Five-Week Plan: Update

So I had big plans to post on each port and really go into detail about the Europe cruise, but it's not going to happen. Instead, I am going to be lame and write about the cruise but commenting on my Five-Week Plan.

-Eat as much paella as my stomach can hold (I’ve done it before – I was uncomfortably full – and I’ll do again)

 I had paella in both Barcelona and Cadiz. I was never uncomfortably full, but I was definitely happily full

I waited too long to take a picture...

-Taste Wrinkly Potatoes (a specialty of the Canary Islands)

In theory, Wrinkly Potatoes are simply boiled baby potatoes rubbed with salt, but they are so much better than that. Jo and I searched several cafes in Grand Canary before we found a place that served them, but it was well worth the search in the pouring rain.

-Take a picture of Rick’s Café

Nothing screams "TOURISTS" like people posing in front of a landmark. We were not, however, the only people taking pictures at Rick's Café so I felt less like a dork.

-Buy myself a parasol in Cadiz, Spain (by the time I decided I wanted one last time the shop was closed for siesta)

This is one of the few things I did not accomplish. I knew the shop where my friend Jake had purchased a beautiful parasol for his girlfriend, so I naturally went there. The people in the shop had no idea what I was talking about and said they had never carried such a product. I'm not crazy, Jake did actually purchase an parasol. Perhaps the shop changed hands in the six-month interim between my visits.

-Acquire a healthy “glow” (My dermatologist would kill me if she found out I was tanning and I usually go straight to red, but it would be nice to go back home a shade or two darker than pasty white)

I spent a lot of time outside, but we did not have many sunny days. I don't know if I had a "glow," but at least I didn't come home pasty white.

-Quote Casablanca as many times as humanly possible while in the city of Casablanca
 I was pretty proud of my repertoire of quotes!

-Find really unique Christmas presents
I don't buy "souvenirs." I will buy mementos - unique trinkets that remind one of the place they were purchased - but souvenirs - like tacky plastic things that just say the name of the place  - quickly become junk. I found nieces and nephews gifts personalized paintings of their names and I found necklaces for my mom and sister, but I could not find anything for my dad or brother. The only things I could find for them were souvenirs, so I decided to get them things they would actually use when I returned home.

-Find a monkey charm in Gibraltar
I was unable to go ashore in Gibraltar, which I was actually okay with because I had been there so I was willing to let others go ashore and see the monkeys. I did get my charm, though. My friend Trevor made it his mission to find one for me and I love the one he found.

-Find something to be in awe of each day
It's easy to be in awe with views like these!

Palma de Mallorca

Sagrada Familia

Haasan II Mosque

 

-Eat pizza in Italy
 I excelled in this area.

-Try to use the language of the country as much as possible, even if it's as simple as saying “gracias” instead of “thank you;” I'm in their country
I wasn't perfect on this one, but I did try. My Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese language skills are very limited, but I can at least say "please" and "thank you."

-Buy Italian yarn
Jo found beautiful yarn in Cagliari, Sardinia. Before I left the ship I made a blue and purple hat out of two of the skeins, I and still trying to figure out what to do with the third which is glittery orange.

-Take time, when visiting churches, to step out of tourist-mode for a moment and spend a moment reflecting or being reverent

This is an area that can always be improved upon, but I think I did well.

-Eat a lot of pastries
Like the pizza goal, I over-achieved this one!

-Take time to notice the people and the character of the city instead of focusing solely on the major landmarks

Because I had already visited many of these ports and seen many of the major landmarks I enjoyed wandering off the beaten path a bit. In my opinion, one of the best places to see the true character of a place is to visit a local market. I love visiting markets; I love the colors of the fruits and vegetables, the scents, and the sounds of people bartering over their products (even if I don't understand the language). I visited at least four or five markets and I truly feel that they helped me see the character of the city.

-Enjoy myself
Again, I over-achieved. I loved this cruise!

Ship Shenanigans

Okay, so this post may be a little late, but my last cruise on the Maasdam was probably my favorite I've worked. I'm not exactly sure what made the cruise so fantastic, but I think it just worked out to be a perfect combination of great ports, a terrific crew, fun guests, and that little bit of insanity that comes with seven-day-stretches.


My birthday was two days before the cruise started but mine was not the only birthday in the department. The Entertainment Department had eight birthdays in the month of October so we decided to really celebrate and hold a massive birthday party for the eight of us. We  are the entertainment department, so we know how to have a good time.  Jo got snacks, balloons, and streamers and the youth staff had the kids (all three of them) make a sign. I did not get a full shot of the sign, but each letter was decorated with a different pattern and and there were cakes with two or three candles.

All the birthday celebrants (the ninth is Iulian, one of the engineers who also had an October birthday)

 The sign was appropriate as the balloons and streamers caused us all to act like we were five.It's possible that we kicked and tossed the balloons around and had a little too much fun with the streamers.

The string quartet really enjoyed the streamers.

A few weeks later, after a lot of sea days, we celebrated Halloween. I was impressed with our guests, several of them went all out and had a lot of fun with their costumes. As crew, we also had a lot of fun. Jo and I went as punk rockers, we had Luna Lovegood, Superman, and a gladiator.  Our DJ,Brett, and Party Planner, Laurie, after failing to find costumes the liked, decided to go as each other. Brett shaved his legs, Laurie painted on a beard, and they wore each others clothes. It was the most brilliant costume idea I have seen in years. The party was supposed to last from until 11:00pm, but when I left at 12:00am the party was still going strong. Like I said, it was a great group of guests and that made the cruise so much fun.

Me, Brett, Laurie, and Jo

 Like I said, this was my best cruise yet, in all aspects. So much fun!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so many things to be grateful for this year. I have a wonderful, supportive family; a job I love; amazing, fun friends both on land and at see; and, most importantly, a knowledge of the Savior and his gospel. Although today was far from a traditional Thanksgiving holiday (we are at sea so I worked a full day and had dinner in the Lido as usual), I was glad to have to opportunity to reflect in the many blessing I have.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Congratulations, Stevie!

This post is several weeks overdue, but my little brother, Stevie, recently learned that he gets to live his dream of becoming a naval aviator.

Stevie has talked about joining the military since he was three years old (we split the blame pretty equally between my grandpa who was a colonel in the army and Top Gun) and for most of that time he has talked about being a pilot (we blame that entirely on Top Gun). There were times that he talked about being a coach or an architect (and at one point an astronaut but a large number of astronauts were originally Navy pilots), but those ideas never lasted long; he always went back to his original plan. When he started university at South Carolina’s Citadel (the Confederacy’s answer to West Point and now a state-run school that functions just like the federal academies except for the fact that it feeds to all four military branches) he had one goal in mind: earn a pilot slot after graduation. He has work hard on both Navy assignments and academics assignments and even passed up an opportunity to walk on to the wrestling team so he could focus on his grades (as a state-ranked wrestler all through high school that was a huge sacrifice). I was extremely anxious for him the week assignments were due to come out, but I knew he had done everything he could and that if he was assigned elsewhere it just wasn’t meant to be. I was thrilled when I called my parents one night and my mom told me that assignments had come out and I needed to give him a call. She wouldn’t tell me what he got, but she did tell me he was in his barracks watching Top Gun and I knew he wouldn’t torture himself like that if he had been assigned elsewhere.

Congratulations, Stevie! You deserve it and I have never been more proud of you. Just remember: Your ship may be able to beat up my ship, but my ship is still more fun.

My Five Week Plan

I like to know exactly where my life is going and I am a bit of a control freak, and for those reasons “ten-year-plans” don’t work for me. The concept is good, but ten years is a long and a lot of things can change, and when that happens I feel lost because my life isn’t where I planned it to be ten-years before (silly, I know). For example, when I was fifteen I wrote out a ten-year plan that included a husband, a house, at least one kid, and a job as a teacher. When I was about twenty-three I revised the plan to include law school within five years. Twenty-five was a really hard birthday for me because I had none of the things I had planned and my job at a law firm had cured my desire for law school; I felt like I had failed and I wasn’t sure where to go next (learning to go with the flow is an on-going process for me). In retrospect, I am glad my plans did not pan out because at fifteen I had no clue of the amazing things the Lord had in store for me. While I would love to be a wife and a mother, that opportunity has not yet come along yet and I still have time. I have had so many enriching and fulfilling experiences over the past decade that I wouldn’t have been able to if I were married but will make me a better wife and mother (my mission for the LDS church and traveling the world with my job are among the most significant). As for law school, I would be miserable if I had followed that plan; a career in law is definitely not for me. Instead of writing out ten year plans I find it’s much better for me to have long-term goals. Goals are much more flexible than trying to determine exactly where my life will be.

All that having been said, I have decided that short-term plans, those within the foreseeable future, are perfectly okay. So, I decided to write out a five-week plan of all the things I hope to accomplish by the end of my contract.

My Five-Week Plan (a lot of it is food based, don’t judge):

-Eat as much paella as my stomach can hold (I’ve done it before – I was uncomfortably full – and I’ll do again)

-Taste wrinkly potatoes (a specialty of the Canary Islands)

-Take a picture of Rick’s Café

-Buy myself a parasol in Cadiz, Spain (by the time I decided I wanted one last time the shop was closed for siesta)

-Acquire a healthy “glow” (My dermatologist would kill me if she found out I was tanning and I usually go straight to red, but it would be nice to go back home a shade or two darker than pasty white)

-Quote Casablanca as many times as humanly possible while in the city of Casablanca

-Find really unique Christmas presents

-Find a monkey charm in Gibraltar

-Find something to be in awe of each day

-Eat pizza in Italy

-Try to use the language of the country as much as possible, even if it's as simple as saying “gracias” instead of “thank you;” I'm in their country

-Buy Italian yarn

-Take time, when visiting churches, to step out of tourist-mode for a moment and spend a moment reflecting or being reverent

-Eat a lot of pastries

-Take time to notice the people and the character of the city instead of focusing solely on the major landmarks

-Enjoy myself

I'll try to keep you updated on whether or not I stick to the plan. These next five weeks will be a great way to end the contract.

A Perfect (but rainy) Montreal Morning

My job has given me friends scattered across every inhabited continent and many countries. I love the fact that I can go so many places and know someone. I also love the fact that my job often takes me to my friends’ home town. Unfortunately, because my friends also work on ships it is a rare that I actually get to see someone (Remember England? I had three friends I planned to see and all three of them ended up being gone). That’s why it was such a treat to have breakfast with my friend Jen and her husband Chris in Montreal.

Last summer, Jen and I were roommates for two weeks on the Volendam. We hit it off and became good friends, but she only did that one contract. When I posted on Facebook that the Maasdam would be out of Montreal, Jen wrote and said that she would love to meet up sometime. The first day of a cruise is always crazy busy and I don’t have any time off after 11:00am so we could just never make it work. Yesterday, however, was our last Montreal call of the season, so I knew that we had to make it work because I really wanted to see her.

Jen and Chris picked me up and we headed into the Old Port for breakfast. It can often be awkward to go out with a friend and their significant other because someone ends up being the third wheel (be it the significant other or the single friend), but it was not like that at all. We all enjoyed each others’ company and enjoyed laughing at the cheesy French Café music in the restaurant. The rain cleared up while we were eating, so we were able to walk around a bit and enjoy the beautiful fall colors before I had to get back to the ship. I wish I had had more time to explore the city; I will have to take Jen and Chris up on their offer to visit them again.

Beautiful city, good food, and great company: A formula for a perfect morning!

Huh?

Before I even donned my first orange polo on the Volendam, a fellow crew member issued this warning: “The most common thing people forget to pack is their brain.” It’s true. For the most part, people just don’t think their questions through before they ask, but sometimes the questions are just flat out dumb.  Anyone who knows me well knows I usually have a smart-mouthed response to almost anything (probably not my best attribute), but I usually bite my tongue at work (the only exceptions are when I have a relationship with the guests and I know they appreciate a little sarcasm). Keeping my comments to myself at work does not mean I have to keep them to myself on the blog.

Guest: Can you tell me where One-oh-nine, deck eight is?

Me (with confusion): Where?

Guest: That’s what the program says: Some Roman numerals, then deck eight.

Me (looking at a copy of the daily program): Let me see... Ma’am, that says ‘mix.’

First, it would have been 1009. Second, I might understand if it had been the first day, but this was day six and MIX lounge is always heavily advertised.

American Guest to my friend Simone

Guest (hearing her accent): Where are you from?

Simone: From London.

Guest: Where?

Simone: London, in the UK.

Guest (after thinking for a moment): Oh, well you’re English is very good my dear.

There is a reason for that. Obviously geography was never his best subject.

Crazy Lady: Do you have any say on where the library is located?

Me: What do you mean?

Crazy Lady: Well, when you come on the ship do you get to say where you want the library, or is it usually already set up?

Me: No, the rooms on the ship are pretty much set.

Crazy Lady: Well, can you recommend moving the casino? I know you can’t move it now, because if you move it mid-cruise people will get confused and upset, but maybe before the start of next cruise you can move it to a more out-of the location, maybe somewhere in the back of the ship.

Me (not knowing how to respond, but not wanting to upset the crazy woman): You can always make suggestions by turning in a comment card to guest relations.

Guest: I already did. They were dumb and confused and said it couldn’t be done.

It can’t be done. Perhaps you are the one who is dumb and confused.

Guest: I am returning this travel book.

Me: Thank you, sir. Just so you know for the remainder of the cruise, travel books are reference materials and cannot be checked out.

Guest: I Know. That’s why I didn’t check it out; I just took it to my room to read.

You’re right, you didn’t check it out; you stole it. Maybe that “Please Do Not Remove From the Exploration’s Cafe” sticker needs to be clearer.

Written Comment Card

Guest: Please get rid of Fox news. It is only for the uninteligint.

The following comment may come across as a joke but I can assure you it was not. The guest was clearly upset.

Guest: You shouldn’t have books that will take longer than a week to read. It’s not fair. If we can’t read it in a week don’t tease us with it!

Some people read fast; some guests stay on for two weeks at a time; we have one cruise that lasts six weeks. If you don’t want to read it, don’t read it! It’s that simple.

*That same cruise I had another guest read the controversial book in two days.

A Monday Morning Conversation

Guest: I need to know who won the football game.

Me: It should be on the back page of the NYTimes Digest, right there ma’am.

Guest: The game isn’t until tonight, but I need to know who won!

Well, my crystal ball is broken so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow.