The Cruise We Didn’t Take - and the Love That Still Set Sail 🚢
We had the plane tickets. The cruise reservation. The fancy dresses. My entire family — all 14 of us — was about to set sail to celebrate our parents’ 44th wedding anniversary, a trip postponed four years due to COVID.
And then, just days before departure, my baby got sick
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When Your Plans Meet a Diagnosis
We started with what we thought was croup. It became RSV. A chest X-ray. Breathing problems. ER visits. And my little boy, who had already spent time in the NICU after being born early, was suddenly pale, refusing to eat, and needing round-the-clock care.
I tried to will the trip into existence. I called the cruise line asking for an exception to the minimum age, figuring he would be over this illness in time to sail. A few weeks shy of the 6 month cut off for babies to travel, short because he was born one month early. I filled out medical paperwork and contacted our travel insurance. But deep down, I knew what I had to do.
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“God is literally shouting at me to stay home with him.”
That’s what I wrote. Because it wasn’t a whisper. It was clear. My baby needed me, and no vacation — not even a once-in-a-lifetime cruise — was more important than that.
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Preparing for the Trip I Wasn’t Taking
Even though I stayed behind, my daughter and husband went — and they had a beautiful time together. I wanted her to feel all the magic I had hoped to share with her.
Before they left:
I took her shopping for new outfits at Von Maur and ordered some of the things I had been eyeing for month at Boden (rain jacket, matching tunic legging sets).
I coordinated each outfit down to the socks, undies, and matching bows, packed in labeled bags for each day.
I called a toy store in Seattle and arranged a Jellycat plush and new pajamas to be delivered in a gift bag to the hotel room as a surprise from Mommy.
Sometimes love looks like fancy dinners and cruise ship sunsets.
Sometimes it looks like folding socks into Ziploc bags and quietly waving goodbye.
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The Paperwork & the Pushback
I submitted documentation to our travel insurance company and coordinated care with multiple doctors:
Urgent care, ER, and pediatric follow-up
Diagnoses of RSV, croup, and bronchiolitis
A medically fragile infant and a mother who needed to stay behind
Yes, it was a lot. But it was also what was needed.
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What I Learned
The trip doesn’t matter as much as the people on it.
It’s okay to let go of something big when someone small needs you more.
You can still create magic — even when you’re not on the boat.
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Helpful Tips for Canceling a Major Trip Due to Illness
Document everything — dates, diagnoses, treatment.
Request an Attending Physician Statement for your insurance claim.
Submit receipts and timelines with a clear explanation.
Contact the cruise or travel provider directly — sometimes they’ll offer credit or refund exceptions.
Be gentle with yourself. You made the hard and holy choice.