The Crew

Past voyagers have told me how great the crew is, and now I definitely want to second that accolade.  I've already mentioned how our cabin is so well-maintained.  Armando is like a ghost.  We see him every now and then to say hello and thank you, but he just keeps us ship-shape invisibly. Joey (below) keeps me supplied with smoothies.

The waiters are all so cheerful, and some of them know us by name.  If I'm not with Nancy at dinner, Mardy (at right) asks " Warner, where is Nancy?"  One of the waiters is always at the entrance to the dining room to greet us and answer questions about the menu (and probably make sure I don't try to remove any chocolate croissants for later).  It was Darwin today, and I'm pretty sure I could get past him with contraband.  We like to eat on the outside deck on the 6th floor dining hall when we can, and Mez (above left)  is always there with a cheery greeting and ice tea in hand for me.  Mez is from Jamaica and a youthful grandfather.  Yvonne is always cheery in the ship store

Many of the waiters are from the Philippines, and some of them are married with family back home. They are away on contract for 8 months on the ship, so they go long stretches without seeing their wives and kids.  But they say this provides a good income to help make it possible for their families to have a good existence. The 8 month contract means that some of them will leave the ship in China to be replaced by new crew.  We've gotten to know them, so we will miss those who leave us.  I have to say that everyone really appreciates the crew, and there is a lot of mutual respect and friendship. Thanks to all of those we don't even see, like the painters, and folks who clean the decks at night.

Last night saw some rough seas as the Captain steered around the roughest.  It was pretty dramatic as the bow rose up and then slammed down and waves sprayed all the way up to our cabin window.  The physical effect was more like driving over the potholes in Detroit in the winter at high speed and occasionally hitting an elephant.  The shock waves reverberated through the ship, allowing little sleep for some of us after 4 am.

The good news for yesterday was FRENCH FRIES--really good French fries for lunch.  I think some students ate only French fries. The  chef must be holding some special food back for when we need something special, and this hit the spot.  Disclaimer: No one was injured in my quest for fries.

We had another mixer with one of the seas last  night, but this wasn't as much of a dancing group as the previous ones.