Sloths and a bonus

Costa Rica 1/7/2023

We saw sloths!!! We also saw some owls curiously staring in the tall trees above. One mama sloth was holding her baby and we had a really great view of such a precious moment!

When we were looking at the wildlife up in the trees I noticed a couple who were clearly part of the ship and asked if we could join them, to which they said yes. We got to chatting with them- John and Laura- and, come to find out….

*** Shauna’s family will find this extremely cool!!!***

THEY HAD MET SHAUNA BEFORE.

Mermaid Shauna that is.

They were from Stuart, a place near Shauna’s hometown in Port Saint Lucie where she used to act as a mermaid and play ukulele. This family in particular, had seen her several years ago while with their granddaughter, and the granddaughter took her picture. THEY EVEN STILL HAVE THE PICTURE IN THEIR PHONE

BUT WAIT.

IT GETS BETTER!

The couple messaged the parents, and by some strange stroke of life, the parents not only remember shauna, but have the picture taped to their dresser mirror… small small world…

On another note, ship life has been going well. A few crew members stick out to me.

John- a gentleman who sat us for dinner on our first night at the Dining Room. He goes out of his way to talk to us every single time he sees us.

Josephine- The greeter at the Dining Room. She’s 40, and is so remarkable and fun to talk to. We all do a little happy dance every time we see each other. She says it’s refreshing for crew to have younger and excited people on board to liven things up a bit. She’s shared stories about meeting her husband on the ship years ago, the history of the jewelry that I complimented her on, and promises to show us pictures next time we see her!

Lito- a server at Lido who comes and chats with us every day! He seeks us out, which is so sweet. He’s shown us videos about upcoming ports, and LOVED our attire on formal night Friday evening.

Oh yeah. Side note- we had our first formal night on Friday evening. Haha.

Emerson- who we haven’t seen in a few days. He was really the first one to go out of his way and REALLY have a CONVERSATION with us. He had some tattoos covered up, and when I asked about them, he told me the meaningful backstory of them. For example, he has an eagle for his mother, who has passed away.

There is a gentleman who works at the shops, and I actually don’t have his name yet. But he teased Shauna and I about how- ironically- we happen to be eating every single time he sees us.

Judah- who performs as a singer in a band at The Rolling Stones Lounge. The group is phenomenal! He’s from Spain, but I haven’t had an opportunity to get to learn much more about him yet.

Erik and Yuli- they are our room service reps. They’re also the ones who bring chocolate to our room every evening, so maybe this is why I’m so fond of them (hehehe). Just kidding! They’re so fun to talk to! They always go out of their way to ensure we have everything we need.

Dan and Shelley- who are the trainers in the fitness center, are so lovely. Shauna and I have been going to evening stretch everyday. It’s about 5:30, so, starting to create a routine, we go to the gym and do our workouts beforehand about 4-4:30 and then do evening stretch to end it all. It’s been working nicely that we can watch the sunset right afterwards which is a treat!

There are a few guests I’ve really taken a liking to as well.

My favorites: Bob and Judy! We met them at the end of a lecture we went to about time and space by Andy Fletcher. They’re really kind, and whenever they see us first they come give an update on their day. It’s cool to see how cruisers create such a tight friendship with each other in a short period of time.

Maxine- she’s a bit younger compared to the rest of the demographic. Probably about 55. She teased shauna and I on taco day about wanting us to share with her because she didn’t want to wait in the long line. Now it seems that we see her everywhere we go. She’s a little spit fire.

Next, onto a more in depth we look at activities on the ship. I already mentioned the gym and they’ve had various activities from sunset stretching to foot and posture analysis.

I mentioned the guest lecture Andy Flexure, who really hurts my brain with his thoughts on space, time, and the like.

We’ve also gone to a few comedy shows by Steven Scott- a comedian from AGT.

A dance show from “the hits” which meant songs like Roxanne and Abba (I giggled over this).

And of course just any other this or that entertainment activities they have planned for us, or, simply laying in the sun!

Finally, ending with the final and in my opinion most boring update: we docked in Jamaica a few days ago, which was a pretty casual spot for us girls. We did a little exploring around the port area but not much beyond that. But, it was a humbling learning experience nevertheless. Anyone curious as to why can privately reach out to me and I’d be happy to share more depth there!

I know this was a longer post, but it’s been a few days! Today we’re going through the Panama Canal, which is an experience all in its own… it takes like 12 hours to go through!!! I’ll make a post about that later!

Cheers,

Tay