Give It Up For The Crew

We are giving thanks today to our incredible crew on board the MV Explorer.  This voyage wouldn’t be as amazing as it is if it weren’t for them and their hard work. 

Our crew comes from over 20 countries but the majority are from the Philippines or the islands of the Caribbean.    They wait on us like we are royalty.  There is a cabin steward, John is ours, who makes our bed and cleans our room on a daily basis.  There are guys who are constantly cleaning the hallways and wiping down the rails to try and control the germs that we pick up in each port.  And there are the amazing waiters who clean up our dishes and knew all of our names after the first week. 

So today Kelly is helping organize a table where people can make cards and signs for the crew.  We are recognizing everyone from the waiters who clean up our plates to the never-seen guys in the engine room who help us get to our next destination on time.  It’s really going to be hard in a lot of ways to adjust to life back home especially since we have been so pampered for the last four month.  These guys and gals work their butts off and do it with a smile the entire time.

I’m going to miss hearing Mez singing Bob Marley songs while offering to bring me juice at lunch.  I’ll miss having my inside joke with Peter when I see him at breakfast.    And chatting with the Savio and the other security officers while we work beverage service on those beautiful nights under the stars.  They all really are an amazing bunch of people.  They leave their home and family for over a year at a time to come here and make our voyage spectacular.   

Saying goodbye to all the friends we made on this voyage is going to be  hard but leaving this wonderful ship full of dedicated, hard-working crew is just as hard.  There are no one quite like them and I’m very thankful to get a chance to spend some time getting to know some of them and traveling the world with them.