the blog

Tender loving care

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 28, 2011 (Seattle)

I’m out and about in Seattle with Laarni and Manuela. My face hurts. My teeth hurt and my head hurts. I’m really sick but need to get off the ship and run some errands. We hit Walgreen and I stock up on cold and flu supplies and I break my fast and buy some salt and vinegar chips. After Walgreen we hit a coffee shop so Laarni and check her messages and Manuela and I can get something to eat. The coffee shop is cute and soon others from the ship join us.

The weather is beautiful. It is sunny and warm and the blue water sparkles. We see lots of folks from the ship some of them couples holding hands as they stroll through Pike’s Market. I’m surprised by some of the coupling and say as much. On the way back we bump into Floyd. He’s pleased to see me and gives me a big hug when I tell him that I’m not feeling well. He says he’d love to take care of me if I’d let him. I’m feeling so poorly, I say okay. He says he’ll call me when he gets back on the ship.

Back on the ship I help move a filing cabinet up to our office from Deck 4. The cabinet is old and broken but we need something for our paperwork. We hope the carpenter can fix it. Embarkation day is the easiest day for me and Laarni. We can’t do any training but we do help with the Safety exam and day 1 of safety training. This gives us an opportunity to plan out the week ahead and cover all the stuff that is on my learning checklist.

Laarni and I work the I95 to recruit folks to the Leadership Luncheon. My boys come by and one-by-one I sign them up. It’ll be fun I tell them. They believe me.

I find out that my very good friend Lloyd Campbell Sr. passed away yesterday after a courageous battle with cancer. I cry as I read the message and feel sorry for myself. I’ve lost my sounding board, my dose of positivity. I was glad that I got to talk to him last weekend. He had promised me that he would hang on until I got back in November. I guess God had other plans for him. He is the fourth person I know who has died this year. I don’t know if I can handle anymore deaths this year. It is already starting to resemble 2004 where each month someone I knew passed away. I hated 2004.

Floyd calls me and wants to see me. He’s got something for me and wants to deliver it to my cabin. What’s with everybody wanting in to my cabin?! I suggest he meet me in the I95 instead. He appears with a rose and a bag of cold care supplies. He’s got Vicks, cough drops, Kleenex and cold tablets for me. He’s put his money where his mouth is and is showing that he is interested in taking care of me. It’s all very sweet. He escorts me back to my cabin, hugs me at the door and wishes me a good night sleep. “Dream of me” he says softly in my ear. I might have, if I had gotten any sleep.

The voyage continues…