Since the latest cruise ship disaster, where the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia sank into the Mediterranean Sea leaving about 11 dead so far and about 2 dozen plus still missing. I am seriously reconsidering my decision to take a cruise. You may probably say that I’m a coward but I have always been afraid of cruise ships. Being enclosed and surrounded by nothing but water, petrified me. It took me a long time to get to this point of even considering one. Maybe the fact that I cannot swim or maybe it was my own Titanic-like story that is always in the back of my mind whenever I think about cruising.
Around the age of 8 my mom, my sister and I were traveling to my Great Aunt’s funeral. A part of our journey took us over the Demerara River( a major river in Guyana). To get over this river we had to take a ferry. About half way through our water ride the ferry made a loud frightening noise and tilted on its side. Everyone on the ferry started to scream and panicked gripped everyone on board. People were running to the side of the ferry that was higher, some were on the floor and others were grabbing for life jackets. My mom managed to get two life jackets, she quickly put one on sister who was 1 years old at the time. Then she turned to me and put the second one me. I didn’t speak but my eyes asked the question “what about you, what will happen to you?” My mom looked at me and said very calmly, “I will be alright, don’t worry everything will be fine” I remember thinking at that moment that I will survive and my mom will die for me.
My mom grabbed onto a rail above her head with one hand and my sister in another. I held her around her waist. We stood there hearts beating, my little sister totally oblivious to what was really happening but with a blank stare. I looked around at the other passengers whose frightful stares met mine and I wondered when it will all come to an end. I do not think I can begin to explain the fear I felt, the fact that neither I nor my mother could swim raced to the front of my mind. The possibility of me surviving and my brothers, sister and I growing up without our mother left me shaking in my tiny black booties. “Dear God, please save us all” I prayed. Suddenly the rumbling that was coming from the ferry stopped and it became a bit leveled. The Ferry made it to the other side of the shore still a little tilted and we got out. My mom hugged my sister and I as tight as she possibly could and kept whispering, “thank you Lord.” I believed it was God who saved us. He had answered my prayers. No one died because of this incident and this ferry can in no way be compared to the great Titanic or any other enormous cruise ship out there, but I assure you my fears were justified.
Since then I developed a phobia of being a ferry, boat or ship.
Wrecked cruise ship off the Italian island coast
Here is a little joke!
Over the weekend Josiah and I watched the “Titanic” about three times in a row. Last night Josiah caught a glimpse of the Sunday’s newspaper above, picked it up and came over to me and asked, “mom, where is Jack? I can’t find him anywhere.” That’s not the Titanic honey,” I said. “This is a different ship, Jack and Rose is not on this ship.” He looked at the paper again and began shouting, ” Jack! Rose! Jack!” Then he said, “there he is, mom I found him.” When I looked over, he was pointing at an insert below of a man. I was dying with laughter 
Kids say the darndest things!
