Sailing away…

Life is good.  I’m currently sitting in a very comfortable and padded lounge chair outside of the Cove Cafe on Deck 9.  I am facing out on the Port side and watching Nassau float by.  We just left port and are now sailing through the small channel into the open sea.  I also just finished my Chocolate banana smoothie and am listening to some amazing music.  Can’t complain.  In an hour a couple of us are going to go watch Toy Story the Musical stage show.  I’ve been on the ship for over 2 months now and have yet to see it.  We have the #1 rated entertainment in the industry so I expect this show to be just as good as the others.  I am on “Early’s.”  This means that I work from 8am to 6pm straight.  Of course I’ll sneak away for lunch and such, but no big break in the middle.  But now I am off and I can relax until tomorrow when we’re at Castaway Cay.  I signed up to go Jet Skiing tomorrow but unfortunately they couldn’t accommodate due to scheduling conflicts.  Oh well.  My birthday is also coming up on May 11th and we’ll be in Nassau…it’s a good coincidence that we also have a Late-Night that day…meaning we don’t leave port until 2am.  This is (I think) our 5th late night we’ve had since I’ve been on the ship.  But, since it is my birthday what I think I’m going to do is rather than ask to get off early to celebrate I want to have a big break in the middle of the day.  I’ve already been out a few times for late night and Bambu and Senor Frogs will always be there.  So both E and I are asking for a big mid day break and then we’ll find something to do – relax on the beach, go to a fancy restaurant, and who knows.  So Happy Birthday to me!

We are now in the open waters and what a beautiful view.  The sun will probably be setting in the next 30 minutes and it’s hidden behind a thin layer of clouds causing the rays to shine down onto the Atlantic.  It’s very peaceful and tranquil.  I am definitely excited to come back to do another contract.  Yes there are long hours and hard times, but it’s moments like these where it all makes up for it.  I feel lucky to be here…considering there are only ~50 americans who work on board and it’s considered the #1 cruise ship in the world.  Apparently if I sign up for another contract then my next contract will be during Dry Dock…this is where we’ll be docked and a ton of repairs/housekeeping occurs for 2-3 weeks.  2-3 weeks of cleaning the ship and hanging out.  The last dry dock occurred in North Carolina I guess, but rumor now is that it will ocurr on an island in the bahamas.  Also with dry dock, I guess our shifts will never start before 9am and end no later than 6pm or so.  And we can get off the ship at night and have fun.  Apparently it is just a TON of fun.  I’m excited for that experience as well.

I still miss all my good friends from OSU and Bend and I wish they would come visit, but I also know I’ll see a lot of them come June.  June 21st is when I fly back to Oregon.  Hang out in Oregon for a bit then E plans on coming to visit after she’s done backpacking Europe.  Then maybe head to Orlando to hang out with my current roommate here on the ship…his vacation coincides with mine so we hope we can plan a trip to Disney world and live in a hotel for a week or two and just have fun.  But who knows, time will tell. I really don’t see myself staying in Bend for the entire 6 weeks of my vacation.  But I’m going to go ahead and logon the internet and update the blog with this post and head back down to my room to get ready for the show.  Hope all is well in the states!  Cheers!