Driving a Zamboni… Oh, and 20 foot waves!

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You work all day every day, spend a few hours ashore once in a while, and the next thing you know another month has gone by!

The last month has been one of the more interesting onboard actually. A week after my last blog update was Halloween. Now being onboard this ship was surprisingly interesting. The creativity of the crew was astounding, and the guest participation was amazing. The promenade deck was packed with a few thousand costumed guests all dancing to the monster mash right up until Thriller started playing… This caused nearly 50 crew members all zombified to appear out of what seemed like thin air and then be joined by the cruise director filling in for Michael Jackson. Seeing 50 crew members all do the Thriller dance amongst a promenade covered in spider webs and jack-o-lanterns was incredible!

A couple weeks ago we were being pounded with high winds all day while inside the harbour in Nassau. As soon as we managed to make our way out of the port we ran into the roughest seas I had seen yet in the Caribbean. Something we have on the Oasis is wave radar, this is basically a sensor that lets us know exactly how big the waves are without estimation. Not only does this make the job easier, it also eliminates any room for error. The wave radar topped out at 6.6 meters. For a period of nearly 40 hours the ship was rolling almost 3 degrees with both stabilizers out. 3 degrees doesn’t sound like much, but keep in mind that the ships decks are 65 meters wide!

Last Cozumel I managed to see my parents! They were on vacation in Playa Del Carmen which is only a short ferry ride away. They came onboard for a few hours to see just how incredible this ship is, and then we spent a good part of the afternoon together having some food, hitting the beach, and checking out the downtown area of San Miguel de Cozumel. It was only for a few hours and a real downer to say goodbye, but it was fantastic to see them for the first time in 7 months.

Our last Nassau we didn’t have a drill for once as we had our annual Coast Guard inspection a day prior. This allowed me to make it ashore for only the second time ever, although it wasn’t as spectacular as going to the Atlantis Resort we did go to the beach and get a half decent tan. But more importantly I ate conch. If you're like me there’s a good chance your pronouncing it in your head wrong. The locals will quickly let you know that it’s pronounced conk. The local delicacy is Conch Fritters. Basically this deliciously tender shellfish dipped in a delicious batter and fried.

2 days ago I managed to do something I had wanted to do onboard since I heard of the possibility when I was first interviewed for the job by a Canadian Staff Captain over 2 years ago. This something was play hockey on the sheet of ice normally reserved for public skating and the figure skating shows. It wasn’t a big turnout, but 2 vs 2 on a small sheet of ice was fantastic.

A few weeks ago I received flight details that routed me through Toronto and took me 13 hours to get home. I asked nicely and they got changed up to get me home 5 hours earlier! 5 hours doesn’t sound like much when you’ve been got for nearly 8 months, but I am so appreciative (as is the person who gets to pick me up at 8pm and not 1am). So I will be home on December 3^rd, only 11 days from now!

See you soon everyone! Let me know if you want to hit up Mt Seymour when I get back :)

gbeier@gmail.com

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