by Jesse D'Hulster from Tillsonburg, ON
In the spring of 2003, I was proud to go on my first cruise. I went on this vacation with my aunt. It was to be a short three day cruise. I thought of it as an "intro" to cruising. Anyway, we boarded a nice clean ship, and anticipated sailing. When we walked to our stateroom we were surprised to find out that our beds were together. No big deal, an honest mistake and easily solved…we asked them to split the beds.
After our first few hours of sailing it was dinner-time. Dinners on cruises are fun, because you never know who you might be sitting with. We looked for our assigned table. When we got there, we were the first ones. A few minutes later, we welcomed a young couple from the United States. They were on their honeymoon. We congratulated them and ordered our food. It was a pretty silent meal, since newlyweds, and "Tweens" don't have much in common. I noticed that there were still two seats empty. About halfway through the meal another couple sat down. They too had been married the previous day. And once again, we did not have too much in common. So after dinner, my aunt and I decided we would go to the front desk, and have our table changed.
As we walked to the front desk it seemed to us that everyone on board was a young, affectionate couple. And that’s when we realized it: the beds put together, sitting with newlyweds. The cruise company thought I was married to my aunt! I may have only been twelve at the time, but as far as the cruise was concerned I was on my honeymoon. My aunt and I can laugh at it now, but when we first found out about it, it sure wasn't funny.