Home    Cruise    Recipes    Contact Matt    Guestbook The Cruise When I was about 6 years old I first heard about cruises. At that time I didn’t even know that people took whole vacations just out on the ocean. Some friends of mine were talking about their experience on the cruise. They went to the Bahamas, played on the beautiful beaches and got to see the ocean. It seemed like they had fun, but nothing I was too jealous about…. until I found out about the culinary arts on the ship. I love making food and have been dreaming about being a chef ever since I was about 4 years old. The Food Network is my favorite channel on TV. Creating food dishes is my passion in life! I found out about 5-star dining on the ship and that I could tour the galley and meet the chefs. Someone told me about how chefs come from lots of other countries and create all kinds of cultural dishes from all over the world. Ever since that day, I wanted to go on a cruise! I never dreamed I would ever get the chance. I am the oldest of 3 children. I am 12 years old. My sister, Alysa, is 6 years old. My little brother, Jay, is 2 years old. As a single parent, my mom worked many long hours as a nurse’s aide just to make ends meet at our house. I wish she didn’t have to do that and hope someday I can repay her for everything she’s sacrificed for us. In December 2007, my aunt and uncle asked my mom if they could take me on an Eastern Caribbean Cruise because the cruiseline they chose for their vacation was having a “Kids Sail FREE” special. My mom said that I had to work hard to improve my grades and I had to be good in school with no negative reports from my teacher for two whole months. Do you know how difficult that is for a kid with ADHD? Come on! But, I did it! … and when December 9, 2007 came, we were on our way to Miami, Florida. As we boarded the Costa Fortuna to set sail for the Eastern Caribbean I felt like I was in a dream. It was so unreal to me. Costa is a cruiseline that is based in Italy so there were many people from Europe on our ship vacationing in the Caribbean. There were so many different cultures on the ship that Costa prints newsletters and does announcements in 7 different languages – Italian, Greek, German, Spanish, French, Dutch and English. The Costa Fortuna sails the Mediterranean during our summer and the Caribbean during our winter. I learned a lot about Italy, Greece and other areas of the Mediterranean so that is where I got my idea to create a burger called “A Taste of the Mediterranean” that I submitted in Red Robin’s “The Next Gourmet Burger Kids’ Recipe Contest”. More Photos and Video Cruise Video Part 1 Part 2