Shipboard Life...

It’s come to my attention that I’ve been telling you all about my adventures, but not much about the actual vessel in which I am traveling. I’ve described ports, and all the tours and excursions I’ve gone on throughout, but I haven’t taken the opportunity to describe my life here, onboard the Century. The little things, things I see, the things I do, the food I eat, and the people I’ve met. I want to devote this post to those things, and let you in on what it’s like to live aboard a ship.

I’ll start with the ship itself. Twelve floors and 2,000 guests, it’s like living in a city block that moves. Everything is elegant and laid out with care. Everything, of course, except for the crew area where I happen to be living. The crew cabin Andrea and I are staying in is very small, I’d say that it’s less than half the size of my dorm room last year. Luckily, the first 2 cruises here, Andrea hasn’t had a roommate, so we’ve had the room to ourselves. Nice and cozy. Now, however, Andrea has a roommate, a nice Russian lady whom I can practice my Russian with, to my hearts content. Because of this, we’re a little tighter packed, and sleeping in the same bed for now – one facing one direction and the other facing opposite. So far it’s been working really well though, and we haven’t ended up with feet in our face yet. I actually am sleeping pretty well. I guess now I can really call myself a stow-away.

As for food, I’ve normally just been eating upstairs at the buffet with Andrea in between shows, as we didn’t know if I would be able to get a dinner seating or not. If you are eating later like we usually are, there are limited options, namely pizza or pasta. The pasta bar itself is really great, you have your choice of pasta and (meat and veggies) that you pick out and they’ll fry it all up for you. Then you choose one of four sauces and vwala! Instant pasta! The same thing with the stir fry, which I didn’t discover until much later. Stir fry and sandwiches (lunch) are our favorite. This cruise has actually been a little different in this regard as well, as we were able to get a dinner seating for me, with an extra spot for when Andrea can join us. So far, she’s been there every night, sometimes just having to eat quickly and run most of the time. Our waiter has been really great and goes out of his way to make sure Andrea gets her food earlier so she has the time to eat and run.

It’s nice, having the dinner seating, the food is really great, and pretty – (I’ve been taking pictures to improve my garde-manger skills) and I’m getting to know more of the guests this way. We’re at a table with an American couple (originally from Columbia) and two girls from Brazil. There was a couple from Germany too, but they haven’t come very often after that first night. They’ve been on a few of my tours this cruise and I am really enjoying their company. I even tried escargot one night and they were all cheering me on – one, two, three! lol. Eh, it was ok, but I doubt I’ll ever get it again. Oh, and something else of note, one of the Brazillian ladies always passes up on dessert, saying she doesn’t want anything, and our waiter keeps trying to get her to ea dessert. Finally, last night, when she ordered nothing again, the waiter brought her a plate with the word ‘nothing’ written in chocolate sauce. It was awesome, I love our waiter. I got a picture, too.

I’ve started going to the gym onboard too, and George and Sean have been really great. I explained my situation to them, and George gave me a free evaluation and put together a program for me that I can actually do. Things that won’t put pressure on my hip, but will work to build up the resistance around it. I’ve been trying to go every day with Andrea, and I think I’ve come a long way, considering the fact that last year, I was using my scooter-chair most of the time. I even got too do one of the spa demonstrations last embarkation day – ionothermy, which was really cool, and I can feel the difference.

In other news, I’ve been meeting quite a few of Andrea’s friends onboard, and getting to know them better. A few of the dancers I’ve seen around, and gone on the same tours as, and gotten to have some good conversations with. Tim Cruise, the piano player in Michael’s Club, is the friend of Andrea’s who requested these last two weeks of me staying onboard, and I’ll see him around a lot too. A few days ago I heard him playing in Michael’s Club, and sat down inside to watch him for a while. He noticed me right away, and a few songs in dedicated a song to me… “because I want to see her blush”, he said, and proceeded to sing “you are so beautiful, to me…” lol. Well, all I can say is, it worked. I was definitely blushing by the end of that song.

Metro, the vocal group onboard, are my favorite. Whenever I see them in the dining room, I’ll go over and join them, as they’re fun to hang around with and very personable. We sat eating ice-cream and sour-patch kids one day, joking, and just talking about random stuff. All I can really say is, they are amazing, and I’ve been going to almost all their shows just because.

Besides that, there is, of course, the Celebrity Orchestra itself, with Andrea and her good friend Marie, who is happy to lend me any clothing or earrings I may need or want. She’s been really great, and we’ll often spend time with her and her boyfriend. The new drummer, Stefan, from south Africa (who Marie was trying to hook Andrea up with until she gave up on it…) He had a tough start, but is doing much better now. Andrea and I would often see him rushing off somewhere and feel sorry for him, hoping that he’d make it through. It took a while, but now he’s getting the hang of things. The piano player, Marina, also Andrea’s new roommate, is really sweet, but hates our small room, and it has nothing to do with us. We have had some good conversations though, and she has complimented me on my Russian. ☺ It’s nice to have someone to practice with. And that’s basically my life onboard the Century.

Well, I think that’s about it for now, so, until next time!

Oh yes, I've also got some more photo albums completed, so here are some more photos of Sweden, Finland, and Russia

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48182&l=c9896&id=658227216

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48183&l=93ae3&id=658227216

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48186&l=3bbcc&id=658227216

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49792&l=e118b&id=658227216