reflection
31 hours after arriving here in miami, i’ve only managed to have 10 hours of sleep(4 hours 12pm-4pm;
6 hours 2am-8am).it’s hard to stay away from the laptop when you missed having free internet, or
pigging out with chinese food, or surfing and turning the volume of the tv up coz no one will mind.
it’s really mind blowing.
i opened the windows and turned off the aircon hours ago to fill my lungs with Miami’s fresh(and really cold) air. sound of cars and airplanes passing by can be heard from the outside, to where iam seated, at this really comfortable chair, at my now very messy desk.
iam smoking my 1000th cigarette(no one will mind the smoke or the smell)
i know, iam the happiest person alive.
thinking about it, i had lots of fun in the whole 2 months of working in Prinsendam, she brought me to lots of great places i didnt even know existed until i finally saw them with very own eyes.
there were days when i only have 2 hours of work and there were also those 8 tiring and long workinghours(i hate formal nights!), but as i look back at it now, it didnt seem as if they paid me because i took pictures or sold stuff at the gallery or took videos and edited.it’s as if they paid me to travel, to get to know places, to interact with different nationalities, to taste different wines(and beers) and to eat delicious food.
i love my job.
one month of enjoying the Caribbean sun and another month cruising the western part of South America.
it would have been so nice to go and see the southernmost city which is Ushuai, see the penguins, the whales and the icebergs in Antarctica, follow Evita’s footsteps in Argentina, spend 3 days(including valentines day) in Rio de Janeiro or cruise at the Amazon river.
but all good things come to an end, and prayers should be answered.
there were lots of people who i will deeply miss(they were my first ever onboard crew friends, how can i ever forget them?)some who treated me well, and others who are so unfortunate not to be taught
good manners by their parents.
i remember standing outside of the ship, looking at her for the last time while my hands and face were freezing because of the strong wind and cold air of Punta Arenas.i wanted to run back inside go upstairs and say a short public speech for everyone in the ship to hear(”i had lots of fun here and i will miss all of you!....this is ms. docena signing off”)
i shrugged the thought off and waited silently for the agent and the car who will pick us up and bring us to the airport.i waited for 2 hours(the longest 2 hours in my entire life).
i was holding the gift that they prepared for me while my ipod was playing before the plane finally took off.
goodbye south america, goodbye prinsendam, it was nice knowing both of you.
it’s already 1 in the afternoon and iam still in the process of deciding if i should order some japanese food(sushi!!or pizza?).iam still lazy to go out, still lazy to interact with people(i even put the “privacy please” sign on my door).but i need to find a store that sell wines(i should’ve bought chilean wines!)iam planning to celebrate my promotion(and experiences) later.
salute to you patience, salute to you prayers, salute to you people back home!
i will start another journey 6 days from now,being the optimist person that iam, i know i will do just fine.
feb-april:
Ft Lauderdale, Florida.
At Sea; Grand Turk, Bahamas; Road Town, Tortola, BVI; St Thomas, US Virgin Islands; At Sea; Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. Ft Lauderdale, Florida.
april-may:
Ft Lauderdale, Florida.
At Sea (2 days); Aruba, A B C Islands; At Sea; Panama Canal, Panama; Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica (cruising); Puntarenas, Costa Rica; At Sea; Puerto Chiapas, Mexico; Huatulco, Mexico; At Sea; Manzanillo, Mexico; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; At Sea; San Diego, California; At Sea (2 days); Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
may-aug:
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
At Sea; Tracy Arm, Alaska (cruising); Juneau, Alaska; Skagway, Alaska; Glacier Bay, Alaska (cruising); Ketchikan, Alaska; At Sea. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
-----
and this could’ve been my schedule for the following months if i wasn’t transfered.
such interesting places to see! i will definitely go back and work again at prinsendam before i retire!
prinsendam
feb 10
Amazon River cruise sailing from Buenos Aires, Argentina Montevideo, Uruguay; At Sea (2 days); Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; At Sea; Salvador, Brazil; At Sea; Recife, Brazil; At Sea; Fortaleza, Brazil; At Sea; Belem, Brazil; At Sea,....; Santarem, Brazil; Boca Do Valerio, Brazil; Manaus, Brazil; Parintins, Brazil; At Sea (2 days); Devil's Island, French Guiana; At Sea,.....; Barbados, West Indies; St Lucia, West Indies; At Sea,......; Grand Turk, Bahamas; At Sea,.Ft Lauderdale, Florida.
march12
Trans Atlantic Eastbound cruise sailing from Ft Lauderdale, Florida At Sea (2 days); Gustavia, St Barts; Roseau, Dominica; Bridgetown, Barbados; At Sea (5 days); Cape Verde Island, United Kingdom; At Sea; Banjul, Gambia; Dakar, Senegal; At Sea (2 days); Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands; Funchal, Madeira Islands; At Sea; Casablanca, Morocco; Cadiz, Spain (Seville); Gibraltar, United Kingdom; At Sea; Barcelona, Spain; Marseilles, French Riviera; Monte Carlo, Monaco, French Riviera; Livorno, Italy (Florence/Pisa). Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome).
april 9
Trans Atlantic Westbound cruise sailing from Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome) At Sea; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Corfu, Greece; Katakolon, Greece (Olympia); Santorini, Thera Island, Greece; Kusadasi, Turkey (Ephesus); Piraeus, Greece (Athens); Heraklion (Iraklion), Crete, Greece; At Sea; Tripoli, Libya; Valletta, Malta; At Sea; Palma de Mallorca, Spanish Isle; At Sea; Ceuta, Spain; At Sea (2 days); Ponta Delgada, Azores; At Sea (4 days); Hamilton, Bermuda; At Sea; New York City, New York; At Sea (2 days). Ft Lauderdale, Florida.
may 7
Trans Atlantic Eastbound cruise sailing from Ft Lauderdale, Florida At Sea (7 days); Funchal, Madeira Islands; At Sea; Lisbon, Portugal; Cadiz, Spain (Seville); Casablanca, Morocco; Gibraltar, United Kingdom; Cartagena, Spain; Palma de Mallorca, Spanish Isle; Barcelona, Spain; At Sea; Palermo, Sicily, Italy; Valletta, Malta; Tripoli, Libya; At Sea. Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome).
may 29
Black Sea cruise sailing from Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome) At Sea; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Saranda, Albania; Katakolon, Greece (Olympia); At Sea; Istanbul, Turkey; Sochi, Russia; Yalta, Ukraine; Constanta, Romania; Varna, Bulgaria; Dardanelle Straits, Turkey (cruising); Kusadasi, Turkey (Ephesus).
Piraeus, Greece (Athens).
june 12
Greek Isles cruise sailing from Piraeus, Greece (Athens) At Sea; Alexandria, Egypt (Cairo); Ashdod, Israel (Jerusalem); Haifa, Israel (Jerusalem/Nazareth); At Sea; Antalya, Turkey; Rhodes, Greece; Kusadasi, Turkey (Ephesus); Santorini, Thera Island, Greece; At Sea; Tripoli, Libya; Valletta, Malta; Messina, Sicily, Italy (Taormina). Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome).
june 26
Canary Islands cruise sailing from Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome) Livorno, Italy (Florence/Pisa); Monte Carlo, Monaco, French Riviera; Marseilles, French Riviera; At Sea; Almeria, Spain; Cadiz, Spain (Seville); Lisbon, Portugal; At Sea; Bilbao, Spain; La Rochelle, France (La Pallice); Lorient, France; St Helier, France; Zeebrugge, Belgium.Amsterdam, Netherlands.
july 10
Baltic cruise sailing roundtrip from Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Kiel Canal, Germany (transit); Warnemunde, Germany (Berlin); At Sea; Helsinki, Finland; St Petersburg, Russia; Tallin, Estonia; Stockholm, Sweden; Kalmar, Sweden; Gdansk, Poland (Gdynia); Copenhagen, Denmark; Oslo, Norway; At Sea. Amsterdam, Netherlands.
july 24
North Cape cruise sailing roundtrip from Amsterdam, Netherlands.
At Sea; Oslo, Norway; At Sea; Bergen, Norway; Hellesylt, Norway; Bronnoysund, Norway; Lofoten Island, Norway; Honningsvag, Norway; Bear Island, Norway (Arctic Circle); Magdalena Bay, Spitzbergen; Longyearbyen, Spitzbergen; Ny Alesund, Spitzbergen; At Sea (2 days); Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland; Leith, Scotland (Edinburgh). Amsterdam, Netherlands.
6 hours 2am-8am).it’s hard to stay away from the laptop when you missed having free internet, or
pigging out with chinese food, or surfing and turning the volume of the tv up coz no one will mind.
it’s really mind blowing.
i opened the windows and turned off the aircon hours ago to fill my lungs with Miami’s fresh(and really cold) air. sound of cars and airplanes passing by can be heard from the outside, to where iam seated, at this really comfortable chair, at my now very messy desk.
iam smoking my 1000th cigarette(no one will mind the smoke or the smell)
i know, iam the happiest person alive.
thinking about it, i had lots of fun in the whole 2 months of working in Prinsendam, she brought me to lots of great places i didnt even know existed until i finally saw them with very own eyes.
there were days when i only have 2 hours of work and there were also those 8 tiring and long workinghours(i hate formal nights!), but as i look back at it now, it didnt seem as if they paid me because i took pictures or sold stuff at the gallery or took videos and edited.it’s as if they paid me to travel, to get to know places, to interact with different nationalities, to taste different wines(and beers) and to eat delicious food.
i love my job.
one month of enjoying the Caribbean sun and another month cruising the western part of South America.
it would have been so nice to go and see the southernmost city which is Ushuai, see the penguins, the whales and the icebergs in Antarctica, follow Evita’s footsteps in Argentina, spend 3 days(including valentines day) in Rio de Janeiro or cruise at the Amazon river.
but all good things come to an end, and prayers should be answered.
there were lots of people who i will deeply miss(they were my first ever onboard crew friends, how can i ever forget them?)some who treated me well, and others who are so unfortunate not to be taught
good manners by their parents.
i remember standing outside of the ship, looking at her for the last time while my hands and face were freezing because of the strong wind and cold air of Punta Arenas.i wanted to run back inside go upstairs and say a short public speech for everyone in the ship to hear(”i had lots of fun here and i will miss all of you!....this is ms. docena signing off”)
i shrugged the thought off and waited silently for the agent and the car who will pick us up and bring us to the airport.i waited for 2 hours(the longest 2 hours in my entire life).
i was holding the gift that they prepared for me while my ipod was playing before the plane finally took off.
goodbye south america, goodbye prinsendam, it was nice knowing both of you.
it’s already 1 in the afternoon and iam still in the process of deciding if i should order some japanese food(sushi!!or pizza?).iam still lazy to go out, still lazy to interact with people(i even put the “privacy please” sign on my door).but i need to find a store that sell wines(i should’ve bought chilean wines!)iam planning to celebrate my promotion(and experiences) later.
salute to you patience, salute to you prayers, salute to you people back home!
i will start another journey 6 days from now,being the optimist person that iam, i know i will do just fine.
feb-april:
Ft Lauderdale, Florida.
At Sea; Grand Turk, Bahamas; Road Town, Tortola, BVI; St Thomas, US Virgin Islands; At Sea; Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. Ft Lauderdale, Florida.
april-may:
Ft Lauderdale, Florida.
At Sea (2 days); Aruba, A B C Islands; At Sea; Panama Canal, Panama; Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica (cruising); Puntarenas, Costa Rica; At Sea; Puerto Chiapas, Mexico; Huatulco, Mexico; At Sea; Manzanillo, Mexico; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; At Sea; San Diego, California; At Sea (2 days); Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
may-aug:
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
At Sea; Tracy Arm, Alaska (cruising); Juneau, Alaska; Skagway, Alaska; Glacier Bay, Alaska (cruising); Ketchikan, Alaska; At Sea. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
-----
and this could’ve been my schedule for the following months if i wasn’t transfered.
such interesting places to see! i will definitely go back and work again at prinsendam before i retire!
prinsendam
feb 10
Amazon River cruise sailing from Buenos Aires, Argentina Montevideo, Uruguay; At Sea (2 days); Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; At Sea; Salvador, Brazil; At Sea; Recife, Brazil; At Sea; Fortaleza, Brazil; At Sea; Belem, Brazil; At Sea,....; Santarem, Brazil; Boca Do Valerio, Brazil; Manaus, Brazil; Parintins, Brazil; At Sea (2 days); Devil's Island, French Guiana; At Sea,.....; Barbados, West Indies; St Lucia, West Indies; At Sea,......; Grand Turk, Bahamas; At Sea,.Ft Lauderdale, Florida.
march12
Trans Atlantic Eastbound cruise sailing from Ft Lauderdale, Florida At Sea (2 days); Gustavia, St Barts; Roseau, Dominica; Bridgetown, Barbados; At Sea (5 days); Cape Verde Island, United Kingdom; At Sea; Banjul, Gambia; Dakar, Senegal; At Sea (2 days); Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands; Funchal, Madeira Islands; At Sea; Casablanca, Morocco; Cadiz, Spain (Seville); Gibraltar, United Kingdom; At Sea; Barcelona, Spain; Marseilles, French Riviera; Monte Carlo, Monaco, French Riviera; Livorno, Italy (Florence/Pisa). Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome).
april 9
Trans Atlantic Westbound cruise sailing from Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome) At Sea; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Corfu, Greece; Katakolon, Greece (Olympia); Santorini, Thera Island, Greece; Kusadasi, Turkey (Ephesus); Piraeus, Greece (Athens); Heraklion (Iraklion), Crete, Greece; At Sea; Tripoli, Libya; Valletta, Malta; At Sea; Palma de Mallorca, Spanish Isle; At Sea; Ceuta, Spain; At Sea (2 days); Ponta Delgada, Azores; At Sea (4 days); Hamilton, Bermuda; At Sea; New York City, New York; At Sea (2 days). Ft Lauderdale, Florida.
may 7
Trans Atlantic Eastbound cruise sailing from Ft Lauderdale, Florida At Sea (7 days); Funchal, Madeira Islands; At Sea; Lisbon, Portugal; Cadiz, Spain (Seville); Casablanca, Morocco; Gibraltar, United Kingdom; Cartagena, Spain; Palma de Mallorca, Spanish Isle; Barcelona, Spain; At Sea; Palermo, Sicily, Italy; Valletta, Malta; Tripoli, Libya; At Sea. Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome).
may 29
Black Sea cruise sailing from Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome) At Sea; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Saranda, Albania; Katakolon, Greece (Olympia); At Sea; Istanbul, Turkey; Sochi, Russia; Yalta, Ukraine; Constanta, Romania; Varna, Bulgaria; Dardanelle Straits, Turkey (cruising); Kusadasi, Turkey (Ephesus).
Piraeus, Greece (Athens).
june 12
Greek Isles cruise sailing from Piraeus, Greece (Athens) At Sea; Alexandria, Egypt (Cairo); Ashdod, Israel (Jerusalem); Haifa, Israel (Jerusalem/Nazareth); At Sea; Antalya, Turkey; Rhodes, Greece; Kusadasi, Turkey (Ephesus); Santorini, Thera Island, Greece; At Sea; Tripoli, Libya; Valletta, Malta; Messina, Sicily, Italy (Taormina). Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome).
june 26
Canary Islands cruise sailing from Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome) Livorno, Italy (Florence/Pisa); Monte Carlo, Monaco, French Riviera; Marseilles, French Riviera; At Sea; Almeria, Spain; Cadiz, Spain (Seville); Lisbon, Portugal; At Sea; Bilbao, Spain; La Rochelle, France (La Pallice); Lorient, France; St Helier, France; Zeebrugge, Belgium.Amsterdam, Netherlands.
july 10
Baltic cruise sailing roundtrip from Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Kiel Canal, Germany (transit); Warnemunde, Germany (Berlin); At Sea; Helsinki, Finland; St Petersburg, Russia; Tallin, Estonia; Stockholm, Sweden; Kalmar, Sweden; Gdansk, Poland (Gdynia); Copenhagen, Denmark; Oslo, Norway; At Sea. Amsterdam, Netherlands.
july 24
North Cape cruise sailing roundtrip from Amsterdam, Netherlands.
At Sea; Oslo, Norway; At Sea; Bergen, Norway; Hellesylt, Norway; Bronnoysund, Norway; Lofoten Island, Norway; Honningsvag, Norway; Bear Island, Norway (Arctic Circle); Magdalena Bay, Spitzbergen; Longyearbyen, Spitzbergen; Ny Alesund, Spitzbergen; At Sea (2 days); Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland; Leith, Scotland (Edinburgh). Amsterdam, Netherlands.