Bye sun, bye tan!

My last two cruises were great. Tampa has turned out to be a great home port. I found great free wireless in a courtyard, and I found Ybor City. There are tons of cool restaurants and buildings over a hundred years old there. It’s where many Cubans used to live, and there are tons of handmade Cigar Bars there. Our sailaways are great because we get to see more of Tampa Bay, which is huge! Beautiful sunsets, a bunch of little islands, saw a dolphin jumping from the front of the ship, little skylines, and also this massive bridge that we went under, as well as a full moon.

I went to Key West, home of all things Jimmy Buffet, a couple times. I walked down Duval St. and ate at Margaritaville and then bought this half-pound cookie that was delicious! The second time I walked to the southernmost point of the United States, the Little White House that Truman used to vacation there, and ate a piece of key lime pie on a stick dipped in chocolate. The houses there are all old and very nice to look at.  Also, when we play sailing in and out of Key West, there are always tons of sail boats out because it’s windy.

Next was Belize City. I walked through downtown with a bunch of people to this market where many people were selling local fruit. It was funny because our group was very international. We had two americans, two ukrainians, one Russian, one Peruvian, one Japanese girl, and one French girl. I ate a banana that was very tasty, and then we all cut up a huge watermelon to eat together. The pineapples there were incredible also! Juicy and very sweet! Walking through town was fun but it’s very poor there. However, that’s where all the culture is.

I swam with a dolphin in Roatan, an island off of Honduras! The dolphin I spent time with was named Fiona. I was able to hug her, pet her, splash her, and she did a bunch of tricks for us. It was really really fun! Then when I got back to the beach near the ship, I played beach volleyball with some friends and swam.

The last cruise was very relaxing for me. I went to the beach twice and laid out on the back of the ship by the pool in Jamaica. I was basically soaking up as much sun as possible before heading to the snowstorm in the northwest.

Time moves very quickly on ships, and even though I was only there for 6 weeks, I became good friends with people there. You see everyone at least a few times a day, and sometimes eat together and maybe go out to the ports together. 6 weeks feels like 3 months on a ship. All the people were really nice there and I’m going to miss them.

3 Cruises Left

This cruise has been pretty chill. The second day of the cruise we had to cancel our port in Key West cause of wind. It’s the second time that has happened since I’ve been here. And then the third time I was in isolation. Eventually I’ll get to go to Key West. But because of weather, a bunch of our sets on the top deck were canceled, so we didn’t play a whole lot. And the first 2 shows of the cruise I don’t play, so it’s been very relaxing.

Our first port was Belize City, but I was on IPM, which stands for In-Port Manning. It basically means when you’re in a port, a certain amount of people need to stay on the ship in case there’s an emergency. This happens about every 3 days. I can usually get out of this because some of the older staff don’t get off the ship usually, or I can get off for half the day. Also Belize is a long tender ride to shore. This means the ship doesn’t dock right next to land, it’s a little farther in the water and we have to take smaller boats in. The crew has to wait for most of the guests to get off so it takes a while and is kind of a pain. So I slept in (the night before was a party in the engine room, and then an hour back so I got an extra hour of sleep!) and then ate lunch and chilled on the back pool deck catchin some rayyys.

This cruise is a short cruise- only 6 days. Only two of them we were in port, so it’s a lot of hanging out on the ship. But I’m finally getting comfortable with the ship and figuring out where the quiet places to hang out are, getting to know the people here better, and definitely enjoying the warm weather! In about 2 weeks, I’m very excited to go back home, but not really looking forward to the cold weather. Sorry Oregon, that is not your strong point.

Happy new year! Feliz ano nuevo!

After the Christmas cruise was the New Years cruise. It was the best cruise yet. I’ll tell you why.

After getting out of isolation, I felt remotivated with my job! I was positive and upbeat, I played with tons of energy, and I was really happy to be here. I had a lot to look forward to this cruise.

My first port was Falmouth, Jamaica. A small town, but very Jamaica. I walked around with the sax player who actually has family near there. So he took me to eat a Beef Pattie and some Jerk chicken. It was all really tasty! Then we walked around, people watching. Some houses looked really cool, while others were pretty run-down.

The next port was Georgetown, Grand Cayman Islands. This is probably my favorite port from this itinerary. It was a short taxi ride to 7-mile beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. I walked almost the whole thing, stopping every once in a while to go in the cool refreshing water, or to lay in the sand and work on my tan (it’s comin along. How long will it take for the red to turn into tan?). I walked by crowded areas where big hotels had private beaches, like the Ritz Carlton. But the places that were quiet and empty were the best!

Next I was back in Cozumel, but this time my old ship was there the same day! So I was able to see a bunch of friends: people from the band, the cast, the shops, photography department (we call them photogs). It was so nice to hang out with them and see how my old stomping grounds were doing. That made me really happy.

Then New Years Eve was one of the best times I’ve had here yet! We played from 11:30pm-1am, including the countdown to midnight and everything. We played in the big showroom, where there was a big dance floor. All the crew was there too. We played a high-energy, party set that was crazy! Everyone was dancing and havin a ton of fun, which means we played harder and better. It was so much fun! It made me think how much I love playing and made me remember why I’m here. After that, I hung out with people in our nightclub (which is usually empty cause mostly old OLD people cruise on our line, but cause of the holidays there’s tons of young people on the ship) and at our crew bar until late into the night. It was a blast!

Also, really happy Oregon won the Rose Bowl. GO DUCKS!