Wow! Another cruise down?! This cruise seemed really long and yet my time here as already gone by very quickly. What has it been now? About 6 weeks, I think. I still feel like I just got back, but this cruise forced me to keep my “full speed” schedule instead of my “I just came off vacation” schedule. In some ways I guess that is good- I have a lot of projects I want to accomplish this contract so it is about time that I get back to work, but I really like being lazy and being on vacation. Oh well. I’m just thankful I have a job that lets me take 8 weeks of vacation every 7 months!
The itinerary for this cruise altered slightly from our originally scheduled programming. We were scheduled to spend 2 days in Bermuda. However with Tropical Storm Colin looking to strike Bermuda sometime on Sunday or Monday, we decided to get out of town early and left Saturday night. I expected this to mean an extra sea day for us (boo) but instead we spent 2 days in Nassau (yay!).
On the first day in Nassau we visited Ardastra Gardens. It basically appears to be a homemade zoo. Like a real zoo, but the cages aren’t built to code. The main reason we were going was to see the flamingos. They call them the “Dancing Flamingos” or the “Marching Flamingos.” When we got there we saw signs pointing us to the “Flamingo Arena”- this was turning out to be an entertaining adventure already. We took some pictures with a few flamingos that were nearby before getting our first row seats in the arena for the show. The flamingos came running in the arena alongside their drill sergeant. To be honest, I was a little disappointed with the flamingos’ moves. Instead of dancing or even marching, they just run around in circles because the drill sergeant is yelling at them and chasing them. However we got in the chance to get in the arena with them. I know, dangerous stuff climbing in an arena of wild flamingos, but I like to live a little dangerously so I hopped in. Check out the pictures on Facebook.
For Nassau, day 2, I decided to head back out to Atlantis and actually get a pass to be admitted to more areas this time. I got the “Discover Atlantis” pass which admitted me to a huge aquarium and several outside nautical exhibits. It was well worth it. The aquarium is called “The Dig” and it is set up like a walk through the archeological lab of the rescue of the city of Atlantis. Cool stuff. Aside: I’m getting really into how developing an environment contributes to how involved and even how enjoyable the subject matter becomes. The lighting, design, and attention to detail in this place made it very engaging.
So after The Dig I headed out to the marina and grabbed some pizza and Jamba Juice for lunch- best meal in a long time! Then I walked back up to Atlantis and wandered through the other exhibits and around the resort grounds- it’s an amazing place. I think 1 night there is about a quarter of my monthly salary, so I will probably never stay there, but it was fun to see! Again, Facebook for the pictures.
The next day was CocoCay, but since I’ve been working a lot of late and long hours I decided to just sleep until I woke up. By the time I got out of bed at 12:30 it was a little too late to go ashore. I heard it was ridiculously hot, so staying in my cabin watching television all day was probably much more enjoyable.
That night our featured entertainer was a Motown tribute group. They wanted some audience interaction so one guy ran into the crowd and started talking to a guest. The guest didn’t respond and the performer said, “Do you speak English?” Then the guest’s friend stood up next to them both and began to interpret for the guest via sign language. I’ve heard about deaf people going to concerts because they can feel the music and enjoy it and I think that’s great. However, it was what happened next that puzzled me. It’s customary for entertainers to give gifts to guests who help them out in a show so they gave this guy a CD. What are you going to do next, give a picture to a blind guy? I found that a little funny.
We have a new Cruise Director this cruise. He’s brought back the concept of doing a daily morning show. I’ve done these for other Cruise Directors, but not every day and aside from filming, I have never had a role in the show. However, we film every night and although I am not seen, I am a character on the show- he talks to me, I answer questions, ask him questions, try to be funny- the usual. We also have a question box where people can write in and ask either one of us questions. Of course he gets most of the questions, he’s much more of a public figure than I am, but in the last few days of the cruise people starting writing in and asking if I was real since they never saw me. For our last show, it opens with me at his desk pretending to be him- basically making fun of him the whole time. It was great fun. I also had a prominent role in one of the game shows we run onboard and he introduced me there so people wrote into the show and told the other viewers that I was real because I was running the floor camera at the Quest. At the Farewell show he mentioned me and said that I put the video we were about to play and some one in the front row must have screamed because he said, “Wow. Val has some fans in here.” Then I saw two guests high-five each other. This attention is a little strange for me. As a broadcast tech it’s not uncommon to get a shout out from whoever is running the event you’re shooting, but most people won’t recognize you or know your name. It’s like I have a new identity now. It’s kinda fun!
For those of you who know my heart for entertaining, improv, public speaking, etc. it’s easy to see how God has been at work in my life. I left my last long term job (long term for me anyway) because I felt like they didn’t recognize my gifting and my calling and were stifling my passion instead of helping me develop it. When I left ministry to come to ships I know a lot of you thought I was crazy, and at times so did I. As scared as I was though, something just felt right about it. Here I am almost a year later and I get to work on my improv skills nightly and the onboard church I attend has invited me to preach whenever I would like. Even when I can’t see where we’re going, God leads on! Praise be to God!
