Getting closer to the South Pole!

12/19/08

Well we're officially back in cold weather, as we're getting closer to the Cape and Antarctica. Yesterday the weather was pretty unbearable, as it was extremely windy and the swells were starting to get bad. We had scenic cruising through the Darwin Channel yesterday, which is named after Charles Darwin (also famous for his theories on evolution.) Anyways, I haven't been outside to see the Darwin Channel or Amalia Glacier (where we are today) because I've been feeling really sick.

Yesterday, I worked for about 13 hours... and today I have a 16-hour day (working for 13.5 hours) soooo needless to say, I haven't had time to rest and sleep it off. I went to the infirmary this morning after library duty and they said I have a severe sinus infection and a hemmorhaging tonsil. This is apparently the second time I've had hemmorhaging problems in the same tonsil. I guess I'll need to go see an ENT doctor when I get home to solve the problem. I'm tempted to take a knife and cut them out myself at this point cause they're not worth the hassle! Needless to say, they put me on antibiotics and I have to check back in 5 days. I'm just hoping I feel better for all of the Christmas and New Year's activities cause being sick definitely puts a damper on the holiday spirit. I think I'm going to watch Polar Express tonight and drink hot chocolate... cause that's my only hope.

All of this work right around Christmas is making me extremely home sick... especially since today is Colleen's graduation day and I really wish I could be out in Colorado with my parents to see her walk across the stage. The last McArdle to graduate... and a semester early! She's amazing. I'm trying to get her to come onboard as a "friend onboard". Basically this means that she would be able to stay in my room and be treated as a crew member, only she wouldn't have to work. She'd only have to pay for transportation to the ship and can stay onboard for up to 30 days because I'm allowed to have a friend onboard for up to 30 days per calendar year. Leen would come onboard for my last cruise, so she'd fly in to Santiago, Chile and then go with us back over the equator, through the Mexican Riviera, and up the West Coast to Seattle.



12/20/08

Ok, it is Saturday and we're in Punta Arenas, Chile. It's our last Chilean port during this cruise. I opened the library this morning at 9 am and am here til 2. Then I don't have to work until 7:30, so I'll get some time to go ashore and do some fun stuff. I've been struggling to stay awake in the library this morning since port days tend to be fairly dead in here. So, I looked at a travel book on Chile and tried to come up with some ideas of stuff for Danny and I to do once I get off work. There are a few penguin colonies nearby, but I think I'll wait until the next time we're here (or even in the Falkland Islands) to get on a shore excursion through the ship. Our DJ and Party Planner are going on the shore excursion to see the penguins this afternoon, so I may have to get the scoop from them as to whether it's worth it.

I'm interested to see what the Falkland Islands are like... from what I've heard, it is very difficult to actually be able to stop. The port is so small that we have to tender in using our life boats, but the weather tends to be so rough that tendering is often a safety hazard. Many times they have to cancel the stop all together because they can't take the risk of having passengers injure themselves by trying to board a tender. I have IPM (In Port Manning) this voyage when we're in the Falklands, so we'll have to see how it goes. When we had our meeting at the end of the last cruise, our Event Manager told us about a time when he was on this ship and they had tendered into the port only to have the weather rapidly turn. They had to call the tenders back to the ship and passengers were stranded on land. The Falklands apparently don't have hotels around, so the passengers spent an overnight in people's homes, schools, and churches. Because of that instance, Holland America now sends one representative from the front office, one from entertainment (us), and one bridge officer ashore to stand on the pier incase a mass evacuation is necessary or to rapidly plan an overnight stay if ever necessary. So, we've been warned that we'll all have times when we'll have to do "Stanley Duty" in Stanley, Falkland Islands and stand in the cold and wind waiting around incase something happens. Our cruise director said that it is the perfect way to explain to others that our lives can be anything but luxurious, though most believe it is all glamourous.

In other news... Only 5 days til Christmas!!! We're having a Christmas wrapping party tonight with the Cruise Director, Event Manager, and youth staff to wrap the presents that Santa will give to the kids on Christmas Day. The cruise director and event manager get a couple bottles of wine and we just have beverages and wrap presents. I'm excited for that cause it should be a fun little team-building event.

Our Event Manager, Jon, leaves in Rio and I'm pretty bummed about that. He's really nice and always helps us out with everything. He's absolutely HILARIOUS too! He was actually supposed to have left on 12/15, but extended for a cruise. Now, my old Cruise Director from the Veendam will be the Event Manager here. His name is Chris and he's pretty cool. He used to always convince Danny to play video games with him for hours... so he keeps saying that he's gonna start taking all of Danny's time again once he gets here haha. He just recently had a baby (in August I think) and came back to the Veendam not long after. He wanted to be home for the holidays with his family, so he's going to be home for Christmas and come here a few days after New Year's. Good times.

The passengers on this cruise are from a million different places and I feel like NO ONE speaks English. It is definitely frustrating trying to explain the internet packages available to someone who only speaks Russian, has a ship daily program that is translated into Russian for them, came with a Russian laptop (so the keyboard is completely different) and doesn't understand why I don't speak their language. It definitely tests patience! There is once person in particular that is really rude and asks questions about EVERYTHING that she does. It's always interesting to find your favorite and least favorite passengers. That is one of the most challenging parts of this job... sometimes there are people that you absolutely adore and it is sad to watch them go. And then there are the ones that you're not so sad about because they left much to be desired. There were quite a few lovely people last cruise... and there are already some people that I've met on this cruise that are really nice, including a bunch of people from Maryland.

Ok, random and abrupt ending, but I'm done in the library and off to go out in Punta Arenas! I'll write more later! xoxoxo.