Pacific Princess Dubai to Los Angeles 2018
In March 2018 I received an exciting email; an opportunity to cruise from Dubai to Los Angeles! 62 days with just 29 classes to teach. Another cruise teaching. Yaah! Teaching on cruise ships is my absolute favorite place to teach.
One catch. My husband, who is normally my assistant, was already committed to working in Peru for the next year. So, tongue in cheek, I jokingly asked my friend Gai, who had accompanied me on a much shorter trip, how she would feel about a 62 day round the world trip. To my surprise she immediately said “yes!”.
And so the fun started.
Gai was invaluable helping prepare the kits– 32 classes (with 3 spares), each prepared for 50 students. Quick maths–that’s 1600 kits!
Two months later we flew from Sydney to Dubai to join the Pacific Princess.
Our first drama was at Dubai airport. We waited two hours, they could not find our luggage. 1600 kits missing! Panic set in! NO KITS, NO CRUISE and I would never get work on a cruise ship again!
Eventually they took us back into security. Our bags had been located. We had to be present while they opened our bags and did a “special search of our un-identifiable goods “. We had dozens of beading tools and scissors with us so I assumed they thought we were importing weapons.
But NO! It turned out the “unidentifiable goods” were the kits for the scarves forming a dense layer of fabric in the bottom of two suitcases.
We stayed overnight in Dubai and were picked up the next morning in a mini bus along with about a dozen other enrichment crew complete with all our baggage stacked inside the van almost to the roof and crowned by an enormous Paraguayan harp in a case, which towered ominously over us and slipped from side to side at every corner.
The smallest of the Princess fleet, Pacific Princess only carries 680 passengers. She is one of only 8 R class ships built. Her décor is intimate elegance with a relaxed and friendly feel, for both passengers and crew.
Dining with our fellow passengers was always jovial. The food was a multi-cultural culinary delight including theme nights, the traditional Parade of the Baked Alaska and the once a month Sunday brunch extravaganza. There was also the occasional cocktail party and formal nights twice a week. I do so love the ships that still have “formal” nights!
We visited 29 fascinating ports, each with its own special appeal. Several ports were “tender” ports but this did not cause the slow disembarkation for the day’s excitement that can be disappointing on larger ships. (Another reason why R class ships are now my favorite ships).
I had many opportunities to accompany groups of passengers on shore excursions as tour escort.
Unfortunately my Canon DSLR did not survive the torrential downpour on Lake Bled
During the 62-day cruise, I taught 33 unique classes and three repeat classes. It was heartening to see that the classes were always full (even dragging in extra chairs) and most of the students, including some men, came to every lesson.
