Phuket and Kelang...about a month ago!

Once again I am stuck updating you on a month’s worth of excitement…this may take a while! So the next port after my last update was Phuket, Thailand. I was thinking about just having a relaxing beach day but I ended up getting on a boat tour to James Bond Island. They call it that because it was used in the Bond movie “Man With The Golden Gun”. Although it was cool to see (and even cooler when I saw the movie afterward!) I was a little disappointed that we only drove around it and didn’t have the chance to get off and explore…but there was still lots more to the tour! The boat took us through some caves, and then to a Muslim fishing village that was built entirely on stilts- pretty incredible! We wandered around there for a bit and then it was back on the boat and back to our starting point for lunch. We had a wonderful buffet meal and then it was time to head back to the ship.


A few days later we were back in Port Kelang, Malaysia- and I was back on another tour! Our first stop was a local family’s home for some tea and traditional snacks. They were a sweet, lovely family but I guess they don’t see very many blondes because they kept commenting on my hair and asked to take a picture with me! The tour then took us to the Blue Mosque, Little India, and the Sultan’s home…all the big sights of Kelang! Like always, the tour was over before we knew it and we were heading to another port!


xoxo D

The Future!

Well time has flown by once again- how is it almost the end of August?! Of course since I have lost track of time it also means that I have forgotten about my blog- sorry! But before I go back and try to update you on everything I’ve done this month I first want to look ahead and tell you about my next contract!!! I talked to the Crew Office a few days ago and as of right now I am scheduled to join the Pacific Princess on December 5th. I want to preface this by saying that assignments change all the time (even up to days before!) so nothing is set in stone. But if I did get this contract I would be suuuper stoked! The Pacific is one of our small ships- less than 700 people- which means there is a smaller staff on board. Right now on the Sun we have a team of 7 including the Cruise Director; on the Pacific it would be a team of 3. I would be doing a lot more work and have a lot more responsibility but it would be great experience and I’ve heard it’s pretty much a guaranteed promotion afterwards. And on top of all that, the Pacific has an AMAZING itinerary! I would start off doing a few cruises down the Amazon River…and then I would be off on a 108 day WORLD CRUISE! I’m trying not to get too excited because, like I said, things can change, but it’s definitely the thing that’s keeping me going right now. All of my old team has left and it has been quite the adjustment…I’m feeling kinda lonely at the moment! It’s not the end of the world though- I’ll be home in just over a month!!

xoxo Dianna

Not Just Port Days...

It seems like I only update you on what I do on the port days, but there’s lots happening on the ship as well! I can’t remember if I mentioned that I entered the Biggest Loser competition again. Its run by the health spa and gives us some cash incentives to get healthy and lose weight. The first time I did the competition, although I lost quite a bit of weight, I ended up in second last place! This time around I didn’t really change my regime (if anything, I slacked a bit more!) and ended up in SECOND PLACE! That means I’m $250 richer! Woo hoo!

Not only have there been changes in my waistline but also changes in the Cruise Staff team. Two of our members (including my roommate, Jess) left a few days ago. It was so sad to see them leave- they were part of my first team so they will always mean something special to me! Our new teammates seem nice although I don’t know if we’ll have the same dynamic as before. And of course on top of that I’ve had to adjust to a new roommate- no problems yet though, so hopefully it will work out! Unfortunately those aren’t the only changes I have to go through. Martin is leaving in a few days, then Frenchie a few days after that! I will have one familiar face still around though- my original Cruise Director Mark is coming back on the 21^st so I am looking forward to that! And if all else fails I just have to think about the fact that I have less than 2 months until I’m home! Can you believe it?!

xoxo D

Never Sick of Singapore!

Once again we were back in Singapore and it was another jam-packed day. It feels like I have spent so much time there- not that I’m complaining! Its one of my favourite ports and there is still so much I haven’t seen yet! We started off the day nice and early with a trip to the Singapore Zoo. It is said to be one of the best in the world so of course I had to check it out! It was a good thing we ended up going so early because the animals were still quite active- something you don’t always get to see at a zoo! Although it’s small, I can understand why this is rated one of the best in the world. All the habitats look very natural with lots of vegetation, there aren’t many “cages” per say, and you seem to be able to get pretty close to the animals- no need for binoculars here! But the best part of the zoo would have to be the fact that I got to meet up with my cousin Jennifer and her boyfriend Jeremy when I was there! They were in Singapore for a family wedding and I just happened to be in town the same day- how cool is that?! Around lunchtime we said our goodbyes- Jennifer and Jeremy needed to get back to family stuff and I was headed on my next adventure to Sentosa Island!


There are many ways to get to the island- taxi, monorail, or the mode of transportation I wanted to take: cable car! It had been closed every time we had been in Singapore before so I was excited to finally get a chance to go on it! But, it wasn’t exactly all it cracked up to be…first off, it took forever for Martin and I to find the entrance to it. When we finally did we discovered it was $26! Since we had made so much effort to find it, we figured we might as well take it. It was a great view- we could pretty much see everything!- but once we stepped off in Sentosa we were a little disoriented. We wanted to get to Café del Mar (a beach bar) to meet up with a few people…but we couldn’t figure out how to get there! The buses seemed to be going other ways and we couldn’t find a taxi, so we just decided to walk! Well, it turned out to be a little further than we thought, but we eventually made it! The sky was pretty overcast and we didn’t have much time to hang out but it was worth it! On the way home we decided NOT to take the cable car but the monorail which turned out to be 500x easier. I think Martin is still holding a grudge for the wild goose chase I sent him on…oops! Like I told him- it’s all part of the adventure!


xoxo D

Bangkok!

This was my very first time in Thailand and I was so stoked. The ship anchored in Laem Chebang which, like many of our ports, is pretty far away from the city. The bus ride into Bangkok took about 2 hours, leaving only 3 hours to explore the city. We managed to take quite a few modes of transportation throughout the day- Skytrain, river taxi, tuk-tuk and a normal taxi! We first stopped by Wat Pho and saw the country’s largest reclining Buddha- and let me tell you it was massive! 46m long and 15m high! Connected to it is the Wat Pho Thai Massage School and if we had time I would have definitely got a massage- an hour long massage only cost 250 baht which is less than 10 bucks! We then headed to the Grand Palace but apparently there was a special event going on and only monks were allowed in- bummer! As we were standing outside the Grand Palace trying to decide what to do next, a man who looked like he worked there came up to us and suggested a few other places to visit. He hailed us a tuk tuk, got us a cheap price and sent us on our way- how nice was that?! Well, actually not as nice as we thought. In my Lonely Planet I was warned about tuk tuk drivers who get commission by taking you to their friend’s silk or jewelry shop…and that’s pretty much what happened to us! We were told we were going to a market but when we pulled up to the place it was like a warehouse. We told him to just take us back to the hotel we were meeting at, but he just shook his head and refused. So we were stranded in this random area of town trying to hail a cab to get back to our bus. Fortunately it all worked out in the end- we even had time to eat some yummy Pad Thai before heading back to the ship. A few of the girls I was with said they didn’t really enjoy Bangkok but I found it fascinating! I really want to go back again one day and explore it more!

xoxo D

MARTIN!

I want to tell you about my awesome friend and co-worker Martin. He complained that I never mentioned him in this blog so I thought I would dedicate a whole entry just for him! I’m not only doing this so that he will stop harassing me but because he deserves it! He is one of my favouritest people ever! Why, you ask? Well, here’s a list:

1. He has awesomely hilarious t-shirts
2. He plays our “Cruise Staff vs. passengers” water volley ball game wearing water wings and an inflatable tube around his waist.
3. He nicknamed me “Crazy”…and for some inexplicable reason to me- it stuck!
4. He is soooo nice- like switching IPM’s with me so that I can get off in Phuket instead of him!
5. He is caring- when I was in quarantine he was the only one to call me to see how I was doing!
6. He is ALWAYS up for a drink!
7. He is so funny- and he has the best laugh!

The list could go on and on but I better stop there before his head gets too big! I am soooo sad that he is leaving in a few weeks. I’m going to miss him soooo much! I only hope that I get the chance to work with him again one day!

Love you Martin!

xoxo D

Bali & Vietnam!

I’m going back a few weeks but I still need to tell you about my wonderful time in Bali. For a while though, it looked like we wouldn’t make it there. The rough weather we experienced at the beginning of the cruise continued to ease off, but it still wasn’t perfect conditions quite yet. As we neared Bali the Captain was unsure if it would be too rough to stop there. He announced that we would get there around 3:30 am- if the weather was good enough we would anchor, if not we would head to Vietnam and make an extra stop there instead. We all went to bed with our fingers crossed that we would be able to get off in Bali. When we woke up we were happy to see that we had made it to Bali! I managed to get on a passenger tour that day to an Elephant Safari Park. The bus ride was a few hours long but it was really nice to see the beautiful countryside, as well as some intricate gold structures. When we reached the elephant park I was amazed at how close we could get to the animals. Unlike zoos where the elephants are miles away, we were able to go right up to them and pet them, take pictures with them, feed them- it was incredible! We also got to go on an elephant ride, see an elephant show, and have a wonderful buffet lunch.

A few days later we were in Phu My. Vietnam. Since we had an emergency drill in the morning we didn’t have enough time to go into Ho Chi Minh City again, so instead we decided to check out the resort town of Vung Tau. We asked our cab driver to drop us off at a nice restaurant but when we arrived it was all passengers from the ship! Kind of wanting some “alone” time away from passengers, Frenchie remembered a place she went to last time she was in Vung Tau so we headed there instead. It was beautiful! It was right on the water with excellent food and service. The only downside was 1) it started to rain as soon as we started eating (luckily we were under a canopy) and 2) by the time we finished our meal it was time to head back to the ship! It was a short but sweet day in Vietnam!

xoxo D