Sea This!

So who wants to hear the story of how my swimming with the sea lions almost didn’t happen? You know you do. It’s very similar to my Paris story I told a few months earlier.

It all starts at the beginning of the cruise, when a passenger friend talks about all these cool excursions the ship offers that I should do. He mentions zip-lining in Barbados (which I did) and he also mentions swimming with the sea lions in St. Thomas. That sounds beyond cool, but the problem is, it looks like it’s sold out.

A couple days later, I check with the shore excursion desk about the tour, and they have two spots available. But, since I’m a crew member, they really can’t sell it to me until a couple days before to give paying passengers a chance. So… I wait. And then when I get to the right time to purchase it – it’s sold out AGAIN! I try everything I can to get a spot, but no dice. There are two tours that leave from the ship that day – a morning and afternoon – and each only have 8 spots. Boo. I checked the night before just to see if anything opened up, but it didn’t. They did tell me I could check in the morning to see if there are any last minute cancellations, and I consider it.

So now I’m debating what to do with my day in St. Thomas. There are plenty of shore excursions that I could do, but a lot of them are similar to what I’ve already been doing – boat trips, snorkeling, discover dives, etc. I really have my heart set on swimming with the sea lions. Meanwhile, a couple passenger friends call me up, and we make plans to go to Coral World (the marine park where the sea lion swim is). I figure can try to wiggle my way onto a “swim with the sea lions” encounter, and they can check out the park, and if all else fails they just go to the beach right next door.

While searching for coupons for Coral World, though, I do a little research about this sea lion swim. Many people report that if you’re unable to book with the ship, it’s most likely sold out when you get there. Eek, that doesn’t sound good. I figure I’ll take my chances anyway. I really want to swim with the sea lions. I’d also like to mention I sent Coral World an e-mail a few days ago asking to make a reservation for the sea lions, but never heard anything back. Not a good sign.

The day of St. Thomas rolls around, and I’m woken up by my passenger friends with bad news. They are not feeling so well, so they are going to pass on accompanying me to Coral World. So now I’ll have to go on my own. Dang. I figure I might as well try as hard as I can to get on the tour with the ship. I rush down to the tour desk to see if there are any last minute cancellations, and they say “no”, but they tell me to check on the pier, where all the tour groups meet, to be sure. I check there, but also no dice. Everyone is going and there are no available spots. So this is it, if I really want to do it, I’m going to have to make my way on my own.

So, after I spend a good half hour fighting with the printer to print out some coupons, I rush out to grab a taxi to Coral World. This isn’t so easy, unfortunately. As a single person, I can’t get a good rate with a taxi unless I wait for other people who are also going that same way. The problem is, everyone is going everywhere else BESIDES Coral World. I wait for a good 20 minutes and watch tons of taxis leave for various other island spots. I’m about to say “screw it” and just go downtown for shopping, when a couple going to the nearby beach shows up and we are able to share a taxi for a reasonable price. I’m finally going to Coral World. This is when the day starts to turn around…

On my way there, the taxi driver wants to arrange a time to pick us all up, but the other people are leaving at a different time, so I’m going to have to find my own way back. Bummer (even though this ends up being a good thing later). She drops me off at Coral World, and off I go, crossing my fingers.

I get to the desk and ask about the sea lion swim. Success – they have a spot open for me this morning! Woohoo! But first, I have to pay my admission into the park. Normally it’s $19, and I had a $3 off coupon so I was expecting $16. However, the golden rule of ship travelling is to always ask if they have a crew discount. And so I did. And guess what? Crew members get into the park completely free. I just saved myself 16 bucks!

Now, once you pay for admission, you have to pay for the sea lion swim. This is normally $85 (on top of admission), which I was told is a fairly reasonable price compared to dolphin swims and what not in the States. I’m prepared to pay it. Hey, I just got in the park for free. But, just like before, I ask about the crew discount. Originally they tell me it’s 10% off, which is nice. But then, after the lady calls her manager, we find out it’s half price!!!!  This day is totally getting better.

So at this point, I’m pretty stoked. I went from not expecting anything today, to booking myself a swim with the sea lions. Since I had an hour before my swim time, I go wander around the park and see what I can see (which isn’t a whole lot). I watch a sea lion do some tricks, learn about turtles, and hang out with the iguanas. Before I know it, it’s time to come back.
I meet my group – a family of 5 from Denmark and me. The best part? There are two sea lions and two trainers. The family of 5 gets one sea lion, and I get a sea lion all to myself. Sweeeeeet! And as I posted earlier, I got to do all sorts of fun things with the sea lions and it was so awesome. I enjoyed it so much, I didn’t mind “splurging” the $19 for a CD full of photos of just me and the sea lions.

After my sea lion adventure, I went to the nearby Coki beach and did some awesome snorkeling for an hour. And then, I got myself a nice aloe massage on the beach. And remember how I was worried about a taxi? I managed to snag the ship’s taxi heading back, so it didn’t cost me anything (although I did give the taxi driver a tip).

So I have to put this day in perspective. It started off looking like it wasn’t go to happen, but I eventually got what I wanted – a swim with the sea lions. Not only did I get to do that, but it also cost me less than I would have paid through the ship AND I got my own sea lion, whereas I probably would have had to share if I was in the ship group. On top of that, I got free time to snorkel on the other beach and head back when I want.

Life has been throwing me lots of curveballs lately and I’m trying to keep my head above water. It’s times like these that remind me that you might not get exactly what you want. But, if you work hard and try to make it happen, something might turn up that is even be better than what you originally planned. Let’s hope that’s true for other areas of my life, too

Ports sea lion

Swimming with Sea Lions!, originally uploaded by gadgetive.

Today I got to swim with sea lions. Isn’t that awesome? Some people swim
with dolphins, others swim with sharks, but how many places can you swim
with a sea lion?

There is a VERY long story behind how this day happened. The short
story, for now, is that it almost didn’t happen, but I’m glad it did.
The sea lions were awesome, and by just sheer luck, I got a sea lion
completely to myself! We did all sorts of tricks in and out of the
water. Now I want one of my own

There are lots more pictures where this came from (I bought a whole CD
full of them), but this one is pretty cute. Also, you don’t realize how
big those sea lions are until you are swimming next to them!

Today, in general, was a pretty awesome day that started off kinda
cruddy. But by the end of it, I got to swim with sea lions, went
snorkeling at Coki Beach (the best snorkel yet!), and got an aloe massage.

Okay, maybe I’m enjoying the Caribbean more than I thought I would, and
now I don’t wanna leave

Photos

Zip-lining in Barbados, originally uploaded by gadgetive.

It’s been a while since I made a picture post, so here you go!

Today in Barbados, I got to try something I’ve always wanted to do –
zip-lining. There was only one excursion on the whole cruise that
involved ziplining, so if I wanted to do it, it had to be now.

The verdict? It was pretty neat. Definitely not as scary as I thought it
would be, but that’s a good thing. In fact, the scariest part was the
very first one because I didn’t know what the heck to expect. It was a
little scary though, looking down, and thinking of how far I might fall
if things went wrong. But I’m glad I finally got to scratch something
off my list, and I will definitely do it the next time I get a chance.

There’s also another picture of me with a pretty silly grin on my face.
Maybe if I get a chance, I’ll post that too

Photos

(Originally written: 9/18/2010)

Well, a few of you seemed fairly interested in my weight loss challenge I’ve posed in the last entry, so I’ll go into a little bit more detail. By the way, I’ve called this challenge “Losing Cruising,” because it’s not a real challenge unless it has a name, right? And it’s even better when it rhymes!

It’s time to set some ground rules besides just the general “eat well”. Some of these things I’m am already doing on the ship; some of them I’m not. So, for each “rule”, I plan to give myself a current grade. At the end of my contract, I plan to re-rate myself and see how I fared. I may not be good at this “everyday” sort of thing, but I’ll give it a go. Okay, here we go…

• Don’t eat bread before a meal (C-) – Having bread on the table in a restaurant isn’t that unusual, but every night in the dining room they put bread and breadsticks right in front of you. The bread is good, but the butter is even better. I don’t go too overboard with the bread – usually just one roll and maybe a breadstick – but it’s really unnecessary. I only eat it because it’s there and the real meal hasn’t come yet. I should learn better self-control, though, and just say no. My carbs are better spent elsewhere, and I’m almost positive none of the bread is whole wheat. It can be quite tricky, especially when the food takes a while to come out, but I must restrain myself.
• Don’t drink regular or diet soda (regular, A; diet, D-) – Soda and I have had quite the relationship. I drank it religiously all while growing up, but during my healthy phase I gave it up completely. I started drinking it again, but then switched to diet soda. On the ship, I thought it would be easy to give up soda all together, but then I learned that as a crew member I get soda for free! So, I take advantage and have a diet soda pretty much everyday. I rarely have a regular soda, which I am proud of, though. I do have the occasional ginger ale but that’s for when my tummy is acting up and I don’t do it often. I know diet soda is just as bad for me and I really just need to give it up completely. Time to go cold turkey, the only way that works. I allow myself the occasional real-sugar soda out on land, though, because it’s made with real sugar and you can’t get that in States. But only every once in a while.
• Drink at least one cup of HOT tea a day (F) – I should know better that any successful nutrition plan I’ve had that works starts and ends with tea. That’s really the key, at least for me. Not that tea is this miracle drink that allows me to eat whatever I want, but when I drink tea I just naturally eat better. When I eat junk, I usually drink a junk drink (like soda) to compliment it. Tea inspires me to eat a healthy diet. I used to drink it all the time, and then life got hectic so I stopped. But that’s going to change. Today in England I finally purchased some tea. Even though I can get bags of it on the ship, they’re not as good and sometimes hard to come by. I’m so ashamed I’ve been to England several times but hadn’t purchased any tea up until today. The tea-loving Rachel from two years ago would say that was ridiculous. For the record, I do drink the iced tea (unsweetened) every few days on the ship which is actually quite good. But iced tea doesn’t have the same “nutritional motivation” for me that brewed tea does.
• Skip dessert most nights (B-) – I’m not too bad at this, actually. The first couple cruises I ordered dessert all the time, but after a while I got to try everything and it lost its novelty. Most nights I eat three courses but skip dessert. I found it’s best to just excuse myself from the table, otherwise if I see other people eating dessert, I’m going to want some. Sometimes, though, if the conversation is really good I will stay for dessert and order something that I probably shouldn’t. Ordering dessert is okay, but I really should order the healthier options, like the cheese plate or the fruit selection. I can do without the chocolate cake, even though it is so delicious.
• Drink lots of water (C+) – Drinking water is definitely important, and it is especially so when I’m teaching. I talk a lot, so I always have a glass of water handy to “refresh” myself. I usually drink a bit of water throughout the day, but one thing I could improve on is the amount. In certain locations they give me water in a tiny glass; in other locations I get it in a large cup. From now on, my goal is to get it in the large cup and go through it as much as I can.
• Small snacks in-between meals (D) – Another key component to eating right is snacking. Sometimes I’m in the mood for a snack and I go up to the buffet for just “a quick bite” which turns into a whole meal on its own. This is not good. So most of the time, to avoid this, I just don’t go up at all. There really should be some sort of compromise. The ship chops and prepares fresh vegetables everyday – I should be taking more advantage of this. I should be able to go up and grab a small snack – some vegetables, maybe some nuts, maybe a little bit of protein but that’s it. No desert, no bread, no full-on sandwiches.
• Take the stairs whenever I can (C) – I can’t always make it to the gym, but at the very least I can take stairs most of the time. Sometimes taking the stairs is a bit much. For instance, I’m on deck 4, and I get breakfast on deck 14 in the morning. That’s a big flight of stairs to walk up that early, especially when I’m about to be standing all day! But, when moving up just a couple decks, there’s really no reason to use the elevator. And walking down I should almost always use the stairs. I’m okay at this, but I could be better. Perhaps I should try an entire day where I only use the stairs. That would be interesting.
• Be active in ports and on the ship (ports, A-; ship, C-) – It’s much easier to be active in ports. There’s lots to see and a lot of it can be seen by walking around. Being active on the ship isn’t quite as easy, but it’s not impossible. My job is more active than it might seem – when I teach I move around quite a bit. But, after I’m done teaching, I’m sick of standing and all I want to do is sit. That’s well and good, but I could still make it to the gym later in the day. Or, at the very least, walk a mile around the deck. Since I do quite a bit of activity on land, I don’t have to be quite so active on the ship, but I could at least try. This will go hand and hand with the stairs.

Weight Loss Challenge

So I’ve talked a little bit about food on the ship, but not too much. I’ve posted about my breakfast dilemma, but not too much else. But I really should talk about food because it’s everywhere, and it’s a big part of my job.

For those that know me, they know I love free food. When I’ve found food that is already prepared for me, costs nothing, and tastes “okay”  – I’m in heaven. I’m not too picky about my free food. Working in the corporate world a number of years, I’ve learned to appreciate the “catered leftovers” of an important meeting. But before this cruise ship job, I’ve never worked somewhere where gourmet food is made fresh for me every day, served, and even cleaned up. I’m so used to scavenging around to different break rooms and hopefully stumbling on a plate of sandwiches. Now, every where I turn there’s free food and it’s all delicious (but it’s not all healthy – which I’ll get to in a second).

For those who have never been on a cruise ship, there’s many different “ways” to eat. You can eat in a dining room and be served for your three main meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner). All other times (or during any of the big 3) you can eat up in the buffet and serve yourself. The former is usually more of a social and longer experience; the latter is more for those who want something quick or for when the dining room isn’t open.

Many people ask if I’m allowed to eat the same food as the passengers, as the answer is a definite YES. In fact, part of my job IS eating with the passengers, and not just at the buffet but in the actual dining room where I can socialize and promote the program. The fact that I eat in the dining room can really be a burden sometimes. In the dining room you are limited to a set menu, but in the buffet you can control what you eat (although most people – myself included – tend to go a little crazy with all the choices).

I was worried before I came on the ship. My love of free food, combined with free food being everywhere, made me concerned about weight gain. They say the average cruise passenger gains one pound a day on a cruise ship, and if you’ve been on one, it’s not too hard to see why. It’s all you can eat ALL the time. I was going to be on the ship for five months; I was worried they’d have to roll me off the ship by the time I was done because I’d be so large.

I came as prepared as possible in case I did gain weight on the ship. I purchased clothes with some “breathing room” and didn’t bring anything too tight. And then I had a little meeting with myself before I came on the ship to decide how I was going to approach the whole “food” thing. I told myself that I shouldn’t deprive myself of any food, but I shouldn’t go crazy either. Be sensible, but not outrageous. And for the most part, I’ve been doing a pretty good job. Weight wise? I’ve been staying around the same. I think I put on a few pounds when I first got on the ship, but I think I’ve taken them off and I’m now back to where I’ve started.

I consider it a success that I’ve been maintaining my weight, especially for a free food lover like myself. But I also know that even with the weight I’m at, I could be lower. I make some good food choices, but give in to others. I have a few vices and the abundance of it being free and being easily accessible does not help my self-control. For instance, the fact that I can pretty much get soda anywhere, anytime on the ship (and for free!) is not really a good thing.

When I came on the ship my goal was to not gain weight, and I’ve succeeded at that. But now, I’ve got a little more than a month left on my contract before I return to the real world, and I want to make the transition as smooth as possible. So, I’m going to attempt to lose weight on the ship. I’m going to give it an honest effort and get rid of a few bad habits while enforcing the good ones (which I think I may detail in another entry).

Losing weight as a regular crew member is fairly easy if you put your mind to it. Most of them don’t eat in the passenger dining rooms, and so they have a lot more control over what they eat. Anyone can go to the buffet and make themselves a healthy salad. But, I’m not a regular crew member. Since I do eat in the dining rooms most nights, I’m limited to what’s on the menu. It’s all delicious, but not always the healthiest. I could go to the extreme and have the chef prepare something specifically for me, but I do have to work with these guys for a few months, so I don’t know if that’s such a good idea

So, my goal/challenge will be to lose some amount of weight, while continuing to eat in the dining room most nights, as a regular passenger would. I want to prove to myself (and other fellow cruise passengers) that it totally can be done. I probably will make modifications to some of my food (i.e. swapping potatoes out for broccoli) but I’ll always order from the menu. And eating in the dining rooms will be an extra challenge for me because I’ll be surrounded by temptation from the dark side. Passengers are more likely to indulge in unhealthy food and have all four courses (including desert) and through it all I’ll have to stand my ground. If I can manage this, it’ll be a piece of cake when I go home and control my own environment (mmm..cake) . The main component of this challenge will be what I eat. I may try and bump up my activity level at the gym on the ship, but since I am fairly active when I go into ports, I don’t think it’s as big of a deal. It’s not like I sit on my butt day in and day out.

Not sure how well I’ll do with this whole challenge, but I’ll give it an honest try. I’m hoping I can keep a frequent journal of my efforts for my own (and for other people’s reference). Not sure if I want to make this public, semi-public, or private – I’m not sure how many people will care. The important part, though, is actually doing; whether I write about or not won’t change what I put in my mouth that day, you know?

Well, I’ve written myself a nice little novel, and I haven’t even said nearly all the things I want to say. But I am doing it, and you all now know this, so I have to at least be held accountable. If I try my best and I don’t lose any weight, at least I can say I tried. But I’m fairly confident that with a solid effort I can make some progress.

Day one starts today. All right folks, here goes nothing…

Weight Loss Challenge

Initial Graffiti Posting, originally uploaded by gadgetive.

/It’s been a while since I posted a picture, so here’s a nice random one
for you. This is from a few months ago, but still good./

I’d first off like to start with this: _I do not support the act of
graffiti_. It’s illegal, yo. But, while stopped at a random street in
Florence, I happened to see my initials in nice white letters on the
side of the wall. Since the graffiti was already there, and they
happened to be my _exact_ initials, I figured I might as well take a
picture of with it. So I did. I’m sure the folks who took my photo must
have thought I did it myself. I didn’t, I swear. Besides, anyone who
knows me knows I would have totally drawn a slug instead!

Sorry I couldn’t get any cool Florence land marks in the shot (or
anything besides a wall), but since I did not choose where to put the
graffiti, I am the mercy of the spray-painter. I did manage to get a
slightly legible Italian sign in the picture, though. So surely, that
must count for something. Not sure what it says; probably "don’t
graffiti these walls!".

Speaking of, if you’re a fan of graffiti, it’s everywhere in Italy and
Spain. I remember driving down one road where it’s covered in it. It’s
like the video game Jet Grind Radio!

Photos

Time for another port wrap-up, finally! In my last post we did a couple oddball “one week” cruises, and now we’re back to doing our regular Mediterranean season. All of these ports I have been to at least once, but for most of them I still found some neat stuff to do. Remember the number in brackets (or as the British call them – square brackets) represents how many times I have been to this port, including that day.  Going to skip Malaga, Spain. Nothing too exciting happened in either place. Basically I sought out internet and a random protest was going on.

Barcelona, Spain (June 10) [3] – I decided it was time to explore Barcelona with someone who actually knew the place, so I tagged along with the Port Lecturer on the ship. It started off raining (boo!) but it turned out to be sunny later in the day (yay!). We went to La Pedrera (the Gaudi house) and poked our head in the Cathedral. Around the corner was a really awesome Comic Book shop called “Continuara”, which means “To be Continued”. Isn’t that an awesome name? We also just walked around the city. It was nice to be with someone who actually studied Barcelona. The guy would point out things I would never notice, like the Gaudi inspired lampposts.

Monte Carlo/Monaco (June 11) – This is the only place I hadn’t been to yet. We were supposed to go a couple cruises ago, but we went to Cannes instead. I went out with a purser buddy of mine and we explored. We went all around the town. Went to a random mall (which turned out to be nothing special), found a random Japanese garden, and eventually made our way into the Casino. It was a bit pricey to get in, and he was happy looking at it from the outside, so we split off and I went inside. Everyone would be so disappointed if I went all the way to Monte Carlo but didn’t go to the casino.

The casino was nice, but small. I was worried they would kick me out because I was wearing a tank top and shorts, but they didn’t. The table games had way too high of a minimum for me to play, but the slots weren’t bad. I put five euros in a machine and wasted a half an hour playing it. There was another part of the casino I wanted to go into, but it didn’t open until 4 (the Casino itself didn’t open until 2). Even though it was cutting it close, I decided to wait until 4 to go in. It was a nice tall room with stained glass windows and even higher table limits. And then beyond that room was another room with even higher table limits that you had to pay another 10 euros to get into – so that I just admired from the outside. It was a nice place and I’m glad I can say that I went. Too bad I couldn’t take pictures (but I got plenty from outside).

Nothing too exciting happened in Civitavecchia/Rome, Italy. I was going to take the train but was worried about protests, so I just stayed nearby. It was my 3rd time going, and I would be back plenty more.

Naples, Italy (June 13) – This was actually my first time docking in Naples; we were scheduled to go a month ago, but because of rough waters never docked. I was debating whether I should just stay in Naples or do an excursion, but I decided to spring for a tour. I went to Sorrento and drove along the Amalfi Coast, which was absolutely gorgeous. I posted a picture in an earlier entry. We passed by the town of Positano but couldn’t stop because our bus was too big. Still debating whether it’s worth it or not to try and go. We did stop at the town of Amalfi though, which was also quite picturesque. I definitely want to go back to this area and spend a few more days, sometime.

Nothing exciting happened in Corsica, France, either. I think I just used the Internet and went around the market.

Gibraltar (June 16) [3] – Didn’t do a whole lot here, either, but I did walk a whole lot. I also saw monkeys somewhere else other than the top of the rock. Tried to get a picture with them, but I’m still too scared to get too close to them.

Skipping Southampton, as well, since nothing exciting ever happens there. I wish I had more time to do something, but it’s tough since I have to get back to my boat pretty quickly and I also have to fight against incoming cruise traffic. Boo.

Photos amalfi coast, barcelona, gibraltar, italy, monaco, monte carlo, naples, sorrento, spain

(Originally written on 8-22-10)

So I got to check another thing off my list tonight of exciting things to do on my cruise. Warning: I’m probably the only one who cares, but I’m writing this knowing I will go back and read it one day and remember how important it was. All the exciting stuff like “Go to Italy” and “Go to France” I got to check off pretty early on in the cruise.

I’m very fortunate to have a nice amount of free time on the ship to actually be a passenger. I can go to shows quite easily, I can eat in the dining room, and I can take advantage of all the wonderful passenger amenities (including getting brownies at midnight – which may or may not get a good thing). Unfortunately, since I do work during sea days, it makes it hard – almost impossible – to do regular sea day activities. For instance, I’ve never participated in book club, attended a group fitness class, or had the opportunity to attend some of the neat lectures. But, that’s the way it goes. When you’re not paying for your cruises, you have to miss out on some things.

However, there was one thing I always wanted to try and do, and given my sea day schedule, it was very difficult. Every morning, when I go up to the buffet for breakfast, I pass by the pool. Most of the time the waters are calm, but when the ship starts rocking, the water in the pool moves back and forth and creates sort of a “wave pool”. The more the rocking, the more the waves. It’s always looked like fun, but since I grab breakfast shortly before work, I have to just admire the waves from afar. For the past few months, everytime I saw those rocking waves in the pool, I told myself that one day it would be me.

Pulling it off, though, is very tricky. It has to be when we’re at sea, and since I teach a lot of that time, it doesn’t leave much of an option. It also has to be when the ship is rocking a good amount back and forth. We’ve been blessed with relatively smooth sailing this season, so it doesn’t happen to often.

But tonight, the ship was extra rocky. It had been rocky all day but it wasn’t until the night that I remembered one of my ship goals. After dinner, I went upstairs to survey the area to see how the pool was. It was full-o-waves and still open. I’m not a fan of swimming at night (since it was awfully cold out), but I figured this would be one of my few chances, so I grabbed it. I ran downstairs to change and then came back up. Of course I was the only one in the pool, but that was actually a good thing. I hopped in the water (which was quite cold) and finally enjoyed the moment of being in the waves.

If you’ve ever been in a wave pool at a water park it’s very similar, except it’s in an enclosed space. I just had fun being in the waves and going back and forth between the water. Yay pools. I would swim from one side to other, staying in place for part of it, and then letting the waves carry me for the rest of the way. Yay physics. I got a few funny looks from onlookers, but they don’t understand. I even had a couple of people join me for a few seconds, but then they got out because it was too cold.

After being in the water for a good half hour, I decided it was time to leave. As I was getting out, I was very dizzy. It’s not easy going back and forth in the waves during that time.

Anyway, like I said, I’m probably the only one who cares but not at least I can happily knock something else off my list! And as of writing this, the ship is still rocking (which makes me extra tired). For those of you on terra firma, be glad your house does not rock back and forth each day!

Ship Life pool

Still need to finish up my port wrap-up, but in the meantime, I thought I would post about this current cruise. It’s a very important cruise.

My original contract was supposed to end September 4, which is the last day of this cruise. However, I extended my contract until the end of October, so I got a couple more cruises after this, including a TransAtlantic which is going to be extremely hectic (but goes to some cool places).

This is also the last time I will go to some of these ports, such as Cannes, Cadiz/Seville, Livorno/Florence, and Sardinia so I have to make the most of them.  Not that I won’t ever be back again, ever, but I won’t be back for a while. Time to fire up the digital camera and clear off more space on the harddrive!

Port wrap up coming very soon. I’m way overdue on one.

Uncategorized

So I’m sure a lot of you saw this already, but if you didn’t, I finally uploaded pictures of the first two months of my ports onto Facebook. It’s public, though, so if you’re not my friend you can still see it (lucky you).

Also, expect a port wrap up soon.

Photos, Ports facebook