missing Charlottetown again

September 18, 2012
I’ve been on this ship for a month now! Wow.
Sydney day again. Kayley had IPM so couldn’t get off the ship, so I planned to get off alone and just get internet since Sydney isn’t the most interesting port to hang out in alone. I met Gil as he was getting off so we just went to the café to get internet. It was great getting to post pictures and other stuff and not want to explore.

I didn’t work until seven so I hung out with Kayley after her sailaway set. Work wasn’t too interesting. Jacob and I played cards and a few board games with the kid before going down to play ping-pong.

After work, it was time to get ready for Alyssa’s salsa party. I helped her set up the room (taping balloons to the walls/ceilings and setting out the food), then the dancing started. It was so much fun, there were quite a few people there and it was fun to watch those that really knew how to salsa dance well. Everyone had fun just hanging out for a few hours off work at the end of the night.


September 19, 2012
I woke up this morning early so I could be ready for work and have it over with so I could go into Charlottetown with Kayley. I got up to breakfast and noticed that we were still surrounded by water, when we were supposed to arrive in Charlottetown at least an hour before that. Jacob found me and told me that we were again skipping Charlottetown, this time because of wind or the current or something. So, we were having two sea days instead of the normal one as we went around the island. I took the morning/afternoon shifts and we let Alyssa sleep in and have the afternoon/night shifts. That meant I had the night off! It was a long morning and a long afternoon. We played lots of cards in the morning, and catch phrase and UNO. In the afternoon, we took the kid to the ping-pong skills competition because the lifesylist told us about it and we thought he’d like it since he loves ping pong so much. The goal was to bounce a ball into one of the cups, certain cups were worth more points. I ended up getting more points than the kid, mainly because I hit the pingpong ball more gently which gave it a chance to make it in the cups rather than just knocking them over.

Kayley and I went to dinner at the normal time, it felt odd and great not to be wearing my uniform to dinner! Kayley and I played cards over dinner since every ‘meeting place’ in the crew area was being used for dinner. We got a few more people to join us as we played, which was fun, expanding the group of people who may join us in our game nights. After dinner, Kayley talked with her boyfriend on the phone for a while while I watched TV in my room. Once she finished, we went to the OB to play cards again; Andy finally taught us how to play Spades. It was a lot of fun, but I had to leave early because I had to work in the morning.


September 20, 2012
Second sea day in a row. A lot of people think that this is a lot, but we had a lot of sea days and half sea days on the last ship, so it’s not odd for me. The kid didn’t come in this morning at all, so Jacob and I just played cards and video games until lunch. He came in the afternoon though and we spent little time in Club HAL before going out to the ping pong tables, where we spent the rest of the afternoon.
I hung out with Kayley and Andy in the Crow’s Nest after dinner. Kayley and I helped with the “champagne song request” night. Basically, everyone filled out song request forms and if theirs got picked out of the bucket and they danced to it, they got a free glass of champagne. It was fun, actually having a reason to go up and talk to guests. I ended up sitting with Andy and a couple and chatting with them for a while. Then Kayley, Andy and I went to the dessert extravaganza! We all got something to snack on, Andy was surprised he went for the first time in months; he’s been here for a while already and stopped going to things at night because it got boring after a while. Kayley and I went to Bible Study, which lasted a lot longer than anticipated because the computers wouldn’t work for the powerpoint and music, and some of the people arrived late because they were working at the dessert extravaganza.


September 21, 2012
Worked 9-4. The kid never showed up, so I was alone that whole time. I got am exemption from taking the CPR the rest of the youth staff have to take next week, because I’ve already been certified. I just studied, read, played cards, colored, and played video games all day. At 4, I walked around outside until we left port. I attempted to read in bed and take a nap, but I was unsuccessful in both. After a quick dinner, Kayley and I went to the room as she prepared for the HAL Cats show (finally, something other than a movie for entertainment on the last night!). They were GREAT; for the first time, they all got to show their real talent, instead of just doing the 400 approved songs. Everyone had some sort of solo act and they played a lot together, I enjoyed it a LOT, especially since it was my friends up there!

Kayley, Andy and I gathered to play Cranium with Glenn and Gil, but ended up playing various card games. I actually lost pretty badly at ERS, which hasn’t happened since I just started learning to play it; I’m going to have to practice in the next week so I can play better against Andy.