Sweating in Ecuador...

First a little update on ship life, things are going very well, some of you may know already that I've met a man that I like already. He's a very sweet kind Turkish man, but unfortunately he will go home to Turkey in just a few days when we reach Ft Lauderdale...and when he returns after vacation he will be on a different ship in Europe. So it seems it will be a short but sweet relationship. It's really nice to have someone close to you to talk to on the ship.

We had a special party last night in the constellation Bar on deck 11 last night. It was a party to say goodbye to south America as the next few days will be our last here. And also it was a congratulations party for us, because the last 2 cruises we did in South America got very good ratings. I believe the rating is out of a total of 300, and most cruises are in the 270-280 range, but in South America usually it is around 240, the cruise that was done before I came on board got a rating of 263 which is a record - and I might add, they were in code red for a few days (meaning there was a virus on board so there were a lot of quarantines), and this last cruise (my first!) got a rating of 261, it's un heard of in South America to get 2 such good ratings in a row, so the party was also to give the staff the appreciation they deserve for the good job done on the last 2 cruises. It was a nice party, but it seems not very many people have been going to the parties on ship lately as not one party since I started on board has had very many people come! I hope I don't smell bad...???

So, the day before yesterday we stopped in Lima, Peru, and unfortunately I didn't even get to go up to an outside deck to take photos! I had training in the morning, then boat drill, then only 30 minutes to grab some lunch and I was at the bank until we left port and it got dark! Apparently the port near Lima can be quite dangerous, there was a shuttle bus that takes you directly from the terminal to the nicer part of town - people likened this area to East LA! Well, one of our staff decided to walk (ALONE) and he got mugged by 2 men at gun point! they ripped his clothes to get into his pockets and left him holding his shorts. He seemed alright yesterday when I talked to him, but it must have been terrifying! Kind of made me glad I couldn't go off ship in a way!

Yesterday was a Sea Day so I got to sleep a lot - I'm learning that Sea Days are great, because you can catch up on your sleep during your afternoon break instead of going ashore!

Today we stopped in Manta, Ecuador and I was able to go out. I went out with my new boyfriend Yilderay (from Turkey) and we went down to the beach area which has a lot of seafood restaurants, and had some lunch there, then we walked out to the water and along the beach a bit before heading back in land. It was VERY hot and humid in Manta today so the water felt really nice on our feet. We wandered back through a few vendor stalls, and I was treated to a nice Necklace made out of shell (maybe?) with my initial and a heart on it (Everybody say Awe!) It was sweet. Then I took a few pictures, unfortunately near where we were, there wasn't a lot to see, and we couldn't travel too far from the ship because we had to come back to work. Apparently there are some really nice parks near by, and if I get back down this way, I will definitely arrange something in order to go take some pics.

Anyways, that's about it for now, Miss you all!

Love,
Tabs