As I hinted before the start of our cruise hit a bit speed bump when I misplaced (LOST) my cell phone on the boat. After dinner on the formal night we went from the dining room, through the casino to the ice skating rink on the ship. Yes the ship is big enough to have an ice skating rink. I was carrying a few things including a dozen cookies for our family to snack on in the middle of the night, as well as Maddie's shoes and my phone. Somehow between those places, I lost my phone and it would be an understatement to say I was a wreck. Although I have my photos backed up, every moment of our life with Noah is documented on my phone (it was really the only thing I used to take pictures of him) and I look at his pictures daily. I was extremely distraught. I know it seems silly but its a crutch to me and a way for me to still feel Noah close.
We searched everywhere for the phone, checked with staff in all the places I had been, reported it missing and after a very thorough walk through many times, we went to our room to wait a phone call that someone had turned in the phone. We went to sleep that night with no such word. I felt so sad, even the kids asked if we should say a prayer that my phone be found. I told them it was nice, but there were more important things to pray about.
Jarrett was wonderful and said he'd order me a new phone so when we got back home I could download my information from the cloud and have my pictures back. I think he knows how much I rely upon them as well. The next morning he took matters into his own investigative hands and communicated regularly with the crew to see if it had been found. That night, after checking in multiple times to no avail, he spoke with someone who said they could have the on-board security team take the case on and conduct an investigation. All areas of the ship are covered in cameras so they could identify what happened by watching the cameras, except we'd have to agree to an in-cabin inspection to make sure it wasn't in our room. I was confident it wasn't so we said sure. We had turned on a message on my phone reporting it lost, tried to track it but to no response and we sent several text messages to it begging the person who had it to turn it in.
The security team came to our room, interviewed Jarrett and me and did an inspection of all of our belongings, including inside our suitcases, in our wallets, in the safe, everywhere. While it felt a bit violating, I knew it wasn't there... and after a while they agreed to. Then they decided to go retrace the steps I took after looking at the camera. They were able to determine I walked into the ice skating rink with the phone. Jarrett and the lead investigator walked through the skating theater and he showed him where we sat and the section but still they were unable to find it. As they were walking out of the theater, the crew member decided to look in a completely different section and, with no explanation how... my phone was found.
Jarrett and he returned to our cabin and shared the good news. I started bawling, hugged the man and told him how much gratitude I felt for what he had helped me recover. It isn't just a phone to me.
That was the very highlight of the trip for that day and after that I never let my phone out of my sight.
The kids continued to have a blast and participated in Adventure Ocean- the kids camp. Here are our photos from the few days at sea. and at St. Thomas..
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| Isabelle on Super Hero night |
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| Grandma, let me see how many teeth you have? |
Isabelle on Pirate night. They had a performance on a stage and sang songs. Isabelle was in her element. She LOVED the camp.
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| We woke up to beautiful blue water. Breathtaking. |
St. Thomas
Madelyn and Daddy getting ready for the day...
Out on our balcony, Madelyn saying she's a fan of the view.
The kids noticed a rainbow reflection on the balcony.
Yep, we think of him all the time.
Madelyn decided she wanted the rainbow reflection to be on her.
She also loved to climb into the suitcases.
And if that reflection wasn't an enough sign that Noah was with us, an actual rainbow appeared. It was a pretty cool story, if you ask me.
We decided to go swimming that afternoon before we left port. Dad and the big kids were in the hot tub (again it was too cold for us to go in the actual pool) but Madelyn and I were in the pool reserved for babies. I was talking with a nice couple and their baby from Canada when it started to sprinkle. I decided it was a good time to get out so I got a towel for Madelyn and walked back over to the loungers where our stuff was. As I was drying Madelyn off, one of the crew members walked up to me, for no reason that I can think of and said, "Madam, there is a rainbow right behind you, thought you would like to see." He then smiled at me and walked away. I turned around and smiled, said "Hi Noah" and wiped away the tears that instantly form in my eyes. I sure miss him so much, Indeed, I felt him on this vacation with us.
Such a beautiful place...
As we left port that afternoon, I happen to glance out our balcony and saw Gabriel standing along the railing staring out. Not saying anything, just watching. I wonder what he was thinking.
Earlier in the day, just before getting off the boat, Dad and I had taken a selfie with almost the same view.
Here we are earlier in the day when we got off.
The kids wanted to go shopping and we walked around the town a bit. Isn't the windmill cool?
Our ship was so big I couldn't even get it all in one picture.
A combo of some of my favorite pictures.
As we were getting off, Gabriel noticed a "pirate" ship coming in an decided he needed to take a selfie with it in the background.
Here it is up close.
We also happened to see these huge lizards sunbathing on the rocks right next to the dock.
Again, Gabriel needed a selfie.
These lizards were not like the desert lizards we see here. No they were 5 even 6 feet long counting their tail, and we were told they were dangerous to keep our distance. So of course, my kiddos tried to see how close they could get... hence the pictures up close.
I wasn't too big of a fan.
Back on the boat, we had to take a few more pictures out on the balcony, the view was just too great. Love the kids' poses.
That Madelyn, she's always so happy.
That night at dinner one of our waiters showed the kids some magic tricks. They were pretty impressive.
Here are the kids and I after dinner. The kids were all matching in their sailor themed outfits, which of course three of the four of them didn't want to wear. To please their mom, they finally agreed.
By this point of the cruise we are enjoying each moment and not so sure we ever want the vacation to end. Stay tuned, our final days... up next.
Until next time,
Angie
