Party Cruise

Off again for a few days on a party cruise. This one takes us to Spain and France for five days.

So until next time. . .

- t

Paella anyone?

While in Barcelona for the last time I wanted to experience the culture as best I could and there is no other way to do that than through food . . .



Tasty of course.

Cannes, France

Part of the French Riviera, and home to one of the largest Film Festivals, Cannes (pronounced Kan) is pretty damn nice. Due to some bad weather earlier in the day we arrived in port late and did not have much time ashore so we decided to hit the beaches and just catch some sun.

and the ship never stops . . .

Like usual I only get a few hours to post to my blog because we have to be back aboard at 4:oopm every Southampton. Once again we are off to the med for a 10 day cruise. So until next time . . .

- t

Life on a ship . . .

I have gotten a bunch of emails with people saying they enjoy the pictures of the ports and all but they want to know what it’s like to actually live and work on a ship. So here are the basics.

Life on a ship mainly depends on your number of stripes (rank). You can break it down into three main categories:

Crew: waiters, bar staff, technicians, janitors, room stewards etc.

Staff: Entertainers, cruise staff, shop employees, salon employees, printer etc.

Officers: head of departments and anyone who works on the bridge.

Your rank limits you to certain privileges. These privileges include everything from where you live and eat, and access to passenger areas/activities.

As a printer I have 1.5 stripes. I get to live in a passenger area with my own room. I am allowed in the somewhat nicer cafeteria and I am allowed to go into certain passenger areas as long as I am dressed in the appropriate clothing (i.e. uniform or dressed up). Your life revolves around these rules and you always have to follow them as they are pretty strict about them on the ship. Other random bits are things like not walking in passenger areas with civilian clothing and having to greet a passenger whenever you see one in the hallway.

Also I took a video yesterday of the print shop. It’s not much to see but it gives you a look into my world and where I spend a lot of my time. Down in the shop is just my boss and I, we each have our own computers and fridges. We also have a TV, coffee maker and a sound system that is constantly playing music. Not too shabby . . .

Flaam, Norway

Flaam has got to be one of the smallest towns I have yet to see on this trip. I’m pretty sure that the ship has a bigger population than this town. Located at the end of a Fjord in Norway this little getaway is quite picturesque. Enjoy the pictures below.

Return from Norway

We are back from the “Lands of Fire & Ice” and I have some video’s and pictures to show. First off we got a chance to go the famous Blue Lagoon in Iceland. It is supposed to be this natural hot spring but it’s not as natural as you think. The Lagoon itself is not natural at all and is in fact man made. The heated mineral water is real but is pumped into the lagoon through a series of pipes from the geothermal power plant next door. Overall it was still a good time and something that not many people can say they have done. Below is a video of the lagoon. I did not take many pictures because water and digital cameras don’t mix, so right before leaving I pulled out my camera and shot a few clips.