When Darlington mom Gina McWhorter began planning her family’s fall break cruise to the Bahamas in early 2004, she didn’t realize it would turn into a school-wide trip with 91 travelers from 39 Darlington families and students from all three campuses.
“I thought it would be fun to take a trip with Connor and Baxter’s school friends and their families, but I had no idea the turnout would be huge. In fact, I really didn’t think we’d have two to three families go, as it’s difficult to coordinate the different schedules of that many families,” said McWhorter. “After a day or two of planning, I realized the families we invited would also have older and/or younger children, and those kids would want their friends there, too. Therefore, I immediately grabbed the Darlington Student Directory and began inviting everyone in the entire school who had an e-mail address listed.
“In the e-mail, I tried to incorporate everyone’s name into a neat little story about what the trip would be like with the guys playing soccer on the beach and basketball onboard and the girls sunbathing, sporting their new little purses from straw market and getting their hair braided, while the parents kicked back in hammocks,” she continued. “It was difficult to reach them all, so I added a note in the e-mail to spread the word to any and all Darlington families so that no one would be left out.”
McWhorter had booked her family’s cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Sovereign of the Seas, and when e-mail replies began coming in, she called her travel agent.
“I called my friend, Rachel Crawford Hyde (’86), who owns Uniglobe Preferred Travel and said, ‘You’re going to kill me, but we have a few friends who want to go with us on the Cruise Fall Break,’” said McWhorter. “She immediately ‘grabbed and held’ many seats on our flight and many cabins of all categories on several different decks on the ship so we’d have as many options as possible to choose from.”
Once all the details were in order and families had decided who was flying, who was driving, who would have connecting cabins and who was on which deck, the group was ready to depart from Cape Canaveral, Fla., for a three-day cruise to Nassau, Bahamas, and CocoCay.
Darlington mom April Van Es said everything went like clockwork, from the flight plans, to transportation, to luggage arrangements, to cabins accommodations, and all agreed.
“We even had a couple of nice surprises from the cruise line. They threw a welcome reception for us the first night, gave us priority when disembarking the ship the last day and seated us all in one section together for dinner each night [thanks to Rachel’s request],” said McWhorter.
The cruise ship featured massages, manicures, pedicures, facials, a rock-climbing wall, an exercise room, Bingo, karaoke, a casino, shopping, swimming pools and hot tubs, a Kid’s Adventure Club, a Teen Club, a luau-style midnight buffet, room service at any hour and much more. Additionally, a daily newsletter was delivered to the cabins so everyone knew what was happening everywhere on the ship, and could plan their days accordingly.
“The kids made the cruise fun,” said Ruth Anne Anderson, Darlington mom. “They swam in the pools on deck, snorkeled for hours, went full throttle on the wave runners, swam with the sting rays and danced every night until the ship’s curfew. The adults played game shows, enjoyed the live entertainment and relaxed in the wonderful on-board spa. Food and friendship filled the cruise and made it a wonderful, relaxing good time.”
Darlington parents Mark and Charlotte Griffiths said snorkeling at CocoCay was, by far, the favorite part of the cruise. “But hanging out with the other kids at Kid’s Adventure Club was a must with our kids, Eric and Logan, every night.”
Barry and Jody Hurley, Darlington parents, said their daughters, Allie, Katie and Grace, also enjoyed just being with their friends from school. “It was like having an extended family on vacation,” they said.
Upper, Middle and Lower School parents alike said even though everyone may not have known each other very well at the beginning of the trip, they mixed and mingled like one big family.
“It’s great to be around the parents to get to talk about the kids and their interaction with each other. I got to know some of the parents much better,” said Clay Doss, Darlington dad. “We are lucky to have such an outstanding group of people who want the best for our children and their future … It’s also nice to have someone like Gina to put forth the effort to get a package like this together. Without her, the trip would not have come to fruition.”
Parents John and Liz Tierney said the whole family had a blast.
“Golf, the food and Kid’s Club were favorites with Jonathan, as well as the sting ray expedition, where you could actually pet and feed the animals,” they said. “The adults really enjoyed the shows. Our very own Ann and Steve Wilhoite were celebrities for appearing on ‘Love and Marriage.’”
The Darlington group also had some big winners in Bingo. DeeDee Womble won the grand prize; and Ann Wilhoite, Katie Hurley and Liz Tierney were also winners.
Darlington mom Rebecca Coble added, in addition to being a great time for all, it was nice to let people see what great kids we have at Darlington.
“This was the best part, to see the great values they learn at Darlington spread over into their everyday life and interaction with others,” she said. “This sort of activity says that not only do we care about our children’s education, but also enjoy sharing our free time and sharing our children with each other. We knew that when our children were with their friends from school that we could feel at ease.”
And just when McWhorter thought she was finished with the trip of the year, people are already talking about next year’s plans. The Wilhoite, Tierney, Van Es, Griffith, Coble, Doss, Cannon and Hurley families said they’re in.
“Before we even boarded the ship, someone pointed out a group wearing matching T-shirts and said, ‘Hey, next year, we need to have group T-shirts printed!’ And after being on board for 20 minutes, many people commented that we should make this an annual event,” said McWhorter. “I’m already gathering opinions for the next trip, and Rachel is on standby.”
