Post Dry Dock Rehab

Welcome back friends, family, and strangers. It has been awhile since you’ve heard from me. I’m still around, but I’ve been a little busy.

I’m back in San Juan today on my first cruise after dry dock. Dry dock was…crazy. In the weeks and months prior to dry dock everyone was telling me how much I was going to love it. I was told I could sleep in and I’d only have to work a few hours each day, there was a cool town near by where you could get Domino’s Pizza, I would be warm in the Bahamas in January. Now let’s take a look at reality. I was up by 8 AM everyday to open the door to my office for the contractors then I would come into work at 9. I know that for most of you that is not considered early, but the earliest I work on a regular cruise is 10. I did work a couple hours a day, plus 10. I think the shortest day I had was 9 hours, but the 13 hour day was more typical. I compare it to doing 11 SRT shows in a row. The town was half an hour away and I only had time to go to it once. In fact today is the 3rd time I’ve been on land in 2010. They weren’t lying about the Domino’s, but sadly I didn’t get any. And as far as being warm, technically I was warmer than Pennsylvania, but I was not warm. It was in the low 50s most days and I wore my coat or other long sleeves inside all week.

Despite having my image of dry dock shattered, it was a good week. I really learned a lot and have a much better understanding of the programming side of my job. However, am I quite happy to get back into the production side this week. I’m more of an entertainer than a mechanic, so it’s good to be back.

Our normal dining rooms were closed so we all ate our meals in the guest buffet space. The change of venue was nice and they had hamburgers and pizza at every meal so it was good was to know that there was always a standby to fall back on. I ate a lot of pizza last week. A lot. They had 2 soups at each meal. I laughed out loud when I saw the soups at lunch one day so I thought I would share them with you: Macaroni Soup with Hot Dogs and Cows Feet Soup with Dumplings. Yum. Yum. I had 2 helpings…of each. Just kidding. I didn’t even get very close…I didn’t want to know.

The two things I was really looking forward to during dry dock were the repair of our remote control cameras and an upgraded editing suite. Neither of those happened. Then we were told they would be fixed on the 14th when we were in New Jersey, but that didn’t happen either. Now we’re proceeding as normal with our broken and patched together equipment. We’re also still troubleshooting all of the new equipment we did put in. I thought life was supposed to get easier after dry dock. I took the first sea day this cruise to get my life back in order. I did laundry, vacuumed my room, and got clean linens for the first time in a month…disgusting, I know.

We arrived late to dry dock and therefore we ended up leaving late putting our arrival in New Jersey at 2 in the afternoon. We usually arrive before 7 in the morning. Because of our late arrival, crew was not permitted to go past the fence on the pier. The only thing inside the fence is an international phone call station. I didn’t even get of the ship. The turnaround day prior to dry dock we were not permitted to leave the ship and the one prior to that was when my family was here. That means I haven’t been able to go to a grocery or department store since December 11th. I’m running out of everything. I really hope we have lots of time on January 24th. I’m out of Diet Mt. Dew. It’s awful. Actually I’m not out….I’ve started buying Diet Coke to hold me over. Great story about Diet Coke: I discovered today that I only needed 2 more Cokes then I have enough Mt. Dew to make it back to the states. So I went to the vending machine right out the door, put my dollar in to get my 2 cans, but it gave me 2 cans each time I pushed the button. 4 cans for 1 dollar. Val:1 Coke Machine:0 I should go buy all they have.

The best part of dry dock was the flat screen I got for my cabin. We replaced a few around the ship so I got one of the old ones. Now all I want to do is watch TV and movies…which I have done a lot of the past few days. But let’s face the facts, that’s all I ever want to do. I think I have mostly recovered. I’ve slept until noon the past few days but still managed to work 6 hours those days. I have a lot to catch up on…maybe that will happen tomorrow….not today.

I’m sure you all know about the devastating earthquake in Haiti last week. What you may not know (because I didn’t) is that Royal Caribbean has been one of the largest foreign investors in Haiti over the last several years. In a press release from the Haitian government I am told that they asked Royal Caribbean to continue to visit Labadee because they need our economic boost now more than ever. I will not be in Haiti until February 11th, but the crew is working on ideas of what to give and how. Our ships will be acting as cargo ships for a long while as we seek to take Haiti much needed supplies. I am in contact with a friend of mine working in Haiti and we are hoping to help him as he assist the Haitian people. While all of us on the ship have a connection to this tragedy via Labadee, it goes deeper than that…we have at least 12 Haitian crew members. I found out last night that one of our crew members lost his 19 year old daughter in the quake. Originally from outside of Labadee, his daughter earned herself a spot in the university at Port a Prince. She died in the collapse of her classroom. Unfortunately there is no way for us to get these crew members home. All of the airports are closed and the border to the Dominican Republic is closed. We are investigating flying these men to Miami and putting them on a ship to Haiti. Please pray for these men, their families, the relief effort, my friend Michael, and our role in this disaster relief.

As heartbroken as I try to be for the people of Haiti, my heart has already been broken by a tragedy at home. If you are from Pennsylvania you have undoubtedly already heard of the shocking, tragic, and senseless shooting of Pennsylvania State Trooper Paul Ritchey. I am honored to have known Paul, and blessed to have spent most of my life in a town protected by Trooper Ritchey. I regret that I cannot be home to mourn the loss of this hero with the rest of you. Life has not been the same since I heard the news Wednesday night, as I know it hasn’t been for any of you. It is constantly on my mind and heart. My prayers are with you all.