So, here’s what’s happened since last update + where we’re headed from here. (this was written on Friday just before 6pm PST)
Our last day in Glacier Bay was a bit of a bust. It was really rainy and didn’t clear up that much even around the glaciers. We couldn’t get very far into the John Hopkins glacier either due to ice, unlike the previous two weeks when we got within a mile. Gabriella does have some good pictures of the John Hopkins, though, which I will get from her at some point to post or at least have. Then, on our way out, the wind came up really strongly so we couldn’t drop the rangers back off at their boat so they got to spend the night with us and we dropped them off in Ketchikan. We also came back via the Inner Passage instead of risking the outside waters until late. It was apparently really rocky but I slept through it without issue.
Thursday, I spent 5 hours off the ship in Ketchikan. I did a bunch of last minute Alaska shopping and picked up a bunch of gifts for people and then went to the Lumberjack show – as shown in yesterday’s pictures. It was a ball! Two of the musicians on board, one of whom is in the HALcats so I kinda know him, showed up too and sat with me. We got to root on the Canadian Team – Dawson Creek Camp – which are the guys in the red plaid. It was so fun! It was about an hour long and the guys cracked me up. Our team ended up losing but actually won more events. They just lost the ultimate event which was worth 3 points. The only picture of me in Alaska is the one I posted yesterday with them, but that makes sense since I did almost everything on my own. Ah well. Also, check out the boots they’re wearing – those are the ExtraTufs like I wore on my hike the week before. It was again rocky just about bedtime but I slept soundly anyway!
In related news, I have my flights for Atlanta so it’s for certain 100%! Already booked and I’m super excited! This is related because I was going to call Christy, my cousin, to confirm flights this day anyway and realized when I checked the date it was actually her oldest’s twelfth birthday! So when I called, I actually got Max, the new 12-year-old, and we had an awesome chat for 45 minutes. I’ve missed their family so much! This is the longest I’ve gone without seeing them since Beau, who is now 8, was 8 months old. There’s a bit of a cost but it’s worth it and it comes straight out of my pay so I can’t complain too much.
Friday got pretty rocky again around 9am, but I was smart this time. As soon as it started to rock, I ran back to my room and took a Dramamine and then I stopped doing anything that involved reading. Within an hour, I was perfectly fine. Poor Gabriella kept reading and writing e-mails and got really sick. I felt bad for her. At 10:30 every last cruise day, we have a giant Crew Farewell where most of the crew gets up on stage and we have to sing this really silly song for all the passengers. I actually kinda enjoy it. It makes me giggle and it’s nice to chat with everyone in the Entertainment department I don’t usually see beforehand. Most of the musicians dread it. My opinion is I have a lot duller jobs on a daily basis and that’s a nice change. By the time that was over, I was able to be productive again and I organized the last two sections of the library and did some shelving and such.
The last few weeks, by 5pm on Friday, I’ve been done with work, but this week was a little different. Officially the library closes at 4pm even though I’m there until 5 so, since I have to do a bunch of set-up for the Trans-canal tonight, I left about 4:15pm and will go back up around 7pm to spend 45 minutes switching the Alaska books for the Caribbean and changing my desk hours sign as well as checking in the books that have come in since 4:15. I will probably also sneak in some work on the 4000 piece puzzle ;)
I have been out for at least a bit each of the last 3 nights as well – Tuesday, Gabriella and Ijust went to the PO (one of the two ‘officers’ bars on the ship – PO stands for Petty Officer). Wednesday we went and saw James Cielan, the onboard magician, who is AMAZING. There were a lot of repeats from the previous week when I went but I was still awed. He’s won all sorts of international magic awards. Thursday night, I went to the PO for about 45 minutes but since it was hour forward, I then came back to the room and crashed.
So! Where do we go from here, you ask? Saturday we’re in Vancouver one last time, where we pick about just over 1000 passengers, including my mom’s friend Charla and her boyfriend, David (ee, I’m gonna know people!). Sunday, we’ll be in Astoria (which is today), Oregon for the day. Wednesday, San Diego, where it has been confirmed that Jenny and Marina can come visit me on board! They’re allowed to board about 10am and I have to work at 1pm so we get about 3 hours. I just need to arrange lunch sometime between now and then for them. Here, we will also lose about 700 passengers and pick up another 600 or so. NOTE: We did not stop in Astoria due to weather. San Diego, here we come! Also, what's this about a hurricane in our path?!
After San Diego, we head down to Mexico, where we make 4, I believe, stops down the coast. Then we make one more stop in Guatemala and one in Costa Rica, I believe, before cruising the Panama Canal for a full day. Then we make a day stop in Cartagena, Columbia before making our way to HAL’s private island in the Bahamas and then Fort Lauderdale on October 14th.
After that, we’ll be doing 10 and 11 day cruises around the Caribbean stopping in: Aruba, Costa Rica, Panama (the large lake in the middle of the canal – we anchor for a day and you can ‘tender’ to shore (aka use the lifeboats as dinghies)), Curacao, Bahamas & Bonaire (Antilles). Some of these places we go every and some every other.
I get off on December 5th, fly to Atlanta that evening, stay until the 9th when I fly home! At this point, I still don’t have a second contract so that info will come as soon as I know something.
Next post will be a typical (and sometimes not so typical day) in the library! Also, let me know here, LJ or Facebook if you want to hear about something specific from me! I will try and include more library related stuff in the future, however, a lot of it is the same day after day.
No comments:
Post a Comment