The Pacific Ocean!

The Pacific Ocean!!

Having spent considerable tome in MIami (checking out the beach and bars on south beach!), we headed through the panama canal, for those who haven’t heard of the Panama a canal, basically it connects the Atlantic ocean to the pacific ocean.

Cruising through the Panama Canal

By the time you pass all the locks, it takes the best part of a day to travel from one side to the other.  first thing i noticed as how busy the canal was, throughout the day we would pass numerous cruise and cargo ships with each one taking hours to get through the locks.

the panama canal was one of the main reason why the passengers had come on board for the cruise to experience the must-see engineering marvel.The Canal remains one of the most significant waterways on earth, but there’s lots more to Panama than the canal. I found it was a fantastic place full of natural attractions and water sports.

Having reached the end of the canal, next stop was Mexico. i had always wanted to go to mexico and i wasn’t disappointed as we docked in places like Huatulco, Acapulco and Cabo San Lucas. The sun was shining, the beer was flowing and locals were great. i particularly enjoyed Acapulco as me and a few of the engineers on board decided to go and watch the famous cliff divers.

These fearless men plunge into the sea from heights up to 136ft five times a day for the viewing public.

Acapulco - Cliff Divers

Before the men would jump from the top of the cliff, you would see a few children dive first from around 50ft.

You would hear the experienced divers talking to the children about when was the right time to jump.

It was a strange feeling watching these men risk their lives as the tourists looked on.

The men make a living from diving and after they dived, they would mingle with the spectators selling

various merchandise.

But it was time to love on and head up the coast to Los Angeles.

As the ship sailed into dock, the entire crew was buzzing of arriving in ‘hollywood’. it would be a understatement to say that the crew were a little disappointed to be greeted by towering cranes and a cloudy forecast. not what everyone had been expecting but we were told by our american friends on board that downtown was hidden behind the

ms Rotterdam docked in LA

towering hills and was only a short distant away. we only had two days in Los angeles so we all made the most of it. for someone who dreams of working in hollywood one day, i was a tad excited, especially as we passed the movie studios on the way into town. But after quick stroll down rodeo drive, me and my dutch friends from the ship were keen to sample that LA nightlife and it didn’t disappoint!

So feeling a little hungover and the ms rotterdam loaded with 1500 new passengers we set off for Honolulu, Hawaii.

Hawaii

with a few days scheduled in Honolulu i was eager to visit pearl harbor. i had read the books and watched the films, but nothing could prepare me for the size of the US Navy Base. it is still used by the us navy today, therefore it didn’t go down too well with the officials when i turned up kitted out with a Z1 and tripod. Next thing to tick off when in Hawaii, was to buy a shirt before we headed down to WAikiki beach.i brought my swansea city football with me with the intention of playing on the beach, but that idea was soon squashed as we hired surf boards. i have surfed a little in swansea bay,but that was nothing compared to what i faced that day! so we reluctantly finished off our remaining beers and headed back to the ship where we were to face 8 days at sea, crossing the pacific ocean.

5 days into the crossing and everyone was showing signs of going a wee bit crazy. we had all heard stories from experienced crew members who had done the crossing before, but it’s the most surreal feeling standing on the top deck of the ship looking out at the endless ocean without a horizon in sight. while the

Drinks in the crew bar

passengers remained in their luxurious cabin’,i was confined to my crew cabin, very similar to that in university halls of residence, with all my work finished 5 days in, myself and the english officers turned or attention to the playstation and endless games of pro evolution soccer. it is by far my favorite console game, but even i got bored of playing it for the best part of the day. what does every crew w member look forward to when at see? the crew bar opening at 7pm!!there we were greeted by ronald (our indonesian bar man and big Chelsea fan), $1 for a pint of Heineken and a relentless repeat of the same music store in the bar jukebox. but i loved it. only in a crew  bar could you meet people from all over the world who had one thing in common, of working on cruise ships.

Ship at sea

i always found it funny when i first stepped into the crew bar. in one corner you would have the musicians, another corner would be the casino staff, at the bar would be the engineers, the singers and dancers at the far end of the bar. it was as if every dept had their own place in the bar. as for me, i just mingled! the beautiful and charming girls from the performing cast caught my eye first and then you seem to go round the bar introducing yourself as a 22 year old videographer from wales and meet so many people from all over the world.

Almost there.100 nautical miles until we arrive at our next port of call. Sydney, Australia!

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