So Long Century

Yes the blog entries dwindled as my time on the Century was winding down. To my loyal readers, I'm sorry, but preparing my cabin and work area for a handover was no easy feat.

I signed off this morning. It was bittersweet. I've been looking forward to going home for the last 5 months, and now that it's happening I find myself wishing I had just one more day. One more night with my girls in the crew bar. One more show in the theatre. One more daily to shoot - ok maybe not the last one. We had my "leaving party" in the crew bar last night. It was sweet. Who DJs what night is always decided at the beginning of the cruise by Crew Welfare. So when we got the schedule at the beginning of this cruise we found out that my last night was planned as "alternative night." This is not exactly the kind of music I wanted for my last night, and unfortunately my good friend Sarah was going to do Ladie's Night the next night. So knowing I was disappointed my friends Michael and Jamie went to Crew Welfare and convinced them to change it so that Sarah would be my last night. Sweet, right? What could make it better? Sarah handed over her DJing duties to one of my closest friends onboard - Eddy. Eddy used to be a DJ on ships so I had a professional. He did it just for me. All day instead of people saying, "hey, are you going to the crew bar tonight?" it was "hey, are you going to Mackenzie's leaving party tonight?" I felt so special. My girls dressed me, did my hair and makeup. It really warmed my heart. Eddy played all the right music, I took dozens of photos, and people who never come down to the crew bar came down just to sy goodbye to me.

I stood on the gangway this morning with my two bags and hugged my manager goodbye. I was holding it together fairly well, until the van pulled away from my ship. I watched my home of the last 5 months disappear and yes I cried. Thank God I bought the big Italian sunglasses that covered my red eyes and face.

So here I am. In a hotel room in Italy, sending out massive amounts of friend requests on Facebook to all those I love onboard. My mind's trying to switch gears into land mode. I'm thinking of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years at home. I'm lucky, I really am. Not only because I get to have the holidays at home, but because of the life I've been given. I just spent the last 5 months sailing around the coast of Europe. I have incredible friends literally all over the world.

One contract down. One lined up for the end of January. What will I take away from the Century? There is no doubt this experience is unlike anything I've ever done or will ever do again. It's tough to explain to anyone who hasn't lived on a ship. I've learned things about myself and the interaction of people. I'm smarter about trusting people, and I've become familiar with cultures I only ever knew existed out in the world somewhere. It takes a certain kind of person to work on a ship and I think the Century has made me into that kind of person.

Not Much to Report

My favorite holiday has come and gone - Halloween. We had the most fantastic crew party. It was easily the most fun party since I've been onboard. The Cruise Director, the Hotel Director, HR were all there. It was technically an office party, but way cooler. My angel costume has deemed me the "angel" nickname around the ship among the officers. I always get the most successful Halloweens.

I went to Rome and saw the Sistine Chapel. It was smaller than I thought it would be, but still breathtaking. They've restored it in the last few years and the colors are so beautifully vivid I couldn't stop looking up. The blue of the Virgin Mary's robe made it easy to pick her out and the image of God creating Eve almost brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't stop looking up. My neck was a tad sore the rest of the day - so worth it. The rest of Rome was nice. Having a guide through the Coliseum this time made it more interesting. I understood more of what I was looking at, and St. Peter's Basilica was beautiful as always. I had a flood of memories rush back through as I walked through the Vatican. I remembered my time in Ireland and the Spring Break I took in Italy. I remembered finding Emily in the halls of St. Peter's. I remembered Shaina saying a prayer in Hebrew on Easter morning immediately followed by a clap of thunder and sudden rain shower she thought she brought on. I remembered us drying off in a patch of sun with gelatto and laughing about the whole thing. New memories have formed, of course, like seeing Luis walking through with his tour. I do love the Vatican, but I doubt I'll visit Rome again. Rome's great for its history, but it's not really a city. It's more of a theme park really.

I've been relaxing around the ship and the ports lately. Valerie came back for a week which was really nice, but she's gone again. This week I'll take the crew tour to Pompeii.

I fly home in two and a half weeks. Two and a half weeks and I can't seem to focus here. Thoughts of home are becoming more and more frequent. I'm planning my trips to visit friends and family. I'm imagining the look little Ariell will get when she sees the gifts I got her. I'm thinking of the giant cocktail I'm going to get after I finally get home on my birthday. Life here is good, but with my friends slowly signing off the ship is changing. It's becoming a whole new crew which makes it easier for me to not be sad about leaving. Most of my crew and I have begun our countdowns and started planning on meeting up in the States.