tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74491068143798566462024-02-07T08:58:07.356+00:00Sarah Craig:: Traveller::Photographer::BloggerSarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.comBlogger195125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-32533981024501470362020-05-28T11:38:00.000+01:002020-05-28T11:38:33.956+01:00And then time started flying... But coronavirus came.The last time I updated this blog was summer 2017 as I recapped the most amazing previous 6 months covering 9000 miles from the tip of South America all the way up to Alaska on Norwegian Sun.<br />
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I didn't finish my posts as in the September I was asked to return to Norwegian Sun and once again I visited Alaska, and Central and South America living my best life with some amazing people (who I got see again recently due to corona putting us all on a ship together to be repatriated)!<br />
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This takes us to March 2018 when I came home but in the April I travelled to San Fransisco, a city I'd fallen in love with and wanted to see more of and I went with Mum.<br />
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Because I'm addicted to travel also in April 2018 I spent 10 days in Japan by myself and had the most amazing time.<br />
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By May I was back at work again, so still no blogging updates!<br />
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This time I joined the Norwegian Escape and being on one of the newest ships of the fleet it was my opportunity to fight for the promotion I'd always wanted. In August I was offered the position of Stage Manager.<br />
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I had to extend in my current role until the end of November, took 5 weeks vacation and returned back to Norwegian Escape as Stage Manager January 2019. During the 5 weeks vacation I had minimal travel plans (and money) so went only to Paris (during the riots!!) and Belgium.<br />
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My 6 months as Stage Manager onboard Norwegian Escape were fantastic, I realised I had definitely turned in the right direction and thrived managing Comedians, Magician and other performers.<br />
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However 2 back to back contracts onboard Escape meant travelling to Bermuda, and only Bermuda... as lovely as it is I also had already done one season before, I've now done a total of 3 Bermuda seasons. So while getting bored in Bermuda I planned an epic trip to Kamchatka, Russia (via Moscow) in September 2019.<br />
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I hadn't even got back from Russia and I was given a new contract to return to Escape who it turned out had been without a Stage Manager the whole time I'd been gone.<br />
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That was October 2019 and I didn't even make it to Christmas before I was transferred over to Norwegian Epic in the promotion position of Theatrical Operations Manager, which was a quite a ride and learning curve! I was only to do that position for 2 months so came home much earlier than expected with only 3 weeks vacation to get ready to join Norwegian Pearl.<br />
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I joined Norwegian Pearl on March 8th to handover into the position of Entertainment Production Manager and at the end of my handover week cruises were cancelled and I was stuck onboard in the middle of a global pandemic.<br />
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67 days later I made it home after being transferred to a ship heading to Europe and flying home from Barcelona.<br />
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And now we wait... for work, for travel, to just even be allowed to take a train to visit friends??<br />
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And so suddenly there is time to blog!<br />
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And to catch up from 2017? Well the next post was supposed to be about glaciers and I do have some amazing photos and videos...<br />
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<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-85316292344730019832017-08-29T11:56:00.003+01:002017-08-29T14:52:04.289+01:006 Months on Incredible Norwegian Sun - The WildlifeI think this has to be the part of the last 6 months that I'm most excited to share! Seeing animals in their natural habit is something I find wonderful, and as those who came on tour with me know, I can watch them for hours!<br />
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Let's begin with penguins.<br />
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Our ship stopped at the Falkland Islands and the main thing you can do here (apart from stock up on English chocolate) is see penguins.<br />
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Did you know? There are 17 different types of penguin and they all only live in the Southern Hemisphere (so extra special for those of us from the Northern Hemisphere!) and you can see 5 of those different types of penguin in the Falklands.<br />
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The most accessible are the gentoo penguins:<br />
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These are the first wild penguins I ever met, we stopped to see them on the beach.<br />
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Before heading over to the nearby grassy areas they make home and have their babies!<br />
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We were able to go very close.<br />
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In this area full of gentoo penguins I also met a pair of kings<br />
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The next trip I took I wanted to see more beautiful king penguins<br />
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More baby penguins!<br />
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Throughout this posting I have videos to share as they can reveal much more about the animals. Here's the kings with their babies, plus the gentoo penguins were here too and you'll see they want a piece of the limelight!<br />
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Next up rockhopper penguins.<br />
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To get to these beautiful animals we had to go off road in jeeps for around and hour and half. The ground is soft peat so they are unable to build roads. Along this cliff edge area there are hundreds of rockhopper penguins plus a macaroni penguin, slightly larger but similar it's in there somewhere! The penguins are here shredding their feathers which makes them lethargic.<br />
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But there were some who's feathers were complete and had more energy. Meet Brian:<br />
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He's showing you why they are called rockhoppers!<br />
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That's 4 types of penguin and 5th in Falklands I actually met in a place called Peninsula Valdes, a UNESCO protected animal reserve in Patagonia on the coast of Argentina. These are magallanic penguins.<br />
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Hmm the iPhone panorama gave a crooked skyline however you get the point of how few of these guys were here compared to the rockhoppers.<br />
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But Peninsula Valdes is a reserve, here's what else you can see...<br />
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Darwin's Rhea:<br />
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Mara (Patagonian hare):<br />
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Dwarf Armadillo (video):<br />
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Here's a video of a family of sea lions:<br />
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And this amazing video of an area they call the sea lion nursery:<br />
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You can see why people travel from all over the world to visit Patagonia.<br />
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In the northern parts of South America the alpaca is very popular, providing wool for natives and tourists:<br />
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Then in Costa Rica we had an amazing day of letting monkeys climb all over us and then holding 10 day old crocodiles!<br />
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And now, Alaska! Famous for it's wildlife I saw as much as I could. And what brings the wildlife to Alaska? The salmon.<br />
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They come into the streams in their millions and turn red when they're ready to spawn. It's an incredible site! There are 5 different types of salmon and the bright red one below is a sockeye.<br />
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Who eats salmon? Huge bald eagles.<br />
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And bears!<br />
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Coastal brown bears, in this video you see momma call over the cubs.<br />
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And here's a black bear video, no zoom, when the salmon is in they don't care how close we are.<br />
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We found this bear later, hidden but eating the salmon it had caught.<br />
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In the areas of the bears we also found deer:<br />
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And mountain goats:<br />
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And finally the animals of the water! Sea otter:<br />
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Sea lions floating on buoys with spectacular views or lying on rocks!<br />
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Tufted puffins!<br />
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We saw orcas from the ship so this photo is from very far away but still...!<br />
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But last and not least the majestic humpback whale:<br />
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We were fortunate enough to see bubble feeding, this video is a photo burst stitched together:<br />
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We also saw this kayaker nearly get knocked over by these creatures the size of a bus!<br />
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To fly home from Alaska I had to travel to Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska and home to 1400 moose. I was fortunate enough to get this video before coming home:<br />
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When I get chance my next post will be all about Glaciers!<br />
<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-88053120129670464922017-08-23T12:28:00.000+01:002017-08-23T18:25:29.800+01:006 Months on Incredible Norwegian Sun - The CitiesIn January I joined the ship Norwegian Sun in Chile and over the following 6 months I travelled over 11,000 miles of places I've never seen before. I've been working on cruise ships almost 7 years and this was the dream contract, it's unlikely I'll get to see so much in such a short space of time again.<br />
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To share some of my experience with you I'm dividing my photos into categories so let's begin with cities.<br />
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Before even joining the Sun I arrived into Santiago, capital of Chile, found my friend Glen and explored! It's a very interesting and historical city and clearly very beautiful. I had seen the Andes as I flew in however serious forest fires prevented us from really experiencing the view from Gran Torre... I'll just have to go back one day.<br />
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I'll also have to go back to Valparaiso because although we drove through to join the ship I was never able to explore on foot due to strike action at the port on our return.<br />
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The cruises that I did went down Chile, up Argentina, past Uruguay and onto Brazil and back round again a few times before we then carried on up the Pacific coastline and ended up in Alaska. For this blog posting I'm going to start at the Atlantic coast as it went from Brazil all the way down, round and up to Alaska.<br />
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Rio de Janeiro.<br />
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I'm completely in love with Rio. We were fortunate to have plenty of time to explore. Here are the views (and crowds) at Christ the Redeemer.<br />
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You can see Sugarloaf Mountain sticking up in the distance, I went up there twice because the view was just stunning!<br />
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You can see Christ the Redeemer lit up on the highest peak.<br />
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Because we're crazy (!) we took a tour of a favela (the slums) that are so famous in Rio, a city of contrasts.<br />
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We did so much in Rio, the botanical gardens, eating at an amazing churrascaria and although we weren't there for the week of carnaval (carnival) we were overnight for the rehearsals so I experienced this at the Sambadrome and for free!<br />
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For me Rio is so special and unique. Here's my sunset sailaway with the city skyline that's not skyscrapers but mountains.<br />
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We actually had many stops in Brazil, there are many beach locations! But here's a couple of views of Santos, a coastal city in the Sao Paulo state, one of the largest populations in the world, famous for its long gardens running parallel to the beach.<br />
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Heading south of Brazil you come to Uruguay, a much smaller country than those around it, it does not suffer with the same extremes of poverty. Montevideo is the capital.<br />
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It has an old historical centre and then out of town we also stopped at Punta del Este, full of small boats and posh cafes it is famous for it's artists and art including this giant hand on the beach.<br />
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Opposite the coast of Uruguay you come to Buenos Aries, capital of Argentina and proudly home to the dance, Tango (I saw a wonderful show!)<br />
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This is La Boca and Caminito where the music for Tango was inspired.<br />
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Buenos Aries is another city of contrasts with La Boca still being the poorer area but the centre of town is overwhelmed by old European style buildings, we were even able to go for a very posh afternoon tea, then along the waterfront are the newer, modern city areas.<br />
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The main square and the pink building where Evita did her famous speech from the balcony. And her much visited grave.<br />
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The shape of this bridge in the new part of town is inspired by the movement of the Tango.<br />
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Moving on to the city at the "End of the World", Ushuaia<br />
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Almost 1500 miles away from Buenos Aries but still in Argentina, Ushuaia is where you come to take a trip to Antartica (about another 3 days sailing south). You can also take a trip on the stunning train at the end of the world.<br />
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So, heading back up, round through the Chilean Fjords and Chilean Lake District (beautiful) I didn't really stop anywhere you could call a city until Arica, the northernmost city in Chile.<br />
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Only 10 miles from the border of Peru beyond those mountains you're looking at the way to Machu Picchu.<br />
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In Peru we went to the capital city of Lima and got to see the changing of the guard.<br />
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This next photo is of the area called Miraflores, the upmarket area where our Peruvian friends advised us to stay for safety (we didn't listen!)<br />
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More north and in Nicaragua we visited the second largest city in the country, Leon. The thing to do here is walk on the roof of the cathedral! Looking out at the volcanos in the distance.<br />
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Next up Guatemala and I visited the historical city of Antigua famous for it's Spanish colonial buildings.<br />
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And surrounded by volcanos!<br />
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And finally after a bit of Mexico (beaches, not cities) and the U.S. we arrived into Vancouver, our home port for taking guests on Alaska cruises.<br />
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I wish this view called "the Lookout" didn't have these strange windows, however you can still see city and mountains, it is beautiful. I took a trip to the famous Capilano Suspension Bridge in a beautiful park area in the mountains.<br />
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After this was Alaska, Juneau being the capital and Anchorage, the largest city but the experiences I had here don't relate to them being cities and will follow in a future post. But I will finish with a picture of Norwegian Sun in Juneau, capital city of Alaska.<br />
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Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-38952977836217204172017-01-12T17:20:00.000+00:002017-01-12T17:32:27.871+00:00Vienna and Budapest December 2016In the days leading up to new year I travelled to Vienna with my Mum for four nights. There is so much to see and do and we enjoyed our time exploring the city the centre on the first night and following day:<br />
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This is the ceiling inside the Staatoper (Opera House)<br />
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And this is the view after 343 steps to the top of the south tower of St Stephan's Cathedral<br />
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The second evening we went to see a concert at the Musikverein<br />
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On the third day we went to the further away sights starting with the Summer Palace.<br />
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This is Hundertwasserhaus<br />
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And the Danube Canal<br />
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On our final day we took the two hour trip to the capital of Hungry, Budapest. Starting in Heroes Square<br />
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Then heading over to the hilly 'Buda' side and Fisherman's Bastion, giving great views over the parliament building on the opposite side<br />
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Then down to Pest and the incredible views of the Danube and Buda on the opposite side.<br />
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And enjoy the markets outside St Stephan's Basilica<br />
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That night a very packed Vienna enjoyed 'Silvester' the New Year's Trail with free concerts across the city.<br />
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And then we came home.<br />
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Next week work is flying me to Santiago, Chile to join Norwegian Sun for my next contract. Providing everything goes to plan it's going to be an incredible six months for travel and I look forward to updating my blog on my return!<br />
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<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-28056164318275878542017-01-04T19:39:00.000+00:002017-01-04T19:39:16.820+00:00Norwegian Dawn: June-December 2016 "Just another contract"My last 6 months onboard Norwegian Dawn were as normal as working on a cruise ship can ever be. I left without any major lingering frustrations or overwhelming emotions and confident that I was leaving behind a job well done and ready for a well deserved rest.<br />
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Looking back I joined the ship for it's final few days out of water, in Dry Dock in Freeport, Bahamas.<br />
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I had to get 2 suitcases up that ridiculous ramp! I had to find help, jet lagged and wet through from the unfamiliar humidity.<br />
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I really did join right at the end of the dry dock suffering only briefly with no air conditioning or hot water (not at the same time!). And it was still awful.<br />
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Eventually we made our way to Boston to begin a run that I repeated 15 times... a seven day Boston to Bermuda cruise. I got to know Bermuda pretty well except in August when it was so hot I could barely walk to the end of the pier.<br />
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In the UNESCO protected town of St George's this is St Peter's Church, the oldest surviving Anglican church outside of the UK with it's segregated graveyard from the 1600s.<br />
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This is the view from the Gibbs Hill lighthouse, the highest in Bermuda you can clearly see the horseshoe shape of the group of islands. If you zoom in almost to the centre you'll see the one end of the shape where the cruise ships dock, Royal Naval Dockyard, and the complete opposite end is where St George's is located. Hamilton is the capital, located centrally and ferries are by far the best transportation between the 3 locations (40 minutes ferry verses 2 hours plus on a bus to the other end of the islands).<br />
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And this is the famous Horseshoe Bay Beach with it's pink sand, where I battled with climbing rocks (with my friend Lauren's assistance) to get the perfect photograph rather than having any beach time (I don't love beaches!).<br />
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When it came to what the American's call 'Fall Season' we changed direction and went up to Canada. I'd done this previously on the Gem (<a href="http://blog.sarahcraig.co.uk/2014/12/6-more-amazing-months-on-norwegian-gem.html" target="_blank">here</a>) but this time I got to go to Quebec and we were even overnight there so plenty of time to explore. Because of my excitement about going to this famous city the very first time we arrived I had already arranged a helicopter tour and found 5 other crew members prepared to go with me. This was my first and probably last time in a helicopter as I felt a bit travel sick, however probably because I got carried away trying to get good photos!<br />
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Another view:<br />
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And this beauty, taken from the ship as it was sailing away:<br />
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Quebec really was the highlight of the Canada run for me, particularly because I had already been to places like Peggy's Cove before but check out my Flickr to see some of the other stops.<br />
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For my final month onboard Dawn everything changed, a 14 day repositioning cruise, then a 9 day and finally a 7 day before I signed off. The reposition was taking Dawn to go out of New Orleans but before that one new port for me, Bonaire, part of the ABC islands off the coast of Venezuela. I made sure I had time for a tour.<br />
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Those yellow buildings were slave huts for those who worked on the salt fields also shown. Bonaire previously famous for its beach lined coast has been heavily affect by hurricanes from afar and are waiting for the sea to return the sand which will take years.<br />
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I also got to re-visit San Juan Puerto Rico and Curacao amongst other caribbean islands, two of my absolute favourites!<br />
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And finally, New Orleans. I only got 2 stops here so I made sure I had some free time to get myself a taste of the deep south!<br />
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I definitely need to visit Louisiana not on ship as I need to experience the food and the nightlife but I'm blessed to have seen what I have.<br />
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I flew back from New Orleans at the end of November and being home for Christmas has been very busy, I will catch up on that with another post very soon as I only have 2 weeks before I go back!<br />
<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-193506785827017332016-05-26T17:20:00.001+01:002016-05-26T17:24:22.656+01:00Amazing Turkey: Side, Cappadocia and Pamukkale/Hierapolis Last week I took a last minute deal to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Unlike other cheap island choices I could've had, I discovered that the resort area of Turkey can be a base to exploring a country that is full of interesting natural and historical areas, so although my cheap holiday was actually in a surprisingly lovely hotel (Melissa Gardens) I spent most of my time exploring!<br />
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The first trip I took kept me in the local area. This is the Kursunlu waterfall located in a protected area with lovely walks.<br />
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Then we visited Aspendos, on the tentative UNESCO list this amphitheatre has one of the best preserved 2 level prosceniums. This theatre is still in use and can hold 15,000 people. And from above it, one of my all time favourite panoramic views (orange trees in the fields)<br />
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On to Side, the area I was staying in has a town centre full of Roman ruins, you walk down the old Roman ruin high street before hitting today's touristy high street and harbour! This is the temple of Apollo right by the sea.<br />
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My second trip was to an area called Cappadocia and Goreme National Park, a good 5 hours drive from Side. My tour set off at 5am! First stop was to see an example of an underground village where Christians hid from the Romans.<br />
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Arriving in time for lunch we stopped at many panoramic view points where we could see the unusual rock formations that were historically carved into homes and weathered into the famous 'fairy chimney' shapes.<br />
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The open air museum preserves those rocks that were made into churches:<br />
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And another good example of fairy chimneys with the dormant volcano responsible for this area in the background.<br />
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The following morning a 3:45am start but worth it...<br />
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I have even more photos on my <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/" target="_blank">Flickr</a>, this trip was amazing, if you ever go, don't miss the hot air balloon option it is worth every penny!<br />
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The final trip I took during my stay in Turkey was to an area called Pamukkale and Hierapolis, another 5am start but there and back in one day!<br />
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The trip starts with a stop at 'red rock' where you cover yourself in mineral rich mud and bathe in the heat of a natural geyser:<br />
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Hierapolis refers to the Roman ruined town that was located next to the travertines of Pamukkale due to the high numbers of visitors to the area for their mineral rich waters. Here's the amphitheater and you can see the mountain views beyond:<br />
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However at the edge of this ruined town are the calcium travertines of Pamukkale. Tourists flock to those still open for bathing and climbing, it is total chaos there, but walking along the edge I was blown away by the peace and the view and beautifully maintained gardens, as with the hot air balloon ride I took a lot of pictures here!<br />
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The views were over 180 degrees surrounded by the Taurus mountains, quite spectacular and as I said before, peaceful if you find the right spot.<br />
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Turkey's tourism has been dramatically affected by the refugee news but Turkey is a massive place, 3 times the size of the entire UK and in all my travels the Syrian border at nearest was 500 miles away and the refugees have their own villages near the border, you're not going to encounter one walking down the tourist beaches! So go to Turkey, its a heck of a lot more interesting than island resorts!<br />
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If everything is going to plan I'm going back to work soon, I hope I'll have photos to share when I get back!Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-65656495849245936252016-05-05T21:45:00.001+01:002016-05-05T21:45:51.604+01:00Sri Lanka Train: Nuwara Eliya to Kandy- Time Lapse MistakeI mentioned in my previous post that part of the tour took us by train. I actually took a time-lapse video of nearly the whole ride only to realise that it was sped up too fast to be watchable and recording for so long means so many frames are dropped and lost forever. I have learned my mistake but I do have something just about worth sharing...<br />
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This is the first 30 minutes or so and the best views of the journey slowed down ultimately to create a series of stills:<br />
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And this is 45 minutes we were stuck at a station in 6 seconds!<br />
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As I'm sure you can see I loved my trip however there was a minor monkey incident and now I'm waiting to finish a series of vaccinations rather than being back at work. It has left me with time to take another trip though (you only live once) so my next post with be 'adventures in Turkey' where I will avoid monkeys. Until then.<br />
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<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-8051422521006814482016-05-05T16:14:00.000+01:002016-06-08T21:46:34.563+01:00Grand Tour of Sri Lanka with Mum- Voyages Jules VerneAs always there are more photos on my <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/?" target="_blank">Flickr</a> site.<br />
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On April 14th I arrived in Sri Lanka after a painful 10 hour overnight flight! The tour company Voyages Jules Verne isn't targeted at 30 somethings like me particularly, but this was a trip Mum chose and the route is exactly the same as the 'younger' travel companies take. For the extra money I never had to lift my suitcase for the whole trip due to the standard of the hotels we stayed in (I think this was the biggest novelty for me) along with me being one of the fittest of the group hahahaha! Also we were a group total of 10 which is wonderful, I never missed a chance to ask a question and fully understand everything we were seeing.<br />
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The tour started in the capitol city of Colombo and we stayed in a hotel with incredible views:<br />
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In this picture you can see the Indian Ocean to the far left, the lake was created by the British and we had dinner at a lovely hotel there and the park on the right contains some parliamentary buildings.<br />
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To see Colombo properly we took a city bus tour... and had the bus all to ourselves!<br />
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Here you can see a good example of the buildings the British built and below the Independence Monument.<br />
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Leaving Colombo for Galle we stopped at one of many turtle sanctuaries along the coast. They rescue the turtle eggs so that they can hatch in safety and let the baby turtles get the 3 days old before releasing them into the sea, dramatically increasing their chances of survival. At 3 days old we are allowed to hold them!<br />
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Galle is a fortified town protected by UNESCO. The photos show the walls up close but also we could see the entire peninsula from our next hotel, plus in the other direction, from the 4th floor restaurant, amazing forest views.<br />
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From Galle we travelled on to Yala National Park one of the highest leopard densities in the world. I cannot say I wasn't disappointed we didn't see any leopards but it was great to see sunset at the park and here's what we did see:<br />
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A new day and off we head to the mountains to see an ancient Buddha carved into stone.<br />
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We had lunch at a hotel in a tea plantation called 98 Acres in Ella with incredible views:<br />
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This waterfall was another stop on the way up. As you can see the waterfall is pretty busy with locals, all the time of our trip to Sri Lanka New Year's celebrations were taking place and this was the day it affected us the most as we sat in traffic heading to Nuwara Eliya and watched the sunset from the bus:<br />
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Nuwara Eliya is a holiday town set up by the British as at Sri Lanka's highest elevation it is much cooler! There are 'mock Tudor' style houses and even a horse racing track. Here we went to find out about Ceylon tea, how it is grown and what the differences are, at the Mackwood factory with it's own amazing views of it's land:<br />
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After this we had to catch a train to Kandy, around 4 hours of views just like those above:<br />
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Kandy is the current home of the Temple of the Tooth and other religious sites protected by UNESCO. We had a packed day visiting an elephant sanctuary, lunch with a view, buying sapphires, visiting the Temple and seeing a cultural show:<br />
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Continuing north we visited UNESCO Cave Temple of Dambulla, this was 4 rooms built into caves FULL of Buddha's and painted walls! The ground outside was excruciatingly hot for our feet too as we had to take off our shoes (temple socks required next time!)<br />
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This was the view outside the temple:<br />
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At the end of this day we finished at a hotel very near to the entrance of Sigiriya as this would be our earliest start of the trip to try and beat the heat. Sigiriya (UNESCO) or Lion's Rock is a massive rock fortress, massive in land size and in height. On the tour you are shown where the outer walls began, the clever and beautiful garden's with water features and then you climb the rock and see some of the preserved cave paintings and the 'mirror' wall which would've reflected the art to make a grand walkway to the Lion's entrance, and eventually the top, a ruined palace with swimming pools and dinning rooms.<br />
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Perspective is a funny thing, although beautiful you can't tell at all the height I'm at in this last photo, according to my iPhone I did 37 flights of stairs this day.<br />
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OK wait I've just imported this picture:<br />
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Looking down on the path we walked up and I took the first photo from, you can zoom in on all the little people... that's better perspective. If you hadn't guessed this was my number 1 highlight of the trip. Just amazing!<br />
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We went on to do a 2nd UNESCO site this day because we're nuts! Polonnaruwa, the 2nd ancient city:<br />
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And one more UNESCO to finish the trip. Whereas the 2nd city was a bunch of ruins the 1st city Anuradhapura has had restoration of it's major religious sites and we saw stupa after stupa lovingly painted (for the new year), one of them even contains Buddha's collarbone.<br />
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That last one is the largest in the world! Moonstones are important too:<br />
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And that was it, except for being dropped off in paradise for a night before flying home:<br />
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Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-14627264594403673712016-04-12T18:39:00.000+01:002016-04-12T18:41:48.533+01:00Cruising Central America including the Panama CanalThe day before I fly to Sri Lanka I thought I better get around to editing my previous trip pictures<br />
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My first major trip this vacation was a cruise on Norwegian Pearl because I figured out to get the staff discount! I took my Mum on a route that I wanted to do and haven't been lucky enough to get it as work.<br />
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The cruise started and finished in Miami and staying overnight allowed us this view of downtown from the hotel:<br />
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First stop on the cruise was Cartagena, Colombia with it's city walls a reflection of those I've already visited in San Juan, Puerto Rico.<br />
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The walls protect the beautiful old town streets:<br />
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And we also got a bird's eye view of the old and new towns... and you can see the ship if you zoom in!<br />
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After Colombia the cruise took it's highlight trip down (and back) the Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal and we took advantage of our balcony view!<br />
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You can see how close the ship is to the sides to fit in, about 2 foot each side!<br />
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Although through misty windows, walking around on the upper deck gives a clearer view of the locks:<br />
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Once through the locks you could take a tour to explore further. Our tour took us on the Gatun Lake in a small boat (passing all those huge tanker ships!) to see the remote edges and monkeys living there:<br />
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The next stop was Costa Rica and we took an ariel tram to the tops of the rainforest:<br />
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The much unknown Tapir, animal of the rainforest:<br />
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Next up Roatan, a holiday island off Honduras where I took a snorkelling trip in really rough seas for some spectacular undersea views:<br />
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The final location I have photos to share from is Belize, a small country that was still British until 1981. I went to visit the Mayan ruins of Lamani. This is the face of the jaguar temple:<br />
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Then High Temple:<br />
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Which, when climbed (painfully), gives you amazing views over Old Belize River.<br />
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And finally the mask temple with some of the best preserved Mayan masks in the world:<br />
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It was great to get to see some of the ports i'd always hoped too and to do the panama canal and not be working!! It was a really good overview of Central America. But next up... Sri Lanka!<br />
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<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-2898900308445642922016-02-29T17:41:00.002+00:002016-02-29T17:41:31.240+00:00NCL Getaway: The ShowsHello everyone, I'm home from another 6 month contract for Norwegian Cruise Lines. Successful job, money saved (and being spent) and I'm going to have so much to share with you this vacation!<br />
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I was blessed to be working alongside broadway show casts over the last 6 months and I asked for permission to take some photographs in my final week... it's been a while but show photography has always been one of my favourite skills, I hope you agree:</div>
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That was the incredible dancing show Burn The Floor.<br />
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And the other show, the wonderfully pink Legally Blonde The Musical:<br />
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There more photos from these shows on my <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/" target="_blank">Flickr account</a>.<br />
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Bye for now!<br />
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Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-77283789937553604132015-09-02T18:31:00.003+01:002015-09-02T18:32:14.753+01:00Vacation August 2015: Great British Tour!To finish up this very short vacation I was lucky enough to be visited by a friend from New York for her first time visiting Europe. This seemed like the perfect excuse for a road trip, and for the more story telling images please check out my <a href="https://instagram.com/thesarahcraig/" target="_blank">Instagram page</a>. But here on my blog, a prettier approach...<br />
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We started close to (my) home, exploring the Peak District, in particular Chatsworth House:<br />
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Then day 2 was my much loved central Manchester<br />
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Day three took us to Warwick Castle as an ideal stop on the way to London.<br />
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Day four we made it into central London and to the 72nd floor of The Shard!<br />
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And back down to river level...<br />
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Day 5 finished with The Making of Harry Potter on our way back out of London<br />
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And finally, always my highlight, a night in the Lake District<br />
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(don't you love my little hire car!)<br />
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And on the way home a quick stop in Morecambe to show a typical seaside town, unfortunate weather though!<br />
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And now it's back to work and the privilege of the newest ship in the fleet, wish me luck and hopefully some free time to share some photos!<br />
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<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-40033741498621474882015-08-20T18:34:00.000+01:002015-08-20T18:37:12.351+01:00Vacation August 2015: Seville and GibraltarIn my brief time off before returning to work I'm staying very busy! Firstly Portugal with family and I just have one photo to share of the view over to Salema in Portugal where I was staying. Dramatic coastline due to the high winds in this South West corner facing the Atlantic!<br />
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Following Portugal I hopped on a 21 euro bus to beautiful Seville where I had never been but is full of history and interesting places.<br />
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So first up, Plaza De Espana, put together for an expo in 1929 this old palace has a seat representing each of the provinces of Spain and incredible mosaic decoration.<br />
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The centre of Seville is a collection of buildings grouped together as UNESCO sites, one palace, one cathedral and one building containing important documents including those related to Christopher Columbus.<br />
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The palace, the Real Alcazar, is a collection of buildings from different periods plus endless manicured gardens with aromatic hedges that made me wonder why all hedges aren't aromatic... life could be so fragrant!!<br />
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I am lucky enough to have been to the Alhambra, not so far away in Granada, and I found this particular part of the Real Alcazar, to be exactly the same! However the gardens were different and stunning.<br />
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Immediately opposite the palace is the cathedral. The largest in Europe.<br />
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Moving onto something much more modern, the Metropol Parasol was as impressive to me as the historical sites, dominating the new part of town it gives impressive views in an amazing piece of engineering.<br />
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Exploring the city further brought me to more churches<br />
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A beautiful setting for an art gallery<br />
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And the colourful waterside area of Trianna<br />
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Then from Seville I took a day trip out to Gibraltar, a place I had always wanted to go having sailed past on transatlantic crossings three times! The tour I was on featured 3 stops. Firstly Europa Point, the southern tip marking the divide between the Atlantic Ocean and the Med with views over to Morocco only 20km away!<br />
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Secondly St Michael's Cave, one of the largest so high above sea level, certainly a tourist trap and used for events.<br />
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And finally one of the spots where the famous monkey's are fed, which happened to have a great view!<br />
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Here's a view of 'the Rock' showing how pedestrians walk straight over the airport runway on their way to pass back into Spain!<br />
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It was great to getaway and see somewhere new, Seville comes highly recommended from me (go to the Aire spa!!). As always there's more photos on my Flickr page.<br />
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Until next time...<br />
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<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-77766099783476771042015-08-03T20:30:00.002+01:002015-08-03T20:35:52.795+01:006 (and half) months as Entertainment Admin: NCL Sky Jan-Jul 2015Dear blog fans... things have really changed!<br />
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But I'm sure someone said change is always good.<br />
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I was doing some serious traveling and some really exciting things, Shore Excursions 100% is a job to be jealous of but last contract I cross trained so I could become Entertainment Administrator.<br />
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And the reasons I wanted to be Admin are exactly the things that I loved about the last 6 months but it doesn't mean I have lots of traveling photos to show you but instead pictures of people, a lot of challenges mastered and skills gained!<br />
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So the number 1 thing I do as Admin is update the 'Freestyle Daily' which is the ship's schedule of the day. I'm sat at a desk a big chunk of each day hence the picture! However by big chunk on average I would say 3 hours a day, I really don't want to return to 8 hours staring at a screen as I did before ships!<br />
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Updating means all departments contact you to make their changes and then you take those changes to the Cruise Director, who is ultimately responsible for the daily schedule, to make their changes. As my understanding grew I was able to make suggestions to departments who I could help. I was always expected to spell correct and adjust those changes submitted as per the Freestyle rules. And what I really loved was, as trust grew, I could work with the Cruise Director to suggest changes and carry the knowledge to assist in the decision making.<br />
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My second most important responsibility as Admin is Deal Or No Deal (DOND), as in the game show, as in a money making opportunity for our department. We make money through Bingo, Instant Wins (like lottery scratch tickets) and DOND. I personally do not make money from Bingo or instant wins and the Assistant Cruise Director handles the paperwork. But DOND is my responsibility, I sell, manage the inventory, deal with guest quires and complaints and do all the financial paperwork. I share commission with the Cruise Director, who hosts the gameshow, and a cruise staff on rotation who helps me sell.<br />
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The photo shows me and lovely William at the DOND sales table on formal night. Over the months I did make some good money from this!<br />
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And the number 3 most important thing I would say I did as Admin was be available for the Entertainment Department, who I loved and who made me feel loved! By this I mean I could be called upon to do anything from show around a new member of staff, collect drinks for a party, or cover an hour of karaoke. Over time I really got to care for so many staff and it absolutely was my job to help in anyway I could, so different to the sales positions in Photo and ShoreX where I absolutely cared for my teams and people outside of my teams but it never seemed to be to my advantage!<br />
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This was my team!<br />
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And these were some great times...<br />
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80's party!<br />
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When Flogging Molly took over the ship (this charter cruise was an incredible time, I had to work extra hard but was tipped and offered a job for my efforts by the Flying Dutchmen team who organised the event!)...<br />
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On my birthday...<br />
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On 4th July celebrations... another amazing day where I was able to help in an unexpected way as Jeimy really want to go out on stilts for the celebration but no staff member was free to be her spotter, but I was! And she looked great!<br />
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And I didn't feel like my efforts went unthanked after I was nominated for the vacation hero awards!<br />
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It's nice to show off all these photo highs, I cannot lie about how tough some times were and most importantly I want to say the Sky is not the ship for me. 3 and 4 day cruises attract a crazy crowd but more importantly you really feel like you are going round in circles, 2 embarkation days every week, 2 white hot parties... I nearly, completely lost my mind! Miami, Bahamas and back again. I stopped going out and really lost my drive.<br />
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It is incredibly important to get off ship and spend time away from the job. Right at the beginning I went on a couple of tours in Freeport as it was the only new port in this run for me.<br />
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Doing a trip like this REALLY helps clear your head. For any Cruise Directors reading this... let your Admin out! Only with my first CD was I able to do an 8am tour, possible by preparing the Freestyle the previous night and sending it before I left (and being excused from drill!)<br />
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Anyway I did a good job, it's a great position for me because you're helping people who really appreciate what you do for them because the last thing they want is to be stuck at a desk! I'm the only one doing it, I like to feel special! And because I did well I'm off to the newest ship in the fleet next which is a huge compliment so with only 5 weeks to rest I'll be on NCL Getaway in September!<br />
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But first, let's have a bit of a break!!<br />
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<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-54824505148288105202015-01-06T18:17:00.003+00:002015-01-06T18:21:48.970+00:00Vacation Nov/Dec 2014: The incredible Palawan, Bangkok and a little bit of ScotlandI'm getting ready to return to work, once again with Norwegian Cruise Lines but in my new role of Entertainment Administrator. My previous blog postings have easily helped explain my old role of Shore Excursions Staff because I went on so many amazing tours! Hopefully in the next 6 months I can gather some photographs to explain my new position to you.<br />
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Because of this position change I've had an extra long vacation. Because this vacation included Christmas and New Year it seems to have flown past!! But anyway with the blessing of a long vacation I booked myself an incredible trip, returning to the Philippines to see more of my favourite place in the world and throwing in Bangkok just for fun! Then just a week ago I was in Scotland, in the freezing cold, spending time with my Mum and visited a beautiful place called Glenfinnan. So here's some of my photos and as always there's many more on my <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/" target="_blank">flickr page</a>.<br />
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The first thing I did when I arrived in the Philippines was return to Tagaytay because I have friends there and after many hours of flying it helps to see a familiar face before the adventures I took on my own! The last time I was in Tagaytay was December 2012 and you can read about that <a href="http://blog.sarahcraig.co.uk/2012/12/philippines-adventure-pt6-cebu-manila.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Amazing place! After 2 nights here I returned to Manila on my own and I had arranged myself a city tour!<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16008250991" title="FB108 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="FB108" height="480" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7527/16008250991_629f0bc994_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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This is San Augustin, the first of 4 UNESCO world heritage sites I managed to squeeze in during my trip.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15824451777" title="FB109 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="FB109" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8613/15824451777_5ffc1036e8_z.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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There's so much to see in Manila, a lot more history than I was aware of and some beautiful big open areas unfortunately only streets away from the overpopulated city we are shown on Western television.<br />
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So from Manila my big independent trip was to the island of Palawan, somewhere I really wanted to see last time. Puerto Princessa is the capital and it is about an hours flight from Manila. There were 2 places I specifically wanted to see, firstly the Underground River, my second UNESCO site, so protected you have to have a pass arranged in advance. The whole tour day trip to this site is beautiful!<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16010196295" title="FB119 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="FB119" height="480" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8607/16010196295_49564df5aa_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15390537433" title="FB120 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="FB120" height="480" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8646/15390537433_9670822e6e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15822899840" title="FB125 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="FB125" height="480" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7481/15822899840_2fecbac90f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15816172108" title="pano by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="pano" height="185" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7549/15816172108_9d264fefdf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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After Puerto Princessa I took a 5 hour van ride to my second stop, El Nido, a place viewed as exclusive even by the Filipinos but really it's a regular little village with the most incredible scenery of limestone islands billions of years old. I only stayed for 2 nights but for my full day I took a tour of the islands and was blown away!<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15383933373" title="pano by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="pano" height="228" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7469/15383933373_3146d42acc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16002869992" title="pano by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="pano" height="264" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7523/16002869992_1dd74c4225_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15390575853" title="FB134 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="FB134" height="480" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7493/15390575853_9a4a1b22f1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15984412986" title="FB139 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="FB139" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7565/15984412986_9df239300a_z.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15822927610" title="FB142 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="FB142" height="480" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7517/15822927610_6ed133f220_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15822789948" title="FB140 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="FB140" height="480" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7534/15822789948_39a0719953_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15387902094" title="FB144 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="FB144" height="480" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7533/15387902094_dc0c6ded3b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16010162805" title="FB147 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="FB147" height="480" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7523/16010162805_20aba84a8c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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So Palawan was sort of the first main bit of my holiday following that, back to Manila, dinner and film with a friend and my first time to see the Mall of Asia. Then the second 'main' bit was off to Bangkok for 5 nights where I had a really great time however I don't love the place as much as the Philippines because of the high number of tourists, particularly young brits in the Kao San Road area leaving it feeling very unsafe. My first day in Bangkok I explored, particularly trying out the express ferries down the river.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15984406836" title="FB152 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="FB152" height="480" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7477/15984406836_d2a637d163_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16010180695" title="FB154 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="FB154" height="360" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7570/16010180695_4026285b6a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Then it was UNESCO time again taking an amazing tour that included a cooking lesson, an elephant ride but mainly a trip to protected Khao Yai Rainforest and the waterfall they used in the film The Beach!<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16009477262" title="FB162 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="FB162" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7564/16009477262_927ab4d16d_z.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15816530380" title="pano by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="pano" height="270" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7539/15816530380_880ed4c421_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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The next day another tour and my fourth and final UNESCO site the ruined city of Ayutthaya<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15390551093" title="FB171 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="FB171" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8651/15390551093_78e6a92eca_z.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16010173765" title="FB174 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="FB174" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7513/16010173765_cbdfbbff62_z.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15816312040" title="pano by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="pano" height="171" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7577/15816312040_7487c64d80_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16001608651" title="pano by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="pano" height="299" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7539/16001608651_a4824c46ca_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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After this I had planned to travel further and visit a beach island but having had enough of moving around instead I spent my last 2 nights exploring the new city area<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15383950103" title="pano by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="pano" height="270" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7495/15383950103_a3142119f4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15817790079" title="pano by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="pano" height="374" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7482/15817790079_9f4b7275ca_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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I hope that wasn't too many photos! It was such a great trip, ticked some more of my MASSIVE bucket list!!<br />
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But to finish off my vacation summary the only other photo opportunity I've had was a short trip to Scotland with my Mum between Christmas and New Year, firstly Glasgow and after reading a few reviews I discovered the view I needed to get was that at the Necropolis.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16185311141" title="pano by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="pano" height="301" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8631/16185311141_0c7abfc82f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16186431332" title="IMG_2524 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2524" height="400" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8584/16186431332_66f09620d3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Then we took part of the most scenic railway in the world The West Highland line and got out at a place called Glenfinnan because I wanted to photograph the viaduct used in Harry Potter and in fact the whole area was stunning!<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16001148409" title="IMG_2543 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2543" height="480" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8603/16001148409_995c65640e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15567399273" title="IMG_2544 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2544" height="480" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8572/15567399273_f2fbda0e08_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16161389806" title="IMG_2530 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2530" height="400" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7582/16161389806_597cb8470f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16186425882" title="panosmall by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="panosmall" height="250" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8595/16186425882_7c9534c977_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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As always thank you for reading! Wish me luck for the next 6 months...<br />
<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-26704496797920076682014-12-21T20:08:00.004+00:002014-12-21T23:10:09.670+00:006 More Amazing Months on Norwegian Gem, May-Nov 2014Merry Christmas! I'm sat on the sofa at my Mum's house as I write this and it is the first time since 2009 that I've been at home in England for Christmas. I really thought that it didn't matter that I didn't feel christmassy in those years, that it was all part of getting older, but actually hand writing cards, wrapping presents, singing carols and watching Christmas TV does feel different and it is sad that I often work away on Christmas Day.<br />
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But it just so happens this time my vacation falls over Christmas season, so let's recap my last contract.<br />
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When I returned to Gem in May the ship was stopping at Port Canaveral in Florida, Norwegian's private island Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas and the capital of the Bahamas, Nassau.<br />
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Still in the position of selling tours I was certainly with the intent to make the most of it! And Port Canaveral was the stop for Orlando and Florida's famous theme parks where I met Mickey at Magic Kingdom, explored Epcot; I also went to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Seaworld and Gatorland! Also at Port Canaveral I visited the Kennedy Space Centre, took an airboat ride through the alligator swamps and kayaked with manatees (an animal I didn't even know existed and is protected in the Florida region).<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16033081046" title="5th111 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th111" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7547/16033081046_ffdd1e8a99_z.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15873109727" title="5th138 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th138" height="480" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8660/15873109727_3b5c633bd3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15885899698" title="5th167 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th167" height="424" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7552/15885899698_60a52474bc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Working our private island was no time for enjoying tours unfortunately as we were responsible for many of the activities on the island and generally Shore Excursions staff don't enjoy this day!! However my last week on the island I did go parasailing which was amazing!<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16047590946" title="5th191 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th191" height="480" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8678/16047590946_ab009327f8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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And then Nassau, I've been many times before as photographer but as Shore Excursions I got to go on a full tour of the island, walk with sharks at the Atlantis resort and try a beginners scuba diving course. I know... I'm really lucky (crazy too?) I love my job sometimes!<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15439198153" title="5th106 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th106" height="239" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8638/15439198153_fb6e3b3f3e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16033093936" title="5th144 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th144" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7502/16033093936_96b36f68c4_z.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15439216483" title="5th148 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th148" height="480" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7583/15439216483_560c41df1f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16072719632" title="5th175 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th175" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8672/16072719632_dae432d46a_z.jpg" width="427" /></a>
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For 5 weeks between September and October Gem changes route entirely and comes out of New York and heads north rather than south (the cold was quite a shock!) to see Canada and New England in the fall (autumn) season. A large number of our tours included lobster! I ate more lobster in those 5 weeks than I think I will in the rest of my life combined!!<br />
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First stop, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Home of Peggy's Cove, an unusually rocky bay with a famous lighthouse (and lobster restaurant!) and I also got to visit Lunenburg a UNESCO protected fishing village.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16058971085" title="5th229 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th229" height="251" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8579/16058971085_9b8a488d26_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16058230842" title="5th294 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th294" height="241" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7538/16058230842_5f004222a6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Second stop, Saint John, New Brunswick, famous for it's reversing rapids as a result of it being an area of extremely high tides. I got to visit two costal areas affected by the tides, the sea caves at St Martin and more impressively the area called Hopewell Rocks affected by up to 50 foot tides.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16058190752" title="5th197 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th197" height="259" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7556/16058190752_6aa96711ea_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16058200632" title="5th202 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th202" height="480" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7487/16058200632_2e5f185766_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15872845689" title="5th266 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th266" height="480" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8608/15872845689_229d22cccf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15871680080" title="5th270 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th270" height="404" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7486/15871680080_c056856390_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Next stop the tiny village of Bar Harbour in Maine surrounded by Acadia National Park, just taking photos from the ship was amazing!<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15871487618" title="5th300 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th300" height="324" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7506/15871487618_1c2dac8b88_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15439276153" title="5th304 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th304" height="303" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7539/15439276153_2241919b17_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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After that we had a big city stop, Boston, where I got to visit Harvard and this view was taken from the skywalk.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16058918845" title="5th244 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th244" height="353" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8604/16058918845_98cd9d8eac_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Finally we stopped at Newport Rhode Island where I learned about the Vanderbilt's Mansions and visited eco-holiday lighthouse, Rose Island.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16058210922" title="5th248 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th248" height="480" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8581/16058210922_1fe039ceb2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/16058220772" title="5th282 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th282" height="216" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7514/16058220772_05a352efcf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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As you can see I saw so much in 5 weeks, it was incredible, but I've also never worked so hard in my life! This was the time of my life I discovered I can do a full day's work on 4 hours sleep and it is also when I started drinking coffee! I now enjoy a good Starbucks latte or two if I have to stand outside all day directing people to buses!! Of course it wasn't work forcing me to have 4 hours sleep, don't get me wrong, we worked some crazy days, but I also had an incredible group of friends at this time who I spent as much time as I could with and having forgotten all the pain of the tiredness right now I wish I could be there with them again (waiting for tender boat number 10... I miss you)!<br />
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Finally there was 2 more cruises before I signed off, back to the Caribbean and the opportunity to meet with some old friends in St Maarten and St Thomas but also only my 2nd ever stop in St Kitts where I took the scenic rail to see as much as possible.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15873186697" title="5th354 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th354" height="480" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8625/15873186697_a1d59e2173_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15871494928" title="5th353 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th353" height="480" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8672/15871494928_d977e6e7f1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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And finally a stop at Tortola where I remembered being told by a friend that if I stop there I should go to the Virgin Gorda, so I did and there's many more pictures on my Flickr but here is what the amazing Virgin Gorda is all about...<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15977771066" title="5th317 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th317" height="176" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8639/15977771066_03d7da26fd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15816287990" title="5th320 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th320" height="480" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8639/15816287990_20d9b70516_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15816281040" title="5th338 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th338" height="480" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7505/15816281040_66f8d7d568_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/15817798597" title="5th336 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="5th336" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7510/15817798597_e93dd3b370_z.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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Last contract was full of opportunities to really feel alive, I'm completely addicted for right now however when I return in January I will no longer be selling tours but working as administrator for the entertainment department, a completely different, more challenging, more varied, self motivated role and I'm really looking forward to working everyday with the people responsible for everyone having fun!<br />
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Only 10 days after I got home I took myself off to Asia to see more of my favourite country, the Philippines, and a stop in Bangkok so another blog posting to come very soon!<br />
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<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-39240140720268099012014-05-17T20:04:00.002+01:002014-05-17T20:04:54.129+01:00Vacation Apr/May 2014: The lakes, Llandudno and cruising the MedWith less than a week to go before I return to ship (and this blog goes very quiet again!) I have a lot of pictures to share with you. And there's many more on my <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/" target="_blank">Flickr account</a>.<br />
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The first highlight of my vacation was Chatsworth, a stately home near where I live and where I was taken on a family day out! So I grabbed these panoramic views.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/13939042454" title="panosmall by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="panosmall" height="213" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7307/13939042454_ddd85a2a23_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/13938599155" title="chatsworthsmall by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="chatsworthsmall" height="170" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2916/13938599155_2779c0821e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Next up, more family trips, we went to Glenridding in the Lake District for the Easter weekend.<br />
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This is the view from my aunt's cottage<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/13977375231" title="panosmall by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="panosmall" height="236" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7222/13977375231_6674797e7b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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And this is looking back at the cottage from the water<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/13980572715" title="Glenriddingsmall by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="Glenriddingsmall" height="277" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5056/13980572715_cc49948046_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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The highlight of Easter weekend in Glenridding is the (rubber) duck race raising money for the local rescue services.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14203469071" title="IMG_0460 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0460" height="640" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2919/14203469071_7e83e49a87_z.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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Next stop, 2 nights in a really lovely hotel in Llandudno, Wales, a seaside peninsula with a national park called the Orme at the furthest point where I took these photos.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14206715765" title="panosmall by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="panosmall" height="253" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2913/14206715765_057920b032_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14020063439" title="IMG_0519 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0519" height="480" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2929/14020063439_a33b98d186_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14203423661" title="IMG_0533 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0533" height="360" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5567/14203423661_db57de9acd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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I love how kind of 'England's green and pleasant land' these pictures all look but it's nice to come home and enjoy the places on your doorstep.<br />
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However the biggest trip of this vacation involved visiting my amazing friend Kirsty who invited me to cruise onboard the Adventure of the Seas from Southampton and I got off in Nice to spend two nights before coming home ready to return to work!<br />
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First stop on my mini cruise was Cadiz, Spain so here's me and Kirsty:<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14020012330" title="10259803_10204037477044325_156512371549835288_n by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="10259803_10204037477044325_156512371549835288_n" height="480" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2934/14020012330_b78f6793a0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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And then actually we got to meet up with people on Liberty of the Seas too who were sort of following our route so this next picture is very important to me as Rich, Kirsty and me first met 4 years ago on Navigator of the Seas!<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14203377221" title="IMG_0536 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0536" height="480" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2934/14203377221_c3ac4a0288_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Next stop Barcelona on an unfortunately cold and miserable day! We went up to the Gaudi park for these views.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14020005419" title="IMG_0555 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0555" height="360" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2911/14020005419_0d638d4077_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14020032160" title="IMG_0559 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0559" height="480" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2900/14020032160_b433f86e16_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14205315375" title="pano by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="pano" height="368" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5484/14205315375_034688382d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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And then we arrived in Villefranche<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14020030670" title="IMG_0575 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0575" height="640" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5564/14020030670_0bfe575733_z.jpg" width="512" /></a>
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A beautiful little fishing village that now frequently hosts cruise ships, Kirsty accompanied me to the station where I took this panoramic which is quickly becoming one of my all time favourites because of the clarity of the sea bed.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14018635518" title="panosmall by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="panosmall" height="236" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2898/14018635518_6fe8232678_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Once checked into my hotel in Nice I hit the streets with my guide book and I really fell in love with this city! It has a waterfront 8km long with incredible hotels running along it.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14206546344" title="IMG_0583 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0583" height="400" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2918/14206546344_509f302f90_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Then a new town area of grand spaces.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14226817793" title="IMG_0586 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0586" height="360" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2905/14226817793_769f1b5854_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14020013750" title="IMG_0724 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0724" height="480" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5318/14020013750_4f0289dfb8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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This beautiful new park divides the new and the old town<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14204187582" title="IMG_0590 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0590" height="640" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5483/14204187582_dcc2e9367a_z.jpg" width="512" /></a>
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The old town has small winding streets, flower markets, baroque churches...<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14226816073" title="IMG_0598 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0598" height="640" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5501/14226816073_43a9fa3c46_z.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14020000939" title="IMG_0599 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0599" height="640" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2898/14020000939_e76cb7ef39_z.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14020001969" title="IMG_0595 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0595" height="640" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5512/14020001969_e2c4cd5683_z.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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Once I finished my afternoon explore I was greeted with the largest moon I've seen in a long time and dramatic skies!<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14019999588" title="IMG_0612 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0612" height="480" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2905/14019999588_a4b4719ea7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14202005881" title="panosmall by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="panosmall" height="290" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2928/14202005881_1ebec811de_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Day 2 in nice I had pre booked myself a tour to Monaco however the first place we stopped was a higher view of Villefranche and this time Liberty was anchored meaning I could get this image!<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14018665250" title="panosmall by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="panosmall" height="266" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2905/14018665250_29e7bcce46_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Then we stopped at the cliff top medieval village of Eze<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14206537814" title="IMG_0648 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0648" height="480" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2910/14206537814_cc41a101c8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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With it's exclusive hotel taking all the best views!<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14020063357" title="IMG_0653 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0653" height="480" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5156/14020063357_e3bf876b3e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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And then infamous Monaco<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14202814062" title="panosmall by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="panosmall" height="199" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5120/14202814062_55592eb625_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14182174086" title="pano by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="pano" height="250" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5477/14182174086_fcf32ea2c5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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With Grace Kelly's grave<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14019989889" title="IMG_0681 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0681" height="640" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5080/14019989889_0e5769fd9b_z.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14226805213" title="IMG_0682 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0682" height="640" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2907/14226805213_25ac3e18c5_z.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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And the race track currently being built (the box on the left is where the Monaco Royal family view the race)<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14206532874" title="IMG_0688 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0688" height="480" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2934/14206532874_b063b0c911_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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In the afternoon I took a little train up to Castle Hill to get this view of Nice<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14018646969" title="panosmall by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="panosmall" height="264" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5576/14018646969_9190abdd06_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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I love how you can see the snow capped Alps in the distance<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14206658745" title="IMG_0720 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0720" height="480" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2914/14206658745_6167af218c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Sorry for the extremely long post! I'm really happy with my pictures though, keeping my photography in practice!! To finish, Nice as view from the plane as I sadly left...<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/14204170382" title="IMG_0746 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0746" height="640" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5074/14204170382_f1752e502b_z.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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Until next time :)<br />
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<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-61092342230245456092014-05-06T14:03:00.001+01:002014-05-06T14:03:40.155+01:00Family Photoshoot: Lilly with Sarah, Paul and Bump!I've photographed my friend's little girl Lilly before but she was only 6 months old, now she's 2 and a half and Mum's pregnant again so this is a catch up photoshoot!<br />
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Being only 2 and half Lilly's patience for posing is short so, as I always try to do, I keep changing set ups to keep the interest and get a many different looking photos as possible.
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So here we go starting with a chair against a plain wall in the home. I know I'm starting to repeat the look of my images but they work when trying to get a clean and realistic image of children.<br />
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Cheeky little face! Onto the beanbag but unfortunately Lilly is a little young to master the girly leaning on hands etc poses!<br />
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A bit abstract but I love this next one with her toy duck.<br />
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And then bring in Sarah and Paul (and bump but generally I'm not showing Sarah's pregnancy in these pictures)<br />
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Moving outside gives me a chance for a little more posing and a change in style before Lilly really won't pose anymore!<br />
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I really love the feel of this next image!<br />
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And then we let Lilly roam in her garden to get a few more natural shots.<br />
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Next time the family will be four and I'm sure I'll get a chance to take some great photos!<br />
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My few weeks back in England are almost over, I will be sharing some of the landscapes I've been photographing before I go but then possibly expect a another few blog free months I guess...<br />
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<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-47471152148891820612014-04-23T09:16:00.001+01:002014-04-23T09:16:25.219+01:00The Last 6 Months on Gem: Samana and New YorkMy final Caribbean port last contract was Samana in the Dominican Republic. An incredibly beautiful place the Samana area is in fact a peninsula and sometimes the sea was glass calm however it was also too shallow to dock so we tender to land, using the ships lifeboats which looks like this:<br />
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The problem with Samana is that there isn't a great deal to do, we had very few tours and most of them just showed off the countryside. Here's an image showing their handmade cigars:<br />
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So what most people did on this day was go to the beach and NCL chartered part of the island Cayo Levantado for our guests. This island also has a private 5* hotel on it that looks beautiful and is incredibly expensive!<br />
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If you look carefully you can see where the ship is anchored between the trees.<br />
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And here's a picture of me with one of the sea lions living on the island and one of the optional extras to going there:<br />
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After Samana the ship would take two full sea days back up to New York, which at that time meant back up to the freezing cold, with New York having a ridiculous amount of snow this winter just gone, we were able to build snowmen on the pool deck of the ship it came down that heavily! I took the following pictures during the sail away from the ship.<br />
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And then walking around New York this is Strawberry Fields in the snow:<br />
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And then just before I signed off, Times Square in the sunshine!<br />
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When I go back, I am returning to Gem in New York and will be there every 7 days, this time I understand New York will go to the other extreme and be too hot! Am I currently preparing to pack accordingly!<br />
<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-71527560040412676132014-04-14T18:42:00.001+01:002014-04-14T18:42:24.555+01:00The Last 6 Months on Gem: St ThomasOnto St Thomas one of the US Virgin Islands and THE place to do water based shore excursions.<br />
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This image was taken from a place called Paradise Point which is located just behind the port, accessed by cable car. It just so happens I got to see this wonderful rainbow the time I went up there, however I only had my iPhone to capture this image with.<br />
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Then one of my early tours was a kayaking trip to a beautiful area called Cas Cay, once again I only had my iPhone and due to the nature of the tour I left it in a locker and only managed to capture this image of the start.<br />
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As soon as I bought my new camera with waterproof housing I asked to go on as many 'wet' excursions as possible and the very first one I took it on was called St John Champagne Catamaran Sail and Snorkel. You go to honeymoon beach on St John, the neighbouring USVI to snorkel in a protected area, followed by champagne!<br />
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In St Thomas/St John you can pretty much guarantee snorkelling with turtles and I can't do that enough!<br />
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Just like in St Maarten I did a mini boat excursion in St Thomas, this time having too much fun with my friend Dee.<br />
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And finally the biggest test for my waterproof camera was an excursion called Sea Trek which involves walking at the bottom of the sea, my first tentative step into diving at 15 feet down I had to learn about equalising for the water pressure however the helmet that you wear enabled me to even keep my glasses on! It really is an incredible, if a little bizarre, experience and I highly recommend it!<br />
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Looks like something from out of space right!?Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-2889270673283484282014-04-12T15:22:00.004+01:002014-04-12T15:22:59.918+01:00The Last 6 Months on Gem: St MaartenSt Maarten or Sint Martin is the smallest island divided into two countries or something like that. The cruise ships dock in the Dutch capital of Philipsburg, a massive port that on one Wednesday in the last 6 months was home to 9 cruise ships at once.<br />
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I took this picture the day I bought my new compact S110, I got back to the ship to find out my Lightroom 3 couldn't read the RAW files so I had to wait another week or so for my Lightroom 5 upgrade and that's where I'm at now, as a travelling photographer, new camera, new software, ready to keep documenting!<br />
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Most people visiting St Maarten want to see the French and Dutch sides (even though the whole island looks the same) so these are our most popular tours.<br />
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This is what the French Capital, Marigot, looks like. Much smaller than Philipsburg it was a flea market and patisseries to explore.<br />
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The french side of the island has better beaches, most famously Orient Bay which is a mile and half long and is what this photo is of although from a 'sightseeing' view point.<br />
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And this is the beach at Grand Case, an area more famous for it's French restaurants<br />
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Other than sighting seeing tours of St Maarten I got to go in a semi submarine:<br />
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Take part in the America's Cup Regatta, a very popular tour because of the real sail races that take place here (I was main sail trimmer if that means anything to anyone).<br />
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But by far my favourite tour was the Rhino Rider mini boats that I took Kayleigh on for her last week where you drive this fast little boat on the sea to a beach, snorkel and back again...<br />
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Snorkling selfie!<br />
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And here's me and Kayleigh looking like we're having too much fun!<br />
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Some days I really loved my job!<br />
<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-74547419410655778142014-04-09T21:06:00.002+01:002014-04-09T21:06:31.684+01:00The Last 6 Months on Gem: San JuanIn order to share the last 6 months back working on cruise ships I have decided to do a few posts looking at each port in turn.<br />
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Just to catch you all up, I used to work on cruise ships as a photographer and I loved ships, and my photography improved, but actually the job was pretty rubbish! I returned to ships 6 months ago with Norwegian Cruise Lines because they offered me the position of Shore Excursions and now I get paid to help ship guests to choose and buy tours, organise guests and tour operators and, best of all, know the tours and ports!<br />
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As with all cruise jobs it has it's highs and lows and my desire to photograph, particularly with my cumbersome D700, dropped off completely. Finally at the end of this contract I bought myself a compact camera with waterproof casing so I have some better photos to share (some early ones are from my iPhone!) and next contract will be even better!<br />
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So Norwegian Gem's first stop for the last 6 months was San Juan, Puerto Rico. Did I mention that I am required to go on tours...<br />
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Like visiting the El Yunque Rainforest<br />
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Or even zip lining through it with my best friend on board Dee<br />
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Also visiting the Bacardi rum factory<br />
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This next picture was taken on a walking tour of the city, a fountain on the waterfront<br />
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And this is the view outside of the parliament house, out to the atlantic ocean<br />
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However what you really need to see in San Juan are the fortresses. One surrounds the city:<br />
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The next, possibly the most famous is El Morro, located on the furthest point out to sea the views from there are amazing!<br />
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However the biggest fort, located just above the old city and facing out to the atlantic is San Cristobal, more of a museum I took my new camera up there and had some fun!<br />
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And for a final image this posting, a proper, stitched and edited, panorama taken from the top of the fortress and look out for the Gem and I think Westerdam in the top left...<br />
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<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-6860185662875554602014-04-08T12:18:00.002+01:002014-04-08T12:19:13.168+01:00Catch up... The Incredible Morocco Dearest blog readers, I don't really know how to explain my lack of writing recently although I know the painfully slow internet onboard my cruise ship has a lot to do with it and the other thing being that I don't need to write so much because I kind of know what direction I'm going with my life right now.<br />
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So I've just got back home for 7 weeks vacation from my ship the Norwegian Gem and I have a lot to tell you but the thing is just (and I mean just, I had 5 days to turn myself around!) before I left to return to ship life I went on the most amazing trip with a young travellers tour company called Topdeck to Morocco. Now as this was 6 months ago, I can't really blog fully I just need to share some pictures. Too see all my pictures check out my <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/sets/72157636579219536/" target="_blank">flickr set</a>.<br />
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My Topdeck trip basically involved 10 days, our amazing local guide, a bus and a small group of amazing travellers from all over the world. And Morocco is amazing because in a very small area you can see desert, coast, mountains and cities so here's a quick summary of what I did.<br />
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Everything started in Marrakech and the famous Jemaa El Fna Square<br />
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We found a great place to eat and watch all the action!<br />
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After a couple of nights in the city we headed out to the coast and Casablanca where we got to see inside the Hassan II mosque.<br />
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Along the coast further we arrived at the city of Rabat whose kasbah area is a world heritage site<br />
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Heading back in land now we visited the Roman ruins of Volubilis<br />
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And then we arrived in Fes, an old, sprawling city full of colour and traditions.<br />
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And then we headed more inland, over the mountains on our way to the desert.<br />
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We arrived at our desert paradise where we rode camels to watch the sunset from the top of a sand dune and then slept in Berber tents outside.<br />
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Our last stop before returning to Marrakech took us right into the mountains and we stayed at a hotel right in the middle of Dades Gorge.<br />
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Our way back took us through the highest point of the Atlas Mountains as well as to the Kasbah of Ben Haddou another world heritage site.<br />
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It's quite something going through all these pictures again, I want to see more places, my bucket list seems never ending!! However the past 6 months weren't without interest so I'll get posting that asap.<br />
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<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-69822068192778741362013-11-29T23:17:00.003+00:002013-11-29T23:17:36.780+00:00A blogging break and apology
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This post is coming to you from the cruise ship Norwegian Gem
where I have been living for well over a month now. Unlike my
previous job as a cruise ship photographer my new position as Shore
Excursions Staff leaves me with too little port time off to be able
to edit photos and write my blog. On the plus side I do get more
evening time off to enjoy the onboard show, eating out etc so I'm not
complaining, I'm still sure of my decision to be here but I am
apologising for the lack of blogs. The internet onboard just can't
handle the photograph side of things so I can just write this right
now...<br />
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Some time in the not too distant future I'm hoping to do a catch
up blog on my trip to Morocco that I took just before I came out
here.<br />
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And then as for new cruising pictures, well I'm doing the same 9
day cruise over and over for the next 5 months so there's only so
many pictures I can take! We sail out of New York and I've been
trying to capture the Manhattan skyline from the ship, it's bloody
freezing though!! I haven't actually got off in New York yet,
hopefully soon. And then we just go to San Juan, Puerto Rico (I was
at the El Morro fortress yesterday it is an amazing place!), St
Maarten, St Thomas and Samana in the Dominican Republic.
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Anyway I'm not blogging because I'm busy but generally everything
is ok. Last week I had to change cabins and I now share with the girl
who runs the photo studio, my old job, which has been nice, apart
from my own team it was easy to make friends with the photographers
on board! NCL treats their crew very well and so similar to Celebrity
so it was a perfect choice of employer for me, at the same time I can
clearly see the differences in guest experience between all the
cruise lines I have worked but as crew it's all the same which is
nice to know!<br />
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So I am still taking pictures and I will share everything as soon
as I get chance! Ciao for now.<br />
Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-54225589218645356992013-10-02T19:33:00.000+01:002013-10-02T19:33:55.891+01:00A Post-Herm UpdateHello everyone! Particularly hello to everyone who has only started reading my blog because of my season on Herm, this pink sky/pink sea sunset photograph is just for you...<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/10042267646/" title="image by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="image" height="480" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2887/10042267646_0d6a762e42_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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And now my blog, as with my life, has to take a turn for something different!<br />
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I've decided to return to working for cruise ships! Last year I wrote a few self-indulgent blog posts like <a href="http://blog.sarahcraig.co.uk/2012/06/end-also-known-as-beginning-my.html" target="_blank">this one</a> about why I decided to quit my job as a cruise ship photographer. And I did go to Australia to see if it was somewhere that would make me want to settle (it didn't) and then I was so lucky to do Herm after thinking it was an ideal job after visiting a ex-ship friend who worked there 2 summers ago.<br />
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And now I'm ready to go back to ships, to work for the cruise line directly and not in the photography department. If you take those two factors out I should be returning to only things I enjoyed as per my <a href="http://blog.sarahcraig.co.uk/2012/08/leaving-cruise-ships-my-will-misswont.html" target="_blank">will miss/won't miss list</a>.<br />
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Just because I'm not working as a photographer on board does not mean I won't be taking photographs anymore, and I can't wait to get out on port again and photograph specifically with a blog post in mind.<br />
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The lovely people at NCL have offered me the position of Shore Excursions Staff so I get to be knowledgeable about tours, I get to be helpful to large numbers of people, it's not a desk job and I'll get some time off in port! It's all very exciting, I'm just waiting for my medical results.<br />
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Meanwhile I am off on holiday to Morocco, I'm doing a tour with a company called Topdeck, who with the help of a bus will take me and a group of other travellers to everything Morocco has to offer... cities, sand dunes, mountains and sea!<br />
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Many, many photos and stories to follow!<br />
<br />Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449106814379856646.post-25359121215032654262013-09-11T09:10:00.002+01:002013-09-11T09:11:05.025+01:00Herm Island: Goodbye Herm!I'm back home now following 5 and half months working on Herm Island. During my last week I could really see why it was time to go, the cafes only needed one person in each and even then the business was slow, the day I left Belvoir cafe was closed and only one seasonal staff member remains. Also the temperature has really cooled! Season is over!<br />
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Before I left I took some photos of how Shell Cafe (my favourite) has looked to me over the past months...</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9720583421/" title="SAR_0657 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="SAR_0657" height="426" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5502/9720583421_be6d7eb928_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9723811126/" title="SAR_0659 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="SAR_0659" height="426" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5342/9723811126_933cbd8a05_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9720583147/" title="SAR_0660 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="SAR_0660" height="426" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3718/9720583147_bd0c25f68c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9723811946/" title="SAR_0643 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="SAR_0643" height="426" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2825/9723811946_1a09a9da7d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9723811804/" title="SAR_0646 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="SAR_0646" height="640" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7406/9723811804_b9fb2bf035_z.jpg" width="426" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9720583883/" title="SAR_0650 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="SAR_0650" height="426" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2807/9720583883_ec33fe52e1_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9720583817/" title="SAR_0651 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="SAR_0651" height="640" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2868/9720583817_34caf48b58_z.jpg" width="426" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9720583575/" title="SAR_0654 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="SAR_0654" height="640" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5325/9720583575_b17452cee9_z.jpg" width="426" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9723810800/" title="SAR_0666 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="SAR_0666" height="640" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7459/9723810800_6de3710ec9_z.jpg" width="426" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9720582861/" title="SAR_0668 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="SAR_0668" height="640" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7333/9720582861_cd6fb5929e_z.jpg" width="426" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9723810560/" title="SAR_0669 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="SAR_0669" height="426" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5443/9723810560_9b006a4cb5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9720582743/" title="SAR_0671 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="SAR_0671" height="426" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7317/9720582743_d258893acc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9723810342/" title="SAR_0673 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="SAR_0673" height="426" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7432/9723810342_8262406a6c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9720582383/" title="SAR_0674 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="SAR_0674" height="426" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5451/9720582383_df177913db_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9723810152/" title="SAR_0680 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="SAR_0680" height="426" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2889/9723810152_19c5309bdc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9723809838/" title="SAR_0683 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="SAR_0683" height="426" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5547/9723809838_7257432599_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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On my way to the airport I also took the following panoramas. This is St Peter Port, Guernsey, my local shopping centre for the past months located 3 miles across the sea!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9723810094/" title="panosmall by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="panosmall" height="228" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7308/9723810094_69dac665f5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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And this is a fantastic view point from St Peter Port where on a clear day you can see Alderney, Herm, Jethou, Sark and Jersey!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9723812022/" title="pano2 by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="pano2" height="147" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5338/9723812022_8ac2ccef89_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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So that's it! Watch this space for my next adventure...<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcraig/9723808870/" title="Untitled by Sarah Craig, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="480" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3695/9723808870_3ebde8b66f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
Sarah Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345151689728839429noreply@blogger.com2