I Don’t Care… I Love It!

Posted on November 29, 2013 by CaseyT

Here are a few highlights from the past few months on board!

Emerald City Party

A Wizard of Oz and/or green themed birthday party for a fellow dancer.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Dining Room

Cast dinner in the Dining Room… a lovely treat organized by the Cruise Director.

Looking sharp

Back to School Party

All crew party hosted by Facilities. Complete with beer pong and dance contests!

Top of the class

Wine Night

Free wine and cheese. Need I say more?

Oh, you fancy, huh

Shops

Modeling thousands of dollars worth of jewels? Fine by me!

Diamonds are a girl’s best friends!

Cocktail Class

Learn to make cocktails and drink them for free. Yes!

Appletini

Cheers, darling!

China Party

Celebrating Chinese National Day. With so many Chinese crewmembers, this was quite the party!

Such fun

Jungle Party

Another cast birthday celebration. Welcome to the Jungle!

I am woman, hear me roar

Bingo

Crew bingo night. Competition is fierce!

Go Team Red

Halloween

Cruise Division hosted an all crew party. Costume contest, dancing, and free drinks. It was frighteningly fun!

The production cast. Awesome costumes!

I’m looking forward to more fun in the next couple months!

Forget Lions and Tigers… I’ve got Koalas and Kangaroos!

Posted on November 26, 2013 by CaseyT

Cute koala!

In Brisbane, I joined a crew tour to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. I signed up for the tour just to hold a koala, but ended up doing so much more!

Lone Pine

My first stop at the sanctuary was a large field full of kangaroos and wallabies. I fed some of the kangaroos, and was able to pet a wallaby. I loved seeing the kangaroos hop around, though they usually walked on all fours. They have very short arms, so they looked rather awkward walking!

Feeding a kangaroo

Close up

Next, I watched a short presentation about Tasmanian devils. The small animals are kind of cute, but they are disgusting little things! I was also able to see platypuses, wombats, and dingoes.

It’s a wallabee!

The sanctuary had koalas of all ages. There was a Retirement Home, Kindergarten, and a Bachelor Pad. My favorite place was the Koala Cuddling area. I was able to hold a sweet little guy and pose for a few photos. Although his fur was soft, his rear end was hard and callused. He was eating a eucalyptus leaf, and he smelled like the plant. Considering I have a eucalyptus allergy, I was very glad I loaded up on allergy meds!

I cuddled a koala!

I caught the end of a show about sheep shearing, and got to play with a sheep dog named Rex. While walking back to the entrance, I came across a little pony and a bird feeding area. Although the birds were beautiful, I hated having so many of them flying around my head. When a bit of droppings landed on my shoe, I ran out of there!

Rex, the sheep dog

I dig a pony

We were supposed to stop downtown to shop, but ran out of time. Although I didn’t get to see the city, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Brisbane! Up next, New Zealand!

Beautiful birds

Crazy Crocodiles

Posted on November 23, 2013 by CaseyT

After months in Asia, we have now moved on to Australia season! Our first port was in Darwin on Halloween. A few friends decided to take it easy at a nice public pool near the ship, since we were all a bit sleep deprived after the Halloween party the night before. I opted to go into town and visit Crocosaurus Cove, a zoo of sorts, full of crocodiles!

Giant croc!

There were crocs of all ages and sizes. I was able to poke my head up through a glass dome and be face to face with some babies. I walked under a massive crocodile swimming in a tank, but chose not to go in the Cage of Death, a glass tank that would put me in the water with him.

Crocodiles in Darwin

One of the most exciting parts of the day was feeding some of the young crocodiles. I dangled a fishing pole with ox heart over the glass wall of a small platform and waited, momentarily, for the crocodiles to jump up and get it. I shrieked quite a bit, but in retrospect, it was pretty cool.

Feeding the little ones

The other terrifying but awesome experience was holding a baby crocodile named Fuzzy. One of the employees guided me through a photo shoot with him. I put him on my shoulder, draped him over my head, and even gave him a little kiss. Even though his mouth was held shut with a rubber band, I was uncomfortable with his face so close to mine!

Me and Fuzzy

We ended the day with lunch at a pub and a bit of shopping, then went back on board to catch up on sleep!

Dumbo and Ping Pong Show

Posted on November 21, 2013 by CaseyT

For our overnight in Thailand, the ship ported near a city called Pattaya, about 2 hours from Bangkok.

Pattaya Elephant Village

I joined a few of the girls from my cast on a guest tour to Pattaya Elephant Village. My roommate and I rode a feisty young elephant named Mina through the rain. Our elephant tamer, Lun, entertained us with fun facts about Mina’s sister, working at the village, and life in Pattaya. After our ride, we watched the elephants perform tricks in a show, and were able to feed them bananas. One of the elephants was able to count! A member of the audience would tell him how many bananas to eat out of the 5 set in front of him. 3 times in a row, he nailed it!

Mina and Lun

The tour ended with a short lecture in a silk factory. We learned about silkworms, and were able to watch a woman working on a beautiful pink piece of silk. The patience required was incredible. She could produce just one meter of silk in two weeks, but the resulting product was perfect.

Silk factory

The tour bus took us back to the ship, where we were able to rinse off, regroup, and then hopped in cabs to go to downtown Pattaya. Even on a Monday night, the nightlife was crazy! We saw an incredibly disturbing show at a bar, tried Thai whiskey (40 proof), and then went searching for pad Thai. We found a tacky little restaurant on the water that had surprisingly tasty food!

Dinner on Walking Street

When we went back out on Walking Street, we found some more friends sitting outside at a bar. There was a band playing, so we stopped to join them. The male singer was fantastic, but the girl’s version of “Someone Like You” left much to be desired.

Always love live music!

Our new big group migrated to a club down the street. We had fun dancing, chatting, and drinking some slushy shots. A few other staff members, officers included, were at the same club. It was great to see them off the ship, having fun!

Dancing the night away

Walking Street

The taxi ride home was quite an experience. The cab was a remodeled truck with benches along the sides of the truck bed, and nothing but a railing across the back. 5 of us sat on the benches, gripping handrails in the center for dear life. We made it safely back to the ship in half the time it took to get to Pattaya. My hair was so horribly windblown; I was surprised ship security didn’t laugh.

In the “cab”

All in all, Thailand was terrific!

Good Morning, Vietnam!

Posted on November 19, 2013 by CaseyT

View from the Grand Hotel, Saigon

Since we were only stopping in Vietnam once, I decided to join the crew tour. I wanted to ensure that I would see as much as possible in our one day in Saigon. The tour started with a rather terrifying bus ride. The roads are filled with scooters, some holding up to 3 people! Lanes don’t seem to exist, so the scooters, cars, and buses all fight for space.

The prettiest rest stop I’ve ever seen!

Our first stop was the Reunification Hall. We took a tour inside, hearing interesting facts from our tour guide about the palace, the Vietnam War, and Vietnam in general. The hall, formerly known as the Independence Palace, is a particularly important landmark, because on April 30, 1975 a tank crashed through the front gate and marked the end of the Vietnam War.

Reunification Palace

View from inside the palace

By the time we got to lunch, it was nearly 4:00pm. We were starving! Luckily, there was a wonderful meal in store for us. We ate at the top floor of The Grand Hotel. We had seafood soup, fried vegetables, steamed fish, lychee salad, rice, and best of all, coconut beef. The beef came out inside coconut shells, and after the waiters set down the trays, they lit them on fire. It was such a spectacle! Dessert consisted of some delicious fresh fruit, and some of the best coffee I’ve had in months. If you have a chance to drink Vietnamese coffee, do it!

Coconut beef

The next stop was City Hall. It was beautiful, but since it was already getting dark, it was a bit anticlimactic. The next two stops were supposed to be photo stops, so some friends and I opted to take off and explore on our own for a bit, instead of setting ourselves up for disappointment when our photos didn’t turn out well in the dark.

City Hall

Scooter parking

We started at a Bier Garden, accidentally walked into a brothel, and then ended our evening on a deck bar. Despite rainy weather, the deck was great. We had a lot of laughs, and then trudged through the rain to meet up with the tour bus. Some friends stayed in the city overnight, but I returned to the ship for a birthday party. It was an awesome night, and a great end to a fun, adventure filled day!

Bier Garden… without beer

Hanging in Hong Kong

Posted on November 17, 2013 by CaseyT

At the harbor

I was excited to visit Hong Kong, and decided the best option was to stick with friends that had been there before. Thus, I ended up with a large group of friends. We took the train to the Ladies Market, blocks of shops set up on the street. I bargained with a few sales women, and ended up with some fun gifts for my sisters.

Ladies Market

Next, we went to a Computer Center, full of discounted technical equipment. My dance captain was searching for a new camera, and I needed a hard drive. We were both successful, and ended up running into some friends from the ice cast.

Computer Center. What a mess!

We hopped back on the train to go towards the harbor. We stopped in some stores along the way, and then enjoyed some lovely views on the water. We soon found ourselves on the Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong’s version of Hollywood Boulevard. I had never heard of most of the stars, but I did enjoy the statue of Bruce Lee.

Avenue of the Stars

Bruce Lee

Shortly after our stroll down the Avenue of Stars, my group split into smaller bunches to find food and a good spot from which to watch the Symphony of Lights on the water. I ended up sitting in a window seat in the Hotel Intercontinental (I know, I’m such a tourist), and sipping on a Whiskey Sour while watching the light show. There was a live band performing in the hotel, so I was quite content!

Wandering before the show

Dinner at the hotel

After leaving the hotel, we ran into some other friends from the ship. We found a nice outdoor bar and enjoyed another beverage in good company. It was great to spend the day with so many friends, and I loved all that I saw of Hong Kong. I hope to spend more time there in the future!

Cocktail, anyone?

Downtown

These Streets

Posted on November 16, 2013 by CaseyT

View from Mount Inasa

On our last day in Nagasaki, I accompanied two friends to the Observation Deck on Mount Inasa. The drive up the mountain was full of twists and turns, and more than once I was afraid we’d get pushed off the road! We made it safely to the top, where despite overcast skies, the 360 degree views were stunning!

On the Observation Deck

After spending a good amount of time wandering around the observation area, we hopped back in a cab to go to Chinatown. It seems silly that we went to Chinatown in Japan (especially since we’d just stopped in China well over 10 times), but the area came highly recommended. We stopped in some shops, got some very tasty mango frozen yogurt, and continued walking to a nearby shopping center.

Gate to Chinatown

Parade in the mall

There was a small parade inside the shopping area. After snapping a few pictures, we decided to get away from the crowd. There were street vendors outside the shops selling unique food items. One friend ordered a fried potato on a stick, and the other got an omelet of sorts, also on a stick.

Street food

About an hour later, we came across a mall. Our goal of the day, since it was our last day in Japan, was to find ramen noodles. We obtained our goal inside the mall! After a large late lunch, we made our way through another mass of street vendors outside. They were selling everything from bananas on a stick to chicken legs. Some food was very authentic Japanese, while other options were typical carnival goods.

Carnival

Bananas!

After so much food, we were anxious for a bit of exercise. We walked along the water towards the ship, stopping in a beautiful park. Once on the ship, we went up to the pool deck to watch Sail Away. Sailing under the Nagasaki Bridge was incredible! The ship cleared the bridge by just one meter. It was a beautiful ending to a fun day. I have nothing but fond memories of my adventures in Nagasaki!

Sunset in the park

Sailing under the bridge

Broadway Baby

Posted on November 3, 2013 by CaseyT

I apologize again for my absence the past few weeks. We’ve been stopping in new ports on our way down to Australia, so finding wifi hasn’t been my priority! Since my last post, I’ve gone back to Nagasaki, spent a lovely day in Hong Kong, took a tour in Saigon, rod elephants in Pattaya, went shopping and to a bar in Singapore, and fed crocodiles in Darwin! I’ve also been enjoying various parties and events on the ship. More details about all of these adventures will come soon!

Today, I wanted to give you a glimpse of one of my production shows. I have a few photographer friends who have taken some wonderful photos for us. Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!