Saturday, December 30, 2006

Since Last we Spoke

We just finished our first seven day cruise yesterday and started the second seven day cruise that very afternoon. The ship usually docks around 7am on disembarkation day and they start telling everyone to get off the ship...they say it very nicely like this....(Bing Bong) "This is the front desk/receptionist/cruise director speaking! Disembarkation is beginning, please proceed to the exit. Thanks for cruising with us." They do that about 20 times. Then when it gets closer to final disembarkation time (9:30am), they say, (Bing Bong) "All passengers should be off the ship. If you're still on the ship, please proceed directly to deck seven and the exit." They're really nice about it when I think what they want to say is "You've over stayed your welcome. Now Get Off the Ship!!!"

After all those people get off, the crew and staff clean the ship top to bottom, inside and out, fix whatever needs fixing and then a whole new group starts getting on by 11am. 11 am. It's crazy. That day is filled with stuff, people and luggage (oh, so much luggage) being loaded onto the ship. All the while the crew is all getting off the ship for a few brief but sweet hours in Miami.

I seriously can't believe how people pack for a seven day trip...I mean it's seven days and they pack like it's four months...I know this because I packed for four months and I packed the same amount as them. When they get on for their first day on the ship, they all go crazy in the Garden Cafe. The Garden Cafe (aka GC) is where we have most of our meals. It's a buffet style restaurant. The passengers get in there on their first day and lose their mind. I mean so much food and they're all stressed our from traveling. So people are in there growling at each other over enormous plates of food either about the food, the drink they want or the drink they have and how hard it was to get on the ship. This sounds crazy to me because none of them even have to handle their own luggage, it all gets delivered to their room! By the second day most of them have mellowed out....they still tend to stop in doorways for no reason, stop in the doorway of the elevator for no reason and to walk in a sidewinder pattern down the halls so you can't possibly pass them no matter how hard you try. They also throw out their arms at random and drop stuff. All in all the passengers are pretty fun to watch but don't touch!

This last trip during Christmas week we went to Samana, Tortola, St. Thomas & Great Stirrup Cay. Here's a bit about each place:

SAMANA - is located in the Dominican Republic. It's a beautiful, lush island from afar. Mountainous, covered with jungles and surrounded by clear waters. But Samana is a very poor town in a poor country and not really ready for tourists. This is not a bad thing but it's a weird situation for a bunch of people on a cruise ship to be dropped into. I don't think every place should be picture perfect but there should be something there to see. After we walked around for a bit, we found a group of dancers in the village square. They were performing traditional dances of the DR and that was fun to watch. I was freaked out by all the stray and very sad looking doggies running around. I alternately wanted to love them up or make them go away. We all went to a restaurant for a bit and had some platians, coffee and some beer. We didn't shop but we did our bit to help the local economy.

TORTOLA BVI (British Virgin Islands)- We docked in Roadtown. Roadtown is part tourist town and part town town. It's very pretty and rugged. When we got off the ship, we found out that all of the swimming beaches were on the other side of the island. So we all got into a truck bus....basically it's truck in the front and open air bus in the back. Then we began our climb up and over Tortola to Cane Garden Bay. The drive was scary and fun. Many of the roads are blind one lane roads....so as were were going up or coming down we couldn't see if someone else was too....amazingly they managed to avoid all the near death (actually didn't avoid near-death, only actual death). We also had to tend with goats, cows and chickens on the road as well.

Tortola is beautiful and Cane Garden Bay was a great place to spend Christmas Day. We were on a white sand beach with all these little ramshackle bars on stilts, and several guys with dreadlocks renting sun chairs. There was also an adorable little curly haired black dog that played fetch with everyone. I mean this dog was super cute and smart. So we went swimming/snorkeling and then laid around on the two chairs we rented. After a bit we decided we should go to the nearest bar which was called Myett's. There we had a traditional Christmas dinner of PiƱa Coladas (Beer for Larrance), coconut shrimp, chicken roti, mahi mahi burger and jerk chicken wings. After that we got back on the truck taxi with a gentleman who really liked to speed and then we got back on the ship.

That night we had our Secret Santa exchange. I got a tiny blown glass octopus from Ben. I was Andel's Secret Santa and I got her a red bag, some acrylic rings, and oatmeal chocolate chip lip balm. And at the Garden Cafe, they had traditional Christmas Dinner....it was delicious....but weird to be eating it in 80 degree weather with balmy sea breeze blowing on my back.

ST THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Isle - we stopped on St. Thomas on the day of our showcase show so we didn't have long to spend there. St. Thomas is the opposite of Samana. It's all about the tourists and wealth so it's a very pretty but kind of gross sometimes. I mean it's all shopping - everything from cheesy t-shirts to crazy expensive jewelry. The town itself is very pretty and there are lots of big fancy private yachts in the harbor. We didn't shop but we did buy some iced coffee and sat and watched people. Then we decided to walk a bit off the beaten path...it got a little scary...behind all that wealthy facade is a very poor population and I couldn't help but feel that we were part of the problem.

GREAT STIRRUP CAY-is a small island owned by NCL. It's in the Bahamas and fairly near to Nassau. There's nothing on this island but NCL stuff. So you go over on these big tenders (aka boats) and then you hang on the beach. That didn't excite us too much but there was a light house on the far end of the island so we walked out to that and took some photos. Then we climbed around on this rocky bit that looked like the surface of the moon. The best part about this bit was that you couldn't hear the band or any of the people. You could only hear the ocean. (Larrance is finding the constant music on the ship annoying. We're slowly finding areas free of passengers and music (besides our cabin of course)). After we were out there, we went back to the NCL "beach party" (everything's a party on a ship) and we got some bbq chicken and fixin's and then we went wading in the ocean. After that we went back to the ship on the tender and had a nap. What day!

I think I should explain something. The ship either docks or we have to tender. When we dock, you get to walk straight off the ship. OR the ship drops anchor in the water and we have to take these little tiny boats called "tenders" to the pier. The tenders are awful because they're slow but really it's because they stink. Oh, how they stink. The tender on Great Stirrup Cay wasn't bad because it was an open boat and it carried 250 people. Usually they're enclosed and only carry 100 people and they contain a foul stench that really can't be explained and can only be experienced. May you never have to experience it!!

Our days are pretty easy...here's a typical schedule

8:30/9am Get up & Shower
9:30 to 12:30 Breakfast & Coffee Klatch with the cast
12:30 to 3:30 Read, sun, swim, watch a movie
Sometime after 3:30 but usually before 7:30 Go to the Gym
8pm Dinner and then hang out and do whatever.
12am to 2am Go to bed.
Larrance spends some time composing and has found the times when the concert grand piano in the theater is free.


Obviously this changes if we're docking/tendering somewhere....then we're usually off the boat by 10:30 and back on around 3:30/4pm.

Two days a week we have our shows. Our showcase, scripted show is in the Stardust Theater which holds over a thousand people. We do an early show (about 7:30 pm) and late show (about 9 or 9:30), both of which were packed last week and very well received.

The other show is our improvised show in Spinniker Lounge which holds about 300 people. But they packed an extra hundred or so in there last week for us. We do an early and late show there as well (about 9:00 and 11 pm)--the later show is billed as adults only so we're allowed to get a little blue.

During the first few days of each cruise, we're anonymous--just more passengers. After our shows we're always being stopped and congratulated and asking to take our pictures with them. So far our shows have been wildly popular.

It's fun to be acknowledged but the anonymous beginning of the week is nice also.

Miami days are the busiest days since they're all business. We hit the seaman's club to check our P.O. Box. Then we run errands. One of these days, I need to find an internet cafe so I can upload all the photos we've taken.

Today we're at Sea. Tomorrow we are going to be in Costa Maya, Mexico. After that we visit Cozumel, Belize City and St. Tomas (Guatemala). I'll write again soon.

~Jen

4 comments:

mer said...

HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Great descriptions, I almost feel like I'm there. Of course, in Saint Louis it is 50 and raining. But I can dream! Had a quiet Eve last night, except for the usual gunshots at midnight. We watched the movie Pirates of the Carribean. Hope you don't run into Davey Jones, but Jack Sparrow might be fun at a party. Had trouble posting this comment. I registered again, hope it goes thru this time. Really do enjoy reading about your adventure, call when you can. Hugs. Mary

mer said...

Hi and haaapy NY to both of you. It's Jim tagging on to Mary's message since it's apparently necessary to re-register for each posting. As MER noted, a quiet NY's eve here except for the midnight gunplay -- one of our less desireable local traditions. Jenn, love your descriptions of all the exptic places you are visiting and of life aboard a cruise ship. Great to see that your shows are so much appreciated by what are probably some pretty sophisticated audiences. We also went to see The Queen yesterday. Don't know how accurate the portrayals are, but I came away wondering how any family could be so completely dense and clueless. It was well done and entertaining. I leave tomorrow for sin city till 1/8. Hope to talk to you soon. Looking forward to more of your messages in the meantime. Love ya, Dad.

amaraken said...

Happy 2007, Jenn and Larrance!
"Wildly popular", such great words to see. At Frank's little gathering in Seawall last night I quoted you in that regard, and Jackie, Andy, Curtis, Weslea, Ken, and Frank all toasted to you.
Keep those details coming, because we need entertainment around here. Oh, and we can't wait for the pics....Marilee

Unknown said...

happy new year j+l! the descriptions of these places are fantastic. i love reading it- it's like a vacation from this winter wonderland.