"I don't care about her luggage, I just care about her medicine," Mindy Hochfelsen said, concerned after hearing one pharmacy refused to provide insulin and other stores were closed for Good Friday. "I am so nervous she will run out of insulin. This is her lifeline."

Hopes are for a relief-filled homecoming today at Miami International Airport for the tour group, which includes 14 Spanish River students and Spanish teacher Dawn Russell.

Their $2,000, 10-day Spring Break vacation turned to misery when the Sea Diamond struck a volcanic reef off the island of Santorini. As the 469-foot vessel took on water, nearly 1,200 passengers and about 390 crew members were rescued by Greece's military, commercial ships and local fishermen.

The Sea Diamond, a 21-year-old vessel refurbished in 1999, struck rocks in the sea-filled crater formed by a volcanic eruption 3,500 years ago. The ship's operator, Louis Cruise Lines, insisted the ship had been well maintained.

"The vessel maintained the highest level of safety standards and was equipped with the latest navigation systems," spokesman Giorgos Stathopoulos said. It sank about 15 hours after the crash.

Investigators were questioning the captain and three officers. The rocks are marked with warning lights and clearly indicated on navigation charts.

After the ship lurched during contact, the students, sitting for afternoon tea, at first thought little of it, said Suzy Chevrier of Boca Raton, whose daughter Claire, 17, was aboard.

Their smiles quickly faded when crew members rounded up everyone for lifejackets and the hasty evacuation. They were forced to leave behind all of their personal belongings, including cameras with vacation photos, iPods with thousands of songs, money, cell phones and clothes.

"The beautiful white dress I bought for her graduation is at the bottom of the Aegean Sea," Chevrier said. "Everybody got off the boat with what they had on."

Russell, the teacher who arranged the trip, held everyone's passports. EF Educational Tours arranged for the group to take refuge at the Hotel Metropolitan while awaiting an earlier flight home today. The cruise line gave each displaced passenger 200 euros, or about $268 in U.S. dollars.

Russell's daughter and 13 other Spanish River students signed up for the trip, along with Russell and her husband, Kurt. Russell has taken groups of students on overseas tours in recent years.

The school does not sponsor the trips, which are open to any interested student, said Assistant Principal Ira Sollod. As it so happens, another group from Spanish River has been in Europe this week, with Assistant Principal Marta Graw and teacher Barbara Boerstler.

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