Hello everyone,
I hope that you have had a great week since the last time. The LONGEST CRUISE…EVER is almost complete and I can't wait to start the next one.
Well, here is what happened since the last blog:
Tuesday, January 11th we were at sea with the normal duties and movie watching. I actually got to watch the new movies "Easy A" and "The Social Network" which both were very good….I love the fact that we get new movies…so I can stay up on them but more importantly not have to pay the movie to see them in the movie theatre…haha. Today marks a very special day for the cast….it is our half way mark for our contract. I have 5 more months left from this day…a strange thing to say…cause I can remember someone saying, "We have 8 more months" and me thinking that I'd never get to this place. This next 5 months are going to be CRAZY!!!
Wednesday, January 12th we were in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala but OF COURSE…I was on IPM. I went out for my duty of table tennis and I looked outside and took some pictures. It was SO windy here…I couldn't believe it. Of course, people come to play table tennis on the day that its SO windy and I have to explain to them, its too busy…haha. Oh well…..Thursday, January 13th was another sea day of course. Again, another day of duties and just trying to find things to keep us busy. I feel like this is why this cruise is SO long due to the fact that we have a sea day in between every port day….ehhh, come on lets get to the end of the cruise….haha.
Friday, January 14th we are in Acapulco, Mexico (where are those killings just happened….makes me feel safe). Lesley and I got off as soon as we could to be overwhelmed with the taxi drivers who didn't understand the word, "NO". They would keep going, "Amigo…do you need a taxi"…haha. Then there were people trying to sell us stuff and the saddest is the little girls that would follow us trying to sell us packs of gum. I don't understand why parents want to put their children in that sort of situation..hmmm. Lesley and I eventually spotted a grocery store, so thats where we were heading. I couldn't believe the prices there because 12 pesos in equal to 1 american dollar….so you could say that we stocked up a little bit. It was funny because we were looking for beans because Lesley has got me hooked on Beans on toast (a VERY English meal) and I thought, "we are in Mexico…they have to have beans". Well, we search EVERYWHERE in that grocery store for these beans and couldn't find them. I kept thinking, you have to be kidding me…there aren't BEANS?????? Finally we found them and we stocked up….made both of us happy. After that we walked back to the ship, put our groceries back in our room and then headed out into the terminal to grab some free wifi and some lunch. The place that we went to didn't have the best food which was upsetting…I was looking forward to some great mexican food. Oh well….then we went into the terminal where I bought something that I needed to get and then back on the ship for sail away. Lesley told me that she was told that today would be the best day to see Dolphins so I went to watch the sail away where….we saw NO dolphins. Funny thing actually…I've been on the ship for 5 months and not seen ONE dolphin or whale….like really? I just find that very strange….all in all, had a good day.
Saturday, January 15th was…you guessed it….ANOTHER sea day. It actually was EXTREMELY rocky today…probably the worst that it has ever been. I actually thought at one point that the ship was going to go on its side. We were having 65 mph winds and the sea was just as bad. We weren't aloud to go up on the open deck because the wind was the strong. Also, the security came into our cabin and closed our port hole because the sea was hitting the side of the ship so hard…they were just trying to be safe. I didn't feel so great so I stayed in bed because I couldn't get down….was WAY too rocky.
Sunday, January 16th we are in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico….somewhere I have always wanted to go to. We got off the ship REALLY early since we were sailing away at 1:00 today (so stupid). When we got to the port, we were greeted by a sea lion in the water….which was really cool. We walked around the port trying to find a great place to get something to eat breakfast / lunch. Finally we found a place and everyone had a GREAT meal. I had a BLT sandwich and nachos…its was REALLY good. Afterwards everyone went their separate ways because we only had another hour left. I walked down the boardwalk and took some pictures of some great hotels and stuff in the area…this is defiantly a place I would like to vacation someday…it was a beautiful day. The sail away from Cabo was beautiful and guess what….WE FINALLY SAW WHALES AND DOLPHINS!!!!!!!! It was so cool spotting the whales and actually seeing them hit the water with their fins..it was awesome. Then we saw about 50 dolphin come by our ship…it was so cool. I just find it so funny that I thought only 2 days ago that I haven't seen anything in 5 months and then 2 days later….I see everything…weird. Monday, January 17th…AGAIN..we were at sea again….there isn't really much to report from this day…just the normal duties and laying in bed trying to figure out the meaning of life….haha….just kidding.
Tuesday, January 18th we were in SAN DIEGO, CA…..HOOORAY back in America. The morning, I had shuffleboard so I couldn't get off that early. I was on the phone talking to my Grandma and was not paying attention to things around me…when I looked up and the HUGE seagull is sitting on the railing in front of me….like, I'm talking about I could have stretched my arm out and touched the bird…thats how close he was to me. SCARED THE CRAP out of me….holy crap. Afterwards, I laughed and thought…my mom would have really got a kick out of that. After the seagull debacle, Adam (the DJ) and I went out to the shopping mall that the free shuttle bus was taking us, to be met by Lesley later in the day. We walked around this mall, went into the apple store and some others and I'm very proud of myself that I didn't buy a thing. For lunch/dinner, we went to the Applebees that was across the street and had a GREAT meal. I don't think that I have eaten that much food in quite some time but boy, was it good. Afterwards, we walked off our meals and finally met Lesley. We went to a few stores where she could get some stuff that she wanted to get and I got a pretzel….I always do that when I go to a mall. It wasn't like the ones I'm used to…but I'll live. That night, we had to do late socializing and we talked for the last time with our temporary grandparents that are on the ship…they really liked Lesley and I. It was a big group of 22 of them…and I gave them my email and I hope that they keep in touch. The sail away from San Diego was BEAUTIFUL…actually one of the prettiest that we have seen to be honest….a great day today.
Wednesday, January 19th and 20th we are finally in Los Angeles, CA….WOOOHOOO. Unfortunately, I had to work in the terminal for 3 hours…just standing there…being bored out of my mind. Finally, I was done and could go out into the city. Cody, Emily and I went to Ralph's (a grocery store). Lets just say I stocked up for quite sometime haha. Afterwards, we got a really great lunch at In-n-Out, a famous west coast burger joint and boy, was it good…wow. After we took back the groceries to the ship Greg, Jodie, Adam and I went to a mall that was close to the ship. We had a great time just walking around and not being on the ship…it was a fun time. After about 2 hours in the mall, we cam back to the ship and all decided to go out for the evening for a nice meal and night out…since we were overnight in LA. I found this place called Utopia in Long Beach and set reservations for Jodie, Greg, Jen, Cody, Emily and myself. We had a GREAT meal at this restaurant and then we decided to go out on the town and have a great time. Kieren, Ashley and Cheryl came to meet us and we all had a great time….what a wonderful overnight to finally end the longest cruise EVER!!! The 20th was the second embark day and I was on IPM so I had to work all day long. We finally left LA around 7:00pm and now we are at sea for 6 days going to the French Polynesia (Tahiti). THE WORLD CRUISE HAS STARTED!!!!
The next cruise's itinerary is: At Sea Friday, January 21 - Wednesday, January 26th / Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Island; Thursday the 27th / Atuona, Marquesas Island; Friday the 28th / At Sea; Saturday the 29th / Rangiroa, French Polynesia; Sunday the 30th / Moorea, French Polynesia; Monday the 31st and we end the first part of the world cruise in Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia on the 1st of February.
Until Next Time,
Jason
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