Been a While

Well family and friends, I know that its been a while since i've blogged. However allot has happened.

We crossed from the Med up through Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Greenland and over to St. Johns, Newfoundland until we landed in Quebec. We spent about 1 month and a half cruising through Canada and New England, New York, Boston, Bar Harbor, St. John, Sydney, Port Saguenay, Quebec and other great spots. It was a load of fun, but as it started to get cold it became really really OLD. And finally, we crossed down stopping at Norfolk (Naval Base ha ha ha) to Ft. Lauderdale!!!!!!!!! Yup I am back in my element, the Caribbean. I love it, its so good to be back, the sun is shinning the people are singing and the crew onboard the Sea Princess are happy again. I had Hilary (baby sister) cruise with me on my first Caribbean cruise back and we had a blast, from ziplining to swimming, snorkeling, and a few parties I had the time of my life with her onboard. Thank you Bean...I love you tons. Then on my next cruise we went to Grenada! Thank God. Finally after 4 months I was with Kellon again and it was way worth it. We've made some decisions in life which most of you already know about, but for the rest of you I will fill you in later. Pretty much due to many other factors, I will be moving to Grenada in May. Hopefully in the future Kellon will come to Canada, we just have to work out some immigration things before he can :(
So I have 3 more months, Christmas in the Caribbean, and then my dad and Susan come onboard for 3 whole weeks!!!! Can't believe it, who authorized that?? So they will be the first in the family to meet Kellon, he's scared already, but not as scared as he is of THOMAS! Poor guy, Tom you have him shaking! After that, then I fly home and directly to see Steph, Matt and baby Kaden. Family bonding.

So guys, thats the plan...things will change as they always do. I will try to attach some pictures soon. I hope that you are all doing well.

Love you all tons

Damn Cheap Jerks

Hello All,

Just wanted to drop everyone a quick line to let you know that unfortunately I will not have the chance to update my blog often or even email. Although Princess Cruises pays a lump sum for their internet AND there is a computer in the office that has internet access that we have been using to email....the news is that Princess Cruises says we use it too much. So new rule, no one can email from that computer! I lost it, bastards! I mean seriously, those sissy pants, living on land, with their family every day, 9-5 jack asses are telling us that we email our families too much?!?! Well, they are going to feel my foot up their *@$ next time I meet up with one of them. While i'm doing that i'm sure their phone will be ringing from the 10th phone call from their family that day.
Damn they sure have it ruff!

Sorry guys, its a bit of a crappy subject for me because I think that they are ridiculous. Cheap Bastards.

O.k. I guess thats it, so I will try and update as soon as I can.

Love you all

Nanortalik, Greenland

Hello from Greenland. This was absolutely amazing. The icebergs were everywhere, I couldn't believe how close we came to them. I kept thinking about Titanic and wanted to start singing "My Heart Will Go On".

Honestly, everyone should get a chance to see this. Also the locals were so friendly! The kids loved our uniforms.

Reyjavik - Blue Lagoon, Iceland

Had the coolest day in Reyjavik, went to Blue Lagoon which is a massive hot spring that is so light blue its almost like Caribbean water. We all went swimming and its very salty and very hot. There is this mud that you put on your body and it feels so good. They also have these saunas where the heat comes right out of the spring and you wouldn't believe that it is natural heat. At some parts of the spring, the water will come out so hot you would believe that you were in the hotest shower you've ever had! It was such a cool day!

Isafjordur, Iceland

You wouldn't believe how beautiful it was, but the wind wipped through us, and the fog rolled in. We were trying to send tours off and the sleet would wip in our faces. Finally by the time we were frozen we went to this cute cafe and had hot chocolate and a warm soup. Felt thawed and then braved the Iceland wrath again. Amazing mountains, tall, flat walls and flat tops.

Lerwick, Scotland

Hey Guys,

First and only stop in Scotland, we went ashore, got some Fish & Chips and sat on this rock wall up high above the town. We ate, dodging the sea gulls, looking out over Scotland. It was beautiful, green, with awesome old buildlings. Then we went to a Scotish Pub, had a pint and listened to an old juke box. The locals looked like they were going to kill us, these wierd people in officer uniforms ruining their drinking hole ha ha ha ha.

Torshavn, Denmark

O.k. so I know its taken a while, but we've seen so many places i've had no time and no satelite, gotta love mountains and glaciers getting in the way. Here are some pics of Torshavn in Denmark. It was beautiful, they have grass roofs and they put goats on the roof to eat the grass so it doesn't get too long.

Hello Again Sea Princess

O.k. so most of you must already know this, but I have decided to go back to ships for 1 more contract. I am still dating Kellon however the money is not really around for me to afford being unemployed for 6 months to a year like they say it could take to get my work visa in Grenada. So I am now going back to save some money.

I am re-joining the Sea Princess in London and then cruising up to Iceland. I will be Hotel Secretary onboard again which is an awesome job and I love doing it. The cruise will be going to Iceland, Scotland, Greenland, Canada/New England and the Caribbean.

Should be a busy contract, because Hilary is living in Florida she is thinking of coming on a cruise in November and my Dad and Susan are coming cruising in January. So I guess my blog will be full of pictures again, another six months, then I come home to a neice/nephew (thanks Steph and Matt), that will be another adventure. AUNT MEGAN can you imagine! What a scary idea!

Been a While

So since my last blog as people don't let me forget, there has been quite a few activities. First I did go to Grenada, had an absolute blast, 2 and a half weeks flew by as though it were only 1 week. I was staying right in the Grand Anse area which is the tourist area and right by the famous Grand Anse Beach which is amazing. I also went on a job interview while there at a Resort by the name of Laluna, and may have a job offer out of it, so Grenada may be my new home for a while. For those of you who don't know, i've attached a couple of pictures of Kellon, this is my boyfriend, he is from Grenada and is currently working there. PLEASE do not believe anything my brother says about him because believe it or not HE HAS NOT MET HIM YET!!!!!! So he's just being what only my brother can get away with. ha ha ha

From Grenada I flew back to Toronto to attend Steph and Matt's wedding. It was fabulous, small, backyard and probably the most relaxed wedding I have ever been too. Everyone was in their formal outfits for about 1 hour and then all ran to change into shorts and tank tops, including the bride and groom!!!! I have so many pics of the wedding as do all who attended, but I will not publish them until the Bride has seen them. However I will post just a few family pics.

So I hope that this counts as a blog and my family will be pleased. I had a great flight back from Toronto with my Mum and Hilary. Its been so long since I travelled with other people, I forgot how fun it is having someone there to goof off with. I will keep you all posted on whats coming next. Thank you Steph and Matty for allowing me and Tom to crash at your house, thank you Tom for...well just being you (your just that "special", enough to catch the "special bus"), thank you Gram and Gramps for allowing us to stay at your house and for the great card games.

Post Family Reunion

Hello Family
Well all I can say is WE ROCK! We had a fabulous reunion, saw faces we haven't seen in years (or have never ever seen before) and all had an amazing time. Thank you UJ and "Old Bag" for hosting the event, don't worry, the protection of the barn animals was my number 1 concern assisted by Melissa.
I fly out to Grenada tomorrow and will be back in the Toronto area on August 2nd for Steph's wedding. I hope to come to the Newmarket area to catch up with everyone before I leave again. I love you all to pieces and will see you guys soon!

Vacation!!

Hello Family and Friends,
Well i've done it, I booked my first vacation without working. I am leaving on July 17th, after the family reunion, and going to Grenada, a Caribbean Island! I will be staying there with a friend until August 2nd at which time I will fly back to Toronto for Steph's wedding. I can't wait. I will take lots of pictures and sent lots of stories.
See you soon at the family reunion!!!

Ny Alesund & North Cape

O.k. guys this is a little bit of a collage of photos. The photo of me on the radio is in Ny Alesund which is the closest town you can get to the North Pole. Honestly there was maybe 20 buildings. I was there on the path to protect passengers from DIVE BOMBING birds. They didn't want any passengers off the path otherwise the birds attack them. God was it funny to see all these old people running from birds going for their eyes ha ha ha! Really the only thing in this town is Reindeer, dive bombing birds and a few people there to do research. The light bluish building behind me is the most popular tourist attraction and that is the POST OFFICE.

The the picture of the man with the Reindeer and the baby Reindeer, that was out of Honningsvag and on my way up to the North Cape. We stopped at a Sami (native tribal) house and met them and their pet Reindeers. It was totally cool.

The other two pictures are from the North Cape, one being the posting showing our location and the other is scenic view from the edge of the North Cape cliff.

I've had a fabulous last cruise. Norway is beautiful and i've been so busy being outside experiencing as much as I could. Can't wait to tell you all about it.

Magdalena Fjord - The Most Northerly Point you can Reach!

Well today we are in the Magdalena Fjord which is the most Northerly Point any ship will go to. It was beautiful, cold and amazing. We all woke up at 6am to go outside with mugs of tea and watch as we came into the Fjord. It was so worth getting up that early. The pictures make it look so gloomy but in actual fact it was so majestic.

This was only for half the day, then we stopped in this little town of Ny Alesund which has maybe 10 buidings and 30 inhabitants. I haven't downloaded the pics from there yet, but I will and then put them on tomorrow.

6 DAYS AND COUNTING!

Norway

WELCOME TO NORWAY!!!

Not much to say, the pics say everything. It is absolutely beautiful! Reminds me of Alaska only even more remote.

See you all soon 1 week and counting.

What does Megan do Onboard??

Hello Family,

As request from my sweet little brother who OBVIOUSLY does not listen to ANYTHING I say, I will let you know what I do onboard the Sea Princess (and Tom now you have no reason now not to know because you can read it anytime someone asks you). O.k. so currently I am a Junior Assistant Purser which is a half stripe officer ranking onboard Princess Cruises. As a JAP we can rotate around and do quite a few different jobs. At the moment I am the Hotel Secretary. I work as the assistant to the Passenger Services Director (Hotels Manager) and the First Purser Administration. I have a lovely office with a big window so I can look at my surroundings all day (which is the major perk to my job). As Hotel Secretary I take care of all of the clerical work for the PSD and FPAD, I handle all VIPs onboard, I liase with the Captain and Staff Captain to co-ordinate Bridge Visits for Passengers and Sailaway Bridge Visits for the Red Level VIPs. I create the ship Food and Events Schedule for each cruise and liase with all Department Heads to ensure all of their activities are planned properly. I grade all passenger questionnaire that come in at the end of every cruise to evaluate the overall score for the ship. I take care of offloading all ship to shore packages and sorting and distributing all mail and packages coming onboard. I attend all cocktail, VIP and Most Travelled Pax parties. I organize the C.R.U.I.S.E. Committee which is the service credo onboard. I take all minutes from all ship meetings. Also above that I am also Crew Club Secretary, meaning I take all minutes from that meeting and because the Crew Club president and Vice Presidents onboard don't know how to organize events, I organize all crew activities and events. When my job doesn't keep me busy, I help the Crew Office with new crew sign on on turnaround day and I help the Tour Desk with Tour Dispatch (all of which is part of the Pursers Department). And finally I do crowd control when we arrive into ports late. I organize passengers into lines and sort them off the gangway so there is no caos. I also dispatch other crew members to stand in certain areas to keep pax moving in an orderly fashion.

So I hope this explains just how DAMN important I am on this ship! ha haha.

Love you all, can't wait to come home. I'm exhausted!

EOM Photo!

Hello Family and Friends,

Please see the proud Employee of the Month for June on the Sea Princess. Look at the hideous badge I need to wear, everone comments and my picture is up in passenger areas and crew areas. I feel like a tool...but hey, its worth $500.00.

And Thomas...I only had to sleep with ALL the engineers onboard to deserve this honor, seriously, it only took me 3 weeks. ha ha ha

Love you all and Yes Mum I am still alive. Coming home July 1st out of London Heathrow, then to Vancouver and then back to Winnipeg. But with all the time changes, I will be back in Kenora in time for the fireworks!!!! It will be hideously late in my body but I don't care, lets celebrate!!!

Love you all

Employee of the Month!

Hello Guys,

Well guess what...I have been voted Employee of the Month for June out of 800 Crew members! It will be announced in like 3 days and I will be receving.....$500.00 for winning this! I absolutely can't believe it. I'm totally flattered and extremely amazed at this. I'll send you the picture of me and the Captain as soon as I get it done.

Love you all!

Formal Photos for Dad

O.k. so my PaPa wanted to see pictures of our formal uniforms. Thank God the company has just changed what our formal uniforms are. They used to be nun outfits, now at least they have form to them. Sorry the pics are a little yellow...they are scanned.

Florence

Ahhhhh Florence. You see the tower picture. Yup I climbed that all 418 steps of it. And they are stone steps, extremely steep and narrow passageway all the way to the very top. I've also included the pic from the top. Man was that hard work but totally worth it when we got up there. We also saw the copy of the Statue David. I didn't go in to see the original as I really didn't feel like standing in line for 4 hours to get to him!!!! Seriously, he's just stone!

Rome!

When in Rome! We spent the ENTIRE day wondering around Rome. We went to the Vatican, Trevi Fountain and the Coliseum as well as many other amazing sights.

Cadiz

Welcome to Cadiz! Had a lovely day practicing my basic Spanish and wondering the lovely streets. Its a beautiful City!

Barcelona!

Spent the day in Barcelona. What a beautiful City. We went to Los Rambas and saw the monuments, the street performers, the pick pocketers and had a great meal.

Update

Greetings from the Middle of the Ocean!

Well we are almost finished our crossing. Tomorrow we arrive in Southampton, England. I absolutely can't wait to get off the ship. We did have a break in the sea days, we made it into Ponta Delgada, Portugal. I didn't have any time off, however I did weazel my way into escorting passengers back onto the transit buses to the ship and got to work outside. It was fabulous. We also ran into the town quickly before we had to re-embark and got whistled at in ten million different ways (of course I don't know what they were saying as it was in Portuguese.

We only had one majorly ruff day at sea. It was insane, everything had to be bolted down and all our liquor bottles fell onto the floor of the cabin, thank God for carpet!!!! The ship was rolling from side to side and all you could see is horizon...ocean...horizon...ocean. It was almost scary.

Above is an example of what we have been doing with our Sea days...here we were celebrating ANZAC Day! It is a national holiday for Australia and New Zealand. Its like our Remembrance Day except they celebrate instead of mourn.

Alright, I guess the next pics I send should be something from Europe! I am going to Rome on the 13th so I will send some pics of that.

Love you all.

Dear Family

O.k. so after all the "HATE MAIL" I am getting slightly upset about the hatred!

Now please....don't hate me because I am in the middle of the ATLANTIC OCEAN, I can't see any land, nothing, no birds, no outside life. I am encased in a moving hotel, where I cannot escape! I feel like the walls are closing in on me AND now my family is jealous of this???????

Seriously guys, you don't want to be where I am at the moment, I feel like i'm climbing the walls...HELP ME!

Pic Updates

O.k. everyone...so my Caribbean season is over. I am currently in the Middle of the Atlantic Ocean, in the middle of 7 sea days with Ponta Delgada, Portugal splitting them up after 4 sea days. We are going ahead an hour every night for 5 nights in a row. But on May 6th, I will be in Southampton, England! My last week in the Caribbean was bitter sweet. I truly love these Islands. My pics are a locals beach in Antigua, myself and friends on a Catamaran Tour in Antigua, full day, around the Island, going to secluded beach AND on the way back our catamaran ran into a whole school of dolpins that came over and started playing with the boat! It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. The last pic is myself and my friend Clarissa from New Zealand in Grand Cayman at this cool restaurant. You dine on the pier hanging over the water, and if you get hot, you climb down the ladder into the ocean, go and swim, climb back up and eat! Talk about all the greatest worlds combined into one.

So this is the end of the Caribbean for this season, on comes the Med, I can't wait. Bring on Rome!

Hope to have pics once we get our feet back on land!!!!

Pictures for Hilary

As requested by my baby sister...here are some pictures of recent events.

1. I went swimming with Dolphins a second time, this time in Isla Margarita, Venezuela

O.k., off to crew bar, for some wine, i'll post more tonight.