We were a hodge podge, to be sure.  Different ages, different cities, just different.  It started when I stalked them, really.  Sunday night when we first set sail, I felt a bit ill, so I went to bed early, but I refused to spend my entire vacation holed up in my room.  Monday night I ventured out armed only with the knowledge that there was karaoke happening and that there were about 20 bars on the boat, so surely I could find something going on somewhere.  I had time to kill between dinner and karaoke, so I went to the Bull & Bear.  I figured it was a good sign that there was a bar on the boat with the same name as one of my locals. Turns out I was right.  I saw a rowdy bunch in the bar.  I noted them.  I had one drink, and then I headed to karaoke.  A few minutes later, in walked the group from the B&B, and two others later joined them.  After karaoke that started kinda slow but ended with a bang thanks to Dirk Diggler, a slew of Puerto Rican girls, and a very loud crew from Knoxville, I decided to venture to the ship’s club, The Crypt.  I walked in a few minutes behind the group from karaoke.  I proceeded to get drunk, and then I made first contact by apologizing for stalking their group.  By night’s end, I’d been inducted in and had been formally introduced to most of the group - Brandon, Ryan, Shayna, and Sara.  It took another day for me to be introduced to Raz, and even longer to discover that his friend was Matt.  There wasn’t a night after that on the boat where we weren’t together.  We drank, we danced, we drank, we danced, we laughed, we drank, we danced, we bonded. 

Wednesday night I met Elisa.  She was sitting at the bar alone, just as I had been for most of the night Monday.  We bonded over our shared appreciation of Jose, the best bartender aboard, and by Crypt’s closing she was one of us.  We had some other folks that made cameos around us (Chris, Wade, Joel, Texas Squared, the Canadians, and Lawrence), and we had a blast together.

We came from all across the country - California, Florida, Texas, and Maryland.  I was the oldest by a few years, but neither that nor the fact that I was nearly 30 and traveling with my parents tarnished this great group’s impression of me.  It’s been a long time since I’ve had a big group of friends - since college really - and I now know I miss it.  I know it may seem more than a little strange to say that I’m really missing a group of people I didn’t even know two weeks ago, but sitting in my apartment the other night they were heavy in my thoughts.  We shared a lot in a short time. 

We people watched, we danced til 4 a.m., we hung out until the wee hours in the hot tubs, we laughed together… we made memories.  When I lost my purse and came to them crying, these guys worked at helping me find it - and not just while I was standing there.  No, they took time out of their night of fun to help me out while I was waiting in line at guest services trying to invade the lost and found.  My purse had been found, and when I walked back out to the deck party, I found Elisa, Ryan, Brandon, Shayna and Sara taking the hunt into their own hands.  It was really hard not to start crying I was so touched by what they were doing.  I somehow managed to keep my cool, however, and we put our party hats back on and partied our asses off on that wobbly, slick deck (it had rained that night and the boat was really rocking) and then finished off our night in Olive or Twist (a brilliantly named club, if you ask me).  With the exception of that night we spent all of our late nights in The Crypt.  If I had to come up with a name for our crew, it would definitely be The Crypt Keepers.

So who are these people that made such an impression on me?  Let’s find out.

Shayna is that girl.  You know the one I mean.  The one that is so cute you totally want to hate her, but then you find out she’s sweet and sincere and you just can’t help but like her instantly.

Sara is the very first cool Sara-without-an-h I’ve ever met.  She is genuine and sweet and always has a big smile on her face.  She’s so great that I even let the fact that she went home early one night TO READ on a CRUISE SHIP where there were HOT BOYS and DRINKING slide by with barely a sarcastic remark.  For those reading that know me, that’s impressive. 

I didn’t get to know Raz all that well (by the way, it’s pronounced Rahz).  In fact, we didn’t really talk much until the last night, which kinda makes me sad.  He’s a cool guy, and he doesn’t get upset when you call him on his bullshit.  In fact, when I called him on his bullshit I was told that I had a friend in California if I ever made it out there.  He’s my kind of people.

Matt was kind of a mystery at the start of the trip.  Whenever I asked about him I got, “I think his name might be… Matt?” He was quiet and standoffish in the beginning, and then one night he started dancing with me and then stealing drinks from all my beers (or trying to steal my beers in general).  Matt is a very sweet guy with (and I can’t believe I’m gonna put this in print because he may read it, but…) a banging body (thank you, Marines!) What he lacks in rhythm he more than makes up for in enthusiasm (on the dance floor, you dirty-minded readers!), and contrary to my mental impression of most Marines, he can follow as long as you guide him.  I was vocal about lots of crushes on the boat, but Matt was my secret one.

Ryan… oh, Ryan.  A social butterfly (and I mean that in a very manly way, of course) if ever there was one.  He was always flitting around talking to people (although he never flitted far from Shayna, and together they were so cute you had to control your gag reflex).  He’s that guy you know at home that runs into someone they know EVERYWHERE you go.  He’s a great guy with a great energy, and he’s a guy I am glad I got to know and hope to continue knowing.

Elisa and I shared a lot of fun on this short trip.  We have the same basic taste in men, the same ability to charm bartenders, the same taste in clothes (we totally bought the same shirt on the trip without knowing it), and the same sense of snark.  She was my drinking buddy, my boy watcher, my sister aboard.  She is that gorgeous girl with great hair that somehow never seems to make you feel like the shlumpy friend, which is a seriously rare feat.  Elisa totally made me wish I’d moved out to Miami when I had the chance.  I’m hoping we stay in touch, because I totally dig her.

And finally, as if I don’t have enough Brandon’s in my life’s story, I have another one to add.  This Brandon, who I guess will be dubbed Brandito (sorry, but I really do have a lot of Brandons), is totally the younger brother I never even knew I wished I had (did that make any sense at all?).  He was the youngest of our bunch in age, but his insights into people and his level of maturity made me mostly forget our ten-year age difference (at least until we had to buy him drinks on the down low).  He was my main dance partner, and we frequently ran up and down the stairs to find each other during certain songs.  He made sure I let loose the young-at-heart girl from my not-so-young body, and I know this cruise would have been much less interesting without him by my side. 

These are the people that made this a great trip for me.  I know I’ll never forget them (and I have over 100 pictures from our last night to ensure that), and I’ll always remember…

Where’s the lemon? ~ CONNOR! CONNOR! ~ The looooooong intro version of “I Want You To Want Me” ~ In Baltimore, we know how to DANCE! ~ It’s great that European’s have very few body issues, but maybe they should remember that WE may have issues with their bodies. ~ 7403 (seriously – I tried so hard to remember that room number it will be in my mind forever) ~ I am pretty sure Soulja Boy invented that dance as a joke to see how many white people he could get doing it. ~ Prince ~ Joel and all his drama ~ Alejandro, this girl is like, TOTALLY in love with you! ~ Hip Hop Class ~ There’s no point in laying out. It’s boring.  Okay, well, how about we lay out and you sit and talk with us.  Oh, okay, that’s fine. ~ I HATE THIS DJ! ~ Pink dress girl ~ The boots with the fur, WITH THE FUR! ~ The Canadians – America’s Asshats (nothing against most Canadians, this bunch were just asshats) ~ She’s mad at you for playing games, so now she’s… playing games?  Nice ~ You know what comes from Texas, right?  Great tits? ~ Blah blah blah GASOLINA! ~ Late night sandwiches ~ You’re magical! ~ Pulling into port in Miami ~ and tons more. 

To my fellow Crypt Keepers, I meant what I said when we had our last group shot together – Thank God for you guys, because this trip would have sucked without you.