Leaving Los Angeles and Starting Over!

March 4th, 2013
Los Angeles, California

It's the beginning of another beautiful contract, and I am so lucky because the Silver Spirit is picking me up in my home port, the port of Los Angeles (which is really Long Beach, or San Pedro, or something...bottom line: it's closer to my home in Irvine than most places in LA.)

Why is this super cool?  Because look who gets to see me off!

From Left to Right: Dad, Mom, Ninja.

 It was really something special for my parents to be there to see the ship I will be living on for eight months.  Of course, the goodbye was more difficult, but that's life.  Another perk about taking off from your home port is that you can bring as much stuff with you as you can carry!  Here I am with 8 months of toiletries and video games packed into boxes.

My two new best friends are excited about the journey.

Jennifer and Rebecca...get used to seeing these faces.

The Silver Spirit is the largest ship in the SilverSea fleet.  But it's still smaller than most other cruise lines.  Our guest limit caps out around 500, and we have less than 300 crew.

Yes, I'm that guy who showed up in uniform.

Marcy's ready for round two.

This time she's legally blonde.

So far, things are off to a great start because who do I run into on my way onto the ship, but none other that the great Hyperion Knight!  This man is the highest rated guest artist to perform on the Silversea ships.  He's an incredible pianist, and a great showman.  AND, he's my friend.

I know this is kind of like cheating, but let's call it efficiency.  This 16 day cruise that I'm kicking things off with on the Silver Spirit on March 4th, is the exact itinerary as the last one I ended with on the whisper.  So, here's that same video from last time, only now I'm playing it backwards for you.

Since, I just did this cruise two months earlier, and you just read about all these ports, let's just go ahead and start to knock them out quickly:

March 7, 2013
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Hey!  This time I can get off the ship!  I don't have IPM (In port manning...which, by the way IS a punishment, no matter how much they try to dress it up by saying it's maritime law...more on that later).

So...

Hmm...

 I got off the ship in Cabo, and um...

A golden Jack Sparrow?

Is it worth it man?

Anyway, stick with me because my adventures get better.  Every once in a while though, there comes a day like today where the most exciting thing in port in the decor inside the Señor Frogs.  So, here's an unedited, un-cropped picture of just that.

My favorite part: the people floating in tubes above your head.

I eventually found another restaurant down the street, and made my first attempt at wifi.  From what I remember, I was somewhat successful and managed to upload a blog or two about my time in the Baltic (Funny how I'm still playing catch up.  I'm actually writing this blog from Cannes, France.  One day, I'll be current).

I will say this: When you're in Baja, get fish tacos! These were tuna, and they were amazing.

Yum.

Why is it in Mexico, people think they can dress up and bang on sticks with no rhyme, reason, or even rhythm, and expect to have money thrown at them?  Well, I take it back a little: rhythm seems to be the only thing they have going for them.  Maybe they're playing the, "Feed my little kids!" card?  I don't know.  The more I watch this, the cuter and funnier it becomes, but I will never forget my initial WTF reaction.  See for yourself!

Next post: Our first Motown show, the Filipino Mafia, and perhaps a few ports!