Notice: This fanfic is a work of fiction. Any references to real people, organizations, or events are unrelated. In addition, this fanfic contains anthropomorphic characters, adult language, and intense description of prolonged disaster and peril. All characters' names are purely coincidental. Do not read this aloud to underage children and is intended for mature audiences or readers. I'm not responsible for your reactions while reading this fanfic. If you're planning on going on a cruise? Please, do not read this before going!
Chapter 1: Welcome Aboard
December 28th, 2020. It's a sunny day in Long Beach, California. A great day to go out to the beach and to enjoy the warm winter sun. The New Year's Eve is coming up soon and tourist are spending the holidays on what Long Beach's sites of interest offers. A minivan taxi left from LAX Airport had just passed every of Long Beach's personal landmarks. It's driving its way through the freeway road to the Long Beach Cruise Terminal where a cruise ship is waiting for them. As it drives through, the taxi driver informs his four passengers—all four wearing Hawaiian shirts of different colors and wearing shorts. "We're almost there Mr. and Mrs. Rycroft. The cruise terminal is just ahead."
"Great." Said the deep voice behind the taxi driver. The tiger-man in a red Hawaiian shirt looks upon his proud family. "Everyone's feeling excited? Carolyn?" Next to his seat a tiger-woman in a pink Hawaiian shirt, holds her husband's hand.
"Yes, Sylvester, we're all excited." She smiles and kisses her husband's cheek.
Sylvester and Carolyn look further behind and see their two young children. One tiger-boy in a green Hawaiian shirt and jet-black messy hair all over his head, he's looking through the window of the early afternoon view. Next to him, a tiger-girl with long dark brown hair done with a ponytail and wearing a cyan shirt, she's holding her cellphone, tapping with her thumbs.
"Jett? Stephanie? How you kids feeling?" Sylvester Rycroft said. The two siblings turned their heads up to their parents and replied.
"Just fine, Dad." 17-year-old Stephanie said with a smile.
"Jett?" Rycroft turns to his 18-year-old son.
His tired eyes stares at his father, he yawns before replying. "Well, after a long flight from Miami and dealing with so many turbulence… I think this is gonna be worth it." He slightly grinned. He knew this was going to be a great vacation for his family. His father laughed.
The yellow vehicle arrives the Long Beach Cruise Terminal, it was a large white dome structure that was visible from a distance. While getting closer, two ships appeared into view. Stephanie turns her left and sees through her brother's left side window and take a glimpse on one of the ships in port. "Uh, Dad? Is that our ship we're going?" Stephanie said, she was kind of puzzled. "It looks kinda old fashioned."
"Hm, that ship doesn't look nothing like the one in the brochure." Carolyn said while looking through the window.
"What do you mean?" Rycroft looks at it. This ship has a black hull. She had an impressive forward superstructure all in white with many curves. And on top of it, she has three funnels, painted in black and red. Rycroft had seen this ship before in pictures while planning their vacation. He quickly realized that's not their ship. "That's not the Poseidon."
"That's the Queen Mary, Mr. Rycroft." The human taxi driver said. "She's only now a floating hotel since 1971. She's now a common sight of Long Beach." He said, based on his knowledge. "Don't worry, your ship is right in front of us."
Rycroft turns back to his front view and behind the giant white dome terminal, there's a large ship bigger than the Queen Mary. She looked like a spaceship with those two funnels in a shape of a 747's vertical tail fin. The giant white dome building was in the way, so they didn't get a good glimpse of the ship. They have arrived at the terminal entrance, and unloaded their luggage from the taxi. Rycroft paid the fair and the family entered inside the terminal to check in.
"Ugh, we're right back from the beginning in Miami Airport." Stephanie said as she looks inside the terminal. "A huge crowd of long lines and other lazy annoying security checks." And complained.
"We're almost there, Steph." Jett said and yawns.
Their cruise liner, technically an ocean liner, that the Rycrofts are boarding is the MS Poseidon, a 165,000-gross-ton luxury ocean liner of the prestigious shipping company; Royal Trident Lines. She's now preparing her 16-night cruise to the beautiful Aloha State. Poseidon was used to sail transatlantic crossings between New York and Southampton in the North Atlantic, but she was replaced by her twin sister ship the MS Triton. So Poseidon was placed to sail transpacific crossings between Yokohama and San Francisco or Seattle in the summers and cruises in the winter such as: Mexican Riviera, South America, Asia, Australia and other special around the world cruises.
Onboard the Hotel Queen Mary, a young Hispanic human is checking out before checking in to the other ship docked in port. Looking smartly dressed in an orange button shirt and khakis.
"Thank you for staying on board the Queen Mary, Mr. Marrero. And have a nice day." Said the dog-woman behind the reception desk.
"Thank you." Replied the Hispanic human. He picked up his suitcase and exited from the gangway. No need for any use of transportation, just walking will be enough to get there. While on his way, the 27-year-old traveler hears his phone ringing, he picks it up from his pocket, looks at the image of who is calling and he smiles.
"Hey, Tiago, what's up?" He said in Spanish.
"Hey, Rico, how's it going? Are you already onboard?" It's his 16-year-old cousin from Puerto Rico.
"Yeah, I'm just about to board. What are you, curious?"
"Yeah, just curious to know."
"I wished you could've come, but sadly, you have to spend your New Year's Eve and Día de los Reyes with a broken leg." Rico said.
"That's okay, Rico. You can send us some pictures while online. I bet you find a nice girl while onboard." Tiago said.
"Oh, please." Rico blushes when he said that. Then he bumped into something, looses his foot and falls. "Aargh!" The sound of luggage crashing into another luggage, Ricardo "Rico" Marrero was all over the floor.
"Ay coño..." He grunted.
"Are you alright, young man?" A dark tanned dog-man said and lend him a hand.
"Sorry, I wasn't looking while I was talking on the phone. Did I broke anything?" He said in English as he stands up.
"No, everything's fine." The shepherd dog-man said. "Just don't leave your cellphone behind." He points to the floor where a black rectangular and flat object with a half eaten apple logo in it.
"Oh, thanks. Sorry about that, sir." Rico said.
"It's all right."
The Puerto Rican takes his luggage and picks his phone and continues talking his cousin and enters the terminal.
"That guy is clumsier that I am, Dad." A very young voice said next to the older dog-man.
"Sasha, please, accident happens." Joshua Parkinson said to his 10-year-old son. "Come on, let's get going."
"Are we gonna see Mom in Hawaii?" Sasha said.
"Yes, she's on a business trip in Honolulu and our ship is gonna take us there." Parkinson smiles and ruffles his son's dark-brown hair between his two pointed ears. This makes Sasha's tail wags a lot. He's really excited.
Inside the terminal, there was a lot of people either human of different races or anthropomorphic of different species (beast-men being commonly referred). There was a huge mix of chattering everywhere around. The Rycrofts are waiting in line like the rest of everyone else in here.
"You got all of our passports and boarding passes, right, Sylvester?" Carolyn said to her husband.
"Yes, right here, Carolyn." Sylvester said and shows all four US passports of each tiger member.
"Very well, then." She said and relaxes, and adjust her sun hat.
"Jett, are you feeling well?" Stephanie asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired." He then yawns wide open, showing his four sharp fangs. They took an early non-stop flight for five long hours and Jett is now completely "Jett lagged". Yes, pun intended.
"Don't worry, Jett, you'll get some sleep when we get onboard." Stephanie said. She's always so caring to her older brother.
"Can't wait…" Jett yawns again and stretches his black-striped arms.
After waiting in line and it's their turn to check in and hand over the boarding passes and passports at the reception desk. They gave away their luggages where they will soon find it in their cabins once the ship set sails.
Ahead from the Rycrofts, a group of three lions are walking through the long gangway, exiting from the dome terminal, they got a wide view of both sides of the gangway of the 1,250 ft long ship. "So, this is the Poseidon? What a ship." Said the young and handsome Russell Westwood, but everyone calls him Red by his impressive red mane which is near developed, but still had his spiky hair he had since a teenager. He's traveling along with his girlfriend, Gwen Kershaw, and her father Lionel Kershaw.
"This is only the beginning of our trip, Red." Gwen said and holds her hand with Red's. "Come on, Dad, don't get behind." She said to her father.
"Right behind you, darling." He replied to his daughter, he's quite mild mannered. He had a full grown brown mane than Russell's and he's more taller as an adult is. Like most passengers who are boarding, they are wearing Hawaiian shirts. He's wearing the biggest he could find at the store. Not that he's fat, he's bulky and strong as a former fireman.
Back in the midst of the crowd of the up coming 2,700 passengers in the terminal. A group of college students from Newport, Rhode Island arrived with their luggages. This isn't some kind of trip planned by the academy program, but the students themselves. Spencer Stevens proposed his fellow classmates or roommates to spend the New Year's Eve in warm weather. The bear-man's father has relations with the cruise line to afford a lower stateroom category.
"I don't think this wasn't what we had in mind, Spencer." Said the human girl, Christine McCarty.
"I thought Dad booked us into a conjoined balcony cabin." Said Spencer after reading the boarding pass. "He booked us into an inside cabin."
"I guess your father didn't want you, nor us, to overspend the trip." Said the beagle dog-girl, Pricilla Forrest.
"What's a 'inside cabin'?" Said the lynx-man, Royce Wakeman.
"They're cabins without a window, Royce." Said the young human, Isaac Coates.
"Are you saying that there's no view out the open?" Said the cheetah-girl, Megan Swift. "Ugh, no fair!"
"Sorry, guys, that's all I can do." Said the bear-man. "Let's get onboard."
"Pricilla, where is your cousin?" Megan asked.
"Right here!" Younger than the rest of them, 16-year-old Clover Forrest, a beagle dog-girl, carries her own suitcase with a glaring look at her close relative. "I can't believe you leaved me alone with the cab driver."
"Sorry, cuz, but we have to check in." Pricilla claimed her excuse. Clover growled under her breath.
Rico Marrero just checked-in and climbed the automatic stairs and made it to the exit gangway that leads to the ship, and ignores or didn't noticed the photographer nor the women dressed in native traditional clothing, holding colorful flower necklaces for the passengers. "Te hablo después, ya estoy abordando." Rico hung up the phone and continue on, until he got another call.
"Hey, sir! Don't you want a…" The photographer saw the Puerto Rican moving, he's still holding the phone and speaking Spanish, and heads directly to the ship. Not sure if he was in a mood but he let him go, and is not mandatory though. The beautiful Hawaiian girls gave the Rycrofts Hawaiian necklace leis flowers on their necks. The first taste that they're already in Hawaii. The photographer saw the four tigers and they stepped behind the small railing with a life ring with the capital letters, POSEIDON, around the white circle and the center shows the cruise line's signature trident logo. "Smile to the camera!" A flash followed. The tiger family together smiles for their first day of the cruise photo. They will get the photos at the ship's gallery or photo shop. Then came the two dog shepherds, Joshua and Sasha next.
"Come here, boy. Smile to the camera!" Joshua said and picks Sasha up, the short-length railing was in Saha's way, he's kind of short than his age really is. Joshua is still strong enough to lift his son. After the flash, the two walk through the gangway. Sasha gets a sight of the huge ocean liner. Her hull painted in a dark gray color scheme while the rest of her upper superstructure is white. Her two tall funnels are painted plainly in black and white, each one shares the same blue trident logo.
"This ship is huge!" Cried Sasha.
"You haven't seen enough, yet." His father said.
When they reached the entrance of deck 3, a well dressed bellboy stands by and welcomes them. "Welcome aboard the Poseidon." The man said.
The first thing that passengers see when boarding is the ship's art décor-style, ten-story-high atrium, it's an incredible sight. Shining down the tall place is an inside dome with LED lights simulating the sky with clouds. Elegant twin staircases coming down to the first floor, but the most eye-catching is a 30 foot tall statue of the ship's namesake, standing proudly and holding up his trident. On the aft side of the lobby, between the two glass elevators, there's an opening that leads to a long center line promenade which is two decks high with many amenities: tax-free shops, variety of restaurants and bars and more, it's a huge mall-like place. For a more lovely touch of welcoming, a string quartet band plays near by the statue.
"Let's find our cabin, Sasha." Said his father. "Then, we can have a tour around the ship."
"Okay!" Sasha cheerfully replied.
The Rycrofts took the glass elevator as it lifts upwards, the tiger family wows when they view the atrium from deck 2 to their respective floor, deck 10. Then, they walk through an endless hallway with doors on both sides.
"A big ship like this one you're gonna get lost by just one step." Sylvester said.
"Oh, that's ridiculous, Sylvester." Carolyn said.
Jett then yawned. "I would kill for a coffee right now."
"You could've slept during the flight." His father recommend.
"How?! There was a turbulence, a crying baby and they ran out of coffee!" Jett crankily said.
"Jett, calm down!" His mother said. "You'll get some sleep when we get to our stateroom."
"Here we are." Sylvester said and he inserts his keycard through the flat keyhole, following a beep and a little green light, the door opens and revealing a comfortable royal family suite stateroom with a king-size bed for two people and another room for two people with separated beds. The four tigers steps inside the lovely room of their sojourn.
"Well, I didn't see this coming." Stephanie said and drops her pink backpack. "You booked us a royal suite?"
Her father chuckles. "I told you I was going to surprised you all."
"Oh, look it that." Carolyn said and she picks a note from a basket filled with fruits and a sparkling champagne placed on a table. "Our travel agent sent us a gift-basket. That's so nice. Let's sent her an email."
"Well, that's great—where's the bed?" Jett said abruptly and goes through the door that leads to the other cabin, Stephanie follows him and Jett throws his gray backpack on the bed (confirming his sleeping territory), takes off his tennis shoes and leaps on the bed, resting flat on his back and begins to snore, Stephanie sighed of looking at his brother's complicated demeanor of sleeping.
"Mom, Dad." Stephanie called out. "Jett is asleep."
"Leave him be, Stephanie." Her father said.
"So, where are the suitcases?" Stephanie came back to the small living room.
"They haven't brought it, yet." Carolyn said.
"Everything all right in your cabin?" A steward said, he walked by and noticed the door opened and thought he should check, he's a red fox-man wearing his uniform.
"Yes, but our luggages isn't here." Carolyn said.
"No worries, I'm sure your luggages will be here soon." The fox-man said with a smile. "If there's anything you need? Please, don't hesitate to ask. I'm steward Kameron Foxley. And you all must be the Rycrofts, is a pleasure to meet you all."
"Nice to meet you, Foxley." Said Sylvester. "Everything's fine now we can handle from here."
"Alright, but let me let you know that the muster drill will be this afternoon. Have a great getaway." The fox-man said and leaves the room.
"Thank you." The husband and wife said in unison.
"Oh, wow! We got view over here!" Stephanie slides the glass door and takes a look at the balcony. The stateroom is facing the starboard side of the ship, and the temporal sight is the port terminal and the permanently docked Queen Mary.
Two decks down on deck 8. A simple balcony stateroom's door opens, a wolf-man and a blonde-haired human walks in and place their backpacks in the beds and looks around their booked room. Is simply decorated in modern style along with the art décor.
"Nice." Said the gray wolf-man and takes off the Hawaiian flowers.
"Ryder, I ever thought you'd do all this trouble." Said the wolf-man's significant other.
"Don't worry about it, Kale, is already done. So enjoy our vacation." Said Ryder Wolfson and rests on the bed with his hands behind his head and relaxes.
"Oh, alright." Sighed Kale Summers and walks to the balcony, slides the door and… "Uh… Ryder?"
"Yeah?" He turns his head to his right.
"Remember when you said that we were gonna have a nice view out the ocean?"
"Uh-huh."
"There's a lifeboat in the way." He flatly stated.
"What?" Ryder stands up and walks to Kale at the balcony, and sees an orange boat blocking their view. There's not even a peak to see the ocean. "Ooh… No wonder the cabin was on a cheap price." Ryder realized.
Kale laughs. "Don't worry, we're not the only ones with a blocked view."
On the same deck, there's a row of orange lifeboats blocking every balcony cabin their way. Some passengers already knew that they have booked a cheaper stateroom with an obstructed view. While others, like Ryder, they didn't know that their cabin is obstructed. These lifeboats belongs to deck 7; the promenade deck. The boats are each supported by a pair of cranes, also known as davits. The davits extends from the side of the ship and lower the boat away when an unlikely event happens. The boats are placed 82ft above the waterline. The maritime law is by 49ft, but because Poseidon is a purpose-built ocean liner, the naval architects convinced the maritime safety officials to give a high exception to protect from harmful weather conditions when the ship is at sea.
The cruise director, Joyce Blake, is expecting the up coming honeymoon season onboard the Poseidon. There will be 30 newly-weds couples onboard for their dream honeymoon cruise. The light tanned rabbit-woman is prepared for the challenge based on her previous experiences. Her job is serious, she takes care of scheduling entertainments, and the officer in charge of entertainment staff, some public announcements, and importantly: supervising safety drills for both passenger and crew. She walks to the lobby at the reception desk and picks the public announcement phone. It first follows a deep but softly 'Ding-Dong' so passengers and crew knows there's going to be a public announcement. Ms. Blake speaks, her sweet toned voice echoes around the ship.
"Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys. Welcome the first day of the cruise aboard the Poseidon. This is your cruise director, Joyce Blake. In a matter of two hours the muster drill will be this afternoon, but before all that, enjoy the ship's buffet and the available bars. All pools are in maintenance and it won't be in use until tomorrow. And I will repeat: the muster drill will be this afternoon before departure. Thank you." She hangs up. When she finished, she sees Sidney Jennings, an Afro-American steward, and walking along with him is an unfamiliar face.
"Ms. Blake! There you are!" He waves and shouts.
"Mr. Jennings, where have you been?"
"Good question." Jennings said. "Remember you were short on dancers?"
"Yes…?" She looks at the girl next to Jennings. "And let me guest, you got me one."
"Yeah, this is my friend, Lani Kawena." He introduced. "Lani, this is Joyce Blake, the cruise director."
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Blake." The Hawaiian girl said.
Joyce looks at her and she's only caring a backpack. More like light travel. "So, you dance?" She said.
"Yes, I have taken hula lessons when I was a teenager back in Honolulu." Lani said.
"I see…" Joyce said.
"Ms. Blake, in private?" Sidney said.
"Of course." Lani leave the two alone and sits on a seat at the lobby.
"Why do you brought her here?" Joyce said.
"You said you were short on Hawaiian dancers, right? So, I knew a friend who had some lessons."
"And your other reason?" She raises an eyebrow.
Sidney sighed. "She just wants to go back to Honolulu, she couldn't afford a plane ticket. That's all."
"And you're doing this for a friend, right?" Sidney nods. "Oh, alright. Miss Kawena?" She calls.
"Yes?" She stands up from her seat.
"Come with me so we could make some arrangements. In other worlds, you're hired."
"Oh! Thank you!" Lani cried happily.
While passengers are searching their staterooms by walking these endless hallways. Two newly-weds couples who are among the 30 expecting honeymooners, found their respective cabin they have booked.
"Here we are, Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell, the Trident Suite." Said Foxley the steward. Leading the cat couple and opens the door. The two stepped in, their stateroom is actually a loft suite. The balcony is facing aft overlooking the back of the ship with a view of one of the ship's 5 pools. Their bedroom and bathroom is on the second level with a staircase. The first level occupies just the living room, dining table, and the small kitchen.
"How lovely." Said the gray furred cat-woman, Zoey Maxwell. "And me saying it was small."
"Don't underestimate the pictures to fool you." Said her husband, Killian Maxwell. "Thank you for helping, Mr. Foxley." The black-and-white cat-man thanked the fox-man.
"Is a pleasure. And now if you all excuse me, I'll let you both settle and enjoy your honeymoon." Foxley said and leave the newlyweds and closes the door.
An exciting scream from Zoey followed and runs to her husband and embraces him. Killian was expecting this from his wife. "Oh, Killian, I can't believe we're really here!" Zoey cried.
"Well, believe it. Because we're away from our in-laws and we're by ourselves with no interruptions, baby!" Killian said.
Hawaii is one of the most popular destinations for honeymoon seekers. The islands are known for its white sand beaches and its traditional luau celebrations. Its active volcanoes. Their friendly native people. Its origin of surfing and its famous large waves. And what was once known as a kingdom of monarchy which was took away by the US as what had become known today as the State of Hawaii.
Up on the bridge on deck 12, there's very little to do until the drill and departure. Some of the officers are checking the weather forecast before crossing the ocean. The polar bear officer, the raccoon officer and the husky dog-man officer are discussing the ship's course.
"There's nothing to worry about," said the polar bear, First Officer Snowdon. "We'll have a clear, calmed seas this crossing."
"Let's just hope," said Second Officer Greyson, the raccoon-man, "'cause there's a storm in the South Pacific."
"Humph, like its going to reach us. Greyson, just focus on our planned course in the Mid-Pacific." Said the black-and-white husky, Chief Officer Nadir.
"Captain on the bridge!" Third Officer Holmes said when an albatross bird-man came to the bridge. The crew member with the highest rank walks by and greets his men. All in uniform.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen." Said Captain Sterling Whiteford, with a British accent. He's holding a cup of tea with small plate under it.
"Good afternoon, Captain." Said a few officers near him.
"Now then, in about an hour, we're going to start the muster drill for our new passengers before we can start our departure at 4:30 PM. I want all of you be prepared without a hitch."
"Yes, sir." Second Officer Grayson said.
"Aye, sir." First officer Snowdon said.
"So, how's the weather in the Pacific?" Captain said.
"It's clear and calm for our course, sir." Chief Officer Nadir said.
"Good…" Captain Whiteford gladly said.
The British skipper, who had relieved the previous captain of Poseidon. Whiteford used to command Poseidon's twin sister ship Triton a few months back. Royal Trident Lines' officials made some adjustments after introducing a new cruise ship, the Aphrodite, which they wanted Poseidon's previous captain and to be replaced by Captain Whiteford. Of course he's familiar with the Poseidon since her workings are the same as her sister ship. And also familiar with some of the crew like Oscar Snowdon (the polar bear) and Ryan Greyson (the raccoon) from working with them on different ships under the Royal Trident Lines' service. As far as he knows they got a quite of a rivalry which Chief Officer Nadir agreed they've known each other for a long time since maritime academy.
Poseidon, named after the god of the seas of Greek mythology, she was launched in 2014. She and her sister ship share the title of the largest ocean liners in the world. With the finest technologies available, she's the safest ship up to date and built to stand the roughest weather conditions of the world's oceans. She's equipped with four state-of-the-art azimuth thrusters under her stern. The two at the front are fixed and only provide propulsion while the other two at the back can rotate three-hundred-and-sixty degrees and helps to maneuver the ship. Four needed stabilizers; are fins that extends from the hull below the waterline to keep the ship from rolling side to side. Four hollowed holes behind the bulbous bow are the bow thrusters, inside on each hollowed cylinders are one propeller pod. With the help with the aft propellers and the bow thrusters, the ship can perform a good three-hundred-and-sixty degrees spin on either port or starboard. She's powered by four diesel engines, with two additional gas turbines used when extra power is needed; this give the ship to produce power and as well as powering the ship's hotel services. With all that power, Poseidon can cruise with a maximum speed of 33-knots, but since she's on a pleasure voyage her speed is much relaxed with her normal service speed of 26-knots.
"And one more thing, Mr. Nadir." Captain Whiteford said to Chief Officer. "Just because we're only sailing to Hawaii, we're also be docking in Ensenada as our last call."
"Aye-aye, sir." Chief Officer Nadir replied.
Poseidon is flying the British flag, a foreigner ship for the United States, the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 does not allow a foreign-flagged ship to transport between U.S. ports. To satisfy the law they must visit a foreigner port, for this case, they will be visiting Ensenada, Mexico – the last port of call of the 16-night itinerary before coming back to Long Beach. If not following the law, the fine is $300 USD per passenger. Her port of registry is Hamilton, however, she used to be registered for Southampton. The company changed it so they can provide and host weddings onboard. But this voyage there are no weddings events being held, but there might be some surprising marriage proposals while onboard.
The Kershaws and Westwood are settling in their Master Suite stateroom on deck 12, facing the port side. Since they're three of them, Lionel is sleeping the master room and Gwen and Russell together in the other part of the room.
"Everything fine in your room, Dad?" Gwen said to her father.
"Yes, just fine, only bigger." The bed he's sleeping is bigger than where Gwen and Red are sleeping. "How's your bedroom?"
"Same as this one, but smaller." The lioness said. "Hey, I really appreciate this trip for us, I doubted at first that you'll invite Red over, but thank you."
"Well, he's your boyfriend, after all. I'd feel bad if I didn't invite him over."
"Well, I'm glad you did, 'cause this trip is going to be very special for us." Gwen smiled.
"Hey, Gwen, can you help me over here?" Red called out.
"Coming!" She replied. The young lioness walks up to the following door of the Master Suite to where Red is. He puts away his large dark-green suitcase under the bed. Just as he sees Gwen entering in. "What is it, Red?" When they started dating, Gwen wasn't used to calling him as Red and formally called him by his first name. However, time went by and felt comfortable with it.
"You know, I'm pretty surprised when you told me we're going on this cruise after..." Red closes the door quietly for privacy. "...after I proposed you." And whispered.
"I wasn't expecting this too, you know." Gwen said. "Dad, was planning this trip without telling me."
"Oh, it wasn't you then." Red said. "So, you said you'll do the talking, right?"
"Uh-huh, so, uh, did you say this to your parents?"
"They're taking it excitedly." Red chuckles. "Mom and Dad thought we escalated quickly when I told them I'm going on a cruise with you without the wedding and skipping to the honeymoon!" The two engaged couples laughs.
Several decks down on deck 9, Sasha Parkinson explores the penthouse suite stateroom. A cabin suite for four people. These cabins are located between deck 9, and 10. Soon Mrs Parkinson will join up with her husband and son for the cruise until the ship docks in Hilo. The little dark-tanned dog-boy couldn't stop staring the view from the balcony, facing port side, and hoping to see their ship leaving port. "When we will be leaving, Dad?" He turn his head to his father who is settling their belongings in the drawers.
"Soon, Sasha. Soon." Said his father as he closes one drawer. "But first, we must wait for the muster station before we can do anything."
"Why we have to do that first?"
"Is mandatory, son. Let's just stay here for now, okay?"
"Fine." He groaned and lies on the couch. So much for excitement while boarding the ship, and now his father changes their plans. He sometimes doesn't get his father's ways of organizing the activities than his mother does. Sasha fetches his iPod player from his pocket, puts the earbuds on and hears his favorite pop music. While listening, he looks at the coffee table in front of him and sees a folded up card with the trident logo, picks it up and unfolds it. The card shows a silhouetted shape of the ship with blue-and-white stripes, and the deck plans. The liner has 14 passenger decks accessible. Curious, he wonder if he can find their stateroom they are in. While looking, his father picks his cellphone and answers... Is his wife.
"Claire, how you doing?… Yes, we just boarded and Sasha is really excited… What's wrong?..." A long explanation from his wife followed, one solid detail was enough to surprise a grown married man. "W-what!" He cried but abruptly covers his mouth and dark-brown muzzle. He looks at Sasha to his right, listening music and reading the ship's map. "Really?... That's wonderful!... Should I… No?... Okay… Uh-huh… well… I love you too and Happy New Year..." He hangs up.
Sasha noticed his father's tail waging like crazy. Why he's excited about? This is the first time he sees his father's tail moving like that. Is he excited about the cruise? How should he know?
The lower decks of the international crew works tirelessly to keep the ship running at tip-top. After the arrangement, Jennings takes the new dancer member to her room where she will stay in, she'll be sharing with other dancers.
"Here we go, Lani. This is where you're staying." Sidney said.
"Thank you so much, Sid. I don't know what I will do without you." Lani smiles.
"No problem. Maybe next time, don't overdo your money while traveling."
"Don't worry, I learned my lesson."
"Did you called your family that you're on your way?"
"Yes, I even told them I'm traveling for work." She stated.
"Alright, just to be sure. Uh, the girls will show you the ropes. I'm sure you'll do fine." He gestures the three occupants in the small cabin for four.
"Thanks again!" Lani waves to Sidney as he leaves.
The public announcement jingles and a male voice with a British accent speaks to the passengers. "Attention all passengers. This is Officer Kennedy speaking. Please listen carefully for the following instructions. It's important to listen this entire announcement. At the end of this announcement. You will hear the general alarm which is seven short blast and followed by one long blast and then you will proceed to your assembly stations. Your assembly station number can be found in your stateroom keycard. It is also located on your lifejacket and the safety information card behind your stateroom door. Please bring your stateroom keycard with you. The assembly stations are on the promenade deck on deck seven. Signs will guide you to the assembly stations, in addition, crew members acting as stairway guides are located in all staircases just to help direct you. Do not use the elevators. During a real emergency, the elevators may not be in service. If you require special assistance to your assembly station? Please tell either a stairway guide at the stairway landing or a member of our assistance team, and they will help you. Lifejackets are not required to be worn at this drill. Smoking, eating, drinking, using cellphones or other electronic and entertainment devices is prohibited during the drill. Please, do not bring beverages or food or any kind to your assembly station. Thank you for your attention and cooperation and please stand by for the ship's emergency general alarm."
BEEP!
BEEP!
BEEP!
BEEP!
BEEP!
BEEP!
BEEP!
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
"Stephanie, can you wake up Jett?" Her father gave her a favor.
"Okay." Stephanie walks to where her brother is taking a nap. "Jett, wake up!" Stephanie cried.
"Not now... five more minutes." He mumbles. She sighs, she grabs his tail and gave him a pull, he wakes up with pain. "Yow!"
"Wake up! Nap time's over!"
"What is wrong with you?" Jett in pain and rubs his behind.
"Let's go, they want us on deck." She said. The four tigers left their stateroom.
On deck 4, the college students just left from their cabin to their assembly station. They don't seem to be pleased about it after a stewardess insist them with care to assist the drill immediately. "Why is this mandatory?" Said Priscilla.
"If we don't assist it, they would kick us out." Said Clover.
"Why that sassy stewardess was threatening us?" Said Royce.
"She wasn't threatening us." Said Clover. "She was just informing us."
"Pretty much the same, though, it would be shameful and wasteful if they kicks us out." Said Megan Swift.
"Same here…" Said Christine. "We could've been in real trouble."
"Safety first and vacation second." Said Spencer.
"Whatever, we're only doing this once, and then we're back at our vacation!" Said Isaac.
In less than thirty minutes, passengers gathered the promenade deck to their assembly stations on deck 7. A few awkwardly passengers worn a lifejacket, which wasn't necessary for this drill. It was kind of crowded for the guest, but they must wait for instructions from the crew. Joyce Blake the cruise director was asked by a first-timer passenger about a possible man overboard volunteers. There's no such things as stupid questions, though. But Joyce simply replied with a corrective answer.
Just finally, Captain Whiteford's voice echoes throughout the ship. He gave a short speech to his new passengers and a short instruction of how to wear a lifejacket. And then after a little while, the muster drill is over and now the passengers are now free to start their vacation!
Is 4:20 PM. They got ten minutes for departure. Captain Whiteford and his fellow officers are preparing to set sail. Third Officer Moira Holmes, the only female officer on the bridge, just checked the ship's manifest.
"All passengers aboard, sir." She said to the skipper. There are 3,800 passengers and crew onboard.
"Captain, we're cleared for departure." Sixth Officer Kennedy said.
"Yeah? Well, let's get this lady going." He picks up his walkie-talkie and speaks from his beak. "Mooring lines released?"
"Mooring lines released, Captain." Said from the people on the pier. Releasing the mooring lines from the bollards. The moorings retrieves back to the ship through small hatches, like spaghetti being inhaled back through the nose.
The ship's horn blares out as her final call. All ashore is going ashore. Passengers of vast diversities aligned on the railings on the opened decks to see one last sight of Port of Long Beach. Poseidon parts away from the pier gently without any help of tugboats. The four powerful propeller pods start to push the mighty giantess forward ahead as her sharp dark-gray bow moves directly south-westwards. For ship enthusiasts, this is an epic sight. The modern-day Poseidon and the historic liner from the golden age Queen Mary are met at last. Now is time to part ways.
"Mr. Snowdon, see any trucks?" Captain Whiteford asked.
"Huh, not this morning, sir." The polar bear-man replied.
"I like that." The avian albatross nodded gladly. "Great day to sail, huh?"
"Yes, sir." Officer Snowdon agreed. The sun sets in on the pacific's horizon as the ship follows the golden disc. Passengers will have their unforgettable 16-night Hawaiian leisure cruise.