Merry Christmas, and apologies that I haven’t posted here in almost two months! Hopefully this catch-up blog will get you up-to-date about the goings-on in my life.
The ship has been buzzing over the last month as our Christmas event, Christmas Around the World, welcomed over 3000 visitors on board. We had cultural stands, showing how Christmas is celebrated in different countries, and a live nativity, including a local Danish sheep and a goat which definitely stole the show from the adult actors! Here you can see a picture of the British stand, with a roasted chestnut cart, telephone box, snow-covered cobbled street, red post box, Ye olde Christmasse shope and lamp post! All of these things were home-made by several of our carpenters and electricians!
As well, visitors could enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in our newly opened International Café.
Every hour we had a different creative programme, with dramas, dances, mimes, carol singing, vocal solos, poi-spinning and more, and ongoing background music, all of which I was responsible for coordinating. It was a great opportunity for the ship’s company to practice many skills that they have been learning. I also had great fun being part of several background music acts, and hope to do more of that in the future.
One of the highlights of my Christmas this year was a visit to the Nutcracker ballet which is showing in Copenhagen. My friend Becky and I decided that it was our Christmas present to each other, and it was definitely a good choice with the enchanting fairytale story, scenery and child dancers!
Here on board we have celebrated in a variety of ways, including a Christmas Eve formal dinner, Carol Service, gift exchange game, family movies, Christmas day brunch, and open cabins community time. At one point we had 26 people in our 13m2 cabin, which was a tight squeeze! While I missed my family over this holiday time, I enjoyed celebrating here.
