An Incredible Cruise Tale

[COLLEYBERRY]

A colleague told me an incredible cruise story today ,I thought I'd share.:)

A few years ago she and her husband went on a Caribbean cruise with some dear friends (who were celebrating their 25 th wedding anniversary)

In one of the ports, the husband purchased an emerald and diamond ring for his wife,( surprise anniversary gift.)

He asked my co worker and her husband to keep the ring in their cabin so his wife would not find it.

It was arranged with the dining room wait staff for the ring to be 'served' to the wife (on a plate surrounded by flowers) the second formal night.

The special evening arrived. My colleague and her husband,dressed in their finery,carrying the gift bag containing the precious velvet box,decided to stop at the internet station .to send a quick email to their children ,before heading to the dining room.

Placing the gift bag at her feet ,she fired off the email,then promptly picked up her evening bag ..yes you guessed it ..left.. leaving the very valuable ,entrusted to her care,oh so special gift ,behind.:eek::eek:

Arriving at the doors to the dining room( where she was to hand off the ring to the wait staff) the realization of what she did hit her like a thunderbolt.

She began babbling like an idiot to her husband."We have to go back! We have to go back! I left the ring ! I left the ring !

They raced back to the internet station.. the gift bag was gone....she began to cry ( she says her stomach still flips, even to this day when she thinks about it)

They raced to the front desk ,she admits to blubbering like a baby and being barely coherent while telling the story.

The staff member said. " Madam even if it is turned in we would need to see a receipt for something that valuable"

"I don't have the receipt !! He has the receipt !! She began to describe the gift bag ,velvet box ,and ring in minute detail.

"When exactly did this happen"he asked

"About six minutes ago."(she thinks she might have actually screamed this :D)

The staff member said " One moment" and went through a door behind the counter. He re appeared five minutes later ,carrying the bag,, my co worker nearly passed out with relief.

She doesn't know who the honest person was, who turned in the ring but she is forever grateful.

She had to make some repairs to her face before they could go to the dining room but the surprise went off perfectly.

She never told the husband about her carelessness and she only needed a Gravol and two Tylenol to get to sleep that night.:D

[kazu]

What a nice story. Nervewracking for your friend - but just such a nice ending. Either a very kind passenger or crew member saw it.

 

Just so nice - thanks for sharing :)

[jhannah]

Oh, mercy! I would have had a coronary! Thankful for the honest soul who turned the bag in.

[sail7seas]

Oh my goodness........

 

I was holding my breath reading the end of the story. I never dreamed it would have such a happy ending.

 

Thanks for sharing and huge thanks to the honest, good person who found the gift bag and turned it into the front office. That honesty gives us faith in each other. :)

 

[TiogaCruiser]

Let's hope he doesn't read CC.

[COLLEYBERRY]

Let's hope he doesn't read CC.

 

...oops.. let's hope my colleague doesn't either.:D

[DizzyDallasDi]

I love a happy ending!!

 

Honest people are the angels of the world and I'm so glad your friend was blessed by one. :D

 

That was a very sweet story and I'm so glad you shared it with us.

 

As an aside, emeralds and diamonds are my favorite jewel combo....someday a prince will bestow me with these...;)

[COLLEYBERRY]

I love a happy ending!!

 

 

As an aside, emeralds and diamonds are my favorite jewel combo....someday a prince will bestow me with these...;)

 

 

I wish for you ,diamonds, emeralds and a prince...til then you have that wonderful aft cabin to look forward to.:)

[mightycruisequeen]

Wow, what a lovely story! I just love to hear about honest people! :)

[luvcruisn']

Although this story had a happy ending, I see the situation from a different perspective. Working with cash all day in my job, I know what happens when something can't be accounted for, and who can be blamed. For me, I would never keep such a valuable item that didn't belong to me, in my cabin. I would have told the friend's husband to take it to the front desk where they have safety deposit boxes. If the ring had gone missing in the friend's possession, she could be liable for it. In this case, the ring had been turned in to the front office, but what would have happened if it hadn't? Those consequences needed to be considered before deciding to keep the ring for the friend in the first place.

[Krazy Kruizers]

certainly glad the story had a happy ending

 

thanks for sharing

[COLLEYBERRY]

Although this story had a happy ending' date=' I see the situation from a different perspective. Working with cash all day in my job, I know what happens when something can't be accounted for, and who can be blamed. For me, I would never keep such a valuable item that didn't belong to me, in my cabin. I would have told the friend's husband to take it to the front desk where they have safety deposit boxes. If the ring had gone missing in the friend's possession, she could be liable for it. In this case, the ring had been turned in to the front office, but what would have happened if it hadn't? Those consequences needed to be considered before deciding to keep the ring for the friend in the first place.[/quote']

Point well made.:) Hindsight is a wonderful thing, I am sure if she had it back again, (she probably would like the couple of years it took off her life back as well ;)) they may have done as you suggest.

To complicate things, it was a sea day and the exact ring couldn't possibly be duplicated from the middle of the ocean.( she was convinced the ring was gone and they were prepared to replace it,I think I would have offered up my first born as well :D)

Not to mention all this drama is taking place while the anniversary couple , blithely unaware, is waiting for them in the dining room.

How would you explain all this to dear friends.. ruining a surprise and shattering the evening... I have no idea.

In fairness to everyone ,I am sure the husband felt the ring was safe with his friends ( not unlike my co worker's own jewelery) and they must have been happy and excited to share in the surprise.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing....honesty, thankfully , in this case, was better.:)

[COLLEYBERRY]

I spoke with my co worker today and asked if she would ever "take custody" of a friend's jewelery again. She laughed and said "Nope,not ever"

I brought up the safe in the front office...she said " oh for sure a better idea" however she was still responsible for transporting the ring to the dining room and it was here the problem happened.

She still can't believe she left on it the floor:confused: Whatever the cause of her forgetfulness... she won't ever be in that position again.:)

[erewhon]

Thank you for sharing this amazing story. Was so pleased to read of the positive outcome.

[DizzyDallasDi]

To complicate things, it was a sea day and the exact ring couldn't possibly be duplicated from the middle of the ocean.( she was convinced the ring was gone and they were prepared to replace it,I think I would have offered up my first born as well :D

 

At the present time, I would strongly consider offering up both of mine. ;)

[mudscraper]

For centuries the male of the species (Best Man)has successfully handled the task of transporting the wedding band to occasions such as these. Any deviation from the norm can result in tragic consequences. Fortunately. alls well that ends well. :)

[COLLEYBERRY]

For centuries the male of the species (Best Man)has successfully handled the task of transporting the wedding band to occasions such as these. Any deviation from the norm can result in tragic consequences. Fortunately. alls well that ends well. :)

 

Yes Mudscraper this is very true... because we all know men never forget anything.:D:D

Now if men would just take over 'labor and delivery' the world would be in perfect balance ( with a greatly reduced population too,I expect ;)) :):)

[kazu]

Yes Mudscraper this is very true... because we all know men never forget anything.:D:D

Now if men would just take over 'labor and delivery' the world would be in perfect balance ( with a greatly reduced population too,I expect ;))

 

Love it :):)

[m steve]

My dad bought mom a diamond wedding band for their 25th anniversary and was to give it to her in Atlantic City where we were going for a convention. She was traveling later with some friends. When we stopped for lunch dad hung up his overcoat that had the ring box in it. When we left the restaurant he took the wrong coat and didn't realize it until we were checking in. Luckily he rememered the name of the restaurant and sure enough the other man noticed the mix up of coats, both blue wool and told the manager what happened and gave info of where he was staying (also AC) and dad met him, had a drink and exchanged coats and got the ring. The ring was worth more than both coats and we all had a good laugh.

[kamfan]

For centuries the male of the species (Best Man)has successfully handled the task of transporting the wedding band to occasions such as these. Any deviation from the norm can result in tragic consequences. Fortunately. alls well that ends well. :)

 

I have to say not always. I was acting as the best man for my father a few years ago and was so swamped with things to do, I forgot the ring in another room during the ceremony. Was it ever embarassing having to stop the ceremony to go try and find it. I didn't even remember where I had left it, but found it a few minutes later. That feeling of dread that I had forgotten it somewhere was not a feeling I want to replicate.

[COLLEYBERRY]

My dad bought mom a diamond wedding band for their 25th anniversary and was to give it to her in Atlantic City where we were going for a convention. She was traveling later with some friends. When we stopped for lunch dad hung up his overcoat that had the ring box in it. When we left the restaurant he took the wrong coat and didn't realize it until we were checking in. Luckily he rememered the name of the restaurant and sure enough the other man noticed the mix up of coats, both blue wool and told the manager what happened and gave info of where he was staying (also AC) and dad met him, had a drink and exchanged coats and got the ring. The ring was worth more than both coats and we all had a good laugh.

 

 

What a great story :):) Anyone else have a close call ??

[COLLEYBERRY]

I have to say not always. I was acting as the best man for my father a few years ago and was so swamped with things to do, I forgot the ring in another room during the ceremony. Was it ever embarassing having to stop the ceremony to go try and find it. I didn't even remember where I had left it, but found it a few minutes later. That feeling of dread that I had forgotten it somewhere was not a feeling I want to replicate.

 

 

Oh my ...you of all people would know how my co worker felt...even worse .. not just an unsuspecting couple but an entire wedding and bride and groom waiting..whew:eek: How glad were you to find that ring.?:):)