December 6 - At Sea

Last night I had a delicious dinner of obion soup, Caprese salad, mashed potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and Creme Brule.  All really soft foods.  

Had an early morning checkin phone call with the Dr. this morning.  She was trying to figure out my case. Even to the point of asking if I've had a diphtheria vaccination when I was younger. Yes I did. And diphtheria presents with a very unique membrane in the troat. But many moons ago when I was in Micro, it was something most younger doctors never saw. I would imagine now most older doctors have never seen it.  I've decided to call this glob in my throat Fred.

Today was a packed morning.  Did a Zumba class, went to a talk on King Tut, and a talk on crew life, had to eat lunch, went to a Bourbon Street jazz band. 

The crew life talk was interesting.  The cruise director presented it. He talked about the process of applying and the training you go through before you even board.  He showed the different cabins the crew gets and one of the perks of promotions is a bigger, solo cabin.  He showed the crew bar, crew mess, crew entertainment area.  Explained the officers have a separate mess and that is where new dining room staff train before they are posted in a public dining room. He talked about the travel between different postings and how all that is done.  For example, he is British and has a British passport.  He and his wife live in New York city.  All cruise staff (except US passport holders) have a special visa that allows them to transit the US for 30 days between postings.  In his case, if a cruise ends in Boston for example and he is going home to New York, he has to travel on his special US visa to Canada, the fly from Canada to New York using his British passport. Most crew members don't have to pay any taxes. However US (and Eritrea) have to pay taxes on world wide income. This is one of the reasons there are very few US staff on a cruise. It just is not as financially advantageous to them as it is for citizens of other countries.

He also talked about some of  the benefits Princess offers the crew. They can take language courses anytime.  They can take any courses from Cornell and they can take any degree courses they want as long as it is related to cruise ship work. And a cruise ship is like a city, so almost anything could be related. For the degree courses at any place of their choosing, the crew member pays for the first semester. Once they successfully complete that, they are reimbursed and the cruise line will pay for the remaining courses.

Oh, yes, there was a junk sale I popped into.  I resisted the urge to buy any $10 deals.  Then I needed a nap! I mean, what are Sea days for! Following my nap, did my throat regiment.   Dinner was cold peach soup, veal Scallopini with mashed potatoes and green beans and  souffle for desert. All very yummy.

Entertainment was a magician comedian tonight. He was very good. We arrived at the theatre about 10 minutes before show time and had little choice for seats.

Just having breakfast as I finish this posting.  Cranberry mimosa,  1 piece of French toast, crispy bacon and green tea. Fred is almost gone. Every once in a while I can still feel him, but he is becoming a fading memory.