever.
A lot of this sounds very negative. However I do not look at
it like that at all. I learn tons from this experience. It was interesting to watch
people dealing with such a stressful situation; some went directly to anger,
some to looting and everything in-between. For me and most in my group the
feeling was complete gratitude. I have so much, I can choose what I want to
eat, I have a family that loves me, I have a home, my husband has a job that he
chose and doesn’t take him any from his family months at a time, and most of
all I have a Heavenly Father who loves me enough to teach me these lessons. I
realize many people through the world have less than we did on this cruise
ship. Many of the workers on the ship came from those situations. Normally
traveling to 3rd world countries these are usually the lessons I
learn on vacation, however never more profound than on this cruise, a vacation
that was supposed to be about being taking care of and not thinking about
anything became one of life greatest lessons. I feel as though I have resolved
to be more grateful, more patient, and more loving to those around me. The past
two days being home I have appreciated the extra hugs I have received from Valentino
and Austin. I feel that I am enjoying each moment that I have and not thinking
of the future or past as much. All this things that I teach people in my job as
a therapist I have taught myself through this incredible journey. And I am sure
5 years from now these lessons will be forgotten and I will learn it again
through some other tragedy, I am only human. I am grateful for a God that
humbles me enough to teach me and loves enough to do it over and over again as
I forget.
And, no, I will never take a cruise again.
