Gone Cruisin': Heading back to the Glory

Well Hello Everyone,

Some of you are expecting me to be writing to you from somewhere in the warm Caribbean, but others of you have heard that I didn't even really make it there. That's right, I'm back on the Glory currently in Canada today. I did leave on the 31st to head down to Miami to fly to Belize to get on the Conquest, but Miami was as far as I got.

The morning of the 31st, I had to check out of my room, drop my bags off, and go thru immigration before I could get off the ship. The night before I was packing my things up and had decided that I was not as efficient as I could be and that I should really get another suit case when I get down to Miami. Until then I had to work with what I had, which was way too much stuff. Shocker! I ended up with 2 checked bags and 3 carry ons. Don't ask me how I was going to pull this off because I was heading to the airport and still had no idea. I get into immigration and I have my three carry ons with me and the MSA lady tells me that I have 2 packages waiting for me in the office that had just showed up this morning. (BTW, the MSA is the office basically, any mail, ID issues, lost name tags, that kind of stuff you take care of there) I had been expecting these packages but also hoping they could be sent to the Conquest so I wouldn't have to worry about carrying the extra weight. Well, that obviously didn't happen so here I am with 3 carry ons to carry and now 2 pretty good size boxes. Oh goody! lol So, I called Mom and woke her up :) and asked her if I could open them so I could try and distribute what was in them so I could carry things a bit easier. Well, thankfully I had asked Mom and Dad for a new back pack for my birthday and they had found the one that I wanted and that was inside so I got to use that to carry some stuff and it was very helpful! The back pack that I had, but left at home I had used all through high school and college, needless to say it was time for a new one, so Thank you Mom and Dad! :) You are the bestest!

I arrive at the airport and thankfully they don't weigh my bags because I would imagine that at least one would have been over weight. My flight to Miami was nothing out of the ordinary, and I got to the hotel and everything safe and sound. Decided I would just have a relaxing night and not go out or anything the first night. Got to catch up with a lot of friends and family so that was nice. The next day, I got up and went to a mall and did some shopping. It was a pretty cool mall called Dolphin Mall. It has a lot of the outlet stores which was really nice. I found a new suitcase and a few other things, but I spent the afternoon walking around there. It was pretty big so you definitely needed some time to walk around. I did treat myself to a manicure and pedicure, which felt amazing. It was during my pampering of myself that I received an email saying "Do not get on the plane tomorrow, you are heading back to the Glory on Monday". Well, it didn't say it like that but it was pretty close. The CD (Cruise Director) Josh on the Glory had been having some back issues and he needed to sign off medically so they figured it would be easier for me to come back since I knew the ship already and everyone than having someone new come and have to figure everything out. When I got off in Boston, the ship headed out to New York to relocate. So Wednesday the Glory was in New York, but by the time that I found out about heading back to the Glory, I would not have made it in time. Chris, my ultimate boss said that he would wait to fly me out to New York on Monday rather than trying to get me on there earlier when they port in Canada, just because it'll be less hassle. I was very thankful to hear that because last time I tried to fly into Canada from Miami, it didn't work too well. So, they had me switch hotels so I was closer to the head quarters and there was a little bit more around there. So I tried to meet up with Chris on Thursday but he ended up having a super busy day so we planned for the next day. He did pass my number along to some of the guys in the office so they contacted me and I went around Miami with them and went to dinner. It was really fun driving around Miami in a convertible! Friday I went into the office to help out the guys and meet up with Chris. It was pretty fun, not too many people in the office, but it was nice to see the other side a bit. I got to help book the flights of all the comedians that fly on board. I also got to pick my next ship! I'm very excited about it!! I'm happy to share with you that my next ship will be the Dream!! I'll start in January and I will be based out of Port Canaveral which is close to Orlando, FL. So if anyone wants to come cruise with me, I'll be there, January 19th thru the 20th of July, I'd love to have some of you come join me. I'm super excited about the ship and the run. I will also know the sound tech as well. He is the same one that is on the Glory right now and will be signing on just a couple of days before me. His name is Josh.

The rest of the weekend I just kind of took it easy. I did go tour Marlins Park which was awesome! I'll post some pictures on the bottom of the post. From the ball park I walked about 3 miles to downtown and Bayside which is super close to the cruise port. I tried to meet up with Harrison from my host college because he was on the Valor which was in port, but he was Host on Duty so he couldn't get off the ship. It was a big bummer, but oh well. I can't do much about it. So I enjoyed a lunch by myself while looking at the Carnival Valor. Sunday I just hung out and repacked all my stuff so that it would be easier to travel back to the Glory. I had a 6am flight back to NYC on monday morning. Once I got back on the Glory it was just like old hat obviously since I hadn't been gone very long. I had missed one cruise. Some people knew I was coming back, others were surprised to see me. Either way it has been good to get back. I was a bit bummed I didn't get to go to the caribbean for a few weeks, but I'm happy I get to spend my birthday with people that I have known for a little while now. It's gonna be nice and fun. Plus, who wouldn't want to spend their birthday in NYC!! I'm really pumped about that!

Anyway, I'm going to get going back to the ship, but I'll talk to you all soon. Take care until then.

Love and Smiles,

Alyssa