Caribbean. Mon. I mean, lah.

I decided to update the blog from St Thomas a day early than my usual update from home port. After the business of getting off in San Juan late, I've decided to not wait to update my blog and post it from more reliable internet here in St Thomas. Cheers. Expect the weekly update to come from here on Friday's now.

BADABAM BADABOOM.

Week 17

Day 1

I just learned today that we're actually sailing to different islands this time. So it swaps around every other week. That's kinda cool.

After the whole hoohah with the late gangway and not getting off the boat I get the feeling that it's going to be a regular affair. It's actually worse than when we were in Bayonne. We actually set sail later too. We only sail at 8:30pm  But because of a certain law that states that the boat drill at the start of every cruise has to be before the first dinner seating, it means all aboard at 4:30pm. So technically we get less time off the boat than when we were in Jersey. And then once I get on the boat it's a whole bunch of waiting on board without anything to do. And since we only sail late there's only one opening show as opposed to the ordinary 2. 

I guess that's the least enjoyable part of docking in San Juan. Oh well.

Day 2

So now we end up in the island of St Croix. I got off pretty early and discovered what must be one of those unspectacularly fantastic places. 

Let me explain.

It's like the island that came in fourth in the island olympics. It's not a podium finish and it gets overlooked because of that. But coming in fourth is still pretty darn spectacular. Sure the top three are even better but fourth is still quite fantastic. But this is a good thing because the place is not flooded with people. It also means that the place is not loaded with ridiculously expensive things and shopping. Majority of the people are only there for a day - the cruise tourists haha.

There was a stretch of beach right next to where we docked. Not the most spectacular beach I've been to (and I now have quite a high level of comparison) but again, it's still very beautiful. I started walking along the beach and man does the beach stretch on forever. It's the longest stretch of beach I've ever been on. There was a short stretch that was private property but I simply walked around it and continued my journey. I must've walked for several miles, slippers off and feet covered in the cool water. Quite a fantastic place to be. 

I like it.

And my neck is now a severely different colour from my body.

Tomorrow it's another island. Yay.

Day 3

Today the island we're visiting is called St Kitts. 

What can I say? More beach. More island weather. More mountains and wildlife. Pretty much every island is similar. Oh, and more slow internet.

Cheers caribbean.

But it was ridiculously hot today so we went to the nearby casino and got internet. I wonder how many crew get their gambling fix in the caribbean since they can't gamble on the ship. Every caribbean island seems to have a casino. And I've seen some crew members getting their game on in some of them. I wonder if it's a common thing for crew to lose their wages in these parts. Interesting.

Sadly for them, I was only there for the free internet. Better luck next time you money sucking casinos. 

Day 4

Today the island we're visiting is called Dominica.

No time to get off today. Had a weird training thing to go to in the morning. Apparently in a months time the coast guard is coming on the ship to inspect the safety aspects of the ship and what not. So to make sure that we've got our safety information together we had to get up early in the morning, head to the lifeboat and get questioned randomly by the safety officers. Think of it as a trial exam if you will.

I found it highly unnecessary. 

When the coast guard does come on, however, I will simply hide in my cabin to avoid being spontaneously questioned. And I am not the first person who has had this brilliant idea. Our production manager recommends the same thing. 

And we had to play an afternoon set today. That meant no seeing Dominica. Oh well. I guess there's always next time. And next time. And next time. I'll be here till April because when I come back for my second contract, we'll still be in the caribbean.

Whoop dee doo. Tomorrow it's Hi to second rate pianist again. The second of three weeks. I'll be glad when his stint is over.

Day 5

Crew BBQ! 

Today the island we're visiting is Grenada. I love it when there's free internet at the port. I guess I'll explore Grenada next time around.

Day 6

Sea day today. And without enough sleep. You'll find out why.

Day 7

The island we're visiting today is the familiar face of St Thomas. It's the one island that doesn't change during this two week alternate caribbean cruising. It's good to know that there's at least one place that keeps me interneted (see I've transformed it into a verb and all variations of it) when I need it.

I haven't checked out the beach in St Thomas though. Nor majority of the island. We'll see in weeks to come.

Thoughts from the week?

The caribbean islands are spectacular. But I've talked to some of the people who've done caribbean runs before and they tell me that after a while (or not even a while) you lose the need and urge to get off and explore every port because all the islands are pretty much the same thing - it's all beach and shopping and not much else. Well this is only my second week of caribbean runs and I'm sort of feeling that already. Granted the beach is gorgeous but in the back of mind, if I miss a particular island, it's not that big a deal because there's plenty more where that came from.

Here's a random yet profound thought. Intelligence and immaturity make for a dangerous combination. I should know. I believe I had the same combination some time ago. Let us hope the immaturity bit has toned down. Immaturity squanders intelligence. The intelligence seeks to justify the immaturity. It's a scary combination. I say this because there are people on this boat who have this dangerous combination. And they make tough company.

I'm guessing my roomie has never had a roomie before. I don't think he understands the concept of sharing a space with someone else. There is an obvious need to be discreet. I've lost sleep because of ridiculous noise several times. I've never been able to take a nap because of my previous mention of the documentary channel. He doesn't quite know how to take a hint that I'm a sleep. I guess the closed curtains and absolute silence aren't enough. One morning he decided to shave while I was obviously asleep. The obnoxious loud smacking of the shaver on sink drove me to write this thought. Sometimes I'm not sure if he's just plain oblivious to the situation or he has no understanding of the word quiet. 

It almost feels like I'm back in the realm of Breakfast Man (see KJ's American Adventure for breakfast man reference).

Anyway, I think I should get back into bike riding. I should make it a habit to rent the bike from crew welfare and ride around the caribbean. It seems like a more reasonable way to explore the islands rather than pay for taxis.