Seas the Day!: #4: Life's a Beach

Greetings from somewhere in the Atlantic!

We are back in Boston today after just completing a 14-day cruise to many tropical destinations including Key West, Cuba, Jamaica and the Bahamas with many full days at sea in between. As promised, here are the highs and lows of the past couple of weeks. Thanks for reading!

BESTS	WORSTS
Saturday, June 23	Boston, MA- Start of a New Cruise!
· I bought new tennis shoes for running. They were originally $80, but I got them for $44! As JJ always says, with a deal like that, “It’d be rude not to!” ;)	· We performed LTTM to kick off another cruise and for whatever reason in every dance tonight, the point of my heels on my ballroom shoes kept getting caught in the hem of my dresses while I was dancing! Not cool!
Sunday, June 24	Sea Day
· Finally got to sleep in today! Weekends and regular off-days don’t really exist on a ship, so you have to create them yourself! · Today I sat down with my laptop, opened an excel spreadsheet and created a budget! I felt very accomplished and look forward to working toward my savings goal throughout this contract. Yay, for adulting!	· I am waddling everywhere I go today because I am super sore from leg day two days ago, haha!
Monday, June 25	Sea Day
· Tonight we performed Classique and received a standing ovation! Feels good to get such a positive response from our guests!	· My body is feeling very fatigued lately, especially my back. I can feel I have a big knot on one side and it’s making it hard to breathe! May need to invest in a massage onboard soon!
Tuesday, June 26	Sea Day
· Tonight I went to dinner at the Italian specialty restaurant, Canaletto, with a few other cast members. So much amazing food, WOW!	· After 3 weeks onboard with no emergency function, our luck finally ran out and we received our In Port Manning schedule. In Port Manning (IPM) is a rotating schedule detailing which crew members need to stay onboard when we are in port to be available for coverage in the event of an emergency. Until today, the cast was not on this rotation, so we could get off the ship in every port! Now we each have been assigned certain port days where we must stay on the ship. So it goes…
Wednesday, June 27	Key West, FL
· It was a VERY HOT ONE, but what a great day in Key West! We got to see the Southernmost Point of the continental US, eat at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, and enjoyed frozen, chocolate-covered Key Lime Pie on a stick! I think I died and went to heaven!	· It was veryyyy humid today in Key West and when we got back onboard, we had to perform Dance- our most athletic show! We were all ready to pass out by day’s end!
Thursday, June 28	Havana, Cuba
· I was initially scheduled to have IPM today, but was miraculously able to get off the ship after I found someone to switch duties with! · While out in Havana, Morgan and I accidentally came across this amazing ballet performance by the Malandain Ballet Biarritz of Cuba. So cool!	· Cuba is an interesting country with lots of beautiful architecture, but it’s not hard to see the corruption that exists there. Locals compete for tourist business and on our way back to the ship, Morgan and I were unknowingly cheated by our taxi driver who claimed we gave him a $1 bill instead of a $20 bill. It wasn’t until later that we realized he had switched the bills on us and we had just paid him twice for our ride. On the plus side, we made it safely back to the ship and he gave us back the $1 bill he claimed we gave him, so I guess we were only shorted $19 instead of $20…aye yi yi.
Friday, June 29	Havana again!
· Enjoyed a beautiful sunset on land with palm tree silhouettes · Everything in Cuba is very inexpensive! Check out this 4 liter ice tower of beer that only cost $16! (Don’t worry…I shared).	· There was an oil spill on the way to our next scheduled port, Cienfuegos, so our visit to that port has been cancelled and we are now spending another full day in Havana.
Saturday, June 30	Sea Day
· I am celebrating from afar that after nearly 2 years away, JJ is finally reunited with his family for a visit in South Africa! Baie lekker! :D	· While my heart is so full and happy for them, I am greatly missing the Naude family today and trying to pass time on this long, empty sea day distracting myself onboard watching Game of Thrones, going to the gym and playing board games.
Sunday, July 1	Georgetown, Grand Cayman
· Enjoyed another beautiful beach today with VERY salty water!	· Many stores were closed today in port due to it being a Sunday during the off-season. ·
Monday, July 2	Ocho Rios, Jamaica
· It’s been 13 years since the iconic Wheeler family cruise and today I finally returned to Ocho Rios, Jamaica! Ya mon! · The best part of today was our taxi driver, Castello- a local Jamaican man who really hooked us up with the best deal on Red Stripe beers so we were well-stocked for the beach!	· We went to Mahogany Beach, which wasn’t the nicest, comparitively. It was a bit small and the sand was pretty rough, but it’s hard to complain about another day at another beach!
Tuesday, July 3	Sea Day
· The highlight of my day today was enjoying a soft-serve cone of chocolate and vanilla twist while I walked in the mid-day sun along the top, sports deck admiring the clear blue water below. What a treat!	· I suppose the grass is always greener, but on sea days when we don’t have much work to do (today we only had to teach a 30 minute line dancing class), the time can crawl by, making me almost wish I was working more. Almost.
Wednesday, July 4	Half Moon Cay
· Enjoyed yet another Beautiful Beach on Holland America’s Private Island! · Late tonight we had Crew Bingo- I love Crew Social Events and intermingling with other departments!	· Not winning in Crew Bingo and Austin (fellow dancer) won TWICE! HOW?! L
Thursday, July 5	Sea Day
· We teach line dances to guests periodically during their cruise and tonight the cast made a cameo appearance up on the dance floor to line dance with guests at midnight. However, it was formal night tonight, so the best part of my night was doing the Wobble in my evening gown! Haha, wobble baby!	· Finding out some of us crew might have to disembark the ship in Boston for a couple days due to some issues with one of our lifeboats and avoiding being overcapacity-yikes! · The rockiest night yet since we’ve been onboard and we had to perform Atlantic Crossing! Talk about Rock’n Roll!
Friday, July 6	Sea Day
· Got to sleep in again! · We also had a Cast Chat today where we do a Q&A with guests and give them a backstage tour. It’s always so fun to meet them and share some inside info with them. One guest even thanked me for sharing my story of my journey with dance and said she has a niece with similar dreams!	· This afternoon/evening was a rainy/gloomy one as we watched the sea blend in with the gray sky. But it was cool to see some strikes of lightning every now and then!