First Cruise... Done and done!

Well, where to even begin? First off I have officially finished my first cruise and turnover around on a Grand Class ship and that was easier than I thought it would be. Yeaaahhh! With 3000 passengers onboard, I thought it would be a nightmare compared to the 2000 passengers I was used to but it was a breeze! I did have to work at the ungodly hour at 5am this morning but it meant I had 6 hours off in Southampton to explore which I would never have in a embarkation/disembarkation port on my last ship.

Fourteen days ago, I left home once again to start my adventures and what a wind whirl cruise it was. With a twelve day cruise, we had 10 ports which is insane for passengers, I would think they would need a vacation after that much travelling around! Port after port can get tiring for not only them but for the staff as well especially after working 7 days a week and going out in every port we had three or more hours break. I can’t even believe I have been in various places in Ireland, Scotland, and England in such a short time!

My adventure began after a long day of travelling and waiting in airports and planes to arrive for my next contract. I had one day in a Heathrow airport hotel before joining the ship but after not sleeping for 24 hours, I need a nap more than anything before starting work so I didn’t see much before joining the Crown. I was picked up at the hotel at 6:30am and driven to my new ‘home’ for the next 6 months with only 1.5 hours to unpack and get organized before starting my first shift.

I am working on the Passenger Services Desk again and that’s fine by me, the other departments for the pursers are working insane hours here so I think I’m okay if I stay here a while. The team is good on the desk and helpful and mostly JAPs that have a few contracts behind them which is good. There is two other Ontario residents that work there as well, one girl from Lindsey and a guy from Toronto so it’s nice to have a bit of a Canadian Mafia!

Our first port of call that I was able to go explore was Cobh (Cork), Ireland and this was the last port that the Titanic went to before its sinking. The city was full of memorials and museums set up for this. I only had an hour to go out here so me and Roger (Cdn) headed out for a quick walk around the city taking in the scenery.

The next port I was able to explore was Liverpool, England. The city which made the Beatles famous so of course I hit up the Beatles Museum. It was neat to see the history that made them. I also realised I was in the heart of football (soccer) fever because everywhere I turned there was Liverpool jerseys.

Belfast in Northern Ireland was especially special for me since Northren Ireland is where my heritage is from. I had time to explore Belfast, a busy city rich with historic buildings and stone work. I wandered around the city only to feel safe and comfortable in such a busy atmosphere. My break wasn’t complete without of course stopping and having a Guinness at a local pub which the city was full of. I now understand why my sister spent over two weeks in Ireland exploring because my little taste was definitely not enough.

Scotland (Greenock, Invergordon, South Queensferry and Edinburgh) was also everything I expected full of castles, bagpipes, historic stonework, shortbread (yum!) and plaid, plaid and more plaid. Although I was dying to see where the famous lockness monster supposedly was once seen, time did not permit and the day that I had a long break, I took a local bus into the heart of Edinburgh to explore the Edinburgh Castle which was beautiful. After stopping at quite a few historic sites, I settled at a local pub for some fish and chips and a pint of local beer before rushing back to the ship.

Finally, the last port of call, FRANCE… I wished so much to be able to go to Paris but it was a three hour drive from where we were docked and I only had a three hour break so that wasn’t going to work. I feel like I would need at least three days to take in Paris properly so it worked out fine that I just went out in Le Havre where we docked. It was neat to walk the streets that were filled with the sweet smells of bake goods and listen to the residents speak French. I could resist having a real espresso and purchasing a sandwich made on real banquette and enjoying it as I watched the busy streets. It definitely made me smile when I saw people actually walking down the street with freshly made banquette, it was what I had pictured.

I think I have done pretty good for my first cruise, I have had the chance to see quite a bit due to my great supervisor who has given me some longer breaks. I’ve learnt from my last contract, it’s nice to experience how people live, eat and drink in the countries you visit. It’s the best way to understand the ports you visit. I’m getting excited for the next cruise where we will be doing the Trans-Atlantic cruise which means 4 (yes 4!) hour backs which means more sleep for me... Everyone that knows me knows that this is an important detail in my life… Also, this means I’m heading home… well at least to the East side of my own country which I have never seen before. My moving home at sea in my home country, I think I like it~

Chapter 2!

So as I sit here in the Toronto Airport waiting to board the plane for my second contract, I think where the heck did the summer go? I was home for two months and it was a blast but I can't believe I'm off again!

This time around I have brought my laptop which means I promise not to stopping writing my blog half way through like last time. I will be able to update quite a bit and with the internary I'm about to part take in, my family and friends are sure to want to know what's going on!

Orginally, I shouldn't even be sitting in the airport yet for another week or so but I got a call to join early and after looking into the ship, I couldn't say no!

I will be joining the Crown Princess, one of the larger ships in the fleet. There will be over 3000 passengers (Save me now!) so it's a huge one! I'm flying into England and for the first month, I'll be cruising England, Ireland, Scotland, Greenland, Iceland and even making a stop in Paris... (Your going to win the bet Dave, my money is going to Paris :)) After that I'll be heading to the east coast of Canada (Woot hoot!) and the US for two months. Following will be the Carribean for the winter... another snowless winter, yes please!

I'm very excited to see these ports and even more excited to do the East coast of Canada which I have never done. (Just the west) I even have two overnights in Quebec so my parents will be coming out to meet me there to see me in October :) I can't wait.

My flight today will take me first to Rome and then after to London where I will be staying in a hotel for the night before joining my ship on Sunday morning. I haven't decided yet whether to explore London for the afternoon or taking a bath and nap... both are tempting but it will depend how I feel once I get there.

For my family and friends, keep reading and I'll keep you posted. Know that I'll be missing you and will see most of you in Feb!

xoxoxox

Round Two of the Parkers in Asia! Shanghai, China

I find it a bit surreal that my contract has lead me to first to Hong Kong to see Jen & Luke and then to top it off two days later I’m meeting my Aunt Jan and Uncle Kevin in the city they live in, Shanghai, China. At first I was quite unsure if crew would have shore leave as a Visa to enter into China is required but one good thing about being a ‘seaman’ is the ship gets a landing permit allowing all crew to go ashore.

So after my shift in the morning, I met Uncle Kevin and Aunt Jan at the pier along with their trusty driver for a day of the siteseeing and shopping around Shanghai. They are VERY smart to have a driver because really the driving is absolutely INSANE in China!

Our first stop was to a downtown market where I found that having family that lives in China and can speak Chinese is very helpful. Having Aunt Jan talk down prices to the shop keepers was a blessing. I found all kinds of neat like things for great prices.

After the morning of market shopping, we headed to lunch to a nice wine bar and enjoyed a bottle of wine and a nice lunch catching up with each other. After heading from lunch, we found a group of ladies all carrying Barbie shopping bags to which Aunt Jan remembered that there was a 6 story Barbie store close by so off we went with the driver to the Barbie Store which is a little girls fanasty world and mine since I have been a collector for many years.

The store was full of Barbies, everything was Barbie's signature colour (hot pink!), there was a Barbie Cafe and Spa. We had some fun posing with barbie cutouts and I walked the offical Barbie catwalk. I bought a Shanghai Barbie to add to my collection and off we went to visit Aunt Jan and Uncle Kevin's home.

After spending a bit of time looking around their house, we headed to the market nearby for more shopping! (I'm glad Uncle Kevin doesn't mind all the shopping!) I got all kinds of things to bring home for gifts and even managed to get myself a nice coach purse.. of course it was a bit scary when the sales women locked me in a closet with her and about 500 knock off pursers and wouldn't let me leave until we agreed on a price.

Time was getting close to my time to head back to the ship so we decided to head for dinner at a bar that Uncle Kevin and Aunt Jan visit often. We had westren cuisine and finally another rye and ginger (I miss my rye and ginger too much not being able to get it on the ship)

We raced back to the ship to get me back to work but not without getting some photos in front of the pearl tower.

I had such a lovely time seeing Uncle Kevin and Aunt Jan. It was a great time considering I was missing home and seeing the Parkers made me comforted again. We always have a great time together and I'm truely lucky that my contract brought me over to visit them.

Off to work again.... sleeping? What's that?

36 hours in port - 9 hours working – 1 hour of sleep = 23 hours of Jen & Luke’s windwhirl tour of Hong Kong

It seems like forever ago when I found out I would be heading to Hong Kong on my contract. In December, March seemed like it would never appear but at last! I was finally going to see my long lost cousin (well… I saw her in the summer BUT never where she lives!) After working the night shift and getting off at 8am, I was WAY too excited to even think of sleeping or resting before seeing Jen. Originally we had planned to meet around 11am but I immediately called her when I finished work for her to meet me as soon as possible.

Jen came and met me at the pier where my home was docked and we started are windwhirl tour of Hong Kong. Our first stop was Mong Kok which was a busy marketplace with the streets lined with all kinds of clothing, bags, and other random items. We enjoyed a bubble tea, shopped in a few shops (I absolutely love that I found H&M and Cotton On and that things were super cheap!) and then headed for lunch.

Our lunch was rather interesting as we went to toilet themed restaurant called Modern Toilet where everything was bathroom related, you sat on toilets, you ate out of sinks and you sat at tables made of bathtubs. I must say Asians think of the weirdest ideas for things…

After having a quick bite, we went across town and took the famed Star Ferry across the harbor to the bottom of the Peak. We headed up to the Peak via cable car (which at some points you were almost completely vertical) where you get a view of the entire city and also, this is a special spot for Jen since Luke proposed to her there. While in the building, heading up to the top of the peak, the escalator ended up getting the best of me and cutting my toe open. (I now understand why you shouldn’t wear flip flops on these things.) A very friendly information booth worker came to my rescue and bandaged my toe all up… clearly it was her first time doing this since my cut was only small but she wrapped my toe all up to make it out like I broke the thing… Regardless, she was quite sweet and I was just glad me and Jen could get back on schedule.

After doing a bit more shopping and looking around, we headed to dinner at the top of the Peak at Bumba Gump’s which is a themed restaurant all based on the Forest Gump movie. (Again, another weird Asian theme?) This overlooked the city and it was neat to see the sun set and Hong Kong come to life (Night life that is) with all the lights turning on as the sun went down. We made our way to the rooftop which was packed with people to try to catch a glimpse of the beautiful city at night.

By this time, it was getting to the time to meet up with Luke who had been working all day so we headed to well known bar street. The street was lined with different bars and people standing all in the street. We met up with Luke at a Canadian bar called Stormie’s and finally after 3 months I had a Coors Light (which for those who know me well, is my beer of choice and these Aussie’s have no idea about it) Soon, it was getting close to my time to return back to my home so I could start my shift for the night.

The next morning after 9 hours of work, Jen and Luke picked me up and took me on a tour of the Hong Kong country side. This was really nice to see since the first day was all about the city (which I LOVED and can’t wait to go back!!) but it was neat to see that there was a lot of natural beauty to Hong Kong as well. We headed out to Jen and Luke’s house which is an awesome three story house with lots of windows with sunlight and a nice roof top balcony to view the mountains surrounding their house. At this point, I was in need of two things, a short nap of an hour and a cup of coffee when I woke up which Jen readily supplied.

We headed into a waterfront fish market town which the streets were lined with aquariums filled with different sea creatures that you could pick and they would cook it for you in the restaurants right there. Anyone knowing me knows I would have no part in this so we made our way to a cowboy ranch style saloon and had a bite to eat. (Tempura battered pickles… way better than beer battered ones in Canada!)

Our time was coming to an end as it was all board for staff at 5:00PM so we raced back to the ship and said our goodbyes before they sent me on my way. It was sad to leave Hong Kong but I now understand why Jen loves it so much over there and I can’t wait to come back (but for a much longer time) to visit her again.

These 36 hours definitely made up for my first impressions of Asia.

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Because the Cherry Blossom cruise is a first for many onboard right now, each of us at the desk were put in charge of two ports that we had to gather information about for us to present to the team in order to be knowledgeable to assist with any passenger queries (now I’m sounding like a Aussie.. the signature line I hear… “I have a quick query for you” and believe me when I say, it is never quick.) Kota Kinabalu was one of the ports I had to present to my colleagues and my perspective from the information I found compared to the actual place was almost completely opposite.

I envisioned a city filled with fabulous shopping, beautiful sites, rich temples and interesting markets, what I found was that the capital city of Sabah did have beautiful temples and Mosques like Muara but that was about it. Many people claimed that Malaysia was one of their favorite places but so far, this was one of my least but I have been told that this wasn’t the best city to visit for first impressions on Malaysia.

I was more in shock then I was Muara when I saw the rivers in the city lined with ‘plastic fish’ as they called it (millions of plastic bottles since they do not have proper recycling and waste disposal) and the distinct smell of the markets that was enough for me to turn right around and get back on the bus as soon as I stepped off. Maybe it didn’t help that the temperature was a blazing 40C out?

Not all of it was a bust… I’ve got to love my connections with the tour office as yet again they sent me on an afternoon tour to see the city sights. There were two things I did really enjoy about the city including the interesting architecture and the museum featuring an original heritage village filled with bamboo huts. It was neat to see the bamboo huts which look like they could be knocked over with a gust of wind but the bamboo actually holds its structure in place. The huts were built on silts about a meter above ground to protect against the tide and wildlife and I could hardly believe that the flooring made of bamboo and leaves held up for the millions of tourists walking through.

After my first two Asia ports, although I didn’t fall in love with either, I know the best is yet to come; I have the Parkers in the next two ports so I know my adventures in Asia will only get better!

Muara, Brunei

Not know much about Brunei, (to be quite honest, never even heard of the place before docking there) I decided to take a tour of the city to see the highlights of Muara. Brunei is known as one of the richest countries due to its discovery of vast deposits of oil off shore in the early 20th century. On one hand the city features many beautiful Mosques and Temples but on the other, it was quite weird to see such riches right next to poverty.

Our first stop along the way was to the museum which featured the royal family’s private collection of gifts from other countries which had all kinds of things ranging from pottery, jewelery, paintings and other unique antique items.

After that we headed to the Jame Asr Hassanel Bolkiah Mosque which was beautiful. The details of the Mosque was all finished in 24 carat gold and Swarovski crystals hung from all the chandeliers. This Mosque holds over 5000 people and is the most magnificent in Brunei.

Following our visit to the Mosque, we boarded a water taxi to view the rainforest and water city which is one of the last remaining active water cities still around. I’m still not certain if the water taxi was completely safe but at least they gave us makeshift lifejackets just in case anything happened.

Our guide took us into a small opening in the trees alongside of the river to look for something I had been wanting and waiting to see all day… real live monkeys in their natural habitat. We waited for a short time and three Proboscis Monkeys appeared and played above us in the canopy trees. This was definitely my highlight of the tour even though I didn’t manage to snap of picture of them as I was too intrigued watching them swing around above me.

Saying Good-Bye to two members of the Dream Team

Working on ships, you learn quickly that people come and go through out your contracts. In March, I had to say good-bye to two of my close friends on the team, Jules and Warren. They both definitely MADE my first contract and I hope to see them again on another contract.

JAP's at Crew Bar
Warren, Jules, Raffaella, me, Alvin, Dave, Emma, Matt and Niki