Yes, I am here!

7 Aug 08
Somewhere between losing my mind and jumping over board!!


Wow – I am having a hell of an afternoon!! The satellite connection has been pretty bad so of course I am taking all the heat. Whew!!

Any hooo …. I digress

So let me back up .. yesterday we had a “cruise-by” in Tracy Arm fjord. It was gorgeous there! Kind of like a cross between Norway and Antartica. As I said to one of the girls I met, it is ‘Norway with Ice’. LOL I had woken up early (not sure why) and so I turned on my porthole (which means I put on the tv to ch 31 which is the view from the bridge) and since it was so pretty, I couldn’t resist getting out to take some pics. Luckily I don’t have far to go as 3 doors from me is a door to the “porch” which is a deck on the front of the ship; and since no pax can go out there, it belongs to only crew. And there aren’t many crew members living up that way, nor were they even awake! So I had the place to myself. Of course I took lots of good pics – but with this satellite connection being so bad – I might actually have to go ashore in ports to do my uploads. Sorry! I am currently trying to get them online now and I will see how it works out. If not, I will ask around to some of the other managers who are in this area where I can get some free wi-fi.

We arrived in Juneau yesterday afternoon and Sheryl was planning to go to Costco and Fred Myers (Target or Walmart – but better!). I figured I would tag-along so 1) I knew where it was, etc and 2) I needed a few snacks for my cabin. There is a shuttle for crew that takes us to the above as well as Wal-Mart and the local mall. It is $10 roundtrip which was cool. So I got a few books, cereal bars and my favorite trailmix in Costco; then in FM I needed a few little odds and ends. I could have spent more time in there, but I was afraid to miss the last shuttle, so I wanted to go out and wait for it while Sheryl and Jo (from the casino) finished up.

We got back to the ship, unloaded our stuff and then Sheryl and I headed back out for some dinner. She said she was in the mood for Chinese and knew of a great place in town. The town was adorable! We took the shuttle in, since our ship was farthest from town and it is quite a little hike; then we walked over to the Chinese place and YUM! I was even good LOL though I did have rice. Oh well. After dinner, we passed by a ‘really good shoe store’ as per Sheryl. Ha ha I say! I spent more than normal on a really good pair of shoes. Good arch, soft heel, etc (since when did I get so old sounding?!?) The cool thing is – I can wear them around the ship and they won’t look “worn” so if it turns out I don’t like them – I can return them! There are definitely some perks to doing the same run week after week.

We got back shortly before 9 and then I had to get to work for 9.30; after work there was going to be a live band in the crew bar, so I made my way down there around 11.45. I definitely don’t like being new! I was waiting for Sheryl, had gotten a drink at the bar (but you cant sit at the bar like you could on Artemis) and felt out of place. I didn’t see anyone I knew well enough to go over and sit with and anyone else that was there was more like someone I had met once in passing. So I was relieved when Sheryl got there; I feel bad that she is kind of like my babysitter, but she says she doesn’t mind and remembers what it is like to be new to a cruise line and not know anyone. It sucks!! But she introduced me to some more people and as the days go on I get a little more comfortable with people; today the Comp Officer and I were joking around about my lack of experience with using the manuals to open a door (he was teasing me), one of the shoppies and I had a giggle over something, etc. So hopefully it just takes time. Everyone who knows me, knows I am not quiet and shy. But I certainly am not able to be myself just yet and it is weird!!

Today we were in Skagway, Alaska. I had made plans to meet the MTN manager from the Island Princess (Jelena) for breakfast. We met about 10.30 by her gangway (she docks in front of me on the pier) and then we walked the short way into the little town. It was cute. It was like the mid-west meets Alaska. We wandered over to a restaurant Jelena thought would be open, but they weren’t. However, a few doors away there was a rustic little coffee shop that had a good menu (breakfast sandwiches on bagels!) and nice smelling coffees! So we grabbed a booth and chatted away for a while. It is always nice to catch up with other managers and talk about things; whether it is directly involved with work or just ship life. And I know our managers shore-side love it too. (they also love when we send a pic – which we took) After we finished up we walked around the town and then she was going to meet a friend at Starbucks. I was going to treat myself to a Caramel Macchiato, but I decided that since I already had one cappachino I didn’t need to be bouncing around the ship! So I went for a fruit smoothie instead. Jelena and I parted ways and made a date for 2 weeks from today (our ships are only in every other week together).

I had a nice leisurely walk back to the ship where I took some great flower pics and came across a creek that had salmon swimming up it! It was soo cool!! I even got some pics of a fisherman trying to reel in ‘the big one’. LOL

Unfortunately, by the time I finished writing this post, not one single pic was uploaded. So it looks like it might need to wait till I get to port. I will try again tomorrow – but please be patient; I am here every week, so you won’t miss out on anything – ha ha
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