Navigating the Great Beast

Well, I made it to the ship, with a few minutes to spare. Found my cabin - and wondered where the rest of it was - truly a shoe box. I'll post pics later. I changed and got to work in the new spa, a much nicer design than the MS Elation. Met the spa staff - very young, but nice. I got to work - going until 10 pm. After being up for 38+ hours straight, I slept well...

One thing I can say about this ship - its huge!!! I can't find my way around it yet.

Sitting in the Airport waiting for the connecting flight

Tired. So very tired. Its 8:30 AM EDT and I haven't slept in nearly 24 hours - except fitful dozing in the center seat on the flight from Portland to Charlotte NC, where I write this. I'm waiting to go to Miami. There are wicked thunderstorms here in Charlotte, and the people in the airport all seem lost. The southern accents are thick here - "Fiiiiinaaalll Boaaardin' Caaawwwwl for Orrrrlaaaannndooooo" - if you know what I mean. So here I sit, hoping to God that I don't write too many fragmented sentences.

Oh, here's a link to a website that has the current itinerary for the Carnival Valor, my new ship. I'm trying to add a calendar so you can see exactly where I'm at in the world.

Back to the Ships - Tonight!!!

I'm packing (and repacking) today. I'm catching a "Redeye" out of Portland to Miami. With connections considered, I'll leave tonight at 10:30pm and get into Miami at noon. I start work at 2 pm!! So its a serious case of hitting the ground running.

More to come.

Back to Sea

I'm heading to the Carnival Valor on August 17th, and frankly I can't wait. Judy is being transferred there too. I've been away from her for 6 weeks and that is too long!!!

The Caribbean is my home for the next 6 months!!! The ship does 7 day cruises out of Miami and alternates between Eastern Caribbean and Western Caribbean cruises. Here are the ports of call (all of which I'll get to see about 13 times):

Eastern Caribbean: Nassau, Bahamas; St. Thomas, USVI and St. Maarten
Western Caribbean: Belize, Roatan Island, Honduras; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands and Cozumel, Mexico.

Not too shabby, eh? I get paid to see these places!!!