My First Cruise by Mahi Patel

     I went on my first cruise when I was five years old.  At the time, my mom was pregnant with my brother and she got seasick a lot.  My parents told me that we were going on a cruise, but I don’t think that I fully understood what that meant at the time.  We left for Miami on a Wednesday. We drove to there, so we stopped in the middle at my uncle’s house.  Then, the next morning we left to go to Miami because the cruise was on a Friday and we had to get up early to check in. 

When we got to Miami, we were staying at the Holiday Inn hotel.  It had a balcony that was really close to the ocean.  There was a small breeze and it felt nice because it was really hot. You could also smell the salty ocean water.  We went to eat dinner at a pizza place that was really good. Then we came back to the hotel and went to bed.  The next morning we woke up to the sound of a phone ringing. It was my dad’s sister, and she was calling us to see what time we should meet up and go get checked in. My dad said, “We should get ready and meet in the lobby for breakfast. Then get our stuff, load the car, and leave. In the car, I was in the back with my cousins, a boy who was four, and two girls who were nine and one.  When we got to the check in area, we waited in line until it was our turn and my mom said, “Get the passports out and stay together.”  After that, we went to get our room cards and get on the boat. 

     When we got on the boat, I was amazed and really excited. I wanted to go and walk around everywhere. I wandered off and before I got too far, my mom started screaming, “MAHI GET BACK HERE!  YOU CAN’T LEAVE AND WANDER AROUND HERE OR WE WILL TAKE YOU OFF AND GO HOME!” I got scared and I went back over with my mom and didn’t move from her side. We went to the room, which was huge (only because I was five at the time) and had two beds, one king size and one twin size in the corner.  It also had an ocean view and you could see Miami. It was so beautiful, and really sunny outside.  The water was glistening with light.  By the time we were done settling in, it was about 1:45 pm and we were all starving. We met up with our family and went to eat.  I had never seen so much food before! I said excitedly, “Wow, we can eat anything we want!”  My mom replied, “No you can’t! You have to eat what we ask you to eat.  You can’t just eat cake and mac and cheese all day.”  I was disappointed at the time (because I was only five at the time), but I got over it because we went outside and got some nachos, which tasted really good.  After that we left, and the party started in the fiesta deck.  The deck was filled with people.  There were strings of lights hanging everywhere, and confetti falling from the higher decks.   After a bit of partying we went back to our room and got ready because we had to dress formal every night.  I was wearing a dress with floral print and little strap on shoes.  When we went into the dining hall, it smelt so good like pasta, salad, and bread.  We sat at our table with our family already waiting for us. When we sat down my mom asked me what I wanted to eat and I said, “What is there to eat?” My mom said, “There is pasta with chicken.  I’m going to get you that.” 

When we were done, we went to the highest balcony they had and watched the sunset.  It looked really amazing with all the colors coming together.  It was really beautiful and mesmerizing. We stayed up there a little bit longer. I was watching the water with my cousins and the moon’s reflection in the water was enchanting.  Then we went back to our rooms and changed into more comfortable clothes and went to the casino. The casino had a kid’s room adjacent to the casino hall.  My cousins and I went to the kids’ room and played some of the games they had there, while our parents were at the casino. 

 The next day, we got up at 8:00 am and got off at our first island, Nassau, which is located in the Bahamas.  We went to the beach and took a tour of the island.  Towards the end of the tour, we found a fruit stand that had fresh coconuts.  We drank coconut milk and ate the coconut. The water tasted like the “dew from the heavens”, as previously said by the Hawaiians.  We then boarded the boat and ate lunch.  

We were getting ready for dinner as the boat started to sway back in forth. It felt terrible it was like you were dizzy and someone was shaking you around while on a rollercoaster, it made me feel sick.  Soon after a bit it calmed down a bit.  We went to the dinner hall and since it was the last day they had so much more food, I could smell the chocolate lava cake, the exotic fruits that they got from some of the islands, and the warm bread coming out of the oven.

After dinner we went to our rooms and got dressed for the pool and hot tubs.  They were playing a movie while you could swim.  When I got in the water it was warm on my skin and it felt really nice and smooth.  We watched the movie Cinderella.  During the movie we went and got some frozen yogurt from the dispenser.  I got chocolate ice cream.  It was really soft, like a soft serve ice cream. 

When we got back to our room, we went straight to bed because it was late and we had to get up early tomorrow.  When we woke up we got ready, got our things and left to go back to my house.

   Now that I’m a lot older I learned that I should be more appreciative for what I have.  Also I know a lot more about things that I didn’t know in the past.