Final Diagnostic Essay: Cruising Along

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Cruising Along

I stepped out of the taxi cab and saw the ship for the first time. I could not believe how big it was. I had seen a picture if the ship before, but nothing compared to actually seeing it. I couldn’t wait to get inside and see where I would be spending the next week. The line to get inside moved slower than the security lines in an airport. We finally get to the metal detector and I get through no problem. My buddy Tony went through three times before he remembered he was wearing steel toed boots. I teased him about that until we finally got into the ship.

When we first got onboard an attendant directed us to the elevator so we could get to our rooms. As we walked into the elevator the first thing we noticed was the floor had MONDAY written in the carpet, seeing as it was Monday this was pretty impressive. We got to our rooms, and they were smaller than I thought they were going to be. The beds were pretty comfortable though.

We were exploring the ship when we discovered we could get all the pizza and ice cream we could eat for the duration of the cruise. My mom made a joke; she said she wanted to weigh us after the trip to see how much we gorged ourselves. Tony and me took it seriously and decided we would prove her wrong. We avoided the elevator all day and stayed away from all the free food. We woke up the next day and we both felt horrible. Our legs were sore and we could barely get around the ship. It was at this point we decided that we were on vacation and should be enjoying ourselves. We used the elevator as much as we could, which now had TUESDAY in the carpet, and we pigged out on pizza and ice cream the rest of the trip.

The next day the ship stopped in Cozumel where my mom had booked an excursion for the day. We got into a crowded bus that took us to a lake next to some ancient Mayan ruins. We were supposed to go snorkeling in the lake, but it had stormed recently and the lake was full of debris. I felt like we got ripped off and was complaining the entire way back to the bus. My mom told me that there was one more stop in the excursion, and that I should hold my complaints until the end. The bus stopped at a hotel on the ocean. We walked through the gate and I could not believe my eyes. My entire life I had wanted to go swimming with dolphins, and right in front of me was a tank where they allowed people to interact with dolphins. I finally lived my dream of riding on the back of a dolphin. I didn’t want to leave, but we had to get back to the ship.

All of us were given a room key that doubled as a charge card that could be used throughout the ship. My brothers used their cards constantly during our trip, but I didn’t use mine once. I was content with all the free activities the cruise offered. The last stop the ship made was at Haiti. We spent the entire day at the beach having a great time. When the end of the day approached my parents decided to give me a treat for not using my card all week. I was able to fulfill another dream of mine, I went parasailing. The view was amazing, and I loved the thrill of being so high.

The end if the cruise was the worst part. I remember walking into the elevator and seeing SUNDAY on the floor, and feeling sad that I would never see the elevator again. When we finally got off the ship it felt weird going back to the real world. I will never forget that amazing week.