Iberian Adventures

That isn't a fancy blog-post title I made up myself, its the name of this particular voyage.  We visit Lisbon, Gibraltar, and a handful of ports in Spain.  We had a lovely day in Lisbon, and since we were docked in a closer berth we were able to have a nice stroll right into town instead of a long shuttle bus ride.  It was gorgeous weather, and we sat outside for a while to soak it in.  Lisbon is a really charming city, though it is also a bit dirty and filled with sketchy people at times.  But I love how the buildings are each covered in their own distinctive tiling on the outside, and the roofs are all red tile.  It was a really nice day.  We sailed away early in the afternoon, much to the dismay of 3 of the dancers who didn't make it back to the ship in time.  We left them standing on the pier, and we could see them there as we sailed away.  They had to fly to Malaga, Spain, to rejoin the ship the next day.  Being in that situation is quite literally one of my worst nightmares.  Lucky for them, they haven't lost their jobs, though missing the ship is usually gets you fired.  They have been given the severest warnings possible and won't be allowed of the ship for quite some time.  I think the fact that losing all three of them at once would have been devastating to our theatre shows was the only thing that saved them their jobs.

Today we are in Barcelona, waiting for the weather to clear up a bit.  At the moment its a bit drizzly and cold, quite unusual for this normally sunny port.  We have sheltered in the little coffee shop where I used to come every embarkation day when I worked on the Voyager of the Seas.  It has been three years since then, incredibly, and this place itself has been totally remodeled into an almost unrecognizable state.  Sadly, the old man who used to work here, who used to tease me in Spanish about wanting to stow away in my luggage on the ship, and who over the months I really considered a friend, no longer works here.  It is a bit nostalgic and sad to be here without him, but I must admit the renovations are amazing.  Its very classy in here now.  And the espresso is still great.

The visa process is still going slowly, and I am constantly checking my Visa Journey website to see how quickly people are being processed.  At the moment they are giving the second crucial notice of action (NOA 2, what I'm waiting for) to people who applied in October.  I will watch those approvals slowly creep toward January, when we applied.  At least I know things are still progressing for other people and soon it will be our turn! Please pray that ours is processed quickly as there seem to be some applications that take longer and some shorter, even when applied for at the same time and for beneficiary's from the same country.  There seems to be no real rhyme or reason to it, but at least I can know when other January couples are starting to get approved.  Then it will be on to the next step!!

Canary Islands

We have spent the past three days in the warm and mostly sunny Canary Islands.  They belong to Spain and are located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Morocco.  We visited La Palma, Tenerife, and Lanzarote.  Nick tells me that the Canaries are a destination for British retirees, which explains some of his general lack of excitement about a place he connects with "where you go to die" in his mind.  Regardless, we have had three really nice days here on the different islands, all very volcanic in vegetation or lack thereof. One great thing is all of the spanish-style food that can be found here, and the very cheap prices for said food.  I tried a venezuelan sandwich called an "arepa" - which is a large, round, semi-flat biscuit of ground maize that is lightly fried and filled with different sandwich-type ingredients.  I really enjoyed it! Another local specialty is the "Barraquito", a coffee drink with several layers, (foam, espresso, condensed milk, liquer) cinnamon on top and a piece of lemon rind for zest.  And who could forget the churro! Here we found six for only one euro fifty, with a cup (yes, cup) of melted chocolate to dip them in for 30 cents extra.  What a deal! It has been nice to taste the local treats without feeling guilty about the cost.

Yesterday we had an amazing sailaway experience from the island of Tenerife.  Dozens of dolphins chased the ship and were playing for about 10 minutes in the wakes just under the bow.  From deck 4 forward we could look down and see them jumping, flipping and racing us and each other.  It was a really magical experience! We felt so lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

Our sea days from Southampton through the Bay of Biscay to the Canaries was quite a bumpy one, and as a result all of the big singer/dancer production shows were moved onto the port days and all in a row instead of spread out as usual.  It has been really strange to do all our biggest shows in a row without a break, and a bit disappointing since the attendance was way down as a result.  The big shows are spread out to increase anticipation and buildup, and put on formal-night sea days when people have nowhere else to go.  When they are all on port days many guests are too tired to make it out to showtime.  To top it all off we have had early 7pm shows instead of late ones, and guests are even less likely to make it back on the ship and be ready in time for such an early show.  It has really just been a big mistake in planning to arrange things this way, and I'm sure the ratings we get this week will reflect that.  But maybe it is better than the alternative of dancers falling over on stage on a rocky night!! 

Transatlantic Crossing

After spending a glorious day in New York, strolling through Central Park and eating blueberry pancakes in Times Square with our good friend Jane, we started our long transatlantic crossing. The crossing was spread out over 7 days, so we weren't going for any sort of speed record, that's for certain.   The weather was cold, windy, overcast and rainy most of the way, but never got terribly rough, thank goodness.  Our last day at sea was even calm and sunny! Quite lucky really for the time of year.  One nice surprise was having David Shannon on again as a guest entertainer - he is one of the best, and a friend of mine.  I got to see him play the lead role in Les Mis in London last June, got the backstage tour and everything and went out for drinks after.  It was great to see him again! The rumor is that he and his wife (who now live in New York) are thinking about moving to Los Angeles soon, which would be great.

Today we made landfall in Southampton! Thank goodness! It is great to be on dry land, and Southampton really feels like a second home now.  Not only is it our home port, but I have future family here too! I can't wait to spend some more time here after my contract finishes in June.  Today we had our long-awaited veggie English Breakfast at our favorite pub - the Standing Order.  Later on we will meet up with Nick's mom for lunch and a catch-up.  Our Queen's Room band left today for their vacation, so we'll be seeing them again at the end of May when they return.  They will be missed!

Life on board continues as normal, or as normal as living on a ship can be.  Our schedules will go back to normal now that the world voyage is finished, and we will start seeing more familiar faces with the guest entertainers instead of a new one every day.  Nick and I, along with Vlad our guitarist and a viola player called Ksenia are doing really well with a workout routine.  We finished a two-month program of Insanity, and are now doing a different 60 day program called Les Mills Combat - which is sort of like kickboxing, but incorporates other martial arts as well.  It is a lot more fun than Insanity!! Even though it feels easier, it uses different muscles, so 6 days in, I am feeling pretty sore! It is such a blessing to have a team to work out with - it keeps us motivated, and keeps us showing up for the workout every morning, or finding some time during the day to work it into our schedules.  I think having this routine is really improving life on board for all four of us.  It definitely gets us moving on the sea days!

So today we head down to warmer waters - the Canary Islands! I'm definitely ready for some sunshine after the last week at sea.  Bring on the heat!