Although I know that you should avoid wishing time away, I am constantly counting down towards something that I am excited about. Despite the supposed negative psychology of wishing time away it keeps me motivated and usually involves one or both of my favourite things: time with loved ones and a holiday!!
This Christmas I will be meeting up with my family in Miami to spend our Christmas and New Year cruising around the Caribbean! Although the Francis’ rarely need an excuse to go on holiday, it is my dad’s 50th birthday on December 6, and so we wanted to do something to celebrate the milestone together in a ‘neutral’ place (my parents and sister live in Canada, my aunts are back in the UK and I am here). My sister was also 21 this year and I am 30 (blurgh) on New Years Day so we committed to a big celebration.
I have never been on a cruise before, however, my parents have attempted!! It is my firm belief that they must have been wicked people in former lives which has resulted in the Francis family becoming ‘cruise cursed’.
Cruise #1
My parents had planned to go on their first cruise with my dads’ childhood best friend and his wife. At the time my dad was still a professional footballer and he was incredibly unlucky to rupture his Achilles which resulted in them having to cancel the cruise.
- On a side note, my dad managed to rupture his other Achilles prior to a trip that they had planned to New York to celebrate my mums 30th birthday.
- On another holiday injury tangent during a family vacay to Florida we went to Downtown Disney on the day that we arrived in Orlando. My dad was so excited to be there that he ran through one of those fountains where the water spurts from the ground. He slipped and fell which resulted in his breaking his 5th metatarsal in his foot that would later require surgery where he would have bone taken from his thigh and used as a graft as it wouldn’t heal properly.
- On the same holiday my dad and his best friend were obsessed with a dent that they discovered in the floor of our condo. In Laurel and Hardy fashion dad and Dave (the bestie) discovered that it was because of a fire extinguisher which wouldn’t fix to the wall properly. Dave then dropped then proceeded to drop said fire extinguisher on dad’s foot and break a bone on the top of his same foot!
Cruise #2
Mum and dad had booked and cruise and stay in Orlando. Having spent a week in Orlando they then drove down to Miami to prepare to take their cruise. The day after they arrived my mum had a ‘bad feeling’ - I remember her calling my nans to check in on me and my sister. Later that day on the news we saw that there had been an explosion in the engine room of their intended cruise ship which resulted in them being shipwrecked.
Cruise #3
My parents flew to New Orleans on another holiday and spent one night there before actually getting onto the ship! They cruised for a week around the Gulf of Mexico and had an amazing time. The night before they were due to dock dad felt the ship stop and go backwards. The next morning the Captain gathered all the passengers on the deck and announced that a freight liner had overturned in the mouth of the Mississippi, which meant that cruise ships could not get through. Fortunately, their ship had hulls that could drop to the side so they went through the freight terminal down the canal, however, they did end up missing their flight home before this solution could be found.
Cruise #4
The 2017 Francis family Christmas cruise extravaganza is just around the corner and already the trip is showing signs of the old cruise curse. Two severe hurricanes have so far hit the Caribbean this year which has meant that many of the small islands that we were meant to be docking at have been removed from the trip itinerary. I also discovered last week, much to my dismay/rage/devastation (you pick which emotion suits you, there were many more experienced and all at once) that my return flight from Miami had been booked for December 3 (prior to my actual departure for Christmas) and a whole month wrong. ☹☹☹
I heard that bad things come in threes and it is my opinion that we have more that fulfilled our adversity requirements. Perhaps the upside is that the previous cruises have been times where my parents have been trying to take adult holidays without my sister and I and so karma took its due course…. Keep everything crossed for us. PLEASE I’m serious!!!
Frank x
Instagram/Twitter: @StcyJyneFrancis
