October 6, 2012
This always happens that I’m needed before I plan on being needed in the mornings. I woke up this morning around 8, knowing that my buddy/the new YPC had a meeting at 9 and I wouldn’t be needed until after that. However, at 8:30, Human Resources called me to show my buddy around before the meeting. When I dropped him off at the meeting he said he’d be fine until work so I got ready to get off the ship. I had a quick breakfast in the room since they close the Lido really early on embark days apparently. Kayley and I went out for internet only because it was raining and cold. We were in the Seaman’s Club for a few hours, enjoying having free, reliable internet (we don’t know where we’ll have that good internet the rest of the trip).
When we finally decided that it was too late to put off returning to the ship for lunch, we came back. I was actually kind of happy with lunch; they had Brie and good kind of squishy rolls! The realization just struck me yesterday how much the Lido reminds me of Moffatt, just with different permanent options. We sat there talking until I figured I’d go up to Club HAL to see if Brian, the YPC was doing all right. We ended up talking to him for an hour, good for me because it made the night session less awkward because it was just the two of us there, the kids didn’t show up.
I didn’t do much until dinner, the HAL Cats had rehearsal at 6, so I went up alone, but I did find people to sit with, and Kayley and the rest of them showed up not long after I’d sat down.
Brian and I played video games while waiting to see if the kids would show up. They didn’t, so we just talked some and played Lego Harry Potter and Fifa. We left at 10 and I hung out in my room until a normal hour to meet people in the OB. I ended up sitting with a lot of the people from the spa and a few of the cast members; it was a pretty diverse group of people, I haven’t spent a whole lot of time with some of them so far, I was happy that I got to tonight.
October 7, 2012
Since we hadn’t heard about when the kids might show up, I worked the morning shift. They didn’t come, but I had fun anyway studying Italian for a bit, playing cards and talking to the new housekeeping person in Club HAL. Brian came up to take over, so we had lunch with Jo, the life stylist. I felt like I ate healthy for once, I had a sandwich, fruit, celery and Brie/bread.
After lunch, I was able to get off! It was still cloudy in Quebec and cold, but it wasn’t raining, definitely a good thing because I had my DSLR out since it was my last day in Quebec. I couldn’t find Kayley or anyone else, so I went wandering around on my own. Fall has really come in quickly, and the city has been getting ready for Halloween. I found leaves and pumpkins everywhere!
Despite the cold, I managed to stay out and walking for nearly three hours! I took a LOT of pretty pictures, yes I did manage to get some of me with ‘Quebec in autumn’ in the background. By the time I got back though, my cheeks and nose were bright red and I couldn’t feel my fingertips. It took about an hour of hanging out in Mack and Jims room for me to thaw out (my room is too cold, the AC is stuck on full blast, has been for three weeks now). It was fun hanging out with Kayley, Mack and Jim (I hardly ever see Mack and Jim during the day unless it’s at a meal); we had a Spanish/French/Italian lesson time, and Kayley learned some music theory.
Dinner was somewhat disappointing after lunch, but it was still okay; I had pasta (no surprise there) with chicken. I met up with the singer, her husband and the kids on the way up to Club HAL, they said they’d definitely come tonight, but would give me time to set up and everything, which was nice for me. Brian came up and then the family. They definitely don’t seem to fit with everything we’ve heard about them. We’d heard that the kids were kind of crazy and energetic and the parents took way too much advantage of Club HAL. I didn’t get that impression from them at all though. They missed the first 3 sessions of Club HAL, came slightly late and left an hour early. The kids were rather quiet too, we played with the pirate ship for a while, tried out some carnival games on the Xbox Kinect, then sat down to watch a movie. We were still watching the movie, them being very quiet, until their dad came to pick them up.
Not what we expected, but …..we have kids again in Club HAL!!!! After two weeks of not being able to do what I came on the ship to do, I finally get back to my real job. Sadly, we still have to work security some, so I won’t be able to spend as much time in the new ports as I’d like, but at least that’s not my main task anymore.
October 8, 2012: Saguenay
Everyone knows that I hate cold, but right now I feel completely justified in absolutely despising it. Cold is bearable in small doses, but when there is no relief from it, that’s when it’s worse. That’s how it is right now for me. It’s freezing outside, the AC in my room got stuck on full blast a few weeks ago, Club HAL has no AC right now, but it gets really cold from the air outside. I have nowhere to go to finally thaw out, I’ve just been going from cold place to cold place. Florida is going to be a wonderful blessing, provided my fingers and toes don’t freeze off before we get there. I really do feel like I missed summer completely this year, and that makes me sad.
Enough of the complaining about cold; we visited a new port today! The first of three! I had to work security at 11 and in Club HAL at 12, so I got up early so I could at least walk around a little bit. I was surprised when I first got off the ship by lots of people in costume right outside. I’d forgotten that it’s Canadian Thanksgiving! The people of the town allowed us to celebrate a little with them. They gave out flags, had samples of blueberry juice, an area for log-cutting, some Native American homes, and even some group dancing! I was almost overwhelmed by everything there. However, after I got through the terminal (stands of homemade crafts, jewelry, soaps, clothes, etc), I realized that that was by far the most exciting part of the town. It was pretty and quaint, but there wasn’t really much to it. I walked along the water (and on the beach… in Canada!), and took pictures of the scenery and the church (the focal point of the town; it was by far the tallest building in sight, even though it wasn’t that tall). I would’ve liked to have had more time in this port today though, mainly to see the Thanksgiving Day stuff.
There’s not much to talk about security today, just the fact that it was cold since we’re standing in a metal wind tunnel, without any sunlight reaching us. I ran up to Club HAL to put a sign on the door saying I was at lunch, then had a quiet, leisurely lunch complete with hot chocolate. I spent the rest of the afternoon playing Lego Harry Potter, reading and studying Italian (Nothing new there). After work, I ran down to the room, talked to Cass for a bit, then went back upstairs with my camera to get some photos of the town from the ship as we were leaving. I met Rik up there and we talked and took pictures together until it got too cold for me to stand it anymore and he had to get to work.
I finally got a small reprieve from the cold in Kayley’s room; it was the first time in two days she’d been there when I knocked! We hung out for a little while, she told me about her excursion and I told her about the Thanksgiving stuff that had concluded by the time she’d gotten off the ship. She’d eaten lunch really late, so skipped dinner. I ended up eating a very unsatisfactory meal; they were actually recognizing Canadian Thanksgiving so had a lot of turkey.
Yet again, the kids didn’t come. They definitely don’t fit in with any of the rumors we’d heard from people who’ve worked with them on previous ships. I ended up getting through a whole chapter in the Italian book; for some odd reason, numbers in Italian make much
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