My Daughters Bear!!!?! OH NO!!!

[crusinpsychRN]

That was like a great short story! I'm sitting here in tears!

[summercruisin']

Thanks for sharing that story! I'm relieved for you that your very special and absolutely irreplaceable baby bear was found. I can imagine the anxiety you felt while waiting for them to look for him, as I have an almost 7 year old little boy who still sleeps with his "Mikey Monkey". My little boy couldn't wait to get his baby sister her own Mikey, and she loves hers already too. It's always so sweet and calming when I see my two little ones all snuggled up with their Mikey Monkeys at night. *sigh*

Thank God for a happy ending! *sniffling too!*

[CUPOLA]

What a wonderful cruise story could me written about this experience from "Little Bear's" perspective. He could tell about the cruise and then his being left behind and the kind people that found him and returned him to his precious friend, your daughter. I love to write, could be a great children's story. So glad Bear found his way back into the arms of those he means so much to.:p

 

Crusin Granny

[Guest Crazeecat5]

What a wonderful story...reminds me of my Pink dog that was left in a hotel 45 years ago when I was a kid. My family and I went on vacation to Washington DC. When we got home, we realized that my dog was also, left on the bed. My mother called the hotel and we were so happy to hear that they had found it. I remember they sent it back to me in a shoebox.

Aren't happy endings so.....well, happy?

Sheryl

[ilovefishsticks4]

touching story

[pungo3]

What a great story. I'm so glad you got the bear back!!! I had tears in my eyes while I read this. Thank you for sharing.

[Hawaii697]

This story so brought tears to my eyes.

I'm happy to hear you were able to get her little bear back.

You baby girl is adorable too!

[fllady61]

i am so glad you got your Bear back for your daughter. I don't think my DD has ever lost anything like that while traveling, but she did leave a necklace and ring at a cousins house once. They did mail them back to us as soon as she realized that they were there.

[dragonmom]

What a wonderful story!! You had me from the beginning. I have a 14 year old who has Asperger's. He has a Paddington bear his grandma gave him when he was born that he has slept with every day of his life. When he was 12 it began to fall apart. I had to spend almost $50 on ebay to find an exact replica to make him happy so he could sleep. He put the original in a box on his dresser (made it into a small bed). I can only imagine what a crisis it would be if he left it on the boat. We left him at church once and went back a few hours later only to see him sitting on the counter through a locked glass door. We had to find someone to open the door for us. I can only imagine how much more special your daughter's bear is. :) I'm sorry for your loss.

 

Thanks also to the poster with the idea of the emergency bracelets. What a great idea!!!!!!!!!!!1

[angelsfort]

my daughter is 12 years old now... she still sleeps with Rahja and Baby Bear has an important place on her bookshelf. We're going on a cruise in July (not Carnival, we're going to try Royal Caribbean for the first time) and I've ordered a stuffed bear to be waiting in the room for her when we arrive :-) She's a good kid, started school a year early, she's getting all A's & B's in her classes (a couple of advanced classes!) where she's almost always the youngest in her class.

 

Sorry just had to brag!

 

I recently jumped back on the cruise critic boards and thoroughly enjoyed re-reading the comments in this thread. :-)

 

I did end up writing a letter to Carnivel and a few weeks later got a reply back from them - they said they'd given copies of my letter (and story) to the crew members involved. They thanked me for writing them and they told me that the next time I cruised to mention the letter (from them) and we'd have a special surprise in our cabin when we arrived. (It was a fruit basket and some very yummy chocolate covered strawberries!!)

[tea4ular]

Just this morning we had to leave our lovely cruise ship... as we were driving away from the port (and watching the ship fading in the rearveiw mirror) I suddenly got this sinking feeling in my tummy.

 

I asked my cabin-mate if she had by any chance picked up my daughters little bear from her bed and put it in one of our bags... her answer? NO!

 

OH CRAP!!! (please note that "crap" is NOT the word / language I was using) I didn't even think to pick it up out of her bed this morning to put it in our luggage.

 

Here's a little background info on "Baby Bear" it's a Ty Beanie Bear, he's Tan with a plaid ribbon around his neck... and she got him from her daddy when she was just a year old. When she was 18 months old, we lost her daddy in a tragic accident. This bear is VERY special to us... its one of only a few items that we've got to remember him by (that he gave to her personally, that is) she sleeps with Baby Bear (and one other stuffed animal, also from her daddy) every night.

 

Okay, after I realized that we had left Baby Bear in our cabin, I did a quick U-turn (probably illegally) and headed back to the ship... I told my friend that we weren't going to tell my daughter what had happened until we knew what the outcome was going to be...

 

I parked in the bus parking and left them in the car as I ran back to the terminal... I got stopped before I could go inside and I had to explain to the lady that my daughter had left her bear in the cabin (I said "my daughter" but I think it was just as much my fault!!) and we were quite upset about it. The lady got on the radio to the lost and found department... she told them that we were looking for a lost BROWN teddy bear that was left on the FLOOR of our cabin... OMG!!! I kept telling the lady "he's tan, not brown and he wasn't on the floor... he was in her bed... he'd be mixed in with the covers!" but that woman wouldn't call the lost and found person back...

 

so then she tells me that I can't wait there, that I have to walk across the road and wait on the other side... and she'll signal me when she finds something out. Okay, so I walk over there shaking my head, just knowing that they aren't going to find our precious little Baby Bear because she gave the wrong information.

 

15 minutes go by... I'm pacing... fretting...

 

FINALLY!! The lady waves me back over... I walk up to her and she says "They found the bear, they are bringing it down now" YIPPEE!! yAHOOO!!!! And what do I do?? I start crying like a baby! geez!!!! I'm sure the people around me were thinking I was some kind of mental person because I was crying about a silly bear...

 

They made me go back across the road to wait again... and after another 5 minutes she calls me over again and hands me our little Baby Bear.

 

I go back to the car and get in and then hand Baby Bear to my daughter... it takes a minute, but then her eyes get great big, and she takes a sudden intake of breath... and says "Momma, did we leave Baby Bear on the ship?" I told her we did and she just hugs him and hugs him.

 

"Momma, he was probably scared when he saw us leaving our room without him... he was probably saying to us "wait, wait, what about me?" but we didn't hear him and then when we didn't come back he probably got very sad thinking we were gone forever" (she's 4 by the way)

 

she got me tearing up again...

 

The rest of the cruise was AWESOME!

 

We had a very similar thing happen with "Tilly" my daughters stuffed kangaroo - after we recovered her (Tilly) I had a dog tag engraved with Tilly's name and our phone number. I sewed it on her. Thankfully we've never misplaced her again! To put it into perspective my daughter is 26 now and Tilly lives on a shelf in our home - even though my "kid" lives 3000 miles away!

[maywell]

Glad you got the bear back and thank you for the update.

[jmcancruise]

I don't care how old the thread is. A wonderful heartwarming story worth hearing again.

[IPlayWithString]

 

"Momma, he was probably scared when he saw us leaving our room without him... he was probably saying to us "wait, wait, what about me?" but we didn't hear him and then when we didn't come back he probably got very sad thinking we were gone forever" (she's 4 by the way)

 

she got me tearing up again...

 

The rest of the cruise was AWESOME!

 

 

Awww........and now I"m crying.

[pattimelt]

I wasn't a member of CC when this was first posted, so I'm glad it was resurrected!! Stories like this are nice to read, and not everyone has been here since the beginning!!

[LandlockedCruiser01]

What a wonderful cruise story could me written about this experience from "Little Bear's" perspective. He could tell about the cruise and then his being left behind and the kind people that found him and returned him to his precious friend, your daughter. I love to write, could be a great children's story.

I agree. Unlike in most children stories, just do without the notion of the bear "magically finding his way back" to the kid. No magic, no miracles. Just the human compassion of hardworking people often overlooked; namely, low-rank crew members. I'm sure it was the stewards and the hotel staff that retrieved the bear, although an officer probably authorized the search. It could be good PR for Carnival, in a time of rampant cutbacks (no need to reiterate which ones :rolleyes:).

 

Either way, it's a perfect time to resurrect a thread like this. Good job! And happy Mothers' Day!

[elainmir]

I was so thrilled that you found the bear! :)

[Boozebabe]

This story deserves a nice lengthy letter of appreciation of your cabin steward, housekeeping, the lady in the parking lot and whomever else got involved.

 

Nice Happy Ending.

[angelsfort]

oh Boozebabe, I DID - I couldn't recall everyones names but I told them my sail date, cabin #, dinner times, etc. and as many names as I could recall. I got a nice letter back from Carnival thanking me for writing and saying that they were giving copies of my letter (and story) to everyone - they also said they'd be sure they were all recognized in front of their crewmates for their great work.

 

I hope they really did!

Edited May 10, 2015 by angelsfort

[SMSACE6]

I'm so glad you got the Bear back for your daughter:) Carnival crew really are exceptional.

Edited May 10, 2015 by SMSACE6

[lady_cruiser]

From the mouths of babes. Love your daughter's reaction.

[kona_wahine]

So glad you got it back. My 18 month old granddaughter has a ladybug that is the only toy she loves. It goes everywhere with her. She would be heartbroken to lose it.

[MazziB]

Thanks for sharing. Kudos to the Carnival crew. They did go above and beyond. Glad it had a good ending and still have faith in humanity.

[Jasalth]

While I know the thread is from 2007 originally, what an amazing story on Mother's Day! I am sure your daughter will remember this for the rest of her life and know how great of a mom you are!

 

I will say you had me in tears! I am 34 years old, and still pretty much keep my teddy bear with me at all times. It wasn't from a parent, my DH won it for me on our first real date, 21 years ago! I would be devastated if I lost him somewhere so I could just feel what your DD would have gone threw but with the added pain it was from her father.

 

Thank you for sharing the first time and the update about your now 12 year old daughter! My kids have been sailing with a stuffed Mario & Luigi since they were 3 and 6 and we almost left them behind our last cruise which would have been tragic!

[winddawn]

my daughter is 12 years old now... she still sleeps with Rahja and Baby Bear has an important place on her bookshelf. We're going on a cruise in July (not Carnival, we're going to try Royal Caribbean for the first time) and I've ordered a stuffed bear to be waiting in the room for her when we arrive :-) She's a good kid, started school a year early, she's getting all A's & B's in her classes (a couple of advanced classes!) where she's almost always the youngest in her class.

 

Sorry just had to brag!

 

I recently jumped back on the cruise critic boards and thoroughly enjoyed re-reading the comments in this thread. :-)

 

I did end up writing a letter to Carnivel and a few weeks later got a reply back from them - they said they'd given copies of my letter (and story) to the crew members involved. They thanked me for writing them and they told me that the next time I cruised to mention the letter (from them) and we'd have a special surprise in our cabin when we arrived. (It was a fruit basket and some very yummy chocolate covered strawberries!!)

I hope you will come back and post a photo of your daughter's new bear after your cruise. That new bear will be a really nice memento for her for her first RCCL cruise.

 

Happy Mother's Day! You should be very proud of your daughter. :-)