Tinkerblue

2 Hours in Halifax, Nova Scotia

 

When I signed onto Splendor it was on its last Canada/New England cruise. I couldn't get off in Portland, Maine because I don't have my new I95 yet. I was able to get off in Halifax. But we had an all crew general emergency drill first.. By the time that finished I had 2 hours to explore Halifax before back on board.

 

First stop - Royal Bank to deal with some banking. It was nice not to have to pay cross border or wire fees just to pay my Canadian bills.

 

I had an iced Capuccino at Timmies, yep an ICED cappuccino despite the fact that it's freezing outside. Well at least for me. I'm used to a Caribbean summer. I'm not used to 14c anymore. I don't have enough clothes with me for this weather. But the shop was warm and I downloaded some TV viewing while I sipped my Ice Capp.

 

 

Walked the harbourfront. Stopping to window shop, people watch and watch the boats in the harbour.

 

 

Made good use of being in a Bell service area and phoned a friend or two in Vancouver without having to pay long distance or roaming charges. It was nice to hear familiar voices. Tried to phone a few others but the middle of a week day is not a good time to catch working friends at home. Oh well.

 

Watched some glass blowing at Novia Scotian Crystal and then

 

 

shopped. You knew that was going to happen. I purchased a few Christmas gifts to send around the world. And you'll be pleased to know I continued my tradition of buying myself useless gifts for the house I do not have. Christmas decorations at that. So not only do I not have a house to put them in but they can only be used once a year! Even I don't leave Christmas decorations up all year round. Although I could say they are winter decor not Christmas decorations. Then if I move back to Australia I can put them up in July and August for winter and then again in December for Christmas. Oh I like that idea. Twice the fun.

Pewter from Amos pewter and

 

Crystal from Nova Scotian Crystal. All locally made.

 

Finally a beer before I headed back to the ship.

 

 

I would love to come back to Halifax and spend a few days exploring the area. It's my second visit to Nova Scotia, previously I've visited Sydney and Baddeck. The more time I spend here, the more I like it.

 

 

 

 

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Bobsledding Jamaica

 

 

 

 

 

(Found this is my saved posts, obviously I never hit submit.  This is from my third contract, which was on Freedom).

Have you seen Cool Runnings?  Why not?  It's loosely inspired by the Jamaican bobsled team preparing for the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary.  Very loosely.

 

 

It's a popular movie and the Jamaican's have capitalized on that.  You can now go bobsledding in Jamaica. This was the second half of our excursion, after climbing Dunn's River Falls.

 

 

We took the sky explorer from the parking lot up to the top of Mystic Mountain.  The views were amazing.  And many times we were able to touch the tree tops with our feet.  

 

 

At the top there is a mini museum dedicated to Jamaican bobsledding.  

 

 

We loaded into a two person bobsled. Which is actually two sleds hooked together.  Gigli nominated me to be the driver so she could video the ride. I took the front sled with Gigli in the back car. 

 

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We asked a ride worker to take our photo and this is what she got! Great that's the sleds but where are Gigli and I?

 

 

And away we go!  Not sure why this photo won't stay vertical. Track is 1000 metres long and is driven by gravity.

 

 

Apparently you can get speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. Not sure how we did but it felt fast.  I didn't use the brakes until the guy on the side of the track told me I had to!

 

 

After the bobsledding we had lunch - all served out of bobsled BBQ's and then we took the sky explorer back down to the bus.

 

7 Months on a Trio of Ships

Alright, I was unbelievably annoyed with Typepad and the constant problems I was having getting photos to load. So I gave up. That's why there has been nothing for the last 6 months. I really need to change platforms, but it's not going to happen this week.

Anyway.

This contract got off to a rocky start. I was initially assigned to Carnival Legend in Seattle.  When I signed on it had two weeks left cruising to Alaska, then it was repositioning from Seattle to Sydney. Yes, Sydney in Australia.  But...

But there is some bizarre regulation that Australians cannot work on ships that are home ported in Australia. I was told it has to do with taxes.  Um, yeah. That makes absolutely no sense. It's more likely to do with the unions. Regardless I was not allowed to be on the ship when it arrived into Australia.  So one week after I signed onto Legend, I signed off.

Next stop? Carnival Sensation in Port Canaveral, Florida. Sensation did 3 and 4 days itineraries to the Bahamas. I am not a fan of the 3 and 4 day itineraries because it means two safety briefings a week, two liquor tastings a week, two of everything. I much prefer 7 day cruises. Oh well.

 

 

Turned out, it didn't matter. I was only there for a month. One month. I never was told why I had to transfer off Sensation, just that they were transferring me again.

October 4th I signed off Sensation and flew to Boston. October 5th I signed on to Carnival Splendor. My third ship in 6 weeks! 

I won't keep you in suspense. I didn't have to transfer again, I stayed on Splendor until the end of my contract.  

 

 

When I first joined Splendor it was doing its last Canada/New England cruise of the season.  I wasn't able to get off in Portland, Maine because I had training but I was able to explore Halifax, New Brunswick and St John, Nova Scotia - both Canadian ports.

 

 

Then Splendor relocated from New York to Norfolk, Virginia. We spent two weeks based out of Norfolk cruising to the Bahamas and to Bermuda before we repositioned to Miami.

The rest of my contract was spent based in Miami cruising to:

• Cozumel, Mexico
• Belize City, Belize
• Roatan, Honduras
• Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
• Amber Cove, Dominican Republic
• St Thomas, US Virgin Islands
• San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos

Oh! And then to finish the way I started? Normally I would just sign off in Miami at the end of a cruise and another shoppies would sign on to replace me. Not this time.  A different company is taking over the shop on this particular ship so we had to pack it all up. Yep, we closed it down completely. In Freeport, Bahamas while the ship was in dry dock getting a bunch of upgrades.

 

 

This contract by the numbers:

• 3 ships - Legend, Sensation, Splendor
• 5 home ports - Seattle, Port Canaveral, New York, Norfolk and Miami
• 5 managers - Gary, Kat, Sinem, Jacques and Lisa
• 6 cabin mates - Ithu, Anneisha, Sali, Azra, Kristina and Anna
• 2 repositioning cruises - New York to Norfolk. Norfolk to Miami
• 1 Bermuda Cruise - we docked in Bermuda for 3 days/2nights and didn't cruise anywhere else
• 45 days to close down the shops - The shops were still open, we started packing up the back stock and the lockers first
• 3 Christmas I have spent at sea
• 14 days medically off with pneumonia over Christmas and New Years
• 17 trolleys of liquor - our busiest liquor pick up morning. We started at 4am and finished at 10am
• 3 unexpected seadays because we couldn't dock/anchor - Halfmoon Cay, Grand Cayman and Roatan
• 1 day working in our shop on Carnival's private island destination - Halfmoon Cay
• 2 - twice I was able to meet up with Trudy, my friend from my previous contract on Freedom. In Nassau and Belize
• 1 - once I was able to meet up with Sachin, my friend from my previous contract on Freedom. In Nassau
• 1 - once I was able to meet up with Ponky, my friend from my very first contract on Liberty. In Grand Turk
• 4 days in dry dock in Freeport, Bahamas
• 7 shoppies/managers who closed the shop down. Our full team was 15.

 

 

Atlantis Resort Nassau

 

I've been to Nassau quite a few times. As a guest on Celebrity Millenium, as a guest on Disney Wonder and many, many times as crew on Carnival Liberty, Freedom and now Sensation.

On this contract we dock here twice a week. It's not my favourite port. Usually I just go ashore for Internet. It's not the safest or prettiest of ports. It doesn't have the clear still blue postcard waters I'm used to in the Caribbean. I haven't really given it much of a chance.

So, if I'm going to be here twice a week for the next 6 months. Then I'd better give it a fair go.

 

In all the times I've been to Nassau I have never been to The Atlantis Resort. Not sure why. Takes too long to get there? Too expensive? Too far? Too touristy? Not enough time? Not really valid excuses. Just me being lazy.

Last week I took the little ferry from the cruise ship terminal to Paradise Island. It only took 10 minutes each way and the cost was $8 return. So too far and too expensive? Nope.

 

 

I walked from the ferry dock on Paradise Island to the resort. It took all of a few minutes along a well marked path. The resort is huge. Parts of it are accessible to the public and parts of it are only available to resort guests or guests with a day pass. I was neither. But I could still enjoy the Marina Village, the casino and other public areas.

 

 

I was quite content to wander the marina village and do a little window shopping and a little people watching. Oh I wish I had the courage to take photos of the outfits I saw! Instead I had to be content with photos of benches,

 

 

 

Palm trees and Bahamanian Flags.

 

 

 

Heading inside the resort I was drawn to the artwork and fixtures. Pretty lights get me every time.

 

 

As do water features

 

 

 

 

and unusual light fixtures. They need these at Orana. (Orana is the girl guide campsite just outside Hobart, Tasmania). Their logo is a seahorse.

 

 

 

My aching feet needed a rest. Mmmm maybe that was just an excuse to stop in the Casino enjoy a free drink, throwaway $10 and admire the Chihuly pieces.

 

 

Almost. I didn't actually throw away $10. I did put $10 in a penny slot machine and win $30. 

 

 

That $30.00 covered the cost of my ferry ride, my starbucks and my lunch which included smiley face tomato sauce. So it was a good day.

 

 

Lastly a coffee at Starbucks while I tried to read my book but drooling over the mega yachts took precedence and then it was time to head back to the ship.

 

 

On the ferry ride back the crew pointed out this shack that was used in the James Bond movie Thunderball with Sean Connery.

 

 

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My One Week on Carnival Legend

It was way to fast and way too short. The highlights...

It was fun to see some familiar faces from previous ships. Brittany and Jennie from Freedom, Ruiji, Anthony and Gerald from Imagination, and Patrick from Imagination and Freedom (just think this would have been the third ship in a row that Patrick and I worked on).

The shoppies made me feel a part of the team quickly. I already miss them - Gary, Glenn, Raluca, Parth, Maggie, Jackie, Octavian, Lerkja, Ekasit, Ruiji, Jing, Ithu, Jaimie and Fidel.

My drinking buddies - Raluca, Parth, Gary and Patrick, who never let me have "just one". It's probably a good thing I didn't get to stay. I would have drunk my paycheques.

The shops have windows! I can see the ocean and the mountains while working.

It didn't matter where we were I could always see land.

A manager who was generous with breaks and nights off.

Finally seeing the full Epic Rock show. I heard it many times on Imagination from outside the theatre but never got to see the full show. Dream On was amazing, Patrick.

Lots of sleep. Because I didn't have have my I95 yet I couldn't get off in U.S. ports. So I slept a lot. And read a lot.

Getting of in Victoria, even if it was cold and wet and dark, to have a beer and do some banking.

 

The lowlights...

Metal bunks. The metal ladder hurt my feet.

The crew cabins are by far the tiniest of any ship I have worked on.

Not being able to get off and explore the ports...Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan.

Having to do three boat drills in four days. Ekasit, you still owe me for that port manning drill.

It was cold. I guess that was to be expected on an Alaskan cruise. It was cold in the shops (the disadvantage of having big picture windows), it was cold in the cabin. It was just plain cold.

Only getting to stay a week. Just as I was beginning to feel at home, it was time to leave.

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27 Hours Seattle to Orlando

I'm transferring ships. From Carnival Legend which is home ported in Seattle, WA to Carnival Sensation which is based out of Port Canaveral, FL.

Tuesday started early and ended late.

 

 

• 530am The alarm disturbs the peace
• 600am I have to be in the main theatre for crew immigration
• 630am back in the cabin I shower and then go for breakfast
• 800am return my cabin key to the MSA (staff admin)
• 815am drop my bags in the crew luggage cage in the marshalling area
• 900am be back in the theatre with all other crew signing off to be escorted off the ship
• 930am board crew shuttle to Seattle airport.
• 1015am arrive at airport, check in my luggage for my American Airlines flight, grab a Starbucks and catch up on some emails, texts, Facebook and banking
• 1145am catch the light rail link to downtown Seattle, transfer to the monorail which takes me to Seattle Centre
• 200pm spend a few hours at Chihuly Garden and Glass, and some window shopping at Nordstrom's

 

 

• 600pm head back to the airport
• 730pm use TSA precheck so I don't have to take out my laptop or liquids or take off my shoes and belt.
• 740pm I'm through security. First stop is for dinner.
• 800pm 30 minute chair massage. It felt good. There was a nice big knot near my left shoulder. I thought I was going to be sick when the RM was kneading it out. But my shoulder felt so much better after.
• 845pm settle in at my departure gate, charge my phone and iPad, download season 3 of Scandal.

 

 

• 1030pm priority boarding for my flight, get a seat with extra legroom. Yeah, I know, I'm short. But it's a perk of having MVP status on a partner airline.
• 1105pm flight departs on time.
• For the next 5 hours and 45 minutes I read, watch Scandal, get up every hour to stretch my legs, I also nap on and off but never really fall asleep.
• 450am Seattle time, which is now 750am Miami time arrive in Miami
• 515am/815am change terminals, change from PJs to regular clothes and grab coffee and a muffin.
• 545am/845am nap in the departure lounge
• 609am/909am board flight
• 645am/945am flight leaves a few minutes late

 

 

• 735am/1035am we arrive in Orlando ahead of schedule. Stop by the airport Disney Store because it's right there, can't resist a new luggage tag.

 

 

• 845am/1145am hotel shuttle finally arrives to collect myself and all my luggage.
• 900am/1200pm I check in, find my room and fall asleep. From 600am immigration yesterday to the noon time pass out in my hotel bed today was 27 hours. 27 hours!
• After a four hour nap the rest of the evening is spent walking to Chick-Fil-A for late lunch/early dinner, shopping at Walgreens for some toiletry refills and finding refuge in a Starbucks from a sudden downpour complete with thunder and lighting.

And now it's 336am and I'm wide awake. The alarm will sound in three hours so I can shower, have breakfast and be on the 730am shuttle to the port.

I should sleep well tonight.

 

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Dunns River Falls - Jamaica

 

Yep, another excursion.  Gigli and I have been talking about going bobsledding in Jamaica since February.  Between inventory, training, Hess audits, and port manning last week was the first (and last) chance we had.

 

 

First stop - Dunns River Falls. The shore excursions guy told us that if we go with a Disneyland in July mentality we would be okay.  He was right.  It was crowded.  It was wall to wall people.  We were herded like cattle to be with a guide who would lead us up the falls.  But like the shore ex guy said, "do your own thing or you'll spend an hour holding hands and shoulder to shoulder with a stranger hurrying up to wait.

 

 

We ditched our guide in the first pool and neither he or the photographer were happy about it.  They kept shouting at us to come back.  But we wanted to be able to sit in the pools or under the falls and enjoy ourselves. 

 

 

The water was just a tad chilly when we first got in.  We are used to the bathtub warm caribbean sea. Tough life, I know. 

 

 

It was very slippery and because we weren't following a guide we often ended up in waist deep water instead of knee deep.  Or we'd take a step and discover there wasn't a rock under our feet but a big step down!

 

 

In the photo below see the crowds very politely following the guides up?  All single file, holding hands? See the middle where no one is?  That's where Gigli and I went.  Of course.

 

 

But while they all went in an orderly fashion from bottom to top, stopping occasionally for a photo, Gigli and I hang out in small pools along the way, sat under the falls and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

 

 

But we could have stayed much longer.  That's the trouble with cruise ship excursions, you never get to spend long enough in one place.  

 

 

See everyone else looking bored?  Waiting to go to the next part. Should have come with us.

 

 

And this is what happens when you ask some one else to take a photo and they don't pay attention to the water on the cover of your camera.  Although it's better than the first one the woman took, which had a huge water spot covering Gigli's head.

 

 

The falls are that big.  180 ft high and 600 ft long. But they have the luck of being one of the few waterfalls anywhere in the world that empties directly into the sea.  

 

 

Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica - much better than cave tubing in Belize.  

Cave Tubing in Belize

 

 

For my birthday my colleagues unexpectedly gave me $60.00 towards a shore excursion of my choice. Thank you!  Trudy and I have been talking about going cave tubing in Belize since the beginning of your contract.  

 

 

 

This week we went. We asked the shore excursions staff for their recommendation and they said Darknight. So Darknight it was. The blurb from the shore excursion brochure:

 

 

 

"Experience breathtaking dry caves, archaeological artifacts, followed by a jungle trek with the grand finale. Enter an open air cave and enjoy the beauty of the formations. Begin at Clevis point, found at the entrance where you will hear of the importance of the caves to the Mayans. You will be amazed at the Shear Limestone walls that extend out offering shade. Pass by Drop Cave before entering  the jungle, then hiking a trail that leads to the North entrance of Jaguar Cave.You will be taken back by the size of this Cave, with 100 foot ceilings, teeming with stalactites, "the finger" a fallen stalactite, as well as sparkling crystal stalagmites. You'll exit through a "secret" side entrance and hike a jungle trail along crystal clear Indian Creek to start your Darknight Cave Tubing float. As you float in the Creek; each turn brings a visual display, with polished walls from over 1000 years of flow. As the creek narrows you feel the rush as the rapids rappel you forward. Passing through the exit you turn the corner of the canopy that awaits  the end of the float. "

 

 

 

Mmmm. Should have read that more carefully. We spent more time on the jungle trek than in the caves.  The trek to Jaguar Cave.  The trek from Jaguar Cave along Indian Creek to Darknight Cave. The trek after finishing the tubing back to the starting point. All up the excursion lasted about 90 minutes.  Over half of it was spent trekking. 

 

 

Our guide did point out some flora along the way...Ceiba trees, cohune palms, give and take palms, Mahogany, chicle, fish tail palm... but not "the importance of the caves to the Mayans."

 

 

 

For tubing the river, 8 tubes are tied together and the guide pulls the whole floatilla along.  The water level was very low when we were there and we bottomed out quite a bit. Literally.  More than once we had to lift our bums out of the tubes so our guide could pull us off the rock, sandbar or whatever else we had stranded ourselves on.  

 

 

Because of the low water level the creek also moved very slowly. Which was good for a nice relaxing float but it would have been fun to have some swifter moving water occasionally.

 

 

This was an okay excursion but far from my favourite.  Excursions in Belize are expensive and time consuming.  It's a tender port, which means at least 30-40 minutes are waiting for and riding the tender. Then most excursions require a 90 minute bus ride in either direction, so the time spent travelling to and from the excursion is often more than the event itself.  

 

 

Maybe that contributed to my underwhelmedness.  (I know that's not a word).  I enjoyed the cave-tubing, I just wish the trekking had been shorter and the tubing longer.  Or maybe if we'd done the zip lining and tubing option I'd have been more impressed.  

 

 

Surviving My First Scuba Dive

Learning to scuba dive has always been on my to do list.  It's one of those things I've always put off... too expensive, not enough time, too cold and lets face it - too nervous. 

Well I finally did it!

Yep. I did. Last week while we were docked in Cozumel.  We had been talking about it forever. It was time to stop talking about it and just do it. (sorry Nike).

 

 

 

We started with a class on a small boat where we learnt the 8 essential rules of scuba diving according to Hector, our dive master:

1. breathe - in and out through your mouth. Do not hold your breath.
2. Remain Calm, do not panic
3. communicate - okay, something wrong (with mask, regulator, mouthpiece, slow down, go up, go down)
4. follow instructions
5. Keep horizontal while in the water
6. Swim slowly and don't  use your arms

 

 

Okay, so I only remember 6 of the 8 rules, but I swear I knew and followed them all on the day.

 

 

Then the boat left the dock and on the way to our first dive we learnt how to put on our mask, flippers, weight belt, bc vest and the tank.

 

 

Our first dive was just off the beach, in about 7 metres of water.  It was all about getting used to breathing, all the equipment and learning to equalise our ears.  I apparently hold my breath, which means I stay on the surface. That and I have a lot of natural bouyancy!  I eventually got it all worked out. Our first dive lasted about 30 minutes. It was awesome.

 (photo here, typepad is not being cooperative and won't upload photo)

Our second dive was a little deeper and a little shorter.  I had some problems with my mask.  It kept filling with water and I had to keep clearing it. Hector eventually took me to the surface so he could adjust it out of the water.  Much better. Then my ears wouldn't equalise.  There was a lot of holding and blowing my nose, moving my jaw and swallowing saliva.  There's a lot of work involved in having fun.

 

Edgar and Gigli are doing their certification so they had some skills they had to practise underwater and we all got to watch.  

 

 

While we did explore and see some coral, a few fish including a barracuda and some eels (but no turtles or sharks) we were too busy concentrating on breathing, fixing our ears, clearing our masks, staying on the bottom and not kicking each other in the head with our fins. I was hoping to see more colour, more fish, more coral... just more. However I am so happy I went.  It was worth every penny and every minute. I would love to go again. Maybe one day I'll actually do a dive course and learn to dive properly.

 

 

 

 

 

Port of Call - Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan, Honduras

 

One of our ports of call is Mahogany Bay on the Island of Roatan in Honduras.  

 

Mahogany Bay was specifically built for cruise ships, so we don't really see much of Roatan or Honduras. There is space for two ships, usually both from Carnival. When you first get off the ship there is a duty free shop and then a bar, a coffee shop, lots of shops and a craft market.

 

 

In the opposite direct to the shops is the beach.  You can walk or take the chairlift.

 

 

The view from the chairlifts is pretty cool - you can see the ship, the ocean, the beach, the lagoon etc etc.  You can watch the people on the path below or in the other chairs.  The chairs move pretty slow so there is plenty of time for people watching.

 

 

I've been known to take my book and a coffee and have a nap in one of the hammocks.

 

 

But my favourite place to hang out is in the water.  Not normally with a pina colada, but it was a birthday treat from Gigli. Not long after this photo I had to get out of the water because a fish decided I tasted delicious. It wouldn't stop, it didn't hurt but it was annoying. 

 

 

It was too hot to sit in sun, it's always hot in Roatan.  Luckily Gigli and I were able to borrow some floats from other guests...they were leaving and offered them to us. Yay! And this is how we spent the rest of the afternoon...with no fish biting me. 

 

 

We returned to the ship very sandy, relaxed, happy and a little bit sunburnt.  

Even the signs for the bathrooms are pretty.  Of course there is a Santa's workshop in the Caribbean. It sells christmas decorations and bikinis!