the blog

Lazy, Hazy Days

The adventures of Carol Brown, representing Norwegian Cruise Line on a 6-month mission on the open sea to train the crew, explore new ports, seek new friends and experiences, and to boldly go where she has not gone before.

Carol’s log: Cruise Date: May 19, 2011 (Prince Rupert)

Today was kind of slow moving. The weather in Prince Rupert was hazy, grey and wet. I didn’t get off the ship other than to stand on the gangway welcoming back everyone who did have a chance to go ashore. One of the gangway duties is to sanitize the hands of all returning passengers and crew. Some of the folks seem to think that sanitizing their hands on return is an option. They shake their heads at the guys with the spray bottles of sanitizer or offer excuses that they are allergic to the alcohol. We try to tell them that there is no alcohol in the sanitizer but they still beg off. Sanitizing is important because the cases of Gastric Intestinal Disorder are easily spread on cruise ships. There are a few cases on ship right now but luckily not on ours…yet.

I can’t believe I’m about to say this but here goes. I’m getting tired of the food on the ship. Let me be clear, I’m getting tired of the breakfast choices in the officers’ mess—sausages, bacon, hash browns, eggs any way, cereals, bread. There are too many but yet they are limited. The options in the staff and crew mess are more extensive. There is rice, pasta, grits, muesli and other foods I can’t quite identify but it is cafeteria style so you serve yourself. I miss the simple days of cereal, or oatmeal and a banana. Bananas are hard to come by on the ship and are often too ripe for my liking when I do find one. It isn’t good to eat eggs every day but it is very easy to do. If I had gotten out today I would have hit the grocery store to get some oatmeal and maybe some Fibre One cereal. Lucky for me, there is still a huge range of food for me to try at lunch and dinner. There are also a number of specialty restaurants onboard that I haven’t tried yet. Hopefully, I won’t get bored before this contract ends in November.

I’m crampy and feeling off and realize that it is soon my time of the month. This should be interesting. The journey to the restroom from my workstation isn’t that far, only a mere 4 decks down, but it feels like a trek whenever I do have to go. I usually end up back at my cabin. The vacuum toilets means that women can’t flush anything except toilet paper so disposing of feminine products only goes in the trash. My steward, the guy who cleans my cabin, is a guy. Do I want a guy emptying my trash of my used sanitary products? Not really but that is the reality. I’d better tip him well so he doesn’t discuss my monthly cycle with his fellow stewards. You know, “Carol uses Always with wings and has a period every 19 days.” They’d all chuckle as they walk past me and I’m become paranoid that that is what they were talking about.

The voyage continues…