Her Cruise Ship Surprise | ✔

Chapter Four

As the taxi pulled up to the terminal, Tamara's eyes were glued on the massively large multi-deck boat with Waterslides that could be seen on the upper most floor; it stood taller than the terminal.

"Wow," she said, her hands splayed across the window.

"She's a beaut, isn't she," the older blond haired taxi-driver said, smiling at her excitement. "Never fails to make everyone speechless."

Tammy pushed open the door and turned to look at him. "I take it you make this trip a lot?"

"Just enough to make me envious. Now go, have a good time for both of us."

"Thanks for the ride." She handed the driver the cab fare, along with a few dollars tip for his trouble, and then climbed out of the cab. The minute she walked down the sidewalk to the terminal doors, she was accosted by people wearing fluorescent vests asking if they could take her luggage.

"I think I'll hold onto it for now," she said, waving them off. The last thing she wanted was for someone else to take her luggage. The websites did say that there would be people to take your luggage to your room, but how was she supposed to tell who was legit and who wasn't?

The cynic inside her had taught her to question everything, and her experiences taught her to question everyone. There was always another side to a person that they never showed you. With a half-smile, she turned another baggage holder away as she approached the table. She gave the gentleman sitting there her name and he handed her a tag.

"Put this on your suitcase and then give it to anyone with a high-vis' vest and a luggage cart, and then head inside."

That sounded easy enough. Tamara studied the couriers, watching as they interacted with various customers and decided to go with the one with the most luggage, and the soft eyes. It felt weird walking away from him though, like she was forgetting something.

Following the crowd, she went in the glass sliding doors and lined up in front of the counter that had her Deck name, Emerald, hanging above it. Every other person in the lineups around her had gray hair. It struck her funny. She would have figured that a singles cruise was a young person thing, or that they would have waited for one of those Senior Cruises or something. Was there such a thing as a seniors singles cruise?

But to each their own.

Stepping up to the counter, she showed them her ticket and her passport, and they handed her the card for her room. "When you board be sure to have your card and passport out as they will be scanning it. Your room will be ready around 5pm," the young lady said as she pointed to the escalator. "Just head up the escalator and someone there will let you know what to do next."

She'd shown up early, hoping to get on board before the big crowd rush, but it looked like everyone had the same idea. Her boarding time wasn't for another two hours, but she loved being on time or early if she could.

Following the lineup up the escalator, she paused when she reached the top. Various crowds lined up, waiting to go through security.

After she got through security, she waited with Emerald group. They were supposed to be taking them on deck by deck at certain times. And that meant she'd have a few hours left to go.

It didn't turn out that way though. She was motioned through the doors to where a photographer was taking pictures at the entrance to the gang plank. After her picture was taken, Tamara joined the rest of the crowd and began the long winding trek towards the boat, turning this way and that with the metal floor bouncing softly in everyone's wake.

One by one they were let onto the boat and finally it was her turn. Instead of walking into the atrium of the cruise boat, like she had expected, they stepped onto deck 10. Ahead of her were elevators on one side and stairs on the other. The doors on her right and on her left were currently closed and the crew motioned them ahead to either the stairs or the hallway on the opposite side which led to who knows where.