How to Make the Most of a Transpacific Repositioning Cruise

repositioning cruise

I was sitting in the middle of what we colloquially referred to as The Ice Bar. The title was a factual designation and nothing more; the bar was literally made up of ice, and talented bartenders would casually juggle shakers of martinis while bantering with guests. The bartenders showed up only around noon, and prior the ice bar was merely a trough built into a long table. Perfect for a gathering of like-minded folk.

It was just before 10am, meaning that tea was about to be served. Of course, tea time wasn’t part of the official cruise itinerary. Tynan, he who organized this mishmash of entrepreneurs on a long repositioning trip, enjoys gongfu tea ceremonies and anything tea-related.

Gonfu rituals, translating to “making tea with effort,” require some items not likely to be present on board. Tynan took it upon himself to carry in the supplies he needed, including a small ceramic gaiwan pot, a dozen tiny tea cups, and sachets of tea supplied by his friend, each sufficient to satisfy a group of ten.

gonfu tea ceremony on our repositioning cruise
One of many tea times….
gonfu tea ceremony on our repositioning cruise
Tynan knew I loved puerh tea and I was thrilled that he brought several packages onboard.

We originally began these daily tea ceremonies on the floor, but realizing that we were attracting quite a bit of attention cuddled up in a circle around a teapot, we moved to the bar itself. With the occasional nod of acknowledgement from a tea-loving passenger, Tynan would pour the boiling water on his puehr tea starting at 10am, usually as he mused about the dinner conversation from the night before.

tea time on the repositioning cruise
The initial “crouch on the floor near the side of the ice bar” strategy for tea time.

“Listen guys,” Nick implored, “we need to up our game. How about a mixer where we invite cruise passengers to meet with us and ask us any questions they have?”

A few of us nodded, others thinking ahead to the day’s activities.

“We need a work session this afternoon, but we can swing it if the mixer is at 4pm. Doable?” asked Jimmy, half of Minaal and on board with his business partner Doug.

“Wait — is this going to interfere with the poker tournament?” Ben burst out in a moment of panic.

Nope, not at all.

Leaning back in our chairs, we settled into our tea in silence, thinking about the days ahead. With over a week at sea from Vancouver to Russia on this trans-Pacific cruise, we had plenty of time to sink into the rhythm of the ship and learn what we could before we stopped in the Kamchatka peninsula in Eastern Russia.

If only we realized how fast time would fly.

Crossing the International Date Line on our repositioning cruise. So pretty!
Crossing the International Date Line

Making the Most of a Transpacific Repositioning Cruise: Unconference, Business Mastermind, and Lots of Fun

Since quitting my job in 2008, I have avoided cruises. I thought they would be difficult because my pleasure was slow exploration and food, and with short port days, I would be left with little time to dig into destinations. How would I get an accurate snapshot of a country’s history in only one chunk of time? Instead, I took shorter boats for small hops, lots of buses and trains, and many many motorcycles to get around. My family seemed to love cruises but I shied away from them.

When Tynan invited me on this repositioning cruise, it was presented as a leisurely way to get from North America to Asia, which is precisely what drew me in. Moreover, the schedule added on an extra hour to almost each day until we crossed the International Date Line and skipped one day entirely in the middle of the sea. 25 hour days? A dream come true. The sea days were actually why I took the trip. They promised uninterrupted writing time, a break from the Internet, and a chance to spend a few weeks with a group of interesting people.

What I did not know at the time was that I would have only brief moments to scribble down a few reminders of events on the ship, because I was too busy having fun.

celebrity Millenium transpacific repositioning cruise from vancouver to tokyo
The running track on deck 11

I should note that much of this joy was directly derived from the perfect storm of a great group of people, a really lovely ship (we took the Celebrity Millennium on a repositioning route),  and an increasingly enthusiastic social contract that had us maximizing the excitement on board. This wasn’t a sponsored or press activity either. I booked it via CruiseSheet, but Tynan did all the legwork in planning out the itinerary and deciding that this was the boat he wanted to take.

In the event anyone is thinking about a repositioning cruise — others run from Europe to North America, a better option for those with less time available — I thought I would set out a semi-serious list of why I think we had such a good time.

We cultivated an air of mystery.

I say “air of mystery” in jest, but truthfully a good part of our cohesive fun came from Nick’s decision to purchase green bandanas for each of us prior to boarding. He also bought a large faux-gold chain, below, which he wore at all times.

nick gray on our celebrity cruise
Nick at the Toy House in Petropavlovsk, Russia.

The chain, as well as our bright green bandannas, lent us an air of mystery that both perplexed passengers and encouraged a barrage of questions from perfect strangers.

“Well, we heard that you are all really rich. That’s how you are on this boat even though you are so young,” a woman confided smugly as she walked into the restaurant on Deck 10. “You’re all rich writers!”

“Uh, no — we’re not rich writers. Actually just a few of us are writers, really. We’re entrepreneurs, and while we’re all working hard I don’t think any of us would say that we are here because of an amassed fortune. We just work for ourselves, so we have flexible schedules. And this was a great way to get to Asia.”

Her face fell. “So, not even a few of you are really rich?”

I didn’t answer. Let the rumours continue.

Of course we were also asked about the provenance of green, and why it was that we wore them all the freaking time. We started telling people that we had formed the first ever Cruise Gang (“Gang Green”) and that wearing green was our gang sign. We also ran through group rules: anyone who was not wearing their bandana would be obligated to do ten push ups on the spot, and being late for any group meeting would also result in one push up per tardy minute.

Toward the end of the trip, if anyone was missing their bandana we could count on other passengers to make that person drop and do ten numerous times during the shameful walk back to their cabin. No, we repeated, we were not related to Greenpeace. We were not related to anyone, not even each other. We just wanted to reward ourselves, and others, for having a good time.

For the latter, I again credit Nick for his bag of goodies that he brought on board. In addition to the green bandanas, there were mini trophies, name tags, Sharpie markers, and about 50 masquerade-style masks. We started giving out spirit awards to passengers with a Gang Greenesque enthusiasm. To do so, a small presentation would not suffice. No, we would take a long walk through the formal dining room in the middle of dinner, snaking our way in and out of tables, arms linked. Then we would present the award with a tiny speech, and flee as fast as we could.

icebreakers on the transpacific repositioning cruise
Gang Green Spirit Awards for a passenger named Desiree

My point being: half the boat thought we were official entertainment, a quarter thought we were nuts, and a quarter wanted to know how they could join Gang Green for themselves. Mystery loves company, right?

We didn’t take ourselves seriously, but were polite.

There was an important business component to the trip, but when we were off the clock, we were off the clock. What surprised me with this group was the consistency of silliness. We did not take ourselves too seriously.

This attitude manifested itself in a variety of ways. There were the push ups mentioned above. When fellow passengers looked askance at our giggles during a push up punishment, we would explain that we were merely enforcing group rules.

In addition, from the get go Tynan requested that we flex in all of our photos. Official photographers abound on board, from the actual check-in, to formal night, to wandering the decks. Sadly I don’t have the photos from formal night, where all dressed up we put our arms in the air like we just didn’t care. There was also a magnificent session where I met the captain and got him to flex with us as well, to his confusion and glee.

In the absence of those pictures, the following snaps will have to do.

gang green on the repositioning cruise, in Petropavlovsk
You should see the version of this flextasticness for formal night…
celebrity cruise chef on transpacific cruise
AHHH I FORGOT TO FLEX. Tynan and I with the chef during our galley tour.
Hakodate port day on the Celebrity Millennium
Gang Green misfits on the way back to the ship after our Hakodate port day.
hakodate day trip explorations
WHY IS ONLY ONE PERSON FLEXING?! (Thanks Nick)

The result of “don’t be serious all the time” occasionally teetered on the edge of reasonable. The reaction from a particularly well-dressed couple near our table in the dining room when one of us showed up late to dinner and was required to do pushups in a skirt was noted, begrudgingly.  But overall the combination of laughter, curiosity, and a lot of collective thought meant that most of the people we met were entertained by our enthusiasm.

In contrast, there were passengers who were extremely serious, and occasionally downright rude to staff. One, who I dubbed Terrible Steak Guy, chewed out the Maitre d’ in the dining room before we had even set sail. “This steak is terrible,” he ranted. “Do you hear me? TERRIBLE. I’ve never had a steak this bad.”  Mid-mouthful and eating the same steak I paused, confused. The steak was quite good. His attitude was not.

While I took pleasure in glaring at Terrible Steak Guy and his grumpy cronies whenever we crossed paths, he wasn’t the only one to make a fuss out of nothing. While we were a weird group of green-clad, underdressed misfits, at least we weren’t ranting about perfectly good steak.

We had a group of compatible people.

I can’t think of anyone in the group who would be rude to any staff onboard. That should be step one in your group formation: “is anyone going to be a dick to staff?” (See below for actual Dicks, which are different.)

In addition to Tynan, Nick, Ben, Jimmy, and Doug, mentioned above, the group included Dick, Debra, Adrienne, and Amit. What all of us had in common was a connection to Tynan and an ability to spend 15 days on a boat, no questions asked. Had members of the group been reticent to participate in the learning parts of the trip, the cruise would have had a very different trajectory.

I am grateful for the honesty and openness from the others, be it in providing feedback for the business lunches, frequent hugs, in discussing big-ticket items, or in answering yet another zany question at the dinner table. Each one of us showed a desire to learn tempered by a desire to have fun, which made for a really wonderful few weeks and for newfound friends.

If I were to do a long trip like this again, I would definitely take the time to think about consistency amongst future participants. You cannot orchestrate fun, of course, but likemindedness is important. That’s not to say everyone is obliged to be a part of each group activity; this is a cruise, not summer camp.  We each took alone time when needed but the group stuff was a huge component in why it worked.

We asked as many questions as we could.

Things we wanted to know:

  • Is there a morgue on the ship? (Answer: Yes.)
  • Was there any body currently in the morgue, like right now, as we are on board? (Answer: What? Why would there be a dead body?)
  • No really, what about on this trip has anyone died? (Answer: No, no one has died. Seriously, you guys are creeping me out.)

In addition to annoying people with our quest to find the non-existent dead people, we asked all sorts of other questions about the food on the ship. To that end, I was able to meet the Executive Chef, a fellow Canadian, who sat down for a few minutes over coffee to quench my thirst for logistics knowledge. When I said I was joining the cruise and was a celiac, Celebrity was quick to let me know that there were steps taken to make it easy for gluten-free dining. It turns out that all their sausages are wheat-free, their sauces all have rice or corn flour in lieu of wheat, and they also had a pasta station with corn pasta made to order.

This was all fine but what I really wanted to know was how they planned feeding so many damn people. According to the chef, the menus for the company work on a 14-day cycle, and all ships run on the same set menu. So the meal components are ordered in advance — it turns out, to their giant warehouse in Miami — and doled out appropriately before the ships set sail. The lamb is from Colorado, the beef from the US Midwest, vegetables are USDA-approved, and the salmon hails from Alaska.  When I studied Maritime Law I recall learning about USDA inspections on board, but did not think of how it would impact larger ships like this one.

In scheduling the meals, the company uses data analysis from the last year plus the last six cruises on the same ship, so they can allocate appropriate amounts of food.

Maybe you don’t find this as fascinating as I did. A bonus for bothering the chef and getting answers was that (1) the restaurant staff got to know me (probably due to a poster that said “If you see this girl DO NOT LET HER ASK QUESTIONS”), and (2) it made eating on the ship that much more interesting.

chef Andy Bouchard
After he let me pepper him with questions, the Executive Chef still had a smile ;)
food on the transpacific repositioning cruise to Tokyo
On a kitchen tour, just as dinner was being prepared. This was delicious. (Source: I ate it later.)
kitchen tour on the transpacific repositioning cruise to Tokyo
Galley tour with green bandana.

We wanted to hear about everyone’s life stories.

We met a family who had raised their kids on a catamaran, who were moving to Penang as their next big step, taking all their belongings on the boat in order to do so.

We met a woman who was in her 70s, whose husband had recently died. “I’m taking my money and I’m seeing the world. If I cannot keep doing it with him, I’m sure as hell still going to do it while missing him.”

We met a man who used to be a speechwriter for the Queen. We met a man who had a birthday of September 18th, the day we missed when we crossed the International Date Line. The ship threw him and ten others an Unbirthday Party, summoning them to a meeting room onboard and surprising them all with cake.

We met a lovely woman from the States now living in Australia, trying to write the life story of a Holocaust survivor before the survivor passes away.

I could go on, because in those two weeks there were so many interesting people with compelling stories. I wanted to hoard them all, gathering all their words into a duffel bag to save for later. So many fascinating paths that life can take, and with this many days on board together, people were more willing to share their pain points and vulnerabilities.

I also had the pleasure of meeting a reader, Gabrielle, who read my pre-trip post and wrote me a quick note saying she thought she was on the same ship. We did not fix a meeting point, but one day early on in the trip as I was heading to my room a woman called out, “Jodi?” and sure enough it was Gabrielle and her husband. Not only did we get to chat then, but I also ran into her quite on accident, once at a hot spring in Hakodate, and once in the middle of a chaotic rush hour in Tokyo, at the bustling Shinagawa station.

Small world.

serendipity on a cruise ship
Gabrielle and I on the ship

We found a creative way to coordinate meetings.

It’s a big ship, and if you’re travelling in a group it’s hard to keep track of one another. The schedule of tea time and fixed business lunches (which we called Blunches) served to give us a place to meet and a time to do so. It’s 10am? Oh, tea time. It’s 12:30pm? Blunchtime!

Tynan, uh, may or may not have solved this problem for us by building an app that ran on the ship’s intranet, a secret chat room where we could ping each other based on location, and plan our next meeting. This definitely made it easier, but barring a tech wizard, you can just set a schedule to meet.

repositioning cruise
Windy days as we entered the Bering sea. I am not used to being on boats and definitely found mealtimes during those two days tough!

We upped our karaoke game.

A Backstreet Boys duet, a passionate “Baby Got Back” replete with backup dancers, and so much more: it turned out many of us could sing, and weren’t afraid to do so. Will add “can carry a tune” to the next list of group requirements.

We dedicated sea days as our best mastermind days for business learning.

I referenced business above, but truly the blunches were an incredible component to the trip. Each one of us was given a sea day to present current problems in our work and to answer questions and receive critical feedback from the rest of the group. The lunches lasted two hours and everyone was invested in bettering the projects of the others at the table. I’m very grateful for the tough love I received, and I truly enjoyed providing my own thoughts during other blunches.

business mastermind on the repositioning cruise
One of the many blunches at sea, with the woman in the centre a fellow passenger who was interested in what we were doing.

We obsessed over dinnertime games.

Werewolf figured prominently, starting just after we ordered our meals. Accusations were flung, lies were told, bluffs were called. While the original version is the game of Mafia, despite heading to Russia we stuck to Werewolf, adding more complicated characters as the trip went on.

We befriended the staff.

listen to everyone's story as you travel. it will change your life
The staff nicknamed this gentleman “Washy-Washy” because that was what he would sing when you walked by, dispensing hand sanitizer with a hat during cold days at sea.

From the evening maitre d’ from India who couldn’t wait to see his wife in a few days, to the waiter from Thailand who was happy to chat to us in his native language, to the lovely staff member who was back on board to help her heal after a personal tragedy, the staff made much of the trip more fun.

I’m not talking about organized activities or the cruise director either. We did not interact with them, and other than karaoke competitions, we barely participated in official activities.

What I mean is the connections you can form with the staff members you see every day. They each wore name tags with their country of birth, which was an ideal jumping off point to discuss their lives. As many of us were travellers ourselves, we were able to launch into a story, a commonality, something to kick off a conversation.

Also, Washy-Washy (above — and even on his name tag) gave great hugs.

We made sure someone in our group was named Dick.

It was helpful to have someone at the table named Dick because of all the resulting Dick jokes.

Highly recommended.

We minimized our Internet time and went offline often.

Ben Yu hard at work on the repositioning cruise
Ben hard at work on board.

Knowing that we would have many days at sea with no internet, I took some precautions:

  • Downloaded the Gmail offline app and synched everything.
  • Set up vacation responders.
  • Loaded up my Kindle with books to read, most from the pre-Japan reading list post.
  • Made a list of things I wanted to think about during the long trip.

Most of us bought some sort of Internet package that we used for work. Ben, above, kept winning at poker and then spent his winnings on Internet minutes. The Minaal boys split the package up between the two of them. I was offered a package from Celebrity when they read that I would be on board, provided I Instagrammed a few shots when at sea.

While internet is cost-prohibitive, the offline mail apps meant that I could log in, sync, then log right off and answer the emails as needed. A quick login sent them out from my queue. Being so expensive, we simply stayed off the Internet when we could, which for me was a nice change from my normal life.

We tried to be appropriate for formal night.

Sometimes we failed.

Generally it is wise to have at least one formal outfit for the formal nights. Meaning: no jeans, no sneakers/sandals, and no t-shirts. For the ladies, a dress or fancy skirt/top combo. Many guests were in ballgowns or cocktail dresses, tuxes and tails. Not us. I had a few dresses with me as I’ll be attending weddings in early 2015, but if I did a cruise again I would probably make sure to bring something a bit dressier.

We banned all nautical puns.

DOWN WITH NAUTICAL PUNS.

We made the most of port days with unconventional trips.

Port Day: Petropavlovsk, Russia

What excited me most about this particular cruise was the fact that the ship was going to stop in Petropavlovsk, in Kamchatka province. The oldest city in Eastern Russia, Petropavlovsk was basically cut off from the mainland for hundreds of years. While there was limited settlement from the 1650s to late 1800s — as well as the occasional siege — it was rendered even further obsolete when Alaska was sold to the United States, as it was no longer a stopping point for those on their way to the US territories.

Following WWII, Kamchatka was declared a military zone and, our guide said, was closed to Russians outside the peninsula. Isolated to Russians until 1989 and to foreigners until 1990, she said it had a village feel despite its huge landscape.

Petropavlovsk Kamchatka port day. Amazing!!
Oh HAI RUSSIA!
Petropavlovsk Kamchatka port day. Amazing!!
Morning view on our Kamchatka port day.

Having been to Russia in 2008 when I started this trip, I was amazed to see the same style of makeup, leggings, high uncomfortable heels in hilly terrain, and aviator sunglasses — despite it being on the other side of the country and 8 days by sea to Vancouver.  We were also rewarded with dashboard cams, a staple nowadays in Russia, and a drive back next to the valley of the geysers, rays of light streaming toward the snow-capped mountains.

For our port day we opted to hire a guide in lieu of the official ship activities. She took us to local hot springs and then for lunch, with our day culminating in a solo wander around Petropavlovsk, to the confusion of the local kids in town.

Petropavlovsk day trip
Tender (lifeboat) landing! Made Russia that much more exciting.
Celebrity Millennium tender to shore. Fun way to arrive to Russia!
Lifeboats in action.
Celebrity Millennium transpacific cruise
View from the lifeboat as we moved toward the shore.
visitor greeting in Kamchatka
No real reason to include this but it was the head of a bear costume supplied by the ship and made for a very funny photo.
Petropavlovsk's main market
Petropavlovsk’s main market
Petropavlovsk's main market
Mmm… dried salted fish.
Petropavlovsk's main market - lots of fish
Fish heads anyone?
Church of the Holy Trinity, in Petropavlovsk
Church of the Holy Trinity, in Petropavlovsk
Petropavlovsk
The rest of the bear costume (fully assembled this time.)
Petropavlovsk
Downtown Petropavlovsk, including Lenin statue.

Port Days: Otaru and Hakodate, Japan

Noboribetsu hot springs japan
Noboribetsu hot springs — well worth the long journey.

In Otaru and Hakodate we branched out on our own once more.

For the former, we took trains for hours in order to reach a sulphurous natural hot spring in the middle of a forest. Noboribetsu (“hell valley”)  was one of Tynan’s favourite places in Japan and he insisted the trip would be worth it. Would it have been easier to just wander Otaru instead? Sure. But the train rides, station confusion, teeny bento boxes, and confused Japanese tourists surprised at a gang of ten travellers with green bandannas made the trip so much fun.

After hiking up into the sulphurous springs and looping down toward the valley below, we found a public footbath and peeled off our socks and shoes, taking a quiet moment to dip our feet into the healing water and take in the forest sounds around us.

Noboribetsu hot springs japan
Noboribetsu
Noboribetsu hot springs japan
Noboribetsu
Noboribetsu hot springs japan
Gang Green, taking in the smells and sights.

It was surreal to wake up on a monster of a ship and then find myself hours away in Hokkaido, feet dipped in minerals and cloudy springs, staring at the maple trees so intently that I felt like I could see them changing colour in the autumn sun.

Noboribetsu hot springs japan
Autumn in Noboribetsu

In Hakodate, we opted for a public tram around town followed by some time in a traditional onsen (Japanese mineral spa), as the town was built around a healing mineral spring.

On the walk to the onsen, we found a footbath in the middle of the road, used by the town’s inhabitants as they came home from work or school. I sat there a bit stunned at the public nature of this community relaxation, with salarymen and high school students and restaurant workers all wandering by, dunking their feet, smiling at us and then heading along on their way.

Hakodate onsen time!
Public relaxation 101 in Hakodate

It was one of my favourite moments of the journey.

My point in explaining what we did is only this: that port days can be what you make of them.

As a perpetual wanderer it was extremely satisfying to leave almost all of my belongings on the ship, taking only what I absolutely needed for the day trip, and then disappearing into someone else’s routine. I think I would have felt differently if I were not staying on in Japan for further exploration. It would have felt like too short a time. But knowing there were weeks of Japan, these snapshots of tinier places were a great introduction to the country.

* * *

During each of the port days, we were some of the last passengers to return to the ship, just in time to set sail for the next day. Security, already well-acquainted with our laughter and green bandanas, were waiting with smiles, hands raised to swipe in our key cards and register that we made it back.

“You guys always look like you had the best time,” one of the guys in uniform said as we boarded.

“We did, we always do.”

“One day you need to tell us your secret,” he responded with a wink.

“I’ll write all about it, I promise.”

And with that, we took the glass elevators back up to our rooms to freshen up before another game of Werewolf over dinner.

-Jodi

40 thoughts on “How to Make the Most of a Transpacific Repositioning Cruise”

  1. I love the post but I was stuck looking at your images. Great photos and got me wondering what camera you travel with?

  2. I am not a fan of cruises either, but I agree that you certainly made the best of this one. What a great opportunity to learn, enjoy, bond and adjust!

  3. I was “forced” into a cruise once while I was working as an Au Pair (nanny) and was actually surprised that I quite enjoyed it as well. Went on a second cruise a few years later. They’re not my typical travel style, but I’ve found they’re nice to give you a little taste of various places you maybe wouldn’t have gone to otherwise, the island of Dominica was my personal highlight. I also enjoyed the relaxed pace of sea days with nothing to do, it’s a nice way to disconnect. It’s on my bucket list now to do a long, slow repositioning cruise.

    I love how your group combined the cruise with work though, will you be taking applications for new gang members for the next one? I don’t fulfill the first name requirement (afraid spelling it out will send my comment into the spam queue) but I can carry a tune!

    1. Heh, I don’t think we’re sure of future cruise plans, but it was a really interesting way to get back to Asia. I’m looking at some of the others that go from the UK to USA or other EU –> N America routes, as it would be an alternate trajectory and a nice break between continents.

  4. Hi Jodi! First-time reader here, I really love your writing style. I laughed out loud all the way through this post and wished I’d been on that cruise with you! I’ve never been on a cruise myself but if my first one is half as fun as this, I’ll be satisfied. Beautiful photos as well :)

  5. I’ve been on quite a few cruises and I’m constantly shocked at the number of people who treat the staff members in such an atrocious manner, and complain about the most ridiculous things. My friends and I always make a point to connect with the staff, laugh and joke, and try to make their job as easy as possible- and we always have a riot doing so.

    I enjoyed reading about your experience and I think a repositioning cruise is something I’d like to try someday!

  6. I literally LOLed at the “gang green” part. And I still have questions about the morgue. Such as: if no why has died on the ship, why do they need it? I’ve also never taken a cruise, but to be honest you make this one sound pretty appealing, and that’s saying a lot for spending so much time at sea.

  7. This sounds like a lot of fun and I’ve never heard of a repositioning cruise. I’ve never been a fan of cruises either but this changes my mind!

  8. I have never been very interested in cruises myself but I do like the idea of a repositioning cruise as an alternative way to reach a destination, especially as I hate flying. Friends took one from Brazil to Italy and they said it was cheaper than flying.

  9. There’s a fantastic spirit of fun that comes through when reading this…seriously have been laughing out loud, Especially the trophies for fellow passengers! GENIUS.

    Sounds like a great group of people to travel with, the ultimate testament!!

  10. Hi Jodi

    Great to read your blog on the re-positioning cruise. I was on this cruise with my wife….and we did meet up a couple of times…and told you that I missed my official birthday and togther with ten others had an official “unbirthday”.

    Interesting to hear the comments and the ideas that the group carried out on the ship. The green neckerchief was definitely a talking point among the traditional cruisers and the blingy gold neck chain certainly caused a lot of comment. Your group certainly added some intrigue into the trip.

    We have cruised for many years and tend not to get caught up in too many of the activities but do enjoy the attention and service that the staff and crew offer …and certainly meeting someone like “Washy Washy” every morning was a great start to the day. We stayed on the ship after you left and he was getting very excited because his contract was ending and he was going home to see his family once the ship reached Shanghai. It is something that cruise passengers tend to forget that all the staff and crew are often away from home for several months and they have to always be happy and smiling and dealing with grumpy spoilt passengers who do not have everything they want.

    Enjoy your ongoing journeys .

    Keith & Chris

    1. Hi Keith, it was great to meet you and thank you for the comment. I suspect I’ll remember your birthday in coming years given the date line crossing! I hope you had an enjoyable rest of the cruise, and thanks for reading.

  11. Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise! We like cruising, especially the smaller expedition ships that get you off the beaten path – tossing you into adventure on land, but hauling you back into a comfortable cocoon at night. Like Antarctica, which Janice visited with her mother (awesome icebergs and penguins!). And the Galapagos. Where a small ship is pretty well the only way to explore these destinations. You make a good point about skipping out on the ship’s shore excursions and planning your own escapes on shore – it’s cheaper, for one, to arrange your own tour or take a taxi to the site you want to see. But if time is limited ashore, we’re always afraid we’ll miss the boat! (They tell you that the ship will wait for you if your ship’s shore excursion is late getting back, but not if you’re on your own.)

    1. Yes, it’s a worry if you are late and miss the boat, but that just means making sure you build in a bit of a buffer in case. And worst case you know where it’s heading next so you can figure out how to get there for the coming day? ;)

  12. Hi Jodi: Great post. My wife and I are dead set against cruises. I still am. But your post has nudged me a bit. ;-)

    Your comment about offline email access caught my attention. I was wondering what apps you use to write offline. I have used OmmWriter on and off over the years (still my favorite for no clutter writing). Also Google Docs, MS Word, Pages —-basically everything. Thought I’d ask here as (perhaps) other are wondering also.

    Safe travels!

    1. Hi Les, thanks for the comment, and the tweet.

      I don’t really use many apps for offline writing. I just write in pen and paper (!!! I know), and sometimes using Scrivener, which I really love. MS Word works for the simple stuff. Truly, though, I prefer a pen and paper to anything else.

  13. Hello,
    What a fantastic article and group of people. It’s so cool when folks of different backgrounds can get together and have a wonderful time. So many things struck a chord with me, but my favorite are the Gang Green (I don’t laugh out loud much while reading, but this did it) and this quote: “half the boat thought we were official entertainment, a quarter thought we were nuts, and a quarter wanted to know how they could join Gang Green for themselves. Mystery loves company, right?” Thanks for making my day!!!

  14. Wonderful article. Actually i am sea sick so have never been to a cruise ship but looking at the pics i think i must judge myself again. Thanx for the article.
    Loved it.

  15. Was an awesome & exciting cruise indeed! I became a fan of your blog page where containing number of lovely articles with images.
    Thanks Jodi Ettenberg for the post! I wish you’ll continuing your writing & sharing such experiences among us.

    Best regards,
    Saiful

  16. I love this post! I am a cruise fan and glad you decided to try it out and a repositioning cruise at that! I haven’t done a repositioning cruise yet, but it is on my list. Your cruise review is unlike the typical cruise reviews I’ve read. I love the way it’s written since it depicts cruise life in a different light. I love Celebrity and their parent company Royal Caribbean. I recommend them if you are looking for a future cruise.

  17. I’ve never considered a cruise much much of an adventure, but you definitely turned it into one! I would actually like to try a repositioning cruise now…

  18. To Chef Andy Bouchard,

    My brother Paul gave me your name and said he used to work with you at Dakota Packing. In addition he said that you went back to work on a cruise ship. We would sure like a chance to quote you and your company some prices on various protein items. We can cut to any spec that you desire. If you could email or call at your convienance I would really appreciate it. My contact information is, Cell # 702-802-9538, Office 702-464-5084, or email tunruh @ silverstatemeat .com. Thanks Chef look forward to hearing from you.
    Terry Unruh
    Silver State Meats

  19. In a previous life, I spent weeks at sea and enjoyed my time at sea.
    Like you, I avoid most cruises as I prefer to spend more than a few hours in a port/location.
    Great writing.
    Enjoy your life, there is only one.

  20. You put adventure and humanity into shore days…much more interesting and much less costly than most ship scheduled itineraries. Fun read! Thanks!

  21. What an interesting article with awesome photos! I also love this kind of travel so much. Makes me want to take a repositioning cruise myself, soon!

  22. Well done! I am researching a transpacific cruise and your blog popped up. Thanks for the great report and for having so much fun. I appreciated it.

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