One Down, Plenty More To Go!

The Pyramids of Giza, Egypt (√)

So I just finished my first 7-day cruise onboard Thomson Celebration and I must say, so far so good..

The itinerary is to die for: Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt; Aqaba/Petra, Jordan (overnight); Sokhna/Cairo, Egypt; Safaga/Luxor, Egypt (overnight).

The photo team is awesome. We are currently missing a member but everyone works well with each other. Ferg is my manager, he's English. The other photographers are Ciprian aka Chip/Chippy from Romania and Delfin my paisano.

The work hours are nothing compared to my schedule from my previous ships. I am working for another company now based in the UK, by the way.

Things I love about this ship:

• The size is just right. It used to be the old Noordam and being a Holland America Line (HAL) baby, their ships will always have a special place in my heart.

• The cabin is so spacious. We actually have a couch inside the room plus a fridge.

As usual, no food allowed in the cabin but we're permitted to drink!

• The food is delicious. And we're allowed to eat at the Lido anytime we want. Last night they had an Asian buffet and I almost dropped my tray when I saw some familar Filipino food favorites: vegetable lumpia, maja blanca, turon, fruit salad, enseymada, pansit and champorado! Yum! And they serve this every week! =D

I really think I'll gain some weight here which is not bad because it's part of my plan, to become more huggable when i get back. Wink!

• The atmosphere is very relaxed.

• We can use the passenger gym.

• We are just a phonecall away. Yes, we can be reached in our cabin through IDD! Just hit me if you want the number. :)

• The OB (Officer's Bar) is just a few steps away from my cabin. Always a nice way to end the night with a few beers and catch up with fellow crew members. The OB here is more like a lounge, slightly different from HAL's OB. It's well lit, no jukebox but with a very BIG home theatre TV, still a smoking area with very loud people.

• This is a British ship. So the guests are mostly, if not entirely, British. Except for the Filipinos that work on Deck and Hotel Dept. and the Indonesians at Housekeeping Dept. everyone else from the crew is British; the cast, the entertainment dept. and the officers.

• I love the scones! In the afternoon, I always go up to the Lido for a light snack of scones and some English tea.

• The salary is in British Pounds!

Things I don't necessarily hate but could have been better:

• The internet. There's only one wifi hotspot and it's entirely on the opposite end from where I live. And it's so f*cking slow. :(

I haven't really been out on ports that much except when I have to go on tours. So my next agenda would be to scan the places with wifi zones and I need to hit the beaches soon as well.

I just have to warn you guys that since everything around me is so English, don't be surprised when I get back home with a British accent! LOL