The Saga of the Sea

Well, Day two at sea… Sorry I didn’t post yesterday, but as days go, it was rather overwhelming. Met a girl from West Seneca on the airplane. She was pretty cool and a singer in the shows so I had somebody to latch on to who had at least a working knowledge of what in god’s name was going on. We pulled up to the port in the shuttle bus and I was absolutely blown away by the size of the ship. It is easily the size of a small coastal European country. After passing through security we were dragged around the boat, shown things I’ll never remember, and then left to our own devices in out “luxurious” cabins. I have temporary digs until I can join my department when the guy I replace leaves in two weeks. Until that day I am occupying the smallest size staff cabin with a Russian bartender. Yesterday was a 23 hour day of utter confusion, beffudlement, and sheer anxiety. Luckily, the entertainment staff seems top notch, and extremely friendly. My immediate co-workers consist of a girl from NYC, another from Wales (UK), a kid from Michigan, and another guy from California. The Theater is very small but extremely state of the art and visually stunning. I think the crew was relieved when I started to ask about the gear with some authority or at the very least some recognition. Anyway, if this seems a bit disjointed, bear with me….disjointed is a good way of describing my last few days on a whole. So we worked two shows, I was introduced to the dark hole I will be working in for the next 8 mos. The automation equipment is very cool, and I think it’s going to be relatively easy to wrap my head around…..Finished the night with a nightcap or two in the Crew Bar, which the natives have affectionately named “the church”. The theater staff took turns buying me Labatt (hot diggity dog, they do have Labatt), and after about 4 beers(for some reason everybody orders drinks by twos. “Good things come in two’s” as it was explained to me) I was ready for bed. Anyway, that was yesterday.

I woke up this morning at 10 and we were already at port. I’m confined to ship my first week, so I had to be content to bask on the Bahamas deckside. I have done absolutely nothing today, my shift starts at 4 and I pretty much have spent the day napping and smoking cigarettes on the crew deck. I watched as we pulled out from port. That was pretty bloody cool… the Bahamas look beautiful from sea. I forgot to bring my camera, so sorry about that. I’ll make sure I have it for St. Thomas. Anyway, I just found the internet café, my shift starts in an hour, and I have email and other things to check, so I will leave it at that. Again, sorry this post had absolutely no form and rambled on for days. Feel free to ask any specific questions, and I’ll TRY to update every couple of days.

Keep it on the reel, maties.