Family Cruise Rekindles Relationships

Thirteen Bahamian Adventists and one friend of Adventists, led by Barrington and Annick Brennen, Family Ministries Director for the Bahamas Conference, flew from Nassau to Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on the first morning flights of Bahamas Air and American Air on Sunday, August, 19, 2007, to begin what can be described one of the most beautiful journeys on the high seas.  These happy cruisers where joined by three other Adventist Bahamians from Grand Bahama.   [ See Photos   More photos added Friday, August 31, 2007]

EIGHT HUNDRED HAPPY ADVENTISTS

In spite of the threat of Hurricane Dean, we were not going to let anything, not even a hurricane, dampen our spirits.  Almost 800 other eager Adventists from all over the Inter-American Division joined us on the cruise.  Some of the countries represented on the first-ever Adventist Family Ministries Cruise were:  Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba (we were blessed to have one couple from Cuba), Dominica, Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, St Maarten, St Thomas, and Venezuela.   More than 240 Adventists came from the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe alone.  There was also a large group from Haiti.  Because of the hurricane many Jamaicans were not able to come on the cruise.  Their flights out of Jamaica to Fort Lauderdale ware cancelled because the local airports were closed due to Hurricane Dean. 

 

SWEET FELLOWSHIP

The fellowship was sweet on the cruise.  Many of us rekindled old relationships, created new ones, and got a little closer to our Adventist brothers and sisters from Inter-American Division. It was like a miniature General Conference Session on board a giant ship, but without the business sessions and the ministry booths.  We all ate sumptuously.   Even the vegetarians enjoyed the non-dairy sugar-free delights and delicious stew beans.    The Coral and Horizon Buffet Dinner Restaurants were the most popular among the Adventists.   Even long after eating a meal many would linger around chatting, laughing, and relaxing with friends.

Many enjoyed the ship’s amenities and features:  the four swimming pools, miniature golf, live easy-listening music in the plaza by world-class musicians, the art gallery, the library, and wholesome entertainment.  One of the highlights of the cruise was the formal dining on Tuesday and Friday afternoons.   Just about all of the 800 Adventists dressed up in their Sabbath best or banquet attire, to eat dinner in the Palm Dinning Room.   These were formal nights for all passengers on board.   What a wonderful sight it was to see Adventists walking just a few yards from their State Rooms (Cabins) to eat dinner in their Sabbath best.  There were lots of invigorating conversations and wholesome chatting times around tastefully decorated dinner tables served by well-disciplined and friendly waiters from countries around the world.

A wonderful experience for me was to meet Pastor Carnegie who worked in The Bahamas as a literature evangelist and pastor about 45 years ago.  We spent many hours together reminiscing and having fun.    I also spent a lot of time with my school mate, Jean Tastet, an auditor of the Inter-American Division, and his dear wife, Helene.  Helene played for our wedding ceremony in Martinique 30 years ago.   It was also a joy to spend time with my brother-in-law, Pastor Guy Valleray, and his wife, Emmanuel.    Pastor Valleray is the Family Ministries Director of the French Antilles Union (Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana).

THE PORTS

Because of Hurricane Dean, the planned itinerary was changed.  In fact, most of us did not know where we were going until we were at sea.  We just wanted to get on board and be on our way.  The earlier itinerary would have taken us to Princess Cays, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Mexico.   Our first stop was to The Bahamas, Princess Cays.  It is a beautiful little island near South Eleuthera.  It is leased to Princess Cruises by the Bahamas Government for the purpose of providing a beaching experience to cruisers.   The island has a beautiful beach, entertainment, snorkeling, diving, and much more.   Hundreds came off the boat with the use of onboard lifeboats and spent about six hours on the lovely island.    When all were aboard around 4 p.m., we set sail for St Maarten, a 965-mile journey (839 nautical miles), providing our first full day at sea.   After St. Maarten we sailed to St Thomas, the Virgin Islands.    These two wonderful Caribbean islands offered a varied of activities, exploration and excitement.   Many passengers bought souvenirs and gifts for their family members back home.     By the end of the journey (from Port Everglades, Florida and back) we had traveled 2530 miles (2200 nautical miles) at an average speed of 16 knots (17 miles per hour).  Our highest speed was 21 knots (24 miles per hour) from Princess Cays to St Maarten.

 

SEMINARS

During our days at sea, Tuesday, Friday, and Sabbath afternoons (3:00 to 5:00 p.m.), the Family Ministries Department arranged exciting seminars.    The speakers were Dr. Ricardo Norton, from Andrews University, who spoke about developing Christ-centered relationships; Dr. Colwick Wilson, from Loma Linda University who presented the results from an Inter-American Division survey on family life and shared principles of healthy family living; Dr. Elie S. Honore, Health Ministries director of the Inter-American Division, who spoke on the health benefits of forgiveness; and finally, Pastor Jansen and Gloria Trotman who spoke on Sabbath morning and Sabbath afternoon about living for Jesus and the differences between the sexes.  The seminars were informative and thought provoking.  There were even moments of laughter, especially when Dr. Norton, speaking of different kinds of difficult family members, wittingly said that the “reason Peter denied Jesus three times was because Jesus healed his mother-in-law.” 

Another highlight and touching experience during the Sabbath services was listening to 800 Adventists singing “We Have This Hope” in three languages at one time: English, French, and Spanish.  It was so beautiful! 

THE SHIP

The ship (Caribbean Princess) is so large (950 feet long and 18 stories tall) that many where able to get in their daily jog or walk if they did not want to go to the well-equipped gym and spa.  The jogging track signs stated “9.7 laps equal one mile.”   Or one many choose to walk around the entire boat on Deck 7 where 2.7 laps equal on mile.   The Caribbean Princess, the largest in the Princess fleet of 18 ships, has a passenger capacity of 3600 and a crew of 1200.  This voyage had 3200 passengers.    It’s amazing how the crew meticulously keeps the boat so clean, dust free and shiny.  If one was privileged to be up around 6 a.m., one would notice uniformed men and women enter restaurants with a piece of cloth in each hand:  one to wipe clean and the other to buff and shine.  I was amazed as I watched them wipe and shine counter tops, window sills, door knobs, hinges, rails, telephones that I thought were already spotless.  This was a daily routine.    They certainly went out of their way to make our trip clean, fresh, and pleasant.    There was perhaps one entertainment area that suffered because of the 800 Adventist present onboard.  It was the casino.  Nevertheless, we all had a great time and look forward to going on another cruise.  

 

WILL YOU GO ON ANOTHER CRUISE

During the final few minutes being together on Sabbath, Pastor Trotman expressed how he had been blessed by the experience.   By then he was beginning to feel excited about planning another cruise.   He asked the large crowd: “Would you like to go on another cruise. “ They all shouted back: “Yes.”  So we look forward to another cruise, perhaps to Alaska in 2009.  Start planning now.

 

Article by Barrington H. Brennen, Family Ministries Director of the Bahamas Conference (August 29, 2007)