December 28, 2012
I’m in back in Fort Lauderdale, off on another adventure. This time I’m on the Eurodam for two weeks. It’s been a long day.
I made it to the airport fine, despite all the holiday travelers. Arriving in Ft. Laud is another story though. I got off the plane and made it to baggage claim before my luggage did. Then, I called for the shuttle to the hotel, and went outside. 45 minutes later, had drizzled a few times, but the shuttle bus still hadn’t shown up despite them telling me it would be 5-15 minutes. So, I went inside and called again. They said traffic was bad and that it might be another 30 minutes. I went back outside, considering just taking a taxi (until I saw the line of people waiting for taxis, none had come in for a while). However, when I walked back to where the shuttles came in, I saw the one for my hotel finally!
I was glad to finally sit down on the ride. I got to the hotel and saw the comedian from the Oosterdam. I talked to her for a second before I had to get my luggage. I’m glad I’ll know someone else on the Eurodam.
I walked across the street to Burger King and got something to eat before coming back to the hotel to relax for a while.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
next stop: Eurodam
So, I emailed to confirm my next contract in February and got a reply asking if I could help out on the Eurodam for two weeks over New Years. I agreed and I already have my flight information. I fly to Ft. Lauderdale on the 28th and start my two weeks in the Caribbean the next day!
I'll know people the whole time I'm there as well! I'm very excited about getting to help out.
I'll know people the whole time I'm there as well! I'm very excited about getting to help out.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
St. Thomas
December 4, 2012: St. Thomas, USVI
I was very surprised when some of the kids showed up in Club HAL not long after I got there at 8. When we actually docked, they had to leave so they could go ashore with their family. However, the tween girl I play Harry Potter with came not long after and we played Harry Potter the rest of the morning.
I ate a few pieces of pizza quickly before going downstairs to change and get off the ship with Glenn. Kayley and Blake joined us, and I told them all that I was trying to meet up with my friend Natalie (she was on the Oosterdam with me this summer) since she’s on the Nordam and they were in St. Thomas as well (in addition to Oasis of the Seas, Carnival Dream, Disney Fantasy and the Emerald Princess). We had to tender because there were so many ships there, and we were definitely the smallest one.
We got to shore and walked around for a bit while I found out where Natalie was. We finally found the place and sat down for food, and I couldn’t find her. We were sending messages to each other, but couldn’t find the other! Finally, I stood up to walk around, and a girl that had been behind Glenn facing the other direction turned around and stood up as well. It was Natalie! So, we chatted for a while, catching up on life since July, introducing our friends to the other and their friends- she was with the pianist from their HAL Cats, a cast member, and the cellar master. I kind of felt like I was neglecting Glenn, Blake and Kayley, but I told them that’s what I’d be doing before we left the ship. After a while, Natalie and her friends decided to go shopping, and we had to get back on the ship, so we parted ways until the next time we’re on a ship together or are in port together.
We took a taxi back to the tender dock and that was an adventure because he misunderstood where we wanted to go. He tried to take us downtown to the shopping area instead of downtown near the water, then he thought that we meant the other cruise ships docked on the other side of town (the two biggest: Nordam and Oasis of the Seas). We did make it back before they had been instructed to be back on the ship. I wasn’t quite ready to give up my phone usage, so I went to the OB for an hour to talk to Mom and try to post some of these blogs.
I watched Harry Potter for a bit with Kayley until dinner and then work. It was Pirate night, which we started right away because the little kids leave early. We made a pirate ship flag, then treasure maps. The girls decided not to color but made up a play to perform for the rest of us. The parents of the young ones came during the show and then we were left with the tweens. We played foosball the rest of the night. Somehow I managed to hurt myself during that. I moved one arm over the other hand and my bracelet hit the bottom of my fingernail.
I had to stay a few minutes late to wait for someone to pick up the food tray, so got down to the room too late to go to the show, so I’m waiting in the room until everyone is free to hang out
I was very surprised when some of the kids showed up in Club HAL not long after I got there at 8. When we actually docked, they had to leave so they could go ashore with their family. However, the tween girl I play Harry Potter with came not long after and we played Harry Potter the rest of the morning.
I ate a few pieces of pizza quickly before going downstairs to change and get off the ship with Glenn. Kayley and Blake joined us, and I told them all that I was trying to meet up with my friend Natalie (she was on the Oosterdam with me this summer) since she’s on the Nordam and they were in St. Thomas as well (in addition to Oasis of the Seas, Carnival Dream, Disney Fantasy and the Emerald Princess). We had to tender because there were so many ships there, and we were definitely the smallest one.
We got to shore and walked around for a bit while I found out where Natalie was. We finally found the place and sat down for food, and I couldn’t find her. We were sending messages to each other, but couldn’t find the other! Finally, I stood up to walk around, and a girl that had been behind Glenn facing the other direction turned around and stood up as well. It was Natalie! So, we chatted for a while, catching up on life since July, introducing our friends to the other and their friends- she was with the pianist from their HAL Cats, a cast member, and the cellar master. I kind of felt like I was neglecting Glenn, Blake and Kayley, but I told them that’s what I’d be doing before we left the ship. After a while, Natalie and her friends decided to go shopping, and we had to get back on the ship, so we parted ways until the next time we’re on a ship together or are in port together.
We took a taxi back to the tender dock and that was an adventure because he misunderstood where we wanted to go. He tried to take us downtown to the shopping area instead of downtown near the water, then he thought that we meant the other cruise ships docked on the other side of town (the two biggest: Nordam and Oasis of the Seas). We did make it back before they had been instructed to be back on the ship. I wasn’t quite ready to give up my phone usage, so I went to the OB for an hour to talk to Mom and try to post some of these blogs.
I watched Harry Potter for a bit with Kayley until dinner and then work. It was Pirate night, which we started right away because the little kids leave early. We made a pirate ship flag, then treasure maps. The girls decided not to color but made up a play to perform for the rest of us. The parents of the young ones came during the show and then we were left with the tweens. We played foosball the rest of the night. Somehow I managed to hurt myself during that. I moved one arm over the other hand and my bracelet hit the bottom of my fingernail.
I had to stay a few minutes late to wait for someone to pick up the food tray, so got down to the room too late to go to the show, so I’m waiting in the room until everyone is free to hang out
sea day and san juan
December 2, 2012: Sea Day 2
It was another full day of work! We attempted to follow the schedule of activities, but it just didn’t happen because we had the littles and the tweens combined, and the schedules are very different for them; it didn’t help that no one was there for the first hour either. We ended up coloring and playing board games all morning. I went downstairs for a bit before having lunch with the HAL Cats since their pool set was cancelled due to wind (again).
The afternoon was very quiet, none of the kids showed up for the first hour, then a few of the tweens did, so we let them play video games. Some of the little ones showed up and Aaron got them started on another activity while I stayed with the tweens. One of the tweens loves Harry Potter as well and we’ve been playing Lego Harry Potter together. I had to leave early because I’m back on Bingo duty. I told them that they’re going to have to find a replacement soon, since I leave soon and I’m not going to stay on the ship just to sell Bingo cards!
We had an hour of free time before starting Camp night. We divided them into groups, the two youngest together, then two other groups of two, and gave them paper to come up with a camp name, flag and chant. That took a very long time, by the time everyone had finished their flags, two had left, and two siblings had parents there waiting to sign them out. Only two tweens were left, so we told riddles and played some riddle games until they left. They left kind of early and I had told Aaron that I wanted to go to the show, so Aaron told me I could go early to get formalized and get there on time so I didn’t have to clean up.
It was my last time to see Bob Mackey’s Broadway with this cast, so I took my camera and took pictures of them, some of them turned out really well, which I’m happy about since I kept having to change light settings as the colors and spotlights kept changing.
Cass and I went to hear the Neptunes’ last set of the night and then went to late night. It was fun, the cruise director and the last Neptunes band leader were there as well, in addition to the cast.
December 3, 2012: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Aaron took over the morning shift, even though we weren’t in port until the afternoon. That meant that I got to sleep in for the first time in a while, and the last time until I get home probably. I had a quick lunch before going upstairs. It was a nice afternoon, I started Lego Harry Potter years 5-7 (which is one of the video games we just got) with one of the tweens, played Candyland with some of the younger kids, and we all played foosball for a little while. Club HAL was open until 5 today since we didn’t get to port until 1. After that, I got off the ship and walked around for a while before coming back for dinner and work again.
It was “cosmic cruisers” night. We drew our own alien, rolling a die to see how many heads, eyes, ears, mouths, arms, etc it had and then coloring him in. After that, we had snack! Dinner hasn’t been very good lately, so I was very pleased to have chicken nuggets and fruit! Then, we had all the kids make their own planet. This didn’t last too long because the parents of the little ones picked them up a few minutes into that activity. So, we were left with the tweens who were more than happy to play foosball and video games until we closed.
I went to the room to change and go to the OB, but got distracted as Cass started watching Monsters Inc. I haven’t seen that movie in a long time, so I ended up watching the whole thing with her before going out to see people for a little while. I had work at 8, so didn’t stay out long, just long enough to catch up with Glenn since I hadn’t seen him at all today.
It was another full day of work! We attempted to follow the schedule of activities, but it just didn’t happen because we had the littles and the tweens combined, and the schedules are very different for them; it didn’t help that no one was there for the first hour either. We ended up coloring and playing board games all morning. I went downstairs for a bit before having lunch with the HAL Cats since their pool set was cancelled due to wind (again).
The afternoon was very quiet, none of the kids showed up for the first hour, then a few of the tweens did, so we let them play video games. Some of the little ones showed up and Aaron got them started on another activity while I stayed with the tweens. One of the tweens loves Harry Potter as well and we’ve been playing Lego Harry Potter together. I had to leave early because I’m back on Bingo duty. I told them that they’re going to have to find a replacement soon, since I leave soon and I’m not going to stay on the ship just to sell Bingo cards!
We had an hour of free time before starting Camp night. We divided them into groups, the two youngest together, then two other groups of two, and gave them paper to come up with a camp name, flag and chant. That took a very long time, by the time everyone had finished their flags, two had left, and two siblings had parents there waiting to sign them out. Only two tweens were left, so we told riddles and played some riddle games until they left. They left kind of early and I had told Aaron that I wanted to go to the show, so Aaron told me I could go early to get formalized and get there on time so I didn’t have to clean up.
It was my last time to see Bob Mackey’s Broadway with this cast, so I took my camera and took pictures of them, some of them turned out really well, which I’m happy about since I kept having to change light settings as the colors and spotlights kept changing.
Cass and I went to hear the Neptunes’ last set of the night and then went to late night. It was fun, the cruise director and the last Neptunes band leader were there as well, in addition to the cast.
December 3, 2012: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Aaron took over the morning shift, even though we weren’t in port until the afternoon. That meant that I got to sleep in for the first time in a while, and the last time until I get home probably. I had a quick lunch before going upstairs. It was a nice afternoon, I started Lego Harry Potter years 5-7 (which is one of the video games we just got) with one of the tweens, played Candyland with some of the younger kids, and we all played foosball for a little while. Club HAL was open until 5 today since we didn’t get to port until 1. After that, I got off the ship and walked around for a while before coming back for dinner and work again.
It was “cosmic cruisers” night. We drew our own alien, rolling a die to see how many heads, eyes, ears, mouths, arms, etc it had and then coloring him in. After that, we had snack! Dinner hasn’t been very good lately, so I was very pleased to have chicken nuggets and fruit! Then, we had all the kids make their own planet. This didn’t last too long because the parents of the little ones picked them up a few minutes into that activity. So, we were left with the tweens who were more than happy to play foosball and video games until we closed.
I went to the room to change and go to the OB, but got distracted as Cass started watching Monsters Inc. I haven’t seen that movie in a long time, so I ended up watching the whole thing with her before going out to see people for a little while. I had work at 8, so didn’t stay out long, just long enough to catch up with Glenn since I hadn’t seen him at all today.
Ft. Lauderdale and sea day
November 30, 2012: Ft. Lauderdale
We had full crew inspection this morning; none of the crew could get off the ship until all crew members had gone through. All departments were assigned times that they were going to be called to go out for customs, Entertainment was at 10. I woke up not long after we docked and they called the first department. A few minutes later, they called for Entertainment department to head down. It was 7:50. We went out and stood in line for half an hour before I handed the person my passport, stood there for a second, then got back on the ship. We figured since we were called so early, everyone would get through pretty quickly and we’d be able to get off the ship. No such luck. By 9:30, Blake, Cass and I were ready to go and waiting with all the disembarking crew to get off (they couldn’t leave until everyone had gone through customs too). We waited, and waited, and waited. Finally we went to the OB to use our phones for a few minutes since we figured it wouldn’t be much more of a wait. They were calling people to come down by names by that point. Finally we were able to get off at 11:20.
The HAL Cats had to play at one, which meant they had to be back by 12, so there wasn’t much time. Cass opted out of going and being rushed, so Blake and I joined Sam and LaVance (cast members) going out. Blake left us to go to Walgreens and I went to Publix with Sam and LaVance. We shopped around for a bit, and I got to talk to Mom. We then went to a restaurant for lunch, LaVance had been there before so knew the food was good and that they had good internet. We ended up staying there for a few hours. I really enjoyed the food, especially after ship food only the past 9 days. Sam and I came back to the ship and I went upstairs to meet the new YPC. A few kids had come by and a few more came by while I was there. There are 11 on board!! I actually had to attend the Emergency Drill and walk around to check if all the kids had wristbands. I’m extremely happy that I finally get to go my job. It’s just amazing that the last 6 cruises combined (over two months) have had less kids than this one.
After the drill, Kayley and I watched Harry Potter 7 part 1 until she had to go to a meeting. Hardly anyone was at dinner, just some of the spa people and a few officers. It was really strange how quiet it was while eating. I went up to Club HAL a bit early since there wasn’t much of a reason to hang out at dinner. One of the tweens came up right at 7 so we played foosball until some of the other kids showed up. It was a relaxed night, 7 of the kids were up there at one point. Some came while their parents finished eating dinner, then left for dessert and quite a few left because they’d had long days on planes. We colored, played some video games, played Uno, sorry, connect-4 and foosball. I was happy to have real work for the first time in two months.
December 1, 2012: Sea Day 1
Wow, it’s already December. Six months ago, I didn’t have a job and now I’ve been away from home on a cruise ship for 3 and a half months. I’m starting to feel ready to come home. I love my job, but I do like land for more than 24 hours at a time. I’ll miss my friends here, but I can’t wait to see everyone when I get back, I miss you all!
I got up a little earlier than normal today since starting work at 9 really does mean STARTing work at 9. The tween that was there on time last night was there this morning as well. She started her ship for the drawing contest and two of the younger ones came in and we got them started making memory handprints. Aaron, the new YPC, saw my Club HAL bag on the wall and thought it was a great way to keep track of all the arts/crafts we do over the cruise. So, we spent the next hour with the kids decorating their own Club HAL bags to keep their drawings and stuff in, and to take home at the end of the cruise. That kept most of them busy until the end of the morning session.
I went down to the room for a bit before going back up for lunch. I finally saw Cass today, she had dessert with me because their set was cancelled on account of wind. Edison joined us, then Blake and Glenn. It was a busy lunch.
This afternoon in Club HAL, we made picture frames, colored ships, went out for ice cream, played video games and played games on the Kinect. We’ve been kind of combining the age groups because there haven’t been enough to keep separate, and Aaron’s been running around the ship getting his new-crew stuff done, prepping for Christmas decorating and putting in orders for Club HAL since we’re running low on some supplies like tape.
The afternoon took a long time to go by, but it went quickly at the same time. I’m very confused about how that can happen.
It was movie night in Club HAL so we gave them the choice between three of the movies, they chose Despicable Me. At least it’s one we didn’t watch constantly for three days on the crossing. I don’t think I would be able to handle watching Megamind, Rango, or Zookeeper again any time soon after that.
Aaron let me get off a little bit early because it was formal night and I had mentioned that I would like to go to the show. I made it to the show on time and had my camera so I could take pictures. Some of the pictures turned out really well, others not so much because the lights changed colors too quickly for me to snap the shot when it wasn’t red or purple (people on stage under those colors have weirdly distorted features sometimes in photos).
After the show, I went by the Ocean Bar to listen to the new Neptunes play, then went up for late night where I found the band. I had some fruit and we hung out upstairs for a while before going down to the OB. I seem to spend a lot of time with the photo department because I hung out with Annette again in addition to the band. Fred, one of the officers, joined us as well. He’s a bit sad because the other guys who used to go to the OB with him left yesterday. We had fun talking about music, movies and I learned a little bit about what goes on on the Bridge sometimes.
We had full crew inspection this morning; none of the crew could get off the ship until all crew members had gone through. All departments were assigned times that they were going to be called to go out for customs, Entertainment was at 10. I woke up not long after we docked and they called the first department. A few minutes later, they called for Entertainment department to head down. It was 7:50. We went out and stood in line for half an hour before I handed the person my passport, stood there for a second, then got back on the ship. We figured since we were called so early, everyone would get through pretty quickly and we’d be able to get off the ship. No such luck. By 9:30, Blake, Cass and I were ready to go and waiting with all the disembarking crew to get off (they couldn’t leave until everyone had gone through customs too). We waited, and waited, and waited. Finally we went to the OB to use our phones for a few minutes since we figured it wouldn’t be much more of a wait. They were calling people to come down by names by that point. Finally we were able to get off at 11:20.
The HAL Cats had to play at one, which meant they had to be back by 12, so there wasn’t much time. Cass opted out of going and being rushed, so Blake and I joined Sam and LaVance (cast members) going out. Blake left us to go to Walgreens and I went to Publix with Sam and LaVance. We shopped around for a bit, and I got to talk to Mom. We then went to a restaurant for lunch, LaVance had been there before so knew the food was good and that they had good internet. We ended up staying there for a few hours. I really enjoyed the food, especially after ship food only the past 9 days. Sam and I came back to the ship and I went upstairs to meet the new YPC. A few kids had come by and a few more came by while I was there. There are 11 on board!! I actually had to attend the Emergency Drill and walk around to check if all the kids had wristbands. I’m extremely happy that I finally get to go my job. It’s just amazing that the last 6 cruises combined (over two months) have had less kids than this one.
After the drill, Kayley and I watched Harry Potter 7 part 1 until she had to go to a meeting. Hardly anyone was at dinner, just some of the spa people and a few officers. It was really strange how quiet it was while eating. I went up to Club HAL a bit early since there wasn’t much of a reason to hang out at dinner. One of the tweens came up right at 7 so we played foosball until some of the other kids showed up. It was a relaxed night, 7 of the kids were up there at one point. Some came while their parents finished eating dinner, then left for dessert and quite a few left because they’d had long days on planes. We colored, played some video games, played Uno, sorry, connect-4 and foosball. I was happy to have real work for the first time in two months.
December 1, 2012: Sea Day 1
Wow, it’s already December. Six months ago, I didn’t have a job and now I’ve been away from home on a cruise ship for 3 and a half months. I’m starting to feel ready to come home. I love my job, but I do like land for more than 24 hours at a time. I’ll miss my friends here, but I can’t wait to see everyone when I get back, I miss you all!
I got up a little earlier than normal today since starting work at 9 really does mean STARTing work at 9. The tween that was there on time last night was there this morning as well. She started her ship for the drawing contest and two of the younger ones came in and we got them started making memory handprints. Aaron, the new YPC, saw my Club HAL bag on the wall and thought it was a great way to keep track of all the arts/crafts we do over the cruise. So, we spent the next hour with the kids decorating their own Club HAL bags to keep their drawings and stuff in, and to take home at the end of the cruise. That kept most of them busy until the end of the morning session.
I went down to the room for a bit before going back up for lunch. I finally saw Cass today, she had dessert with me because their set was cancelled on account of wind. Edison joined us, then Blake and Glenn. It was a busy lunch.
This afternoon in Club HAL, we made picture frames, colored ships, went out for ice cream, played video games and played games on the Kinect. We’ve been kind of combining the age groups because there haven’t been enough to keep separate, and Aaron’s been running around the ship getting his new-crew stuff done, prepping for Christmas decorating and putting in orders for Club HAL since we’re running low on some supplies like tape.
The afternoon took a long time to go by, but it went quickly at the same time. I’m very confused about how that can happen.
It was movie night in Club HAL so we gave them the choice between three of the movies, they chose Despicable Me. At least it’s one we didn’t watch constantly for three days on the crossing. I don’t think I would be able to handle watching Megamind, Rango, or Zookeeper again any time soon after that.
Aaron let me get off a little bit early because it was formal night and I had mentioned that I would like to go to the show. I made it to the show on time and had my camera so I could take pictures. Some of the pictures turned out really well, others not so much because the lights changed colors too quickly for me to snap the shot when it wasn’t red or purple (people on stage under those colors have weirdly distorted features sometimes in photos).
After the show, I went by the Ocean Bar to listen to the new Neptunes play, then went up for late night where I found the band. I had some fruit and we hung out upstairs for a while before going down to the OB. I seem to spend a lot of time with the photo department because I hung out with Annette again in addition to the band. Fred, one of the officers, joined us as well. He’s a bit sad because the other guys who used to go to the OB with him left yesterday. We had fun talking about music, movies and I learned a little bit about what goes on on the Bridge sometimes.
last days of the 42-day cruise
November 26, 2012: Sea Day 5
I met both the kids while we were all eating breakfast this morning. The boy came up and we were coloring when the girl came up. She and her mom argued about her staying and then she left; apparently she is very upset when I’m not working the afternoon shift because she wants to be there with the other girl and she doesn’t like Brian. So, the boy and I put on a movie, made a rocket out of plastic cups and construction paper, and went outside to play basketball. It was a really easy morning.
It was a quiet afternoon as Kayley and I watched Harry Potter, and I helped out with Bingo. I went to dinner with the band, then Cass and I went downstairs to watch Amelie (she has it on her hard drive). Glenn was singing in the Piano Bar so after the movie I went to listen. Blake came up right after Glenn finished (he had planned on being up there, but got distracted), and the three of us went up to dessert extravaganza. I was very happy they had lots of strawberries at the chocolate fountains!
We went down and changed and went to the OB. Not many people were there. I hung out with Annette and we played Rummy for a bit with Edison before he left, then we played Speed. There were only a few other people in there so after a while the other group, a group of officers and electricians came over. We’d hung out some before, but it was interesting when we tried to show them how to play the game. They didn’t really get it, it just looked like we were throwing down cards to them. We stopped playing and talked instead, and then they all started trying to do tricks with the cards, none of which really worked.
November 29, 2012: Half Moon Cay
The last few sea days were uneventful, so there is too little to merit a whole entry on them. We’ve finally returned to civilization, no more being in the middle of the ocean with no connection to the outside world. In some ways, that disconnect is liberating, not having to worry about keeping in touch because it is so difficult. However, it also makes for a boring time, stressful as well because spending 7 straight days confined with the same people (most of whom you’ve spent the last 30-something days with) makes people start to turn on each other. Although there is stuff to do, it all starts to get monotonous and you long for a change of scenery. It’s been a long 7 days, an even longer 42 day cruise.
I was feeling slightly sick last night. More than slightly I guess, since I did have to call Brian to cover for me at work because I felt so bad. It wasn’t quite the sick feeling, but it was a headache turning migraine, added to feeling clammy and shaky. As soon as I got to my room, I climbed in bed and fell asleep, not noticing a thing until 4am. I dozed on and off from then until 7, really 6 because I’d forgotten about the last hour back. Cass was getting ready to take the first tender to land with the HAL Cats so they could get their instruments over there before all the guests needed the space. She left and I got up. It was an earlier morning than I’ve been used to, but I’d had more sleep than usual.
I had breakfast, then came back down to prepare my bag to go to shore with the kids. I met Brian in Club HAL at 10 and realized that all the kids were going to meet us on shore, so we headed down. He made a stop by his room and said he’d meet me downstairs. I got down there and waited, and waited and waited. After 20 minutes, I tried calling, but there was no answer. The party planner and I talked for a bit, and she told me that only one of us really was allowed off because we’re on an IPM rotation with the Explorations Team, all of whom were off the ship. So, I stayed on the ship; I didn’t know where the Club HAL area was on land anyway, that’s why Brian and I were getting off together so we could find it. At least I’m going one more time next week, I can get off then.
I hung out in the room until I was scheduled to work. I knew the kids were on shore, so I had lunch before going up to Club HAL. No one ever showed up, so I ended up listening to music and playing Lego Harry Potter all afternoon. It was a strange day.
After work, I read until dinner, then went up to Club HAL again, not expecting any of the kids to show up because the French boy’s parents were in the show, and the siblings told me they probably weren’t coming up because they needed to pack. All three of them came up. They played Kinect Sports while I took down drawings from the walls and organized them into their bags to take home. They played sports for a while, but then wanted to watch a movie, so I put one on, the girl and I made snowflakes while the boys just watched the movie and talked. Then they all left for the last time. Club HAL was oddly quiet as I cleaned up and prepped the room for tomorrow and the new kids coming aboard. It’s strange to think I’ve spent so much time with these kids and now they’re just gone.
I met both the kids while we were all eating breakfast this morning. The boy came up and we were coloring when the girl came up. She and her mom argued about her staying and then she left; apparently she is very upset when I’m not working the afternoon shift because she wants to be there with the other girl and she doesn’t like Brian. So, the boy and I put on a movie, made a rocket out of plastic cups and construction paper, and went outside to play basketball. It was a really easy morning.
It was a quiet afternoon as Kayley and I watched Harry Potter, and I helped out with Bingo. I went to dinner with the band, then Cass and I went downstairs to watch Amelie (she has it on her hard drive). Glenn was singing in the Piano Bar so after the movie I went to listen. Blake came up right after Glenn finished (he had planned on being up there, but got distracted), and the three of us went up to dessert extravaganza. I was very happy they had lots of strawberries at the chocolate fountains!
We went down and changed and went to the OB. Not many people were there. I hung out with Annette and we played Rummy for a bit with Edison before he left, then we played Speed. There were only a few other people in there so after a while the other group, a group of officers and electricians came over. We’d hung out some before, but it was interesting when we tried to show them how to play the game. They didn’t really get it, it just looked like we were throwing down cards to them. We stopped playing and talked instead, and then they all started trying to do tricks with the cards, none of which really worked.
November 29, 2012: Half Moon Cay
The last few sea days were uneventful, so there is too little to merit a whole entry on them. We’ve finally returned to civilization, no more being in the middle of the ocean with no connection to the outside world. In some ways, that disconnect is liberating, not having to worry about keeping in touch because it is so difficult. However, it also makes for a boring time, stressful as well because spending 7 straight days confined with the same people (most of whom you’ve spent the last 30-something days with) makes people start to turn on each other. Although there is stuff to do, it all starts to get monotonous and you long for a change of scenery. It’s been a long 7 days, an even longer 42 day cruise.
I was feeling slightly sick last night. More than slightly I guess, since I did have to call Brian to cover for me at work because I felt so bad. It wasn’t quite the sick feeling, but it was a headache turning migraine, added to feeling clammy and shaky. As soon as I got to my room, I climbed in bed and fell asleep, not noticing a thing until 4am. I dozed on and off from then until 7, really 6 because I’d forgotten about the last hour back. Cass was getting ready to take the first tender to land with the HAL Cats so they could get their instruments over there before all the guests needed the space. She left and I got up. It was an earlier morning than I’ve been used to, but I’d had more sleep than usual.
I had breakfast, then came back down to prepare my bag to go to shore with the kids. I met Brian in Club HAL at 10 and realized that all the kids were going to meet us on shore, so we headed down. He made a stop by his room and said he’d meet me downstairs. I got down there and waited, and waited and waited. After 20 minutes, I tried calling, but there was no answer. The party planner and I talked for a bit, and she told me that only one of us really was allowed off because we’re on an IPM rotation with the Explorations Team, all of whom were off the ship. So, I stayed on the ship; I didn’t know where the Club HAL area was on land anyway, that’s why Brian and I were getting off together so we could find it. At least I’m going one more time next week, I can get off then.
I hung out in the room until I was scheduled to work. I knew the kids were on shore, so I had lunch before going up to Club HAL. No one ever showed up, so I ended up listening to music and playing Lego Harry Potter all afternoon. It was a strange day.
After work, I read until dinner, then went up to Club HAL again, not expecting any of the kids to show up because the French boy’s parents were in the show, and the siblings told me they probably weren’t coming up because they needed to pack. All three of them came up. They played Kinect Sports while I took down drawings from the walls and organized them into their bags to take home. They played sports for a while, but then wanted to watch a movie, so I put one on, the girl and I made snowflakes while the boys just watched the movie and talked. Then they all left for the last time. Club HAL was oddly quiet as I cleaned up and prepped the room for tomorrow and the new kids coming aboard. It’s strange to think I’ve spent so much time with these kids and now they’re just gone.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
more sea day
Towards the end of the night, the French boy got the idea to make a rocket ship, so we helped him with that (a few plastic cups taped together and construction paper. Then, we decided to hang it from the ceiling, which gave us the idea to make a solar system and hang it up. So the rest of the night was spent coloring circles as planets and me taping them to the ceiling.
The French boy’s mom came a bit late to pick him up, so I had to run downstairs and change quickly to catch the last 20 minutes of the show. It was a variety show, I missed the singer/comedian, but I enjoyed hearing the other two (singer and clarinet player) perform. After the show, I went up with the band for late night as usual. We stayed and talked to the Neptunes band leader until we all got too tired to stay up chatting any longer
November 25, 2012: Sea Day 4
I made it to breakfast at the perfect time this morning, there were plenty of tables open and no one in line, but there were a few crew members there to eat with. After breakfast, I went back to the room and hung out with Cass before she had to go upstairs to play in the Lido. I went up not long after to get lunch and listen to them play, but the ceiling was closed so they weren’t playing. Something had gone wrong in the dome and it was stuck closed, but they were fixing it, so I sat with them until they finally could play and I had to go to work. All four of the kids were there this afternoon, we did the usual activities, and I took them outside to play basketball and tennis and shuffleboard because they really needed to run around for a while. I helped with Bingo, then I was done for the day.
I read in the room for a while until it was time for church. I met Kayley as she was getting back and she told me that church was at 9am, not the usual 5pm, so I’d missed it. I was very sad about that, because I was really looking forward to the church service. Saddened by that, I just read the rest of the afternoon since my plan had been ruined. I went to dinner at the usual time and sat with the band. We sat there talking until 8:30 when Cass and I separated from Glenn and Blake. The guys went downstairs to go to the crew office while Cass and I went to the shops and the Mix to listen to Brandi play. When she was done, the guys joined us in the shops and we talked to some of the shop staff, then went to the piano bar to listen to the music there before the show.
The show was the French boys parents, an acrobatic show. It was pretty amazing. She is extremely flexible and they’re both amazingly strong, lifting one another up and holding poses, then doing stuff on the silk ribbons hanging from the ceiling. The boy was even in the show, as part of the last bit, it was kind of cool seeing someone I spend a lot of the day with on stage. I was very impressed. After the show Cass and I were on our way to late night when we stopped by the piano bar again and talked to some of the guests for a while. We finally made it to late night, and strangely there weren’t many people there.
The French boy’s mom came a bit late to pick him up, so I had to run downstairs and change quickly to catch the last 20 minutes of the show. It was a variety show, I missed the singer/comedian, but I enjoyed hearing the other two (singer and clarinet player) perform. After the show, I went up with the band for late night as usual. We stayed and talked to the Neptunes band leader until we all got too tired to stay up chatting any longer
November 25, 2012: Sea Day 4
I made it to breakfast at the perfect time this morning, there were plenty of tables open and no one in line, but there were a few crew members there to eat with. After breakfast, I went back to the room and hung out with Cass before she had to go upstairs to play in the Lido. I went up not long after to get lunch and listen to them play, but the ceiling was closed so they weren’t playing. Something had gone wrong in the dome and it was stuck closed, but they were fixing it, so I sat with them until they finally could play and I had to go to work. All four of the kids were there this afternoon, we did the usual activities, and I took them outside to play basketball and tennis and shuffleboard because they really needed to run around for a while. I helped with Bingo, then I was done for the day.
I read in the room for a while until it was time for church. I met Kayley as she was getting back and she told me that church was at 9am, not the usual 5pm, so I’d missed it. I was very sad about that, because I was really looking forward to the church service. Saddened by that, I just read the rest of the afternoon since my plan had been ruined. I went to dinner at the usual time and sat with the band. We sat there talking until 8:30 when Cass and I separated from Glenn and Blake. The guys went downstairs to go to the crew office while Cass and I went to the shops and the Mix to listen to Brandi play. When she was done, the guys joined us in the shops and we talked to some of the shop staff, then went to the piano bar to listen to the music there before the show.
The show was the French boys parents, an acrobatic show. It was pretty amazing. She is extremely flexible and they’re both amazingly strong, lifting one another up and holding poses, then doing stuff on the silk ribbons hanging from the ceiling. The boy was even in the show, as part of the last bit, it was kind of cool seeing someone I spend a lot of the day with on stage. I was very impressed. After the show Cass and I were on our way to late night when we stopped by the piano bar again and talked to some of the guests for a while. We finally made it to late night, and strangely there weren’t many people there.
sea days
November 23, 2012: Sea Day 2
I had gone to bed earlyish last night, and slept in kind of late this morning, I was ready to go before breakfast closed though, but that meant I didn’t really didn’t have anything to do until lunch then work. I watched the news for a bit, since Fox News is, yet again, the only thing we can get on the TV. I had lunch with Kayley and Brandi, happily they had fried chicken in the Lido, and it was actually good!
Work this afternoon was interesting. The girl and the French boy came in about the same time a few minutes after I got there. They both wanted to make more picture frames, so they followed me to the cabinet where the box was. The boy suddenly decided to tickle me as I was putting the box back in the cabinet, so I bent down to pick them up; as I stood up, I slammed my head into the cabinet door. It was really painful and I had to run to the bathroom because I didn’t want it to bleed more (it wasn’t really bleeding badly, but it was in my hair and I wanted to make sure it stopped quickly). I think they realized after that that I wasn’t going to put up with them screaming any more today because my head was hurting. The others came by not long after and they amused themselves running around the room before I took them outside to play tag. They really needed to get some of that energy out, and they did because it was windy and they were running everywhere. Finally we went back to Club HAL and the boys sat down for video games while the girls colored. Cass came by and colored with us for a while. She even went downstairs with us for snacktime. It helped having someone else there, I could take one or two of them to get water or more jello or more ice cream while I knew the others would be somewhat well behaved with someone watching them.
Cass and I got down to the room a little after four and the phone rang just as we walked in the door. Cass answered and as soon as she said the DJ’s name I remembered Bingo, so I told him I’d be right up and ran upstairs to do the math for Bingo since I’d been at work when they sold the cards. After that, Cass game me an ice pack for me to hold on my head for a while as I sat on my bed just to make sure the scrape on my head didn’t swell up any more than it already had (it’s okay, it only did a little bit). It helped having something (the cold) to distract me from the occasional pain it gave me.
I called Maria because she had said a few days ago that she really wanted to do my hair for the Black and White Ball. She looked at my dress and got an idea of what to do and we went to her room so she could fix my hair. It looked really good. She curled it all, then pinned it kind of into a ponytail on the side, adding a black flower. I changed, then went up to dinner. There weren’t many people at dinner. I guess a lot of people, like Kayley and Sam (who I went to see before I went up), ordered room service. I sat with everyone in the photo department; they all had to leave before I was done though so I sat alone for a little while.
After dinner, I wasn’t sure what to do, so I sat in on the first show (both the shows were an hour earlier because of the Black and White Ball). Then, I attended the show for the second run-through. It was a really good show, a singer/comedian. She sang some famous songs, but changed them up some, the song Over the Rainbow was changed to “Over-indulgence” talking about the food on cruise ships.
After the show, the Black and White Ball began. Kayley sang a few songs, and then the Captain and all the officers came in. The guests had to go up and grab an officer to dance with, there were three specific dances where they had a chance to get a prize, depending on which officer had the prize in his/her pocket. It was fun to watch as a lot of guests scrambled to get to a particular person before someone else did. By the hour mark, most of the officers had left and quite a few of the guests; the entertainment department and the guests that know us and talk to us all the time remained until the end.
November 24, 2012: Sea Day 3
I worked this morning. The girl came up with her mom, but didn’t really want to stay because the other kids weren’t there. She was unhappy that I worked in the morning because she wanted to spend all afternoon with me and the others. That was an interesting conversation as the mother tried to convince her to stay. I read for a while until the French boy came. We made snowflakes, played Lego Harry Potter and watched Megamind. Not a bad morning.
Kayley met me for lunch because we planned on eating then watching Harry Potter 6 together since I had the afternoon off. Sam and Brandi joined us. I somehow ate really quickly and got bored sitting there as I couldn’t contribute at all to the conversation, not that I had much of a chance to anyway. I came downstairs to read and wait until Kayley was ready to watch the movie. We watched most of the movie before she had to go to rehearsal for HAL Chorale and I had to go to Bingo. After Bingo I thought she’d come by my room to get me to watch the rest of us, but she didn’t show up so I listened to music and read for the rest of the afternoon. I sat with Glenn at dinner. Apparently Staff Dinner is no longer a thing, guests keep coming over to our side probably because they see the shorter line and get jealous. Of course, that also means that they have to eat the not as well done food. Maybe that means that the food quality will improve on the staff side! A lot of crew have been complaining about all the guests taking over our side, but my view is if guests come, then the food is bound to get better, who cares if we have to wait a few extra minutes for food.
Anyway, the usual three kids came up and we colored, played video games, watched Tangled and ran around for a while. Towards the end of the night, the French boy got the idea to make a rocket ship, so we helped him with that (a few plastic cups taped together and construction paper. Then, we decided to hang it from the ceiling, which gave us the idea to make a solar system and hang it up. So the rest of the night was spent coloring circles as planets and me taping them to the ceiling.
The French boy’s mom came a bit late to pick him up, so I had to run downstairs and change quickly to catch the last 20 minutes of the show. It was a variety show, I missed the singer/comedian, but I enjoyed hearing the other two (singer and clarinet player) perform. After the show, I went up with the band for late night as usual. We stayed and talked to the Neptunes band leader until we all got too tired to stay up chatting any longer
I had gone to bed earlyish last night, and slept in kind of late this morning, I was ready to go before breakfast closed though, but that meant I didn’t really didn’t have anything to do until lunch then work. I watched the news for a bit, since Fox News is, yet again, the only thing we can get on the TV. I had lunch with Kayley and Brandi, happily they had fried chicken in the Lido, and it was actually good!
Work this afternoon was interesting. The girl and the French boy came in about the same time a few minutes after I got there. They both wanted to make more picture frames, so they followed me to the cabinet where the box was. The boy suddenly decided to tickle me as I was putting the box back in the cabinet, so I bent down to pick them up; as I stood up, I slammed my head into the cabinet door. It was really painful and I had to run to the bathroom because I didn’t want it to bleed more (it wasn’t really bleeding badly, but it was in my hair and I wanted to make sure it stopped quickly). I think they realized after that that I wasn’t going to put up with them screaming any more today because my head was hurting. The others came by not long after and they amused themselves running around the room before I took them outside to play tag. They really needed to get some of that energy out, and they did because it was windy and they were running everywhere. Finally we went back to Club HAL and the boys sat down for video games while the girls colored. Cass came by and colored with us for a while. She even went downstairs with us for snacktime. It helped having someone else there, I could take one or two of them to get water or more jello or more ice cream while I knew the others would be somewhat well behaved with someone watching them.
Cass and I got down to the room a little after four and the phone rang just as we walked in the door. Cass answered and as soon as she said the DJ’s name I remembered Bingo, so I told him I’d be right up and ran upstairs to do the math for Bingo since I’d been at work when they sold the cards. After that, Cass game me an ice pack for me to hold on my head for a while as I sat on my bed just to make sure the scrape on my head didn’t swell up any more than it already had (it’s okay, it only did a little bit). It helped having something (the cold) to distract me from the occasional pain it gave me.
I called Maria because she had said a few days ago that she really wanted to do my hair for the Black and White Ball. She looked at my dress and got an idea of what to do and we went to her room so she could fix my hair. It looked really good. She curled it all, then pinned it kind of into a ponytail on the side, adding a black flower. I changed, then went up to dinner. There weren’t many people at dinner. I guess a lot of people, like Kayley and Sam (who I went to see before I went up), ordered room service. I sat with everyone in the photo department; they all had to leave before I was done though so I sat alone for a little while.
After dinner, I wasn’t sure what to do, so I sat in on the first show (both the shows were an hour earlier because of the Black and White Ball). Then, I attended the show for the second run-through. It was a really good show, a singer/comedian. She sang some famous songs, but changed them up some, the song Over the Rainbow was changed to “Over-indulgence” talking about the food on cruise ships.
After the show, the Black and White Ball began. Kayley sang a few songs, and then the Captain and all the officers came in. The guests had to go up and grab an officer to dance with, there were three specific dances where they had a chance to get a prize, depending on which officer had the prize in his/her pocket. It was fun to watch as a lot of guests scrambled to get to a particular person before someone else did. By the hour mark, most of the officers had left and quite a few of the guests; the entertainment department and the guests that know us and talk to us all the time remained until the end.
November 24, 2012: Sea Day 3
I worked this morning. The girl came up with her mom, but didn’t really want to stay because the other kids weren’t there. She was unhappy that I worked in the morning because she wanted to spend all afternoon with me and the others. That was an interesting conversation as the mother tried to convince her to stay. I read for a while until the French boy came. We made snowflakes, played Lego Harry Potter and watched Megamind. Not a bad morning.
Kayley met me for lunch because we planned on eating then watching Harry Potter 6 together since I had the afternoon off. Sam and Brandi joined us. I somehow ate really quickly and got bored sitting there as I couldn’t contribute at all to the conversation, not that I had much of a chance to anyway. I came downstairs to read and wait until Kayley was ready to watch the movie. We watched most of the movie before she had to go to rehearsal for HAL Chorale and I had to go to Bingo. After Bingo I thought she’d come by my room to get me to watch the rest of us, but she didn’t show up so I listened to music and read for the rest of the afternoon. I sat with Glenn at dinner. Apparently Staff Dinner is no longer a thing, guests keep coming over to our side probably because they see the shorter line and get jealous. Of course, that also means that they have to eat the not as well done food. Maybe that means that the food quality will improve on the staff side! A lot of crew have been complaining about all the guests taking over our side, but my view is if guests come, then the food is bound to get better, who cares if we have to wait a few extra minutes for food.
Anyway, the usual three kids came up and we colored, played video games, watched Tangled and ran around for a while. Towards the end of the night, the French boy got the idea to make a rocket ship, so we helped him with that (a few plastic cups taped together and construction paper. Then, we decided to hang it from the ceiling, which gave us the idea to make a solar system and hang it up. So the rest of the night was spent coloring circles as planets and me taping them to the ceiling.
The French boy’s mom came a bit late to pick him up, so I had to run downstairs and change quickly to catch the last 20 minutes of the show. It was a variety show, I missed the singer/comedian, but I enjoyed hearing the other two (singer and clarinet player) perform. After the show, I went up with the band for late night as usual. We stayed and talked to the Neptunes band leader until we all got too tired to stay up chatting any longer
madiera
November 20, 2012: Madeira day 1
We had a fire drill and a general emergency drill this morning. The fire drill was scheduled for 9:30, so I was ready for it. The general drill was scheduled for 10:30, that one includes all crew not on duty. However, a few minutes before 10, they sounded the general alarm. All I had to do was stay in the front office until they dismissed us to our life rafts, but all the musicians are traffic directors so they had to get to their station; really they all had to get up because the drill wasn’t supposed to be for another 30 minutes. It took a long time for them to dismiss us to our rafts, but at least Rachel was there to talk to until then.
After the drills, I only had an hour before I had to be at work which meant I couldn’t get off the ship. Glenn invited me to go up and sit in the Lido with him and Blake since they’d missed breakfast and wanted coffee. I sat with them until work. All the kids were up there, the siblings having just arrived. We played video games for a few minutes before going down to lunch. All they wanted was chips so they had to wait for me to get my food before we all went to sit down. Lunch took a while, despite them only having chips, but we finally made it back upstairs and the girls set off to play house, while the boy and I worked more through Lego Star Wars and watched How to Train Your Dragon.
I was kind of tired after work, and only really had about an hour and a half, so I didn’t get off the ship but took a nap instead. Very few people were on the ship for dinner, but at least the crew had a good view for once, we were actually on the side next to the city, so we could see all the lights.
I went up to work and read a chapter and played solitaire until 9, the kids never came up so I went down to the room to change and catch the end of the HAL Cats show. On the way up, I started talking to Annette, the newish photographer, so I made it up to the Showroom as the band was leaving the stage. I met them back downstairs though and there was a bunch of calling from room to room as we made plans to go out. The band, two of the cast members and I went out. A lot of them walk really slowly so it took us a while to get to a restaurant. Once we got there it started raining harder so we ended up staying there instead of moving to different places. It was fun, more people from the ship showed up later and we all just had a good time chatting.
November 21, 2012: Madeira day 2
I worked 9-12 this morning. The girl came up and played video games with me until the other kids showed up. The girls played house while I showed the boy how to get past one of the levels we’d been having trouble with in Lego Harry Potter. Brian came not long after and I got some lunch before going downstairs. There really wasn’t much to do so I ended up playing games on my computer and phone before taking an unintentional nap until dinner.
As I was keeping Cass company since she got to dinner late, I saw a kid getting dessert. Now no one had said anything to me about someone new coming on board so I was very confused. I was pleasantly surprised as well and as soon as Cass was done, I went upstairs to see what Brian knew. Very exciting! The kid is the son of one of the guest entertainers that got on board today, ANNNNNNDDDDDDD (drumroll please) they’re FRENCH!! I was very happy to find this out! Another kid, which means I have more of a job, and I get to use my French again!
I hung out in Club HAL for a while since I wasn’t going to work out with the ship moving like it is tonight, then changed and went to the show. It was a very good show, the guy sang a lot of Frank Sinatra stuff and the audience really liked it.
November 22, 2012: Sea Day 1
Why do things like this keep happening? I slept in a bit since I didn’t work this morning, but as soon as I got out of the shower, Brian called to see where I was because the kids were up there and I apparently was supposed to work this morning. He’d changed the schedule for the sea days and I hadn’t realized it. So, I got ready in a few minutes and ran upstairs. The girl and the French boy just played video games, it was kind of nice not having to keep them entertained since I was a bit out of it because of the confusion.
After work, I went back downstairs and actually got ready before going up for lunch with the HAL Cats. I stayed up there hanging out with them until time for Bingo. We ended up not having the normal Bingo since not enough people showed up, but I got to run to the Entertainment Office and get some mugs to use as prizes.
After that, I got a call from Brian letting me know that I had to go to the Entertainment meeting at 5:30, so I talked to Cass and read for a bit until then. It wasn’t really anything special, basically they told us to keep up the patience for the last 7 days of this cruise and keep the guests happy because they’re filling out their comment cards and ratings soon. Sam, Cass and I went to dinner after that; they had a special dinner tonight because it’s Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving! I didn’t see what was so different about it from normal dinners aside from there being less for me to eat. But, I did enjoy eating with everyone there (the HAL Cats and the Neptunes and Sam).
I was up at work for an hour before the French boy came up. He played video games with me for a while, then we started up a dance game on the Kinect when his mom came. He wanted to play it a little longer so the mom and I talked in French for a few minutes when the siblings came in. He really didn’t want to leave then, so she left and the three of them amused themselves chasing each other (and me) around the room. I’m definitely going to have to take them out to the Sports Deck tomorrow, they don’t need to be cooped up inside for such long periods of time!
At 10, I ran downstairs, changed very quickly and ran back upstairs to see the show, a clarinet player with the HAL Cats as back-up (as is usually the case for singers/other musicians). He was a good clarinet player, but in my opinion he talked too much between songs. After the show, I went up to late night with Robyn, Blake and Glenn. It’s a lot of fun hanging out with the band, I keep wondering why Kayley never really joins them when they do stuff. No wonder people think I’m her, I’m with the band all the time. We’ve started saying that I’m Kayley’s understudy, which is why no one hears me sing, but why I’m with them all the time.
November 23, 2012: Sea Day 2
I had gone to bed earlyish last night, and slept in kind of late this morning, I was ready to go before breakfast closed though, but that meant I didn’t really didn’t have anything to do until lunch then work. I watched the news for a bit, since Fox News is, yet again, the only thing we can get on the TV. I had lunch with Kayley and Brandi, happily they had fried chicken in the Lido, and it was actually good!
Work this afternoon was interesting. The girl and the French boy came in about the same time a few minutes after I got there. They both wanted to make more picture frames, so they followed me to the cabinet where the box was. The boy suddenly decided to tickle me as I was putting the box back in the cabinet, so I bent down to pick them up; as I stood up, I slammed my head into the cabinet door. It was really painful and I had to run to the bathroom because I didn’t want it to bleed more (it wasn’t really bleeding badly, but it was in my hair and I wanted to make sure it stopped quickly). I think they realized after that that I wasn’t going to put up with them screaming any more today because my head was hurting.
The others came by not long after and they amused themselves running around the room before I took them outside to play tag. They really needed to get some of that energy out, and they did because it was windy and they were running everywhere. Finally we went back to Club HAL and the boys sat down for video games while the girls colored. Cass came by and colored with us for a while. She even went downstairs with us for snacktime. It helped having someone else there, I could take one or two of them to get water or more jello or more ice cream while I knew the others would be somewhat well behaved with someone watching them.
Cass and I got down to the room a little after four and the phone rang just as we walked in the door. Cass answered and as soon as she said the DJ’s name I remembered Bingo, so I told him I’d be right up and ran upstairs to do the math for Bingo since I’d been at work when they sold the cards. After that, Cass game me an ice pack for me to hold on my head for a while as I sat on my bed just to make sure the scrape on my head didn’t swell up any more than it already had (it’s okay, it only did a little bit). It helped having something (the cold) to distract me from the occasional pain it gave me.
I called Maria because she had said a few days ago that she really wanted to do my hair for the Black and White Ball. She looked at my dress and got an idea of what to do and we went to her room so she could fix my hair. It looked really good. She curled it all, then pinned it kind of into a ponytail on the side, adding a black flower. I changed, then went up to dinner. There weren’t many people at dinner. I guess a lot of people, like Kayley and Sam (who I went to see before I went up), ordered room service. I sat with everyone in the photo department; they all had to leave before I was done though so I sat alone for a little while.
After dinner, I wasn’t sure what to do, so I sat in on the first show (both the shows were an hour earlier because of the Black and White Ball). Then, I attended the show for the second run-through. It was a really good show, a singer/comedian. She sang some famous songs, but changed them up some, the song Over the Rainbow was changed to “Over-indulgence” talking about the food on cruise ships.
After the show, the Black and White Ball began. Kayley sang a few songs, and then the Captain and all the officers came in. The guests had to go up and grab an officer to dance with, there were three specific dances where they had a chance to get a prize, depending on which officer had the prize in his/her pocket. It was fun to watch as a lot of guests scrambled to get to a particular person before someone else did. By the hour mark, most of the officers had left and quite a few of the guests; the entertainment department and the guests that know us and talk to us all the time remained until the end.
We had a fire drill and a general emergency drill this morning. The fire drill was scheduled for 9:30, so I was ready for it. The general drill was scheduled for 10:30, that one includes all crew not on duty. However, a few minutes before 10, they sounded the general alarm. All I had to do was stay in the front office until they dismissed us to our life rafts, but all the musicians are traffic directors so they had to get to their station; really they all had to get up because the drill wasn’t supposed to be for another 30 minutes. It took a long time for them to dismiss us to our rafts, but at least Rachel was there to talk to until then.
After the drills, I only had an hour before I had to be at work which meant I couldn’t get off the ship. Glenn invited me to go up and sit in the Lido with him and Blake since they’d missed breakfast and wanted coffee. I sat with them until work. All the kids were up there, the siblings having just arrived. We played video games for a few minutes before going down to lunch. All they wanted was chips so they had to wait for me to get my food before we all went to sit down. Lunch took a while, despite them only having chips, but we finally made it back upstairs and the girls set off to play house, while the boy and I worked more through Lego Star Wars and watched How to Train Your Dragon.
I was kind of tired after work, and only really had about an hour and a half, so I didn’t get off the ship but took a nap instead. Very few people were on the ship for dinner, but at least the crew had a good view for once, we were actually on the side next to the city, so we could see all the lights.
I went up to work and read a chapter and played solitaire until 9, the kids never came up so I went down to the room to change and catch the end of the HAL Cats show. On the way up, I started talking to Annette, the newish photographer, so I made it up to the Showroom as the band was leaving the stage. I met them back downstairs though and there was a bunch of calling from room to room as we made plans to go out. The band, two of the cast members and I went out. A lot of them walk really slowly so it took us a while to get to a restaurant. Once we got there it started raining harder so we ended up staying there instead of moving to different places. It was fun, more people from the ship showed up later and we all just had a good time chatting.
November 21, 2012: Madeira day 2
I worked 9-12 this morning. The girl came up and played video games with me until the other kids showed up. The girls played house while I showed the boy how to get past one of the levels we’d been having trouble with in Lego Harry Potter. Brian came not long after and I got some lunch before going downstairs. There really wasn’t much to do so I ended up playing games on my computer and phone before taking an unintentional nap until dinner.
As I was keeping Cass company since she got to dinner late, I saw a kid getting dessert. Now no one had said anything to me about someone new coming on board so I was very confused. I was pleasantly surprised as well and as soon as Cass was done, I went upstairs to see what Brian knew. Very exciting! The kid is the son of one of the guest entertainers that got on board today, ANNNNNNDDDDDDD (drumroll please) they’re FRENCH!! I was very happy to find this out! Another kid, which means I have more of a job, and I get to use my French again!
I hung out in Club HAL for a while since I wasn’t going to work out with the ship moving like it is tonight, then changed and went to the show. It was a very good show, the guy sang a lot of Frank Sinatra stuff and the audience really liked it.
November 22, 2012: Sea Day 1
Why do things like this keep happening? I slept in a bit since I didn’t work this morning, but as soon as I got out of the shower, Brian called to see where I was because the kids were up there and I apparently was supposed to work this morning. He’d changed the schedule for the sea days and I hadn’t realized it. So, I got ready in a few minutes and ran upstairs. The girl and the French boy just played video games, it was kind of nice not having to keep them entertained since I was a bit out of it because of the confusion.
After work, I went back downstairs and actually got ready before going up for lunch with the HAL Cats. I stayed up there hanging out with them until time for Bingo. We ended up not having the normal Bingo since not enough people showed up, but I got to run to the Entertainment Office and get some mugs to use as prizes.
After that, I got a call from Brian letting me know that I had to go to the Entertainment meeting at 5:30, so I talked to Cass and read for a bit until then. It wasn’t really anything special, basically they told us to keep up the patience for the last 7 days of this cruise and keep the guests happy because they’re filling out their comment cards and ratings soon. Sam, Cass and I went to dinner after that; they had a special dinner tonight because it’s Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving! I didn’t see what was so different about it from normal dinners aside from there being less for me to eat. But, I did enjoy eating with everyone there (the HAL Cats and the Neptunes and Sam).
I was up at work for an hour before the French boy came up. He played video games with me for a while, then we started up a dance game on the Kinect when his mom came. He wanted to play it a little longer so the mom and I talked in French for a few minutes when the siblings came in. He really didn’t want to leave then, so she left and the three of them amused themselves chasing each other (and me) around the room. I’m definitely going to have to take them out to the Sports Deck tomorrow, they don’t need to be cooped up inside for such long periods of time!
At 10, I ran downstairs, changed very quickly and ran back upstairs to see the show, a clarinet player with the HAL Cats as back-up (as is usually the case for singers/other musicians). He was a good clarinet player, but in my opinion he talked too much between songs. After the show, I went up to late night with Robyn, Blake and Glenn. It’s a lot of fun hanging out with the band, I keep wondering why Kayley never really joins them when they do stuff. No wonder people think I’m her, I’m with the band all the time. We’ve started saying that I’m Kayley’s understudy, which is why no one hears me sing, but why I’m with them all the time.
November 23, 2012: Sea Day 2
I had gone to bed earlyish last night, and slept in kind of late this morning, I was ready to go before breakfast closed though, but that meant I didn’t really didn’t have anything to do until lunch then work. I watched the news for a bit, since Fox News is, yet again, the only thing we can get on the TV. I had lunch with Kayley and Brandi, happily they had fried chicken in the Lido, and it was actually good!
Work this afternoon was interesting. The girl and the French boy came in about the same time a few minutes after I got there. They both wanted to make more picture frames, so they followed me to the cabinet where the box was. The boy suddenly decided to tickle me as I was putting the box back in the cabinet, so I bent down to pick them up; as I stood up, I slammed my head into the cabinet door. It was really painful and I had to run to the bathroom because I didn’t want it to bleed more (it wasn’t really bleeding badly, but it was in my hair and I wanted to make sure it stopped quickly). I think they realized after that that I wasn’t going to put up with them screaming any more today because my head was hurting.
The others came by not long after and they amused themselves running around the room before I took them outside to play tag. They really needed to get some of that energy out, and they did because it was windy and they were running everywhere. Finally we went back to Club HAL and the boys sat down for video games while the girls colored. Cass came by and colored with us for a while. She even went downstairs with us for snacktime. It helped having someone else there, I could take one or two of them to get water or more jello or more ice cream while I knew the others would be somewhat well behaved with someone watching them.
Cass and I got down to the room a little after four and the phone rang just as we walked in the door. Cass answered and as soon as she said the DJ’s name I remembered Bingo, so I told him I’d be right up and ran upstairs to do the math for Bingo since I’d been at work when they sold the cards. After that, Cass game me an ice pack for me to hold on my head for a while as I sat on my bed just to make sure the scrape on my head didn’t swell up any more than it already had (it’s okay, it only did a little bit). It helped having something (the cold) to distract me from the occasional pain it gave me.
I called Maria because she had said a few days ago that she really wanted to do my hair for the Black and White Ball. She looked at my dress and got an idea of what to do and we went to her room so she could fix my hair. It looked really good. She curled it all, then pinned it kind of into a ponytail on the side, adding a black flower. I changed, then went up to dinner. There weren’t many people at dinner. I guess a lot of people, like Kayley and Sam (who I went to see before I went up), ordered room service. I sat with everyone in the photo department; they all had to leave before I was done though so I sat alone for a little while.
After dinner, I wasn’t sure what to do, so I sat in on the first show (both the shows were an hour earlier because of the Black and White Ball). Then, I attended the show for the second run-through. It was a really good show, a singer/comedian. She sang some famous songs, but changed them up some, the song Over the Rainbow was changed to “Over-indulgence” talking about the food on cruise ships.
After the show, the Black and White Ball began. Kayley sang a few songs, and then the Captain and all the officers came in. The guests had to go up and grab an officer to dance with, there were three specific dances where they had a chance to get a prize, depending on which officer had the prize in his/her pocket. It was fun to watch as a lot of guests scrambled to get to a particular person before someone else did. By the hour mark, most of the officers had left and quite a few of the guests; the entertainment department and the guests that know us and talk to us all the time remained until the end.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
lisbon and sea day
November 18, 2012: Lisbon day 2
I really like Portugal; Lisbon has definitely been the best one of the best ports of this trip. Cass and I went out kind of early this morning because I had to be back for work at 12. We went to the market in the main town. A bunch of people were there selling locally made things, and by locally-made, I mean the people who made them were selling them or a relative was selling them. We spent my hour there, then I had to leave because it was about a twenty minute walk back to the ship.
All the kids were in Club HAL, so we waited a little bit before I took them to lunch (they were all immersed in their activities when I arrived). Lunch took an hour because they kept getting distracted from eating or thinking of something else they wanted to eat.
The afternoon went by rather quickly, they played video games for a while, then the girls decided to color and get ready for another show. We spent the last half hour or so playing around; the girls would run from the boy and call for me to protect them. I’d let them know when it was safe to come out, then let the boy know when he should come out so we could start the whole process over again.
After I left work, the HAL Cats were in the Lido doing their sailaway set, so I got to sit in on their last song before we all hung out drinking tea until Glenn, Kayley and I left for church service. It was a really good service about turning points, and not ignoring when God is telling you to go a particular direction.
I had dinner, then went back to work. I just read until the siblings came up. We colored and watched Finding Nemo. The movie finished with about 30 minutes left until I closed, so we put on the special features and played with the jenga blocks until their dad came. I had to SuperSan before leaving, so that took about 20 minutes which meant I couldn’t go to the show. I hung out in my room until it was time for late night. I went up and had some tea with Glenn, Blake, Kayley and Sam. Glenn, Blake and I went downstairs afterwards and watched a documentary Blake has on his computer about someone who “walked” through the Bible. He went to various places that are in the Bible, some that are just guesses and talked about how actually seeing the places changes your view of the place, and of the story because it’s so much more real. It was interesting, we’re going to watch the other two parts of it sometime before I leave.
November 19, 2012: Sea day
I worked the morning shift, so I had a leisurely breakfast before going up to Club HAL. The girl and her mom came around 10, but she didn’t want to stay (after all that work getting her sisters stroller upstairs; there’s no elevator at the Club HAL end, so they had to go all the way to the front of the ship, take the elevators up, then walk outside to get to Club HAL). I stayed up there just in case they came back before 11:30. They didn’t, I just spent the time reading.
I went down to the room because I wasn’t quite hungry for lunch yet. About an hour later, when I finally went up to lunch, I was surprised to see that the place where salads normally are, they had set up an assortment of cheeses and cheese-based foods, even a cheese fountain. They even had a ton of Brie! I got some pasta and bread and brie and sat down with Kayley, Sam and Jim. It was too windy for the HAL Cats to play their pool set, but Cass, Robyn, Blake and Glenn ended up playing music themselves (when the ceiling is closed, the sound doesn’t get to escape so it’s really loud with drums and singing. Once they finished Kayley and Sam left and Cass joined Jim and me at our table. She found this soup that I had somehow missed that was really good. I ended up having to go get a bowl, it was watermelon! I’m not entirely sure what was in it, but it was really good. When I was getting a bowl of that, I ran into Glenn and Blake and they sat with us as well.
We were just sitting, talking and eating when suddenly Jim spotted dolphins outside! I screamed and ran to the window (I think some of the passengers that know me now aren’t surprised by reactions like this from me). There was a whole group of them swimming alongside the ship, doing flips and just having a blast! I’m pretty sure Glenn and I were most excited about seeing them. We stood at the window for at least 10 minutes watching them until they started to fall behind. We stayed by the pool just chatting for a long time.
We had Bingo at 4, so I helped sell cards. Apparently I have a twin somewhere because one of the passengers tells me I look exactly like her daughters best friend. I’m glad I’m finally starting to recognize the Bingo players outside of Bingo, it’s hard though because there’s so many people!
Robyn had invited me to eat dinner with the HAL Cats and the cast in the dining room tonight, so I hung out in the room with Cass until it was time to start getting ready for dinner. It was formal night so we all had to look our best (meaning I couldn’t just throw on my dress and head back upstairs like I normally do on formal nights when I work but want to go to the show). I was easily ready before Cass and Kayley and Sam. I helped them get ready and we finally went upstairs to the dining room. Dinner was good, I definitely ate more than I have all cruise. I tried other people’s food too (they offered!). I sat with the kids’ parents, the kids, Cass, Sam and Kayley. We had to divide the group up because there were too many people for one table, so we had our table of 8, a table of 6, and a table of 4. It was weird a bit for me sitting with the kids since I wasn’t working, but I felt like I was working since they kept asking me questions and wanting me to watch them do something.
After dinner, Kayley went to sing with the Neptunes, so Cass, Sam and I followed not long after so we could watch. Some of the cast and the rest of the HAL Cats joined us later. There were a lot of us there and it was a lot of fun, hanging out, listening to music and chatting. Once the Neptunes finished, Glenn and Blake wanted to go to late night; I went with them and we hung out there for a long time before going downstairs.
I really like Portugal; Lisbon has definitely been the best one of the best ports of this trip. Cass and I went out kind of early this morning because I had to be back for work at 12. We went to the market in the main town. A bunch of people were there selling locally made things, and by locally-made, I mean the people who made them were selling them or a relative was selling them. We spent my hour there, then I had to leave because it was about a twenty minute walk back to the ship.
All the kids were in Club HAL, so we waited a little bit before I took them to lunch (they were all immersed in their activities when I arrived). Lunch took an hour because they kept getting distracted from eating or thinking of something else they wanted to eat.
The afternoon went by rather quickly, they played video games for a while, then the girls decided to color and get ready for another show. We spent the last half hour or so playing around; the girls would run from the boy and call for me to protect them. I’d let them know when it was safe to come out, then let the boy know when he should come out so we could start the whole process over again.
After I left work, the HAL Cats were in the Lido doing their sailaway set, so I got to sit in on their last song before we all hung out drinking tea until Glenn, Kayley and I left for church service. It was a really good service about turning points, and not ignoring when God is telling you to go a particular direction.
I had dinner, then went back to work. I just read until the siblings came up. We colored and watched Finding Nemo. The movie finished with about 30 minutes left until I closed, so we put on the special features and played with the jenga blocks until their dad came. I had to SuperSan before leaving, so that took about 20 minutes which meant I couldn’t go to the show. I hung out in my room until it was time for late night. I went up and had some tea with Glenn, Blake, Kayley and Sam. Glenn, Blake and I went downstairs afterwards and watched a documentary Blake has on his computer about someone who “walked” through the Bible. He went to various places that are in the Bible, some that are just guesses and talked about how actually seeing the places changes your view of the place, and of the story because it’s so much more real. It was interesting, we’re going to watch the other two parts of it sometime before I leave.
November 19, 2012: Sea day
I worked the morning shift, so I had a leisurely breakfast before going up to Club HAL. The girl and her mom came around 10, but she didn’t want to stay (after all that work getting her sisters stroller upstairs; there’s no elevator at the Club HAL end, so they had to go all the way to the front of the ship, take the elevators up, then walk outside to get to Club HAL). I stayed up there just in case they came back before 11:30. They didn’t, I just spent the time reading.
I went down to the room because I wasn’t quite hungry for lunch yet. About an hour later, when I finally went up to lunch, I was surprised to see that the place where salads normally are, they had set up an assortment of cheeses and cheese-based foods, even a cheese fountain. They even had a ton of Brie! I got some pasta and bread and brie and sat down with Kayley, Sam and Jim. It was too windy for the HAL Cats to play their pool set, but Cass, Robyn, Blake and Glenn ended up playing music themselves (when the ceiling is closed, the sound doesn’t get to escape so it’s really loud with drums and singing. Once they finished Kayley and Sam left and Cass joined Jim and me at our table. She found this soup that I had somehow missed that was really good. I ended up having to go get a bowl, it was watermelon! I’m not entirely sure what was in it, but it was really good. When I was getting a bowl of that, I ran into Glenn and Blake and they sat with us as well.
We were just sitting, talking and eating when suddenly Jim spotted dolphins outside! I screamed and ran to the window (I think some of the passengers that know me now aren’t surprised by reactions like this from me). There was a whole group of them swimming alongside the ship, doing flips and just having a blast! I’m pretty sure Glenn and I were most excited about seeing them. We stood at the window for at least 10 minutes watching them until they started to fall behind. We stayed by the pool just chatting for a long time.
We had Bingo at 4, so I helped sell cards. Apparently I have a twin somewhere because one of the passengers tells me I look exactly like her daughters best friend. I’m glad I’m finally starting to recognize the Bingo players outside of Bingo, it’s hard though because there’s so many people!
Robyn had invited me to eat dinner with the HAL Cats and the cast in the dining room tonight, so I hung out in the room with Cass until it was time to start getting ready for dinner. It was formal night so we all had to look our best (meaning I couldn’t just throw on my dress and head back upstairs like I normally do on formal nights when I work but want to go to the show). I was easily ready before Cass and Kayley and Sam. I helped them get ready and we finally went upstairs to the dining room. Dinner was good, I definitely ate more than I have all cruise. I tried other people’s food too (they offered!). I sat with the kids’ parents, the kids, Cass, Sam and Kayley. We had to divide the group up because there were too many people for one table, so we had our table of 8, a table of 6, and a table of 4. It was weird a bit for me sitting with the kids since I wasn’t working, but I felt like I was working since they kept asking me questions and wanting me to watch them do something.
After dinner, Kayley went to sing with the Neptunes, so Cass, Sam and I followed not long after so we could watch. Some of the cast and the rest of the HAL Cats joined us later. There were a lot of us there and it was a lot of fun, hanging out, listening to music and chatting. Once the Neptunes finished, Glenn and Blake wanted to go to late night; I went with them and we hung out there for a long time before going downstairs.
cadiz and lisbon
November 16, 2012: Cadiz
I woke up really early this morning for some reason, so I was at breakfast and back in Club HAL earlier than usual. I didn’t have much time alone up there before the girl came and was ready for me to teach her how to play one of the video games I was playing the other day; it’s call “de blob” and basically you’re kind of a paintbrush and you have to make the world colorful because the evil Commander Blanc has taken over and made everything white or inky. Seems like an easy concept, but to a 4-year old it’s definitely not easy. She would ask me to help, but wouldn’t do what I told her she needed to do (go left slowly, she’d blast off to the right). I sat beside her helping her with that game while I changed to Lego Harry Potter. A few minutes passed before she decided she wanted to play that, and I had to teach her how to play that. It was kind of a trying morning teaching a 4-year-old that doesn’t follow directions how to play video games. She kept asking why it wouldn’t let her go somewhere and I’d have to tell her it’s because she hadn’t finished the task she had to finish before the game let her move on.
Brian came at 12 and I went to find Kayley and Sam for lunch. We had lunch, then went downstairs to get ready for an afternoon in Cadiz!
I thought the plan was to go around and take pictures, shop a bit, then get wifi and dinner. However, we got off the ship and all they wanted to do was shop. I looked around in the stores of course, but they weren’t my kind of stores (expensive and very trendy clothes). So, I spent a few hours waiting as they looked at stuff, tried it on and deliberated about buying it. I was kind of frustrated by the time we found a place with wifi that was open during siesta. My phone doesn’t seem to like wifi much in Spain. It wouldn’t even say the network existed. Thankfully Sam had brought both her phone and her laptop, so she let me use her laptop while she and Kayley chatted with their boyfriends and families on their phones.
Finally we left to walk around for pictures for about 30 minutes before finding a place for dinner. An hour passed and we had gone in quite a few more stores before we decided that we really needed to eat something before we had to get back on the ship. We found a bar that had baguette sandwiches and wifi, and 20 minutes later were headed back to the ship.
I went to the show with Sam at 8, then again at 10. I went to the 10 o’clock show so I could take pictures of the HAL Cats. However, I sat in the wrong place to take good pictures of them. I got some good shots of the cast though. Now I know for the next show to sit in the balcony so I can actually see all of the band.
November 17, 2012: Lisbon day 1
I worked 9-12 today, nothing too exciting happened there, just the girl was there and she was happy to sit beside me as I taught her how to play video games (she doesn’t quite understand the concept of moving the buttons on the remote instead of the actual remote yet).
I had lunch, then went downstairs to change and head out for the rest of the day. There was a really long line at the gangway because it was slightly steep and I happened to go when two tours were getting off and lots of crew.
I ended up with Blake, Glenn, Mack, and Edison and we went walking around Lisbon together. We walked up to a huge cathedral and through the market that was next to it, then we found our way to the main part of town. We wandered around, not really planning on going anyway in particular (except Glenn who needed to main a package, and Edison who was desperate for wifi). We stopped at a café and got a little to eat/drink while Edison went to McDonalds next door for internet. After a while, the four of us got tired of waiting so went off to find him, and he told us to just go on ahead. So, we found the post office for Glenn then went in search of a way to the castle on top of the hill. We went up a lot of stairs and hills to find quite a few dead ends.
Mack left so he could get to work, so Blake, Glenn and I wandered around some ourselves. We found a very small restaurant (now I think it was more of a large kitchen in the woman’s house) and had a little bit to eat since it was dinnertime. We had sangria as well, and the woman left us for a few minutes and returned with fruit for the sangria. She was really nice, there was a concert DVD playing and she checked on us a lot to make sure we were doing okay and didn’t want anything else to eat.
We left and found our way back to the ship somehow – we had followed a lot of winding, narrow back-roads and wound up at the restaurant – because Glenn and Blake had to work, for some reason they had been scheduled to play in the Crow’s Nest, on a night when no one was sure to be there since it was an overnight; it was even called a ‘rehearsal’ on their lists.
I was getting a headache from walking through smoke all day (it seems to me that the Portuguese rival the French in smoking habits) so I took a nap until the band came down and Cass invited me to go out with her, Chris (the drummer) and Robyn (band leader/pianist). We set out and walked, and walked, and walked. I was hungry so we searched for a place with food and live music. We never did manage to find one. We found a kebob shop though and Cass and I got food before we walked some more. We ended up finding a place that let you try different types of wine and port. We talked to the girl that worked there for a bit, I found out that she lived in Provence for a few years, a few years ago. It was getting late so we all just went back to the ship. I really enjoyed hanging out with them, even if we didn’t do much other than just walk around.
I woke up really early this morning for some reason, so I was at breakfast and back in Club HAL earlier than usual. I didn’t have much time alone up there before the girl came and was ready for me to teach her how to play one of the video games I was playing the other day; it’s call “de blob” and basically you’re kind of a paintbrush and you have to make the world colorful because the evil Commander Blanc has taken over and made everything white or inky. Seems like an easy concept, but to a 4-year old it’s definitely not easy. She would ask me to help, but wouldn’t do what I told her she needed to do (go left slowly, she’d blast off to the right). I sat beside her helping her with that game while I changed to Lego Harry Potter. A few minutes passed before she decided she wanted to play that, and I had to teach her how to play that. It was kind of a trying morning teaching a 4-year-old that doesn’t follow directions how to play video games. She kept asking why it wouldn’t let her go somewhere and I’d have to tell her it’s because she hadn’t finished the task she had to finish before the game let her move on.
Brian came at 12 and I went to find Kayley and Sam for lunch. We had lunch, then went downstairs to get ready for an afternoon in Cadiz!
I thought the plan was to go around and take pictures, shop a bit, then get wifi and dinner. However, we got off the ship and all they wanted to do was shop. I looked around in the stores of course, but they weren’t my kind of stores (expensive and very trendy clothes). So, I spent a few hours waiting as they looked at stuff, tried it on and deliberated about buying it. I was kind of frustrated by the time we found a place with wifi that was open during siesta. My phone doesn’t seem to like wifi much in Spain. It wouldn’t even say the network existed. Thankfully Sam had brought both her phone and her laptop, so she let me use her laptop while she and Kayley chatted with their boyfriends and families on their phones.
Finally we left to walk around for pictures for about 30 minutes before finding a place for dinner. An hour passed and we had gone in quite a few more stores before we decided that we really needed to eat something before we had to get back on the ship. We found a bar that had baguette sandwiches and wifi, and 20 minutes later were headed back to the ship.
I went to the show with Sam at 8, then again at 10. I went to the 10 o’clock show so I could take pictures of the HAL Cats. However, I sat in the wrong place to take good pictures of them. I got some good shots of the cast though. Now I know for the next show to sit in the balcony so I can actually see all of the band.
November 17, 2012: Lisbon day 1
I worked 9-12 today, nothing too exciting happened there, just the girl was there and she was happy to sit beside me as I taught her how to play video games (she doesn’t quite understand the concept of moving the buttons on the remote instead of the actual remote yet).
I had lunch, then went downstairs to change and head out for the rest of the day. There was a really long line at the gangway because it was slightly steep and I happened to go when two tours were getting off and lots of crew.
I ended up with Blake, Glenn, Mack, and Edison and we went walking around Lisbon together. We walked up to a huge cathedral and through the market that was next to it, then we found our way to the main part of town. We wandered around, not really planning on going anyway in particular (except Glenn who needed to main a package, and Edison who was desperate for wifi). We stopped at a café and got a little to eat/drink while Edison went to McDonalds next door for internet. After a while, the four of us got tired of waiting so went off to find him, and he told us to just go on ahead. So, we found the post office for Glenn then went in search of a way to the castle on top of the hill. We went up a lot of stairs and hills to find quite a few dead ends.
Mack left so he could get to work, so Blake, Glenn and I wandered around some ourselves. We found a very small restaurant (now I think it was more of a large kitchen in the woman’s house) and had a little bit to eat since it was dinnertime. We had sangria as well, and the woman left us for a few minutes and returned with fruit for the sangria. She was really nice, there was a concert DVD playing and she checked on us a lot to make sure we were doing okay and didn’t want anything else to eat.
We left and found our way back to the ship somehow – we had followed a lot of winding, narrow back-roads and wound up at the restaurant – because Glenn and Blake had to work, for some reason they had been scheduled to play in the Crow’s Nest, on a night when no one was sure to be there since it was an overnight; it was even called a ‘rehearsal’ on their lists.
I was getting a headache from walking through smoke all day (it seems to me that the Portuguese rival the French in smoking habits) so I took a nap until the band came down and Cass invited me to go out with her, Chris (the drummer) and Robyn (band leader/pianist). We set out and walked, and walked, and walked. I was hungry so we searched for a place with food and live music. We never did manage to find one. We found a kebob shop though and Cass and I got food before we walked some more. We ended up finding a place that let you try different types of wine and port. We talked to the girl that worked there for a bit, I found out that she lived in Provence for a few years, a few years ago. It was getting late so we all just went back to the ship. I really enjoyed hanging out with them, even if we didn’t do much other than just walk around.
Friday, November 16, 2012
little time on land
November 13, 2012: Cagliari
I had a great breakfast this morning, I got to sit with Kayley and Cass who had gone up early to help out in the Lido (all the musicians have been asked to since they’re not busy and code red means that the Lido staff is having to do a lot more work). Only a few minutes after I got up to Club HAL, the girl’s aunt brought her up for the day. She sat down to color and I decided to read a book instead of coloring as well. All was well for about 5 minutes, then she started to get upset that she wasn’t with her mom. Her aunt had told me that they were all getting off the ship, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to do. After trying to comfort and explain to her, she still didn’t stop. I decided just to put in a movie, though she claims to hate movies. I put on Tangled and sat down to watch just out of her sight. Slowly I heard the sniffling stop and footsteps slowly making their way towards the chair next to mine. She cheered up after that and we finished the movie just as Brian came by. I ate with them and the siblings were dropped off while we were all eating.
I was surprised when I stood up to leave by the girl running up and hugging me. I couldn’t detach her from my leg for a minute, she almost pulled me over! Then the other girl came and they took turns hugging me bye.
I got off the ship on my own, not really sure what to do with the rest of the day since I was done with work. I walked around the town for thirty minutes, not finding a grocery store (I kind of wanted snack food for the room), or a café that looked like it had wifi, so I gave up and got on the bus back to the ship. The HAL Cats set was cancelled so I hung out with Cass in the room for a while, then watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with Kayley and Samantha until dinner. The three of us went to dinner together, then I went to my room and read until the show at 10. There was an Italian singer performing, he was actually from Napoli so it was very interesting.
November 14, 2012: Sea Day
I had breakfast before work as usual. I played Lego Harry Potter for an hour before the girl showed up. She was content to color as long as I sat next to her; that was fine with me, I was very happy not to have to play Candyland anymore.
After work, Cass was working on RosettaStone in the room, so showed me how it works. What it looks like is a bunch of activities like the online activities that accompany textbooks. She worked on that for a bit, then got bored so went up to the Lido to see if they needed help serving. I stayed in the room for a while before heading up to eat. We’re now out of code red (there’s been no new cases in the last 48 hours), which means that after lunch, we get to serve ourselves again! It’ll make getting food and drink so much quicker.
I took a long time to eat lunch, then went back to the room to go through pictures before Bingo. Something is wrong with my pictures from Napoli. They aren’t coming up on my computer. I’ll have to look more into that later when I have internet. I just can’t open them with the normal photo gallery.
Bingo went quickly, we thankfully had enough people to play and managed to get more money selling cards than we have any other day. There were quite a few new faces too, probably a lot of people that got on in Rome.
Dinner was kind of disappointing, there wasn’t much good to choose from, but at least I could get my own bread and fruit instead of having to wait for one of the two people behind the counter to help everyone in line before coming to me in another line. Samantha was sitting with the rest of the cast and Brian so I joined her, we had our own conversations as they talked about scary movies and weird TV shows. The siblings came up tonight; we listened to music, played video games and colored. The girl asked me to make her another bracelet so I did that while they finished up some coloring pages. I enjoy having just the two of them up there, it’s much calmer and the whole room just seems more relaxed.
November 15, 2012: Gibraltar
I overslept this morning. I intended to get up and have breakfast and hanging out upstairs before work at 12. I ended up waking up with an hour to get ready and head upstairs. It didn’t help that I had a headache. Brian left as soon as I got upstairs so I took the girl to lunch alone. We were there for quite a while because she kept getting distracted doing other stuff instead of eating.
Finally we made it up to Club HAL, my headache had not improved so I happily let her color and finish watching Despicable Me. The other kids got there and the girls played together while the boy played video games, as usual. I think they sensed that I wasn’t feeling my best so they were on pretty good behavior, I was very grateful.
I came back to the room and slept until our room steward came in to clean. There was a bit of confusion because I had just woken up and thought I told him he could go ahead and check to see if we needed anything in the bathroom but he just stood at the door for a few minutes.
I reluctantly went to dinner since I knew I had to eat something and take an advil before going back to work. I sat and made a bracelet until the siblings came. I was feeling mostly better by then so we finished watching Despicable Me (for the second time today) and colored. Then, they started playing with the stuffed animal monkeys they got today. Didn’t give me much to do so I made another bracelet for the girl. I helped them make a fort to protect their children (the monkeys) from whoever it was trying to kidnap them; we had just finished it when their dad came. They want to come up tomorrow morning so we can make a tent since I told them I’d only be there in the morning tomorrow. I guess Brian doesn’t let them do stuff like that.
I had a great breakfast this morning, I got to sit with Kayley and Cass who had gone up early to help out in the Lido (all the musicians have been asked to since they’re not busy and code red means that the Lido staff is having to do a lot more work). Only a few minutes after I got up to Club HAL, the girl’s aunt brought her up for the day. She sat down to color and I decided to read a book instead of coloring as well. All was well for about 5 minutes, then she started to get upset that she wasn’t with her mom. Her aunt had told me that they were all getting off the ship, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to do. After trying to comfort and explain to her, she still didn’t stop. I decided just to put in a movie, though she claims to hate movies. I put on Tangled and sat down to watch just out of her sight. Slowly I heard the sniffling stop and footsteps slowly making their way towards the chair next to mine. She cheered up after that and we finished the movie just as Brian came by. I ate with them and the siblings were dropped off while we were all eating.
I was surprised when I stood up to leave by the girl running up and hugging me. I couldn’t detach her from my leg for a minute, she almost pulled me over! Then the other girl came and they took turns hugging me bye.
I got off the ship on my own, not really sure what to do with the rest of the day since I was done with work. I walked around the town for thirty minutes, not finding a grocery store (I kind of wanted snack food for the room), or a café that looked like it had wifi, so I gave up and got on the bus back to the ship. The HAL Cats set was cancelled so I hung out with Cass in the room for a while, then watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with Kayley and Samantha until dinner. The three of us went to dinner together, then I went to my room and read until the show at 10. There was an Italian singer performing, he was actually from Napoli so it was very interesting.
November 14, 2012: Sea Day
I had breakfast before work as usual. I played Lego Harry Potter for an hour before the girl showed up. She was content to color as long as I sat next to her; that was fine with me, I was very happy not to have to play Candyland anymore.
After work, Cass was working on RosettaStone in the room, so showed me how it works. What it looks like is a bunch of activities like the online activities that accompany textbooks. She worked on that for a bit, then got bored so went up to the Lido to see if they needed help serving. I stayed in the room for a while before heading up to eat. We’re now out of code red (there’s been no new cases in the last 48 hours), which means that after lunch, we get to serve ourselves again! It’ll make getting food and drink so much quicker.
I took a long time to eat lunch, then went back to the room to go through pictures before Bingo. Something is wrong with my pictures from Napoli. They aren’t coming up on my computer. I’ll have to look more into that later when I have internet. I just can’t open them with the normal photo gallery.
Bingo went quickly, we thankfully had enough people to play and managed to get more money selling cards than we have any other day. There were quite a few new faces too, probably a lot of people that got on in Rome.
Dinner was kind of disappointing, there wasn’t much good to choose from, but at least I could get my own bread and fruit instead of having to wait for one of the two people behind the counter to help everyone in line before coming to me in another line. Samantha was sitting with the rest of the cast and Brian so I joined her, we had our own conversations as they talked about scary movies and weird TV shows. The siblings came up tonight; we listened to music, played video games and colored. The girl asked me to make her another bracelet so I did that while they finished up some coloring pages. I enjoy having just the two of them up there, it’s much calmer and the whole room just seems more relaxed.
November 15, 2012: Gibraltar
I overslept this morning. I intended to get up and have breakfast and hanging out upstairs before work at 12. I ended up waking up with an hour to get ready and head upstairs. It didn’t help that I had a headache. Brian left as soon as I got upstairs so I took the girl to lunch alone. We were there for quite a while because she kept getting distracted doing other stuff instead of eating.
Finally we made it up to Club HAL, my headache had not improved so I happily let her color and finish watching Despicable Me. The other kids got there and the girls played together while the boy played video games, as usual. I think they sensed that I wasn’t feeling my best so they were on pretty good behavior, I was very grateful.
I came back to the room and slept until our room steward came in to clean. There was a bit of confusion because I had just woken up and thought I told him he could go ahead and check to see if we needed anything in the bathroom but he just stood at the door for a few minutes.
I reluctantly went to dinner since I knew I had to eat something and take an advil before going back to work. I sat and made a bracelet until the siblings came. I was feeling mostly better by then so we finished watching Despicable Me (for the second time today) and colored. Then, they started playing with the stuffed animal monkeys they got today. Didn’t give me much to do so I made another bracelet for the girl. I helped them make a fort to protect their children (the monkeys) from whoever it was trying to kidnap them; we had just finished it when their dad came. They want to come up tomorrow morning so we can make a tent since I told them I’d only be there in the morning tomorrow. I guess Brian doesn’t let them do stuff like that.
naples italy
November 11, 2012: Naples day 1
I worked 9-12 this morning. It was a quick breakfast then straight up to Club HAL. I wasn’t there long when the girl came up. After a few minutes deliberation with her grandmother, she decided that she didn’t want to stay in Club HAL after all. So, they left. A few minutes later, she comes back up with her mom who tried very hard to convince her to stay instead of walking around all day with the rest of them. The girl wasn’t having it, she wanted to spend the day walking. So, I just read until Brian came.
Kayley and I had talked about going out together, so I knocked on her door as soon as I got back to the room and changed. We had to wait a few minutes because she had invited Jim to come along. We were going to find the pizza place Cass told us about (that was in the book/movie “Eat Pray Love”). We found Blake as he was coming back to the ship so invited him to come as well. We ended up just going to a pizza place close to the ship, Jim had been there before and since we didn’t really know where the other one was, this seemed like a better option. We all had different kinds of pizza and we all tried each others. After a very long lunch, Jim took us to a gelato place he said was the best he’d ever had. We spent a long time looking for it, but at least we were walking along pretty Italian streets.
After gelato, we wandered around for a little bit before the others needed to get back. I wanted to continue exploring so we parted ways. I walked around on my own for a while and didn’t really see much. I took a turn and walked down the street for a while before I discovered that there wasn’t really a lot of options off of that street, so I followed it and turned to the next street when I finally got to it. A few streets later, I saw water. There were no boats or ships in sight and I was very confused about where I could have ended up. I walked along the water in generally the direction I had come from and eventually saw the marina and the port.
I got back on the ship in plenty of time to change and get to church service on time. I didn’t know the songs well this week, but I still really enjoyed them. The pastor talked about how God is our vanguard and rearguard, preparing the way for us and protecting us. It was a really good service.
After church, I went back out for internet. I bought a Fanta in the terminal and got the internet code. So, I spent the next few hours catching up on posting these blogs, uploading pictures, and talking to Mom!
I thought about going back out with groups, but I didn’t see a lot to do in Napoli, so I stayed on the ship. I hung out in the OB for a bit but there weren’t many people there, so I went to my room. I wasn’t at all ready to sleep so I wasn’t sure what to do. Luckily, Cass got back soon after and we went to the OB and hung out with the rest of the band.
November 12, 2012: Naples day 2
I woke up really early this morning to go out with Kayley and Samantha (one of the dancers) before I had to work at 12. We had decided to go to Pompeii for a few hours. We got off and had planned on taking the train, but we reconsidered when we found out that it would be at least an hour to get there by train (bus to train station, then take train to the city, then take a bus/taxi to the ruins). We were convinced to take a taxi there, a 30 minute drive. It was expensive, but much better for times sake. We arrived at the ruins at 7:50 and had to be back at the taxi at 9:50 (a two-hour wait to explore was part of the taxi price). However, after we got a quick breakfast (rather, hot chocolate for me and coffee for the other two), we discovered that the ruins didn’t open until 8:30.
The time came and quite a few people were waiting around the entrance. We talked to a couple from the US for a few minutes until their tour guide talked to someone cleaning through the fence. The site wasn’t open because all the workers were on strike. The tour guide was helpful; he called our taxi driver for us and explained about the strike and how we wanted to leave early. We got a slight discount because we only were there for an hour, but we were kind of upset that the taxi driver wasn’t a little bit more understanding; why didn’t any of them tell us before we left that the site didn’t open until 8:30, we spent half an hour waiting for it to open! After what seemed like a really long ride back, Kayley and Samantha went to explore the city a bit and I went to get internet in the terminal since I had some extra time I wasn’t expecting. Daniel was sitting waiting for some of the other spa people to get off the ship so I sat with him for a bit and we talked as I tried to get online. It wasn’t working so I gave up and decided to get back on the ship and take a nap instead.
I slept until work, the girl was the only one there so I took her to lunch and actually managed to make her eat over half her hot dog. Rik joined us for a little bit of our lunch, we’re going to be in code red for another 48 hours because someone else got sick. Great. As we got back from lunch, the other kids got there, so we spent the afternoon coloring, playing Lego Harry Potter, and watching the Incredibles and Rango.
After work, I was tired so I took another nap until dinner with Kayley and Samantha. The food seems to be getting worse now that we’re in code red. You’d think they’d be more careful about cooking food long enough with people getting sick.
I read and played cards for an hour in Club HAL, then just as I started to play Lego Harry Potter, the siblings dad came up with the girl. So, we played Lego Harry Potter for a while, then colored then went back to the game. Her brother came up later and I gave him my controller and watched as they played. It was a very calm night, I enjoyed it! After they left, I had to SuperSan. I did it pretty thoroughly; even though Brian said just wipe down the stuff we use, I wiped down all the seats, all the tables, the xbox stations and everything else.
I worked 9-12 this morning. It was a quick breakfast then straight up to Club HAL. I wasn’t there long when the girl came up. After a few minutes deliberation with her grandmother, she decided that she didn’t want to stay in Club HAL after all. So, they left. A few minutes later, she comes back up with her mom who tried very hard to convince her to stay instead of walking around all day with the rest of them. The girl wasn’t having it, she wanted to spend the day walking. So, I just read until Brian came.
Kayley and I had talked about going out together, so I knocked on her door as soon as I got back to the room and changed. We had to wait a few minutes because she had invited Jim to come along. We were going to find the pizza place Cass told us about (that was in the book/movie “Eat Pray Love”). We found Blake as he was coming back to the ship so invited him to come as well. We ended up just going to a pizza place close to the ship, Jim had been there before and since we didn’t really know where the other one was, this seemed like a better option. We all had different kinds of pizza and we all tried each others. After a very long lunch, Jim took us to a gelato place he said was the best he’d ever had. We spent a long time looking for it, but at least we were walking along pretty Italian streets.
After gelato, we wandered around for a little bit before the others needed to get back. I wanted to continue exploring so we parted ways. I walked around on my own for a while and didn’t really see much. I took a turn and walked down the street for a while before I discovered that there wasn’t really a lot of options off of that street, so I followed it and turned to the next street when I finally got to it. A few streets later, I saw water. There were no boats or ships in sight and I was very confused about where I could have ended up. I walked along the water in generally the direction I had come from and eventually saw the marina and the port.
I got back on the ship in plenty of time to change and get to church service on time. I didn’t know the songs well this week, but I still really enjoyed them. The pastor talked about how God is our vanguard and rearguard, preparing the way for us and protecting us. It was a really good service.
After church, I went back out for internet. I bought a Fanta in the terminal and got the internet code. So, I spent the next few hours catching up on posting these blogs, uploading pictures, and talking to Mom!
I thought about going back out with groups, but I didn’t see a lot to do in Napoli, so I stayed on the ship. I hung out in the OB for a bit but there weren’t many people there, so I went to my room. I wasn’t at all ready to sleep so I wasn’t sure what to do. Luckily, Cass got back soon after and we went to the OB and hung out with the rest of the band.
November 12, 2012: Naples day 2
I woke up really early this morning to go out with Kayley and Samantha (one of the dancers) before I had to work at 12. We had decided to go to Pompeii for a few hours. We got off and had planned on taking the train, but we reconsidered when we found out that it would be at least an hour to get there by train (bus to train station, then take train to the city, then take a bus/taxi to the ruins). We were convinced to take a taxi there, a 30 minute drive. It was expensive, but much better for times sake. We arrived at the ruins at 7:50 and had to be back at the taxi at 9:50 (a two-hour wait to explore was part of the taxi price). However, after we got a quick breakfast (rather, hot chocolate for me and coffee for the other two), we discovered that the ruins didn’t open until 8:30.
The time came and quite a few people were waiting around the entrance. We talked to a couple from the US for a few minutes until their tour guide talked to someone cleaning through the fence. The site wasn’t open because all the workers were on strike. The tour guide was helpful; he called our taxi driver for us and explained about the strike and how we wanted to leave early. We got a slight discount because we only were there for an hour, but we were kind of upset that the taxi driver wasn’t a little bit more understanding; why didn’t any of them tell us before we left that the site didn’t open until 8:30, we spent half an hour waiting for it to open! After what seemed like a really long ride back, Kayley and Samantha went to explore the city a bit and I went to get internet in the terminal since I had some extra time I wasn’t expecting. Daniel was sitting waiting for some of the other spa people to get off the ship so I sat with him for a bit and we talked as I tried to get online. It wasn’t working so I gave up and decided to get back on the ship and take a nap instead.
I slept until work, the girl was the only one there so I took her to lunch and actually managed to make her eat over half her hot dog. Rik joined us for a little bit of our lunch, we’re going to be in code red for another 48 hours because someone else got sick. Great. As we got back from lunch, the other kids got there, so we spent the afternoon coloring, playing Lego Harry Potter, and watching the Incredibles and Rango.
After work, I was tired so I took another nap until dinner with Kayley and Samantha. The food seems to be getting worse now that we’re in code red. You’d think they’d be more careful about cooking food long enough with people getting sick.
I read and played cards for an hour in Club HAL, then just as I started to play Lego Harry Potter, the siblings dad came up with the girl. So, we played Lego Harry Potter for a while, then colored then went back to the game. Her brother came up later and I gave him my controller and watched as they played. It was a very calm night, I enjoyed it! After they left, I had to SuperSan. I did it pretty thoroughly; even though Brian said just wipe down the stuff we use, I wiped down all the seats, all the tables, the xbox stations and everything else.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
ah, I've missed getting internet with my computer.
November 8, 2012: Palma de Mallorca
After the boat drill, I only had an hour before work so I continued to look through my pictures. I worked all afternoon, with all three kids there. After work, I ended up being able to get off the ship for an hour. Edison and I ended up at McDonalds and just got internet (sadly, I had decided not to take my computer because everyone said it was a long walk to anywhere; it was only 10 minutes away).
I went back to work and watched Racing Stripes with the siblings. Not a very eventful day overall.
November 9, 2012: Sea Day
Again, it was kind of a boring day. I only worked from 1 to 4 and had Bingo at 3:45. All the kids were in Club HAL so we colored mostly. The girls are starting to get frustrated with each other because one is perfectly content doing one activity for a while whereas the other always wants to play house or another game instead of watching a movie or coloring. “You’re not being nice to me” has suddenly become a popular saying in Club HAL. Even snacktime is an ordeal because one spends the time talking instead of eating which means we all have to wait for her to finish before going back upstairs to finish what we were doing before. So, they’re all getting frustrated with one another. I knew this would happen though, a small group of kids cooped up together for over a month, there was sure to be issues.
I arrived late to Bingo, so I didn’t actually have to sell any cards, I just did the math and figured out the prizes for the day. I got back to the room and found out from Cass that we’re nearly at code red, which means that a lot of people on the ship are sick, so we have to take extra measures to stay healthy: use an unhealthy amount of hand sanitizer a day (the rule I definitely don’t agree with, they practically force it on you every time you move from room to room), the Lido is no longer self-service, we have to SuperSan (not sure how often). Brian told me at dinner that Club HAL could potentially be closed in code red. I really hope that doesn’t happen because I’d be even more bored than I am now. Of course, security won’t be that bad; apparently they miss me on gangway, they tell me every time I see them.
November 10, 2012: Civitavecchia
I slept in because I didn’t work until 12. Only the 4-year-old was there so I took her to lunch, though Brian said her mom was supposed to pick her up an hour before I got there to take her to lunch. She didn’t eat much. We went up to Club HAL for a little bit before she was hungry again, so I took her down for chocolate chip cookies; she ended up not eating those because they had nuts in them and she doesn’t like nuts. After a little bit more time in Club HAL, she wanted jello, so we went downstairs and she actually ate some jello cups. After that, we went outside for about an hour (me in my bright orange parka to protect me from the wind) and played ‘soccer.’ At least she got some of that energy out before we went back to color/play Candyland.
I left Club HAL and saw Jim in the Lido, so I talked to him for a while before coming downstairs to rest until dinner. Cass came back and told me a little about her trip to Rome before she had to go to the Passenger drill.
I worked again at 7. It was just the siblings so we colored and watched Rango. It was a very calm night, especially after the afternoon. I found out that we’re not going to Sorrento anymore because it’s a tender port and apparently it’s too windy to tender safely, so we’re having an overnight in Naples instead.
After the boat drill, I only had an hour before work so I continued to look through my pictures. I worked all afternoon, with all three kids there. After work, I ended up being able to get off the ship for an hour. Edison and I ended up at McDonalds and just got internet (sadly, I had decided not to take my computer because everyone said it was a long walk to anywhere; it was only 10 minutes away).
I went back to work and watched Racing Stripes with the siblings. Not a very eventful day overall.
November 9, 2012: Sea Day
Again, it was kind of a boring day. I only worked from 1 to 4 and had Bingo at 3:45. All the kids were in Club HAL so we colored mostly. The girls are starting to get frustrated with each other because one is perfectly content doing one activity for a while whereas the other always wants to play house or another game instead of watching a movie or coloring. “You’re not being nice to me” has suddenly become a popular saying in Club HAL. Even snacktime is an ordeal because one spends the time talking instead of eating which means we all have to wait for her to finish before going back upstairs to finish what we were doing before. So, they’re all getting frustrated with one another. I knew this would happen though, a small group of kids cooped up together for over a month, there was sure to be issues.
I arrived late to Bingo, so I didn’t actually have to sell any cards, I just did the math and figured out the prizes for the day. I got back to the room and found out from Cass that we’re nearly at code red, which means that a lot of people on the ship are sick, so we have to take extra measures to stay healthy: use an unhealthy amount of hand sanitizer a day (the rule I definitely don’t agree with, they practically force it on you every time you move from room to room), the Lido is no longer self-service, we have to SuperSan (not sure how often). Brian told me at dinner that Club HAL could potentially be closed in code red. I really hope that doesn’t happen because I’d be even more bored than I am now. Of course, security won’t be that bad; apparently they miss me on gangway, they tell me every time I see them.
November 10, 2012: Civitavecchia
I slept in because I didn’t work until 12. Only the 4-year-old was there so I took her to lunch, though Brian said her mom was supposed to pick her up an hour before I got there to take her to lunch. She didn’t eat much. We went up to Club HAL for a little bit before she was hungry again, so I took her down for chocolate chip cookies; she ended up not eating those because they had nuts in them and she doesn’t like nuts. After a little bit more time in Club HAL, she wanted jello, so we went downstairs and she actually ate some jello cups. After that, we went outside for about an hour (me in my bright orange parka to protect me from the wind) and played ‘soccer.’ At least she got some of that energy out before we went back to color/play Candyland.
I left Club HAL and saw Jim in the Lido, so I talked to him for a while before coming downstairs to rest until dinner. Cass came back and told me a little about her trip to Rome before she had to go to the Passenger drill.
I worked again at 7. It was just the siblings so we colored and watched Rango. It was a very calm night, especially after the afternoon. I found out that we’re not going to Sorrento anymore because it’s a tender port and apparently it’s too windy to tender safely, so we’re having an overnight in Naples instead.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
barcelona
November 7, 2012: Barcelona day 2
I wish I could have slept more, but I was glad to get breakfast before work. I was fine for a while at work; I just read the book Daniel’s lending me. But after an hour of just sitting there in the cold, I started to fall asleep. The girl came up with her aunt, but then decided she’d rather go with her family so they left. A few minutes later she came back up with her mom and her mom tried to convince her to stay but she really wanted to walk around with her family all day. After that, I did end up falling asleep on the couch for a few minutes a few times. I knew the other kids weren’t coming up so I was basically just waiting for Brian to relieve me. He came a little before twelve and we ate lunch together before I got off the ship.
I got off the ship and took the shuttle bus to the city because I didn’t want to walk the 20-30 minutes alone. I walked down the main street where the shuttle dropped us off and kept walking. I saw a few things I wanted to look at, but didn’t stop because I had plenty of time to come back later. I did stop for pictures often though. After about 45 minutes of walking, I saw one of the hop on-hop off bus tours. Ginger had told me they were really good, so I got on this one (it was around 2). It went back down the street where I had just come from and stayed about 15 minutes at the fountain I’d taken quite a few pictures at. Finally, we moved on. I decided just to stay on the bus unless something was really, really interesting because I was starting to get worried about time (after that long stop at the fountain). It was a long tour just riding it.
I ended up not getting off the bus at all. I did see the places from the bus, hear about them thanks to the headphones, and read about them in the brochure. I was really getting anxious about time when it took us 20 minutes to get from one stop to the next. With only a few stops left, I was really worried because it was already 4 and I had to be back on the ship by 5:30; it was a 20 minute ride to the port and when I had left, there was a very long line to go through security, so I was hoping to be at least at the port by 4:45. I prayed the whole time, trusting that I’d get back on time.
Finally we got back to the big fountains (it was closer to Las Ramblas, which was down the street from the shuttle) and I walked quickly down to the shuttles, sadly I was too worried about time to stop and see the things I had planned on seeing (the market mainly). When I arrived at the monument to Christopher Columbus (that’s where the shuttle dropped us off), I didn’t see the shuttle. Really worried now, I got a taxi since there were a lot waiting there. That was an experience because he didn’t speak English well and I’d never gotten a taxi by myself before. I was really praying hard by that point, nervous about taking a taxi alone; I was so nervous I almost considered walking the 20-30 minutes back to the ship. At first, he thought I wanted to go to the airport, but finally I got across that I meant the port at the water, with ships, so we got on the right track. That didn’t help my nerves though. I made it to the terminal fine and there was no line at security so I was on the ship by 5, thank goodness.
I was tired and was getting a really bad headache, so when I got back to the room, I immediately climbed into bed. I looked through some of my pictures for a bit, but then fell asleep. I didn’t wake up until around 8:30. Cass was back from her deck set and dinner and was getting ready for their set in the Crow’s Nest. Apparently the room steward had been in and vaccumned and cleaned while I’d been asleep, she had walked in and noticed my key on the desk and my curtain closed so told him but he was nearly done anyway. I can’t believe I slept through that.
I had also slept through dinner, so I ordered room service hoping food would help me feel better. It did a little bit, but my head was still hurting so I went back to sleep almost as soon as I finished. I did wake up when Cass came back though, she told me about their set and I told her a little about my day before I fell asleep again.
November 8, 2012: Palma de Mallorca
I woke up and got ready this morning because I knew we had a boat drill so I assumed we had a fire drill beforehand (since we always do). However, I never heard the alarm so I sat going through all my pictures from yesterday waiting for the boat drill.
I wish I could have slept more, but I was glad to get breakfast before work. I was fine for a while at work; I just read the book Daniel’s lending me. But after an hour of just sitting there in the cold, I started to fall asleep. The girl came up with her aunt, but then decided she’d rather go with her family so they left. A few minutes later she came back up with her mom and her mom tried to convince her to stay but she really wanted to walk around with her family all day. After that, I did end up falling asleep on the couch for a few minutes a few times. I knew the other kids weren’t coming up so I was basically just waiting for Brian to relieve me. He came a little before twelve and we ate lunch together before I got off the ship.
I got off the ship and took the shuttle bus to the city because I didn’t want to walk the 20-30 minutes alone. I walked down the main street where the shuttle dropped us off and kept walking. I saw a few things I wanted to look at, but didn’t stop because I had plenty of time to come back later. I did stop for pictures often though. After about 45 minutes of walking, I saw one of the hop on-hop off bus tours. Ginger had told me they were really good, so I got on this one (it was around 2). It went back down the street where I had just come from and stayed about 15 minutes at the fountain I’d taken quite a few pictures at. Finally, we moved on. I decided just to stay on the bus unless something was really, really interesting because I was starting to get worried about time (after that long stop at the fountain). It was a long tour just riding it.
I ended up not getting off the bus at all. I did see the places from the bus, hear about them thanks to the headphones, and read about them in the brochure. I was really getting anxious about time when it took us 20 minutes to get from one stop to the next. With only a few stops left, I was really worried because it was already 4 and I had to be back on the ship by 5:30; it was a 20 minute ride to the port and when I had left, there was a very long line to go through security, so I was hoping to be at least at the port by 4:45. I prayed the whole time, trusting that I’d get back on time.
Finally we got back to the big fountains (it was closer to Las Ramblas, which was down the street from the shuttle) and I walked quickly down to the shuttles, sadly I was too worried about time to stop and see the things I had planned on seeing (the market mainly). When I arrived at the monument to Christopher Columbus (that’s where the shuttle dropped us off), I didn’t see the shuttle. Really worried now, I got a taxi since there were a lot waiting there. That was an experience because he didn’t speak English well and I’d never gotten a taxi by myself before. I was really praying hard by that point, nervous about taking a taxi alone; I was so nervous I almost considered walking the 20-30 minutes back to the ship. At first, he thought I wanted to go to the airport, but finally I got across that I meant the port at the water, with ships, so we got on the right track. That didn’t help my nerves though. I made it to the terminal fine and there was no line at security so I was on the ship by 5, thank goodness.
I was tired and was getting a really bad headache, so when I got back to the room, I immediately climbed into bed. I looked through some of my pictures for a bit, but then fell asleep. I didn’t wake up until around 8:30. Cass was back from her deck set and dinner and was getting ready for their set in the Crow’s Nest. Apparently the room steward had been in and vaccumned and cleaned while I’d been asleep, she had walked in and noticed my key on the desk and my curtain closed so told him but he was nearly done anyway. I can’t believe I slept through that.
I had also slept through dinner, so I ordered room service hoping food would help me feel better. It did a little bit, but my head was still hurting so I went back to sleep almost as soon as I finished. I did wake up when Cass came back though, she told me about their set and I told her a little about my day before I fell asleep again.
November 8, 2012: Palma de Mallorca
I woke up and got ready this morning because I knew we had a boat drill so I assumed we had a fire drill beforehand (since we always do). However, I never heard the alarm so I sat going through all my pictures from yesterday waiting for the boat drill.
Spain
November 5, 2012: Almeria, Spain
We’re on mainland Europe now, finally! I worked from 9-12 today. All the kids came up at the same time. They were content to color so I sketched out a design of something I could color and let them work on their coloring pages. They only finished two each before Brian came to take over for the afternoon. I met Daniel in line for food and sat with him and some of the spa girls for lunch before I went downstairs to change and go out with Cass, Glenn, Blake and Edison.
We went out and explored all afternoon. We walked around, found a cathedral, a fort and a few more churches and ended up on what seemed to be the main street with lots of shopping and cafés. The band had to get back to play by the pool so Edison and I stayed with Maria (from the cast), Mack and Jim who we had just found at a café. We moved cafes because we were having trouble connecting to the internet and Jim had been to one earlier in the day that had a really good connection. We found it and stayed there for a while, allowing me enough time to check my emails, check facebook, post the last three blogs and talk to Mom for just a few minutes.
After I got back on the ship, I got ready to go to the Lido pool to hear the HAL Cats play, but saw Kayley’s door open on the way open. Turns out that they couldn’t play because it started raining. Kayley and I looked through our pictures from the day and watched the rest of Harry Potter 4 until dinner.
After a long dinner with some of the cast members, I came back down to the room and went through my pictures and did laundry.
November 6, 2012: sea morning/Barcelona day 1
I managed to wake up early and be ready and get breakfast before they closed on a day when I didn’t work. It was a rough start, but at least I made it! I went back to sleep after breakfast, since I hadn’t slept well last night, but was awoken by a call only 20 minutes later, it was the DJ letting me know that we had Bingo this morning and if I could, come help (basically as soon as I could get ready would be great). So, I went up there, but there weren’t enough people to play so he canceled it for the day. So, only 10 minutes later I went back to sleep, but then had to get up for lunch because I thought I worked at 12. We ended up having a sea day schedule so I didn’t have to be there until 1. I had a leisurely lunch with some of the girls from the spa before going up to work. I read until the girl came up and we played Candyland and colored.
The other kids came up and we watched Toy Story 3 and colored all afternoon. Their parents came up again an hour before close; they had just found out that they had a tour at 4:30 and were wondering if they could pay me for after-hours care. I was fine with it so I just stayed 3 hours late with them, taking them for supper and watching movies/coloring the whole time. The other girl doesn’t come up at night anymore, so once they picked the kids up after the tour, I was free for the night!
I waited for Cass and she took a group of us out to a place she had been on her last overnight in Barcelona. We had a great time, just hanging out, it was an interesting group: Cass, me, Kayley, Brandi, Jim, Jim’s daughter, Ginger and Ron the cellar master. Kayley brought her new camera so she took a lot of pictures. The Black Sheep (the name of the place Cass took us) kind of reminded me of the Wohoo in Aix, it had the same cave-y feel, but it was a much bigger place.
We’re on mainland Europe now, finally! I worked from 9-12 today. All the kids came up at the same time. They were content to color so I sketched out a design of something I could color and let them work on their coloring pages. They only finished two each before Brian came to take over for the afternoon. I met Daniel in line for food and sat with him and some of the spa girls for lunch before I went downstairs to change and go out with Cass, Glenn, Blake and Edison.
We went out and explored all afternoon. We walked around, found a cathedral, a fort and a few more churches and ended up on what seemed to be the main street with lots of shopping and cafés. The band had to get back to play by the pool so Edison and I stayed with Maria (from the cast), Mack and Jim who we had just found at a café. We moved cafes because we were having trouble connecting to the internet and Jim had been to one earlier in the day that had a really good connection. We found it and stayed there for a while, allowing me enough time to check my emails, check facebook, post the last three blogs and talk to Mom for just a few minutes.
After I got back on the ship, I got ready to go to the Lido pool to hear the HAL Cats play, but saw Kayley’s door open on the way open. Turns out that they couldn’t play because it started raining. Kayley and I looked through our pictures from the day and watched the rest of Harry Potter 4 until dinner.
After a long dinner with some of the cast members, I came back down to the room and went through my pictures and did laundry.
November 6, 2012: sea morning/Barcelona day 1
I managed to wake up early and be ready and get breakfast before they closed on a day when I didn’t work. It was a rough start, but at least I made it! I went back to sleep after breakfast, since I hadn’t slept well last night, but was awoken by a call only 20 minutes later, it was the DJ letting me know that we had Bingo this morning and if I could, come help (basically as soon as I could get ready would be great). So, I went up there, but there weren’t enough people to play so he canceled it for the day. So, only 10 minutes later I went back to sleep, but then had to get up for lunch because I thought I worked at 12. We ended up having a sea day schedule so I didn’t have to be there until 1. I had a leisurely lunch with some of the girls from the spa before going up to work. I read until the girl came up and we played Candyland and colored.
The other kids came up and we watched Toy Story 3 and colored all afternoon. Their parents came up again an hour before close; they had just found out that they had a tour at 4:30 and were wondering if they could pay me for after-hours care. I was fine with it so I just stayed 3 hours late with them, taking them for supper and watching movies/coloring the whole time. The other girl doesn’t come up at night anymore, so once they picked the kids up after the tour, I was free for the night!
I waited for Cass and she took a group of us out to a place she had been on her last overnight in Barcelona. We had a great time, just hanging out, it was an interesting group: Cass, me, Kayley, Brandi, Jim, Jim’s daughter, Ginger and Ron the cellar master. Kayley brought her new camera so she took a lot of pictures. The Black Sheep (the name of the place Cass took us) kind of reminded me of the Wohoo in Aix, it had the same cave-y feel, but it was a much bigger place.
Monday, November 5, 2012
morrocco
November 3, 2012: Casablanca
I went out with Kayley, Edison and the Adagio strings this morning, just for an hour though since we left late and I had to be back by 12 for work. We walked for about 45 minutes into the city and then Kayley, Edison and I took a taxi back because there wasn’t much to see and I was worried about getting back in time.
When I got up to work, the siblings were there, they had had a late breakfast so weren’t ready for lunch yet, so Brian let me get lunch and bring it up to eat. He actually stayed up there for a while too, even brought lunch up there. It was the first time we’ve both been working since the first day of this cruise.
The girl just colored and watched the movie Brian had put in for her, and I helped the boy with the video game again. Not long after, the other girl came in and the two girls played house together (the sibling girl wasn’t too happy about it, every time the other girl is there she wants them to play house). The siblings finally got hungry so we went down for pizza and dessert. By the time we got back upstairs, it was nearly time for them to leave.
Everyone I knew was off the ship for the afternoon, so I hung out in my room after work, Cass did come back and we talked and looked through some of her pictures until dinner. I worked again after dinner, I got up there at 7 and read for a while, talking to the people that came in to clean. The kids hadn’t shown up by 9, so I left and went down to the room. I met Bea in the spa and talked to her for a while since she was alone there until 10. I got distracted when I got to my room because I started to look though all my pictures. When Cass got back from the show I drew her in on it as well and kept showing her some of my old pictures. Edison came by and I showed him some of the landscape and flower pictures I’ve taken and like the most. Finally, his room service arrived (he occasionally asks Kayley or me to order room service since he doesn’t have that privilege) so he left.
November 4, 2012: Tangier
It was an interesting morning. My phone apparently decided to follow Daylight Savings Time (I was sure I had it set not to) so it was an hour behind, problematic because it is my alarm clock. Good thing I didn’t have to work early this morning because I got up around 10.
The girl was the only one there when I got to work, so we finished the game of Candyland she and Brian had been playing and played two more before I decided to go down for lunch. She didn’t want to eat, so ate a snack instead of a full lunch. As we were leaving, we saw the other kids and their mom heading upstairs so they got signed in and we all went upstairs. The girls colored the whole time while the boy asked for my help with Lego Star Wars again. We did manage to figure out how to get past two of the levels we got stuck on yesterday! Towards the end of the afternoon, we stopped playing the game and all sat down to color until their parents came to pick them up. The girls surprisingly took their time coloring the pages so they’d only finished a few before they left.
I found Kayley in the Lido so sat with her and the rest of the band until 5 when Kayley, Glenn and I went to a church service on the ship. Apparently this has been happening every Sunday since this cruise started. There were about 30 people there, and the pastor’s wife played a keyboard to accompany the hymns (HYMNS!!). I really enjoyed the service; I wish I’d known about it sooner though so I could’ve been there the last few weeks. The sermon was on Job, and our reactions to suffering. He talked about Elizabeth Elliot (the women who went to the village to witness to the village that killed her husband; I first heard about her at the Barn, but had forgotten her name) and had a great quote about how an oyster gets a painful grain of sand inside of it, and slowly over time transforms it into a beautiful pearl. I really like that analogy, transforming our suffering, using it to better something. I’m definitely going to be there next week!
I went straight from the service to dinner, then straight from dinner to work. The siblings came in after a few minutes and the girl went straight to the coloring pages. The boy wasn’t sure what to do at first, then decided on watching Toy Story 3 and coloring. So, that’s what we did all evening, watched a movie and colored. I sharpened all the colored pencils (most of them were flat or broken because they like to color hard with them sometimes). There were only 20 minutes left after the movie ended, so we watched the extra features on Toy Story until their dad came to pick them up.
I went out with Kayley, Edison and the Adagio strings this morning, just for an hour though since we left late and I had to be back by 12 for work. We walked for about 45 minutes into the city and then Kayley, Edison and I took a taxi back because there wasn’t much to see and I was worried about getting back in time.
When I got up to work, the siblings were there, they had had a late breakfast so weren’t ready for lunch yet, so Brian let me get lunch and bring it up to eat. He actually stayed up there for a while too, even brought lunch up there. It was the first time we’ve both been working since the first day of this cruise.
The girl just colored and watched the movie Brian had put in for her, and I helped the boy with the video game again. Not long after, the other girl came in and the two girls played house together (the sibling girl wasn’t too happy about it, every time the other girl is there she wants them to play house). The siblings finally got hungry so we went down for pizza and dessert. By the time we got back upstairs, it was nearly time for them to leave.
Everyone I knew was off the ship for the afternoon, so I hung out in my room after work, Cass did come back and we talked and looked through some of her pictures until dinner. I worked again after dinner, I got up there at 7 and read for a while, talking to the people that came in to clean. The kids hadn’t shown up by 9, so I left and went down to the room. I met Bea in the spa and talked to her for a while since she was alone there until 10. I got distracted when I got to my room because I started to look though all my pictures. When Cass got back from the show I drew her in on it as well and kept showing her some of my old pictures. Edison came by and I showed him some of the landscape and flower pictures I’ve taken and like the most. Finally, his room service arrived (he occasionally asks Kayley or me to order room service since he doesn’t have that privilege) so he left.
November 4, 2012: Tangier
It was an interesting morning. My phone apparently decided to follow Daylight Savings Time (I was sure I had it set not to) so it was an hour behind, problematic because it is my alarm clock. Good thing I didn’t have to work early this morning because I got up around 10.
The girl was the only one there when I got to work, so we finished the game of Candyland she and Brian had been playing and played two more before I decided to go down for lunch. She didn’t want to eat, so ate a snack instead of a full lunch. As we were leaving, we saw the other kids and their mom heading upstairs so they got signed in and we all went upstairs. The girls colored the whole time while the boy asked for my help with Lego Star Wars again. We did manage to figure out how to get past two of the levels we got stuck on yesterday! Towards the end of the afternoon, we stopped playing the game and all sat down to color until their parents came to pick them up. The girls surprisingly took their time coloring the pages so they’d only finished a few before they left.
I found Kayley in the Lido so sat with her and the rest of the band until 5 when Kayley, Glenn and I went to a church service on the ship. Apparently this has been happening every Sunday since this cruise started. There were about 30 people there, and the pastor’s wife played a keyboard to accompany the hymns (HYMNS!!). I really enjoyed the service; I wish I’d known about it sooner though so I could’ve been there the last few weeks. The sermon was on Job, and our reactions to suffering. He talked about Elizabeth Elliot (the women who went to the village to witness to the village that killed her husband; I first heard about her at the Barn, but had forgotten her name) and had a great quote about how an oyster gets a painful grain of sand inside of it, and slowly over time transforms it into a beautiful pearl. I really like that analogy, transforming our suffering, using it to better something. I’m definitely going to be there next week!
I went straight from the service to dinner, then straight from dinner to work. The siblings came in after a few minutes and the girl went straight to the coloring pages. The boy wasn’t sure what to do at first, then decided on watching Toy Story 3 and coloring. So, that’s what we did all evening, watched a movie and colored. I sharpened all the colored pencils (most of them were flat or broken because they like to color hard with them sometimes). There were only 20 minutes left after the movie ended, so we watched the extra features on Toy Story until their dad came to pick them up.
sea day and arrecife
November 1, 2012: Arrecife
I worked from 9-12 today. The girl came up for a little while; her parents didn’t tell me if they were coming back later when she left, so I just stayed in Club HAL until Brian came (since she was gone and the other kids don’t come in the morning, I could’ve left early). I had pasta for lunch again before changing and getting off the ship. I took the free shuttle the 10 minutes to the city (it’s a 45 minute walk) and set off walking along the shore, looking at what was around. It was kind of cloudy so the pictures I took didn’t come out as well as I’d like, but I have a lot of the water, boats on the water, the fort. I walked through the market (purses, scarves, belts and watches were pretty much the only things anyone was selling) and kept going. Finally I decided to head back and look for internet. Halfway back to the bus, I finally saw someone from the ship and they told me where I could go for internet. After that, I kept seeing crew members walking around. I sat down with a few at a café and tried to get internet there, but couldn’t connect; they were closing for siesta anyway so I left in search of somewhere open.
Finally, close to where the bus was, I found some of the cast connected to the internet. I ordered a sprite and sat with them and talked to Mom on skype for the first time in a week and a half. They left to go find postcards while I stayed to talk and listen to the band playing at this café. I got back on the bus at 3:35 because I knew the last bus left at 4. A few more people came in the next few minutes before they told us that this WAS the last bus and we had to wait until 4:05 to leave. The singer and her husband (the parents) were on that bus with me and I had to reassure them that they wouldn’t be too late to pick up their kids, and if anyone said anything, I would back them up because they were on the bus to be back in plenty of time. Finally after 4, with only the 8 of us that had been on the bus since 3:40, the bus drove us back to the ship. That was a bit frustrating, but at least we had good conversation during the wait and the ride back. I called Brian as soon as I got back to let him know the parents were on the way up and that it wasn’t their fault they were late. I went through some of my pictures the rest of the afternoon.
Not much happened at work tonight, just the usual coloring, movies and video games with the siblings. After work, I ended up watching one of the movies Daniel lent me and going to sleep somewhat early.
November 2, 2012: Sea Day
Another sea day, I’m so glad we don’t have many between the long 7 day sets. I went up for breakfast and work this morning. Of course, the girl was the only one there and was constantly wondering where the other girl was and when her mom was going to pick her up. But at least she was content to color and make a hand turkey (which took a surprisingly long time considering she colors so fast most of the time). I took a nap after work because I was really tired despite getting enough sleep.
I had lunch with Brandi after she finished her set and Kayley and Cass and Glenn and Blake joined us as they came to set up to play as well. I sat with them until they had to play and I decided to head downstairs for a bit, not really knowing what I was going to do. Daniel was in the spa as I walked through to go downstairs so I ended up talking to him for a while. He’d been talking about lending me a book and gave that to me so I could have something to do the rest of the afternoon. I turned on the TV to find Lord of the Rings on, so listened to that as I read until Bingo time. Cass was in the room when I got back from Bingo so we talked for a bit, then Kayley came by and we went to her room to watch part of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. We finished about half of it before dinner. We went to dinner and chatted with the cast until I had to get to work.
I wasn’t up there for long before the siblings came up. I put in a movie for the girl and the boy asked me to play Lego Star Wars with him. Occasionally I’d drop out of the game for a bit to color with the girl and so she could show me what she’d done. It was a very non-stressful night for which I was grateful.
They left at 10 and I decided not to go to the show, so I went down and curled my hair for the crew Halloween party tonight before helping Kayley with her hair. It was interesting doing her hair because she was Pippi Longstocking, I had to braid her hair, then slide a bent clothes hanger through it to make her braids stick up from her head. It worked pretty well! The Halloween party was fun; I liked seeing what everyone dressed up as, and how creative some people are.
Daniel and I hung out with Edison, Kayley and a few others in the hall afterward because we weren’t tired enough to go to sleep yet, but finally we realized that most of us were getting up early so should go to bed early. Quite a few people were going on tours early in the morning.
I worked from 9-12 today. The girl came up for a little while; her parents didn’t tell me if they were coming back later when she left, so I just stayed in Club HAL until Brian came (since she was gone and the other kids don’t come in the morning, I could’ve left early). I had pasta for lunch again before changing and getting off the ship. I took the free shuttle the 10 minutes to the city (it’s a 45 minute walk) and set off walking along the shore, looking at what was around. It was kind of cloudy so the pictures I took didn’t come out as well as I’d like, but I have a lot of the water, boats on the water, the fort. I walked through the market (purses, scarves, belts and watches were pretty much the only things anyone was selling) and kept going. Finally I decided to head back and look for internet. Halfway back to the bus, I finally saw someone from the ship and they told me where I could go for internet. After that, I kept seeing crew members walking around. I sat down with a few at a café and tried to get internet there, but couldn’t connect; they were closing for siesta anyway so I left in search of somewhere open.
Finally, close to where the bus was, I found some of the cast connected to the internet. I ordered a sprite and sat with them and talked to Mom on skype for the first time in a week and a half. They left to go find postcards while I stayed to talk and listen to the band playing at this café. I got back on the bus at 3:35 because I knew the last bus left at 4. A few more people came in the next few minutes before they told us that this WAS the last bus and we had to wait until 4:05 to leave. The singer and her husband (the parents) were on that bus with me and I had to reassure them that they wouldn’t be too late to pick up their kids, and if anyone said anything, I would back them up because they were on the bus to be back in plenty of time. Finally after 4, with only the 8 of us that had been on the bus since 3:40, the bus drove us back to the ship. That was a bit frustrating, but at least we had good conversation during the wait and the ride back. I called Brian as soon as I got back to let him know the parents were on the way up and that it wasn’t their fault they were late. I went through some of my pictures the rest of the afternoon.
Not much happened at work tonight, just the usual coloring, movies and video games with the siblings. After work, I ended up watching one of the movies Daniel lent me and going to sleep somewhat early.
November 2, 2012: Sea Day
Another sea day, I’m so glad we don’t have many between the long 7 day sets. I went up for breakfast and work this morning. Of course, the girl was the only one there and was constantly wondering where the other girl was and when her mom was going to pick her up. But at least she was content to color and make a hand turkey (which took a surprisingly long time considering she colors so fast most of the time). I took a nap after work because I was really tired despite getting enough sleep.
I had lunch with Brandi after she finished her set and Kayley and Cass and Glenn and Blake joined us as they came to set up to play as well. I sat with them until they had to play and I decided to head downstairs for a bit, not really knowing what I was going to do. Daniel was in the spa as I walked through to go downstairs so I ended up talking to him for a while. He’d been talking about lending me a book and gave that to me so I could have something to do the rest of the afternoon. I turned on the TV to find Lord of the Rings on, so listened to that as I read until Bingo time. Cass was in the room when I got back from Bingo so we talked for a bit, then Kayley came by and we went to her room to watch part of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. We finished about half of it before dinner. We went to dinner and chatted with the cast until I had to get to work.
I wasn’t up there for long before the siblings came up. I put in a movie for the girl and the boy asked me to play Lego Star Wars with him. Occasionally I’d drop out of the game for a bit to color with the girl and so she could show me what she’d done. It was a very non-stressful night for which I was grateful.
They left at 10 and I decided not to go to the show, so I went down and curled my hair for the crew Halloween party tonight before helping Kayley with her hair. It was interesting doing her hair because she was Pippi Longstocking, I had to braid her hair, then slide a bent clothes hanger through it to make her braids stick up from her head. It worked pretty well! The Halloween party was fun; I liked seeing what everyone dressed up as, and how creative some people are.
Daniel and I hung out with Edison, Kayley and a few others in the hall afterward because we weren’t tired enough to go to sleep yet, but finally we realized that most of us were getting up early so should go to bed early. Quite a few people were going on tours early in the morning.
halloween
October 30, 2012: Tenerife, Santa Cruz
We had a general emergency drill this morning, which meant that all crew had to participate (aside from the few necessary to keep the ship running for the 45 minutes as the drill went on). I had to go to the front office as usual to hang out until they dismissed everyone to go to their life rafts. Then, they went through all the coast guard questions and gathered three rafts together to go over some of the important life raft things again.
I see why we have these kinds of drills, but why must we wear our life jackets the whole time. The life jacket hurts, it pushes against the back of my neck (because it’s too big and weighed down) and I feel it the rest of the day. It’s very frustrating.
Anyway, after the drill I had to make sure the girl wasn’t going to come up today since her parents hadn’t been up to sign her up for port day. I waited while Brian called, as I waited I saw all my friends leave the ship. So, by the time I found out that I could get off, most everyone had already gone, and it was almost lunchtime. I had decided just to eat lunch on the ship by then, because it was only 20 minutes until it opened; I met Jim in the hallway and he invited me to go off ship with him and the acupuncturist Ginger after someone else got back (they’d split the day off-ship because one had IPM).
I had a burger for lunch alone by the pool. Most everyone was already off the ship; someone told me that only about 200 passengers were on board. I got off the ship with Ginger and Jim. We walked around for a bit and Jim tried to find a bank so he could exchange some money (he lives in Spain, so they have his bank here so he was going to put US Dollars in his account and pull out Euros). However, after we waited at one bank, it turns out they were only affiliated with his and they can’t do transactions for his bank. So, we went to another one down the road; after a 20 minute wait there, all the computers went down, so it was all for nothing.
We walked around for a while and met Glenn and Blake (the bass player, he got on in Ft. Lauderdale. I don’t remember if I’ve mentioned him yet). They were all kind of hungry so I tagged along as they looked for a place that had tapas and wifi. Finally we gave up on the wifi part and sat in a restaurant. They ate and I had a tea. We sat there for a really long time, so long that I was worried about finding internet before I got back on the ship for work (Brian asked if I’d take his shift tonight, he’ll work for me another time). Finally we left the restaurant and Jim and I separated from the group because he needed to get back to the ship too. We got back to the main street by the port and found what we’d spent an hour looking for: many restaurants with wifi. The cast and Brian were sitting at one of them and I joined them to use the wifi for a little while before I got back on the ship.
October 31, 2012: Las Palmas
Happy Halloween! I slept in today and had work at 12. The girl was there when I took over for Brian, but her mom came to take her to lunch after a few minutes. So, I had lunch to myself again. After a rather quick lunch of pasta, I went back up to Club HAL. I managed to get some pumpkins cut out since Brian asked if I could cut out some more (both for the girl to decorate and for us to decorate for the Halloween Party).
The girl came up soon after lunch, and we spent the afternoon decorating pumpkins. I also cut out some witches hats, ghosts and bats since I was getting a bit tired of pumpkins. Near the end of the afternoon, I had a great idea and made a pumpkin with a light in it, out of paper of course. The girl saw what I was doing and made me cut stuff out for her to do the same. I had an orange pumpkin, a slightly smaller black pumpkin, and I cut out bits of red, orange and yellow to make a flame. I layered them so the flame was behind the face, but still the pumpkin had black eyes and all that. I think it looks pretty cool. My flames turned out pretty cool too I think, I snipped the edges so they look kind of frayed, but they also kind of look like they’re moving (or at least more like fire). I keep showing this pumpkin to people (I used a magnet to put it on my door!).
After that, I was done for the day. I went downstairs to meet Glenn and Edison who I’d seen earlier still on the ship and said they’d get off with me after 4. Neither of them answered their phones or their doors, so I got off on my own (I didn’t want to wait around, I’ve had enough of that). Not far off the ship, I met Jim and Ginger as they were heading back to the ship. Ginger decided to go back out with me. Yay, I had a buddy! We went to the mall and just looked around for costume pieces for her, and the ever-important wifi. We tried for wifi at McDonalds, but it wasn’t very good so we walked around more. I hadn’t seen anyone else to stay off-ship with me, so I got back on the ship with her for dinner. We were finishing dinner when Edison came up. I talked to him for a bit and we ended up going downstairs to grab computers, change and go back out since he knew somewhere we could get internet. I finally got to upload pictures! We spent an hour on the internet at the café before we had to get back on the ship before all aboard and so we could get ready for the Halloween party.
I curled my hair and borrowed the wand Maria (cast member) got at Wizarding World of Harry Potter and became Luna. I went up to the Crow’s Nest and was surprised at just how many people were dressed up. I had kind of thought it would be mostly crew. There were some pretty creative costumes: cereal killer, ghosts, witches, Lady Luck, belly dancers, genies, etc. I took a lot of pictures with the other crew members there (mostly from the entertainment department: the cast, librarian, life stylist, party planner, musicians, but of course the photographers were there too). Amongst the crew we had superman, batman, Betty Bop, Pippi Longstocking, a vampire, Luna (me!), punks, pirates, and many more. It was a lot of fun to see the creative side to people that I see every day in uniforms. We all danced a lot and clapped for the winners of the costume contests. After that, I went down to the OB and hung out with everyone that had come down from the party (it was crew curfew in guest areas). It was a fun night in general.
We had a general emergency drill this morning, which meant that all crew had to participate (aside from the few necessary to keep the ship running for the 45 minutes as the drill went on). I had to go to the front office as usual to hang out until they dismissed everyone to go to their life rafts. Then, they went through all the coast guard questions and gathered three rafts together to go over some of the important life raft things again.
I see why we have these kinds of drills, but why must we wear our life jackets the whole time. The life jacket hurts, it pushes against the back of my neck (because it’s too big and weighed down) and I feel it the rest of the day. It’s very frustrating.
Anyway, after the drill I had to make sure the girl wasn’t going to come up today since her parents hadn’t been up to sign her up for port day. I waited while Brian called, as I waited I saw all my friends leave the ship. So, by the time I found out that I could get off, most everyone had already gone, and it was almost lunchtime. I had decided just to eat lunch on the ship by then, because it was only 20 minutes until it opened; I met Jim in the hallway and he invited me to go off ship with him and the acupuncturist Ginger after someone else got back (they’d split the day off-ship because one had IPM).
I had a burger for lunch alone by the pool. Most everyone was already off the ship; someone told me that only about 200 passengers were on board. I got off the ship with Ginger and Jim. We walked around for a bit and Jim tried to find a bank so he could exchange some money (he lives in Spain, so they have his bank here so he was going to put US Dollars in his account and pull out Euros). However, after we waited at one bank, it turns out they were only affiliated with his and they can’t do transactions for his bank. So, we went to another one down the road; after a 20 minute wait there, all the computers went down, so it was all for nothing.
We walked around for a while and met Glenn and Blake (the bass player, he got on in Ft. Lauderdale. I don’t remember if I’ve mentioned him yet). They were all kind of hungry so I tagged along as they looked for a place that had tapas and wifi. Finally we gave up on the wifi part and sat in a restaurant. They ate and I had a tea. We sat there for a really long time, so long that I was worried about finding internet before I got back on the ship for work (Brian asked if I’d take his shift tonight, he’ll work for me another time). Finally we left the restaurant and Jim and I separated from the group because he needed to get back to the ship too. We got back to the main street by the port and found what we’d spent an hour looking for: many restaurants with wifi. The cast and Brian were sitting at one of them and I joined them to use the wifi for a little while before I got back on the ship.
October 31, 2012: Las Palmas
Happy Halloween! I slept in today and had work at 12. The girl was there when I took over for Brian, but her mom came to take her to lunch after a few minutes. So, I had lunch to myself again. After a rather quick lunch of pasta, I went back up to Club HAL. I managed to get some pumpkins cut out since Brian asked if I could cut out some more (both for the girl to decorate and for us to decorate for the Halloween Party).
The girl came up soon after lunch, and we spent the afternoon decorating pumpkins. I also cut out some witches hats, ghosts and bats since I was getting a bit tired of pumpkins. Near the end of the afternoon, I had a great idea and made a pumpkin with a light in it, out of paper of course. The girl saw what I was doing and made me cut stuff out for her to do the same. I had an orange pumpkin, a slightly smaller black pumpkin, and I cut out bits of red, orange and yellow to make a flame. I layered them so the flame was behind the face, but still the pumpkin had black eyes and all that. I think it looks pretty cool. My flames turned out pretty cool too I think, I snipped the edges so they look kind of frayed, but they also kind of look like they’re moving (or at least more like fire). I keep showing this pumpkin to people (I used a magnet to put it on my door!).
After that, I was done for the day. I went downstairs to meet Glenn and Edison who I’d seen earlier still on the ship and said they’d get off with me after 4. Neither of them answered their phones or their doors, so I got off on my own (I didn’t want to wait around, I’ve had enough of that). Not far off the ship, I met Jim and Ginger as they were heading back to the ship. Ginger decided to go back out with me. Yay, I had a buddy! We went to the mall and just looked around for costume pieces for her, and the ever-important wifi. We tried for wifi at McDonalds, but it wasn’t very good so we walked around more. I hadn’t seen anyone else to stay off-ship with me, so I got back on the ship with her for dinner. We were finishing dinner when Edison came up. I talked to him for a bit and we ended up going downstairs to grab computers, change and go back out since he knew somewhere we could get internet. I finally got to upload pictures! We spent an hour on the internet at the café before we had to get back on the ship before all aboard and so we could get ready for the Halloween party.
I curled my hair and borrowed the wand Maria (cast member) got at Wizarding World of Harry Potter and became Luna. I went up to the Crow’s Nest and was surprised at just how many people were dressed up. I had kind of thought it would be mostly crew. There were some pretty creative costumes: cereal killer, ghosts, witches, Lady Luck, belly dancers, genies, etc. I took a lot of pictures with the other crew members there (mostly from the entertainment department: the cast, librarian, life stylist, party planner, musicians, but of course the photographers were there too). Amongst the crew we had superman, batman, Betty Bop, Pippi Longstocking, a vampire, Luna (me!), punks, pirates, and many more. It was a lot of fun to see the creative side to people that I see every day in uniforms. We all danced a lot and clapped for the winners of the costume contests. After that, I went down to the OB and hung out with everyone that had come down from the party (it was crew curfew in guest areas). It was a fun night in general.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
hundreds of miles from land
October 26, 2012: Sea Day 4
We’re halfway across the Atlantic now! Halfway done with our long sea days. I slept in a bit this morning because I’d stayed up late watching Under the Tuscan Sun on TV, so by the time I got up and ready, I had to wait until lunch before getting food. Luckily, I have a supply of fruit loops and apples to eat on days like this. I went up for lunch and ended up sitting with Laurie and Jim until they left to go do stuff, then Edison and a few people from the shops joined me. I’m getting so tired of sandwiches now, I’ve had one every day this week for lunch, because the grill hasn’t been open (I’ve been kind of craving a chicken burger).
I had work at 1, the room was extremely humid so I had to open a door (it was much cooler outside than in that room). Housekeeping had also plugged in a fan in the middle of the room to help with the condensation on the floor (last night we kept slipping on the slightly wet floor). It was loud but didn’t really do much for the heat and humidity. The girl came in first, of course. We colored for about an hour and a half before I took her downstairs to get some water, and just to get out of the room. We met the other kids down in the Lido and they got signed in. Once the girl finished her water, I took them all outside to play games on the Sports Deck. It felt really good outside, cool for my taste but at least it wasn’t the stagnant, humid heat in Club HAL. We went back in and I opened the door to outside to get some of the breeze in and the kids played video games and colored.
I’d nearly forgotten about Bingo when DJ B called asking if I was coming. The kids had just left and I was on my way out, so I ran down there to help him sell the cards. The people who play know me very well by now and had been worried about me, why I wasn’t there early like usual.
I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with Cass, then went to dinner. Dinner was surprisingly decent. They had brie! I sat with the band and some of the cast members. Kayley joined us as dinner was ending. We went down to our rooms so she could get a book to return to the library and so I could change out of my uniform. We returned her book then went to the Mix to listen to the remainder of Brandi’s set for the night. J was there (cast member) so we hung out with him and Brandi when her set finished. They have these tables in the Mix that are interactive. You can draw and play games on them! We played with this thing called “Ribbons.” You draw something and it’ll take it and redraw it all over the table. While we were doing this, the cruise director came by and we all talked for a while. He’s really nice, very enthusiastic and wants to get to know everyone and make sure all our jobs are going okay and everything else.
The four of us (J, Brandi, Kayley and me) went to the show together. The singer did a show entitled “Tribute to the Divas.” She did a good job with it, no wonder Cass told me that she had a big voice. After the show, I came back to the room and watched the news (all the satellites are out except for Fox news – no internet either). It’s funny that a few weeks ago, it seemed like Fox News was very supportive of Obama, but now they’re saying he’s been lying about what happened in Libya on September 11 this year. It’ll be interesting to see what happens after the election. Wow, that’s not far away now. It is strange how out-of-touch we are sometimes on this ship with the rest of the world, despite travelling all over the world
October 27, 2012: Sea Day 5
I had to work this morning. I put up the sign as usual and ate breakfast before heading up to stay in Club HAL. I studied Italian all morning because the kids didn’t show up at all. It was good though, I was productive.
I went back to the room to sleep a bit more (I had a hard time going to sleep last night and waking up this morning) until lunch. I went up to lunch at one to hang out with the HAL Cats between their sets. Turns out that they didn’t have a set at all because it was kind of rainy. But, they were still up there sitting around and chatting so I joined in. I stayed up there through the time change (another hour forward, now we’re three hours ahead… two more to go!) then went down to help with Bingo.
Cass and I talked all afternoon about various things: music, how we got on ships, different types of jobs, etc. I had dinner and went up to Club HAL. Not much interesting happened there, the girl was up there the entire time and they all just played games with each other. They left right at ten so I had to run down and change really quick to get to the show: ballroom dance couple!
After that, Kayley and I started to watch the second Harry Potter, but I got too tired so we didn’t finish it.
October 28, 2012: Sea Day 6
It’s strange to think that for the last six days, I’ve looked outside and seen nothing but water and sky, and I know that there’s not any land for hundreds of miles. That just hit me today, that we’re in the middle of the ocean with no land close by.
Anyway, I had a lazy morning since I didn’t work until 1. I went up to lunch (pasta for the first time in a while) and sat with the acupuncturist and Laurie the party planner. We had some interesting conversation about aviation school, the news, etc. Of course there was the few minutes of silence in between conversations because we’ve all been on the ship with nothing too too exciting happening for six days now, so some normal conversation topics have been exhausted (did you get off at the last port, what did you do, what happened while you were off?).
I was only upstairs for a few minutes with the girl came up, she was there for about two hours before the other kids came. She spent most of the time wondering why her friend wasn’t there yet and trying to get me to tell her what to draw. Since I’ve given her lots of suggestions on this the last few days, I suggested she think of something to draw on her own. After sitting for a few minutes and complaining that she couldn’t think of anything, she started to copy the butterfly I was drawing. So much for being creative on your own. Oh well. Finally the other kids came and the girls played house together while the boy got me to help him with Lego Star Wars. I spent the rest of the afternoon running back and forth between playing the game and putting glue on foam animals so the girls could make photo frames (they’d decided not to play house when they realized I wouldn’t be in there for them to ‘cook’ for me.)
I ran off to Bingo as soon as the kids left at 4. Luckily the DJ had already started selling cards- he knows I work in the afternoons so is fine with me being late- so I just helped with the last few people and then did all the math. Slowly but surely the prizes (determined by how many people buy cards and how much the cards they by are) are getting larger.
After Bingo, I came back to the room to rest for the first time since lunch. Cass and I talked for a bit, then I went to Kayley’s room so we could finish watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. We finished it in perfect time to go to dinner. We sat with the rest of the band and just hung out until nearly their call time for the show tonight. I went back to the room until the show. It was a farewell variety show tonight. A few of the guest entertainers are leaving at the next port so the cruise director let them do one last show split between the three of them. Livewire was great, as usual; I wasn’t too impressed with the comedian/magician though and of course the lady from last night was good. I’m going to be most sad to see Livewire leave though, they’re very nice people and I really liked their shows (the Celtic music).
October 29, 2012: Sea Day 7
I had to work early this morning. I put up the sign and went down for breakfast, not really expecting the girl to show up considering she hasn’t for the past few days. I was halfway through breakfast, not really expecting the girl to show up considering she hasn’t for the past few days. I was halfway through breakfast when she and her dad came by, eating breakfast themselves. A few minutes after I got up to Club HAL, they followed. She had no idea what she wanted to do, and she shot down everything I suggested so we just sat there in silence for a few minutes until she decided to draw. But then she couldn’t decide what to draw and kept asking me what she should draw; I just responded “whatever you want to draw, anything you can think of” and she’d ask me again, and again, and again. She’s not entirely the easiest kid to work with. Most kids like to play board games or video games or watch a movie, or go outside, but not her. I’m starting to run out of activities to suggest. I kind of wish I knew what activities are normally on the kids schedule; I’d only worked with the tweens and teens, and those activities aren’t really easy enough for the younger ones so I don’t have much to go on.
We’re halfway across the Atlantic now! Halfway done with our long sea days. I slept in a bit this morning because I’d stayed up late watching Under the Tuscan Sun on TV, so by the time I got up and ready, I had to wait until lunch before getting food. Luckily, I have a supply of fruit loops and apples to eat on days like this. I went up for lunch and ended up sitting with Laurie and Jim until they left to go do stuff, then Edison and a few people from the shops joined me. I’m getting so tired of sandwiches now, I’ve had one every day this week for lunch, because the grill hasn’t been open (I’ve been kind of craving a chicken burger).
I had work at 1, the room was extremely humid so I had to open a door (it was much cooler outside than in that room). Housekeeping had also plugged in a fan in the middle of the room to help with the condensation on the floor (last night we kept slipping on the slightly wet floor). It was loud but didn’t really do much for the heat and humidity. The girl came in first, of course. We colored for about an hour and a half before I took her downstairs to get some water, and just to get out of the room. We met the other kids down in the Lido and they got signed in. Once the girl finished her water, I took them all outside to play games on the Sports Deck. It felt really good outside, cool for my taste but at least it wasn’t the stagnant, humid heat in Club HAL. We went back in and I opened the door to outside to get some of the breeze in and the kids played video games and colored.
I’d nearly forgotten about Bingo when DJ B called asking if I was coming. The kids had just left and I was on my way out, so I ran down there to help him sell the cards. The people who play know me very well by now and had been worried about me, why I wasn’t there early like usual.
I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with Cass, then went to dinner. Dinner was surprisingly decent. They had brie! I sat with the band and some of the cast members. Kayley joined us as dinner was ending. We went down to our rooms so she could get a book to return to the library and so I could change out of my uniform. We returned her book then went to the Mix to listen to the remainder of Brandi’s set for the night. J was there (cast member) so we hung out with him and Brandi when her set finished. They have these tables in the Mix that are interactive. You can draw and play games on them! We played with this thing called “Ribbons.” You draw something and it’ll take it and redraw it all over the table. While we were doing this, the cruise director came by and we all talked for a while. He’s really nice, very enthusiastic and wants to get to know everyone and make sure all our jobs are going okay and everything else.
The four of us (J, Brandi, Kayley and me) went to the show together. The singer did a show entitled “Tribute to the Divas.” She did a good job with it, no wonder Cass told me that she had a big voice. After the show, I came back to the room and watched the news (all the satellites are out except for Fox news – no internet either). It’s funny that a few weeks ago, it seemed like Fox News was very supportive of Obama, but now they’re saying he’s been lying about what happened in Libya on September 11 this year. It’ll be interesting to see what happens after the election. Wow, that’s not far away now. It is strange how out-of-touch we are sometimes on this ship with the rest of the world, despite travelling all over the world
October 27, 2012: Sea Day 5
I had to work this morning. I put up the sign as usual and ate breakfast before heading up to stay in Club HAL. I studied Italian all morning because the kids didn’t show up at all. It was good though, I was productive.
I went back to the room to sleep a bit more (I had a hard time going to sleep last night and waking up this morning) until lunch. I went up to lunch at one to hang out with the HAL Cats between their sets. Turns out that they didn’t have a set at all because it was kind of rainy. But, they were still up there sitting around and chatting so I joined in. I stayed up there through the time change (another hour forward, now we’re three hours ahead… two more to go!) then went down to help with Bingo.
Cass and I talked all afternoon about various things: music, how we got on ships, different types of jobs, etc. I had dinner and went up to Club HAL. Not much interesting happened there, the girl was up there the entire time and they all just played games with each other. They left right at ten so I had to run down and change really quick to get to the show: ballroom dance couple!
After that, Kayley and I started to watch the second Harry Potter, but I got too tired so we didn’t finish it.
October 28, 2012: Sea Day 6
It’s strange to think that for the last six days, I’ve looked outside and seen nothing but water and sky, and I know that there’s not any land for hundreds of miles. That just hit me today, that we’re in the middle of the ocean with no land close by.
Anyway, I had a lazy morning since I didn’t work until 1. I went up to lunch (pasta for the first time in a while) and sat with the acupuncturist and Laurie the party planner. We had some interesting conversation about aviation school, the news, etc. Of course there was the few minutes of silence in between conversations because we’ve all been on the ship with nothing too too exciting happening for six days now, so some normal conversation topics have been exhausted (did you get off at the last port, what did you do, what happened while you were off?).
I was only upstairs for a few minutes with the girl came up, she was there for about two hours before the other kids came. She spent most of the time wondering why her friend wasn’t there yet and trying to get me to tell her what to draw. Since I’ve given her lots of suggestions on this the last few days, I suggested she think of something to draw on her own. After sitting for a few minutes and complaining that she couldn’t think of anything, she started to copy the butterfly I was drawing. So much for being creative on your own. Oh well. Finally the other kids came and the girls played house together while the boy got me to help him with Lego Star Wars. I spent the rest of the afternoon running back and forth between playing the game and putting glue on foam animals so the girls could make photo frames (they’d decided not to play house when they realized I wouldn’t be in there for them to ‘cook’ for me.)
I ran off to Bingo as soon as the kids left at 4. Luckily the DJ had already started selling cards- he knows I work in the afternoons so is fine with me being late- so I just helped with the last few people and then did all the math. Slowly but surely the prizes (determined by how many people buy cards and how much the cards they by are) are getting larger.
After Bingo, I came back to the room to rest for the first time since lunch. Cass and I talked for a bit, then I went to Kayley’s room so we could finish watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. We finished it in perfect time to go to dinner. We sat with the rest of the band and just hung out until nearly their call time for the show tonight. I went back to the room until the show. It was a farewell variety show tonight. A few of the guest entertainers are leaving at the next port so the cruise director let them do one last show split between the three of them. Livewire was great, as usual; I wasn’t too impressed with the comedian/magician though and of course the lady from last night was good. I’m going to be most sad to see Livewire leave though, they’re very nice people and I really liked their shows (the Celtic music).
October 29, 2012: Sea Day 7
I had to work early this morning. I put up the sign and went down for breakfast, not really expecting the girl to show up considering she hasn’t for the past few days. I was halfway through breakfast, not really expecting the girl to show up considering she hasn’t for the past few days. I was halfway through breakfast when she and her dad came by, eating breakfast themselves. A few minutes after I got up to Club HAL, they followed. She had no idea what she wanted to do, and she shot down everything I suggested so we just sat there in silence for a few minutes until she decided to draw. But then she couldn’t decide what to draw and kept asking me what she should draw; I just responded “whatever you want to draw, anything you can think of” and she’d ask me again, and again, and again. She’s not entirely the easiest kid to work with. Most kids like to play board games or video games or watch a movie, or go outside, but not her. I’m starting to run out of activities to suggest. I kind of wish I knew what activities are normally on the kids schedule; I’d only worked with the tweens and teens, and those activities aren’t really easy enough for the younger ones so I don’t have much to go on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)