it's the one month mark!

September 14, 2012
Bar Harbor!!! YAY I actually got to get off ship for a while this time! It was really foggy at first, we could hardly see the water from the Lido. By the time the tender got to shore though, the fog had lifted and the sun was out! I met up with Colin and we walked around for a bit before we met up with Alyssa at a café. Lots of walking around to explore the town, it was beautiful weather! I got to experiment with video chatting over skype on my phone too. We had to be back on the ship an hour and a half earlier than the guests (probably because of the fog in the morning). Back on the ship, I hung out in the OB and talked to Mom some more (I miss being able to use my phone sometimes). It was the last night with the 9-year-old, we played cards all night until he left early. It was another early night for me, despite it being the last night of a run and a lot of people were leaving in Boston.

September 15, 2012
Boston day, new group of people. We ended up with a surprise guest; a teenager. So, there are 2 people in Club HAL this week, not quite as lonely as last week for them.
I got off the ship with Colin and Brandi and we explored a while and shopped some. Boston is a rather pretty place, but I feel too enclosed amidst all those buildings, there isn’t enough space. A lot of people were in town, walking around, shopping, eating, etc. Colin, Brandi and I got sandwiches at a shop and took them to the park where we ate before heading back to the ship so Brandi could get ready for her set during sailaway. I went to the OB for a while to start making use of my remaining time in the US with phone service and 4G internet.

Last night the 10-year-old came up and stayed most of the night, he’s a very active kid, likes playing card games a whole lot. The teen and her family found us halfway through the night, she didn’t stay but she knows we’re there and seems like she might come some this week. Kayley and I went to Bible Study together and then I had another early night, I was really tired for some reason.

September 16, 2012
I woke up this morning, got ready and had a long breakfast with Kayley, Edison joined us after a while as well. Kayley and I got off the ship with Brandi and explored. We took lots of pictures because the town is pretty and it was clear, even though it was rather cold. We did a little bit of shopping too; Kayley needed more things to wear (she doesn’t have a uniform, so she wears dresses and skirts when she sings). It was a lot of fun taking pictures of each other, especially since Brandi has a nice camera too, a Canon. On the upbound trip, we leave Bar Harbor at least two hours before we leave going down, so we had to be back on the ship around 2. Kayley and I had lunch together before she sang, then I stayed in the Lido pool area as the band did their set, talking to people as they came by (crew and guests). If you’re doing something, it’s more likely that guests will come up to do than if you’re just sitting there looking bored, so why is it in the house rules that we can’t have books in guest areas? Oh well, a lot of people were enjoying the band, which is definitely good! After the set, Kayley and I went down to our rooms and got ready for formal night. After work, I went to the show with Kayley and Alyssa, then Kayley and I came down to the OB to play cards, we were playing Rummy when two other people asked if we could teach them too. So, we stayed up playing card games and made two new friends.

September 17, 2012
Halifax again. I seem to always have a lot of time in Halifax, which I like because it’s a beautiful place and it’s always been pretty sunny. Today, the Caribbean Princess was in port behind us. Kayley had agreed to be in costume for pictures at the gangway, so wasn’t available to get off until around 10:30. I was going to get off earlier, then come back to hang out with her, but I overslept so I just went to breakfast and waited for her to get back on and change. It was odd, I went up at 10 to eat, but they were closed; hot breakfast is supposed to closed at 10:30. At least they still had cereal and fruit.

Finally, we got off and Edison joined us. Alyssa had told us to meet up with her, so we had to get internet to check Facebook to see where she was. Turns out she was at a café all the way down the boardwalk. While getting internet, we discovered a man selling crepes! I was very happy about this and we decided to make that our lunch! Yummy! We walked around and took pictures on the way. There’s a giant wave thing that you can climb up and slide down, and we took pictures on it, having fun acting like kids again.

We did find Alyssa and her two Spanish-speaking friends at the café, but Kayley and I didn’t stay for long because we didn’t want to just sit on the internet all day. We went looking for a thrift store and found a store that’s only open to the public 2 days a year as they get rid of some of their inventory. It’s called “Dress for Success”, a store for women who don’t have too much money, but need professional-looking clothes for interviews and jobs. Twice a year, the store opens to everyone to get rid of clothes that aren’t professional enough. We just happened to show up on the right day somehow! Kayley ended up buying a lot of shirts to wear for work, and I helped her find stuff. With an hour left before having to be back on the ship, we went to another café that specializes in chocolate. I had a nutty hot chocolate; it had bits of hazelnut in it, it was good, very different from any kind of hot chocolate I’ve had before.

Back on the ship, I changed and went upstairs to enjoy the sun and listen to the HAL Cats sailaway set (even though we weren’t sailing away yet; they’re always scheduled to start an hour before we leave, funny thing is, they finished right before we leave most of the time). I got to watch as the Caribbean Princess sailed away, but then came down to the room to relax before dinner and go through some of the pictures from today!

Alyssa and I worked last night. We played ping pong for a while with the 10-year-old, Alyssa had a stomachache so I had to play for an hour or so. Then, we went up and played UNO, we hadn’t finished when his grandfather came up so we just stopped the game. SuperSan last night too, I picked up the games and Xbox discs while Alyssa sanitized everything. I went changed went up to the Crow’s Nest to hang out with Kayley during karaoke. We met another 20-something girl and hung out with her. The younger people on this ship need to stick together!