October 31, 2003
Just because I can
So there's really nothing new to tell, it's just that we have two days in port, and both days I've brought my laptop to the internet cafe and played online until the battery died... A simple pleasure, but one that makes me feel at home. Went with the Onboard Sales manager today to provide moral support while he got a tatoo. They have some incredible designs here, and it was definitely an experience, upstairs in this little open air market in Papeete, surrounded by Tahitians covered head to toe in tribal art, sweat running down us all (because it's coming into summer and no air conditioning season), in a little closet of a tatoo shop, while every so often stray passengers would walk by and peer in to see what we were up to. Ah well, the clock is ticking and the battery is about to die. Here goes another cruise.
October 30, 2003
Slacking off
Here I am in Papeete again - somehow I never could find the time to get to the internet last cruise. Had a yucky cold too, so most of my spare time was spent napping in my cabin. On the other hand, I had the best cruise ever as far as class attendance was concerned.
Went to some new islands on this cruise - the Marquesas - which all the passengers were really excited to see because of Survivor being filmed there. Mostly it rained the whole time we were there, so I didn't see much of them, but they seemed nice. My favorite island of the trip was Rangiroa - which is a giant atoll, and really just a giant beach with great snorkeling - you could stand on the beach and see sting rays. The water was so clear, I could even see the shadows of the fish I was watching while snorkeling. Amazing.
No wild parties this cruise, though the captain did invite me to dinner for his last night on the ship (me and a few other people - don't get any crazy ideas) and the kitchen had prepared a special meal, so that was a nice change from the norm.
So now starts cruise 5, hopefully I shall post more frequently this time.
October 20, 2003
Papeete Again
Wow, it's funny how having intermittent internet and/or 15 internet desperate crew members waiting in line behind you can interfere with blogging. I've finished my third cruise, and I'm ashamed to say, spent much of my shore time on board getting spa treatments. (Which vastly increased my end of cruise bill). I did, however, make it ashore in Bora Bora where we went to a lesser known hotel and lay on their beach chairs all afternoon drinking mango juice and alternating between their infinity pool and the ocean.
The classes were pretty quiet this cruise, despite my vibrant appearances on the morning show, but one lady almost hugged me when I showed her how to make scrolling, glowing marquees in Front Page. I didn't have the heart to tell her that all that motion on the page is considered bad design. I need to learn to sleep in though, because the late nights up in the Piano Bar with my fellow entertainers, followed by room parties late into the night, are going to kill me if I keep waking up at 7.
To answer your question Steph, I'm definitely planning on signing up again.
October 14, 2003
Southern Cross
So last night after sunset found me on the top deck with "Alan the Stargazing Musician" picking out Scorpio, Saggitarius, the Southern and Northern Cross, Mars, Venus.... it's the first really clear night we've had for a while, so it was fantastic. Today I'm back in Rarotonga, but email is hard to come by this day, of course. Still loving life on the ship, I'm starting to get into a routine to where I have some free time. Short on time today though, as I'm in the expensive internet cafe. Today I have to go record "the morning show" with our cruise director, since signups yesterday weren't what they might have been, and he thinks a little heavier promotion will help. If nothing else, this job will get me used to being videotaped.
October 10, 2003
2 Down...
I have finished my second cruise!! Today it's raining in Papeete, so perhaps some people will come to my afternoon classes. For the moment, I'm in internet heaven, with my own personal laptop plugged into a high speed connection. I only have to speak enough French to communicate what I want to do. Still really enjoying ship life, but it's going to exhaust me if I keep going like I am. Three late nights in a row, because I took the art director out the other night, and we closed down the nightclub. Crew party the next night (and naturally, I had to attend that), and the night before that was Island night, and well, that required drinking and dancing into the late evening. I'm becoming a happy adopter of the traditional afternoon nap, on those days that I can find the time for it.
Had some time for some excursions this week, went and fed the Manta Rays in Moorea, followed by some truly stunning snorkeling. Bora Bora was a little disappointing this week, the weather was a little cloudy, and the water, well, was only as clear as a swimming pool with leaves in it. Met up with Ross though, pictures below. Also got Louie and Bob out of hiding, and took them to the beach, nearly lost them, and my camera, to a freak wave, but I scooped them all up in the nick of time.
Oh, I also saw dolphins yesterday, leaping and everything.
October 04, 2003
Rarotonga Again
Well, I survived another sea day! I took Erin's advice (my apologies for the lack of hyperlink, it's just too complicated when I'm paying for slow internet access) and bought the pressure bands, and they seemed to work miracles. However, I was so exhausted after my teaching day (20 people showed up for my tips, Tricks and Timesaver's class, which was made inadvertently free due to a misprint) that I went down for a nap at 6 and slept through til 6 this morning. That and I've been staying up late trying to socialize, the other night I had a largely silent dinner with the Italian officers. I hoped that telling them I understood Italian would perk them up and encourage them to speak, but then they just said "Oh, we'll have to be careful" and spoke even less. But they were very chivalrous and bought me drinks, and expressed doubt that I could really be American, due to the fact that I liked anchovies, ate my pizza with a knife and fork, and drank espresso. The staff captain has offered me a tour of the bridge, so should that ever occur, I shall certainly describe the event here. Life on the ship is still good, I've offered to show the computer officer how to reset the BIOS on one of the internet machines (since he doesn't have the BIOS password) and he, in turn, is going to remind me how to ghost my laptops. I'm in an internet cafe today that seems to be largely run by a gaggle of children. At least I'm confident that they know how to work the computers. Well, that's enough for this posting. I like Raratonga - it belongs to New Zealand, so the internet is cheap here, thanks to the favorable exchange rate.
