August 22, 2008
Tomorrow morning, I will have been back on board a week. What a week it has been so far – great but extremely busy. I’ve only had 3 days to go to the gym and other than that, I’ve been working so much I can’t even see straight! The first couple days I was back it was primarily getting all of my stuff done: dropping off medical files, picking up a lifejacket and the usual safety meetings. We are so short staffed, that the tasks seemed impossible to fit into the schedule between working etc.
My second night back, we had the Indonesian Independence day party and had a blast! There were 2 bands that played and we just hung out for a few hours. The next night, we had a birthday party for Sherwin and one of the other guys and had TONS of food. There are lots of pictures on the website, so you can see what a good time we had – food, kareoke and alcohol…that’s how you make crew happy!
Sherwin won a raffle where he got to go on two tours. He went ziplining last week and requested to the ShoreEx manager that he waited until I got back so I could go with him to the Misty Fjords by Floatplane. Last minute, the manager said there wasn’t enough space, so I walked him off the ship and I was going to walk around for a bit until he came back. When we reached the end of the gangway, two people cancelled so I got to go! Last year, I did the Misty Fjords by boat and this by far exceeded everything that the boat tour was. We flew about 15 minutes to reach the monument and It was an incredible view. They had us in headphones and music playing and it gave you chills because it was so beautiful! We actually landed in one of the lakes in the fjords (named after our Pilot’s grandfather who explored it many many years before) and got to get out of the plane and stand on the pontoon of the plane. It was incredible – it was right near a waterfall and you got to just take in the sight and the fresh air all around us. I must admit, standing on a very narrow pontoon made me a bit nervous - but SO worth it!
Other than that, just been working a ton and doing what I can! Hope everyone is well and I’ll catch up with you all soon!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
How much do you really love me???
Hello!
We will be in Alaska for the first five weeks I am on board (so the second week in September or so). Here are the addresses for the different ports!
Vancouver, Canada
Sydney Ellis, Youth Program Coordinator
ms Statendam
Areostream Cargo Services
130-4840 Miller Road
Richmond, BC, Canada V7B 1K7
Juneau, Alaska
Sydney Ellis, Youth Program Coordinator
ms Statendam
1339 Eastaugh Way #4
Juneau, AK 99802
Skagway, Alaska
Sydney Ellis, Youth Program Coordinator
ms Statendam
PO Box 729
#1 Ore Dock Road
Skagway, AK 99840
Ketchikan, Alaska
Sydney Ellis, Youth Program Coordinator
ms Statendam
1249 Tongass Ave Suite B
Ketchikan, AK 99901
I picked up my computer today and will do my best to be more consistent with my posting!
We will be in Alaska for the first five weeks I am on board (so the second week in September or so). Here are the addresses for the different ports!
Vancouver, Canada
Sydney Ellis, Youth Program Coordinator
ms Statendam
Areostream Cargo Services
130-4840 Miller Road
Richmond, BC, Canada V7B 1K7
Juneau, Alaska
Sydney Ellis, Youth Program Coordinator
ms Statendam
1339 Eastaugh Way #4
Juneau, AK 99802
Skagway, Alaska
Sydney Ellis, Youth Program Coordinator
ms Statendam
PO Box 729
#1 Ore Dock Road
Skagway, AK 99840
Ketchikan, Alaska
Sydney Ellis, Youth Program Coordinator
ms Statendam
1249 Tongass Ave Suite B
Ketchikan, AK 99901
I picked up my computer today and will do my best to be more consistent with my posting!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Is there anybody out there?
I know that this is my first post in a very very long time! I think I've said it before, but I haven't had a laptop, so typing them without wasting internet minutes is impossible. But, as of tomorrow, I will be purchasing a laptop! I hope to be posting weekly in this blog as well as on my picture site.
Anyways, I just returned from my 7 week contract on the Maasdam, which was lots of fun, tons of work and utterly exhausting. I celebrated my one year anniversary with the company on July 19th. For those of you that know, I received a promotion before joining this ship to Youth Program Coordinator...aka...more work, no added benefits :) So, the Maasdam was quite disorganized when I arrived and there was quite a bit of chaos within the department - so it started out as quite a struggle. But in the end, I learned quite a bit from the experience! The 35-day Voyage of the Vikings (all my ports are listed in a previous entry) was wonderful - weather in Europe was typical, rainy and wet! It gave me a taste for the places I'd really like to go back and visit (Iceland and Norway especially!) so my life's to-do list is only getting longer!
This ship did do many fitness classes on board - at least one a week for crew. I really got into the Fitball classes (it hurt so good!). Picture it....10 people, rough seas, trying to balance on these balls. Enough said :)
The first two weeks on board we did Canada/New England cruises (7-day runs) through Montreal, Quebec City, Prince Edward Island, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Bar Harbor, Maine.
On this particular run, my favorite stop was by far Bar Harbor, Maine. We were there on the fourth of July and it was a picturesque American town - especially on the day that we were there. The sun was shining, lots of shops, people playing football in the park, dogs sitting in fountains, people eating on the patios of restaurants and kids eating huge ice cream cones everywhere! Truly, it was out of a movie. I walked for awhile down a path that ran along the water (which was bright blue!) and just enjoyed it. We went to a restaurant and had some New England Clam Chowder...I had to! It was truly a beautiful day in a quaint little town!
In Prince Edward Island I walked around for a bit and stopped by the Anne of Green Gables store because it reminded me of Grandma (I can't tell you how many times we watched that very very long movie!)
Montreal is gorgeous. I definitely wish I had more time to spend there - the only place I went was to the dentist~! The city is so rich in culture and history, it's definitely on my to-do list for later in life.
We went through Newfoundland, which really isn't much. A bit of Scottish influence, but nothing to write home (or in my blog) about.
Then onto Greenland. Both times in Greenland, I did not get off the ship. Apparently, I did not miss much - both towns were very small with not much more than a grocery store and some houses. The houses were bright blues, reds, greens and yellows with very pointy roofs and the weather was so foggy and rainy that I was ok that I had to stay on the ship :)
On our way to Iceland, we did scenic cruising through Prince Christian sound and traveled through he Demerk Sea. Our first time through the sound was not that great - weather was so foggy and rainy that we didn't see much. But on the return voyage we had AMAZING weather. There were tons of icebergs just sitting in the water (massive in size....it's unbelievable!), large glaciers and many many waterfalls throughout. The scenery was absolutely fantastic. There are tons of pictures from the sound on my website!
Iceland was my favorite of all the places I went. We visited four different ports, my favorite being Reykjavik (the largest city and capital of the island) - but we also went through Isafjordur, Seydijofordur and Akureyri. All of the cities were similar, massive green mountains surrounding us and very wet and rainy. If the scenery wasn't rich in green color, it was very rocky and rugged area. In Akureyri, I did do a tour of Nonnihaus (sp?) which was one of the original churches with lots of history (very very tiny and wooden), we saw the Church of Akureyri, which was large and covered in Stained glass windows. There were over 100 stairs leading up to the front (or you could drive up the mountain to the parking lot). We visited the botanical gardens, which were beautiful and the we saw Santa's house which is world famous for being a huge Christmas store open year round by a Christmas-crazed-family. The store was two floors of tons of Christmas things - most of which you could buy in the states, but there were very cool music boxes that I wanted to buy (handmade from wood with the old-fashioned wooden pulls to make the music go!) but the prices were high and getting it home would be risky! I did buy a couple ornaments though. The Icelandic people were big (men and women alike) - not fat, just tall and broad shouldered. It seemed that everyone had blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin.
In Reykjavik, I did go to the Blue Lagoon on a crew tour - it was amazing! If you don't know what it is, it is said to healing qualities and a rejuvenating effect by bathing in for an hour and is said that people become "at least" two years younger after each hour in it. I still feel like a hearty 24 :) But I have no complaints - I'm happy! The water was so minerally enriched that it was gorgeous. I went in and put the mask on that you pull out of the ground. The water was rich and warm and so relaxing - we all enjoyed it. When we walked in they gave us these wristbands that you can charge everything to and it opens your locker. When you leave at the end of the day, they scan your wristband and all you have to do is pay. Many people were buying wine and beer and things of that nature at the "swim up bar" - I just swam and enjoyed it for a while! The only part I didn't enjoy was the crazy-ass nudity that went on in the locker rooms. Everyone - including people I work with were ripping off their clothes and walking around naked and proud as punch....I'm talking - in 10 minutes I saw women ranging from 100 pounds to 350 pounds, from AA to III cup boobs and lets just say hair in all areas and concentrations. Then there's me...I decided that I wasn't taking a shower- so I put on a hat and went home. No nakedness for Syd! When I got back to my room, I took off the hat and shook my head - white flakes from the concentration in the water poured out of my hair! Amazing to have that opportunity - but please keep your clothes on...eek!
In Lerwick, Shetland Islands - all I wanted to do was see Shetland ponies, but I didn't get to :(
In Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland - we didn't get to go. We cancelled the port last minute because it was too foggy. Then the fog lifted, so we were going. So we sent out the first tender on a test run and they came back and there was only 6 rusted stairs to get out of the tender and onto land. For safety reasons (and because I work on a floating geriatric unit), the captain cancelled the port after all.
Oslo, Norway was beautiful. Again, rainy - but I walked around with a few people for a while and we enjoyed ourselves a lot! We saw the Royal Palace and Hard Rock Cafe. Very expensive there also - a pair of Levi jeans were around $200.00. I decided that next time I'm packing 10 pairs and selling them on the black market!
Rotterdam, the Netherlands was awesome. Definitely must go back there again. I walked through town - there transportation there was so interesting. I took a picture of the roads. There's a sidewalk, then a small street area for the bikes and motorcycles (which are VERY popular there), there's one side of the street then the train tracks and then the other side of the street. And that's everywhere! Imagine that!
I walked through the city and into an huge open air mall. I looked at what everyone was selling and my favorite snack there (which all of my dutch people recommended) which are called "stroopwaffles" - that's my American spelling - the dutch is a bit different. Basically, it's a flat round waffle cone (two stuck together) and in between is a chewy syrup type substance. It was delicious. They were making them fresh there, but I had no Euros. They were good even not fresh!
On my way back, I walked down the "Europe Walk of Fame" - you can check out those pictures- it's pretty self-explanatory.
I think I covered everything - if not, you're probably sick of reading anyways :)
I'll post soon I'm sure! I head back to the Statendam on Saturday (I am SO excited!!!!) We'll be in Alaska for 5 weeks, then we do the repositioning and start the 35 day South Pacific run through Tahiti/Bora Bora/Hawaii, then through the Panama Canal a few times and then the Caribbean where the family will come sail with me for Christmas!! WOOHOO!
Ok - I'm outta here...
Oh Wait..I forgot one of my favorite port days!!! Belfast, Northern Ireland. Laura, Nicole, Byron and I went ashore and walked to a pub that was very old and well known. (You'll see pictures of those too!) My intention was to drink some Bulmer's (the apple cider that Steph and I drank a few years ago!), but they didn't have it. So I drank a couple Magner's - which is the same thing. I LOVE IT! We tried to order the classic fish and chips, but they were out. After chit-chatting for a while in the pub, we had been eyeing the "jumpy water" outside the pub for awhile. Lots of kids were out there playing. So...knowing me...I kicked off my shoes and went running through the water and there was the cutest little boy named Connor. So, him and I played in the water for quite awhile. Had tons of fun...one of my favorite memories of this cruise!
Anyways, I just returned from my 7 week contract on the Maasdam, which was lots of fun, tons of work and utterly exhausting. I celebrated my one year anniversary with the company on July 19th. For those of you that know, I received a promotion before joining this ship to Youth Program Coordinator...aka...more work, no added benefits :) So, the Maasdam was quite disorganized when I arrived and there was quite a bit of chaos within the department - so it started out as quite a struggle. But in the end, I learned quite a bit from the experience! The 35-day Voyage of the Vikings (all my ports are listed in a previous entry) was wonderful - weather in Europe was typical, rainy and wet! It gave me a taste for the places I'd really like to go back and visit (Iceland and Norway especially!) so my life's to-do list is only getting longer!
This ship did do many fitness classes on board - at least one a week for crew. I really got into the Fitball classes (it hurt so good!). Picture it....10 people, rough seas, trying to balance on these balls. Enough said :)
The first two weeks on board we did Canada/New England cruises (7-day runs) through Montreal, Quebec City, Prince Edward Island, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Bar Harbor, Maine.
On this particular run, my favorite stop was by far Bar Harbor, Maine. We were there on the fourth of July and it was a picturesque American town - especially on the day that we were there. The sun was shining, lots of shops, people playing football in the park, dogs sitting in fountains, people eating on the patios of restaurants and kids eating huge ice cream cones everywhere! Truly, it was out of a movie. I walked for awhile down a path that ran along the water (which was bright blue!) and just enjoyed it. We went to a restaurant and had some New England Clam Chowder...I had to! It was truly a beautiful day in a quaint little town!
In Prince Edward Island I walked around for a bit and stopped by the Anne of Green Gables store because it reminded me of Grandma (I can't tell you how many times we watched that very very long movie!)
Montreal is gorgeous. I definitely wish I had more time to spend there - the only place I went was to the dentist~! The city is so rich in culture and history, it's definitely on my to-do list for later in life.
We went through Newfoundland, which really isn't much. A bit of Scottish influence, but nothing to write home (or in my blog) about.
Then onto Greenland. Both times in Greenland, I did not get off the ship. Apparently, I did not miss much - both towns were very small with not much more than a grocery store and some houses. The houses were bright blues, reds, greens and yellows with very pointy roofs and the weather was so foggy and rainy that I was ok that I had to stay on the ship :)
On our way to Iceland, we did scenic cruising through Prince Christian sound and traveled through he Demerk Sea. Our first time through the sound was not that great - weather was so foggy and rainy that we didn't see much. But on the return voyage we had AMAZING weather. There were tons of icebergs just sitting in the water (massive in size....it's unbelievable!), large glaciers and many many waterfalls throughout. The scenery was absolutely fantastic. There are tons of pictures from the sound on my website!
Iceland was my favorite of all the places I went. We visited four different ports, my favorite being Reykjavik (the largest city and capital of the island) - but we also went through Isafjordur, Seydijofordur and Akureyri. All of the cities were similar, massive green mountains surrounding us and very wet and rainy. If the scenery wasn't rich in green color, it was very rocky and rugged area. In Akureyri, I did do a tour of Nonnihaus (sp?) which was one of the original churches with lots of history (very very tiny and wooden), we saw the Church of Akureyri, which was large and covered in Stained glass windows. There were over 100 stairs leading up to the front (or you could drive up the mountain to the parking lot). We visited the botanical gardens, which were beautiful and the we saw Santa's house which is world famous for being a huge Christmas store open year round by a Christmas-crazed-family. The store was two floors of tons of Christmas things - most of which you could buy in the states, but there were very cool music boxes that I wanted to buy (handmade from wood with the old-fashioned wooden pulls to make the music go!) but the prices were high and getting it home would be risky! I did buy a couple ornaments though. The Icelandic people were big (men and women alike) - not fat, just tall and broad shouldered. It seemed that everyone had blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin.
In Reykjavik, I did go to the Blue Lagoon on a crew tour - it was amazing! If you don't know what it is, it is said to healing qualities and a rejuvenating effect by bathing in for an hour and is said that people become "at least" two years younger after each hour in it. I still feel like a hearty 24 :) But I have no complaints - I'm happy! The water was so minerally enriched that it was gorgeous. I went in and put the mask on that you pull out of the ground. The water was rich and warm and so relaxing - we all enjoyed it. When we walked in they gave us these wristbands that you can charge everything to and it opens your locker. When you leave at the end of the day, they scan your wristband and all you have to do is pay. Many people were buying wine and beer and things of that nature at the "swim up bar" - I just swam and enjoyed it for a while! The only part I didn't enjoy was the crazy-ass nudity that went on in the locker rooms. Everyone - including people I work with were ripping off their clothes and walking around naked and proud as punch....I'm talking - in 10 minutes I saw women ranging from 100 pounds to 350 pounds, from AA to III cup boobs and lets just say hair in all areas and concentrations. Then there's me...I decided that I wasn't taking a shower- so I put on a hat and went home. No nakedness for Syd! When I got back to my room, I took off the hat and shook my head - white flakes from the concentration in the water poured out of my hair! Amazing to have that opportunity - but please keep your clothes on...eek!
In Lerwick, Shetland Islands - all I wanted to do was see Shetland ponies, but I didn't get to :(
In Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland - we didn't get to go. We cancelled the port last minute because it was too foggy. Then the fog lifted, so we were going. So we sent out the first tender on a test run and they came back and there was only 6 rusted stairs to get out of the tender and onto land. For safety reasons (and because I work on a floating geriatric unit), the captain cancelled the port after all.
Oslo, Norway was beautiful. Again, rainy - but I walked around with a few people for a while and we enjoyed ourselves a lot! We saw the Royal Palace and Hard Rock Cafe. Very expensive there also - a pair of Levi jeans were around $200.00. I decided that next time I'm packing 10 pairs and selling them on the black market!
Rotterdam, the Netherlands was awesome. Definitely must go back there again. I walked through town - there transportation there was so interesting. I took a picture of the roads. There's a sidewalk, then a small street area for the bikes and motorcycles (which are VERY popular there), there's one side of the street then the train tracks and then the other side of the street. And that's everywhere! Imagine that!
I walked through the city and into an huge open air mall. I looked at what everyone was selling and my favorite snack there (which all of my dutch people recommended) which are called "stroopwaffles" - that's my American spelling - the dutch is a bit different. Basically, it's a flat round waffle cone (two stuck together) and in between is a chewy syrup type substance. It was delicious. They were making them fresh there, but I had no Euros. They were good even not fresh!
On my way back, I walked down the "Europe Walk of Fame" - you can check out those pictures- it's pretty self-explanatory.
I think I covered everything - if not, you're probably sick of reading anyways :)
I'll post soon I'm sure! I head back to the Statendam on Saturday (I am SO excited!!!!) We'll be in Alaska for 5 weeks, then we do the repositioning and start the 35 day South Pacific run through Tahiti/Bora Bora/Hawaii, then through the Panama Canal a few times and then the Caribbean where the family will come sail with me for Christmas!! WOOHOO!
Ok - I'm outta here...
Oh Wait..I forgot one of my favorite port days!!! Belfast, Northern Ireland. Laura, Nicole, Byron and I went ashore and walked to a pub that was very old and well known. (You'll see pictures of those too!) My intention was to drink some Bulmer's (the apple cider that Steph and I drank a few years ago!), but they didn't have it. So I drank a couple Magner's - which is the same thing. I LOVE IT! We tried to order the classic fish and chips, but they were out. After chit-chatting for a while in the pub, we had been eyeing the "jumpy water" outside the pub for awhile. Lots of kids were out there playing. So...knowing me...I kicked off my shoes and went running through the water and there was the cutest little boy named Connor. So, him and I played in the water for quite awhile. Had tons of fun...one of my favorite memories of this cruise!
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