Getting packed and ready to head back

Just another day packing to leave for a 6-month contract.  It's never fun nor is it easy.  I've learned from my many years of travel with my family since I was a child not to over-pack and to really consider each and every thing I'm going to bring.  Unfortunately packing for half a year is not that easy.  Often one must pack clothes for multiple seasons, for work and for relaxation, and many more little bits and pieces than would be needed for, say, a 1-week vacation.  Luckily I did leave a rather large box on the ship full of my belongings but I still always bring home anything meaningful that will fit in my luggage, in case my contract were to get changed or something prevented me from coming back to the ship (you just never know).  Of course, then I still have to pack up all that stuff and bring it back to the ship with me.  It really gets to be an ordeal trying to sort everything out.  For me, the clothes are not the problem, it's the electronics.  Being the geek that I am, when away from home for months at a time, I of course need an entire arsenal of electronic gadgets and whatnot, not to mention small bits like the chargers for said electronics, any medications I think I might need over the course of 6 months, my tools, and any number of other things.  I think I'm about 75% packed right now.  It's getting easier with each contract but I hate it just as much every time.

It's been a very busy vacation for me.  For starters, being home for Christmas was great.  Then I went for a week trip to Aruba with my family to stay at our timeshare which was awesome.  If you get a chance to visit Aruba for New Years', do it.  It's unlike anything you've ever seen.  I also visited my friend in North Carolina and we took a road trip down to Florida to go to Disney World and Busch Gardens.

Other  than those two trips, much of my time has been spent installing a new smart home system in my mom's newly-renovated house.  This involved installation of security, lighting control, multi-zone audio, surveillance cameras, controllers, and all the wiring and programming necessary to tie it all together.  I can safely say that I've almost been working as hard at home as I would be on the ship.   It's been interesting though and a means of keeping myself occupied.  Gotta do something for 2 months to keep your brain from melting into mush due to non-use :).

Tomorrow at the crack of dawn I will be flying back to New Orleans, via Atlanta, to re-join Voyager of the Seas on Saturday morning.  I have the day in New Orleans from about noon onwards to explore, of which I fully intend to take advantage.  All I have explored of New Orleans previously is the Walmart, Starbucks, and the mall at the cruise terminal.  Shameful, really.  But with nearly a full day to explore (and more importantly the evening, which I don't get when I'm on the ship), I think I can cover some more interesting territory.  I will hopefully be joined by one of my co-workers from the ship, Evan, who is coincidentally re-joining the ship the same day that I am, after a week of leave due to family reasons at home.  Should be a good day in NO.  I just hope the weather isn't so bad in Toronto that my flight gets cancelled or something, it's supposed to be a rather crappy day weather-wise tomorrow.

This contract promises to be the most interesting one so far.  Starting on April 14, Voyager of the Seas will begin a series of 3 two-week cruises to cover the distance from New Orleans to Singapore.  Itinerary for the crossing cruises:

New Orleans, USA (turnaround port)

• Nassau, Bahamas
• Ponta Delgada, Azores
• Malaga, Spain
• Cartagena, Spain
• Valencia, Spain

Barcelona, Spain (turnaround port)

• Alexandria, Egypt
• passage through the Suez Canal
• Aqaba, Jordan
• Safaga, Egypt

Dubai, UAE (turnaround port)

• Goa, India
• Cochin, India
• Penang, Malaysia
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Singapore

I can't wait for these transition cruises, followed by the actual voyages within Asia of which there are many different itineraries and I will post those later on closer to the date.  If you're really interested in knowing, a quick search on Royal Caribbean's website will get you the info.



Alright, I think that's a sufficient update for the moment.  Time to get back to packing.