For students in the Triton Arts Department, summer came months early.

On Friday, April 12, around 34 students and staff members left school after first lunch.

These students went on their way to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport to fly to Orlando. From there, the students boarded the Royal Caribbean’s Majesty of the Seas for a sun-filled cruise to the Bahamas until the 16th.

This cruise did not come cheap. The cost of this voyage to the Caribbean was around twenty-five thousand dollars total. TV Production teacher and chaperone Bob Lathrop spoke about the demands of the trip.

“It certainly didn’t come cheap,” said Lathrop. “I know parents probably weren’t too thrilled with having to pay so much, but I do think that it was worth it for them to see all of the fun their kids had.”

The ship had many different areas with different activities that passengers could enjoy. Things to do on the ship included swimming, karaoke, rock wall climbing, shuffleboarding and eating at many different onboard restaurants. The destinations of the ship were Nassau, where the students and staff could either go snorkeling or visit a zoo with different marine animals on display. The next destination was the private island of Co Co Kay, which is owned by Royal Caribbean. Students could spend an entire day at the beach and swim in the ocean, as well as spend time sleeping in hammocks underneath palm trees.

Sophomore Sophia Mailhiot spoke about her experience on Co Co Kay.

“It was so pretty,” said Mailhoit. “I slept in a hammock for a little while, then I bought a drink that came in a pineapple. (Laughs) I still don’t know what that drink was called.”

Dinner was served for free every night in a fancy dining hall. The entree and course selections included escargot and herb crusted halibut. Junior Sergey Avery spoke about his experience eating escargot for the first time.

“It was actually awesome,” said Avery. “I was really expecting the worst with it, but when I tried it, I really liked it. It was kind of anti-climactic.”

When the ship had finally made its way back to Orlando, many of the students did not want to go back to New England. Some claim that they had made new friends and family within their short time on the cruise.

“It was really bittersweet,” said Mailhoit. “I started to miss my dog back at home, but I also had so much fun being in the Caribbean. I’ll miss the people that I met there.”

On April 16th the students and staff boarded a plane back to New England. When they arrived, they were met with cold weather and rain.

“It definitely snapped me out of vacation mode,” said Lathrop. “I wondered why we even chose to come back (Laughs).”

When asked if he would recommend going on a school cruise trip to anyone else, Avery responded positively.

“I definitely would,” said Avery. “I wouldn’t want anyone to miss out on an awesome opportunity like that.”

Avery also warned of not making the most of your high school experience.

“You have to make the four years you spend at high school count,” said Avery. “You’d never wanna look back and feel sad that you didn’t use them to your advantage.”