So I've decided to re-open my Book Blog which hasn't been used in many years and re-read the Baby-Sitter Club Super Special books and write a little "book report" for each one. Now I'm guessing if you're here, you're most likely a fan of the BSC so I'm not going to go into every little character detail like they do in chapter 2; I'm assuming you know who I'm talking about when I say a character's name!
Our first book is Baby-sitters on Board! where our baby-sitters go on a four day cruise around the Bahamas, then spend three days at Disney World. How did they get so lucky to go on a dream vacation? Well, it's all thanks to Mallory Pike's dad (and Mal wasn't even a member during this time!) when he wins a contest at his company where they have to name a new product and he won. We never find out what the product is and what he named it. Isn't Mr. Pike a corporate lawyer? This makes it sounds like he works for advertising. They just say he "won a contest at the company he works for." You think they would rig it so the guy with EIGHT freakin' kids wouldn't win it. Just saying. The Pike elders request that Stacey and Mary Anne join them as helpers because they helped them when they went to Sea City for two weeks (pretty sure that trip and this one is in the same summer! But then again, all their vacations take place in the same freakin' "year"!) When Watson hears about this and finds out that Kristy has never been anywhere outside of Connecticut, he decides not only to take the entire Brewer/Thomas family on the same trip, but also Claudia and Dawn so the entire BSC can go.
Oh boy, we have a lot to unpack here!
1. The fact that Kristy has never been out of Connecticut at the age of thirteen is mind boggling to me. I don't consider myself well-travelled at all, but I have have been lucky enough to have traveled to France and some pretty big cities in the U.S. At the age of 13, I had already been to Colorado, Floria, and Virginia (and surrounding states where I lived in the Midwest). You're telling me that Kristy has never been to New York or Boston or anywhere in New England? Really? REALLY? I think it would have been a little more realistic if she said she'd said she'd never been anywhere outside of that area. Of course, she will have gone to New York, California, Hawaii, Paris, London, etc by the time the series is over and she's STILL thirteen, so I guess she definitely will make up for it!
2. Watson is always trying to show off his wealth, isn't he? Oh, the Pikes are going on this trip, so I better go on this trip with my family too! It's like in BSC in the USA (which I read for the first time a few years ago) when Dawn's dad takes a trailer across the USA so Watson has to do the same thing! And I'm sure there's other examples too.
3. I'm shocked that none of Kristy's siblings threw a fit that she got to have two friends come along and none of them did, but then I had to think about this and figured Karen would be the only one that might get upset about this. Sam and Charlie probably wouldn't want to invite anyone along since they just hang out with each other and I can't see them wanting to have their friends along on a family trip. I'm honestly surprised that they just didn't stay home and had Claudia and Dawn take their place because they are barely seen in this book. They're mentioned being on the plane and they're mentioned sharing a room with David Michael and spending a day at Disney World with him, but other than that they have no dialogue and no story to this book. Andrew is too young and shy to want to invite any friends, David Michael already has Nicky Pike on the trip, so that leaves Karen. I'm honestly surprised that Karen didn't throw a tantrum that she wasn't allowed to invite Nancy Dawes AND Hannie Papadakis (BTW, I just found out this summer while watching the BSC Netflix series that I've been mispronouncing that MY ENTIRE LIFE! I was saying it "Pap-a-dack-eese", but it's "Papa-dock-is". Obviously, I am not Greek!) I mean, after all she IS Watson's biological child and if I were her I would feel some kind of way. Yes, it's true Margo Pike, who is also Karen's age (wait...is Karen 6 or 7? I swear to God I've seen her one age in some books and the other age in other books...) is there, but they never hang out. In fact, I don't think they've ever been friends in the series which is weird since both their sisters are in the BSC. I know they don't go to the same school, but you think they'd at least hang out when they were on the cruise together?
4. Let's talk about Mary Anne and Stacey and how PISSED both of them should be. I'm sure when they were chosen for the job, they were excited. They get a free trip to the Bahamas and Disney World! What's not to love about that? But then...if I found out that the other members in the BSC also got to go on the same trip without having to work, well, I'd be a little irritated. They're probably thinking, What the hell? If the Pikes hadn't chosen us, we would have been able to go on the trip WITHOUT baby-sitting. Also, sometimes it's fun to go on a trip and then be able to tell your friends afterwards. I bet Mary Anne and Stacey were super excited that they got invited to go on this trip that would just be for them and then Kristy's stepdad had to ruin it by inviting the other members because God forbid, the BSC can't ever be separated! Of course they make it so all the girls are happy and excited they're going on this trip together. Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever.
One of my favorite things about this book is that the introduction to everybody is thankfully short. It really just gives you a list of everybody going on the trip and how old they are. It's like Ann M. Martin figured if you read this book, you probably read the others. I wish she took the same advice for her other books. Why do I need to read that Kristy's dog "just" died, like fifty books ago or that Stacey moved back to New York after she moved to Stoneybrook, but now she's back? I mean, who really cares if she's back, right? I hated the chapters 2 so much and they must have been so tedious to write! But this book just gets to the point, which I greatly appreciate! (Yes, I was one of those who skipped chapter 2, but would often scan just to make sure I didn't miss a Claudia Kishi original).
For some reason they're flying in a 777, which has NINE seats in each row (five in the middle and two on each end). Does this seem a little...excessive to anyone? The only time I've flown in a plane that big was from Chicago to Paris. Do they even use planes that big for domestic flights? True, they're flying from New York to Miami, but still...But this was 1988, so maybe that's how they did it back then. I'm not sure which was more unbelievable: that Margo Pike uses her barf bag the minute the plane starts moving (the Pikes really need to take her to a specialist) or that Karen Brewer, spoiled Karen with her millionaire Daddy, gets excited about a bunch of condiment packages. Really, Karen? Hasn't she been on a plane before? Even if she hadn't, I can't see her getting excited over freaking condiments of all things. All the young kids gets to visit the cockpit and meet the captain while they're flying. That would never happen today.
So the sleeping arrangements on the cruise ship, The Ocean Princess, are interesting. First of all, I'm surprised Watson didn't have any luxury suites for his party; instead the Brewer/Thomas clan are in the same area as the Pikes. Kristy, Claudia, and Dawn share a room. This will cause a rift between Kristy and Dawn because Dawn is super neat while Kristy just trashes the place; she will literally open a bag of chips and dump everything out on a table and just throw the bag on the floor. I don't remember Kristy ever being this much of a slob in the series. If anything, I always thought she was pretty organized being the President of the BSC and all. I feel like they just did this to have conflict between her and Dawn. Kristy even gets mad at Dawn when she sees the beds have been made one morning....uh, Kristy, you do realize that this is normal and it probably wasn't Dawn that made the beds? And really, are made beds something to be so upset about?
To get back to the room arrangements...Sam, Charlie, and David Michael share a room and Watson and Elizabeth have Karen and Andrew which makes sense. With the Pike clan, we have Mary Anne with Mallory and Vanessa and Stacey with Margo and Claire. I don't know if that was what they decided or if the Pike parents just assigned them that way, but I have to say I think Mary Anne got the sweeter deal. I would much rather be with the two older girls who are more quiet and just like to read. I would HATE having to share a room with a seven-year-old who throws up all the time (surprise, surprise Margo Pike gets seasick!) and an annoying five-year-old who adds "Silly-Billy-Goo-Goo" to everyone's name. No. Just no. Thank your lucky stars, Mary Anne. The triplets and Nicky share a room which you would think would cause some issues, but surprisingly this is the one book where they actually do all get along. The Pike parents have a room all to themselves that is attached to their sons' room. You gotta hand it to John and Deidre: they will always try to get out of being around their kids. Remember when they went to Sea City and every day they went somewhere: Atlantic City or some quaint town and Mary Anne and Stacey would have to watch all those kids. Here's the kicker: Mary Anne and Stacey only have to take care of four kids since Mallory and the triplets are allowed to be by themselves...so they really only each have to take care of two kids, which seems like a pretty sweet gig to me. I wonder if Mary Anne and Stacey's way was paid through the corporation that sponsored the trip or if the Pikes paid their tickets for them? Though the sitting arrangements will change after the boys get in (minor) trouble and have to have a chaperone. I think the only time the Pike parents spend any time with their kids is when they go to Disney World, though Margo does spend the night in their room when there' a bad storm and she gets super sick (seriously, who thought it was a good idea for this girl to go on a cruise?)
So even though all the BSC members are on this trip together, they hardly spend any time together. In fact, each of them will meet someone on the cruise ship (who we will never see or hear from again). Oh, sure, there's a few times when they all interact or a couple of them interact, but it's very few and far between. Let's meet all the characters they meet:
Kristy meets a curmudgeon named Rudy Staples. His wife died only two months earlier and he is taking this trip to "get away from the memories". I can see an old person going on a cruise, but to Disney World (yes, he is also at DW..he does try to leave, but Kristy talks him out of it)? No. Kristy tells him about her problem with Dawn and he tells her that's how he and his wife were, with him being the messy one. Kristy and Rudy (who is in his 70s) start hanging out which is a little weird because what 70 year-old would want to hang out with a thirteen-year-old who isn't their grandkid and what thirteen-year-old girl would want to hang out with some random 70-year-old dude when she has a whole fleet of friends, family, and baby-sitting clients already on the boat? Kristy keeps trying to set up her Nannie (who hasn't moved in with the Thomas/Brewers yet). Kristy, chill. The man's wife only died two months ago and he lives in Arizona.
Dawn meets a boy (of course; theres' always some romantic storyline in these Super Specials) who she calls "the most absolutely gorgeous, handsome, perfect, wonderful boy". Calm down, Dawn. The boy, Parker, turns out to be kind of a drip. He's on this trip with his dad and new stepmom and stepbrothers and is bitching about them. Yes, towards the end he and Dawn end up with his stepbrothers at Disney World and he ends up having a lot of fun, but there is nothing special about this lame boy.
Stacey (along with Margo and Claire) meet a seven-year-old boy named Marc Kubacki and his parents. Marc looks a lot younger than his age and is in a wheelchair, not because he can't walk, but because he has a heart condition and can't over exert himself. His parents tell Stacey that they are taking this trip because Marc will be getting surgery soon and they wanted to take this family vacation in case...well, you know. It's actually quite sad. Marc is by far the most interesting person that one of the baby-sitters befriends. Of course, by the end of the book we find out that the surgery was successful and Marc is doing great.
Mary Anne meets a girl named Alexandra Carmody. The first few times I read this, I always thought she was seventeen. She's mentioned as being "a few years older" than the BSC members and I think she's only supposed to be 14 or 15. I'm not really sure. Anyway, her thing is she's a pathological liar. She just tells people all these lies like she's an actress or her aunt is a countess. She tells Mary Anne (who she meets because Mary Anne is gawking at her because she's wearing a skimpy bikini...subtle, Mary Anne) that she's traveling alone and her parents were killed in a car accident six months ago. Of course, Mary Anne thinks this is horrible and confides in the girl that her mother died when she was a baby. You would think this would make Alexandra feel guilty and confess she made that up...but no, she keeps it up. Mary Anne is a bit suspicious about her because the first time they have a (very short) conversation, she tells Mary Anne she's traveling alone, then the second time they meet, she mentions her brother, but Mary Anne doesn't bring it up because I guess she doesn't want to be confrontational. She calls Alexandra "a true friend" (really? someone you've only had two conversations with, Mary Anne?), but is vexed why she lied to her about traveling alone. Thanks to Mallory's spying (we'll get to that later), Mary Anne finds out that Alex was lying to her all along and her parents, two famous folks singers, are alive and well and Alex lied to her about them being dead because she wants attention. When they're at Disney World, Alex keeps following around Mary Anne, who is with Margo and Claire, trying to apologize. Mary Anne does forgive her, (of course she does; she's Mary Anne) but they don't stay in touch or anything. I honestly didn't understand the point of this girl.
Claudia has a secret admirer on the trip and it's just as creepy as you would expect! Somebody keeps paying for her food and/or buying her things they see her looking at. Whoever this person is, they're in pretty close proximity to her pretty much wherever they go. It's *super* creepy. After Stacey finds out that said secret admirer pays for her butterscotch sundae (side note 1: after reading this, I was totally craving a butterscotch sundae so I went to the store and bought some vanilla ice cream and butterscotch topping. I could only find a large thing of butterscotch topping, so I still have some in my fridge...it will eventually all be used. (Side note 2: butterscotch must be Claudia's sundae flavor of choice because she also gets this when the girls go out for ice cream to celebrate Jessi's first big dance performance in Stoneybrook in Jessi's Secret Language)), Claudia tries to find him and ends up running into a boy her age who is clearly the secret admirer, but, well, we all know Claud isn't the brightest crayon in the box and she really has no clue. The boy is Timothy and later it will be this big twist that he's Alex's brother, but is that really supposed to be some big reveal? As you can see, this Carmody family is full of little shits. Timothy keeps up the secret admirer gig even after he and Claudia chat and she seems to like him and everything. Dude, just come clean...he will, but not until the last night. And Claudia will reward him with a kiss, ugh.
The BSC members aren't the only ones to narrate chapters...other characters do as well, including a pre-BSC member Mallory. She pretty spends the entirety of her vacation people watching and writing in her journal. Look, I think people watching can be interesting and it's probably a great thing to do to pass time on the cruise ship, but at Disney World? Yes, she does go on some rides, but she also spends her time there sitting on a bench and writing about people who pass by in her journal. I don't know what shocks me more: that an eleven year old would rather sit on a bench at Disney World or that said eleven-year-old's parents would just let her roam around Disney World by herself. Look, I realize it's DW and probably very safe, but still....This is how Mary Anne finds out that Alex isn't an orphan....Mallory tells her after she sees and overhears Alex talking to her parents in line for a ride. As much as I'm surprised the Pike parents let their oldest kid schlep around the Happiest Place on Earth by herself, I'm more appalled that they (and Watson and Elizabeth) let their sons roam a Bahamian island by themselves!
Byron Pike narrates a couple of chapters. I guess he was the Chosen Triplet because he's more sensitive than the other two and Adam and Jordan are pretty much the same person, right? This is one of the only times in the triplets' lives where they actually get along with Nicky. Most of the trip is them hanging out with Nicky and David Michael. They go see Treasure Island which is playing in the cruise ship's movie theater and they all get pirate fever (man, they would have loved the Pirates of the Caribbean movies...they did love the ride!) and they're all sure they're going to find hidden treasure when they visit Treasure Cay. Cay, I learned recently (not from this book, though it is mentioned), is pronounced "key". They're in for a rude awakening when they expect the island to look "all jungly and wild with monkeys and coconuts and maybe a couple of pythons", but in reality it's mostly "hotels all along the beach". It's pretty much a tourist destination. Nicky thinks that they must have let them off on the wrong island which is pretty hilarious.
It is absolutely insane that the Pike parents let three ten-year-old and two eight-year-old boys gallivant around the island by themselves because the island is small. It's almost like they don't care if their kids get kidnapped because they have so many that they wouldn't notice if a few went missing anyway. They all go to the beach and are digging up shells and random crap. Byron finds a piece of paper which he believe to be a treasure map. It's written in a foreign language and they think it's a map, though in actuality, as they will learn later on the plane ride home, it's a copy machine diagram written in Dutch. But in the meantime, they will believe it's a treasure map...and, get this, will try to find the treasure on the ship and on Disney World. I really hope that deep down, they know there's no way in hell pirate treasure is not going to be found on a modern ship or at a modern theme park and they're just having fun with the whole thing. It's like when I was young and all the kids in the neighborhood were convinced this one house was haunted. (How very Karen Brewer). Deep down, I knew it wasn't, but I went along with the rumor because it made it more fun.
Speaking of Karen, she also gets her own chapters. Ugh. I'm sorry, I am not a fan of Karen and this book doesn't help her case at all. She is a spoiled brat who always gets her way and never gets in trouble. So this is how she starts her first chapter:
I love my big stepsister, Kristy. She is very, very fun. But here's one thing I don't love about her. Sometimes she doesn't believe the things I say. And just because I'm only six years old. I don't think that's fair. But it happens. Also, sometimes she says I'm too little to do things. I don't think that's fair either.
So I bring this up because this paragraph is full of contractions and I distinctly remember Karen making a point of saying she never uses contractions. And yet, here she is going crazy using them. Now I'm guessing that character trait comes after this book. So let's correct the paragraph:
I love my big stepsister, Kristy. She is very, very fun. But here is one thing I do not love about her. Sometimes she does not believe the things I say. And just because I am only six years old. I do not think that is fair. But it happens. Also, sometimes she says I am too little to do things. I do not think that is fair either.
Ah, that's better. Now I need to go back and see if Karen from the '90s TV show or Netflix series uses contractions. I don't remember if Karen was in the movie (I don't think so, excuse me, I do not think so). As much as a can't (excuse me, cannot,) stand book Karen, I do like that they toned her character way down for the Netflix series but still kept her essence.
Kristy takes Karen, Andrew, and David Michael to the pool. When they get there, Karen realizes she forgot her ear plugs and asks if she can go back to her cabin to retrieve them. So in a previous chapter that Mary Anne narrates, we are given a tour of the Ocean Princess. This is what we have:
-Island Deck - the bottom deck; contains cabins.
-Dolphin Deck - the first deck; contains cabins and the purser's office.
-Providence Deck - the second deck; contains their cabins, infirmary, and a pirate-themed restaurant.
-Coastal Deck - the third deck; contains the Flamingo Cay Restaurant, a barbershop and beauty salon, and cabins.
-Tropical Deck - the fourth deck; contains a stage and theater, casino, arcade, lounge, pub, and Moonlight Cafe. (Sidenote: they keep referring to the arcade as the "video games room" which just seems weird to me).
-Moondance Deck - the fifth deck; contains luxury cabins, children's recreation room and children's pool.
-Starlight Deck - the sixth deck; contains a cafe, two swimming pools, ice cream parlor, disco, teen center (what is a teen center anyway? They never go there even though there is a specific place on the ship just for them...maybe that's where Sam and Charlie were all that time), bar, and movie theater.
-Sun Deck - the very top deck; contains a large swimming pool, jogging track, and health spa.
So they're on the fifth deck and Karen wants to go three floors down to the second deck where her cabin is and Kristy allows this. Look, I've never been on a cruise ship before and as Billy Zane from Titanic says, "It's a ship; how big can it be?", a cruise liner is still pretty big...even if it's not the Titanic! (Wait, am I supposed to italizize both the movie name and the ship's name?) Kristy does want to take them all back down to retrieve the earplugs, but Karen convinces her to let her go by herself. I can't imagine letting a six-year-old wander around a cruise ship by their selves; if it were a twelve-year-old, that would be one thing, but a freakin' six-year-old? Also, why didn't they just go try to find a shop nearby that sold earplugs. There had to be one on that same level that sold children's pool toys and bathing suit. Duh.
So Karen heads to her cabin (I'm guessing she has a key? Or is she going to wake her dad and stepmom who are taking nap?), but she ends up stopping at the Coastal Deck, the deck right above where her cabin is, to look around and goes to the beauty shop and gets her nails done. She asks to have it charged to her cabin and explains she learned about charging when Watson took her and Andrew to a hotel in New York (and you know that hotel was the Plaza!) The woman does ask her if she has permission to charge to her cabin and Karen pulls the "My parents are divorced" card which makes the woman feel sorry for her and forget about the fact that Karen doesn't have permission to do this.
She gets her manicure, then grabs her earplugs from her cabin. (She didn't wake her parents, so she must have had the key). On the way back to the pool, she decides she's thirsty and stops to get a Coke at the cafe on the Tropical Deck, the one that's right below the deck the children's pool is on. Again, isn't there a shop near the pool that sells cold drinks? It's only after Karen has gotten her nails painted, retrieved her earplugs, and ordered and drank a Coke that she then saunters back to the pool. Of course, Kristy is besides herself. They don't say how long she's been gone, but it has to be at least 45 minutes. Even Karen admits she's been gone a long time. Kristy was way too lenient on Karen. Yes, she was worried, but she sort of lets Karen get away with being gone for so long by joking that she was about to call the boat police on her. She just hugs Karen and tells her, "You are too much!" when Karen tells her what she was up to. Then she takes a photo of her. Um, I'm sorry, but what the hell happened to Super Sitter and President of the BSC, Kristy Thomas? Why didn't she take her two brothers and go wake up her parents or find Sam and Charlie to take care of them while she tried to find her six-year-old sister who could have been kidnapped or, God forbid, fallen off the boat. (Look, I may find Karen irritating, but I don't want her to fall off a cruise ship much like I didn't want Lex to be dino chow in Jurassic Park even though I found her super annoying (I'm talking about the book; not the movie, FYI)). What happened to the Kristy Thomas from the '90s BSC TV series episode, "Claudia and the Missing Jewels" where Karen the brat takes Claudia's jewelry that she made and pretty much pins the blame on Julie the housekeeper (who conveniently is only there for that one episode and is never again mentioned in the subsequent episodes or any of the books) and Kristy tells her in a very firm voice, "Karen Brewer, you know better than that!"
Karen continues to be a brat when they get to Disney World. Shocker, I know. She eats breakfast on a stationed steamboat with her parents and Andrew. The gimmick of this restaurant is that Disney characters walk around and interact with the patrons. When I went to Disney World, I was three years older than Karen and I have a vague recollection of eating at a restaurant where my mom had a near collision with Mickey Mouse when she was coming out of the restroom and on her way back to the table. I don't think it was on a boat, though. Anyway, there's a young boy at a nearby table who's having a birthday and Karen gets extremely jealous when they sing "Happy Birthday" to him. I don't know why. Personally, I hate it when people sing "Happy Birthday" to me in public, but then again, I am the antithesis of Karen; I HATE being the center of attention, but she revels in it. The more the spotlight is on her, the better, it's all about Karen, Karen, Karen. She is the Center of her own Universe. After they sing to the boy, Karen announces that it's HER birthday even though it most definitely is not. Question: do we even know Karen's birthday? I know Ann M. Martin gave birthdays to all the BSC members, but what about Karen? If I had to guess, I'd say she's a Leo. Everyone sings to Karen:
I beamed. I loved it. I loved being right in the middle of things, with everyone thinking about me. I didn't care that it wasn't my birthday. It was probably my only chance ever to have about a hundred people sing to me.
Good God, what a fuckin' narcissist! Also, she's still using a bunch of contractions! Does Karen get in trouble for this stunt? Well, yes and no, but it's mostly just no. Watson seems to let Karen get away with murder and it is absolutely infuriating! After everyone sings to her, Watson, in a low voice, tells her never to do that again and scolds her for telling a lie. He tells her he "has half a mind to make [her] wait outside with [him] until breakfast is over." But because it's their last day of vacation, he's not going to. Also, because everyone thinks it's her birthday. Why doesn't Watson just announce that it's not her birthday? If Karen is going to straight out lie about it, why not call her out on it? Why not just stop them before they start singing and explain it's not her birthday? So Watson doesn't punish her because he doesn't want to look like a bad parent punishing his own daughter on her birthday. Okay, fair enough...but why not punish her a different way? How about not letting her go to the big parade with firework they've all been excited to see? THAT would teach her a lesson! Can you tell I really wanted Karen to get some kind of punishment?
There's a subplot where Karen goes on The Haunted Mansion ride and thinks the hologram ghost that she sees sitting between her and Elizabeth at the end of the ride is a real ghost and he's following her around. It's as lame as it sounds. Also, Karen blames the ghost for making her say it's her birthday. Uh-huh.
While the BSC members often spend time apart, Kristy still finds time for all of them to continue having meetings. This is pretty much to discuss their ideas for what to get her mom and Watson and the Pikes for taking them on this trip. They keep suggesting really lame ideas. It isn't until the very last chapter when Claudia gets the grand idea to put together a photo book with all the pictures they took during the trip. Well, duh, that would have been the very first thing I would have mentioned if I were a BSC member on this trip! I mean isn't a photo album of your trip the most obvious thing? We get to see these "photographs" throughout the book, which are just really terrible drawings. At least once we get further into the Super Specials, the black and white drawings look a lot more realistic.
For some reason, I thought we would get to read all the letters they sent to their new friends and the ones they received, but we only see the letter the Kubackis send to Stacey telling her Marc's surgery went well. I think I thought that because in the other Super Specials we get all the handwritten letters and notes at the end. I believe this is the only Super Special where the chapters don't begin with handwritten journals or letters/postcards.
This book definitely made me want to go on a cruise when I first read it (I believe I had already been to Disney World by the time I read this), but going on a cruise now (ESPECIALLY now!) doesn't sound like fun. You just hear horror stories about cruise ships and even though it has all that fun stuff on it, the novelty must wear off fast, right? Actually, I was supposed to go on a cruise to the Bahamas in early 2017. My friend had a friend who would get a discount if they had a group of 15 people and my friend asked me if I wanted to go with him and I said, sure why not. We even booked our rooms and got everything figured out and paid our deposit. But about a couple months before, he told me he wasn't going to go because he couldn't afford it (I honestly don't remember how much it was going to cost, but I guess it was enough that I could afford it) so he decided to back out. Well, I did too because why would I want to go on a cruise with a bunch of people I didn't know? Honestly, I was kind of relieved we ended up not going as I have the feeling I probably wouldn't have that much fun!
