Nearly a Month... As Promised!

12:09pm ADT/11:09am EDT

Alright then… Here it is, as promised – an overview of the last few weeks here aboard the Norwegian Dawn. I’ve meant to sit down and write on SEVERAL occasions and, for one reason or another, haven’t. And most of those times, it was pretty eventful around here, so hopefully I’ll remember everything and this won’t be too much of a novel at the same time. Ok so… *flashback/dream sequence sound*

New York has been frustrating pretty much every time I’ve been there… Searching for things I can’t find, or finding things that are of no help. I haven’t had an opportunity to venture outside of this rectangle from about 60th-32nd and 12th-7th, wherein you’ll find Times Square, Madison Square Garden, and some of Central Park… So I guess I don’t need to go far from there anyway. Not a whole lot to talk about in New York, really. My attempts to send money and get a haircut amounted to only tired legs for a few weeks in a row, but I was able to manage both eventually. Other than that, I walked past Juliard and bought an H.P. Lovecraft book at Barnes and Noble, so I’d have something interesting to read. And that’s New York.

A few cruises back – three I believe… they all kind of run together – while sailing to Bermuda on Monday evening, the ocean started to get a little bit rocky. It seemed a little odd and out of place but… What do I know. And then Pedro (cruise director) came on the PA and announced that the ship had pulled a U-turn and was headed full steam back towards New York. Apparently there had been a medical emergency onboard with a passenger and we had to get within helicopter-flight distance so that the Coast Guard could land a chopper on the ship and evacuate this passenger. I’ve heard a few different stories about what happened, but it seems either a guy had a stroke, or a lady lied about how far along she was in her pregnancy so that she could come onboard and then had her baby prematurely. Either way, they were airlifted off of the ship late Monday night. The ocean becoming rocky is relevant because you don’t feel it as much when you’re going slow, but it’s more dramatic when you’re going fast. So I’d noticed we were going faster (after the turn) before knowing that we were going faster. Anyway, we didn’t go ALL the way back to New York, just close enough to get the helicopter on. Then we turned back around, and sailed quite a bit faster than our usual cruising speed and arrived in Bermuda on time Wednesday morning. That was the excitement around the ship for a few days.

Then two cruises ago, I was sick for most of the week. It was really going around – lots of sinus pressure and congestion, and a fever. Eventually it dropped into my chest and was a pretty nasty cough and I felt generally horrible for a few days. After about 5 days, I got around to going to the doctor who put me on Zithromax and I started feeling better after a few more days. All better now. But man… Tons of people – passengers and crew – were sick with it that week. It was ugly.

I haven’t had a lot of time to do anything cool in Bermuda. I wanted to go diving and stuff… See the pink sands that I keep hearing about. But truthfully, I kind of enjoy the quaintness of the area where the ship docks and am fairly happy just kind of hanging out there… Which is good because that’s nearly all I’ve done. I did take the ferry into Hamilton one day and went to a Bank of Bermuda. Which was huge. Apparently Bermuda makes a lot of money in the banking industry – there are a lot of banks here, or so I hear. Anyway, where the ship docks is an old naval shipyard. In fact, it’s called Dockyard. Or King’s Wharf. But there are all these old stone buildings and the fortress wall surrounding much of the area. It’s a damn big wall. See pictures. There’s not much here – a few restaurants/bars, a few ship-related businesses (sail makers, painters, etc), and a small mall. Again, see the pictures. It can barely be called a mall at all, but it’s really neat inside. There’s a place inside that has cheap wifi and that’s where this will be posted from… There’s also a couple jewelry stores, an ice cream place, a few touristy stores, a little mini-mart general store thing, a soccer store (?!), a clothing store or two… A kid’s store and a bookstore… And I think that’s about it. But it’s SO quiet and on nice days, I’ve never seen a more gorgeous sky. There is a small beach where I went swimming one day when it was deserted, and then, when I went back to take pictures, it was really busy. Oh well. It’s called Snorkel Park and you have to walk through a gate in the massive stone wall to get to it. There is also a place here called Dolphin Quest, where you can go swimming with dolphins. I wanted to do that but I don’t think I’ll have the time or money… Considering this is our last day in Bermuda haha. Things are very expensive here, I don’t think I mentioned that. A cheeseburger at a sit down restaurant is about 16 bucks. And that’s the cheapest thing on the menu. There are some really cool apartments in Dockyard that were once officer’s quarters when they were built. I mean, I assume they’re cool based on the outsides haha… I’ve no idea what they cost, but I’m curious. And kind of afraid to know! Behind some of them is an area that was called the Victualling Yard, which – to my understanding – is where they prepared and stored the food for the sailors. Now, it’s kind of like ruins. But very pretty. See the pictures! The water here isn’t as clear as I expected, but it’s a really cool jade green color. Oh! Other action – two cruises ago I believe it was… Maybe last week… We left over an hour late because someone had to be evacuated from the ship via ambulance… So we couldn’t leave until the ambulance showed up and they were able to get her off. The captain mentioned something this morning in the monthly meeting commending the medical team for having done a great job and kept her alive… Never heard what happened but it was the buzz around here for a few days.

And I think that’s all I have to say about Bermuda.

Other things about life… Found out the other day that Felix, my roommate, is signing off on Nov. 15. So I assume I’ll be getting a new roommate but it’d sure be nice to have the cabin to myself… Even if just for a week! Uh… A little more about this ship vs. the Jewel. The Jewel is a bigger ship, I don’t know if I mentioned that… or if I was sure about what I was saying if I DID mention it. But the Jewel class of ships are bigger and newer than the Dawn class (those are actually the titles of multiple ships… for example the Norwegian Gem is a Jewel class ship… The Norwegian Spirit, I believe, is a Dawn class ship.) The Dawn has the Jean Ann Ryan Company onboard as well… I assumed all NCL ships did but I was wrong about that. They do three shows here too, but only one is the same. And by the same, I mean the same music and a lot of the same choreography. The set is significantly different, as well as a few other things. Anyway, that’s Band on the Run. Other than that, they do a show called South Beach Rave, and a show called Bollywood, that is their Cirque-style show. I haven’t had a chance to see any of them yet, but I’d like to. We also have a Second City cast onboard… If you’re not familiar with Second City, it’s a Chicago-based comedy troupe where a LOT of famous comedians got their start. Look it up. The cast on the Jewel was funnier overall, but I like these guys. Their improv isn’t the greatest, and I haven’t seen their scripted show but… Either way, I like them as people… They’re all really nice and friendly and whatever. We have a bunch of lounge singers and pianists here – more than on the Jewel I think. The duo, Jose (not José, but Jose… Like “Joe-say”) and Patti, are good and good friends of mine. Patti was actually going to transfer money from their bank account into mine, and let me just give her the cash I had in hand, when I was having problems with that. Very nice people and they’re fun to watch perform. I don’t see most of the other performers more than once a week or so… There’s one guy, Bernie Martini, who is a GREAT singer. He does a phenomenal version of “Georgia on My Mind.” Other than that, we’ve got the showband – which is a lot bigger than the showband on the Jewel. We’ve also got a trio that plays in the atrium, a 4-piece calypso band that plays out by the pool called FLEX, and the main club band, the Sound Bytes. I work mostly with them, because they play in Spinnaker pretty much every night. Other than running sound for them, I do stuff like Bingo, game shows hosted by the cruise staff, the comedy shows there, and any other events. Like once a week, there’s a show called The Liars Club, which is hosted by the assistant cruise director Archie. It’s a panel of four – Pedro, the comedian Dave Heenan, one of the JAR dancers Brian, and the magician Greg – and they’re given a real (but funny sounding) word and must provide a definition. Only one of them gives the real definition and the audience is asked to decide who it is. Some of the stuff they come up with is hilarious. Of course, week after week, it starts to be all the same jokes but it’s still a good time. The words they get are CHUBBLE, TITTUP, TRION, and FULLFART. It’s a good time. After that, we do a show called The Quest, which is hosted by Pedro and Brian… Basically, they divide the audience up into teams and ask them to bring something to the stage… Kind of like a scavenger hunt, but it’s often actions too… And it gets RIDICULOUS. It’s late, people are drunk… It’s fun. They keep score and announce a winner at the end… Give out prizes. It starts out with “I need to see a piece of fruit GO!” and people come running up on stage with their team number and the garnish from their drink… And then “I need to see a piercing other than the ear GO!” – a few weeks ago a lady ran up on stage and just lifted her skirt to Pedro and Brian on that one haha… And then it’ll be like “I need to see a man on all fours with a woman riding on his back GO!” and people scramble and trip over each other… Some others are “A woman doing 10 jumping jacks,” “a man with two bras on his head,” or they’ll get a bald guy up on stage in a chair and say “I need a woman wearing lipstick to kiss the top of his head GO!” followed by “Now I need a MAN wearing lipstick to kiss the top of his head GO!” People just go NUTS and will do some ridiculous stuff haha… The final quest, then, is they get a couple from each team up on stage, and we black out all the lights in the room… And they have to completely exchange clothing. It’s pretty hysterical to see these guys squeezing into their wives’/girlfriends’ clothes…

We also do a show called Newlywed/Not So Newlywed… Which I think was on TV as well? Four couples, usually honeymooners, a couple married 1-25 years, a couple married 25-50 years, and a couple over 50 years… Those old guys are hilarious. They send the men away, ask the women 5 questions and then bring the guys back… Ask the guys the same 5 questions and see if the answers match, then do the same with the women. It’s a good time and causes some trouble occasionally… Especially when they have a bunch of family there, and Pedro asks, “if you were stranded on a desert island, who in her family or in yours would you NOT want to be stuck with?” Or “where is the most unusual place you two have ever made whoopee?” – guys are like “oh man her DAD is here!’ haha… Good times.

The job is still easy… Just spread out throughout the day, which kind of sucks. I usually prefer to get it all done at once, but oh well… It’s not bad. A lot of going up to the cinema and sitting until the movie starts, just to make sure it comes on. Or showing up to a lounge until the singer gets there and saying “need anything from me? Ok cool see ya.” Speaking of the cinema, I fall asleep in those damn chairs all the time. I’ll show up 10-15 min before the movie and doze on and off until about 10-15 min into the movie haha… In Spinnaker, I work mostly with a guy named Dennis. He’s a really nice guy and easily my favorite of the techs, so I’m glad I’m stuck with him haha. I’m the only American and the only honky in my department… And really, the only other non-Filipino is a guy named Alex, who’s Mexican. Think maybe I mentioned that before… Moving on.

Like I said, this is our last week in Bermuda… Our last day in fact, today. After this, we head back to New York one more time, and then we’re on the repositioning cruise to the Caribbean and finally Miami. After that, we’ll be based in Miami until the end of April. Apparently we have to get frisked EVERY time we get off the ship in Miami. They don’t mess around with the drugs thing down there.

On a side note, I’m not big on cigars or anything… But Cuban cigars are perfectly legal here and I kind of wanted to get some to sneak home… Or just one to try, to say I did. But I don’t think there are any in Dockyard and I don’t have time to get to Hamilton again. I had all day duty yesterday, which sucked. The last full day in Bermuda…

Last night was fun though – it was the crew Halloween party. For as much as I love Halloween, I’d been too focused on other things and didn’t really have anything I could wear as a costume. But there was some good and funny stuff last night. They had another raffle – I didn’t win anything this time – and a costume contest. Since I didn’t have a costume, I don’t have a whole lot to say about it… It was fun. There were a lot of other people not in costume as well, so I didn’t feel too bad. If I’d been thinking, I would’ve waited on the haircut, and bought a Superman tshirt and suspenders in New York… And worn my white dress shirt with suspenders, dress pants and shoes, done my hair and put on my glasses… and worn the Superman shirt underneath the white shirt… Left the white shirt unbuttoned halfway. Which is an idea I totally swiped from a guy at Bel’s birthday party, so what! Also, I’ve turned – I’m drinking beer these days. Discovered that I like Corona now, much to my simultaneous dismay and excitement.

Ah yeah – haircut. I finally got fed up with it being so fluffy and a general pain in the ass, and also fed up with trying to find a place in New York to get it cut… So I went up to the salon, which felt weird at first but they were very cool and did a good job so… It’s nice having short, low maintenance hair again.

Shifting gears abruptly, as I’m apt to do – one of the things I really like about the atmosphere here is the general acceptance of people. There is a room steward (I think?) who is VERY flamboyantly gay. Really nice guy and everyone loves him but he’s TOTAL flamer. And when he dresses in drag, goes by the name Jessica… And what’s cool to me is that people call him Jessica on a regular basis, even when he’s not dressed up. Like today in the captain’s meeting, he won a STYLE award for October and was introduced as Jessica on the slide show and on stage. Even last night during the party, that’s what I heard everyone calling him. His/her costume was great too – half and half angel and demon, all homemade. Wings, halo/horns and all. Half of her face painted white and the other black. It was well done… Also, during The Liars Club, there’s usually a “Vannah” who brings the words out and struts them across the stage before the panelists give their definitions. Usually it’s Lisa – my fellow Ohioan – but last night it was one of the cruise staff Mikee. So the first two words he brought out normally… And then the last two, he came out in a wig, miniskirt and makeup… And people went NUTS cheering for him. Er her. Or whatever. Guests, I mean. It was hilarious – though rather a surprise to me. I mean, I knew he was gay, there’s no question about that… But THAT was not something I expected NCL would be ok with, for whatever reason. Anyway, so the general acceptance of people makes me happy, that’s my point.

Ok so there’s 5 more pages about things. Between money issues and them keeping me pretty busy, I just haven’t been in as much communication lately… Which sucks… A lot. I don’t have any idea what the Caribbean is like – hopefully I can find some places with FREE wifi (what a novel concept!) or something. And since several places are American territories, maybe calling won’t be so damn expensive either. They introduced a new thing on the ship where you can use your cell phone to call but… you have to have an unlocked cell phone… And to get mine unlocked I need to pay my last month’s bill with T-mobile. Priority right now is student loans so we’ll see what I’ve got left after I pay them. I’m excited – today is pay day, so hopefully the money will hit my account today or… Maybe Monday since it’s a wire transfer. But then I can FINALLY pay the past due on my loans and get caught up again. Of course that won’t leave me with much – if any – money for the month but whatever. I hear the Caribbean’s cheap and we’ll be there for a while, so I won’t need cash immediately anyway. Getting caught up on back-debt is most important right now.

Ok time to go to work. I spent the better part of an hour and a half writing that, so you better be thankful!

It’ll be Sunday at the earliest before I’ll be able to post again, but probably more like when we get to the Caribbean… I’m not sure when that is – Wednesday or Thursday maybe? Since you can only buy internet cards in $20 increments, that’s cut down on my use a lot… Since I don’t have any twenties haha… Anyway so… Til next time!




OH! Also... There's pictures up from New York now too...

Here's links -

Bermuda
New York