As I stated in my post
about super specials, I can approximately pinpoint the time this book takes
place. It's after #8, when MA and Stacey go to Sea City with the Pikes, but
before #10, when they start eighth grade and Logan turns up. What always
irritated me about this book as a kid was that it wasn't mentioned in the other
books. #9 makes a whole point about how everyone went on vacation except
Kristy. It was almost as if this book didn't exist in the continuum of the
regular books. They got better at that as time went on.
The basic idea behind
this book is that the Pikes are going on a Disney cruise and have asked Stacey
and MA along as mother's helpers. Watson hears that Kristy's never been out of
the state and he arranges for the Brewer/Thomas clan to go on the same cruise,
and, because he's certifiable, he brings Claudia and Dawn along too. Kristy
meets an old man and convinces him to have fun. Claudia has a mystery admirer.
Dawn has her first date and convinces the boy to be nice to his stepbrothers.
MA meets a "sophisticated" pathological liar. And Stacey meets a
young boy with a heart condition.
We also get chapters
from Mallory, Byron and Karen, because, who doesn't love those? (Except the
Karen ones.)
Interesting tidbits
Front cover time. I
always loved this picture. First, because I was pretty sure who was who. (Left
to right, Stacey, Kristy, Dawn, MA, Claudia; in front, Claire (probably),
Andrew and Karen.) Second, Kristy is wearing a polo shirt, which I have always
considered the summer version of turtleneck and sweater. (For the record, I
would have dressed Kristy in jeans and tees, not turtlenecks or polos, but
there you are.) The kicker, though, is that Claudia is wearing lavender shoes
like those described in the story.
Before the story even
starts, there is a thank you letter jointly addressed to the Brewers and Pikes.
Wouldn't it make more sense to have two letters, one addressed to the Brewers
and signed by their kids, Dawn and Claudia, and one addressed to the Pikes
signed by their kids, Stacey and MA? That put aside, a few things. It's funny
seeing everyone's handwriting, including people we usually don't get to see. We
don't get to see Sam's handwriting again until SSs 8 and 9, but it's the same
signature, and Margo's matches hers in SS 10. Nicky has very girly cursive,
especially since his older brothers have messier handwriting. Karen usually
writes in all capitals, except in this book. (I have never understood that. Schools
don't teach that, so why do so many characters in these books do it?)
The Pikes are going on
vacation because Mr. Pike won a contest and the prize was an all expense paid
vacation. I know prizes like that are given out, but usually there's a cap of
four or five people. Can you imagine how his boss must have reacted when Mr.
Pike said, "Okay, well, there are twelve of us."
Even though this takes
place over the summer, everyone has magically jumped to their next age. I
always thought it was funny reading the early BSC books that all of the sitters
were always 12, and then later, 13. The only one to actually have a birthday
was MA, and that's because she was (at the time) the baby of the group and the
last to turn 13.
In this book, though,
all the Pikes and all Kristy's siblings have aged up. The BSC ages are not
actually mentioned.
Dating the book: Andrew,
Claire, Karen, Margo, DM and Nicky get to go into the cockpit and meet the
captain. I remember doing that as a kid and loving it.
Kristy takes Karen to the
bathroom and goes in with her. They temporarily get locked in.
Dawn's all excited when
streamers and confetti are released when the boat leaves port. Fifty books
later, she would have been grumbling about the environment and waste.
Vanessa Pike is lacing
up her shoes as slowly as humanly possible. MA just looks at Mallory and,
without a word, they grab her and lace the shoe for her. It cracked me up.
MA meets a girl named
Alexandra Carmody and keeps going on about how sophisticated she is. As far as
I can tell, all she has to go on is that the girl makes her own hair
appointments and has a big chest.
After Nicky and Vanessa
spot someone hiding in a life raft, they seriously think (and have MA thinking)
that he is a stowaway.
Karen forgets her
earplugs, so Kristy (very stupidly) agrees to let her go back to the cabin and
get them. Instead, Karen goes to get her nails polished and charges it to her
cabin, and then gets a drink in the café. And she doesn't get in trouble!
Kristy threatens to call
the boat police on Karen.
This is the beginning of
the very stupid theme they do through the super specials where Claudia always
sleeps on the top bunk and steps on whoever is in the bottom bunk on the way
down.
Claudia tells Kristy,
"I think Dawn's on the prowl," when she catches her staring at a boy.
Mistake! MA says she
took Nicky and Vanessa exploring all day. A few sentences later, Stacey says
she took Claire and Vanessa swimming all day.
Mallory is trying to
pull a "Harriet the Spy" but she's not very subtle about it. She
keeps pointing out various people she's spotted to the members of the BSC, who
keep commenting to themselves about it.
Kristy meets an old man
and the first thing she thinks is how his Hawaiian print shirt and Hawaiian
print shorts don't match each other. (But, you know, if Claudia were wearing
it, it would look awesome.)
The triplets, DM and
Nicky go exploring on Treasure Cay and find a "treasure map." When
they don't find any treasure on the island, they continue looking on the boat
and even at Disney. Because, you know, pirates always hide their treasures on
luxury liners.
Another sign of the
times: when Dawn's boy introduces himself as Parker, Dawn thinks it's weird. It
wouldn't even raise an eyebrow now.
Claire wants to buy a
sewer-ear of her trip.
Yet another sign of the
times: Kristy is really excited that their hotel has cable.
Kristy, Claudia and Dawn
have never seen an R rated movie. I saw my first at age 8.
Stupid Karen. After
riding the Haunted Mansion, she's convinced the hitchhiking ghost is still with
her.
Conveniently in this
book, Claudia and Dawn are about the same size. When she was first introduced,
Dawn was taller than all the other girls.
Oh, Dawn. She gets
nauseous riding Space Mountain. When Parker asks her if she's okay, she
considers the answers, "No, I'm going to puke all over you," and
"I'm fine, but how would you like to see what I had for breakfast this
morning?"
Parker's two
stepbrothers are named Roddy and Ricky.
Apparently, Mrs. Pike is
very stupid (and not just because she has eight kids). Instead of just dividing
the kids, she asks them all what they want to do, which is bound to cause
arguments.
Heh. The BSC watches
"a Michael J. Fox movie" on TV. Tell me it was Teen Wolf!
After Mallory discovers
that Alex, the girl MA met, is lying, MA calls her on her shit. Alex then
follows MA, Claire and Margo around...until Margo throws up on her shoes after
they get off Space Mountain.
Stacey makes a big deal
about riding Space Mountain twice in a row with the triplets, Nicky and DM. She
says she won't leave them in line wait outside for them. But, couldn't she wait
in line with them and then not ride the ride? My mom used to do that with us
all the time at Six Flags. And really, how much trouble could they get in
during the short time the ride is going?
Byron actually finds
treasure--a bracelet Dawn had lost the day before. Even he thinks it's a big
coincidence.
Gawd. Another Karen
chapter. This time, she tells the group at a character breakfast that it's her
birthday--and once again, doesn't get in trouble for it. Is it any wonder she
behaves the way she does?
Stacey enthuses about
EPCOT by pointing out it has a "cool 3D video starring Michael
Jackson." That would no longer be a selling point.
This is the second book
in a row I've read where Kristy cries.
On the plane ride home,
Karen asks if she can watch Margo throw up. What is wrong with her?
Damn. Another banner. I
can't figure out who made this one, as it's being held by Nannie, Richard,
Sharon, Jeff, the Kishis, and the McGills.
Seven year old Marc
spells better than Claudia does.
Outfits
Claudia: blue and white
bikini, pink sundress with spaghetti straps, pink and blue scarf, snake
bracelet, feather earrings, white sandals with straps
Dawn: lavender overalls,
white tank top, lavender sneakers, lavender pushdown socks (that's a lot of
lavender), beaded belt, lavender and white bird hair clips
Parker: blue and white
polo, tennis shorts, loafers without socks
Next week: I haven't
decided. It'll either be Claudia or Mallory.
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