It was January 25, 2019, when I stepped on to the grandest ship I’ve ever seen: “The Carnival Inspiration” heading out to Ensenada. I felt like Rose from the movie “Titanic” and I was hoping to meet a Jack Dawson but I didn’t.

I love the film “Titanic.” It Is one of my favorite movies and when watching, I always imagine me as Rose – so this was my time to shine!

When I was invited to sail this astronomical ship, I jumped at the chance. It was an 80’s karaoke cruise which is my era. It was three nights of singing. I had planned six months in advance.

It was only $300 plus my passport card, which was $70. When my picture was taken at the local post office, I was asked to remove my earrings, necklace and put my hair behind my ears. You’re asked to do that so that your face is completely exposed.

A lady friend of mine invited me along with other ladies, a few couples, and other guests. We all wore our karaoke T-shirt’s. People actually thought we were professional singers, ha!

When we arrived in Long Beach, I could not believe my eyes when I saw this massive, majestic man-made ship sitting on God’s creation - the ocean. I was starry eyed, stunned, and smiling at this monstrous ship. This beauty of a ship carries a guest capacity of 2,054, and has an onboard crew of 920, also the gross tonnage is 70,367.

As I made my way onto the ship, I turned and imagined me waving to my family and friends – re-enacting the movie. I couldn’t help myself. Sad to say none of my family or friends were there to see me off.

Karaoke night had a full lineup of singers. I sang “Like a Prayer” by Madonna. When you sing, you get a raffle ticket for singing, and at the end of the evening the raffle is drawn, and I won. It was a $25 gift card. Dinner on the ship was elegant while music played and the waiters and waitresses would start dancing and you’re gestured to get up and join in the fun, while waving your serviette.

I and two other ladies shared a cabin and I was asked if I would take the top bunk. The cabin was the size of a match box, so small we were literally nose-to-nose, squeezing and holding in our tummies as we passed by each other.

Snoring went on each night. I said to the ladies, “You both snored last night,” and in unison they said, “So did you!”

Sunday we stopped in Baja, Mexico and I recently just found out from my father’s sister that my paternal grandmother was from Baja. That’s good to know because I never knew that.

By the way, one very important thing, while I was on the cruise, I had completely lost my taste buds from being previously sick with the flu. It is the worst feeling. Everything tasted metallic like…So I really didn’t enjoy the food, and everything looked so good but I just could not grasp the taste. But I had to eat.

The karaoke was fun. You get up and sing your favorite song. The best part is not knowing how to sing but having the courage to get up and sing. Yeah, you guessed it -- that was me.

Every now and then you’d feel the swaying of the ship. I strolled the deck, and I imagined me as being Rose from “Titanic,” although I did not have the attire she did. When my friends and I set foot at the top deck, I asked my friend Bob to take a picture of me with my arms spread out just like Rose in the movie! Again, no Jack Dawson.

He said, “Yo, are you serious?!” I said, “Yes! Hurry up and snap the picture!”

I played miniature golf which was on the top deck and I won. I played ping-pong with my friends, Bob and Patty; I beat Patty and Bob beat me by one point.

One amazing thing I did notice on the ship was that everyone was so happy and friendly. I also noticed everyone had a drink in their hand.

We played bingo one evening and another evening we went to a comedy club. The comedian gave a brilliant performance.

Everything is just non-stop and you have to keep up with your friends – it’s go, go, go! But I needed to have some down time every now and then so I would sneak to the cabin and just rest.

Going on this cruise was an exciting experience for me and I definitely would like to experience it again.

Yolanda Reyna is a member of the writing class offered through the Cerritos College Adult Education Program. It is held off-campus at the Norwalk Senior Center.