“This is so good,” Sam Burke said, savoring each bite of her red velvet cupcake. “I haven’t had lunch all week.”

While their parents were stranded on the Carnival Cruise ship Triumph, drifting in the Gulf of Mexico, the 16-year-old sophomore and her 18-year-old sister Aly have lived off of Ramen noodles, cereal and pizza for the past week.

“It’s okay,” Sam assured. “I have a pizza tonight.”

Before their parent’s departure, the siblings were left with a debit card for expenses.

“But we don’t know how much is left on it,” senior Aly Burke said. “I don’t want to spend a lot because of that, so I only buy stuff I know we need. Every time I went to buy something at the store, I just hoped I had enough [money]. I went shopping the other day, but I just got bread, milk, more cereal and some snacks.”

Aly and Sam’s parents Bill and Kathryn Burke left last Thursday, Feb. 7 for a four-day cruise to Cozumel, Mexico, temporarily leaving their daughters with new responsibilities.

“In the beginning of the week, we left our dogs alone for a couple of minutes, and they ate all of our bread,” Sam said, scarfing down a can of Campbell’s soup that Mrs. Lisa Wenzel offered her.

The siblings received a call from their parents Sunday, Feb. 10 saying that they would be home two days later than expected. There was a fire in the ship’s engine room that resulted in a power outage.

“At first it was kind of funny that something like that was actually happening. I mean, my parents were stranded at sea,” Aly said. “I hoped they were okay, but I felt like Sam and I would be alright for a little longer. When they were gone for the first four days, it had been relaxing. We didn’t get scared at night or anything. It was nice having just me and Sam.”

After the power outage, the Burkes kept in touch with their daughters and 21-year-old son Robert, who lives at the Air Force base in Little Rock, Arkansas, through Facebook messages. However, without power, the parents could not always get word to their children.

“One day my mom just stopped replying,” Sam said. “I figured that her phone had died, which was totally expected from my mom because she’s on it all of the time.”

Earlier in the week, Aly and Sam learned from the news that their parents would be home tonight instead of Wednesday.

“It kept getting later and later,” Aly said. “I’ve never been worried because I pray for them everyday, and I know they’ll be okay, but it’s been a week and I just want them back.”

Friends and family of the Burke sisters have made efforts to help them until their parent’s return.

“My granddad calls me everyday, and my relatives are contacting me all of the time and asking if we need anything,” Aly said. “All of my friends and church people are offering their help and saying we can come over for dinner. Everyone’s just being really nice and helpful.”

As the week progressed, the siblings stressed.

“One day Aly came into my room and I asked her what we were going to eat,” Sam said. “She said she didn’t know, and I just started crying.”

From the news, Aly and Sam learned about the conditions the 4,200 passengers of the ship lived in.

“The news scared me,” Sam said. “I wanted to know if they were sick or cold or if they had enough food and water. I thought that every single person on the ship was sleeping on the deck. I thought it was almost like the slave ships.”

Yesterday, the two received another call from their parents during their third period band class.

“I tripped over stuff to get to Sam, who was practicing her clarinet. I told her our parents were on the phone, and she jumped up in the middle of playing,” Aly said, tears welling up in her eyes. “I cried because I was so happy to talk to both of them. They seemed happy to talk to us too. We told them what all had been going on with us and that we missed them and we loved them. I asked how they were taking it, and they were trying to make the best of it.”

The Burkes dismissed their daughters’ perceptions of their living conditions, and informed them that while the terms weren’t ideal, the media had exaggerated the situation.

“Hearing that was a relief,” Sam said. “They said everyone walked around in robes because all of their clothes were dirty. They didn’t always have a working bathroom and could shower sometimes but the water was cold. They only had to wait in a four-hour line for food once or twice, but there weren’t many options for them to eat. Some people had to sleep on the deck, but their room had working air conditioning so they didn’t.”

Their parent’s predicament made Aly and Sam grateful for what they have and each other.

“Every time I shower and use the bathroom, I just think ‘I’m so grateful for this,’” Sam said. “Without Aly, I probably would have starved. Aly and I have always been really close. The experience shows how close we are, and how we can get through things together.”

Before their parents return, the siblings plan to do some housework.

“We’ve been doing laundry and dishes, and we’re trying to make the house look nicer for them when they get back. I also want to wash my dad’s car,” Aly said. “They’ve been miserable all week, so we want to make things easy for them.”

At 9:30 last night, the Carnival Triumph docked in Mobile, AL. From there, the Burkes boarded a charter bus that drove them eight hours to Galveston, TX, where their car had been parked. However, their bus broke down at 2:30 this morning, leaving them stranded for an extra hour. They are on their way back to McKinney and should arrive home in approximately five hours.

Aly and Sam look forward to their parent’s arrival.

“I’ll probably cry and hug them,” Aly said. “Then I’ll tell them to go take a shower.”

Written by Kayla Crowley

Photo by Jessica Velez