Facts about the Eurodam

Today was another at-sea day.  Bill and I went to a one-hour Question and Answer session this afternoon with the ship Captain, the Chief Engineer, and the Hotel Director.  It was really quite interesting, and the three men had great senses of humor.  One question, for example, had to do with the leftover food.  The chief engineer said all unused food, and any food that had been on the buffet for more than four hours was carefully packaged up into 3 large containers and given to a company called Royal Caribbean.  That brought howls of laughter from the audience.

Bill and I looked around at the crowd and noticed it was mostly the older guests that attended the Q & A.  I know without a doubt, though, that my boys would have enjoyed the session and probably would have been very unhappy that each person could ask a maximum of one question, and they ran out of time for everyone's questions.  Here is some of what we learned:

**The ship gets 62 feet per gallon.  That sounds horrible (and amusing) until you consider that the ship is generating power to move it forward, electricity, heat, air conditioning, and it's making its own water.  And 2900 people (including crew) are on board.  So maybe 62 feet per gallon isn't so bad.

**The ship can stop in as little as 400 meters.  It can stop in 3 ways, by 'slamming on the brakes', by slowing and then reversing the azipods (sort of like propellers) or by turning in a large circle. If I recall correctly, doing a large circle was actually the most efficient way of stopping in a hurry.

**The ship must go in to dry-dock for repairs and maintenance twice every five years. It may not be at sea for more than 3 years without being in dry-dock.  The Eurodam was just in dry-dock in December 2013.

**The ship captains work in 3-month shifts.  They work for 3 straight months, then go home for 3 months.  Every 2-3 years, they change to a new vessel.

**The majority of the crew works a 10-month contract.  So they work for 10 straight months, then go home and have a few months off before they sign a new contract and start all over again.

**The crew (not the officers) are all from Indonesia and the Philippines.  Holland America has training schools in Jakarta and Manila.  The more training and education you have, the better position you have.  Eric, who is the host of the dining room, is very polite and well-spoken.  He told me he has been with Holland America for 13 years.  He and I get along well.

**The crew is all unionized.  That makes perfect sense because it means that Holland America doesn't have to hire each staff member one by one.  That isn't practical when there are 800 staff on board.

**The Eurodam has its own gym/fitness center for just the crew to use  It's called DAM Fit.  Haha!

**The ship distills sea water into water that is potable right onboard the ship.  It also cleans gray water before putting it back in the ocean.  There is a sewage treatment plant on board for the black water.

**A new engine/generator has just been installed on Deck 10.  It is being tested and approved for use this very week.  Its sole purpose is to be an emergency backup in case something catastrophic happens in the engine room.  So the Eurodam will NEVER be in a position where it has no power, water, toilet facilities, etc.  Carnival owns Holland America and Carnival is learning from its past mistakes and the mistakes of other cruise lines.

**Holland America has just started construction on its newest vessel.  It will be just slightly larger than the Eurodam (which is currently its largest ship) and will hold a few hundred more people.  Information is still being released regarding the new ship, and it hasn't even been named yet.  It was just announced today that the new ship will have a Dutch restaurant on board. Bill muttered that he hoped its focus would be desserts only.

Tomorrow is our last full day on board.  We will be in Key West, so I have promised to call home and see how the boys are doing.  I can tell you I am very ready to see my kids and sleep in my own bed, but I will dearly miss cruising.  But I know we will be back.  We put down a deposit on our next cruise today.  And we have 4 years to figure out when that next cruise will be!

Notice the radar in the lower picture.  It says 'Sam'.  We don't know what that stands for, but we knew our Sam would be proud.

Cayman Islands

Today was another first for us.  We spent the day in Grand Cayman, which is part of the British West Indies.  Like our earlier stops, this country was also breathtakingly beautiful, but in almost every other way, it was very different from Jamaica.  For one, the island is almost perfectly flat...no hills at all.  This hasn't helped them during hurricane season.  Jamaica's hilly terrain helps protect it from the worst of the damage, but the Cayman Islands have sustained several direct hits over the years.  But the country is fairly wealthy, so they just keep rebuilding everything.  Our tour guide today told us that their top two industries are tourism and banking.  They have over 200 banks in the country, but only six are public banks.  He said they call the rest 'washing machine' banks....think about it.  We laughed.

The island was full of resorts and spectacular homes.  I felt like I was in an episode of 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous'.  Everything was so beautiful, and so out of my league.

Traffic was heavy and the cars seemed oblivious to this.  They just plow ahead and you'd better get out of the way. And since they are a British territory, they drive on the wrong side of the road.  I found myself holding my breath the first time we went through a traffic circle backwards.  They don't have 'Yield' signs. Their signs say 'Give Way'.  To me, that sounds more like a vague suggestion than an actual traffic sign.

We went on an boating excursion that was a two-part trip.  Our first stop was out on a sand bar, in an area the locals call Stingray City.  We were a few miles from shore, but the water was so shallow, it was only chest-deep.  There are stingrays everywhere here.  And they are huge!  Everyone in our group had our pictures taken up close with a stingray (by a photographer employed by the boating company), then we were given pieces of calamari to feed to the rays.  Some of the largest females weigh well over 100 pounds.  When one of those decides you have calamari and they want it, they can knock you over.  Bill had gotten back in our boat and was taking pictures of me, attempting to feed the stingrays.  Watching me get shoved around by overly excited stingrays was apparently quite comical to him.

Our second stop was snorkeling in a coral reef.  This was not my first experience snorkeling, but I think it was the best trip I've had.  We saw so many different types of fish!  Some of them were so brightly colored!  Our boat crew was attracting even more fish to our area by throwing calamari in the water.  Somehow, they managed to smack me in the head with a piece.  I had no idea snorkeling was a contact sport.

We were so pleased with our photos that we wound up buying them.  I have them on a CD, and I'll put some of the pictures on this post once I get home.

We've decided that we enjoyed Grand Cayman MUCH more than Jamaica and Cozumel, and a little more than San Juan.  Saint Thomas is still our favorite port of call.  I think we'll be returning to the Eastern Caribbean on our next cruise.

Jamaican Me Crazy...

We crossed off another county on our bucket list today.  And honestly, I'm not sure I'd hurry back to Jamaica.  Our excursion was nice enough.  We toured the Green Grotto Caves.  I saw enough bats to last me for the rest of my life, and I saw a boa constrictor in its natural habitat.  NO, I did not pet it or attempt to pick it up.  We walked about 3/4 mile through the caves.  By the end of the walk, the humidity was making me nauseous and I was happy to be done.

The next part of our excursion was visiting Fern Gully.  It was pretty, but not quite what Bill and I were expecting.  It was very narrow, hilly road.  Whenever the road widened a bit, vendors had crammed the space full and were shouting at us to stop and shop.  Our driver, Hugh, said there was no way he was stopping, as he told us the vendors would swarm us like vultures.  So he slowed down a couple of times, rolled down our windows, and told us to take a few pictures.  

After our rather fast, harrowing drive through Fern Gully, we stopped at a few stores.  Our guide told us he'd bring us to a place that would treat us somewhat fairly.  He was right...we got a reasonable price on a few things we had been looking for, but the storekeepers were unnerving.  They followed us everywhere and would NOT let us leave until we purchased something.  Bill and I stood our ground and negotiated better pricing, but after a half hour of dealing with Jamaicans like this, I was tired and ready to return to the ship.  Jamaicans are much poorer than we expected them to be.  The unemployment rate is a staggering 33%.  Their homes are very simple, and it's clear they don't have too many possessions.  Our guide told us that the people of Ocho Rios love having the cruise ships visit, because it has done so much to boost the local economy.  But the downside of that is Jamaicans don't see us as human beings.  They see us as dollar signs.

I don't want you to think we had a bad day.  It was beautiful, and Hugh was a lot of fun.  And I think it's important to see how the rest of the world lives.  Now, on to Grand Cayman!

Relaxing is tough work

Today was a lazy at-sea day.  We went to breakfast in the nicer dining room, since we had the time to spare.  My Belgian waffles with strawberries and cream was fabulous.

Breakfast was so stressful that I had to come back to our room and take a nap.  Both Bill and I also did lots of walking around the ship.  I took some more pictures, including some pictures of the coastline of Cuba.  We had some rain on and off, but it cleared up and got quite warm by lunch time.

Our only disappointment for today was that we had wanted to see the movie "The Butler" in the small screening room.  But because of the rain, lots of other people had the same idea, and the room was full.  Bill opted to have a DVD delivered to our stateroom instead.  I mentioned wanting to see "So I Married an Axe Murderer", but he went with "Of Mice and Men." Yawn.

I had banana ice cream for an afternoon snack. Yeah.  That was...weird.

We often have to walk through the shops on the third level to get from one place to another.  Much to my disappointment, they do not have any aloe vera for sale.  I resemble a greenhouse tomato today.  And, much to my disappointment, Bill keeps checking out the men's watches available in the jewelry store.  The first one he looked at was on sale for a mere $2600.  I told him to PUT IT BACK.  

Tomorrow we visit Ocho Rios, Jamaica.  Bill and I will be going on a tour of Fern Gully (the rainforest) and some caves.  I'm looking forward to it.  And Bill wants to find some Jamaican coffee to bring home.  If we are able to find an Internet cafe, we may post some pictures and do some texting.  I found out the hard way yesterday that pictures upload very slowly when using the ship's internet.  Sucked up 10 precious minutes yesterday uploading those pictures.  Oopsie.  Hope you enjoyed them!

It's time to get ready for the first of our two formal dinners.  I'm going to have my nightly bowl of French onion soup at dinner.  I can't even begin to tell you how fabulous it is.  It's too bad they don't serve it by the gallon.

Bahamas!

People who have never been on a cruise don't know what they are missing. This is my favorite way to vacation. You are treated like you are in a resort, but the scenery keeps changing. 

We spent today on Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. This island was leased by Holland America from the Bahamian government for 6 million dollars in 1994. The lease is for 99 years. When they leased the island, it was uninhabited. Holland America spent 15 million making it usable. They had to put in electricity, a water plant (they make their own water through reverse osmosis), and built numerous structures on the island to make it comfortable for its visitors. Bill and I took a guided nature walk of the island today and our guide was very informative (can you tell?).

45 people now live year-round on the island, and they are all employed by Holland America.  They are primarily maintenance people who make sure everything stays working correctly.  The majority of the employees (like our guide), live on another island about 18 miles away. She told us it is an hour and a half boat ride to work every day (which, of course, means there is a 90-minute commute home too). No thanks!

We were told to wear comfortable shoes and sunscreen.  I did put on sunscreen.  Really.  But I have two skin tones--pasty white and red.  And, at 37 years old, I still haven't learned to put on sunscreen properly.  So I am hurting right now.  If you touch my shoulders, you'll be hurting too.  That's a threat, and a promise. Haha.  I need to see if the store onboard has any aloe.

We saw some really pretty little blue lizards while we were on our walk today.  Our guide said they are corn lizards, also known as blue-tail lizards.  They are normally very timid, but one ran right up to me.  I may have freaked out a little and encouraged the little guy to move in a different direction.  Our guide laughed and assured me it was not dangerous.  I shot right back, "Well, neither are mice and I don't want one of those on my feet either!"  She laughed, agreed completely, and said I made a good point.  

We also spent some time sitting under a clamshell umbrella on the beach.  I fell asleep.  Yes, I took a nap on the beach in the Bahamas.  You're jealous.  We did not swim.  Bill didn't want to, and I don't like swimming by myself.  I did go for a walk along the shore (thus adding to the sunburn) and picked up a few unique shells to show TJ, Sam, and Nolan when we get home.  I was surprised at how small the shells were.

I can't describe how beautiful the island is, but I'll try. The water is the most amazing shade of blue.  The sand is almost white and it's so soft it feels like you are walking on talcum powder.  There's a sign on the beach that says "I wish I could stay here forever".  I can relate.  It's about as close to heaven on earth as you can get.

But, we have now re-boarded the ship.  Our cabin is in the very front of the ship, on the 6th deck (which is about halfway up).  We have a window that faces out the front.  It's really cool, because we can see exactly where we are going.  Only a couple cabins have this view.

Tomorrow is an 'at sea' day, while we head to Jamaica.  I plan on getting in a nice workout, read a lot, and perhaps doing a little shopping for three boys I know.  I miss you guys!  I hope you had fun with Papa and Grandma Cindy today!

Interesting factoid

Sam got off the bus this afternoon and shared the following with me:

"It's very difficult to go to the bathroom upside down. That's why bats poop when they are flying."

Yes, folks. Those are your public education tax dollars at work!

Heartwarming

Some days, my boys can drive me nuts. Honestly, if I hear one more fart noise, I may need to visit a mental institution. 

But other days, I am just in awe of how loving and supportive my boys can be of each other. A few weeks ago, we learned that whenever Nolan got hot lunch, he was going without a beverage. He didn't know where the milk was in the cafeteria, so he went without (yes, I am more than a little disgusted that no adult noticed and helped my child). Sam eats before Nolan, and his recess ends when Nolan's lunch is starting. Sam has since taken it upon himself to go back in the lunchroom and help Nolan get everything he needs. Nolan no longer goes thirsty at lunch. 

Then there is their artwork. Nolan came home with a simple heart. One side says "I love mom and" you turn the heart over to see "I love Sam". Sam came home the same week with a card he made. The front simply says 'Dear Nolan' and inside it reads, "you are the best kid in the hole world I love you I like you so so much. Sam"

I have no words. I love my boys.