𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞

𝟎𝟐

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It is a sunny evening in Galveston, Texas and we are now getting ready to land." The flight attendant announced as we began our descent from the sky to the coastal town of Galveston, Texas.

The plane ride was a little over two and a half hours long and was quite bumpy due to turbulence. I'm just excited to be here, it means that the cruise is becoming a reality soon.

The plane finally landed and everyone immediately stood up to grab their luggage once we were in the correct terminal. All I had with me was my small backpack under the seat. The rest of my luggage was at baggage claim.

Soon everyone was escorted off the plane and it was time for my family and I to go down to baggage claim.

***

After we picked up our bags from baggage claim, we waited outside of the terminal for my aunt and cousin, who were coming on the cruise with us but had flown in the day before, they were picking us up from the airport.

Seeing the bright blue minivan pull up in front of us, I already knew that this was going to be a disaster. Eight people trying to fit into a seven person van, plus luggage, was a master plan for disaster. Let's just say that we were quite squished for the hour drive from the airport to our hotel.

When we exited the van like a bunch of clowns out of a clown car, we all grabbed our luggage and headed up to our room. There were five kids, my cousin, my two brothers, my sister, and me, trying to cram into two queen beds. Also not very comfortable. Let's just say that that night's sleep was just a little crowded.

***

The next morning I awoke to with a newfound excitement, excitement for the cruise. We were all woken up at 9:00 am to pack up our bags and head down to the port.

Security and check-in took what felt like years, but finally, we were boarding the ship. When we entered, it was a whole new level of euphoria.

The lobby level felt like a glorified but more laid-back version of titanic. There was a grand but small lobby with printed carpeting and sitting chairs that all faced the two staircases leading up to the next floor and where the elevators were. Across from the elevators, were the stairs leading up to the next floor. And that's how each floor looked, except for the ninth floor. When you exited the elevator, to the left and right were sliding doors that lead to the pool deck and two doors that lead to the cafe and adult pool, and one that lead to the buffet restaurant.

But, on the other side of the boat, lies a small club, hidden in the arcade. The teen club was a quaint room tucked into the back wall of the arcade. It had a couch on the right-most side of the room and a small dance floor right in the center. Off to the left, there was a small seating area. The teen club was only open to teens ages 12-17, so my brothers, my cousin, and I were all able to enter. But, it wasn't open yet.

"Ellis! Come over here! Let's get a drink!" My mom called as she walked up to the bar on the pool deck. It was warm, but windy because of the ocean breeze. My mom ordered two diet cokes for us and we went and sat on a pool chair.

Soon enough, the rest of our rag-tag group gathered and we were all ready for some pool time. At this point, it was already 4:00 pm and the stateroom was supposed to be ready at 4:30. Thankfully, my mom made us all pack a swimsuit into a bag that she had in case something like this happened. So, we all changed into our swimsuits and headed to the pool.

While there, we looked at the activities packet to see what we could do while we were out at sea. My youngest brother, Logan, pointed out the teen club opening, 8:00 pm. Logan, my other brother, Kyle, and my cousin Charlie and I all decided to go there to see what it was about.