Hello everyone,
I hope that you have had a wonderful week.
I'm finally in the CARIBBEAN!!!! I can't believe that I'm SO close to my neck of the woods.
Here's what has happened this past week (kinda a long post….sorry):
Sunday through Wednesday, we were at sea the entire time. Each day the cast had a ritual of doing our morning duties that we were scheduled to do…ring toss…really?? I had to wake up every morning and go to Greg and Jodie's dance class and dance with the single ladies…that Orange haired lady was staring at me the entire time. Speaking of that crazy woman…I have a funny story of something that happened during one of the sea days. Every night that we didn't have a show, we were all schedule to do early socializing…just to get out there and make friends with the guests. One night, when I was going to have dinner with two lovely woman from Atlanta, the orange haired lady (named Naomi) came up to me…no, no…sneaked up behind me and tugged on my jacket in the middle of talking to guests that were asking me about where I was from, etc. So I turned around to her and she said, "I'll be sitting over there, waiting for you to dance with me". Now, I'm all fine with me having to dance with some of the older ladies…if they are nice about it and blah blah…but this woman all week had been giving us trouble. She wanted to do dances that I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO DO. She thought that since I was a performer, I would know how to the tango or lindy hop…WELL I DONT!!! Apparently (according to Greg) she had to be held tight on her back anytime she danced…because she has a bad back. WELL STOP DANCING CRAZY LADY!!! Also, I heard that she carried around little bags of cow brain because of her back pain and she had to have the bar staff mix it into her drinks every night. CAN WE SAY….CRAZY?????? So back to my story…after she rudely interrupted me, I said to her ever so politely, "Well, I'm talking to these lovely people right now and I also have a dinner reservation with other guests in 5 minutes but if I do have a chance, I'll come dance with you." That was the professional way of handling it..don't you think? Anyway, she complained to everyone else in the cast about me and I was like…oh get off it…why come on the cruise, just to dance…GO DO SOMETHING ELSE!!! HOW ABOUT BINGO OR SOMETHING, BETTER FOR YOUR BACK…ehhh. Also, later in the week, we did our show, Spirito out on the pool deck. Afterwards, we are ALWAYS suppose to stand there and get people out on the dance floor. Needless to say, everywhere Naomi was on the dance floor, I was on the polar opposite side…haha. I wouldn't have mind to dance with her, if she was nicer to me…but I'm sorry, I'm not having that…haha.
Anyway, back to our daily schedule…about 12:00 or 1:00 in the afternoon, we would all go up to the top front deck and just lay out in the sun. I found it to be very important that on these 6 days across the ocean, that I get some fresh air, so being outside as much as possible was the best idea. During the week…we would stand outside and talk about stuff…Jodie, Emily and I had a dance class up on top deck (that was funny), we saw flying fish and would narrate for them (also funny). We would talk about how, when we are old we are going to be able to tell our children or grandchildren of the crazy adventure that we had when we were in our twenties…nuts, isn't it? During the week, we ALL went down to the pool around 3:00pm to play water volleyball (but mostly, we were hot from being in the sun all day and we wanted to get in the water). The guests really warmed up to us and I actually started to know guests by name…which was very scary. I had some lovely dinners throughout the cross and got to know so really wonderful people. The 6 day cross actually went A LOT quicker than I thought. The captain also said, I heard, that it was the smoothest crossing that he has done in a while..that made me very happy and I had to agree…we really didn't hit rough waters the entire time. Our last sea day, however, we had a tug of war competition and you guessed it….yours truly was apart of the production cast's team…OH…LORD. So, we are ready to LOSE right away because these guys are all…big engine room people or chefs in the kitchen against the little singers and dancers. Our first match was against the gallery team (the chefs) and I thought that we were going to lose…right away. They had 2 guys on their team that were HUGE, but I said…we have to have fun…just do it. So guess what….WE BEAT THEM!!!! I have NEVER jumped so high in excitement EVER!!! I ran around the pool deck and looked like a total @$$…but it was just for fun. Our second match was the semi-finals against the dreaded…HEAD WAITERS (audience reaction…"OOOOO"). So, us being the under dogs…were going to lose again…or NOT!!!! We totally won again…and the guests were getting involved and cheering for us…it was awesome…I can't believe that we won again and now are in the finals….against the ENGINE ROOM (yeah…one of the guys legs on the team, was the size of me…haha). Needless to say, we lost but we got second in the tournament, when everyone thought that we would lose first. HEY…don't judge dancers…we may look small but we have some strong legs…haha.
Thursday, we had finally made it to St. John's, Antigua….HOORAY, LAND!!! Hurricane Tomas was still around, so all day long we had little rain showers. Lesley and I got off the ship, first thing in the morning to go find something to eat and get some free internet. We ended up in a Subway and I dared to get the same sandwich that I got in Barcelona…lets see if they know what Ranch truly is…..SUCCESS!!! It was the best sandwich I have had in a long time…THANK THE LORD. Afterwards, we headed over to a bar called "Big Banana" where they had free wi-fi and I FINALLY got to upload all my October pictures…if you haven't seen them yet…check them out on my Facebook. We stayed there for about 2 hours and then finally got kicked out…so we decided to go put our computers back on board and walk around and see what we could find. Well, there wasn't really anything to see in St. John's….and it kinda smelled like…crap. I was so excited for Lesley to get to the Caribbean, since she had never been there in her life but this wasn't a good first impression. We walked around to a lot of expensive shops…good lord. I was on a mission that day to find some beach sandals / nicer sandals to go out in and sunglasses…cause I REALLY need them. We stopped at a store that had some beach sandals and I got 2 pairs for 6 dollars…thats not bad and one thing checked off my list. We didn't find any nice sandals or sunglasses but I have some spare time…I'll find them. We ended up going to an AMAZING ice cream shop called, "Australian" and HOLY CRAP…it was the best ice cream I ever have had…not joking. The make the waffle cone…fresh, right in front of you!!!!! I got cookie dough and chocolate and holy crap…it was SO good. It was a great first day back on land. That night I watched us sail away from the port….it took us about an hour but it was so cool. I was up there all alone and everything was so quite…just me and my thoughts. I have come to enjoy those moments….when I can really take the time to reflect and really "understand" what I'm doing this year….its mind blowing sometimes.
Friday, we had to change our course to Roseau, Dominica instead of St. Lucia because of Hurricane Tomas. I was so excited this day because Lesley and I were suppose to go on an awesome Dolphin and Whale tour…just awesome. I wake up that morning and we had a crew drill…BORING. Afterwards, Lesley and I decided to take the shuttle bus into town to get a quick bite to eat before our tour at 1:00. Well, that was easier said than done….it took us 30 mins to get into the city…when I probably could have thrown a rock and it would have gotten there quicker. By the time we got into the city, we had to just stay on the bus to take us back…we were bummed, cause we were kinda starving. We get back to the port to find out that our tour had been canceled due to the excursions boat propeller being broken…no Dolphin/Whale tour for us….BUMMER!!! So we changed our clothes, got our computers and headed back into town. We ended up going to KFC and having some strange meals. Caught up with the rest of the gang and headed to a local coffee shop to have something to drink and get free internet. That night we had to get back on board early because we had to go full steam ahead to Bridgetown, Barbados. That evening again, I watched the sail away and sunsets….I have to admit…this might be my favorite thing that I can do on board…just so peaceful.
Saturday, we arrived in Barbados and GOSH, was it hot….WOOOO. I had terminal duty in the morning and I nearly passed out. Lesley looked at me and said, "are you alright" and when I looked at her to say yea…I got the biggest head rush…I sat down afterwards….whoosh. A little later, Jodie and Greg were very very sweet and said, take the day off and go to "The Boatyard" and have fun….so I got embarkation off…THANKS JODIE AND GREG!!!! Lesley, Johannah, Emily, Keeva and I all headed off to "The Boatyard". This place is like a 20-somethings playground (had the best BBQ chicken sandwich by the way…haha) and had a rope swing, jet ski's, trampoline in the ocean…just AWESOMENESS. We spent a lot of time in the ocean and I turned to Lesley while swimming with her and said, "FINALLY….Welcome to the Caribbean!!!!" Later that day we had to go back for the pumpkin drill and taste of things to come…BORING!!! Later that night however, we had THE best time going to a REAL dinner at….TGI Fridays. We all got a drink (Long Island Ice Tea…yeah, NYC) and then we got our meals (Skins and Quesadillas)…YES YES YES!!! Afterwards, we all headed back to "The Boatyard" where they were celebrating Halloween and having a HUGE party…$30 for admission where you get free drinks from 10 - 3am…uh, awesome…party on the beach….YES!!! First though, to enter the party, you had to go through a haunted house. Now if you know me, you know that I don't do scary things well…ESPECIALLY haunted houses, so needless to say, Jodie and I were screaming and holding on to each other like it was our jobs…haha, she is a hoot.
What an awesome week I have had and I can't believe that I am finally in the Caribbean. This next cruise is as follows: STILL IN BARBADOS on Sunday / Roseau, Dominica on Monday / Basseterre, St. Kitts on Tuesday / Gustavia, St. Barts on Wednesday / At Sea on Thursday / Bequia, St. Vincent on Friday and back in Bridgetown, Barbados for embarkation on Saturday.
The next cruise we do a Bridgetown, Barbados to FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA…I'll be back in the states since Aug. 20th…WHOO HOO…and finally able to use my phone again!!!!
I hope that you have a wonderful week and can't wait to see you back here again….thanks for reading about my journeyn (this one is quite long…sorry)…means a lot to know that I have people out there that love me enough to read about this crazy adventure that I'm on. WHOOO HOOO!!!
Until Next Time,
Jason
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