I want to do a couple of posts about our cruise that we went on in June. I want to document all the things that we did, all the places we went and all the fun that we had while it is still semi-fresh in my mind.
This trip was filled with a bunch of firsts for our family. It was our first real family vacation outside of Orlando and New York when we visit more family. It was our first extended family vacation with my side of the family. It was the first time Louie and the kids got passports. It was the first time Louie and the kids have left the country, aside from PR back in March. It was our first time on a cruise. It was my first time visiting Key West, even though I am a 3rd generation NATIVE Floridian.There were some other things too but these are what sticks out in my mind right now.
Of all the amazing things we did and all the firsts that we took part in, one first that wasn’t so amazing might haunt me for the rest of my life.
On our second or third day on board, Louie, the kids and I were headed back to our room to get them changed and take them up to “Camp Carnival”. Our stewards were in the process of turning down our room for the night so they asked us to hang out for a few minutes while they finished up. So we went to sit on the stairs by the elevators and wait until they were finished. Trey was acting up and being really disobedient and out of control so I was dealing with him and Louie was supposed to be watching Leilani. After I was done talking to Trey I asked Louie where Leilani was and he said she went up the stairs ( HERE’S YOUR SIGN!) I was dumbfounded that he was still sitting there and went up after her. Got up to the next level… no Leilani. Went up another level…. still no Lani. Are room was on deck 7 in the rear of the ship. I ran up and down decks 7 -8 & 9 a good 10 or more times. Calling out her name. Asking crew members if they had seen a little girl ( none of which spoke very much english) and beginning to become pretty frantic. I finally ran back down to deck 7 to find Louie still sitting in the same spot playing on his phone as calm as could be. I asked him if she came back he said no. I kind of flipped out on him and grabbed Trey and ran to our room to ask our room stewards for help. I had held it together pretty well until I actually had to say ” Please help… my daughter is missing!” At this point I LOST it COMPLETELY!!! I couldn’t form a rational thought, I couldn’t speak clearly and I was just a sobbing mess. Our head steward ran to the stairs to see what he could do while the girl steward sat with me and Trey to calm me down. After another few minutes, and my mind running through every possible worse case scenario only making matters worse I got up and started walking back to the stairs. The head steward was walking back towards us saying that they found her. Louie came around the corner holding her and she looked terrified. She knew what she did was wrong… I was elated just to see her again but still gave her a good reprimand where we were both crying. The rest of the trip, and even to this day, she reminds me about how she went away from mommy on the big boat. She told my mom about it and how she made mommy sad and she was scared. This does not mean that she has stopped wandering off because she still does and each time I freak out just as much now knowing how scary it is. By far the scariest 15 minutes of my life! It felt like eternity.
I promise the rest of the posts about our cruise will be happy ones that share insight on why you should take one too. I just wanted to get that one out for memories sake.
15 minutes is a VERY long time!! i would’ve been freaking out, too! oh my word.