AN: The action picks up here as the gang leaves the Tipton for Miami…enjoy!
Chapter Three: Miami
Taking one last look at their suite, what had been their home for the last 3 years, the Martins switched off the light and closed the door. They walked to the elevator, got in, and descended to the lobby.
What awaited them when the elevator doors opened took their breath away. It seemed as if every Tipton employee had gathered in the lobby to say farewell to the Martins.
There was Esteban…
"Goodbye little blond peoples, goodbye Carey, have a safe trip" he said.
Muriel…
"Say hello to Popeye for me!" she said in her raspy voice.
Arwin…crying as Carey approached…
"Take care (sob) I hope everything goes well on your trip (sob)" he said.
Carey gave the handyman a big hug and kiss while handing him a handkerchief. To her surprise he didn't faint.
There was Irene the concierge, Lance the pool guy, Patrick the waiter, and finally Mr. Moseby.
The Martins walked down this hallway of employees shaking hands and giving hugs.
When they got to Mr. Moseby Carey shook his hand and then watched in shock as both of her sons embraced the manager.
Moseby, not sure whether to cheer because the twins were leaving, or to cry because he was loosing the closest thing he had to sons, just hugged them back.
"Safe journey boys, Carey…I can't believe I'm saying this but…I will miss you, and if this ship thing doesn't work out, always remember you have a home here" he said.
"Even if we pull our shenanigans?" Zack asked.
Moseby just growled a response.
"Okay, I'm all ready!!" London said stepping out of the elevator followed by what looked like the entire contents of her suite carried by bellhops.
"Were gonna need a bigger boat" Cody said staring in disbelief like the rest of them were.
Outside the Tipton, two limousines waited to take them to London's Jet at Boston's Logan airport.
It was quickly determined that one limousine would be needed just for London and her things while the others would all go in the other one.
The Brownsteins pulled up followed by the Montgomerys, and Bob's family was the last to arrive. The families all said lengthy goodbyes before the gang all piled in their respective limos and they were off to the airport.
Traveling on the causeway that led to Logan International Airport, everyone looked out their windows at the planes taking off and landing and at the boats in Boston harbor. The sun was shining bright and excitement ran high.
"I can't believe this is really happening!!" Cody said to the others.
The others shared his disbelief as the cars raced closer to the airport.
"I'm glad you all got to come along" Carey said.
"How many students are going to be on there with us?" Barbara asked.
"London says Mr. Tipton wanted 300 on board so every room was full on your deck. Enrollment was only around 265 so that's why he asked Zack and Cody to round up some more kids" Carey replied.
"Oh, cool" she said smiling.
The limos were admitted right to the tarmac where London's Jet sat waiting. A charter bus carrying the other students from Zack and Cody's school was already unloading. Security was present giving each student a check with their metal detecting wand.
Once everyone was checked and stood waiting in a line, London walked in front of the group. Zack, Cody, and Bob spotted Mark and waved, walking over to him with the girls in tow.
"Thank you on behalf of my daddy, Mr. Tipton, for agreeing to come on this trip! Well, what are we all waiting for, everybody get on!" London said to them.
As the ground crew loaded everyone's baggage, London led the way up the stairs followed by Chelsea, Mia, Carey, Zack, Max, Cody, Barbara, Bob, Mark, and the 24 other students.
Everyone got seated and the Boeing 737's massive engines roared to life. The hired flight attendants went through the safety speech and the plane began to taxi. When they reached the beginning of the runway the plane came to a stop and waited for clearance to take off.
Zack and Cody had only flown once before when they went out to Hollywood with London, Maddie, Carey, and Mr. Moseby so both of them were a little bit nervous. They were trying very hard to hide that fact from their girlfriends that now sat beside them. Of course, their expressions gave them away immediately.
"Zack, don't tell me you've never flown before" Max said to him.
"Actually, I have, this would be mine and Cody's second time" he said talking fast despite himself.
"You just seem a little nervous is why I mentioned it" Max said.
"Me nervous? Pshhh, I'm not nervous" Zack replied.
From somewhere below their seats a small bang emitted from the plane.
"What was that!?" Zack asked as he and Cody nearly jumped out of their seats.
"Easy, that was just the flaps extending, see out there on the wing?" Barbara said to Zack in front of her and Cody beside her.
"Oh, I knew that" Zack said.
Barbara simply gripped Cody's hand to calm him. He smiled at her and then reached a hand through the seats in front of him and tapped Zack's shoulder. Zack turned around and locked eyes with his twin.
Cody gave him a look that said everything is going to be okay. Zack smiled, turned back around and looked out the window. Max suddenly jumped herself and grabbed Zack's hand as the plane revved up and began to launch down the runway.
"You've never flown!?" Zack said. Max nodded.
Zack smiled to himself feeling better that he could once again be the protective male.
When the plane's nose tipped into the air and the wheels left the ground Zack, Max, and Cody watched the land slant and fall away.
As if on cue both Zack and Cody put their heads between their legs.
"Oh yeah, my macho man!" Max said turning away from the window herself. Barbara just laughed.
"Twins all the way eh Max?" she said.
"Like birds changing direction at the same time!" Max replied.
"Shut up, I'm experiencing verbatim" Zack said.
"Uh, you mean vertigo…me too" Cody said.
"You should have seen them on the flight to Hollywood…totally freaked out" Carey said from across the aisle.
"Mom!" the twins said in unison.
After a few minutes the boys put their heads back up and looked out the window. Both agreed it was actually very cool to see the ocean and the coast of Massachusetts from way up like they were.
"Attention semester-at-sea students this is your captain speaking, travel time to Miami will be a little over four hours which will put us in around 3 pm. The ride should be smooth all the way but of course we will keep you updated if anything should change. Thank you"
Bob popped up from behind Cody's seat where he sat with Mark.
"This is so awesome guys, thanks so much for asking me to come along!" Bob said
"We wouldn't have dreamed of leaving you behind Bob" Cody said.
The group started a game of hot potato throughout the plane in which even Carey and the flight attendants took part in. Later on some people just read or listened to their iPods and MP3 players.
Zack and Cody had gone up to use the restrooms around the same time as each other and thus were both near the back of the plane together. Cody waited for Zack to get done and to come out of the restroom.
"Hey Zack" Cody said.
Zack turned to face Cody.
"There's been something I've been meaning to ask you but with all the excitement I didn't get a chance to" Cody said.
Zack nodded for Cody to continue.
"When did you get back with Max? I thought you were trying to date Amber from school" Cody asked.
"Oh, well, Amber was playing way to hard to get…despite my confidence that I could tain her…" Zack began
"Attain" Cody corrected
"…right that too, I just found after a talk with Max that we still like each other" Zack finished.
"That's great man, I always did have a feeling about you two" Cody said.
"Thanks" Zack replied turning to go back to his seat.
"Oh Zack, one more thing" Cody said grabbing Zack's tee shirt.
"Yeah?" Zack asked. He knew something bigger than his current girlfriend was on his brother's mind.
"Um…were probably gonna run into a lot of people on the ship, maybe make a bunch of new friends…" Cody began.
"Yeah, I hope so" Zack said with a perplexed look on his face wondering where Cody was going with this.
"Yeah me too, it's just…" Cody began looking down and then back up "…you won't like, you know, forget about me and ignore me and stuff will you?" Cody finished.
"Forget you?…ignore you?" Zack gave Cody an incredulous look before softening his expression and laying a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Look buddy, I may be a lot of things but I'm not the type of guy to ignore, let alone forget about his own twin…it's you and me always remember?" he said.
As arrogant and self-centered as Zack could be at times, Cody couldn't help but admit that he could be as equally nice when he wanted to.
"Thanks" Cody said.
"Sure, now lets go back to our seats before the girls send a search party after us" Zack said.
Cody laughed and followed him.
A few hours later the plane began its decent into Miami. It was late November but the captain said it was 85 degrees at the airport. The heavy sweaters and coats the gang had all worn to the plane would have to come off.
By now Zack, Cody, and Max were used to flying and the landing was actually fun for them.
The plane taxied to the terminal and the group could see another Tipton charter bus waiting as well as a limo for London. She didn't do busses she had said.
On board the bus, everyone's faces were plastered to the windows as they neared the waterfront where Poseidon would be docked. Only London, the Martins, Max, Barbara, and Bob had seen a picture of the huge ship but pictures could never compare to what they were about to see.
Suddenly, stretched out along the still distant dock like a giant black skyscraper was the SS Poseidon. It looked similar to the other cruise ships docked around it as far as the general design and superstructure. What made Poseidon unique was the fact that it was clearly bigger, and its paint scheme. She had a black hull with a white stripe at the top that contained a red stripe within it. She had a single stack near her stern with a large "P" painted on it.
As they got closer the ship seemed to get bigger and bigger until they could only see the bow of the great ship, the giant letters of her name prominently displayed in white lettering within the red band. The bus, now seemingly as tiny as a VW Bug pulled up to the area marked for "Semester-at-Sea" drop off. London's limo had gone on to a different boarding location with Carey.
Zack and Cody took charge of their group of students asking them to have their check-in papers ready and to start thinking about a bunk mate. It was hot as they stood in the sun with their luggage. The abrupt climate change was indeed a shock to everyone's system.
"Do we want to bunk together?" Cody asked.
"Of course, I thought that'd be a no brainer" Zack replied.
"Well, I didn't want to assume…we room together at home all the time" Cody said back.
"Cody, this is our new home!" Zack said pointing over and up at the giant ship which loomed above them.
Cody smiled.
"Your right, I was thinking this was just like camp, a temporary thing, silly me" Cody said.
"Don't feel bad, I still want you to pinch me now and then to make sure it's really real" Zack said "OW! Not really!" he said playfully punching Cody in the arm.
The line inched forward. Zack sidled up behind Max and wrapped his arms around her stomach from behind.
"This is great isn't it!?" he said.
Max leaned her head back on his shoulder.
"Yes it is! But it's hot! I'd like to hurry up and get on the ship" Max replied.
Cody stood back with Barbara holding her hand.
"This isn't a dream, you know how I know?" Cody asked her.
"How do you know?" Barbara replied.
"Because I never could have dreamed this…being here, with Zack, my friends, especially you" he said kissing her on the cheek.
"Oh Cody, that's so sweet" she said leaning into him.
"Pshiff" Bob said standing behind them with Mark.
"Bob? What's wrong?" Cody asked turning.
"Oh nothing, I was just wondering what was burning hotter out here, the sun or you four" he said laughing.
"I think someone is jealous he doesn't have a girl to burn with…UFF…okay that came out wrong" Zack said as Max elbowed him in the side.
"Aww, leave the poor guy alone" Barbara said messing up Bob's red hair "besides, cruises are the best way of finding romance" she added.
"Says who?" Zack asked
"Hello, lots of new people you've never met before!" Cody replied.
"Huh, well in that case I better keep a close guard on this person I already know" Zack said smiling at Max.
"Yeah you better, lest I fall for a hot island guy during our stop in the Bahamas" Max teased.
Zack looked panic stricken.
"I'm joking, calm down tiger" she said.
Cody, Barbara, and Bob just laughed.
Finally they reached the booth. Zack and Cody let the girls go first and they presented their papers. The officials checked the papers over before signing them and giving them additional paperwork and their GPS bracelet. Barbara and Max would be roommates as would Zack and Cody.
When Zack and Cody stepped forward together the officials gave them the usual 'I must be seeing double' twin joke and repeated the same process with their papers. They stood over to one side and waited for the rest of their peers to come through the booth.
Russell suddenly appeared out of the group and bumped into Cody, knocking him to the ground. Instantly, it seemed before anyone could even blink, Zack's hand was around Russell's neck and he was squeezing a pressure point.
"Are we going to have a problem already Rus?" Zack said as the overweight buffoon began to sink towards the asphalt.
"Get off me Martin!" Russell said swatting Zack's hand away and standing to face him.
"Zack, not here, let's not get in trouble before we even get on the ship" Cody said trying to pull Zack back.
"Yeah, better listen to your clone sister Martin, let us at least get on the ship so I can throw you off it" Russell said.
Zack lunged but Cody held fast.
"Is there a problem here?" one of the SAS officials said walking up.
Zack continued to drill holes into Russell with his eyes before they both answered "no sir"
Cody and the girls led Zack away to the boarding ramp and everybody began to walk up toward the gangway doors of Poseidon.
Cody wasn't sure if it was the incident that had just taken place with Russell or something else, but as he walked up the ramp he began to get a very uneasy feeling about the voyage ahead. He shrugged it off as nerves as the huge gaping maw of the doorway got closer and closer…