At long last, Friday, April 19 marked the new date of the Sophomore Cruise and if you opted out, start kicking yourself.
As most of the sophomore class knows, the first cruise had to be rescheduled due to an unfortunate bus scheduling issue. Despite that little fiasco, FUSA certainly worked hard to fix the problem.
Ticket holders were offered free Dogwood Dance tickets, and for those who felt that the magic was lost, refunds for the cruise. The new cruise was much improved and more people should have attended; it was certainly worth the wait.
Andrea Butler ‘15, one of the FUSA members, helped to put this awesome event on for the class of 2015, and said, “Planning the cruise turned out to be a much more stressful ordeal than I anticipated, but the event ultimately turned out very successfully. Everyone who attended seemed to enjoy themselves, and I couldn’t be happier about that.”
The night began with a relatively short bus ride to the New York City where cruise-goers met the lovely three-story boat. Gray skies made us a little nervous but the rain thankfully held off and the cool breeze was pleasant as we set off on the East River.
The night began on the second floor of the boat where the “cocktail” hour was held. Beverages and penne ala vodka were served as guests took their first photos over the balcony outside.
Soon after, dinner was served on the first floor of the boat, which began with a salad. Chicken, prime rib, eggplant and of course sides of rice and vegetables came after. Everything was delicious.
While traveling along the river, the sun went down and the city began to light up. The view was gorgeous. The Chrysler Building came into view like a torch nestled into the cityscape.
The empire state building, the icon of the city, came into view and lit up the night sky. The captain made sure to tell us as we passed beneath huge bridges like the Brooklyn Bridge, which, when lit, were indescribable.
After dinner we were invited to the dance floor on the third tier of the boat and the party began. Everyone rushed to snag glow sticks and sailor caps in every color. Butler, being one of the coordinators of the event, wore a captain’s hat.
While up on the third tier, the boat approached Statue of Liberty. The DJ appropriately played a few all-American tunes, starting with the national anthem.
Then the party really started. Amazing song after amazing song came on and most of the guests couldn’t stop dancing. The crowd was excited to hear “Lean Back” by Fat Joe, which is an old favorite of mine.
Sadly, “I’m on a Boat” by Lonely Island was never played because, according to the DJ, the music he played had to be clean. My dreams of being on a boat listening to “I’m on a Boat” were crushed, despite his promise to play it toward the end.
We danced to every song and everyone seemed to have a blast. Marykate Probert ‘15, got up on a bench and began to dance and sing. “I loved the cruise. It was well worth the wait and I loved celebrating a fantastic two years with my best friends,” she said of the night.
Cake and coffee were served on the first tier and guests took the time to catch their breath and rest their dancing toes, but after the cake was cleared we were ushered back up to the top deck to continue the shindig.
Cameron Bowen ‘15, who did quite an impressive “Dougie” said, “I thought it was really fun, an intimate affair so to speak. The prime rib was delicious and the music was great.” Guests danced so much that cruise staff even opened up panels of the windows to let the night air in.
Exhausted, full and satisfied, guests danced into the night as the boat made its way back to the dock. The boat traveled back under the lovely bridges we had gone under on our way to the Statue of Liberty.
We made our way back past the Empire State Building once more and then the Chrysler Building. Most of us didn’t want to leave the wonderful city but alas, the boat docked and we sauntered back to the Stag Bus and headed home.
It was a night to remember and a sobering reminder to think it was the class of 2015’s Halfway There Cruise and we were indeed two weeks away from the end of our sophomore year. We have only two years left to make these precious memories, make new friends and have our parents do our laundry without it being weird.
Happy Sophomore Cruise, class of 2015. Let’s make sure these last two years are incredible.
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