Warnemunde, Germany

Warnemunde, Germany is a small town filled with tall ships and little German shops along the water. It was gorgeous and sunny again today so I grabbed my camera with my 85mm lens and wandered off to find interesting things to take photos of. My new inspiration lately is taking 'detail' photos of the ports we go to. There are so many typical touristy shots of the cathedrals, canals and local shops that I've decided to try to take up close shots around towns. Here are a few that I took in Warnemunde!



 

Across the main bridge to cross the canal into town there is a chain with locks attached. The idea is to write the name of you and your love on the lock, lock it to the chain, and throw the key into the canal or river below. Read all about Love Locks on wiki.

 

Love Locks - Warnemunde, Germany

As I wandered around town trying to find the post office, I stumbled upon this little fountain with a procession of tiny statues. Each figure is only about 8 inches tall. The sign and description were all in German, so needless to say I was not able to understand what the symbolism behind it were.

 

 

 

Entrance to the Harbour - Port Light House, Warnemunde, Germany

 

 

As I was practicing getting used to focusing with my manual 85mm lens I happened to take this shot of a seagull about to take flight.

Seagull - Warnemunde, Germany

 

 

Starboard Light House - Warnemunde, Germany

 

Detail of Rope - Warnemunde, Germany

 

 

Warnemunde Boat - Warnemunde, Germany

 

 

This was a really quaint town and I'm excited to go back there in a few weeks time and find more pictures!

 

Stay tuned for Tallinn, Estonia!

 

 



The Little Mermaid

When I saw the swan come into my view finder on my camera I immediately thought of the Greek story of Zeus and Leda (the mother of Helen of Troy). Basically the story goes that Zeus saw Leda bathing in a river or lake or some body of water. He fancied her and he turned himself into a swan to approach her... I don't think I need to finish the story... lol but the end result was Helen of Troy, the most beautiful woman (according to the Iliad)

Well that story popped into my head so this is my Artistic Expression of Leda and Zeus.  

The Little Mermaid - Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen, Denmark.

 

It was a beautiful sunny day and I got off the ship in the evening to walk towards the harbour and find someplace to have a bite to eat. We passed the Little Mermaid on the way... One of the biggest tourist attractions of Copenhagen. She's a really small life-size statue sitting on a rock near the shore. 

 

 

The Little Mermaid - Copenhagen, Denmark

 

We continued walking... There were a number of interesting statues all over Copenhagen, hidden in strange nooks and crannies.

 

 

 

This is where the Royal Family lives. We were walking through and the square was almost empty outside the palace. They also had guards patrolling the grounds wearing ridiculous large fur hats.

Finally after about 40 mins of walking we reached our destination. A canal with sailboats lining it and plenty of restaurants in the sun.

 

 

We spent a long time just enjoying the food, sun and company. Eventually the sun began to set and we walked back to the ship. :)



 

Hope you enjoyed these photos! I have one more that I am working on of the Little Mermaid. I'll post that when I have it edited. We are going to be sailing about the United Kingdom for the next two weeks. I'm excited to return to Ireland! My Next post will be about Warnemunde Germany! Stay Tuned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cherbourg, France

I finally got off the ship! I had some time off in Cherbourg and I decided to spend the crisp, sunny day wandering around the streets in search of a quaint cafe to have a cup of coffee. I love the way the streets of small European towns snake their way through the buildings. I always carry a map in my pocket, but I prefer to only use it if necessary. Finding my way around a town without the use of a map is always a fun challenge for me. 







 



The streets of Cherbourg, France

Shipwrecked

 

Walking back to the ship I spotted this cute boat that was in disrepair. Stay tuned for more sites from the Baltic! 

Land Ahoy! St. Malo, France

 

After 7 long days at sea we finally reached the coast of France! I didn't get off the ship this day either :(

 

Fun fact: My dad wrote me an email explaining that my French Ancestors came from this region of France. St. Malo, Cherbourg and Le Havre.

 

This town looked very medieval from what I could see. There is an old tower in the shot below.



 



 

St. Malo, France with a view of the old town

Sailboats in St. Malo Harbour

 

 

Bermuda!



 



The day after my birthday we arrived to the beautiful island of Hamilton, Bermuda. It was a gorgeous sunny day. Unfortunately I had IPM (In Port Manning) that day which meant I had to stay on the ship. A certain number of crew must be on the ship at all times.
I walked around the deck and took a few shots from the ship. I'll be back one day I'm sure ;)

 

Hamilton, Bermuda

Enormous Yachts and Gorgeous Blue Waters

Happy Birthday to Me!



Hello Everyone!

Sorry for the long delay in updating my blog. However, having 9 sea days in the first 10 days on the ship was time consuming to say the least! Hopefully I'll be able to keep up better now that we are doing ports.

 

Two days after embarking in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on the Prinsendam, it was my birthday. Having only been on the ship for two days I didn't know too many people yet. But I still had a fabulous time. It was a formal night so most of us got dressed up to go to dinner. After hanging out in the Ocean Bar and enjoying the live music the Entertainment Team headed to the OB for more celebrating. Here are a few candid shots from the night... before my camera died :(

 





 

with Marcel



Colin, the Drummer

Fellow Canuck and Sax player, Andrew

 

Casey and Betsy

 

 

This was the first night of many more fun times in the OB. I have so many amazing team members here and I'm truly loving the atmosphere here on the Prinsendam. Stay tuned for my next post, Bermuda! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jamaica, Mon!

Our next stop after Cartagena, Columbia was Falmouth Jamaica! This was a really special port for Holland America Line because the Veendam was first ship coming to this port for the first time. We made the inaugural port here for all the HAL! Michael and I decided we needed to get off for a few hours to soak up the gorgeous sunshine that we had today.  

The water was So Blue and the sky was completely clear that it made for a really nice photo of the bow. :) 

I took a photo standing beside this sign, but my face looks funny so I posted this one instead. :P I really need to take posing lessons to be able to have some nice photos of myself. Everything turns out Chandler-style haha. 

We wandered around in the port for a while until we decided that the best place to go was Margaritaville!! While walking around I saw a street vendor with a painting of a cruise ship with the word FREEDOM on it. I thought that was fitting!! The freedom of the sea... :) 

MargaritaVille - 5 O'clock Somewhere ;)

We had a fabulous time at Margaritaville, sitting in the sun and talking to our waiter, Joe. He taught us some Jamaican slang - of which I have no idea how to spell. Michael and I both agreed that one of the best things of this job is to be able to talk to the locals and learn a little bit of their culture. 

Cap'n Michael and his Liege  

For some reason I forgot to take a photo of the MOUNTAIN of nachos that were consumed in those two hours we spent at Margaritaville. Need to remember to take more photos!! 

The next post will most likely be on my next ship. I'm currently spending some time at home between contracts. I look forward to updating you from the Prinsendam! 

Cartagena, Columbia and the Jungle!

After crossing the Panama Canal and visiting the San Blas Islands our first stop was Cartagena Columbia. Michael Langley, the Cruise Director, and I made plans to get off the ship and go for a short stroll into town. We had barely made it off the pier when we were immediately greeted with Columbian wildlife. We walked past a little garden area that had what looked like those plastic flamingo lawn ornaments until I realized one of them moved!! I squealed in delight and couldn't believe that they were real. I think Michael was laughing at how excited I was. They really do stand on one leg!!

Columbian Jungle!! Lizards, Monkeys, Toucans, and Flamingos 

 Moving on through the jungle we saw a monkey and parrots in the trees. While we were talking to a couple of guests we both ducked as something almost flew into us. We spun around and there was a Toucan sitting on the handrail behind us! They really do look very odd. I was able to get a decent shot of him (or her?)

Michael (The Cruise Director) and I in the Jungle 

The guests kindly took our photo and we returned the favour. Also in this terminal/jungle area were parrots wandering around on the grounds. We were able to get quite close to a couple of them.

Parrot  

Parrot Tree House 

They even had their own tree houses!! Complete w ladders to climb up into them!

Columbian Fortress in the Old Town of Cartagena

The town turned out to be a taxi ride away and we decided to spilt the fare and see a little bit of the town. Our driver stopped at the old fortress of Cartagena and allowed us to get out and snap a couple pics.

Terrace in the middle of Old Town

When we arrived in the middle of downtown we decided the best thing we could do with our time was to sit in the middle of the square in the sun and have a nice cold drink :)

Michael Langley 

Columbians in Festive Dress 

We did some shopping afterwards and I bought some authentic Columbian Coffee! The girl who sold it to me told me that she drinks this brand herself. So I'm anxious to get home and share it with my dad!
As we were leaving to get back to our taxi driver, we saw some youngsters all dressed up in what looked like native clothing. Very bright and colourful, wish we could have stayed to see what they did. All in all Columbia was a wonderful gem of a place. I would definitely go back to Cartagena. Up next, Jamaica!!

Panama Canal

We started entering the Panama Canal Locks at 8:30am and I was able to see the ship enter the first one. We had to go up first into the canal and then to exit the canal we went back down. We actually went through three different locks. One at 8:30, one about 10:30-11:00, and the last one about 2:00pm.

Entering the Panama Canal Locks 

Panama Canal Locks

I was able to see the first one and then after that I was indoors teaching classes from 10:30-2:30pm. So I ended up missing most of the canal. But I left my curtains open in the Workshop and every once in a while I would see something nice outside and pause class to take a look. The guests didn't mind - they also wanted to look outside!!

San Blas Islands, Panama 

After the Panama Canal we sailed to the San Blas Islands which were REALLY TINY - tendering took a long time so I didn't get off the ship. But I did spend some time in the sun on the top deck. It was a beautiful and such an amazing experience to transverse the Panama Canal!

King Neptune's Ceremony: Crossing the Equator

Crossing the Equator is a very special event onboard a ship. Tradition of initiating the first time crossers has been around for many years. (you can Wiki  it to read about all the traditions)

First time crossers are referred to as Polliwogs and those who have crossed before and have already been initiated are called Trusty Shellbacks. I of course, never having crossed the equator by sea before, was placed into the category of Polliwogs.

We were paraded into the pool area by the Shellbacks and placed into a 'cage' until our fate was determined. We were called out by dept and we had to kneel before the Captain and the Senior Officers while Michael, the Cruise Director, read our charges against us. I was accused of being seen reading 'Windows for Dummies' lol

We then had to march to the tables where we were covered in slim, but before we got there we were instructed to KISS THE FISH!

The Chefs placing the Fish by the Pool - Yes I "KISSED THE FISH!"

The fish was surrounded by ice and was probably frozen as well, but it was rather spongey and very gross. (coming from a vegetarian) haha. 

Getting covered in Slim by the Trusty Shellbacks

Awaiting my fate from the Captain

After getting covered in goo, which I was told was meringue, we had to await our fate from the captain. Thumbs up we were allowed in the pool to clean off, thumbs down we had to sit beside the pool until the ceremony was over. Covered in goo.  Well thankfully I was allowed in the pool :)

At the End: We ALL jumped in again :) 

At the end of the ceremony everyone jumped in the pool and we got to swim around for a few mins before getting cleaned up and rushing off to host our next activities. All in all it was a fantastic ceremony! The guests LOVED it and these photos are taken by some of my students. 

First Week on board the MS Veendam

Hello Everyone!! 

So I need to apologize for my lack of blogging however I'll explain my situation here on the ship and I hope you'll understand. :) 

The first week I was supposed to be on board was going to be my training week with Techspert Ryan. However, the ship did not port in Punta Arenas, Chile and therefore I missed all my training! I ended up embarking the Veendam on April 11 and had a grand total of 1.5 days to train and learn an entirely new job. Not an easy task. There is only so much you can squeeze into your brain in that amount of time. 

Well, the time came for Ryan to leave and sadly, we said goodbye. I was feeling very positive and energetic about my first class until I discovered that my instructor computer decided to die 30 mins before class. OF COURSE !! lol... Naturally I improvised and stumbled my way through the session. Guests were extremely compassionate and friendly towards me, which I am eternally grateful for. 

After that first class I've been having a fantastic time teaching! However, there is more to this job than just teaching. The first week onboard a cruise ship is JAM packed with Trainings, Drills, Safety Demonstrations, Signing forms, Activating Accounts, Getting photos taken, Unpacking, ...and countless other things. So needless to say I was working around the clock to get everything done. 

I was able to snap a few photos from the ship, here is one from Peru. It was really foggy or hazy this day. 

Trujillo, Peru (View of the Desert from the Ship) 

Now I've come into a routine. I am now able to fit Gym-Time into my schedule everyday which makes me very happy :) and I finally got off the ship for the first time in Panama City. Lovely place.

I think this is enough for now. I have some more posts in mind for the future about King Neptune Ceremony, Sailing the Panama Canal, and the San Blas Islands. And of course some posts about the great friends I've made on board!! Never a dull moment on a Dam ship ;)  Stay tuned !

I Miss everyone so much and I'm very hopeful that now I can spend more time updating you all. Kisses! 

Puerto Montt, Chile - The Photos

I haven't done much site-seeing here because I've been studying up on some of the sessions I'll be teaching. But I did walk around a little bit yesterday. It was gorgeous and sunny and I enjoyed sitting beside the water soaking up some Vitamin D :)

Ship coming into the Harbour, Puerto Montt, Chile

The fog from yesterday began lifting and I saw a ship coming into the Harbour. (PS my favourite show as a kid was "Theodore the Tugboat" and I still love watching ships in harbours and yes, sometimes I pretend I'm the 'Harbour Master' and make up scenarios in my head :P)

Statue on the 'boardwalk' of the Harbour

This statue seems to be a huge tourist attraction and overlooks the harbour. I like that he's wearing red lipstick too.

View to the East, Puerto Montt, Chile 

You can't really tell in this image, but there are snow-capped mountains in the background.

Graffiti - Puerto Montt

And of course some more graffiti. I think this one says "Refresca tu mente en colores" which I think translates to something like "colour refreshes your mind" - Something to think about :) 

Goodnight!