Princess Cheryl's Birthday
It was a frosty evening in Spa Land. In fact, it was a week before Princess Cheryl's 28th birthday. The snow was gently falling outside and there was a cozy fire in the princess's bedroom fireplace. Earlier, she had taken a nice relaxing bubble bath, after having spent a lovely day playing outside in the countless snow drifts. On the night table, was an empty teacup. Cheryl had drank a nice refreshing cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows before getting into her bed for the night. Coral was snuggled against Cheryl's hip and she was purring softly. Cheryl had her new doll Molly in one arm while she happily read a book in her cozy bed by her large bay window. In fact, the snow was falling gently outside, in huge fluffy white flakes, the kind that you could catch onto your tongue and enrapture yourself in the sugary taste of the snowflake. From her room, she could see the large snow lady that she had built with Coral's help that afternoon. It looked lovely in the sparkling moonlight. She had taken a beautiful picture of it and now, she was going to send an e-mail to Merida so that she could see the gigantic snow lady that she had created that day. Suddenly, her bedside telephone rang. She wondered who could be calling her at such an hour. In fact, it was just after 9:00 in the evening and Cheryl had had a very long day playing happily with Daphne and Coral and of course, her favorite doll. The phone number displayed on her Caller ID showed that it was from Scotland. It was probably Merida calling her, since she was too wound up to be asleep. "It's 1:00 in the morning in Scotland." thought Cheryl as she picked up the receiver off of the hook. "Hello? Oh hi Merida, I knew it was you who was calling." said Cheryl with a large grin on her face. Cheryl had spent Christmas with the Dunbroch clan and she had had a great time during her month-long sojourn. Merida had baked cookies and had made a large gingerbread house with her, and Angus had taken them on countless sleigh rides, she had played happily with the boys and both Elinor and Fergus had entertained her with old stories from years gone by. And everyone had delighted in singing Christmas carols around the large cozy fireplace in the Dunbroch castle. Cheryl had even brought wonderful presents for everyone. She had gotten Harris an entire train set, Hubert had gotten a massive model airplane and Hamish got an archery set. He was the one who wanted to be just like his sister. Cheryl had fondly remembered watching the boys playing with their new toys and she had taken a video of them having fun. For Fergus she had gotten him a new smart phone called an iPhone 8 and he was quick to learn all of the basics of running it. For Elinor, she had gotten her a beauty set which included a facial set, nail polishes and ever so much more. There was even shampoo and bubble bath to compliment the set. Cheryl remembered fondly how graciously that Elinor had smiled at her for giving her the thoughtful gift. She had even patted Cheryl's head and kissed her cheek fondly. And for Merida, she had gotten her a red leather-bound journal which was personalized with a lock and key so that her brothers couldn't read in it, and it had come with a personalized fountain pen to write with, as well as additional ink cartridges. She remembered vividly that Merida had jumped up from her chair, had ran over to Cheryl with outstretched arms and had given her a big bear hug. It had been exactly what she had wanted from her best friend. In fact, Cheryl herself, owned such a diary and she wrote fondly in it every night before going to bed. In return, Merida's family had given Cheryl a big load of gifts, including a gigantic dollhouse from Merida herself which was fully interactive and there was an app that she could also use to play with it. Now that Cheryl had princess Barbie dolls which the other princesses had given her for Christmas, she could put them into her brand-new dollhouse and have lots of fun adventures with them in it. "I couldn't sleep." said Merida on the other end. "Well, I was just reading the book that your mom gave me for Christmas, it's amazing." said Cheryl with a huge smile on her face. "Sully? Yes, it's a great book." said Merida with a grin on her face. "Did you see the movie yet?" asked Merida. "Yup, your dad gave it to me and I watched it last night while snacking on dill pickle potato chips." said Cheryl with a grin in her voice. "Just like when you were last here when we'd watch movies together." said Merida with a laugh. Cheryl too, had to force a lighthearted chuckle on the other end. What a fun Christmas they had spent together as best friends. She had gone back home straight after New Year's Day and now, she was looking forward to her birthday which was next week on a Saturday no less. Then, Merida got to the matter at hand. "So, I heard that your birthday is next week, do you have any plans?" asked Merida. "Well, I was planning to go to Jamaica for my birthday, but the boat that I was going to go on well, it's at the bottom of the sea now, a big storm was responsible for its demise on its way back from the region of Hispaniola on route to Miami." said Cheryl dejectedly. Merida gasped. The cruise ship that Cheryl was going to go on a cruise to the Caribbean was now lying at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. "I wish that I could have my own cruise ship so that way, I wouldn't have to rely so heavily on cruise lines so much, I have my own truck and plane, but no cruise ship that I can sail across the seven seas with." said Cheryl with a heavy sigh. Merida then had a huge brain wave. What if she and the other 15 princesses create a cruise ship especially for Cheryl, created personally with all the great luxuries that she could ever dream of? "Have your parents ever made boats before?" asked Cheryl thoughtfully as she tapped her chin in thought. "Dad's built a few pleasure crafts and a few ocean liners and such." replied Merida with a grin in her voice. Cheryl grinned and then proceeded to tell Merida all about her fantastic day in Spa Land. After having listened to Cheryl for half an hour, Merida began to feel very sleepy. Apparently, listening to Cheryl's story made her feel tired and contented. "Well, I best turn in, good-night my precious bubble bathing Lassie." said Merida over the phone." "Good night Merida, my sweet archery darling." said Cheryl with a large yawn. After hanging up the phone, Cheryl turned off the lamp light and curled up into her cozy mattress and went soundly to sleep, Coral curling up sweetly beside her and purring softly. She had extra sweet dreams that night as she lay in her beautiful bed. The next day, Merida called all of her other princess friends. She needed their help in creating the perfect birthday gift for Cheryl in under one week. But Merida was sure that with all of the princesses working together, they would get it done. Even Fergus was willing to help them build the large multi-deck cruise ship. "So Merida, how are we going to decorate this cruise ship for Cheryl?" asked Cinderella as the girls sat at a round table in Merida's castle. They had been able to get there by a huge puff of white fairy dust. "Well, do you girls each have an idea, we can all put our own ideas into one big cruise ship." said Merida with a grin. "Well, Cheryl will probably want a spa, who doesn't." said Aurora as she got out a slip of paper so that everyone could mark down their ideas. "Okay, one big spa." said Cinderella as she marked it down. "How about a huge library?" asked Belle as she thought of Cheryl's extreme passion for reading. "One huge library coming right up." said Cinderella as she marked it down. "A large swimming pool." chimed in Ariel with a grin. "We'll need a few of those." said Merida with a large grin. "A bedroom for Cheryl in pink?" suggested Rapunzel. "Oh yes, that's the most important thing." said Cinderella as she jotted this down. "A huge water slide?" asked Moana with a grin on her face. "She'll love that, especially when you can make it project over the side of the boat." said Merida with a grin. Merida then marked down a plan for a huge promenade deck which would have a full 360-degree view of the ocean around the ship aided by huge floor-to-ceiling windows all through the huge deck. Tiana jotted down her plans to have a kitchen and dining room fit for a princess. The kitchen would be equipped to cook any cultural cuisine from all over the world. "But what if Cheryl wants to swim in the ocean?" wondered Melody. "Well, we can add a swimming platform so that she can get easily in and out of the water." said Cinderella with a grin. "What about a diamond studded bathtub for plenty of bubble baths and bubbly fun?" suggested Snow White from her corner of the room. "Great idea Snow White, Cheryl loves taking bubble baths, in fact, she has one every night." said Merida with a grin. "What about a nice rising platform in the grand promenade?" suggested Elsa as she had taken some thoughtful considerations. "Great idea, it'll make Cheryl feel as if she's in the spotlight." said Cinderella with a grin. Cinderella put down her plan for a giant dancing room where Cheryl could dance the night away in stunning ball gowns to any kind of music that she would please. Pocahontas thought that Cheryl should have a balcony on the very top deck so that she could observe the stars while traveling on the open seas. She even had plans to have a telescope on the balcony for an added feature. Mulan of course, thought that it would be nice for Cheryl to have a comfortable seating area where she could relax and watch TV, listen to the radio for the weather reports, draw and color happily, play some video games, sing karaoke with her friends or simply just dream about new adventures. Anna of course, thought it would be a cool idea if Cheryl had a whole deck with a sports complex, a theater for extravagant shows such as plays, performances and stand-up comedy and a few areas for viewing newly released movies. Elena of course, thought that it would be nice if Cheryl had a huge playroom to play in and a gymnasium for workout exercises. Jasmine then thought long and hard about what she would like for Cheryl to have on her ship. Then, she got an idea. "What about a hangar for planes and helicopters? Cheryl could park her huge plane on the ship and a helicopter could land there as well." said Jasmine with a jaunty wink at Merida. "Great plan, she'll love that." said Merida excitedly. Even Fergus had thought of something. A full-scale planetarium with planets, moons, stars and the whole works! Even a model space shuttle and astronauts floating around the room. The planets would be hanging on long strings of twine so that Cheryl could touch them and gaze longingly at them and wonder about how the Universe was formed. Fergus had even thought of a deck made for Cheryl's truck to be parked so that she could have it handy on ports of call along her voyage. But also, Fergus remembered about safety features, like lifejackets, life rafts and life boats and signalling devices including flares for both day and night time rescuing. But after a lot of time spent planning, the girls and Fergus were ready to get to work. Fergus had even bought Cheryl a camper so that if she wanted to sleep on land on her ports of call, she could do so with all the supreme comforts of home away from home right there. Since Cheryl's truck had a trailer hitch, she was all set to haul her brand-new camper wherever she would possibly roam. Cheryl on the other hand, knew absolutely nothing about the princesses' venture. She just kept right on having a fantastic time playing happily in Spa Land. Back in Scotland meanwhile, once the keel was laid down, the girls were ready to put the gigantic steel plates that were well over an inch thick. Fergus wanted to build this boat so that it could weather the roughest seas on the planet. Soon after, the boat was built up deck by deck until it was 13 decks high. This had been Merida's idea, since 13 is Cheryl's birth date number. Next, the engines were put into place and there was also some gas turbines to increase the speed. But nobody was working alone, they all worked in a huge group working in different areas of this cruise ship. Even a lot of Fergus's colleagues helped them with this huge project. Cheryl meanwhile, kept watching movies, playing with her new gigantic dollhouse that Merida had given her and playing with her new Christmas gifts that she had received from her friends and family. Not only did Cheryl know about her new cruise ship that the princesses were making, she didn't know that they were going to hide birthday presents throughout the ship for her to find. It would be just like a big scavenger hunt. There would even be clues as to where the gifts would be hiding. Also, there would be a huge birthday cake in the dining room as well as a big birthday feast. Also, Cheryl would get to go to Jamaica but she wouldn't be going alone, she would be going with her princess friends. She would get to dive through the colorful waters of the Caribbean and all she knew was, that she was greatly looking forward to it. For now, she had her bubble bath filled swimming pool and Daphne to play with. Thanks to the waterproof camera that Fergus had given Cheryl for Christmas, she could take pictures and video from below the surface of her sudsy pool. Twice already, she had done this and the sound was absolutely fantastic. Also, the picture was HD and it was as clear as crystal. She had hoped to take underwater footage in the Caribbean, but since the ship had sunk, she wouldn't be able to do so. Little did she know, she would get to go to Jamaica after all, thanks to Merida and her other friends. Soon, within five days, the hull of the boat was completed. "There, the hull is completed, now for the fitting out." said Merida proudly as she ran straight for the empty deck that would eventually turn into the large promenade deck. Belle made her way up to Deck 10 to go ahead and create a marvelous library, complete with a large circular table, crystal chandeliers and lots and lots of stained glass windows. All of the other princesses went to several parts of the ship to add their touches to the grand cruise ship of cruise ships. Cheryl on the other hand, was trying to choose a dress for her grand birthday bash. As usual, she had a hard time choosing the colors, since all colors looked great on her, including a long black sleeveless strapless gown. In fact, Cheryl had a large wardrobe full of dresses and other clothes. But her most favorite item she loved was her comfortable pink skirtini and sporty water shoes. In a jewelry box she held many items of jewelry including a blue jeweled necklace bestowed to her by her mother. Since everyone worked so hard and over time, the cruise ship was finished on January 12, one day before Cheryl's birthday. Fergus and his men then took it from there and performed sea trials with the ship while Merida and her other friends decided to celebrate by calling Cheryl at her castle. At the moment, Cheryl was having a nice snack in her castle. "Oh I wonder who that could be?" asked Cheryl to herself as she put down a carton of milk after having poured it into a nice tall glass. Turned out, it was Merida and her friends. "Oh hi girls, what's up?" asked Cheryl cheerily. "Well, tomorrow is your birthday, what are you planning?" asked Cinderella sweetly. "Well, not really much, maybe relax in the pool or hot tub, get my hair trimmed, read a few books, whatever suits my fancy." said Cheryl with a grin in her voice. "Well, wouldn't you rather sail away to a tropical island paradise?" asked Merida in her sweet Scottish accent. "I would love that, but how can I do that? My ship that I was supposed to be on sank to the bottom of the sea." said Cheryl her shoulders heaving as she sighed heavily. "Well don't despair Cheryl, we have a huge surprise for you. Meet us at the Spa Land docks?" asked Moana. "Sure! I'll definitely be there!" exclaimed Cheryl happily. "Okay, just be sure to meet us at noon at the docks." said Merida with a chuckle in her voice. "I'll be there with my very best dress!" said Cheryl with a big grin. While a few princesses went to put the finishing touches on the ship, Cheryl and Merida chatted happily for quite a long time. At the same time, Cheryl ate her Animal Crackers and slurped down her milk. "Turns out you can stuff your gob in your kingdom." said Merida more to herself as she watched Cheryl take a whole elephant and stuff it into her mouth. "Sorry Merida, I got carried away, I don't usually take a whole cracker and stuff it in. I usually crunch a little bit off at a time, I guess that I'm excited about my birthday tomorrow." grinned Cheryl as she took another slurp of her milk. At this piece of news, Merida had to chuckle. Soon after, Cheryl and Merida finished chatting and Cheryl tossed her empty cracker box into the garbage can. In fact, she could hardly wait to celebrate her birthday the next day. She had finally settled on her most favorite princess dress, her formal pink dress with its puffed sleeves and elegant charm. After all she decided, sometimes less is more. That evening for her supper, she decided to get some fried chicken with tattors and macaroni salad. In fact, she loved fried chicken. For dessert, she had decided on getting a nice ice-cream sundae with all of the trimmings. After her pre-birthday supper, she happily curled up on the couch with an old photo album. Soon, her blue jewelled necklace began to glow, showing her the past life when she was much younger and with her parents. Soon after, her mother appeared and gave her a big hug. Since her mother was the queen, she rarely got to see her, since she travelled the world helping people feel revitalized with her countless beauty products. But whenever Cheryl needed her mother, all she had to do was press the large blue jewel to her lips and kiss it gently. Times like when she had a bad dream or had had an exhausting day and she felt like crying really hard, she could summon her mother for help and she would instantly be by her side. A few minutes later, Sandra disappeared again, after having kissed her daughter fondly on her cheek. As the sparkles came and went, Cheryl pondered what the day ahead would bring to her. She hoped that it would bring her much happiness and joy. Next, she went straight upstairs for her bubble bath. But while she was relaxing happily in the mountain of lavender scented suds, a huge bubble came over to Cheryl and she grabbed it eagerly. "What in the world?" she wondered aloud as she grasped the bubble in her fingers. Then it popped and both Merida and Moana fell into her bath water with a gigantic splash. "Surprise!" they exclaimed excitedly. "Merida? Moana? I can't believe you're here!" she said as she hugged them both ecstatically. "We wanted to have a sleepover with you the night before your big bash." explained Merida with a grin as she splashed Cheryl happily. "That's super girls!" said Cheryl delightedly as she splashed both girls back happily. "Plus, we can have popcorn and do whatever you want, Birthday Girl!" said Moana cheerily. "Okay, but first, let's all get nice and soapy clean. Duck down so that I can scrub your luscious hair." said Cheryl as she motioned for the showerhead. But before Cheryl could do anything, Merida grabbed the showerhead and began to wash Cheryl's thick , long brown curly hair with soft massaging strokes. "Rub a dub dub, three happy princesses in the tub." said Cheryl relaxedly as the soft warm water fell onto her hair and trickled down her silky body and got her hair rinsed thoroughly. "Yup, we're all getting nice and shiny." agreed Moana as she began to scrub Cheryl's face with soft pats. "We're going to dazzle like a wealthy woman's neck." said Cheryl with a grin as she grabbed the scrub brush in order to scrub Merida's back while she wasn't looking. Moana giggled when she thought about what Cheryl had said. "Well, I know one thing's for sure, if Tamatoa were here, he'd be glad that we're getting all nice and shiny for tomorrow's big bash." said Cheryl as she grabbed the showerhead so that she could wash Moana's hair for her. "You mean this big squirty crab?" asked Merida when she revealed a smaller version of Tamatoa but in bath toy form. "Hey! I was looking for him everywhere! Thanks Merida!" exclaimed Cheryl when she grabbed Tamatoa from Merida and began squirting her squarely in the face, causing her to laugh hysterically. "Hey, I want a turn too!" said Moana dejectedly. "Okay, but you're going to get it bad, since you and Maui got away from him." said Cheryl jokingly. After the princesses were all squeaky clean, they relaxed in the tub, playing happily with all the tub toys that were in a nearby basket. Moana even had a jar of bubble blowing liquid with her, which was double the bubbly fun. Cheryl used her squirting Tamatoa to squirt her friends which made them laugh. They even played with a toy sailboat and Cheryl's large pink rubber duckie. Later, the threesome were sitting on Cheryl's plush velvet red couch, painting their nails. "What color do you want Moana? I have many different colors." said Cheryl as she pulled out a full box of high quality nail polishes. "Hmm, how about aqua marine? The ocean calls me." said Moana with a grin. "Sure thing Moana, what about you Merida? My color choices range from Madam President to Bride and Purple Mountain's Majesty." said Cheryl with a wide grin. Merida then dug through the box full of nail polishes and at length chose a beautiful cherry red. "Good choice, I love red, plus it'll match your hair perfectly." said Cheryl grinning. Both girls then smiled at each other when they noticed Cheryl taking the color Tickled Pink out of the box. "Okay girls, now that we have our color choices, let's get ready to paint our finger and toenails." said Cheryl with a cheery tone of voice. First, they painted their toenails and let them dry. "Nice nails Moana, you look like you're ready to set sail." said Merida as she noticed Moana's blue toes. "Thanks and you look as if you were climbing up a cherry tree." Giggled Moana as she noticed Merida's bright red tootsies. Merida grinned and gave Moana a loving pat on her back. "How do my tootsies look you two?" asked Cheryl cheerily as she showed off her dazzling pink toes. Moana smiled, but Merida scowled. She hated girlie colors, especially pink. But after Moana's glare at her, she managed to force a wry smile. "I know you don't like pink Merida, that's why I thought you'd like red better." said Cheryl with a grin as she began to perform her beauty work on Merida's fingernails. "I love cherry red, it reminds me of the outdoors." said Merida with a smile. "Great, I'm glad that I could make you feel happy." said Cheryl as she began the second coat of polish on Merida's right hand. Moana was working on Merida's left hand and she was already working on the middle finger of that hand. While Merida's fingernails were drying, Cheryl began working on Moana's lovely hula hands. Moana smiled when she watched Cheryl's handy work with her fingernails. Clearly, she was an artistic expert with nail polishing. Soon, the girls had their fingernails drying and they were telling each other jokes. When their fingernails were all dried and they were sure that the paint wouldn't scratch, they then decided to watch a couple movies on Cheryl's TV set. After three movies, the girls decided that it was time for bed. In fact, it would be a very busy day tomorrow. The only thing that Moana and Merida dared tell Cheryl about the plans for the next day was to pack a suitcase filled with her possessions for two month's worth of vacationing. In fact, both Merida and Moana had decided to help her get packed for her two-month-long vacation. One thing that Cheryl had decided to take with her, was Molly, her new doll and of course, her new waterproof camera and most importantly, Coral since she didn't dare leave her alone with no one to keep her company. Finally, when Cheryl's luggage was packed, it was time for the girls to say good-night and go to bed. Cheryl of course, stayed awake for a little while longer, as she stared up at the stars and the big round yellow moon in the night time sky. Soon after, she drew her curtains and went to bed. The next morning, when Cheryl awoke, the sound of Beethoven's sixth symphony greeted her ears and when she opened her eyes, there standing by her bed were Merida and Moana, carrying a breakfast tray with a lot of food. Cheryl sat up in bed, very much surprised and delighted at the same time. "Happy birthday Cheryl!" they chorused excitedly as they set the tray down in front of her. "Thanks girls I'm touched that you did this for me!" exclaimed Cheryl excitedly as she saw the food laden tray. "We thought that the birthday girl should have a celebratory breakfast." said Moana as she opened the window curtains in Cheryl's room. Merida had briefly disappeared and she then returned with their breakfast. The threesome were going to have breakfast in Cheryl's bedroom. Also, Coral had been taken care of since she was slurping up a saucer of milk. There on Cheryl's tray, were bacon and eggs, sausage, ham, blueberry pancakes with maple syrup, toast and hash browns, a fruit salad and a muffin as well as a bowlful of cereal and a glass of luscious orange juice. Since it was Cheryl's birthday, Merida and Moana had decided that she should enjoy breakfast in bed. In fact, Cheryl quite agreed, since she loved nothing better than lounging back on her velvet pillows and enjoying her nutritious breakfast. After she had finished eating her breakfast, Cheryl put aside her tray and sat up in bed in order to hug her two best friends. "Since it's your birthday, we'll do everything for you today." volunteered Merida with a grin. "Oh okay, that would be very nice of you girls." smiled Cheryl as she reached out for her brush to brush out her hair. As soon as she finished brushing out her hair, both Merida and Moana began styling her hair into pigtails. Then, they tied the pigtails with pink hair ribbons. "It's beautiful, but it's missing something, something special and very important." said Moana to herself. "I got an idea." said Merida giggling as she opened an emerald jewelry box that was on Cheryl's bureau. Inside of it, was a dazzling golden tiara with large pink garnets in its very center. "Wow, where did you get that Merida?" asked Cheryl amazed. "I went to a special jewelry shop and saw this on a shelf. An early birthday present for my bubble bathing Lassie." said Merida as she put the tiara onto Cheryl's head fondly. "Wow, I'm a pretty girl now." said Cheryl amazed as she took a glance at herself in her bedroom mirror. "I picked out your dress for you." said Moana. As it turned out, it was the pink formal gown that Cheryl had selected. Both Merida and Moana put the dress over Cheryl's head and put her arms through the sleeves. Both girls sighed in admiration as Cheryl gave them both a huge twirl in her beautiful formal gown. At the Spa Land docks meanwhile, the other fourteen princesses had gotten the huge cruise ship docked and were getting it ready for the grand voyage. It was now ten o'clock and there were two whole hours to kill before Cheryl was to meet the girls at the dock. Merida and Moana hurried off to the cruise ship to help set up the gigantic scavenger hunt. Cheryl first decided to do some last-minute packing of her luggage. Luckily, thanks to Merida and Moana's help, a lot of her possessions were packed away. Now, she decided to read a nice book. She figured that if she did some reading, it would help pass the time. The only problem was, she was too excited to read her book. So, she decided to play with her interactive doll house. At 11:30 that morning, Cinderella came over to Cheryl's castle. "Oh hi Cinderella." said Cheryl excitedly as she gave her friend a big hug. "Hello Cheryl, are you ready to go to the docks? We have a huge surprise for you there." said Cinderella with a huge grin on her face. "A surprise? For me? Then let's go!" burst out Cheryl excitedly as she grabbed her suitcases full of luggage along with Coral who was resting atop the pink duffle bag. "Let me help you with that, it must be very heavy." said Cinderella as she observed Cheryl trying to juggle her luggage in both arms. "Thanks Cinderella, I'll be needing all the help I can possibly get." said Cheryl with a wide grin. Just then, Merida, Tiana and Moana showed up to help Cheryl get her luggage onto the cruise ship. Next, Merida put Cheryl's blue jewelled necklace around her neck. "There's no way you're going anywhere without that necklace." said Merida with a huge grin. "There's no way that you're going anywhere without your bow and arrows." said Cheryl as she picked up Merida's bow and arrows. Merida grinned and took her prize weapon from Cheryl. Next, Cheryl put on her black Mary Jane shoes and skipped merrily out of her palace doors. But before she could go any farther, Merida prompted her to close her eyes tight. "We don't want you to see what the surprise is just yet." she said with a chortle. "Well, how do you expect me to know where to go without seeing anything Merida? I could bump into everything and anything." said Cheryl perplexed. "Just trust me with this, I'll tell you where to go from here." said Merida cheakily as she climbed onto Cheryl's back in order to cover her eyes. Luckily, Merida wasn't too heavy for Cheryl to carry on her shoulders. Cinderella, Moana and Tiana followed behind lugging Cheryl's luggage as well as her pampered kitty who was happily purring as she sat on top of the pink suitcase as it was being pushed along on the snowy ground. To Cheryl, this trip was all a maze as Merida first got her to turn left, then right, then right and left and then left and another right again. When the quintet reached the Spa Land docks, Merida got down from Cheryl's shoulders and uncovered her eyes. "SURPRISE!" everybody yelled when Cheryl arrived. There, right in front of her, was the most majestic cruise ship that Cheryl had ever seen! "Oh girls! That's the most beautiful cruise ship I've ever seen! Thank you ever so much!" said Cheryl as she gave all of her princess friends a big happy hug. "You can now go on that dream Caribbean trip that you were going to go on." said Ariel with a grin as she patted Cheryl's shoulder fondly. "I've always wanted a balcony on a cruise ship." said Cheryl dreamily as she saw the balcony on Deck 13. She then kept standing there, marvelling at every detail of the ship, until Merida tapped her on the shoulder, bringing her back to reality. "Well, don't you want to get on board and start enjoying the beauty from the inside? There's lots of hidden surprises in there." said Merida. "Okay, I'm coming." said Cheryl as she advanced towards the gangway. As soon as the girls stepped onto the ship there was a party atmosphere already in full swing. All around the grand promenade deck, balloons and streamers were seen and there was a huge banner announcing: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHERYL!" in big bold lettering. The raised platform had a huge pink spotlight shining down from it and it looked beautiful. "Oh wow! You girls really outdid yourselves." said Cheryl amazed when she saw how beautifully the promenade was decorated. "Well, this ship has much more to offer than just the grand promenade." said Ariel with a grin. "There's more?" asked Cheryl excitedly as she took off her sweater. "Follow us, we can put your luggage up in your new room." said Rapunzel as she took Cheryl's suitcase from Cinderella. Coral of course, stretched sleepily and followed along behind the girls. "I have a new room?" asked Cheryl excitedly. "Yup, it's all the way up on Deck 13." said Elsa cheerily as she led Cheryl over to the glass elevator. "Wow, a huge glass elevator!" said Cheryl excitedly as she saw the huge glass elevator. It also talked which was quite fascinating. Cheryl then pressed the number thirteen button and then the doors closed. All seventeen girls were able to fit comfortably in the large glass elevator and they were all able to gaze awe struck as each floor whizzed by before their eyes. As each floor passed by, Merida pointed out points of interest to Cheryl so that she could get really excited about sailing away on her very own cruise ship. As they passed Deck 10 Merida pointed out the library and Cheryl smiled really big. As soon as the doors opened on Deck 13, the girls escorted Cheryl down a dimly lit hallway where a few lounge chairs were seen next to table lamps and a few decorations on the walls. At the very end of the hall, was a closed door which had Cheryl's name written on it in red lettering. "What's this room?" asked Cheryl puzzled. Just then, Belle took a key from her sweater pocket and handed it to Cheryl. Cheryl then put the key in the lock which unlocked the door and then she turned the knob. Inside, was Cheryl's pink bedroom! "Wow! My own bedroom with a huge view of the ocean!" said Cheryl as she ran inside and inspected everything. It was a huge bedroom with a huge canopy bed against one wall with a pink blanket on it as well as a very soft pillow. There was a bookshelf against another wall and it was filled to the brim with many wonderful books. Cheryl ran her hand fondly over the spines of the books and wondered what wonderful stories she would find between their covers. Next to the bookshelf was a cozy basket for Coral to lie in, along with her litter box and food dishes. Next to the door on the opposite side, was a large mahogany desk with a swivelling computer chair and loads of storage for a laptop and other such items. "We've got your luggage here and we'll help you get settled in." said Jasmine with a huge grin on her face. "We certainly will help you get all settled in. After all, you're the birthday girl." chimed in Mulan as she unzipped Cheryl's suitcase and began to put her clothes away in the bureau and closet. Merida then put Cheryl's doll on her pillow so that she could be ready for bedtime. Melody even laid out Cheryl's nightie at the foot of the bed. Once Cheryl was unpacked, she took off her formal dress and got changed into her pink skirtini. "Can we head for Deck 8 now? I'm really having a hankering for swimming before we leave the harbor." said Cheryl with a grin as she put her hair into their iconic braids. "Sure thing Cheryl, we'll hit Deck 8 in a minute." reassured Ariel with a grin. "Great, I can hardly wait to hit the pool." said Cheryl with a huge smile of her own. "But first, we'd better try on this lifejacket." said Moana as she opened up Cheryl's closet and found a pink lifejacket on the very top shelf. "Okay Moana, we'd better play it safe." said Cheryl as she took the Personal Floatation Device from Moana. As it turned out, Cheryl's personalized lifejacket fit her to a tee. There was a light and a whistle to attract attention and two toggles and tubes to inflate the jacket with. "Okay, now that we know that it fits, we can put it back." said Aurora as she put the lifejacket back into the closet. After a quick safety drill, the girls headed for Deck 8 to get some swimming before they casted off for Jamaica. As they swam, the ship began to move, but none of the girls noticed it because the boat was so stable. Thanks to a extra wide beam, the boat was extra stable and stability is priority 1 on any cruise ship. Fergus had thought of practically everything. Cheryl especially enjoyed the huge water slide that went over the side of the cruise ship and it got you soaked from head to toe as you rode down it in a big comfortable floaty chair. Next, it was time for the big scavenger hunt. Everyone got paired up into teams of two and Cheryl got paired up with Moana and Merida, since seventeen is an odd number. "There's various birthday gifts hidden on this cruise ship, if you can find them all Cheryl, you can have them." said Cinderella with a huge grin. "Okay, let's get this party started." said Cheryl excitedly. Soon, all the gifts were found and they were brought to the living room. There was also a huge pile of gifts in a corner. It was nearing suppertime and Tiana thought that it was time for everyone to head to the dining room for the big birthday feast. There was lots of good food to eat, including pizza and garlic fingers. There was even Kraft dinner with hotdogs in it. "Okay girls, help yourselves, the food is spread out buffet style." said Pocahontas as she put the plates at each place setting on the large dining room table. Then, all of the girls lined up and filled up their plates with lots of yummy treats to eat. Merida and Cheryl sat side by side, eagerly munching away on chicken pieces and onion rings, pizza and garlic fingers, spaghetti and meatballs and many other delicious foods. There was even yummy egg and ham sandwiches with cheese. After everyone had eaten enough, it was time for the birthday cake. As it turned out, the cake was so big, it took Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida and Moana to carry it over to the huge dining room table while everyone sang "Happy birthday." to Cheryl. Elsa was running the video camera so that the girls could watch it later on TV. The cake was a four-layer thing with lots of chocolate and strawberries, as well as marshmallows, jellybeans and M&Ms going around the circumference of the cake. Cheryl then made a wish and blew out the candles and everyone clapped and cheered. Cheryl then cut the cake and gave Snow White the first slice. Then, the vanilla ice-cream was passed around so that everyone could have a big scoop with their chocolate cake. But Cheryl saved the best slice of cake for Merida. In fact, her slice was so big, that it had to be cut into two equal halves. Merida then put the other half onto Cheryl's plate and plopped a huge scoop of ice-cream right on top of it. "Wow Merida, that's quite a lot of ice-cream." said Cheryl as she gazed awe struck at the large scoop of ice-cream. "I wanted to be sure that you had a big gallop of that stuff." said Merida as she gave Cheryl a kiss on her cheek. Then, everyone dug into their cake. Next, they all gathered into the giant living room so that they could watch Cheryl opening the huge pile of cards and presents. But Merida saved her gift for last. As it turned out, it was a pink and blue tricycle with a pink helmet and a rubber duckie bike horn and a boat-shaped bike bell. There was also a huge red basket on the back to carry things in. "Oh Merida, I've always wanted a bike to ride on!" said Cheryl with a squeal of delight as she gave Merida a big hug. Merida grinned and gave Cheryl a soothing pat on her back. "Why don't you try it out on the promenade deck?" suggested Melody as she got up from her seat on the love seat. "Okay, great idea." said Cheryl with a big grin on her face. Soon after, Cheryl had donned her helmet and she was pedaling as fast as her legs would let her across the grand promenade. On either side of the bike, Merida, Ariel, Rapunzel and Moana as well as Tiana and Belle were running as fast as they could to keep up with the birthday girl as she cycled at top speed across the large deck. Next, everyone ran to the top deck and Elsa launched some fireworks from the ship's side, creating an illusion of illumination on the open Atlantic Ocean. As the girls stood on the balcony, they watched with fascination as Elsa combined ice with the fireworks, turning them a brilliant blue color. Next, Elsa launched some flying lanterns that Rapunzel had brought along with her and the spectacle of lights got even better and brighter. There was even a pink lantern that the girls had decorated just for Cheryl's sake. After everything was over, everyone decided to go for a refreshing dip in the ocean. As they dove off of the swimming platform, they felt like young school girls, young and carefree. Even Cheryl was having a blast, filming the underwater wildlife as the girls companionably swam together. Merida swam on her back while gazing up at the water above, while most of the other girls swam on their fronts, looking down at the sandy sea floor. In fact, both Melody and Ariel felt right at home in the ocean, since they loved it so and the fact that Ariel had once been a mermaid. Just then, Cheryl flipped onto her back and copied Merida's movements through the water. A short while later, they surfaced and fifteen of them swam back to the ship. Cheryl and Merida however, swam out to an inflatable raft and began fooling around like little kids. Luckily, there were a few water toys on the raft and one of which was a full bottle of bubble blowing liquid. There were also two huge floaties and both Cheryl and Merida put them on around their waists. Each floaty had a crotch strap that clipped to the floatation device so that it wouldn't ride up on them. Then, both jumped back into the water and sent the raft back towards the ship so that it could be stored away. Both then peacefully floated in the lazily rolling current towards the shore of a small island that was a couple kilometers wide and a few kilometers across. They then rested on two large rocks which resembled something that mermaids would sit on in the sparkling moonlight. In fact, there was a large round full moon that night and many tiny twinkling stars were seen in the clear night's sky. Cheryl then took a picture of herself and Merida relaxing in the moonlit night on the little island in the south Atlantic Ocean. In fact, both felt like mermaids as they relaxed companionably on the rocks with their feet dangling in the water that was very refreshingly warm. After awhile, they decided that it was time to head back to the cruise ship. Before long, they were climbing onto the swimming platform and were wrapping up into large pool towels. "That was the best swim ever." said Cheryl aloud as she hugged herself in the large fluffy towel. "Well, I hope you're still in the mood for that because we'll be doing plenty of swimming and diving in Jamaica." said Merida as she patted Cheryl's wet hair fondly. "Who said I was tired of splashing and swimming? I simply can't get enough of it." giggled Cheryl as she flicked water at Merida, resulting in both of them laughing good-naturedly. Merida squeezed her curls in Cheryl's direction, resulting in squeals of delight from her as she got soaked in the face. Before long, Cheryl was tucked up in her bed in her bedroom after having had her bath, dreaming happy dreams of her vacation in Jamaica. Soon, they arrived in Jamaica and they stayed there for over two months. There was lots of swimming and diving, soaking up the sun while lying on the sands, dancing to the calypso music on the beach, shopping in outdoor markets, having lots of barbecues and much much more. They even played golf a few times and went fishing for various tropical fish. Through it all, Cheryl had a great time and took lots of pictures and videos. She even slept in the camper a few times. But finally, the day came for the princesses to depart Jamaica and head back to Spa Land. "But can I come back here soon?" asked Cheryl sadly as she stared at the colorful waters at her feet. "Sure, any time you want to go on a cruise, or get away from the cold, Jamaica will be awaiting your return." reassured Cinderella as she fondly hugged Cheryl as they stood admiring the sunset before they set sail for home. "This cruise ship will take you anywhere you want to go." chimed in Moana with a grin of her own. "Well, I know where I'm going for my big summer kick-off." Declared Cheryl with an excited grin. She was planning to go to Hawaii and she was going to invite her other princess friends to go along with her. Once at her castle, Cheryl decided that her cruise ship should make its permanent home at the Spa Land docks. After all, it was her own cruise ship and she was free to do what she pleased with it. Fergus and his men would come and inspect it every few months to keep it maintained and be sure that it was fully ship shape. Cheryl of course, had a lot of plans to travel by land, air and sea for the rest of her life. Also, she wouldn't do it alone either, she would have sixteen other princess friends at her sides. Not only was Cheryl happy about her new ship, she was happy because now, she could go anywhere around the world, however way she wanted. And so, to this very day, she's been traveling everywhere with her friends and they've all been having a blast and taking lots of pictures and making lots of precious memories for many years to come.