A Whole New Broadcast

That's my excuse for such a long gap of no blog, anyway. More on that later, though.

I guess I'll pick up where I left off. Where else, right? In my first St. Lucia I went to what we lovingly refer to as "Discount Beach" down the street from the recently closed, "Happy Day Bar." Essentially we hopped in a cab and Zach, Nick, Sara and I asked the driver to take us to the closest beach with the cheapest cab fare. So we walked down, four starving ship workers, and found Aunty Jane. This Caribbean woman was grilling up chicken and rice with a cooler of Pitons, the local St. Lucia brew, selling it all for about $8 a plate. We each got lunch, some beer and set our towels not too far from Aunty Jane. We sat there talking about ships, home, tattoos, etc in a pleasant little picnic. After a dip and a quick nap we reluctantly went back to the Summit.

Another day was spent with Sara in St. Maarten. We shopped, ate and generally grew much closer. I really like my Spanish girl friend. We get on really well.

Dominica found us free internet and St. George's was spent onboard. In Tobago Anna, Dan and I found a very secluded beach. It was so great it looked like the perfect spot to shoot a deserted island scene. Barbados found us at the Boatyard again. That will most probably definitely be my favorite spot of this whole itinerary. How do you beat a water trampoline!?

That next San Juan the men from head office in Miami came onboard, bringing with them a whole slew of new equipment. Two new Mac monitors, a Mac Pro, Final Cut Pro editing software, the Adobe Suite, a Final Cut editing keyboard, and two brand new Panasonic HD P2 cameras. It was like Christmas in the broadcast. I was severely out of place as these men invaded my little workspace, routing wires and tossing boxes my direction. I hung with the ITV guy Dan, and we stayed as out of the way as possible. Needless to say, though, that's how I've spent the last week and a half. I'm organizing, transferring files from one area to the next, weening off of the beta cams and beginning to use the P2s it's a long, long process. I;m much more tired than normal, hence the lack of a blog.

The next St. Thomas I was in port with one of my best Elon friends, Jess. Her Holland America ship was docked on the other side of the island and we met up to do some online time and catching up together. Getting a taste of home is always so wonderful when you're cut off.

St. Croix and St. Kitts found me and my girls sunning on deck 5, the simplest way to enjoy the sun without spending any money. Perfect, man.

In Antigua I was asked to do a shore excursion for Miami. I essentially go on free tours and shoot them. The best part about it here? I am required to take an assistant, so I get to just ask my friends who would like to go. As there are no tour escorts here I'm noticing people are jumping at the chance. Awesome. So in Antigua I took my friend Don, the drummer from the band. What a great day. We went to an old stock yard and then had a great lunch on Turner Beach. Dan was perfect company. I am so lucky to meet so many different and interesting people with my job.

The next day was another excursion with my girl Anna. We went snorkelling in St. Lucia. Really not a bad way to spend the day - especially when I'm getting paid for it. I shot for a good while until I got as much footage as I could. Then I jumped in. There were fish of every shape, size and color. Electric blue swipes, neon purple fins, yellow and black stripes, mini swordfish, brain coral, you name it. At one point Anna and I were surrounded by a school of fish. I really could have stayed there all day.

The next night I discovered the awesomeness of deck 5 at night. I went up because I had heard that often we can pick up phone reception the night before we arrive into San Juan. With all that's going on in L.A. I was anxious to try and get in touch with my friends out there. Anyway, I ran into a friend and he pointed out the stars above. I figured I couldn't see that many, but after laying on a chair for a bit and letting my eyes adjust it was amazing what I could see. Three hours and five shooting stars later, I realized I want to spend as much time as possible on deck 5 at night.

After settling into my living space and learning the layout of the new ship I began having to re-settle the broadcast center. Needless to say after nearly a month onboard, this may be the longest I have ever or will ever have to take to settle. I'm making friends who will be leaving in a matter of weeks and dealing with that. Luckily my two closest girlfriends aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

In case anyone wanted it, I realized I hadn't put out the address to my new ship:

Mackenzie Ames
Broadcast Operator
Celebrity Summit
PO Box 019158
Miami, FL 33101-9158

And to answer one question I've been asked frequently. No, I have felt nothing of the Haitian earthquakes. There are donation boxes all around our ship and the one ship in our fleet that docks in Haiti is still going there, delivering supplies everytime it arrives. It's a tragedy in the actual sense of the word, not the way people throw it around these days. This is in fact a tragedy and I hope everyone realizes it and works to help these people literally clean up and rebuild in any and every way we can.