Well, this has been my longest break so far without writing a blog, but that's because I've had the distraction of entertaining my parents on board. It has been a very full but fun week spent with them, aided by the fact that they came on the nine-day cruise in which my work schedule tends to be quite sparse.

In our first port, Samana, we went on an excursion called "Discover Samana", which was a bus tour which took us all around the Samana peninsula, starting at the first Church of Samana ("El Churcho"), before going to a place that sold local crafts, jewelery, and cigars. We were then taken to an area with a beach, restaurant and a few other stores. The majority of the tour took place in the bus, in which our tour guide, Carlito, gave us a very detailed history of Samana, about it's education system, economy, and culture. Overall it gave me a much greater appreciation of the port that has been the butt of many jokes on the ship for it's seemingly lack of appeal to tourists. 

Just about every night we went to one of the fine dining restaurants, from The Venetian which is free but still probably the most elegant of the restaurants, with a spectacular menu with specials that change daily, to Salsa, the text-mex restaurant which overlooks the centre atrium of the ship, to Impressions, the local italian restaurant with an excellent selection of food and decorated by some amazing pieces of art. 

Usually after dinner and my shows for the evening we hung out in a lounge drinking either wine or whiskey and listening to a piano player, whether it be Ariel playing old jazz and pop standards, or Fabrizio, the ship's "Italian Stallion", spreading love and playing just about every popular tune you can think of.  

In Barbados, me and my parents went to visit the parents of some of our friends from church, the Goodriges. We had a great time with them, and it was a refreshing break for me because it was the first time I had eaten or really set food in a private residence in two months. 

One of the highlights for all of us this week was the excursion we went on in St Kitts. It was a Cattemaran ride which first took us to a spectacular snorkeling spot, and then to a remote beach resort on the nearby island called Nevis. The Rum-punch and beers were limitless, and lounging on the netting at the front of the boat with rum in hand under the Caribbean sun was definitely among the most perfect Caribbean experiences I've had. 

Another interesting element of the week for me has been being able to see the ship a little bit more from the passengers' perspective. This has been the result of spending time in my parents stateroom (which made me feel less bad about the small size of my own room), eating in formal restaurants each day rather than just getting a quick bite at one of the buffet's as I normally would do, going on several shore excursions, and generally mingling more with the passengers. I have also indulged in far more food this week than is my norm as I have been eating vacationing passenger portions rather than everyday life portions, which has been pleasant but is not really sustainable all year round.

I managed to get my parents VIP passenger status, which among other things let them (and by extension, me) eat every breakfast and lunch at the most upscale restaurant on the ship, Cagney's Steakhouse. Cagney's is an exceptional restaurant with amazing steak, egg dishes and other things, but probably best of all is the privacy it gives from the rest of the ship which is always bustling. 

Today is sunday and so my parents disembarked, and I hung out with them briefly in Miami before heading back to the ship, leaving them to make their way back home. It has been a great week and has been nice to have a reminder of home from hanging out with them for the week, and I feel like I've had my fill of home again and am happy to be on the ship still for a few more months. My schedule is looking promisingly different this week too which should keep things fun.

That's all for now - I swear I will get some more pictures up one of these days...