Montego Bay

Yesterday was Montego Bay, Jamaica! It was a lot of fun, mon. A bunch of people met at the staff bar at 10 to all go to the beach together, and we wanted to sleep a little bit later so they told us they were going to Sandals beach, and we said we’d meet them there. So we got out a little later, and the shuttle lady asked us where we wanted to go. We said Sandals, and then she informed us that there were three different Sandals beaches. We had no idea which one, so we got on the shuttle anyway, because it was going into town. It made a stop in this little shopping area that had a KFC! We were so excited, especially me, because I haven’t had fried chicken in ages, and I love it! So we decided to get off and eat lunch. We were pretty hungry anyway, and so we figured after delicious fried chicken, we would figure out how to get to the beach.

Jamiacan KFC = most disappointing experience ever. I got a chicken strips meal, and there were two skinny little gross pathetic strips, and the lamest fries ever. And one ketchup packet. And the biscuit was totally dry and disappointing.
The cool thing was that in the soda options there was “Old Jamaican Ginger Beer” which tasted quite interesting and was very yummy.

But, it was food, and so we ate it, and then walked back over to the shopping area where we grabbed a taxi and told them to take us to a beach. (we had given up at this point on finding the others) There were two main near public beaches, apparently, and we chose the quieter of the two, and we definitely made the best choice. White sand, beautiful clear blue water, and this forest of palm trees that we sat under. The water was like a bath. We got chairs, and daiquiris, and conch fritters!
There were a few water trampolines a ways out, so we went and played on those for a little bit. And laid in the sun. and in the shade. And in the water. It was an absolutely beautiful day.

towards the end of cruise

Yesterday was Cartegena again, but it was really hot out, so we didn’t go out.

We had a boat drill in the morning, which sucks because we wake up at 10 and then go stand around in life jackets for 45 minutes until they say we can go.

I guess I should describe a boat drill to you, since I keep talking about it.

*bing bong* Ladies and gentlemen, in about 30 minutes we will be having a crew boat drill, this is for the crew only, it is only a drill.

The 30 minute warning is pretty much our call to get up and start looking decent, because *bing bong* at the end of this announcement a crew boat drill will begin BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP (7 short and one long blast means get to your muster station). We grab our life jackets and put them on, and everyone is groggy but nicely dressed. Chelle and I and a most of my friends are (conveniently) in Muster Station E, which as I mentioned before, means we don’t have to participate in the passenger boat drills, which is fantastic. Station E is also in the Martini Bar, which is one of my favorite lounges. We’re supposed to stand still with no talking or laughing, but no one does. We stand there for about 20 minutes until there is one more BEEEP and an announcement to go to our lifeboat positions. We all have different lifeboats that we are in, so if this wasn’t a drill it would be the point where we’d say goodbye and hopefully see you back on shore. The lifeboat station part is the lame part, because its outside and usually hot, and we stand there for a very long time while they call peoples numbers to make sure everyone is there. And everyone is in life jackets and there is no personal space at all. So we stand there until the final *bing bong* telling us the drill is now over. Then the people swarm back downstairs to put their life jackets away and resume normal life.

Anyhow, after the boat drill is my favorite part, because that means we’re all awake enough to go upstairs for breakfast. The downstairs staff mess breakfast is very early in the morning, I think it ends at 8:30. I haven’t made it to that one at all. But the upstairs main buffet is open until 11:30, so we always go up there and eat a lovely breakfast, fruit and yogurt and eggs and bacon, and coffee! Breakfast around here is a rarity because we tend to sleep until lunchtime. 

Not much going on today. We're bookin it back to Florida! if you want a phone call on sunday, let me know! :) 

panama a a a a

I would like to start this blog by saying that I loooooove this job. Here’s your latest on what I’ve been up to! We’re still playing a few sets a night, and musically things are going well. Non-musically…………

In Acapulco we got a taxi to walmart, where we bought squirt guns and beach toys and sunscreen. It was kinda nice, cause the Walmart smell is the same whether you are in Tennessee or in Mexico.
Then we went to the place we went before to go bungee jumping, Paradise, where we got a Coco Loco (the best drink in the world, served in a coconut) and I rented a beach chair under an umbrella. We laid around and hung out and ate a bunch and played in the ocean and in the pool.

We went back to Costa Rica, and went ziplining this time! It was the same place we went horseback riding, so we already knew that it was beautiful and amazing and affordable and not many people knew about it. We met this older couple that was on their honeymoon, and they were in our group to go ziplining, so there were 6 of us. The couple were ziplining connoisseurs, and they were just going around trying all the ziplining places. They said this one was one of the best they had ever been on though. It was SO cool! The last line we did was almost a half mile long, across this huge valley. I felt like a bird, and I wanted to fling my arms out and yell I'm KING OF THE WORLD. It was glorious.

Two nights ago we got a night off – we played for the Captain’s Club party in the afternoon, which is an exclusive event for the people who have spent the most money on the ship, and they always honor the couple who has been on the most cruises. This cruise, the winning couple had been on 140 cruises, incredible. In any case, we had an evening off for the first time in a long time, we wanted to go to the fancy restaurant, the S.S.United States, but it was full and we couldn’t get a reservation. So we went upstairs and ate pizza from the Oceanview Café, and walked around and listened to the other musical acts that didn’t have the night off. There’s really not much to do on the ship, and I can see how someone would get a little crazy after a few months here. It hasn’t gotten old to me yet, but I still sometimes wish to run to circle k in the middle of the night. Or IHOP.

Yesterday evening we stopped in Panama. I only had about 30 minutes because although crew didn’t have to be back on the ship til 9:30, I had to play a set at 7:45, so I got off and walked around a bit, but we couldn’t really go anywhere except this one little bar/restaurant right on the dock, so we sat on a bench outside that and got a drink and talked. It was too dark to take pictures, but we’ll be back through once more, so I’ll get pictures and souvenirs then.
Sea Day today, so boring. Slept til 2. :)

Cabo San Lucas

Here I am again, doing a terrible job of keeping anyone updated. Yesterday was the most fantastic day, which says a lot because there have been a very, very many fantastic days lately. We went to the beach in Cabo San Lucas. We got off the ship and were immediately accosted by twenty Mexican taxi boat drivers, not exaggerating, all wanting to take us to one beach or another. We decided to go to Lover’s Beach, and we found the water taxi driver that was willing to take us round trip for 5 bucks instead of 10. We were really glad we chose Jerry, cause he was really cool – he would weave the boat rockily, calling it “Mexican massage, for free!” He dropped us off at Lover’s Beach, which was an adventure in and of itself, since he pulled the boat up on the beach in the surf and we had to jump off into the water. (getting back on was a lot harder) It was a lovely beach, but had these little flies that were all over the place if you stayed in one place too long. We moved to a breezier area, and it wasn’t too bad. The water was too strong to swim in, so we layed out, walked around, ate some chips, drank some beer, took some pictures.

I got burnt a little bit, but not as bad as it coulda been. Mostly my belly. I shoulda sunscreened more of me, but see – Mexico has crazy ninja sunburns. You feel fine when youre out there. Then you come home and you still feel fine, and you say, yeah, that wasn’t that bad! Then like 2-3 hours after you’ve gotten home and determined that youre fine, all of the sudden you’re burnt really bad. Humph.

We headed out of the beach about an hour before we had to get back on the ship, which was great because then we got the opportunity to raise money to help wildlife byyyyy getting to hold a baby lion and baby jaguar!! They were soo adorable. The jaguar was kind of cranky, but the lion was just a little fat cuddlebucket, soo, so cute.

update, finally!

So, last I left you was in the Cayman Islands, with me being ridiculously happy to be here. Since then, not much has changed besides the scenery. I found myself thinking last night, “man, I have a hard day tomorrow…” …Then I realized that a “hard day” here is cancelled parasailing plans and four sets of music this evening. Really, when a hard day is less than 4 hours of work, I can’t complain.

We’re in Cabo San Lucas today, and due to scheduling problems we’re only in port for a couple hours instead of all day. Generally, the crew has to wait til the guests are off anyway, and has to be back on before the guests get back, so that leaves us with not very much time. I doubt I’ll get off at all – we’re swinging back by here a couple times, so.. plenty of time to go parasailing.

Let’s see if I can catch you up – Grand Cayman was about a week ago. Next was Cartegena again (as you remember, that’s where we got on the ship) we were able to get off the ship and walk around some shops. We didn’t get into town (it was very hot and we didn’t care to sort through the huge amount of sketchy taxi drivers to take us anywhere) but we drank some coffee and fresh fruit juice, and it was lovely.

The next day we went through the Panama Canal. This one was the coolest for me – my grandpa lived and worked here in the 50s, and my dad was born here. Before I left, Poppop showed me a lot of his old pictures and maps, and it was really cool to see that not much has changed (except it’s in color now) Panama is beautiful, but very humid. I will never complain about Maryland or Nashville humidity again!

Punterenas, Costa Rica was my favorite so far. Lots of people wanted to go ziplining in the jungle, but (again) we didn’t have a lot of time, so we decided to go horseback riding. We got a taxi into the mountains, to this darling little place with a restaurant, hotel, ziplining, horseback riding, pool, pretty much everything. And no one else was there. We had to wait a little bit for an English speaking guide to go with us horseback riding, but the view was so beautiful and the food was so yummy, and we were in rocking chairs in the shade of a giant tree, that we didn’t mind waiting at all. Then we rode through the mountains for two hours (and yes I definitely hurt for days after). Our guides name was Walter, and he told us a little bit about Costa Rica and some of the trees, and we saw toucans. It was amazing. When we got back, we still had some time before getting back to the ship, so we hopped in the pool for a bit.

After another day at sea, we had two days in a row in Mexico, first in Huatulco and then Acapulco. We went to the beach both times, and I got a little sunburnt, but it was awesome. In Acapulco some of the guys went bungee jumping, but I didn’t. I suppose I shoulda, just to say I did. But bungee jumping has never been something I’ve really wanted to do. Oh well.

Yesterday was a sea day, and today we are in Cabo San Lucas! Sunday we get to San Diego, so I’m excited to check my phone call people I miss and go to walmart and see the lovely Jessica Miller. And get real internet. And hopefully upload some pictures.

So – email me. What's been going on in the states? No one tells me anything! J beckahannigan@gmail.com

Costa Rica

Yesterday we went horseback riding in the mountains of costa rica. It was pretty amazing. I'm sorry I havent written you a legit update in a while.. ill put together a good one soon!!