I've been dealing through a bit of anger, disappointment, and sadness for the way my older sister acted throughout the cruise. That's the real reason I haven't been here-attending anger management classes!
First of all, before I start to vent, I have to say that 95% of my cruise vacation went above and beyond my expectations!!
The service!! The classic beauty of the ship!! The luxury!! The meals!! The shows!! The wonderful memories made with my (younger) sister, mom, dad, nephews and niece!! St. Nautica's Snorkeling Expedition!! In so many ways, it was the ultimate "once-in-a-lifetime" vacation, and I was so blessed to take part in it with my family. I honestly can't thank my parents enough for such a wonderful gift! I know I only got to meet a very few of you, but it was always fun when I got to put a face with a name!
I'm not really sure where to start with the negativity that eminated from my older sister from the get-go...you might remember that I was quite concerned of her attitude prior to us leaving, but I honestly thought this would be limited to a few comments on how "stupid" Disney was. THAT I could have handled. Unfortunately, she turned out to be much MUCH worse that that...to the point where I am still literally stunned at her bitter and ungrateful attitude. (Please keep in mind that my older sister is 37 years old...7 years older than me. She is the oldest sibling of my family.)
On the way to port, I could not believe my ears when I heard her complain loud-and-clear two or three times how we should have gone on a Carnival cruise instead..."they are SO much more fun!" (This coming from a first-time cruiser!) Supposedly fun=rock-climbing wall. That was the basis for her complaint...in that Carnival has one, Disney doesn't. When we pulled into port and saw the Carnival ship next to the Magic, she stated once again how much more fun the vacation would have been if we were going on THAT ship instead! All said in a voice loud enough for my very-sensitive mom (who was not only paying half of all the adults' passage, but ALL of my sister's kids' passage...including their tips!!!!) to hear. The look on my mom's face every time my sis made this comparison during the trip to port...I don't get angry very often, but at that moment, I literally could have punched her. My younger sis and I had a hayday communicating our extreme dislike of "older sis" via facial expressions!! The most outrageous part of the whole "Carnival is better than Disney because they have a rock-climbing wall"...ummm...complaint that "older sis" was communicating was this: She had injured her knee running a marathon a few weeks before and was on crutches!! She couldn't have even DONE the stupid rock-climbing wall!!
Nothing was good or fun or nice or right for her. She literally HATED our waiter, and made the comment to me on the way to the airport after the cruise, that if I was going to post a report of our trip..."I'm sure you'll include the information on our horrible inferior waiter, right?" When I looked at her, stunned, and said, "Ummm...he wasn't HORRIBLE at all!" She snorted and turned away, stating, "He was TOO horrible!! He shouldn't even be allowed on the ship!"
Now I go out to eat at nice restaurants quite a bit and have to say that I am pretty good at figuring out good and not-so-good service. Our waiter was not the absolute best that I've ever had...but he was a pretty darned good especially with our group of 12. She made it clear that she and her husband didn't deem it necessary to tip him...nothing. When I heard this, I could barely lift my eyes in embarrassement to greet him at breakfast disembarkation morning.
Deck nine was too LOUD. Deck ten was too sunny. Deck four was too windy. The first couple of days she barely left her cabin. The activities were too immature or too active or too...You get the idea. Why did we have to wait in line for pictures? I guess I'll go to high tea with all the girls, but I don't really like tea. Why are all these kids here? The shows sound so stupid-no, my kids won't want to attend with you. (Ummm...some of my very favorite memories are watching my 14-year-old niece and 12-year-old nephew enjoy the shows each night by my side!) If only we were on a different cruise...we would be having a great time! Why would they have the dessert buffet in the place where all those kids were running around!? I can't believe that they don't have APPLE juice at the beverage station...that's all I've been wanting. Why don't they have all the movies in the *big* theatre (ie. Walt Disney Theatre)...the other one is way too small! Disney is a HORRIBLE employer...I've been talking to the staff, and they can't wait to get away from here. To my 16-year old nephew-"I bet the Wild Side excursion was dumb, huh?" (once again, my mom was paying for this for both nephew and niece...and once again, sis was proven wrong. They had a great time!
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We had a bit of a problem one night with my nephews (16 and 12...my older sister's children) who were spending the night in my younger sister's room (they had a curfew of 2am, but she woke up at 4:30am and they weren't in the room!)-my younger sis wasn't sure what to do, but obviously didn't like being taken advantage of-so she wrote "older sis" a note concerning the matter with all the information. She wanted to talk to her face-to-face, but it was our St. Maarten day where we had planned on early excursion and my older sis and family had an afternoon excursion-thus, we wouldn't be seeing them 'til dinnertime due to scheduling. We naturally thought the matter would be discussed sometime during the day since they would be together for a matter of hours...I mean, that would make SENSE. Imagine our shock when "older sis" brings the topic up (it was obviously the first discussion of the day of the incident) as we are sitting at the dinner table, waiting for the rest of our group!! This...moments before we are beginning my nephew's long-awaited "Pirate Night" 12th birthday celebration!!! ARGHHH!!! Shiver me timbers, indeed!! It was so inappropriate...such a clear case that she didn't want to have to deal with moody guilty kids during HER time of snorkeling, but wreck my nephew's birthday dinner (and mine as well since I was the auntie to try to make him smile the whole rest of the time)...no problem!!
The icing on the cake was when I heard her (and hubby) complain how *boring* the adult beach was at
Castaway Cay!!
What made this statement all the more ridiculous was the fact that we go to the NC beach every year as a family, and she spends the whole week sleeping and relaxing on the beach. No complaints of how boring THAT is! To hear my new BIL (sister's husband) complain to my husband (who wasn't *blessed* to be part of their company for the week due to having to work) at MCO how it "wasn't my cup of tea...you know, relaxing and having nothing to do all week", that was the last straw. My new BIL is a very overworked detective...ie: he NEVER gets to relax, be without his cell phone, etc. How in the WORLD can someone who works with death and stress every day complain about *having* to relax is....mind-boggling. I literally CANNOT wrap my head around it! (This from the guy who has been to said beach vacation with our family and LOVED relaxing as well!)
As hubby and I walked away from them at the airport, they were both having a major hissy fit concerning the fact that "mom had TOLD us not to get an early flight out and now we have to wait here in the airport for several more hours!" All this, of course, was my mother's diabolic plot as mom and dad were fortunate enough to change their 4pm flight to a noon flight...leaving my older sis and family as part of their evil twisted plan!!
Like I said before, I am still in shock at her temper tantrums-there was absolutely NO reason for any of it! I think that's what gets me the most-her ungratefulness and complaints were just unnecessary and uncalled for. First of all, if you don't like something, keep it to yourself and vent later to your husband in the privacy of your stateroom. I know Disney isn't perfect, but...geesh! Common decency. What ever happened to "counting your blessings"?? I mean, sure...a rock-climbing wall would have been fun, but even without it, you are A). Not working, B). Complete freedom from your regular crazy life balancing motherhood, a new marriage, and a full-time career C). You don't have to cook, clean, make the kids do their chores/ homework/activities, walk the dog, go to the grocery store for a WHOLE week D). On top of not having to cook or clean, you can get food whenever you want...you can sleep whenever you want...you have time to READ! E). You have a whole week to spend with your family...not only your kids and new husband, but people that you only see once or twice a year.
I just don't get it...and I probably won't. I'm just so mad that my wonderful trip and memories are soiled around the edges because of her. Granted, for some reason, I'm much more affected NOW than I was during the cruise-mostly from all you wonderful people out there that encouraged me to let go of feeling responsible for her having a good time before I even went. Well, I don't feel guilty or sad that she didn't have a good time...I just feel sad that she is this totally different person than I ever thought, disappointed that my older sister would act in such a disgraceful and immature way in such a wonderful environment, angry that she has turned me off of being with her for a very long time.
I know this was extremely long...but thanks. Thanks for listening...I've been needing to get that out for a couple of weeks now. Perhaps by sharing I can begin to heal, to forgive, and to go back to all those wonderful blessed memories of a wonderful blessed vacation.
IVY
, so we understand. Bob is right--remember the fun you had and forget the bad parts. I personally wish my trip had been a bit MORE boring. Our trip was a bit stressful and exhausting, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything--especially when I look at those wonderful tropical pics during our ridiculous winter weather (6 above zero this morning and they're predicting a possible snow storm on Wednesday). I also agree with Kim--as foster parents we see families that are happy having food, let along being able to afford the luxury of a cruise. Sounds like your sis needs a lesson in reality!
