Updates

What better way to show you just how fun a South America cruise can be then to hear it straight from Carnival Splendor's social host Jaime? You get to cruise vicariously as she details her trip from one beautiful port to another. Here is her eighteenth and final post.

Dear John,

This is it, the conclusion to the “South American adventure” part of the very first (and hopefully not the last) South American itinerary that the Carnival Cruise Lines has ever operated.  After this we have only two ports left before returning to the United States!  We visited Manta, Ecuador today. Upon arrival, it was obvious that we were within extremely close proximity to the equator because the intense heat and direct sunlight provided many of our guests with a complexion similar to that of a lobster served on formal night. 

After our last day of tours and our monthly full crew boat drill completed, myself and some other members of the crew took the same route that the guests did for our lovely day in Manta. Right on the pier, welcoming us to the city was boats filled with tuna fisherman waving with open arms. The tuna they were catching were not baby chickens of the sea; they were the most enormous slimy smelly creatures that could not easily be recognized as “tuna.” 

When the appeal of taking pictures of the fisherman wore off, and our bodies adjusted to the extreme humidity, those people who didn’t go out on organized tours either rode the complimentary shuttle to the entrance of the pier where they had options to relax on the blissful beach enjoy a cold drink and purchase some local crafts. Or they took the $10 hop on – hop off bus organized by Condor Travel to go see the hotel with internet access, visit an extensive traditional open Ecuadorian marketplace and finally experience a nice, air-conditioned mall.

Once we arrived at the arts and crafts market it was a great opportunity to buy straw “Panama hats” that are actually made here in Ecuador. These tightly woven hand made hats sell for up to $300 in the states, and can be purchased here for only $25!  This in itself made the trip worthwhile! Other hand-made jewelry and crafts were at the market as well. In addition we had traditional live music playing such favorites as the Titanic theme song (I think they were mocking us!)  As I walked around searching for the perfect accessories for my formal night attire, one of the men selling his goods expressed his interest in my Carnival Towel that I had brought in case we ended up at the beach. I greatly value and love my towel because it reminds me of my favorite place to work AND the place who provides all of my pay checks =). 

This gentleman proposed to trade one of his beautiful pieces of jewelry for my ever-so-highly acclaimed towel. At first I didn’t want to give it up because as you know they are not only absorbent and classy but these towels are also a great way to clean up spilled beverages. After much haggling, I ended up getting a nice pearl necklace with a white shell in exchange for my navy blue irreplaceable, unique Carnival Towel. Good thing I am friends with the laundry manager who distributes the new towels ::wink::.  

Also at the marketplace, Lawrence, our production singer, tried to refine his bartering skills by talking down the price of a locket necklace for his baby sister. When speaking turned out to be an unsuccessful method of price negotiation, he attempted to serenade the local vendor in exchange for a lower price. The woman clearly did not speak English, she looked scared, and wanted him to stop… so she lowered the cost of the locket from $25 to $20!

Queen Neptune, King Neptune, Lifeguard, Sailor Owen and Merman Lauren before the big Equator Crossing Ceremony

After we exhausted our monetary resources at the market place we pressed on to the next bus stop, the Manta Mall. On the drive over we saw very interesting buildings with bamboo scaffolding. I understand that they may have different building resources in the southern hemisphere, but it did not appear as if these homes under construction provided any shelter from any sort of precipitation that may pass through the city.  Good thing that their most fierce weather element is sunshine!  

If there has one thing I have learned from visiting all of these foreign places it is: a mall is a mall is a mall… even though this one did contain significantly more incense and beads than I am used to. The vendors all accepted the US dollars as appropriate currency, so that was a nice change to our other recent ports. Some friends and I walked around the mall for a bit before enjoying our strawberry milkshakes and heading back to the ship. On the way back we saw the city’s tuna monument! Our wonderful guide Michelle told us all about Quito, the capital of Ecuador, which is only a one-hour flight away from Manta. Since Catholicism is the main religion of this country, the capital city contains much of the Catholic heritage and history. 

Guests at the Equator crossing ceremony enjoying the Elite showband right before we crossed.

Back on board this evening we were crossing the imaginary line that separates the lower and upper hemisphere! Our equator crossing ceremony was a huge success with our emcee Goose, King Brad Neptune and Queen Jaime Neptune! All of the guests on board the Carnival Splendor at this time can happily consider themselves amongst a family of shellbacks.

Thank you for letting me share my Carnival Splendor South America adventure with all of you!
=) Jaime

What better way to show you just how fun a South America cruise can be then to hear it straight from Carnival Splendor's social host Jaime? You get to cruise vicariously as she details her trip from one beautiful port to another. Here is her seventeenth post.

Dear John,

Even though 25 crew members were not departing for Maccu Picchu today, those of us enjoying Lima - our only Peruvian port of call -- still managed to make it a wonderful day!  The morning began like most excellent days do, with tour distribution. Our amazing Assistant Cruise Director Brad brightened the day of one of our guests by personally escorting her to her shore excursion bus and managed to save her the front seat so that her injured knee would not be further hurt by climbing into and out of the bus. Brad worked his magic and managed to get her the seat of the guide. She told him how special he was and much she appreciated him and his hello. It is guests like these who are gracious and kind this that make our job worthwhile. 

Speaking of Brad, he and the cruise director Goose have been working so incredibly hard during this entire itinerary. They have been planning new and exciting activities for all of the guests and they are dealing with ever-changing ports, and busy gathering new ideas for each of our incredible adventures. To be honest, they have such a huge responsibility and they have been working for 10 plus hours each day on capers, scheduling, lounge distribution and planning. I have gained so much respect for both of these men and they deserve much appreciation for all of their hard work throughout this entire run. I apologize for going off on a tangent, but they truly are doing a great job, and it so interesting to see all of the planning and behind-the-scenes work that goes into such a huge operation like a brand new itinerary. 

At the conclusion of tours I had the wonderful opportunity to meet the three children of Pierre, our back lounge technician. I watched him embrace his family members that he had not seen since early November.  Working on board a cruise ship is quite rewarding, yet when one is away from their loved ones for such an extended period of time is such a difficult challenge. I have never seen Pierre’s face light up so much as when he first saw his babies. 

The "El Beso" statue in Love Park

When guests were finally off on their tours, shuttle buses and daytime adventures, myself and many crewmembers headed to the lovely downtown area Mira Flores. As you head off the ship on a Sunday, no one is ever sure how many of the shops and restaurants will be open. Luckily, it seemed as if the port was planning for the arrival of the Carnival Splendor, because I do not think one place of business had “closed”sign hanging in the window. On our drive to downtown we went through some areas that were less that affluent, but when we finally reached our destination the wonderful Lancomer mall was set before us. I believe I heard the voices of angels resounding throughout the mall with each swipe of the Visa, MasterCard or American Express! This mall had an extremely Americanized store selection. Since we will be returning to our typical store selection within only a few days, a group of friends and myself decided to explore the downtown by going for a pleasant walk around the city.

Our walk brought us to such destinations as Love Park where a huge statue entitled “El Beso” (The Kiss) stand 30 feet high in the center. The red colored path and surrounding area was quite nice. It had a beautiful view of the city and beach and the only thing missing was…someone to kiss (I’m not bothered, though!)  We continued our walk and we saw the downtown shopping area with an incredible opportunity for souvenir shopping! With only 13 days left until our return to the US, it is time so start expanding those suitcases with Peruvian and other South American memorabilia. Many hand-made scarves and glass blown figures were easily accessible at this marketplace. 

Enjoying my lunch in Lima

After shopping was complete, it was time to replenish our bellies with the traditional Peruvian meal – ceviche.  When pronounced correctly it sound like a derogatory term, when in actuality it is a tasty dish that was recommended by our Peruvian back lounge tech aka father extraordinaire, Pierre!  We stumbled upon an awesome restaurant, slightly off the main drag where it appeared all of the locals went for lunch.  After some difficulty communicating with the waiter at the restaurant, the three involved in my afternoon dining adventure ended up with two plates of seafood, chicken and rice, two other plates of seafood with rice, two salads, three beers, water and these reverse popcorn appetizers. The whole bill totaled $20 American dollars. I could be rich if I moved to Lima!

The day was quite nice. Even though there was no trip to Maccu Picchu, I did take a picture of the mountain from one of the local advertisements – so that is practically the same as going!

An absolutely amazing shot of a sunset from the deck of Carnival Splendor

Back on board, it was Latin deck party night. We had a lovely sail away with a beautiful sunset, as we head toward our last South American port of call – Quito, Ecuador.

All the best,
Jaime D =)

What better way to show you just how fun a South America cruise can be then to hear it straight from Carnival Splendor's social host Jaime? You get to cruise vicariously as she details her trip from one beautiful port to another. Here is her sixteenth post.

Dear John,

I was right for the first time ever… today was most certainly a brighter, more pleasant day than the previous one! With perfect weather, clear skies and a beautiful port area to explore what could be better (besides Maccu Picchu?) We arrived in our last Chilean port of call, Arica, at 1 pm – our new expected arrival time. Our guests were extremely understanding about the delay.

Their tours had been refunded or changed and our wonderful captain was kind enough to allow our new back on board time to be pushed back to 7 pm to allow the most possible time in this port. Everyone was pleased because not only did this port contain a unique downtown area, also each time one exclaimed the name of this travel destination it seemed as if they unearthed some sort of great discovery!

Since the original plan of taking a flight to Cusco was foiled because of the previous day’s extremely unfortunate incident and change of course, none of us would allow this change of plans to affect our day. We were fortunate to see the city highlights such as the Tutelar figures that were in the middle of the extremely hot desert. Only a few short days ago we were shivering in the chilly glaciers of Ushuaia, and today we had sweat marks the size of Alaska! We did not find and camels or cacti in the desert but we did find some perfect photo opportunities. After our vast exploration of sand and pebbles, the group headed up to El Morro which is none other than a big rock! Here we found the mini version of Christ the Redeemer… I guess this one performed slightly less impressive miracles than the one we saw in Rio earlier in the cruise. Rather than turning water into wine, he astoundingly changed Coke into Diet Coke.

This location was actually the perfect spot to take beautiful pictures of the entire city and gave a perfect view Carnival Splendor. This big rock was just like Meecchy Peachy – only it was about 10,000 feet closer to sea level!

Upon returning to the ship, the 25 crew members were informed that the dream of visiting Mitzubishi Picachu may still indeed come true if we disembark from our next port of call: Lima, and return to the ship in Manta. After deciding if I could spend the increased amount of money, asking to my father for advice, I decided that if indeed it was a possibility that I would still visit Miss Piggy if it was an option.

As my dad, who visited South America just 40 short years ago put it “it is just a bunch of rocks… but it is an important bunch of rocks!’’ And even though I would be spending almost all of my acting cruise director money on this excursion, the extremely emotional highs and lows of the past day still made me to want to go on this trip.

After a full day of negotiation and extremely hard work, Paul the shore excursion manager said that their simply was not room on the train to accommodate the crew members. The guests who had originally booked the trip still had the opportunity to go on this trip, departing from Lima if they decided. Forty-one of the 47 originally scheduled guests will still be visiting this amazing wonder of the world. One of our guests, Queen Susan is going to bring us back pictures, magnets and hope that we can visit this location later in life!

Still smiling… only 12 more days until we return to the States… And yes Mach, I can see California, it just looks a little wetter and bluer than I remember.

Have a wonderful day… Next stop, Lima, Peru!

What better way to show you just how fun a South America cruise can be then to hear it straight from Carnival Splendor's social host Jaime? You get to cruise vicariously as she details her trip from one beautiful port to another. Here is her fifteenth post.

Dear John,

This past 24 hours has provided an intense gambit of emotions for many of us sailing currently on the Carnival Splendor. On a bright note, today celebrates my one and a half year anniversary working for Carnival Cruise Lines. Only one day and six months behind the anniversary of the blog-thingy! I would never have imagined I would have come this far is such a short period of time…

For me, this day has brought upon an incredible amount of first time experiences along with the extreme highs and lows that correspond with any type of intensely emotional experience. The morning began with my first walk around the Splendor track as we provided “walk-a-mile with the entertainment staff” to our guests. The skies were overcast and the pleasant breeze made for a nice relaxing beginning to the day. Brad, our assistant cruise director joined me up on the track and we had a wonderful opportunity to bond and discuss how we started working for Carnival, the challenges of being an ACD and just life in general.

As we rounded the track, we heard the guest services personnel make an announcement that we were in search of a guest, and asking that he “kindly contact the desk by dialing 7777 or reporting to the deck three lobby.” By this time, security was on deck 12 with a picture in hand, asking Brad and myself if we had seen the missing gentlemen. Not long after these first two clues, Goose reported from the navigational bridge that we had reason to believe a gentlemen had gone overboard within recent hours and when we had further information it would be shared. The traveling companions of this man were already aware of this situation.. I watched people rush to the edge of the ship, with open hearts and binoculars in hand to aid in the search for this missing gentlemen.

Within minutes, our cruise staff team, as well as the musical director, dance captain Claire and senior technician met in Goose’s cabin to participate in an extensive search. As per the procedure, we thoroughly checked all of our areas on the ship. He was no where to be found. By this time, we were informed that we were heading back to the area where this man was last seen, which was our traveling area at 4:30 am the previous morning. When we finally arrived at this location we sailed in an east and west box pattern until after sunset. Helicopters and rescue boats from the Chilean navy searched the area as well. This is the first time that this type of situation has ever occurred on any ship I have been sailing on. Perhaps that’s why myself and others had such a difficult time dealing with this harsh reality. Goose was extremely comforting to the guests and our team in this situation. He gave me a warm hug, and I surely needed that.

My job is to make sure people are enjoying their vacation and having fun. Today, I had a hard job. Brad, the assistant cruise director, is right, we have one of the most exciting and fun jobs in the world. However, it is ever changing and we have to be ready to adapt to whatever situation arises. We keep smiling and stay positive.

On top of this tragedy and the feelings of sadness and disappointment that correlate with this occasion, those of us who were looking forward to going to Maccu Picchu realized that this dream that we had may no longer be a reality. We were originally scheduled to fly to Cusco early the next morning. We all tried to stay hopeful that Paul, our shore excursion manager and his team would be able to find an alternate flight or a private charter so that we could all experience this wonder of the world.

We received this email from Paul at 6:20pm:

HI All,

I am very sorry to say that tomorrow the planned Machu Picchu tour has been cancelled as we could not re-schedule a flight at a later time despite many efforts.
All guests and crew will be notified this evening and will receive a full refund.
Regards

Thank you and Regards,
Paul
Carnival Cruise Lines | Shore Excursion Manager |

As everyone knows, John has an incredible ability of making every situation, even challenging ones seem light hearted and jovial. Now, I have not yet refined this ability. My heart and prayers go out to the family and friends of this gentleman who was reported missing yesterday. All of us crew members feel immense sorrow for the family of this man who we saw just a few days earlier happily doing puzzles in our library.

We received a letter from the captain this morning explaining that the wife of this gentleman had found a note that suggested a planned suicide and that representatives from the ship’s CareTeam were with the wife and accompanying friends providing emotional support during the very difficult time. This was shared with all of our guests.

Even though the sun is shining as we arrive in Arica, Chile today… it is still a day of remembrance, prayer, hope and love on board the ship.

The 47 guests and 25 crewmembers that had planned a trip of a lifetime meant to depart from Arica will not be climbing Machu Picchu during this trip. I am still confident that tomorrow will be a better day =)

What a perfect opportunity for my future husband to sweep me off my feet!

::keep smiling::
Jaime