Rough Waters of Canada and New England

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Our last two weeks of our Canada and New England itinerary were rough ones!

Week 3, we were in the middle of a storm. We were going so slowly that our arrival time into St. John was later than our departure time, so we had to cancel that port and spend an extra day at sea. Everyone was getting sick. Even us youth counsellors were spending our ENTIRE days up in Kids Korner because it’s the best place on the ship to be for motion, as it’s the highest covered room at the furthest point towards the back of the ship.

We arrived the following day in Halifax. A bunch of us got off, walked along the harbour, did a bit of shopping and then enjoyed free internet and lunch at an Irish pub. The next day we were supposed to be in Bar Harbour but it was cancelled because the rough waters wouldn’t allow us to do our tendering boats. Instead we ended up in St. John! I got off to enjoy a nice afternoon by myself with a cup of soup and more free internet!

Our last port of call was Boston. I have a friend that I work with at camp who goes to Harvard, so I had arranged for us to meet up with her. Liz showed us all around campus and made for a wonderful tour guide! It was neat to be at Harvard. We felt smarter just being on campus! Their dining hall reminded me of Harry Potter, in a big hall with long rows of tables. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside to respect the privacy of the students. Apparently people go CRAZY with photos there. People have stopped Liz and asked to have their picture taken with her, or even gone as far to take photos of her friend in his dorm room while he is sleeping, as his dorm room is on the first floor. NUTS! After our tour, Liz took us to some of Harvard students’ favourite places - a Mexican restaurant where we had amazing burritos, and then for frozen yogurt that had only 100 calories and tasted DIVINE! We then left Liz to rowing practice and head back to the ship.

The following week was much of the same. We did manage to get into St. John the first day. We spent it buying Halloween decorations for the upcoming crew party (as the Cruise Staff was hosting and the YCs offered to decorate). Steph and Nicole then did more shopping (as they decided last minute to change their costumes) and Katelyn and I enjoyed a lovely lunch at Swiss Chalet. Being American, Katelyn had never eaten there before, but quite enjoyed it!

The next day in Halifax I went alone to the Irish Pub with great fish & chips and free internet! That night was our Crew Halloween party. It was fun. Since Steph and Nicole decided not to be Spice Girls, we recruited Jimy and Humberto as replacements. We dressed them up in my dresses then gave them makeup and wigs. They were a huge hit at the party. They kept saying they did it for me, but I think they secretly enjoyed it!

We missed Bar Harbour yet again, due to not being able to tender in rough waters. In Boston though, we caught a crew shuttle to Quincy Market where I finally got the fresh sushi I was craving, and did some shopping for great deals.

Halloween with the kiddies was fun. We had a Halloween party for them where they all came dressed up, we went down to watch the Halloween Production that the cast put together, went trick or treating around the ship (pre-placed candy with certain people), and then watched “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” The kids were adorable and seemed to have a lot of fun.

After we dropped the passengers off in Philadelphia, and we were off for a visit with my friend Donray! (See next entry for details!)

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