I’m 100% positive that I am the worst writer of a blog that any one has ever read. Well, thats actually saying a lot since there hasn’t been anything to read in 4 MONTHS! I apologize to all 5 of you. Some of you might actually be up to date with what has been going on, for for those who are not, I’m hoping that I will be able to make justice for 4 months of blood, sweat, and tears all in one blog. Bear with me...
So in my last update, the cast (or cats, as it was in my last update) hadn’t even arrived on board yet..... let me start somewhere close to there. We immediately started rehearsals for the Magic Show, ‘Destination Unknown’, as soon as the cast was on board. The cast had already been working on the shows for 3 months, so they more or less had the shows choreographed and rehearsed. All that is missing is the lights, sets, and sounds to make the thing a finished product. However, they had a guest choreographer come in for Destination, who has done some work for Carnival in the past so they knew her style of work but boy were we all in for a treat. We spent well over 2 weeks putting this one show together. She kept changing her mind and coming up with these “amazing ides” which hadn’t been discussed in the 10,000 pre production meetings that the staff had had prior to the cast even starting rehearsals. It seemed like the show would never come together, but alas it did and it was the only production show we had to offer the inaugural cruise since we were so far behind due to the ship being behind in the yard. (I’ll just note that we are actually going back in to rehearsals next cruise to change all sorts of things in the Magic show, so this will be round two of this torture.... luckily, SHE, is not coming back)
With Destination under our belts, we moved on to ‘Groove Line’, a Seventies review show, which came together in less than 4 days. Thats when I was really able to see just how this production team, who has put more than 30 shows on ships, worked like a well greased machine. This is when time started to fly and before you knew it we were 4 cruises deep and we had ‘WIN!’, the Game Show... show, open and all the office personnel were starting to leave. Four cruises might not seem like a long time, but when you are doing 9 and 12 day cruises, its an eternity. This is the point where we slowly began to regain our freedom. at this point, I don't think I had stepped off the ship for some 30 odd days. I was in dire of food that didn’t come from a food line and a few cold brews.
As for life on board up to this point, it has been pretty easy. Nine and Twelve day cruises give us plenty of time between shows and more than enough time off. However, the crew bar here sort of sucks so I haven’t been partaking in too many drinks down there. However, I have spent way too much time in our new Red Frog Pub. We are the first ship to have it, and it is actually something that Carnival did that is actually cool. Caroline did come and cruise for a 9 day, so that was wonderful getting to see her. Wish it was longer but she had to leave a few days later to sign on to the Victory out of San Juan.
The ports are amazing. I’ve seen all over Italy: Rome, Venice, Pisa, Livorno, Naples, Capri, Savona, and some others. I’ve also seen Monaco, Marseilles, Mallorca, Dubrovnik, and Barcelona. I’m sure I’m forgetting some others, but needless to say I never thought I would have seen this much of the world by my age. Something I have to sit back and not take for granted every once and awhile.
All in All, I’ve had an amazing time and I wish I could sit here and give you every detail of every day but frankly I’m tired and it’s almost 4:00am. The only thing I can say to sum it all up is I am very thankful to have had this opportunity and would in no way ever give back the chance to have done this.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Hard Hats and Plastic
Well I’ve been in Italy for over two weeks now, and I haven’t written anything about it. My apologies, but they do love to keep us working over here. Let’s start this off with a recap of my flights, I started in San Diego at 2:22pm on April 1st. I flew to Minneapolis, from there I flew to Amsterdam, from Amsterdam I flew to Rome, and from Rome to Trieste. I arrived in Trieste at 6:20pm on the 2nd. That was one heck of a journey. They gave me the option of going back to the Hotel or coming out to dinner, I chose dinner since I had only been eating airplane food for the past 24hours. We met everyone else at La Rocca, which was a tiny little italian restaurant in the heart of Monfalcone; my home for the rest of the month. The dinner and wine was amazing and after a bit more wine over at the wine bar I finally made it into bed for a well deserved sleep. (Mind you I have never been able to sleep on planes, so it’s been awhile) The next day I woke up bright and early, but i didn’t head into work, it was a sunday, so they had taken the day off and invited me to join along on their trip to Slovenia. It took us almost two hours to get there but it was a beautiful day so it was worth it. We made it to Bled, Slovenia and it was amazing. The town surrounded a huge lake which had a church built on an island out in the middle of it and it even had a castle on top of a cliff which overlooked everything. It was nice to have this relaxing day to let my body adjust to the 9 hour time difference I had just been through.
On Monday, we started work. The rigging was still being commissioned, so there wasn’t much for me to do automation wise. I helped out the lighting guys for a few days, until we finally got our hands on the control desk and could start moving stuff around. Scenery First showed up on Monday along with the first container of scenery and we started getting things put together and hung in the air. After the first day, I think we had about 10 drops in the air; almost half. Not too bad! We’ve had a few more containers since hen and have just been working away at getting everything ready. It’s a pretty cool process to see everything go from little pieces that can fit through all the doors into giant 16’ x 30’ drops. It’s like a really big lego set. We still have a few more containers of scenery and one that full of all the illusions for the Magic show, so there is still a lot more to do and time is counting down. Did I mention the cats get’s here in two days and we’re supposed to start rehearsals on the 20th?! Yikes. We moved onto the ship on the 8th, it was nice being in the hotel, i wish we could go back. The water has been out for two days, so I’ve been brushing my teeth with the bottled water they gave us. It sure is interesting. At least the Ar conditioning is working.
I finally got to see Caroline as well, she came to visit me last Thursday and stayed for a whole week. It did kind of suck that I had to be at work everyday at 8am and didn’t get back until 6ish, but we made it count. I had last sunday off as well so we took the train over to Venice and spent the day there. We had a great time seeing everything and ended the day with dinner along the Grande Canal as the sun went down. It was nice to spend my first time to Venice with her, as apposed to it being when we get there on the ship.
It’s a really neat process to see the ship come together like this. Most of the outside work has been completed but there are hundreds and hundreds of people working on all the interior things, from lighting and plumbing in the rooms, to the trim and carpeting. There are just so many people wandering around all with a specific task, it’s kind of incredible how things get done. Everyone is saying that we are pretty far behind schedule, that this will be a close call, but everyday it seems to be leaps and bounds better than the previous. I do have to say, I haven’t seen the full beauty yet, everything is still covered in plastic and such, but you can tell she is going to be an amazing ship.
On Monday, we started work. The rigging was still being commissioned, so there wasn’t much for me to do automation wise. I helped out the lighting guys for a few days, until we finally got our hands on the control desk and could start moving stuff around. Scenery First showed up on Monday along with the first container of scenery and we started getting things put together and hung in the air. After the first day, I think we had about 10 drops in the air; almost half. Not too bad! We’ve had a few more containers since hen and have just been working away at getting everything ready. It’s a pretty cool process to see everything go from little pieces that can fit through all the doors into giant 16’ x 30’ drops. It’s like a really big lego set. We still have a few more containers of scenery and one that full of all the illusions for the Magic show, so there is still a lot more to do and time is counting down. Did I mention the cats get’s here in two days and we’re supposed to start rehearsals on the 20th?! Yikes. We moved onto the ship on the 8th, it was nice being in the hotel, i wish we could go back. The water has been out for two days, so I’ve been brushing my teeth with the bottled water they gave us. It sure is interesting. At least the Ar conditioning is working.
I finally got to see Caroline as well, she came to visit me last Thursday and stayed for a whole week. It did kind of suck that I had to be at work everyday at 8am and didn’t get back until 6ish, but we made it count. I had last sunday off as well so we took the train over to Venice and spent the day there. We had a great time seeing everything and ended the day with dinner along the Grande Canal as the sun went down. It was nice to spend my first time to Venice with her, as apposed to it being when we get there on the ship.
It’s a really neat process to see the ship come together like this. Most of the outside work has been completed but there are hundreds and hundreds of people working on all the interior things, from lighting and plumbing in the rooms, to the trim and carpeting. There are just so many people wandering around all with a specific task, it’s kind of incredible how things get done. Everyone is saying that we are pretty far behind schedule, that this will be a close call, but everyday it seems to be leaps and bounds better than the previous. I do have to say, I haven’t seen the full beauty yet, everything is still covered in plastic and such, but you can tell she is going to be an amazing ship.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Going Down?!
Well, Looks like I’m going to be on the Spirit a bit longer now. The shipyard is a bit behind schedule, so the dates may be pushed back into April now. Not really much to complain about, just glad I’m not on vacation.
Times on the Spirit are so far so good. Good people here, plenty from other contracts, so good times are easy to come by. I’ve already gone out to the Disco one too many times, need to slow down a bit and start saving my money since word on the street is you save nothing in the Mediterranean.
Funny story! I got stuck in a lift… sorry, elevator last week. That’s was loads of fun, let me tell you! We were on our way back down to Deck A after a night at the Disco and grabbing some early morning pizza and we got stuck between decks 4 &5. I won’t lie to you… I might have had something to do with it. Something about my Job and buttons always makes me want to push them; the good news is we now know they work just fine. We were rescued by the engineer on duty and had to slide out onto deck 4 since the lift was stuck right in between the two and wouldn’t move. Good times.
Times on the Spirit are so far so good. Good people here, plenty from other contracts, so good times are easy to come by. I’ve already gone out to the Disco one too many times, need to slow down a bit and start saving my money since word on the street is you save nothing in the Mediterranean.
Funny story! I got stuck in a lift… sorry, elevator last week. That’s was loads of fun, let me tell you! We were on our way back down to Deck A after a night at the Disco and grabbing some early morning pizza and we got stuck between decks 4 &5. I won’t lie to you… I might have had something to do with it. Something about my Job and buttons always makes me want to push them; the good news is we now know they work just fine. We were rescued by the engineer on duty and had to slide out onto deck 4 since the lift was stuck right in between the two and wouldn’t move. Good times.
Monday, January 17, 2011
in the Spirit of things
Well Folks, here we go again! I just signed back on to the Carnival Spirit, out of San Diego, which is where I was about this time last year. Not much has changed around here: shows are the same, cruise director is the same, and my cabin is the same. Ports are different! Instead of doing the 8 day run down to Acapulco, Ixtapa, and Manzanillo; we are doing 9 and 5 day runs to Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, Ensenada, and Mazatlan. So far we have only made it to Puerto Vallarta, so I haven’t seen much. The other run was discontinued due to people being beheaded or something like that. Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t guests or crew, but apparently people don’t like to vacation where there is a lot of drugs and violence. Maybe that’s why Cube has such a low tourist count.
As most of you already know, I won’t be on the spirit for long though. I will be leaving here on March 11th and heading to Monfalcone, Italy to be a part of Carnival’s new Build, the Carnival Magic. Exciting, Right?! I’ve heard it’s going to be a lot of work, but I’m ready for it. It will be something new for me, which is always a good thing.
As most of you already know, I won’t be on the spirit for long though. I will be leaving here on March 11th and heading to Monfalcone, Italy to be a part of Carnival’s new Build, the Carnival Magic. Exciting, Right?! I’ve heard it’s going to be a lot of work, but I’m ready for it. It will be something new for me, which is always a good thing.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Bringing in The New Year, 2011
Well, yet again, I'm days away from signing on to a new ship. My vacation days have slipped away again, but I secretly look forward to signing on to the Spirit this Friday. Truth be told, I miss running shows and actually doing something with myself. What have I been doing over my vacation you ask?! Too much.
It all started off with a little trip through Oxford. I got to see my professors and a few good friends, always nice to get in touch with the people who actually made college worthwhile. I left Oxford on route to California and made the trip in only 2 ½ days, Yikes! (After that I could easily say I’m over driving back and forth across this country.) Once I got back to California, I didn’t stay long and started my preparations for the UK. I left on the 17th, the same day Caroline left the Triumph and met her in the airport in Birmingham, England for her brother’s wedding. What a fast forward weekend that was, having met almost her entire family and trying to take in my first trip ever to the UK. I survived, and turned the tables on her. We both flew back to the states on the 24th and drove down to Indio to spend Thanksgiving with my Dad’s side of the family. We returned to Glendora and I showed her around Hollywood and LA, we even made it to Universal Studios. On December 1st we hopped in my truck and drove up to Cambria to see the new coastal property my step father has thrown his entire life into. After a day out there we made it to Modesto where we spent a few days before heading into San Francisco the day before she had to leave. We spent the day doing all the touristy things and sopent the night at the Marine’s Memorial Hotel, Thanks to my Grandmother. We got up the next day to go Ice Skating in Union square and she got on a plane to fly home that afternoon. (Haven’t been able to see her since) When I got home that evening I learned my Mom was going to have to Sacramento the next week to see a specialist about her ankle. Long story short, it took only three weeks from her initial Doctors appointment to her ending up at home with a reconstructed ankle. The good part about it was Ally and Chris got a chance to come out for Christmas which was not previously planned on so we were able to spend Christmas together as a family, which hasn’t happened for a few years.
Ally and Chris returned home and I brought in the New Year babysitting my Mom and nursing her back to health. I cleaned out my room there at my Mom’s house and threw out and recycled a BUNCH of stuff. Not sure why I keep so much stuff, but I do, and just end up getting rid of it later. I left Modesto on the 1st and returned to Glendora that evening where we drove all the way down to Indio to have a late Christmas with the Grandparents. Now we’re back in Glendora and I’ve spent the past week going through all my stuff in storage and again getting rid of and recycling a bunch of CRAP. I even got a chance to go through the ole Pez collection to update myself on what I really had, since it’s been packed away for so long and I’ve been collecting on thoughts of what I have and didn’t have. I’ve also gotten a few chances to watch Lindsay play soccer this past week. I sure do miss playing but it’s fun to watch her, she sure has turned into a really good player after all these years.
However, the time has come and I have once again started to pack. I’ve got all the important stuff done (my tools) and I’m not really looking forward to packing up all my clothes again, but I guess I can’t really complain since I’m going on vacation for 8 months.
Happy 2011!
It all started off with a little trip through Oxford. I got to see my professors and a few good friends, always nice to get in touch with the people who actually made college worthwhile. I left Oxford on route to California and made the trip in only 2 ½ days, Yikes! (After that I could easily say I’m over driving back and forth across this country.) Once I got back to California, I didn’t stay long and started my preparations for the UK. I left on the 17th, the same day Caroline left the Triumph and met her in the airport in Birmingham, England for her brother’s wedding. What a fast forward weekend that was, having met almost her entire family and trying to take in my first trip ever to the UK. I survived, and turned the tables on her. We both flew back to the states on the 24th and drove down to Indio to spend Thanksgiving with my Dad’s side of the family. We returned to Glendora and I showed her around Hollywood and LA, we even made it to Universal Studios. On December 1st we hopped in my truck and drove up to Cambria to see the new coastal property my step father has thrown his entire life into. After a day out there we made it to Modesto where we spent a few days before heading into San Francisco the day before she had to leave. We spent the day doing all the touristy things and sopent the night at the Marine’s Memorial Hotel, Thanks to my Grandmother. We got up the next day to go Ice Skating in Union square and she got on a plane to fly home that afternoon. (Haven’t been able to see her since) When I got home that evening I learned my Mom was going to have to Sacramento the next week to see a specialist about her ankle. Long story short, it took only three weeks from her initial Doctors appointment to her ending up at home with a reconstructed ankle. The good part about it was Ally and Chris got a chance to come out for Christmas which was not previously planned on so we were able to spend Christmas together as a family, which hasn’t happened for a few years.
Ally and Chris returned home and I brought in the New Year babysitting my Mom and nursing her back to health. I cleaned out my room there at my Mom’s house and threw out and recycled a BUNCH of stuff. Not sure why I keep so much stuff, but I do, and just end up getting rid of it later. I left Modesto on the 1st and returned to Glendora that evening where we drove all the way down to Indio to have a late Christmas with the Grandparents. Now we’re back in Glendora and I’ve spent the past week going through all my stuff in storage and again getting rid of and recycling a bunch of CRAP. I even got a chance to go through the ole Pez collection to update myself on what I really had, since it’s been packed away for so long and I’ve been collecting on thoughts of what I have and didn’t have. I’ve also gotten a few chances to watch Lindsay play soccer this past week. I sure do miss playing but it’s fun to watch her, she sure has turned into a really good player after all these years.
However, the time has come and I have once again started to pack. I’ve got all the important stuff done (my tools) and I’m not really looking forward to packing up all my clothes again, but I guess I can’t really complain since I’m going on vacation for 8 months.
Happy 2011!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Bad Weather
Well well well, it’s about time that I catch up on this thing. My apologies for the looooong break between this and the last, but this ship has had more than a normal.
My new friends Paula and Richard have been keeping all of us here on the Triumph pretty busy. I can’t even remember the last time that we actually did the itinerary we were supposed to. It all started about a month ago, when we almost didn’t make it into Cozumel due to Engine problems, but I guess they got everything fixed and we made it in a little later than expected. Shortly after that incident we couldn’t make it into Cozumel on one of our 7 day runs through Belize. We ended up making Cozumel into an extra “Fun Day” at sea. As you can imagine, it’s not as “Fun” as it would seem, or at least not as “Fun” for those of us who spend every day at sea. Guests were a little upset, but most understood that it was their safety that we were looking after. That same week we got a new cruise director, as the other left for his vacation. The same week he took over, is the week we met Paula and boy was she a……. well yeah. We had to turn a 5 day cruise to Progresso and Cozumel into a 5 day cruise to Key West. This is where we finally met some angry guests. Apparently people get pretty mad when they take a cruise from the USA to the USA. As one lady put it, “I’ve got family in Florida, so if I wanted to go to Florida I could have just driven down to visit them”. Not much you can say to that, other than…. tough shit. The seven day following that, we lost our new cruise director to a family emergency back home, and our ACD took over for the rest of that cruise and the current 7 day that we are on right now, and what a cruise to take over on. This week we played tag with Richard. A small tropical depression that quickly grew into a hurricane that put a stop to most cruises going on in the gulf. After hearing that we might not make it to all our ports, we were told that we were also running out of water. Joy! The only place we could fill up on water was in Cozumel; which was at that point, 4 days away. A glimmer of hope came when on our first sea day of this cruise, they told us we would be switching up our ports putting Cozumel first and ending with Belize, hoping that we could outrun Richard as he tormented the gulf. As you probably figured, that didn’t happen. We made it to Cozumel and Roatan, but on our way out of Roatan the Captain came over the PA to tell everyone that we would not be able to make it to Belize. Due to the weather, and the fact that it’s a tendering port, would have just made it miserable. Instead, he said we were heading to Costa Maya. Seemed pretty exciting to most of us because no one had really been there before and it wasn’t a tendering port, so the trade seemed alright. We woke up that morning, to the rumble of the thrusters (which to those of you that don’t know, those are the side propulsion motors which help us dock in ports) and the sound of mooring lines being cast overboard, right behind our headboards. Now, if you’ve caught on to our trials and tribulations up to this point, you are probably thinking that we didn’t stay, and I’m glad to say to those of you who caught on… You’re right!! About 20 minutes after casting the mooring lines, the captain came over the PA…. again… and to the moans of awakened guests and crew, informed us that we are going to have to call Costa Maya off and return to yet another “Fun Day” at sea due to the bad weather making safe docking measures clearly impossible. At this point in the cruise, we are looking to finish a seven day cruise with two ports of call and 5 days at sea. Yikes!! Don’t worry though, the faithful Captain Los came over with one of his now famous PA announcements to let us know that we will be heading back to Cozumel for our last port of call. Baha, repeat port, that a first. So here we are, in Cozumel just a few days after already being here on this cruise. “Fun Fun”. All and All, this contract has adopted the title of “Bad Weather”.
Work wise, things are pretty well the same. I must say, the Triumph has thrown every problem that it could possible muster, turning me a bit sour a times, but in the end I have overcome most problems I’ve faced. My replacement showed up last week. Our handover has begun, and up to this point he has taken over 2 out of the 3 shows. He has already run Wonderful World, so that was a easy handover but he only had two cruises to learn Magic because we aren’t doing it on our next 5 day and I leave after the 4 day. All that’s left is Big Easy, and I’m pretty sure he will have that down after tomorrow night. That leaves me with two cruises without having to run any shows, what a deal!! We also started the Cast change this cruise. Only three dancers from the last cast are resigning, so we got a whole new cast last New Orleans. Our singers and supervisors should be signing on this week, so next cruise the cast change will be in full swing.
As for my vacation, I’m really stoked. I’ll be off the Triumph on the 8th and heading up to oxford that night. I’ll start my drive cross country either late on the 9th or early on the 10th and make it home as fast as I can. On the 17th, I head to Nottingham, England to go to Caroline’s brother’s wedding. We’ll be there until the 23rd and head to the states together for thanksgiving. We’ll be down in LA and then heading up to Modesto until the 7th when she heads home. I can’t wait to meet the new puppy back at my mom’s house. Maggie is her name, and she is a beautiful golden retriever! On the 15th, I’ll head to Kentucky to take a flying workshop from ZFX. The good news is, I’ll be home for both thanksgiving and Christmas. Maybe even New Years.
My new friends Paula and Richard have been keeping all of us here on the Triumph pretty busy. I can’t even remember the last time that we actually did the itinerary we were supposed to. It all started about a month ago, when we almost didn’t make it into Cozumel due to Engine problems, but I guess they got everything fixed and we made it in a little later than expected. Shortly after that incident we couldn’t make it into Cozumel on one of our 7 day runs through Belize. We ended up making Cozumel into an extra “Fun Day” at sea. As you can imagine, it’s not as “Fun” as it would seem, or at least not as “Fun” for those of us who spend every day at sea. Guests were a little upset, but most understood that it was their safety that we were looking after. That same week we got a new cruise director, as the other left for his vacation. The same week he took over, is the week we met Paula and boy was she a……. well yeah. We had to turn a 5 day cruise to Progresso and Cozumel into a 5 day cruise to Key West. This is where we finally met some angry guests. Apparently people get pretty mad when they take a cruise from the USA to the USA. As one lady put it, “I’ve got family in Florida, so if I wanted to go to Florida I could have just driven down to visit them”. Not much you can say to that, other than…. tough shit. The seven day following that, we lost our new cruise director to a family emergency back home, and our ACD took over for the rest of that cruise and the current 7 day that we are on right now, and what a cruise to take over on. This week we played tag with Richard. A small tropical depression that quickly grew into a hurricane that put a stop to most cruises going on in the gulf. After hearing that we might not make it to all our ports, we were told that we were also running out of water. Joy! The only place we could fill up on water was in Cozumel; which was at that point, 4 days away. A glimmer of hope came when on our first sea day of this cruise, they told us we would be switching up our ports putting Cozumel first and ending with Belize, hoping that we could outrun Richard as he tormented the gulf. As you probably figured, that didn’t happen. We made it to Cozumel and Roatan, but on our way out of Roatan the Captain came over the PA to tell everyone that we would not be able to make it to Belize. Due to the weather, and the fact that it’s a tendering port, would have just made it miserable. Instead, he said we were heading to Costa Maya. Seemed pretty exciting to most of us because no one had really been there before and it wasn’t a tendering port, so the trade seemed alright. We woke up that morning, to the rumble of the thrusters (which to those of you that don’t know, those are the side propulsion motors which help us dock in ports) and the sound of mooring lines being cast overboard, right behind our headboards. Now, if you’ve caught on to our trials and tribulations up to this point, you are probably thinking that we didn’t stay, and I’m glad to say to those of you who caught on… You’re right!! About 20 minutes after casting the mooring lines, the captain came over the PA…. again… and to the moans of awakened guests and crew, informed us that we are going to have to call Costa Maya off and return to yet another “Fun Day” at sea due to the bad weather making safe docking measures clearly impossible. At this point in the cruise, we are looking to finish a seven day cruise with two ports of call and 5 days at sea. Yikes!! Don’t worry though, the faithful Captain Los came over with one of his now famous PA announcements to let us know that we will be heading back to Cozumel for our last port of call. Baha, repeat port, that a first. So here we are, in Cozumel just a few days after already being here on this cruise. “Fun Fun”. All and All, this contract has adopted the title of “Bad Weather”.
Work wise, things are pretty well the same. I must say, the Triumph has thrown every problem that it could possible muster, turning me a bit sour a times, but in the end I have overcome most problems I’ve faced. My replacement showed up last week. Our handover has begun, and up to this point he has taken over 2 out of the 3 shows. He has already run Wonderful World, so that was a easy handover but he only had two cruises to learn Magic because we aren’t doing it on our next 5 day and I leave after the 4 day. All that’s left is Big Easy, and I’m pretty sure he will have that down after tomorrow night. That leaves me with two cruises without having to run any shows, what a deal!! We also started the Cast change this cruise. Only three dancers from the last cast are resigning, so we got a whole new cast last New Orleans. Our singers and supervisors should be signing on this week, so next cruise the cast change will be in full swing.
As for my vacation, I’m really stoked. I’ll be off the Triumph on the 8th and heading up to oxford that night. I’ll start my drive cross country either late on the 9th or early on the 10th and make it home as fast as I can. On the 17th, I head to Nottingham, England to go to Caroline’s brother’s wedding. We’ll be there until the 23rd and head to the states together for thanksgiving. We’ll be down in LA and then heading up to Modesto until the 7th when she heads home. I can’t wait to meet the new puppy back at my mom’s house. Maggie is her name, and she is a beautiful golden retriever! On the 15th, I’ll head to Kentucky to take a flying workshop from ZFX. The good news is, I’ll be home for both thanksgiving and Christmas. Maybe even New Years.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
SCC
Once again, a month has gone by and I haven’t updated this thing. I mean, I think of updating it all the time. That just never happens. As of right now, I only have a little over 2 months left. Crazy how fast this all goes by. Caroline is on her vacation and is back at home with her family. I must admit, going from seeing her everyday to not seeing her at all really stinks. I miss that girl, a lot. Everything else is pretty much the same. We are back on our 7,7,4,5,4 cruise rotation. So our schedule has reached a somewhat steady routine. They have brought laser tag back to our ship, which sucks. It’s like a giant inflatiable labyrinth. Sort of like they jump houses people rent for their kids birthdays, so now we have to set that up and take it down on top of trying to fit it on top of the rest of our schedule.
Since Caroline is gone, I decided to take on some extra training as well. They offer what they call Survival Craftsman Course, which is basically a class that teaches you everything you need to know to survive in a life raft or lifeboat. So far we’ve done a lot of awesome stuff. We’ve learned how to drop a life raft off the ship using the crane, learned how to lower the life boats to the water, and today we even got in the pool and inflated a life raft to learn how to flip it if it capsizes. It’s a three week course, and we have just over a week left in it. We’re also supposed to be driving a life boat at some point as well. In the end we will get a certificate that is good for 5 years, so just another random set of knowledge that I have acquired. The only downfall to this class, is that it is at 9am every day. This is the earliest I have been up for this many consecutive days ever on a ship.
Mom and Grandma came cruising last week. They stopped on their way back to California on their month long road trip. They were only here for a 4 day cruise, but I’m pretty sure I showed them the best time I could. We went on one of those glass bottom boats, or semi submersion sub; whichever you prefer to call it. That was a pretty unique way to see the reef that Cozumel is so famous for.
Since Caroline is gone, I decided to take on some extra training as well. They offer what they call Survival Craftsman Course, which is basically a class that teaches you everything you need to know to survive in a life raft or lifeboat. So far we’ve done a lot of awesome stuff. We’ve learned how to drop a life raft off the ship using the crane, learned how to lower the life boats to the water, and today we even got in the pool and inflated a life raft to learn how to flip it if it capsizes. It’s a three week course, and we have just over a week left in it. We’re also supposed to be driving a life boat at some point as well. In the end we will get a certificate that is good for 5 years, so just another random set of knowledge that I have acquired. The only downfall to this class, is that it is at 9am every day. This is the earliest I have been up for this many consecutive days ever on a ship.
Mom and Grandma came cruising last week. They stopped on their way back to California on their month long road trip. They were only here for a 4 day cruise, but I’m pretty sure I showed them the best time I could. We went on one of those glass bottom boats, or semi submersion sub; whichever you prefer to call it. That was a pretty unique way to see the reef that Cozumel is so famous for.
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