Smooth Sailing? No. Tropical Storm? Yes.

Cindy at MGM

My luck with vacations started out poor.  My honeymoon with Killer to a tropical island was spent in the aftermath of a hurricane.  My cruise with Neal, let's just say it snowed in Florida and it was 48 degrees in the Bahamas.  We no more than dropped the anchor to take shuttles to the island when we were called back to the ship to leave early.  A tropical storm was about to take the islands and the cruise line was determined to get us back to the mainland before this happened.

Neal at MGM

The cruise was one of the first Disney cruises. You spent a day in Orlando at Disney/MGM and four days/three nights on a cruise to Treasure Cay, Abaco, Bahamas.  We had a great time at Disney/MGM. It was a little chilly for Florida, but it was still nice.  This was the first time I had packed to go any where and did not pack for all kinds of weather.  I did not have a thing in the event it was chilly, for cripes sake, I was going to the Bahamas!

The day we were to leave for the cruise, we woke up to snow in Florida.  Ice had damaged the crops and it was 30 degrees.  I was freezing in shorts and a tee shirt.  We were herded onto the ship and found our room.  I was so excited to be going on a cruise!

Our little Cabin

The cabin attendant promised me that it was always 75 and sunny in the Bahamas.  Twelve hours later, the ship dropped anchor and the taxi boats started taking the passengers in to the island.  It was cold.  It certainly was not 75 degrees! It was 47 degrees an overcast.

We were on shore for less than a hour when the bull horn blew with an announcement that the ship would be leaving within the hour to head back to the mainland.  The three day cruise was cut into one hour! We headed back to the ship. I was so disappointed.

We grabbed dinner and headed back to our room to figure out what we wanted to do that evening.  We anticipated the ride back to the mainland would be as smooth as the ride there.  We were so terribly mistaken.

You could feel the ship raise.  Our cabin was in the bow of the vessel.  As the waves raised the ship, you could almost count the seconds until the bow slammed down lifting the stern.  Neal was sick.  He couldn't stomach the whirlwind of activity the ship was experiencing.  He was throwing up and miserable.  We had single beds and we decided to lay down, as standing up was not an option unless you wanted to be thrown into a wall.  Our personal belongings were tossed about our cabin as if they were weightless.  Neal and I both were thrown from our bunks at one time or another.

I suggested we leave the bow of the ship.  We needed to go to the center so that the force of the waves was not as traumatic to our well being.  I felt the lower we went on the  ship the less we would feel the lifting of each wave.

We headed out but Neal could not make it. He went back to the room.  I headed toward the theater. It was in the center of the ship and spanned three floors.  I thought if I came in on the lower level, I'd not feel the rocking so much.  I was fine once I got there, but the halls were filled with vomit and people who had fallen down drunk and couldn't get up because of the rocking.

I sat in the theater and watched whatever movie was playing but all you could smell was vomit.  Soon, I decided to head back to the room to check on Neal. It was all I could do to walk back as the ships motion kept throwing me into the wall.  Once I made it back, I swore I would never leave again.

We were both sick with dry heaves and kept counting the hours until we landed.  We assumed since it took twelve hours to get there, it would be the same getting back.  We were so wrong again.  Twenty four hours.  We were on this ship that rocked and rolled for twenty four hours.

Everyone cheered when we pulled into the docks.  People rushed to get off the boat, but we had to go through customs.  We stood in line for five hours, like cows being herded waiting to get off the boat.  My legs could barely keep me upright. I know knew the meaning of sea legs.  For weeks after wards I could sense that feeling of not knowing where your step was going to land.  I couldn't eat in a car as the motion made me sick. What was to be a very romantic getaway turned into the cruise from hell.  It was indicative of where this relationship was headed