Ostrich farm!

March 12, 2013: Curacao
I went to an ostrich farm today! It was quite fun actually!
I worked the morning port day shift so I could leave by 12 to meet Ana, August, Matan (HAL Cats), two of the photogs and Kayleigh and Jessica (the two cadets) so we could go. No one came to Club HAL, so I just read more of “Les Miserables” until Jacob came to take over.

After a quick lunch, I changed and met everyone at the gangway. We then had kind of a small adventure walking around trying to find a taxi, we ended up in a large van-type taxi. Twenty-five minutes later, we arrived at the ostrich farm! The rest of them paid to ride an ostrich, they had to fill out a waiver in case the ostrich got angry and injured one of them; I was just there to hang out, take pictures and see everything ($35 for a minute or two riding on an ostrich?). They had a TON of other animals there too though, so that was cool: baby ostriches and emus, warthogs, pigs, chickens, geese, a few parrots, two ponies, lots of goats, and of course iguanas everywhere! I have lots of pictures. Have I seen a parrot in person before? They’re pretty big, and so colorful!! It was so much fun to watch as everyone else rode the ostrich down a path and back. Their expressions were priceless.


Our taxi stayed there to take us back; so when we were done, he dropped us off across the bridge in town. Kayleigh and Jessica went back to the ship while the rest of us decided to get a drink and some internet since we still had an hour before all aboard. The internet didn’t work but we stayed and talked anyway until time to leave. The rest of the day was pretty boring comparatively, I spent the rest of the afternoon going through some of the 200 pictures I took today!
The evening wasn’t too exciting either. We just put in another movie and most of them talked through the whole thing. It was a pretty eventful day though, so I was happy just to sit and relax as work.

Aruba

March 11, 2013: Aruba
We get to Aruba in the afternoon (I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned that before) around 1, so I worked normal morning sea day hours, basically we played card games all morning. I had a quick lunch, then went up to Club HAL for port day. None of the kids showed up so I played Lego Harry Potter (I’m slowly getting farther in it) until about 3:30 since Jacob told me I could leave if no one was there by then because they’re not going to come and stay for just 30 minutes. Charlotte had waited for me to get off, so we went to the ice cream place for internet. It wasn’t working there, so Charlotte took us to an internet café that she had been at before. It was a bit expensive for my taste, but then again, I’m used to just buying a drink or something to use the internet for as long as I want. We spent about two hours there before walking back to the ship because Charlotte had to work right after dinner.

I spent a long time in the Lido. Charlotte left because she had to work, so I stood up to go get dessert, but I got distracted when one of my teens walked by and we started talking. We stood there in the Lido talking for probably 30 minutes after which I joined Kayleigh (a Cadet), and some of the HAL Cats for a little while. I decided since I didn’t have too long to wait to just go ahead and see if Jacob needed any help with the kids. I took over the remote as they played “Disney Scene It?” and Jacob went to print off schedules for the week.

It was an interesting night with the teens. Two of the boys were playing a video game and the older ones came, saw that, and left again (as a group at least). A few of the younger girls came in as well. It was actually a pretty quiet night. They went to the front office and got an Indiana Jones which we started watching, then some of the other teens came back and took us to the Explorers Lounge where they had been practicing piano. By the time they showed us what one of the girls had learned to play, I had to head back up to start locking up. Everyone actually ended up back in the Loft with just a few minutes before I had to close up.

sea day

March 10, 2013: Sea Day
Lots of confusion this morning. I woke up with my phone alarm as usual, Charlotte had left a few minutes before so I got up and turned the TV to the navigation channel (it says the time, has maps that zoom in, sometimes has weather, etc) like is my habit here because there are so many time changes. The TV time was an hour before my phone time, so I checked my watch which was also an hour behind. I was so confused, I tried to remember whether I’d missed an hour back or if I hadn’t changed my watch an hour forward (apparently sometimes they forget to change the TV clock as well) or what, so I got ready for work. I was really tired and still confused when I finally realized that my phone must have changed for Daylight Savings! I thought I’d set it to not do that, but it must have. Turns out that Charlotte’s tablet (with her alarm) did the same thing, so she went to work an hour early and didn’t realize it until an hour later. Such fun, I went back to bed for a bit before breakfast (since I now had time!), then up to the Loft.

I was extremely surprised to see the teens come AT 10. I’m used to having teens that sleep in a lot, so this is odd. They were all pretty tired though so we ended up just sitting around talking, and eating the candy some of the girls had brought in their purses. I had a quick lunch with the wife of one of the band leaders. She’s a flight attendant, from Quebec! I think we have great potential to be friends! She’s only on for this one cruise (because her husband disembarks next Ft. Laud), but they’re going to be on the Nieuw A with me in August!

After lunch, I had time to relax in the room for a while until work, good considering I’m still sleepy I guess from the hour forward yesterday, then getting up early today. This afternoon, we talked for a while, then I got everyone started playing Phase 10. That took up the rest of the afternoon, including a trip downstairs for an ice cream break. We started with 9 people playing, then went down to four as it started raining and some of them ran outside to see. Once we were down to 4, the game went a lot faster, especially since everyone was paying attention!

I actually managed to take a nap during my break after dinner. Work tonight was pretty easy. We hung out for an hour, then went to the show (called “In Concert”; famous songs from various time periods). After the show, we met the other teens (who had left before the show to play shuffleboard) who had gotten Toy Story 3 from the front office. So, we ended up watching that, while the few older teens left since they didn’t want to watch it (I felt the same way since I watched it so much on the Maasdam). Sleep time!

Half Moon Cay from the ship

March 9, 2013: Half Moon Cay
This morning was not fun. We arrived early, but didn’t get cleared from port authorities to let anyone off the ship until 9:30. I woke up kind of late, but didn’t know we weren’t allowed off so I thought I’d missed the first crew tender. I ended up calling Jacob (who was giving out tender tickets) and asking whether I should still try to get off or not. He said just don’t go since it was already late and there were so many people waiting to get off. So, I went back to sleep until Charlotte came back to the room and we went to lunch early. After lunch, I pretty much slept until I had to head up to the Loft. It was a short afternoon at least! We took a kind of long trip to go get ice cream/pizza right in the middle of our time. Other than that, we just played games and talked.

After the afternoon session, I came down to the room, did a Sudoku or two, then went up for dinner. Krista (Jacob’s wife, the techspert) asked if Charlotte and I could help her in the digital workshop, so we went down with her after we ate. She just got new computers so had to set them all up on the tables in there; she needed our help to ziptie the cords under the tables so that there weren’t cords for people to trip on all over the floor. It was kind of fun, I haven’t really gotten a chance to talk to her much because her schedule is so odd and there’s other stuff going on during meals.

We just sat talking for a while in the Loft, then we decided that we wanted to watch Harry Potter (one of the boys hadn’t seen it), so we had an adventure going to the front office, realizing they gave us the third instead of first, going back down to correct it, watching about 45 minutes before the disc started skipping. At least it was nearly closing time when it started skipping, so we’ll finish it tomorrow.

Fort Lauderdale

March 8: Fort Lauderdale
I got off early to take the shuttle with Charlotte to the shopping center. First we went to OfficeMax to mail some stuff, then we crossed the street to Publix for some grocery shopping; I got a few things I needed and Charlotte bought snack food (she’s nearly as picky of an eater as I am). After that, we stopped outside a restaurant that had internet (though it wasn’t open) until Charlotte had to get back to work.

When we got back, Charlotte went up to open the library and I went to the bow to use my phone. I got to talk to Dad AND Mom! :) Conversation was cut kind of short since I was worried about getting lunch before work at 1. Lunch is always extremely crowded on embark day and it takes at least 10 minutes to get through any of the lines. Today was different though. No one was there, I think I saw maybe 20 crew and 10 guests getting food/eating. When I got up to Club HAL I found out why. Because of some kind of budget cuts, there are many less people who take care of the ships for customs. Thus, it took longer than usual, and the new guests can’t get on until the old guests leave so it was about 12:45 before anyone was even allowed to get on. I hope this doesn’t keep up. Or maybe not, since I kind of liked how quiet and non-crowded it was at lunch.

And again, because of the long wait to get on the ship, none of the passengers came to Club HAL for the first hour of open house. It gave Jacob the chance to tell me about Chrissy, who was supposed to come on today. She’s currently at the hotel, sick. She’s still going to come, but not until Aruba or Curacao. In the meantime, we’re one youth staff down and have a big difference in the kids/tweens age. There’s quite a few 3-5 year olds, and quite a few 10-12 year olds, only a couple in the middle; that’s going to make it hard on Jacob until Chrissy gets here. I am going to help out as much as I can, but I have 20 teens myself.

In total, three people came to look around during open house: two teens and a 3-year-old. I went to the bow to talk to Mom again while the passenger drill was taking place, and then went up to the top deck to watch as we left and to listen to the band. I met the wife of the band leader since she was up there as well, so I might have made another friend. I still think that it’s difficult on this ship to make friends; I’m definitely friends with the two cadets, and Charlotte, and kind of friends with one or two members from each of the HAL Cats, but I still don’t feel really comfortable around anyone else. If there’s nowhere else to sit, I’m fine asking if I can sit with them (others, not the ones I names), but sitting with them is just that, sitting and eating.

I went down to the room and did a few sudokus instead of napping until dinner- I was tired but apparently not tired enough to sleep. I stayed a long time at dinner with one of the guitar players, then with the cadets before going up to Club HAL to help Jacob out for a bit until it was time for me to head to the Loft. Two showed up right at 9, then another came a minute later. We started to play ERS, but then two more came in, so we had to re-deal the cards; just as we dealt again, someone else came in! We started the game and let her slap-in. We chatted and got to know each other a bit before moving on to another game. Two sisters came in and we started another card game, then went around the circle telling facts about ourselves (name, favorite color, superpower and random fact) to make sure we could remember everyone’s name. By that time, it was after 11 so we ate snack and chatted more about school, differences between Canada and US (half of them were from each; the US half was from warm states!), sports, etc. Next thing I knew, it was time to close up. They all made sure to ask when I’ll be up there tomorrow, so that’s a good sign. This seems like a good group, even though there’s two sets of siblings, they’ve gotten along so far. Hour forward tonight, and Half Moon Cay tomorrow. It’s sure to be crazy because the Nieuw Amsterdam will be in port with us and we have to use our own tenders instead of the big ones from the island.

crazy few days!

March 3, 2013: Cartegena
It was pretty much a normal sea day for me. I worked the port day shift since Jacob had to attend a security/safety meeting, then had the usual afternoon/evening sessions with the teens. Only two girls were there in the morning so we played games on wii sports resort. The boy ‘teen’ came in and played as well since he didn’t get off the ship and was bored. We ended up taking that disk to the Loft in the afternoon and playing that with the other teens all afternoon. At least it’s a different type of video game. I found out I’m decent at archery and good at Frisbee with the wii! :)
I stayed in the Loft late since I really didn’t want to go back to my room quite yet, and the teens weren’t ready to stop yet. So, I had about 10 minutes in the room talking to Charlotte before dinner. Dinner was a bit disappointed. I finally caved and had fries for the first time on the Zuiderdam because I’d had pizza with the teens earlier and the pasta sauce had been overcooked.

Most of the night session, we just played FIFA (soccer on xbox). The other teen showed up again (she’s been coming more today and yesterday) and we convinced her to at least try to play it with us. After FIFA and an ice cream break, we took out the Battle of the Sexes questions and amused ourselves with asking/answering those the rest of the night.

March 4, 2013: Panama Canal
All of the teens were going on excursions today, so Jacob asked if I would mind taking the afternoon shift in Club HAL, and just sleeping in in the morning. It wasn’t a bad afternoon, we just played on the wii and Xboxes. I got off the ship and did a little shopping on my own before getting back on the ship and attempting to upload pictures (Charlotte told me afterwards that she should’ve told me before that internet on Panama day is really really slow). The teens and I just talked and showed each other pictures the whole night, so it was a really easy day.

March 5, 2013: Costa Rica
There was a drill this morning, a fire drill and a raft drill for certain number rafts (not mine, Charlotte had to go though). I had a good breakfast then went to the front office for the fire drill. I met Charlotte in the room and we agreed to get off together after her drill. I got our shore passes (Costa Rica makes crew have to have shore passes-like a visa I guess) while she was at the drill then we went out wandering. Right off the ship is a market, so we wandered through there and each bought a few things. I now have a really cool blue bracelet with a butterfly carved into a diamond-shaped piece of coconut shell! It’s pretty cool!

We had lunch back on the ship after spending an hour or so looking around the market. The teen boy came and joined us when we were almost done eating, and I agreed to open the Loft for the afternoon. When I went back upstairs all three of them were there talking. We ended up staying there playing games all afternoon! Then, I opened early again after dinner. They’re a really great group, sometimes they tire me out, but I still enjoy hanging out with them.

March 6, 2013: Sea Day
It was pretty much movie day in the Loft. We watched a few of the movies I had in the Loft, then they went to the front office and got some more movies to watch! That’s all we did all day. I didn’t go to the room at all from when I left for breakfast at 9 until after midnight! It was a relaxing, but full day it seems. Nothing else really interesting happened.

March 7, 2013: Sea Day
What a day! I went up to Club HAL a bit early, which was lucky since Jacob had forgotten to ask me to come by so he could go to “Love in Any Language” (the “crew’s final farewell” show-type thing). Two of the teens showed up and everyone ended up just sitting and watching Despicable Me, which Jacob had started before he left. The little kids had fun kind of attacking the teen boy when he wouldn’t give them back the ball of model magic they’d thrown at him; watching and helping with that entertained those of us that weren’t completely focused on the movie. The teens and I left when Jacob came back and just hung out for the last hour until lunchtime. Then, they told me not to come back until 2 (odd since they’re usually ready for me to come back as soon as possible). At lunch they came by with a “present” for me - a glass of ice, they figured out that I don’t like ice so decided to give me some. After they gave me that, they not-so-discretely told Charlotte to not let me go back to the Loft until after 2. I was a little bit worried at that point at what they were planning. Though, I did end up helping Charlotte shelve all the books people had begun to turn in since it’s the last day of the cruise. One of the teens came by to tell me to meet them by the front office at 2:15.

Around 2, I went by Club HAL to see if Jacob needed anything. They were in the Loft doing something, which made me even more suspicious. I met the teens at the front office, and we went right back up to the Loft. They ran in and told me to walk really slowly up the stairs, so I did. Apparently too slow though, haha. I come in to find the lights off and ‘decorations’ all around the room, and all the Club HAL kids and teens jumped out and yelled “surprise.” I wasn’t really sure what to make of it. There was toilet paper strung across the room from the ceiling and all over the floor, and pieces of paper with words taped to the wall. The Club HAL kids left and the teens then told me what everything was about. There was random stuff that they’d written to do with me (random things: orange&blue, the word y’all, ice, etc) on the wall. We cleaned it all up and hung out for a while before starting a movie, which really kept us occupied until dinner.

Aruba and Curacao

February 28, 2013: Aruba
It was a long morning as we waited to get to Aruba. A lot of people were walking around crooked because the ship was rocking a bit, but I didn’t really notice it except in the Loft when the ball of Christmas-lights started swinging more. The boy was the only one to come up, we started playing another Halo game. I’m still pretty bad at it, but at least I’ve learned how to look and walk around at the same time in it.

After lunch, there was a lapse of time when crew couldn’t get off because of the general drill. Charlotte and I started laundry since we both really needed to do it and had time. After the drill (which surprisingly didn’t take that long!), we finished up laundry finally and went out to get ice cream and wifi. I really appreciate the invention of the internet, this kind of job would be so much harder for most crew members if we didn’t have it. We got back on not long before dinner so we changed and went up for our nightly pasta.

I met the 16-year-old tonight. She and her mom came up to find and check out the Loft so she can possibly come up later this week. I couldn’t really tell if she was that interested in coming up or not, but I’m glad they checked in. The boy and I played FIFA (soccer) on the xbox. I’m not too horrible at it; it’s easier than the other games, and now that I know what all the buttons make the players do, I’m in much better shape to play it! Plus, it’s actually fun! We ended up playing that the entire night session, with a short break to go to the pool party in the Lido and get some snacks.

March 1, 2013: Curacao
Curacao is an easy day for Club HAL, especially if no one signs up for port day! I got up late since I just wanted to sleep in, but I somehow got ready in time to make it up to breakfast. I ate with Charlotte who had just gotten off work, then I came down to the room to read until lunch (I didn’t want to get lunch off-ship, especially alone). After a quick lunch, I changed quickly and went to town for the afternoon.

Not far into town, I met up with some of the front office girls (one of whom had been on the Maasdam with me, Lianne). I walked around with them until they got to KFC where they were getting lunch and wifi. I didn’t need lunch since I’d already eaten, and didn’t really feel I needed to spend more time on wifi since I had a few hours yesterday, so I went off wandering around on my own. After walking around the shops and markets for a while, I met the doctor and his family. I actually spent the rest of the afternoon with them, wandering around town, showing each other things we’d discovered in and around town! It was pretty fun hanging out with them. We found a place where a bunch of crabs were scuttling around, stopped on a little bridge and watched little fish and big blue fish swimming around, and found some trees that had polished designs carved into them. I enjoy hanging out with that family; I’m sad they’re leaving at the end of this cruise, but hopefully I’ll see them again sometime. Funnily enough, they’re going to be on the Maasdam this fall for the Transatlantic trip!

Charlotte and I had our normal dinner, then back to the room to talk for a while until we each had to work. In the Loft, we played a few board games. Started Monopoly, then gave up; the boy tried to teach us Risk, but the girl and I didn’t have enough patience for it. We ended up getting out Battle of the Sexes and I read off questions for them to answer. It was actually really hilarious because of their reactions to some of the questions and answers and they just fed off each other. I laughed a WHOLE lot the rest of the night! After a quick trip to the OB, which was pretty much empty (probably due to the new rule just put into place), I came back to the room and talked to Charlotte as we both tried to fall asleep.