2011...A flashback!

Where in the world did the year go???? As a 24 year old girl, I would have to say that this was one of the BEST years of my entire life...thus far! So just to be fair...and to brag a little bit I want to recap the past year!!!

                                           I spent my NYE on board the Disney Magic!!!

 Became a God mother to the most beautiful baby girl in the entire world!!!! Lydia Marie Walker!!!!!

                                                         I am pretty obsessed with her!!

                                                  Crossed the Atlantic ocean TWICE via ship!

                           Attended a Lady Gaga concert...and knew all the words to all the songs!!!!!!!

                                                                Visited Portugal!!!!!!!!

            Searched for food that I would eat in Cadiz, Spain...but was unsuccessful!!! So I ate ice cream!

                         In this very spot in Gibraltar, UK you can see the tip of Africa and Spain in one                           viewing....breathtaking! Also, I got to see tons of wild monkeys!!!

                                    I fell in love with Barcelona, Spain. I want to live here so bad!!!!

                                                  Conquered the Malta experience!!!

                                                Visited Pompeii and Sorrento in Italy!

                                             Got really sea sick visiting the Island of Capri!

                                       Spent 4th of July dressed up with about 5 Americans....

 Ate pizza in Naples, Italy once a week and didn't feel guilty for eating an entire pizza by myself.

                               Made perfume in Cannes, France. It smells DISGUSTING!!!!!!

                                  Conquered Barcelona night life and stayed out until 6am twice....

                                               Went on my first train ride EVER in France!

                                                 Experienced the beauty of St. Peter's Basilica

                                                   Climbed all the stairs at the Colosseum

                                                     Made a wish at the Trevi fountain!

               Hiked to the top of Mount Vesuvius (an ACTIVE volcano) and lived to tell about it.

                                                Jumped off cliffs in France 3 times!!!!!!

                                    Spent way too many days at Disney World.....almost a month

 Went to NYC, stayed in a hostel, saw Mary Poppins on Broadway, rode the subway, saw the statue of Liberty, and toured around the city on foot!!!! Amazing trip!!!!

     Visited the Holocaust Museum, Museum of Natural History and the Capital of the United States!

 Went to California for the first time with my Mom and brother, visited Alcatraz, road tripped to LA to go to Disney Land and had way too much fun!

                          Celebrated 15 years of friendship with my soulmate Audrey Marie Beyer Walker!!!

I was so blessed this year!!! I can't believe the places I was able to go and people I was able to share all my memories with! I am ready to take on 2012 in hopes of more adventure. Life is short so lets make the best of what we are given!!!

My Last cruise....EVER...or for now.

This has been a crazy journey with lots of changes and twists and turns. People come and people leave and thats how ship life goes. I am still loving Europe and wish I could spend more time in some of the ports. VilleFranche, Palma, and Barcelona are by far my favorites. I finally got to see Rome and I am still blown away to think that I had the chance to see the splendor of St. Peter’s Basilica!!!!!! I felt so full of blessing.....and for just a second my life was truly clear. So here is the BIG NEWS... It is not a secret just something I am finally saying out loud. After this contract I will continue on with my life on land.....(big gasps). I love my life and for my sanity and happiness I know its just time to move on to something different. I loved this experience and I am happy to close this chapter of my life and move on to the next fun and exciting thing that is to come. I am so thankful for this opportunity but like all good things this too shall come to an end. A whole summer in Europe, 5 months in the Caribbean, endless memories and friendships that ROCK....what more could a girl ask for?? Well besides a hot foreign boyfriend hahaha NOPE!!! 

So I guess you want to know where the wind is going to blow me next? I wish I could tell you!!!!! I am applying to grad schools AGAIN and I am refocusing all my energy into finding a career that makes me proud to go to every morning, allows me to travel the world and promotes health, positivity and love to all people..........when I figure it out I will most definitely let you know. Until then, its been so fun sharing my adventures with you and I can’t wait to have many more in my silly little life.

CHARTER CRUISE!!!!

My second to last cruise was bought by the owner of OmniLife (he bought the entire ship for about 800 guests, our normal amount of guests is around 2500). The guest that week were all spanish speaking, low income, amazingly wonderful, gracious people. We had a total of 10 kids all week which made our job AWFUL (because we still worked 10-12 hour days and they dragged on and on and on and on....you get the picture) but the magic we created for those kids was truly inspirational!!! They were treated like royalty and went home with pictures with every character and loads of Disney gifts!  

We had tons of free time which to Disney means deep cleaning but to us means FUN FREE TIME!!!

                                                This is Stacie just hanging out!!

                                         My ship BFF Jessica being super silly like always!!!!

None of the guest ate at the fancy restaurant onboard so I took advantage of the situation and took a hot date to eat at PALO!!!!!!! It was super delicious and I never wanted to leave (we ate for 2 and 1/2 hours). 

            Chocolate soufflé....If I was only allowed to eat one more thing before I died this would be it.              So delicious!!! My mouth is watering looking at the picture!!! 

        
 My date Jessica and our attractive waiter!!! (notice we are the only people in the restaurant...on a normal cruise it would be full and our presence would be forbidden)


The coolest thing I did that week was BREAK ALL THE RULES!!!!!!!! One of our many random duties as Youth activities counselors is to watch the Mickey slide. I never complain about this job because we get to stand outside, drink soda, and get FRESH AIR. (Did I mention there were several days I would go without breathing fresh air....thats another story). Well on this particular day I had the opening shift of Mickey slide and I didn't see a single guest for about 2 hours so.....

                         I went down the Mickey Slide (to keep it occupied)!!!! We are not allowed to do this normally...and I think I would get into trouble if I got caught but thats the chance I had to take to make my dream come true!!! I strategically wore my bathing suit!!! Maybe I planned this ahead of time....

               I got the deck guy to take pictures as they all cheered me along...rule breaking is encouraged  

      I only got a little wet....or totally soaked but it was hot so I went down 3 other times!!!! Goal accomplished!!!!! Thanks charter cruise for making my ship dreams come true!!!

A LESSON IN SHIP LIFE!!

I get asked every crazy question that one could possibly imagine about ship life. Here are a couple of examples:
Is your life a vacation? NO...I work 10-12 hour shifts everyday for 4 1/2 months without a day off.
Do you get sea sick? NO. 
Is the food delicious? NO. Far from it for crew.
Did you date all the boys with accents? ummm NO. Although after a couple of months of ship life some boys seem like prince charming. (This is called ship goggles)
Do you make a ton of money? Not really, but considering the living situation it seems like a million dollars while you are on the ship but does not last on vacation.
Why would you ever quit a job like that? Mostly because you don't have a real life living on a ship, you are exhausted, tired of living with so many rules, or other opportunities come up.
......so in short: Ship life is not a fairytale. It's a very hard job. It has it's perks and its downfalls.
 It's an indescribable lifestyle that is not like any other. I mean we literally LIVE and WORK on a ship, dress up as pirates once a week and work every single day with a smile on our face (sometimes forced). We worry about GI (stomach flu) levels, guest comments (positive and negative), food, parties and most of all WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE WE DOING WITH OUR LIVES?!?!? It is unreal. In our free time (when we aren't sleeping), we find the most intimate relationships with our co-workers and fellow shipmates (get your mind out of the gutter). I have found my best friends here. People I have spent holidays with, people I will go on vacations with and people who help me redefine the world and the meaning of life. It's a funny thing about those months you spend with these people. You can't figure out how you ever lived a day without them and when its their turn to go on vacation, you learn the true meaning of a broken heart. (Lots of my friends went on vacation and weren't coming back)

When my roommate left for vacation an entire month before me I was CRUSHED!!!!!! Like normal, ship life moves on. Time on the ship is warped. A week feels like a month and a month like a year.  You learn to handle stress with a smile and how to rely on others to make life fun even when you are exhausted!!!!!!! 

CRAZY BOYS SOMETIMES CREATE FUN WHEN WE ARE ALL DISAPPOINTED WHEN THINGS DON'T GO OUR WAY!! (Like when overnight Barcelona was cancelled!!!)  The point is, ship life is not for the faint of heart. Its hard work, disappointment, exhaustion, too much fun, chaos, and MAGIC all in one.

ROME ROME ROME!!! MY VERY OWN DREAM CAME TRUE!!!

Je ne parle pas français

Well I love France!!!! It is something out of a movie!!!! The scenery, beaches, GELATO and cute outdoor markets!!! What' s not to love?!?!?! Out of all the things I did in France the most exciting things were jumping off a cliff into the ocean, riding on my first train and making my very own perfume!!!!!! Life is so unexpectedly wonderful and adventure is always right around the corner!!!!! 

BARCELONA, SPAIN MY NEW HOME!!!!!!!

Sorry that my blog is out of order....This is an introduction to my new home sweet home!!! Barcelona, Spain is our home port where we spend twice a cruise!!! When we first got here we had the opportunity to have an overnight (which to crew members is like winning a gold medal). We are allowed to leave the ship and we don't have a curfew!!!! During our entire duration in Europe we had two overnights and a late night (2am curfew). Sorry Mom and Dad, but those nights we really got CRAZY!!! The people I work with are  young and wild and know how to have a good time in a party place like Barcelona!! We went to a club that cost 20 Euro to get in (about 40 American dollars...crazy I know!!!) and danced until 6am!!!!! (May I mention that we work every single day without a day off for 5 months). My best memories are from those nights!!!! Other than those nights, we had lots of time to explore the culture and food during the day every embark day. This place was my absolute favorite to explore because it was a melting pot of crazy culture. I will miss Barcelona more than any other port and if I ever have the opportunity I would move there in a heart beat!!!!!

Capri, Sorrento and Pompeii

I have been patiently waiting my turn for a PAID adventure as a port adventure guide for an exciting port!!! I got a full day in Naples to see some really exciting sites! I was in WAY OVER MY HEAD on this adventure though!!!! The jetfoil (boat) that we rode to the Island of Capri made all our guest sea sick because it was really bumpy.  I even got sea sick and thought I was going to lose my lunch at one point. Luckily a helpful guest suggested  looking at the horizon or something that is not moving and get fresh air. IT WORKED MIRACLES!!!! When we finally got to Capri and put our feet on dry land, I didn't want to leave. (mostly I didn't want to get back on that jetfoil) We got tickets for the BEST GELATO I HAVE EVER TASTED (Nutella with white chocolate) and some free time to browse around. After that we got back on the evil jetfoil and took a tour of the island and saw the blue grotto up close which was AWESOME!!! It's one of the seven wonders of the world!!! We stopped in Sorrento next for lunch and it was so good! They fed us so much that I almost burst!!! (No wonder they need afternoon naps). We were given about 20 minutes after our meal to look around at the shops before our hour bus trip to Pompeii. This is where my stress level jumped to heart attack mode!!! Right when the lady in charge of our tour wanted to leave, I was told by a family that two of their members were missing. I stayed back to wait for them but had to run 5 BLOCKS to catch up to the tour guide to stop her......When we were all reunited in the bus and I was set to do a final head count before we took off I noticed we were missing 2 MORE guests!!!! The relentless tour guide decided that we must go on, meaning that I lost 2 guests....We were at least 2 hours from the ship by bus. I was freaking out and my guest were giving me a hard time about leaving them behind (even though they knew it wasn't my fault). Luckily, those sneaky guest must have gotten on another Disney bus and met us in Pompeii!!!!!! OH MAN OH MAN!!! Although it was a stressful day, it was an absolute blessing to get to see all the beautiful sites surrounding Naples, Italy!!! 

The Beauty of MALTA!!!!

Malta, Valletta was a beautiful place full of history and amazing architecture. The first time we arrived there we walked from the ship to the cities center which was about a mile(ish). I was luckily able to get a walking tour from a friend of mine who had just embarked on an official tour. He showed me the highlights, churches and the best place to get gelato (the only thing I needed to know about any port). Everything was super crazy CHEAP which was a special treat in Europe. I loved the gelato places and all the scenery that made this port so special. My favorite past time was running (alone) because it was so safe and there was so much to see.