My Cruise Into Romance - My Family Travels

My Cruise Into Romance

Article By: Renae Feist, Quarter Finalist

When my dad told us that he was going to take us on a cruise through the Mexican Riviera my entire family leapt with joy. I was especially excited because I was just getting over a bad case of unrequited love, and a cruise seemed like the perfect way to get my mind off of my broken heart.

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, we finally boarded the fabulous Carnival Splendor. After watching the Oscars at the Seaside Theatre and eating an unhealthy amount of ice-cream, my brother and I decided to humor our parents and attend Club O2; Carnival’s club exclusively designed for 15-17 year olds. I went in with extremely low expectations because I assumed that the kids at Club O2 would consist of over-eager 15 year olds and sullen 17 year olds.

Quarter Finalist 2011 Teen Travel Writing Scholarship

When I arrived I was pleasantly surprised to a cute young man from Canada! He was funny, goofy, and slightly scandalous. Coming from a small farm town and extremely conservative family, I was fascinated to hear about his wild going away party where, “Everyone got topless real fast.” I had thought that those types of parties only happened in teenage coming of age movies, or Katy Perry music videos! Through our mutual love for Ke$ha and late night pizza, we became fast friends.    

Now, Mr. Canada was not the only eligible boy I met that first night. I also met a nice boy from Utah. Now, my first impression of him was that he was shy and kind of dorky. However, by the end of the night I realized that Mr. Utah was funny, slightly sarcastic, and an amazing dancer! I didn’t even know that white boys could dance like that!

Throughout the entire week I spent practically all of my time with my friends at Club O2. We mini golfed together, danced together, ate our feelings together, and partied as hard as any 17 year old legally can.  Mr. Canada and I would eat soft serve ice cream and talk about kittens, fairies, butterflies, and how we both live on pumpkin patches!

As Mr. Canada and I were becoming BFF’s, I was beginning to develop a crush on Mr. Utah. My first impression of him had been totally off! He wasn’t shy at all; in fact he was extremely outgoing and likeable. Every single game or competition that occurred, whether Apples to Apples, poker, or ultimate spoons, he completely dominated. His natural charisma caused me to act silly and smitten around him. At home I wouldn’t have ever dreamed of being so forward with a boy, but being on vacation there was nothing to lose!

It was finally the last day of the cruise and I had become slightly disappointed because I was worried that all my flirting had gone to waste. After all, Mr. Utah still seemed to think of me as just a nice girl who was good at mini golf. I told Mr. Canada of the teenage angst I was feeling and he just laughed and told me that I needn’t worry about Mr. Utah because he was sure to come around.

Mr. Canada ended up being completely right. That night Mr. Utah took my hand on the way back from hot chocolate and I’m sure he would have kissed me good night if I had been more responsive. After having such an innocent and exciting vacation fling I realized that I no longer needed to worry about unrequited love in my small town, because there really are other fish in the sea. 

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