San Blas Islands, Panama

So, I didn't exactly set foot on the San Blas Islands, but I did take pictures from afar.

I wanted to go ashore, but it was a tender port and they didn't open tenders to crew until 1:45. It was a 20 minute tender ride and I had to be to work at 3:00 so I figured by the time I changed and took the tender in I would have maybe fifteen minutes before I had to come back and get back into uniform. On top of that, I hadn't had lunch (I had to hand out tender tickets) so I decided to just go get some lunch and then go up to the sports deck to take pictures. I hear I didn't miss a whole lot – no restaurants, no shops, no tours.

The view from the ship was incredible, but the most interesting thing were the canoes that sailed out to the ship (we were quite a ways out) and sat on the side of the ship begging for money.

There were probably a dozen canoes with four to six people in each screaming, “Money, money, money!” People were standing on the lower levels throwing coins into the water and the kids were diving in and fighting over them. I think one of the cadets put it best , “I feel like a complete [insert your favorite British profanity] letting them fight over a nickel.” I guess standing on the sport's deck watching them wasn't much better, but I found it somewhat fascinating. I mean, San Blas is a small community without a lot of modern infrastructure, it is not considered to be poverty stricken. I was told by those who went ashore that every hut has a satellite dish on top. The other thing I noticed was that there were no adults in the canoes, all the people were boys between the ages of about ten and fourteen. I don't know if they were working for someone, or they were trying to earn money for themselves, or if they were truly begging for their families (based on the evidence, I don't think it was a latter but I could be wrong). Whatever the case, I did feel bad for them but I don't think that throwing a nickel or two for several dozen kids to fight over is going to help anyone.

Fog and Sunshine

There are some things that just can't be captured on camera, which is too bad because often those are the things you want to share. Our Lido Pool area has floor to ceiling windows on two sides a sliding glass dome roof. Yesterday morning, in Trujillo, Peru, I walked out into the pool area on my way to breakfast and before looking out the windows I noticed it was quite sunny. When I looked out the windows, however, I noticed that we were surrounded by a thick fog and I couldn't see anything! It was strangest thing, but the top of the ship must have been just level with the fog. Like I said, I wish I could have captured it on film so I could better explain it. I have never experienced anything like it. I guess it was one of the many once-in-a-lifetime-experiences I am so blessed to have with this job!

Santa Marta, Columbia

Today we were docked in Santa Marta, Columbia! I only have one picture, which I will upload sometime when I am ashore and have better internet, but if I wait to write about day it will never get done.

The view in Santa Marta was unbelievable. From the ship I could see mountains on one side and the city skyline on the other. I went into town with my friends Claire and Jonathon. The town itself was a bit dirty and, like most ports, vendors lined the streets with “souvenirs.” Once we got a few streets in it was better. We walked by a nice park and a beautiful old Catholic church which I wanted to investigate but we passed it with the intention of returning and could never find it again. We ended up at a coffee shop call Juan Valdez Cafe. Cliché, I know, but Claire said it was really good. The others got coffee, then we just hung out for a while and eventually a ton of other crew members showed up.

Okay, so it wasn't the most exciting day in Columbia, but it was enjoyable just to explore. If I ever come back to Santa Marta I will take an excursion so I can see more of the area.

Dutch

I have decided that I am going to learn to speak Dutch. Why, you may ask? Well, I don't really have a good reason except I want to learn a foreign language and last night I was surrounded by five native Dutch speakers and the idea just occurred to me and it seemed like a good idea. I mean, it's not as useful in the US as Spanish, but it might be just unique enough to set me apart.

I need to figure out how I am actually going to learn. My friend Mac (who is American and does not speak Dutch) suggested I just “hock up a cat.” My friend Claire has now taken to randomly switching to Dutch while speaking to me and has told several others to do the same. Claire and I were walking back to the ship today when we ran into a couple of others and they only spoke Dutch the rest of the way back because they found it amusing. I actually followed a little bit. I mean, I certainly did not know a lot, but I think they were talking about popcorn. That's a useful thing to understand.

I am being serious about wanting to learn. I learned a couple of words today including the word for cookie and an expression of frustration. I would write the words on here, but I have no idea how to spell them. I work with enough Dutch people that I think I could get some help and it would be useful to know. Stay tuned for updates!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from somewhere between the Bahamas and Columbia! The seas are smooth and the view from my office is beautiful. Okay, it's just water in every direction but it is still beautiful. While we are on the subject, it is a little different to see only water for two days because I was never far from land in Alaska and never had more than one sea day in a row. Anyways, e water was beautiful today because the color kept changing. The sun this morning made it light blue but the afternoon clouds turned it to a deep topaz. This job is teaching me that one can see beauty anywhere, you just have to take the time to notice it. I am so grateful that the Lord created such a beautiful world for us to enjoy.

HAL is really good about taking care of their crew, so they had a special luncheon for the American crew members (about 30 of us) this afternoon. I am grateful to work for a company that cares. We enjoyed a terriyaki turkey appetizer, lentil soup, turkey with stuffing, vegetables, and candied yams, pumpkin pie, and wine (everyone else enjoyed wine, I enjoyed a nice glass of ginger ale). It was so nice to have time to sit and enjoy a meal in the dining room with just my friends and coworkers. I am hoping, however, that the Lido has more pumpkin pie at dinner.

I hope you all have as nice a holiday as I had!

Back to Work

After two and a half months off I start work again in the morning. Alaska was great, but I always look forward to new adventures and I am excited to head to the Panama Canal, South America, Hawaii, and French Polynesia on the Rotterdam. Although I will be working with many new people, I have several friends who will be on the ship. I will try really hard to update more often this contract; I might have more to post because I will not be repeating the same itinerary every week. On the other hand, it might be harder to update because I'll probably want to explore the ports instead of sitting in an internet cafe.

My adventures for this contract have already started. I saw Mario Lopez while I was waiting for the hotel shuttle at the Miami airport this afternoon; I was no more than twenty feet away from him. My childish, "Saved By The Bell"-loving side wanted to take a picture, my adult side thought that might be obnoxious and rude. My adult side won, but it still made me smile.

I look forward to sharing the many adventures of South America and the Pacific. In case I have never mentioned it, my job rocks!

Mama Lou

I know who I want to be when I grow up. Not "what" I want to be, who I want to be. I want to be Mama Lou.

Who is Mama Lou? She is HAL's most seasoned Mariner (our passenger loyalty program) with over 5,000 days over the last sixteen years! When her husband passed away seventeen years ago her kids tried to put her in a retirement home, but she was not going to have that; she is a spunky, feisty southern woman! So, instead of moving to a retirement home she sold her house, her furniture, etc, and decided to spend all her time living on a cruise ship! Now, I realize that I sort of already ran away to live on a cruise ship, but I have to do what the company says and go on the ships they tell me to go to. Mama Lou really just lives on board as a passenger.

I don't know a single crew member who doesn't know of and love Mama Lou (even if she has never been on a ship with them). To be honest, I can't imagine it is possible not to love her. She calls everyone "Baaaby" (like a said, a southern lady) and makes each person feel like he is her best friend. My favorite thing about Mama Lou is that she thinks she is crew. She has a name tag that reads "Ambassador" and she basically acts like a Goodwill Ambassador. She talks to all the guests and usually has a line of people waiting to talk to her! I first met her about a year ago when I was a passenger on the Ryndam. She has a uniform collection ranging from the old Bar Steward shirts to an officer's uniform with three stripes. She even bosses the Hotel Manager around and he putty in her hands.

Mama Lou says that she figures this is no more money than a retirement home and she "doesn't want to spend her time with a bunch of old fuddy-duddies waiting to die." As long as she is still healthy enough she wants to see the world and meet people. I really hope to have that much spunk, enthusiasm, and kindness when I am her age!

Ziplining

So many excursions, so little time! All summer I have wanted to go zip-lining, but I could never make it work. I was either too late signing up (only one crew member per excursion, plus there has to be an empty slot), or I haven't been able to work my schedule around it, etc. This week, I finally got to go! We have four different zip-lining tours - two in Juneau and two in Ketchikan - so I asked our Shore Excursions manager which one was his favorite and he recommended Bear Creek in Ketchikan. I am not sure how the other ones are, but Bear Creek is amazing!

The tour was six different lines, an extension bridge, repelling (they called it repelling but it was like fifteen feet), and an alpine slide. We were divided into groups on nine, so I got put with a family of eight. They were a big, loud, New York Italian family, but they were really nice and a lot of fun and they took all the pictures of me. I was a little worried when I first got put with them, but I never felt like an outcast. I kinda felt like one of the family by the end!

Ready to go with all my gear! You can't tell from this angle, but we were tethered to the platform the entire time.

This is my first run, and I think I look pretty good. My left elbow is locked, my right hand is where it should be, and I'm smiling!

This was the third or fourth line, so by this time I felt like a pro. I would like to say that I never stopped short of the platform, nor did I ever stop my self using the tree - I feel like that was a success!

This is what I saw. Beautiful, isn't it? One of the guides, Gen, took this for me.
The extension bridge crossed this creek and the pictures cannot due it justice! The bridge was a little shaky, and not that coordinated, so I was not brave enough to walk across with my eyes closed and my hands at my side. I wasn't afraid of falling, we were tethered to a line above the bridge, I just new that I would end up with my foot caught between slats!

The slide was a highlight! I could not believe short two hundred feet was!

Our awesome guides, Rhett and Gen.
We all got medals at the end (this is the best picture of it I have).

I have never considered myself a dare-devil, but I do like to experience new things and I am so glad I got the chance to zip line in Alaska (I would like to do it again somewhere else in the world). If you have never been, I highly recommend it!

Dog Sledding

As crew, I have the opportunity to participate in shore excursions as an"escort." Basically, I am there as a representative of HAL, I socialize with the guests on the excursion, and report any issues back to the shore excursions manager.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to escort a group to on a "Sled Dog Training Camp Adventure." We visited a camp where several professional mushers train with their dogs during the summer. It was a lot of fun and I would definitely recommend it to anyone look for a fun, low-key excursion.

We started with a tour of the camp's extension bridge. It wasn't at all relevant to mushing, but it was really pretty.

After the bridge, one of the guides talked to us about the dogs and their training. I was really interested to learn that they start training the dogs when they are just a few months old and start racing them after a year or two. I also learned that the dogs they use now, the Alaskan Husky, is a fairly new breed. They used to use Siberian Huskies or Alaskan Malamutes, but the size caused some problems. Alaskan Huskies are a little bit smaller with shorter, but denser, hair. Their diets are very high in fat because they are outdoors all winter and high in protein to keep their energy levels up. She also introduced us to a dog who is nine years old and still racing. She said that once a dog retires, the musher either keeps them as a pet or tries to find someone to adopt them. If I was a musher I would probably have 150 Alaskan Huskies as pets because I don't think I would be able to set rid of a dog to whom I had grown attached.

Next, we all loaded into what looked like a golf cart without an engine. A team of sixteen dogs pulled us around the camp for about 15 minutes. It was amazing how fast they went and fascinating to watch them make the turns and work as a team. We met the dogs afterwards and they were all attention hogs!



After being pulled around camp, we learned a little more about the Iditarod. The highlight of the excursion was getting to see the new puppies! The camp had a litter that was ten days old and they were SO CUTE! I want a puppy!

Again, I really love my job! It's not every job that you get the opportunity to do things like this!

Great Alaska Lumberjack Show

A Crew ID is GOLDEN! Many places realize that crew are their best marketing method, so we often receive deeply discounted tickets to shows and activities to we will spread the word to passengers. When I first heard about the lumberjack show, I thought it sounded a little lame. I wouldn't have paid to $35 to go see it, but when somebody told me that crew can see it for free I figured the only thing I had to lose was an hour of my time and it might be fun.

So, one day in Ketchikan Ashley and I headed over to the show. Not only would I recommend the show, but I have now seen it twice! Just last week I went again with my friends Jen, Karyn, and Will. It's a little bit cheesy (they're lumberjacks), but it's a lot of fun. The audience is divided in half and each half cheers on a team of two lumberjacks. Some of it is a little scripted, but it doesn't seem fake, just cheesy.

I never realized the timber sports were a legitimately competitive sport, but I guess they are. All the lumberjacks are professional athletes and they compete in twelve events throughout the show. After each event, the winning team gives a member of their audience a wood chip (I didn't get one either time. I don't know what I would do with it, but I still wanted one). Both lumberjacks I cheered for the first time competed the second time I saw the show, but they were on different teams.

The youngest lumberjack, Michael. He just graduated high school and Collette's reaction to the picture was "It's a baby lumberjack!" He is small, and young, but he was really good.

The Ax Throw seems like an accident waiting to happen! Sometimes they have perfect aim,


Sometimes their aim is not so good!
It is crazy how quickly they can destroy a log that large!

It probably took less than ten second for them to complete this cut.

The Climb
Log Rolling: This is about seconds before one slipped and landed straddling the log!
Who can resist a picture with lumberjacks?

So, if you are ever in Ketchikan and happen to have some free time, go see the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. You won't regret it, I promise!

Views From My Office

One of the best parts of my job is my desk! The library is lined with huge windows and my desk faces straight out! There will be some contracts where I will just see water, but there is no end of gorgeous scenery up here!

Here are a few pictures I took while from the Library!

Tracy's Arm

Sunny Glacier Bay

Overcast Glacier Bay

Meet the Volendam

I feel like most of my entries will involve my friends/co-workers, so I think I should introduce them to you.

Collette Wiederrich

Collette and I embarked together and will debark together. She is the Youth Program Coordinator, so in her own words she “entertains the small humans on board.” We are constantly mistaken for each other (we've decided it must be the hair), but there are worse people to be compared to. We have pretty similar personalities but she is a little bit saucier and wild than I am so she is known as my evil twin and I as her better half.

Cara Borghesi

Cara one of the Youth Staff, was my roommate, but she left July 13. Describing Cara is fairly difficult, she;s the type of person you just have to know! She has sound effects for EVERYTHING (one for walking into a room, one for standing up out of bed, happy dolphin, sad dolphin), and she's just overall entertaining!

Glen Barry:

There is truly only one Glen Barry and I'm not sure the world would be able to handle more than one. Although Glen has worked on ships since 1998, this is his first contract with HAL. HE has a plethora of stories about his time on Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruise Lines and he often entertains us with them. I am so glad that I ended up with Glen as my first cruise director because if I had ended up with someone boring or uptight I don't know what I would have done.

Corne

Corne (kor-NAY - I'm not even going to try to spell his last name), our Facilities Manager is affectionately known as Gru. I am convinced that the animators of Despicable Me used him as model for their main character. He's the only engineer who hangs out with us and he is a ton of fun and such a nice guy! His (failed) attempts at the Hand Jive during one of our shows has permanently endeared him into my heart.

Ashley Alishusky

Ashley is another member of the Youth Staff. At first, I thought she was shy and quiet, but she's not. Every now and then she will say something that comes out of left field and have us all cracking up. If I go somewhere exciting in port, I usually go with Ash.

Niamh Mason and Ian Kee

Niamh (said Neeve- it's Gaelic) and I started on the same day and we bonded over the fact that we were both dazed and confused. She's from England and basically I want to put her in my pocket and carry her around with me (which she thinks would be fun). Niamh is a photographer on board and, for the record, her camera is better than Ian's - Ashley, Collette, and I voted!

Ian is also a photographer on board. He was one of the first non-entertainment staff I made friends with because he and Collette had worked together on the Ryndam. Ian is a tease, which made me like him instantly.

Alabama's Finest

Several week ago we had a huge family from Southern Alabama, and they were really Alabama's finest. One guy really outshone the rest of the family and by the end of the week he still asked me for ping-pong paddles even though I had explained six times that we do not keep them in the library. If there was a prize for dumbest question ever, he would win!

Glen (my cruise director) walked past the dining room the last day of the cruise and heard the guy going crazy on the dining room steward. He was screaming, "You can't move things on the last day, it just ain't fair. I understand moving things the first few days, but you can't move them on the last day! I'm gonna write a complaint!" The poor dining room steward was really confused so Glen stepped in to help. He asked what the problem was and again the man started screaming that we can't move things on the last day. Glen asked which activity we had moved. "The showroom was right here the rest of the week and now you've moved it to the other end of the ship! It ain't fair to move things around when I finally figured it out!" Yes, he caught us, as night -in our spare time for kicks and giggles- the entire crew moves a two story showroom including the stage, seats, dressing rooms, etc from one end of the ship to the other! I would like to say he was joking. Unfortunately, he was not.

Directionally Challenged

A few weeks ago I received the following questions, three times each, from six different people while I was at my desk in the Library:

"Excuse me, can you tell me where to find the Library?"
Hmmm: Books, magazines, couches, computers, LIBRARIAN - have you tried the next deck up?

"Is this the dining room?"
Yes, this is the dining room. Times are tough right now and as a company we have had to cut back some so our meals now consist of coffee, finger sandwiches, and light pastries. Also, I hope you only plan on one plate each because our tables only have a diameter of about 18 inches and we sit sit on couches instead of chairs. Seating is limited, only about forty people, so come early.
*The Library is more like a bookstore with a coffee cafe.

Seeing the World

I have been saying for a month that I was going to start a blog about my job, so here it is! For those of you who don't know, I recently took a job with Holland America Line as a librarian. I realize that some of you are thinking, “A librarian on a cruise ship? Is that even a real job?” Not only is a real job, but in my mind it is the perfect job. I am surrounded by thousands of books, I get to meet tons of people, my desk has an AMAZING view, and I live on a cruise ship. As librarian I am in charge of all the books, magazines, board games, and playing cards on board. I also get to facilitate games and brain teasers. Certain days are longer than others, but I really love my job!

I am currently working on the Volendam. We sail round trip from Vancouver ever week with stops in Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan and a day of scenic cruising in Glacier Bay National Park (which I have decided is on of my favorite places on earth. Although it is the same run week after week, it is difficult to be bored because there is a lot to do and see in each town. I will try to post about excursions and such as well as any other adventures I have (and trust me, living on a cruise ship is never dull).

Thanks for following my adventures. Enjoy!