Hi. I’m Ryan. Here’s my Cruise Report. Enjoy.

Fantastic Firsts – “We shall not cease from exploration – The end of all our exploring – Will be to arrive where we started – And know the place for the first time.” (T.S. Elliot, 1963; “Little Gidding”)

1. Cruising: Let’s start at the very beginning. I’m friends with Marcello Surjopolos, good kid. Marcello told me about a cruise that a bunch of LDS singles were going on. This would be his third year attending and he’s had a blast every time. Well, he had been intending to go with some friends and when they dropped out he asked if I wanted to go with him. I was a little hesitant at first. Would I be taking too much time off from my little biz? Could I afford it? In the end, as is obvious, I opted to take the plunge and head on my first cruise. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Were there going to be people kissing in the elevator early in the morning? Only time would tell…viva la Victory!
2. Art Auction: Everyone chillin’ out in the sun in their swimsuits with music blaring isn’t really my scene. So, I’m an official art collector now. The ship had Park West, one of the largest art collectors in the world aboard to auction off Tip – In raising your bid card to help increase the sale price and have some fun, you better be sure you want what’s being bid on. I now own framed, matted and shipped Tweety and Silvester, not to mention one beautiful Viviana, whom I won for something over a bagillion dollars.
3. Scuba Diving: Marcello is PADI certified and was planning on diving on this trip. He really wanted someone to dive with. For a day or two I considered and even looked into getting certified before I left. I didn’t end up doing so, but on St. Thomas Diver Don was kind enough to take a few of us newbies under the sea. Amazing! I was a bit nervous at first, wondering if I’d end up freaking out and breath in water through my nose. No worries. One of the first things that caught my eye was the rising half bubbles that looked like rising mercury.

Fun Friendships – “I don’t care who you are…that’s funny!”

1. Marcello the Magnificent: Getting to hang out with my good friend Marcello held many rewards. Merely by example he spurred me on to get to know people, get out of my shell and to share my testimony with people. Because of the friendship it came naturally and none of it felt forced. I got to Marcello on a deeper level and there’s a lot of great things there.
2. Cruise Girlfriends: Though I got caught saying that if the “old ladies” could go down the slide atop the boat, I could do it too, I found much fun and friendship in several older ladies, including Frank Sinatra’s cousin. Sweet.
3. LDS Singles: It was great to on a cruise with a group of people my age that hold my same standards and beliefs. I felt in good company. It helped me to feel comfortable in reaching out to others.
4. The Fam: We arrived on land Sunday and stayed at Lisa’s cousins’ house, the Leherbauers. It was such a pleasure to stay there, play with their kids, walk on the beach with them and to get to hear a little bit about how they raised their well mannered kids.

Gospel Goodies – “I had a goal to share my testimony everyday.”

1. “Book of Mormon”s: Marcello had mentioned that there were ample opportunities on the ship to share testimony with great people and that being the case picked up some “Book of Mormon”s for us to hand out along the way. We took 6, we could have handed out more. It was a great feeling to connect with amazing people and to offer to them a core piece of who we are. All accepted very graciously and were thankful for the gift.
2. Walter in the Gym: After we finished running on the windy outdoor track the first day we went to the indoor gym to lift some weights and flex our amazingly gigantic muscles in the wall mirror…always a good ego booster. We worked out a little and then I met Walter, a Christian business owner from It’s not hard to share your feelings when people are asking you for them. I met Walter that day and began to talk about Christ. Marcello came up and we soon had an appointment to visit him and bring him a book. We met Walter’s wife a bit later and she was a beautiful lady, much light in her eyes.
3. Sammy & Fam: I didn’t anticipate running into the little 10 year old heart breaker that took the show at karaoke by singing Bon Jovi. Well, with a little “Wheel chair” sympathy from our bag carrier we right to the front of the line when exiting the ship and going through customs. Turns out that our bag man wasn’t supposed to do that…but what was done was done. Well, we ended up standing right next to Sammy and his family. On the trip this fun little kid was adopted by some of the other single guys on the ship. He had a great time with them and he and his family were open to receiving a Book of Mormon. Sammy kept saying that it was cool. He also did a checkin with our values. “You guys don’t drink, huh?” “You guys don’t do drugs either, huh?” Great Jewish family. I pray they’ll let the message into their hearts.
4. The Brazilians: It wasn’t uncommon to hear Marcello start talking Portuguese to people next to us in line, on the beach or in a shuttle. He loved to connect with people and one family especially saw a quick connection with him as we all talked to them on Coki Beach in St Thomas. The father is a helicopter pilot for the government and he say over and over when extended a gift from the heart, “Marcello, I will read this, I will read this.”

Amazing Activities

1. Beautiful Beaches: Aside from the nudie beach I would suggest the island beaches to everyone. Each had beautiful white sand and clear turquoise water. If you keep your mouth closed you’ll enjoy it more, just a little F.Y.I.
2. ATV Riders: We landed on St. Maarten and a group of us were planning on grabbing some scooters and cruising around the Island. We missed the group, but Heather and I found an ATV rental place. The owner of the place was a Rasta man who showed us the best places to go on the Island. The island was small and we spent the day driving all over. Heather was our captain and she had a blast. It was fun to see the cement houses, free roaming goats and chickens and the laid back islanders who would often wave to us. We didn’t quite make it all the way around the island, but we got to crash a high class condo resort, drive to the airport, and buy some stuff in a little store on the side of the road. When we finally arrived at Oriental Beach where many others where I got a chance to drive April around on the ATV. It was sweet to go exploring and even almost get hit by a car!
3. Non-drinking Games: Instead of dancing I opted to play some sweet ‘ol games with a big group of peeps. I’m not sure just what the waiters in the upstairs dining room thought about our obvious craziness. That’s alright, we had a great time playing the cup game, spoons, “Have a nice day” Uno and others. Had you not known we were LDS you may have thought we’d been drinking. We were quick to let people know the whole cruise however that we don’t drink.
4. Ocean Running: I had the goal to exercise each day on the trip. Success! I hadn’t exercised for some time. It felt pretty good to get out every day and do this. I ran with friends each day and I’d have to say that the fist day was the best. Monday morning Marcello and I got out on the top deck track. It was a bit windy. Each time we’d come around the left side of the boat the wind would propel us forward like it was going to take us right off into the Ocean. We found Heather up top too and she enjoyed the rocket propulsion with us.
5. Dazzling Dinners: Each night we met at 8 in the dining room for a high class dining experience. We could order whatever we wished and many times I did, having the weighter bring out several appetizers and a couple main courses. At dinner we got to know new people on the cruise. We met the LDS cruisers, and also some great ladies from Canada on the table next to one of my dinner tables. I got to talk with them about Joseph Smith and I got to know Steve and hear about nuclear energy, AWESOME!! My main waiter, Jose, was great. He was kind and even danced for us :o). Lobster, mahi mahi, shrimp and other seafood…mmm, so good.

Memorable Moments

1. Resort Crashing: So, on St. Maarten as I mentioned Heather and I snagged a 4-wheeler and hopped on the roads. We went up one hill and at the top could see a beautiful beach with a road in the distance that seemed to trace the beachline. Heading out for that adventure we found our way into The Westin Dawn Beach Resort. We partked the ATV, and casually strode onto the scene like we owned the place. I’d say that day we owned more than the resort, we owned the world! Heather suggested we order some fruit drinks, and so we did. We swam along the beach shore and let the waves carry us to shore. The tiered pool wasn’t left out either, we snuck up to the top level and with absolute stealth, rolled off the waterfall, falling into the pool below. Heather says we made a big splash. I agree, I think they loved us there. I also met a Korean lady there and spoke Korean to a stranger for the first time in a while. Was a little rusty.
2. Midnight Boogey: Each night many of the singles would spend time in the Arctic Lounge where they would “get down” until 2 or 3 in the morning. I didn’t feel comfortable early in the week to go dancing. I realized that it’s both the people I’m with and the scene that puts me in the mood for that kind of fun. Friday night for some reason I found my way to the red & black room where a live band played some sweet tunes. Beatles, CCR, Beach Boys and some other goodies. I was with Joel, Michelle, Megan & Brooke boogying to the groove. Had a blast!! Marcello finally wandered in and was shocked to see me getting my groove on because the rest of the trip I had declined to go dancing with them. It was the awesome girls that convinced me in the end to get out there and a perhaps a little bit of Joel’s T-qualizer shirt. No offence Marcello ;o). To make up for it Marcello and I danced with Chalyse and Heather just inside the casino to the sweet snythesized tunes of Jack Music. We gathered a crowd of older cruisers and even enjoyed some applause when we were done. Though I was convinced it was the silliness they enjoyed one of the couples that danced with us said that Heather and I had some potential…if we could get past the silliness that was. I enjoy spontaneity and silliness, we’ll see if I can give that up.
3. She’s Got the Look: So, here’s the story. My roomate back home, Nate Demers, had told me of a psychology experiment/date that he wanted to try. It was to spend 25 minutes getting to know a girl, and then spend 5 minutes looking into each others’ eyes without speaking. The idea came to me and I gave it a try the final night on the open sea. I won’t say who with because I feel the experience was deeply personal and unusually intense, but I will say that this may have been one of the best moments I spent on the cruise. I accomplished another cruise goal, to let someone into my world. In the silence (after there WAS silence, getting started was a bit difficult) I realized that I so often fill the air with words and avoid eye contact so that people cannot see into my soul, get to know me or even come to love me. Thanks secret stare friend! It was a moment I was grateful to share with you :o).
4. Aquatic Sunrise: Two times I woke early enough to catch the sunrise. Once was when we were coming into port at St. Thomas and the other was the first day on sea on the way home. We couldn’t see the sunrise the first time because we came into port on the opposite side of the sun in St Thomas. No matter, Marcello had a great talk that morning. He’s pretty good at sharing his feelings. He had the idea to wake up Lisa and Chalyce to watch it with us. I’m not sure they enjoyed it as much as we did :o). With only a mere two hours of sleep, Suzanne, Heather and I caught the second of my two sunrises. This time the meeting was planned and this time more enjoyable. The sun lit up the whole sky and colored the clouds with increasingly lighter and lighter shades of red, orange and yellow. It was subtle, but so quick at the same time. I mused how the Little Prince may have felt seeing 44 sunsets in one day.
5. Breakfast in Bed: One night playing games in the upstairs dining room the topic of breakfast in bed came up and I asked Megan, the girl with beautiful eyes and a sunshine smile, what she liked for breakfast. Judging by her face the next morning when Marcello, Joel and I came a knockin’, I don’t think she had a second thought about my seriousness. When I came back to cabin 1430 that night and posed to the other guys, all were in favor. So, two days we woke up, ordered a bagillion things from room service and delivered on a cart, the eloquently arranged fruits and breakfast danishes to several cabins of awesome girls. Marcello said it scored us points, but we all just felt good being able to do some service on the trip, another goal I had written down.
6. Let’s Go for a Walk: Again, I’ll keep the contents of this one private, but following something I remember Marcello saying earlier in the week I went out of my way to get to know several of the girls on the boat one on one on a deeper level. I mentioned to a girl that I’d like to go for a walk with her one evening. I was glad that she didn’t think I wanted to make out and refuse the sincere offer. We talked about her family and about what makes her tick. It’s amazing just how cool people are when you take the time to get to know them. I also enjoyed that there weren’t any “let’s hook up this week” expectations by the girls that I got to know…else if there were, I was clueless. Probably better that way ;o).

More to come…there was just so much that I can’t possibly get it all down now. In all, the cruise was an amazing experience physically, socially, emotionally, and…well, financially, :o). It was def. a rejuvenation! Thanks all for the fun! I had a blast!!!