Vigo/Sea Day

Feb 15-16

Vigo/Sea Day

I’ve been excited to stop at Vigo since finding out about this ship, because as some of your readers might remember, I have a friend in Vigo that I meet up with when I’m in town, and today was no exception. I had to stay on the ship all morning for In Port Manning (that safety policy where a certain number of crew have to be on the ship at all times), but then met up with Anna around 1:30. We decided to go for lunch at a traditional Spanish tapas restaurant that she was familiar with. We ended up ordering and cheese and sausage plate, all unique to Spain, croquettes (fried up “white sauce” balls with small pieces of ham), a Spanish tortilla (like an omelet with potatoes), a green been/ham dish, and calamari. Everything was absolutely great and reminded me why I like getting the inside story from the locals, she knew just where to go and what to order.
We spent over 2 hours there, which unfortunately left me with no time for anything else before heading back to the ship. I made a quick stop at a supermarket, but otherwise I went straight back to the ship where I was the last crew member to return.
But it was nice to see Anna again, especially when I wasn’t exactly sure that I’d ever be back to Vigo. The part that’s always funny with her is that she notices everything that makes me American. We never know how to greet each other, because me being American, I’m inclined to give her a hug, which in Spain is something reserved for close family members or boy/girlfriends. She always wants to give me the traditional cheek kiss, of which I still have no idea of what rules apply. So the hello was awkward, goodbye as well, but it’s always great to see her, listen to the Spanish language (which sounds much better than Mexican Spanish), and pretend like I’m a local.
Back at the ship I had a guest entertainer to play for, nothing worth writing about.
And as for the next sea day, everything was pretty standard. The only news though is that we had a break out of Norovirus (or I think that’s how they say/spell it). It does happen on ships and we’re prepared for it, it just means that I can’t go everywhere and do everything I’d otherwise like to do. They try to keep the chance of spreading the virus as small as possible by quarantining people to certain areas, like keeping the crew in the crew areas.
The other sax player however got seasick on the 16th right when they were announcing the outbreak. By regulation, we’re required to send him to the nurse, who has since quarantined him to a separate room for 48 hours, of which he can’t leave and has no contact with any one. He was only seasick and was better that afternoon, but the ship can’t realize that, so I get to cover his parts and compensate for the smaller horn section while he sits in a room all day feeling totally fine.
The show that night was a production show, of which I didn’t like as much as my other ships. The band isn’t incorporated into the shows here as much as they were on RCCL, which doesn’t make my job all that exciting. Instead, we were hidden behind scenery where no one could see us. I still made my usual outbursts to bring some energy to the show, which my band continues to give me a hard time about (in a good way), but it’s just not the same level of entertainment as RCCL, but at least I enjoy the people in the band.
And that’s all for now, tomorrow is Madeira and then a string of 5 sea days while I cross the Atlantic. Thanks for reading!