Remembering The 911 World Trade Center Attack

Today marks as the 11th year anniversary of September 11 World Trade Center attack in New York City. During that time I worked as a Cruise Staff for RCCL or Royal Caribbean International on boad Explorer of the Seas, and this was the cruise company's newest ship in that year. The ship sets its port of call to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. As a Cruise Staff, I was assigned outside the ship as tour escort, as one of my main duties and responsibilities. I heard some of the crew saying what transpired in New York, that the World Trade Center collapsed as the plane hit the tall building. Some of the passengers were still unaware though, since they were on tour.

When we came back to the main port of call of the ship in Miami, Florida, the passengers were stranded and we were not allowed to go out from the ship. As part of the ship crew, we were all busy, trying to pacify the angry passengers as some of their flights back home were cancelled. The passengers were all upset and we could not do anything about what was ordered to us. We were all tasked to do what had to be done and since I was assigned at the gangway, I had to explain everything to the passengers stuck up at the lobby of the ship. The delay took overnight as some were able to go out couple of hours after the ship was at dock and some of the passengers had their overnight stay on the ship. All the itineraries were cancelled, and the ship had to remain in the port of Miami for 2 nights.