The Veteran, The Entertainer, and The Rookie

Greetings to everyone from the Pacific Ocean!  We have been at sea for five days and it seems we’ve adjusted to our new life onboard a ship.

Leaving Calgary on October 13

It took awhile to get our sea legs back (especially due to weather conditions that made for a very sick Spencer…and Dad…and me).  But we made it through and are just approaching Hawaii as I type.  We can see Waikiki Beach, Diamond Head, and the beautiful coast of Oahu.  We are looking forward to getting off the ship and exploring this beautiful place!

Sunset leaving Vancouver 

For those of you who don’t know, about six months ago, the three of us talked about doing a cruise together.  Well, actually I should clarify: Dad was talking about doing a cruise with Spencer and I simply couldn’t let that happen.  Who would want to go on a cruise without me?? Sounds like a drag.  Anyway, somehow a 26 day cruise to Sydney turned into a 40 day cruise to Auckland, NZ with stops in Hawaii, The Samoan Islands, Fiji, Tazmania and…many other ports of call that I will tell you about as we see them!  So here we are on Day 6 after 5 straight days at sea.  So far, we are in good spirits despite some bad weather and we haven’t had any physical or verbal
altercations with each other.  

The Veteran

With 37 cruises under his belt and over 150 days on Holland America alone, this 3 star (soon to be 4 star) mariner is a cruiser who has the knowledge and experience of an expert.  He balances his multiple trips to the buffet at each meal with a daily cycling workout (boasting an impressive 921 calories burned in one hour on the bike yesterday…and yes, he keeps track of these analytics each day).  He doesn’t waste time seeing entertainment he doesn’t enjoy, but will see the string quartet perform multiple times a night.  His main goal is to get more value out of the cruise than any other passenger so he takes part in most free activities (and all food related events) for such reasons.

The Entertainer

As a former crew member on Holland America (and various other cruise lines), I spend my time explaining to Spencer how different things were when I worked on ships (he loves this) and how different it is being a passenger compared to a crew member (he also loves this).  I take advantage of any opportunity to get on stage (ahem, stole the show when the comedian brought me up) and I am relishing all the things I get to do as a passenger that I couldn’t do as a crew member (eg. HOT TUB).  Although it does sting a bit that I’m not getting paid to be here and, in reality, I’m pay-ing to be here, it is a treat to be a passenger on a cruise ship!  My favourite passenger activities include sun bathing, reading, going to tea time, walking for an hour each day on the promenade deck outside, and dressing up in different outfits each night for dinner.  (Finally a reason to wear my evening gowns again!!)

The Rookie

As a first time cruiser, Spencer spends most of his time wandering around the ship, in awe.  He is constantly amazed at the “free” food, lectures, entertainment, and how nice the service staff is.  He is soaking it all in and taking advantage of any opportunity he can (especially if it’s free).  Although he is missing his daily wine intake, he orders a glass of red each time he orders beef at dinner so he’s learning how to enjoy himself in a cost-effective manner.  He is not one to dip his toes in anything and as such, he dove in, head first to the world of cruising and is already planning his next cruise.  (Note: all of his future cruise plans involve Dad.  Some of them involve me.)

People are definitely confused by the three of us.  They can’t figure out who’s with who and why the three of us are staying in one cabin.  A handicapped cabin, might I add.  (We are always looking for ways we can make people raise their eyebrows…).  Of course my last name is the same as Dad’s so people assume that Dad is my husband.  Therefore I’m constantly finding ways to slip into the conversation that my husband is the 31 year old short, bald guy, not the 60 year old tall guy.  Anyway, the three of us are sharing a handicapped cabin which is great because we have more space than usual, but it’s also hilarious because all the doors are automatic and only shut after being open for at least 10 seconds.  So every time someone goes into the bathroom, the have to stand and wait 10 seconds before the door starts to close (and the door takes at least another 10 seconds to fully shut). 

Our days at sea have been very busy.  Dad and Spencer attend the lectures together - their favourite each day is the space talk, led by a very knowledgable astronomer.  He will be giving lectures throughout the cruise, every day, all the way to Aukland, so every sea day, Spencer and Dad learn about galaxies, stars, planets etc.  I went once and literally fell asleep on Spencer’s lap so I decided it wasn’t my cup of tea.  But tea time is!  Spencer and I enjoy high tea at 3:00 in the dining room and we also attend the “America’s Test Kitchen” workshops which is essentially a live cooking show. 

In the evening, the three of us attend dinner each night in the dining room.  Dad and Spencer have no problem ordering four or five appetizers, two soups, a salad, and a main course.  Every night they also get a main course to share between the two of them.  (Notice how I said the two of them, not the three of us).

They definitely are enjoying each other’s company (more than I would like, actually, because I am always left in the dust).  However, the three of us are really enjoying our time together.  

The evening shows range from comedians to vocalists to production shows to musicians.  One evening, the comedian brought all three of us on stage.  You can imagine Dad’s delight.  Both Spencer and Dad had to act as characters from the Wizard of Oz and literally sing and dance.  It was hilarious.

Another fun little event that Spencer and I took part in was the “Bar Hop” which was essentially a pub crawl on board where bartenders take a group of people from one bar to another and play games/serve special drinks.  It was absolutely the most random thing I’ve ever done on a cruise ship.  We were surrounded by mostly people ages 60+ who were forced to play games that were made up on the spot by the bartenders.  It reminded me of being a camp counsellor when there is downtime and you think “Well, we have to come up with some sort of programming to keep these kids entertained so I will make up a game”.  It was haphazard, disorganized, and absolutely hysterical.  Very random, and well worth the $22 we paid.  I should also mention that at the beginning, they had us put on name tags.  The name tags we could choose had silly and seemingly unrelated names such as: “Wicked Witch of the West”, “Captain Morgan”, “Frank Sinatra” and “Sleeping Beauty”.  I chose to be “Ginger Rogers” and Spencer was “Rapunzel” (get it? because he has no hair).  Anyway, we thought this would eventually play into the evening somehow but it never did.  We just all were walking around with these very random name tags on and…it was never acknowledged. It was definitely something that Dad would not have enjoyed, but the two of us did.

Spencer is in love with cruising.  His most common phrase is: “Just when you think it can’t get any better…” (and finish that sentence with comments like “it’s happy hour!” or “the sun is out!” ) and “I still can’t believe this is real” (This is usually in reference to the food that he doesn’t have to “pay” for which is when I remind him that we have pre-paid of all this stuff, we don’t just get it for free).  Anyway, he is happy which makes me happy.  Both Spencer and I are working remotely (while Dad enjoys a stress-free vacation, obviously) and our cabin stewards are again, confused by all the recording equipment in our room.

They think Spencer is a DJ, so we’re pretty sure they think we spend our nights dancing in our own private disco. 

Due to a medical emergency, we get an extra day in Honolulu, HI, our first port of call.  We plan on spending it walking along the beach and enjoying the beauty of the island.  Hawaii was one of my mom’s favourite places in the world so I will be thinking of her lots over the next three days.  Similar to my mother, I am spending lots of time out in the sun, reading book after book and enjoying the beautiful weather while Dad and Spencer sit in the shade.  

As we see different places, I will keep you updated and hopefully share some fun pictures!  For now, I will say ALOHA!!!