I was starting to feel sorry for the guests this morning as we approached Sitka because the thick fog returned but as suddenly as it did it has dissapissatated and guests now have their first views of Alaska and its mountains and indeed Sea Otters, loads of them swimming around the ship. We are using a tender service today with 5 of our ship’s tenders and one Sitka tender providing the 15 minute journey into port. The Captain just told me we should be there ready to start at 11:15am which is 45 minutes ahead of schedule and will give us a chance to get guests not on a Carnival tour off the ship before we concentrate on those big tours, we have over 60% of the ship on an excursion today. Yep, it will require a dollop of patience from everyone as tendering for the first ever time in a port requires a lot of planning and the operation itself will start slowly as the tender drivers ( the ship’s bridge officers and sailors) navigate for the first time in these waters. The last tender back to the ship will be at 7:45pm The last two weeks here have been very frustrating for me, not just for me of course but for the passengers and crew as well. I am talking about the internet which has been dropping more than Paris Hilton’s underwear. Occasionally that has been because of the mountains blocking the signal but on other occasions it has been because the man in New Jersey standing on top of the hill holding the antenna has gone for a coffee break. Yep, that’s how it felt. So today, the Carnival Miracle will be the last ship in the fleet to transfer over to Harris Satellite Services, our new internet provider. During this switch over today there will be no internet, e mail, ATM, phones, VisaNet authorization or any communication at all for about 4 hours. But once the techy beards switch it back on we are promised a faster more reliable service and that is something we are all truly lookin forward to. Now back in Miami the beards there are working on looking at packages that have unlimited charges etc which I know is something many of you have requested. You will be seeing faster speeds and while it wil never be the same as broadband on land you can expect to see more improvement and more payment choices in the months ahead. This morning I stopped by the Chapel to apologise to Minister Joel for interrupting his prayer meeting yesterday with announcements which he accepted. His group will be in the Chapel all day today and will not be going ashore which is a shame. Now I am not knocking their beliefs, I am a believer but I guess I don’t quite understand why any group, regardless of what they are on board to do would ignore the ports of call and stay on board all day. But that’s their choice and we will be here to look after them. I must say that Minister Joel sort of hinted that he found my humour a bit on the raunchy side. We had a pleasant enough conversation and I did tell him that I belive God has a massive sense of humour because I have seen myself naked in a full length mirror………….he didn’t laugh. OK, it’s9:50am, we are heading into Alaska. The team here are arranging the tender service and I will race through as many questions as I can before the internet is changed over. The fog has indeed dissapisated and guests are outside giving it lots of “wows “ and “ look at that.” . Its 48 farenthingy which is …………..bugger if I know Celsius and I wish you were here Thanks for all the support about me missing my daughter’s birthday. The comments were truly uplifting. I miss her so very much
Posted on: Thu, 15 May 2014 17:53:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015