I spend the last weekend of January each year dabbling in theater makeup. My friends and I rise at 5 a.m. to get tarted up in pirate gear and head down to the Tampa Yacht Club helping to turn upstanding members of the area's business community into scar-riddled pirates. My … [Read more...] about Argggghh! Gasparilla
Travel tales
Bye bye Noordam
After 10 days, eight ports of call, three days in Rome, our fifth wedding anniversary and Mike's 45th birthday, we finally ended my stint as a guest chef on the MS Noordam for Holland America. Forgive a bit of back-dating, but even at the crew rate it was deeply expensive to … [Read more...] about Bye bye Noordam
A brief compilation of comments collected from guests of Holland America, shared by Corey the Cruise Director and an onboard chef:Complaint from a passenger while still at the port in Civitavecchia, outside Rome: "I am really upset!! I paid for a room with a sea view and all I … [Read more...] about
Lunch on Capri
The ship hit Naples as the last port of call. With all the classes and demos finished, we had the entire day free. Mike had been out to Pompeii, and we briefly discussed that option. But then we realized that with three massive cruise ships at the dock, there would be nothing but … [Read more...] about Lunch on Capri
Tea in Tunisia
We spent Mike’s 45th birthday in Africa, hanging out in 100+ degree heat in the ancient city of Carthage. This was our first real “shore excursion” experience, one of those ghastly ordeals where they load up cruisers like cattle onto large air-conditioned tour buses and ship them … [Read more...] about Tea in Tunisia
