Interview with Melodye Brant

Melodye is the Culinary Arts Center Host on the Eurodam. The Eurodam is the ship that we sailed on around the Caribbean and across the Atlantic Ocean. Melodye hosted most of the craft activities and any of the cooking activities in the Culinary Arts Center.

Katarina: What is your name?

Melodye: My name is Melodye Brant.

Katarina: Where and when were you born?

Melodye: I was born in Bartesville, Oklahoma on March 10 (age not given).

Katarina: Did you have any brothers or sisters?

Melodye: No, I'm an only child.

Katarina: What was your favorite thing about school?

Melodye: Probably English.

Katarina: What was your first job?

Melodye: Staffing service.

Katarina: What is your favorite place to visit?

Melodye: I can’t decide probably Spain, New Zealand and South East Asia.

Katarina: How long have you worked with Holland America Line?

Melodye: 1 1/2 years.

Katarina: What is it like to work on a cruise ship ?

Melodye: Work hard. Play hard. Long hours. But you get to travel.

                                                                                                                          

Katarina: Have you always been Culinary Host ?

Melodye : Yes I have.

Our day in Cadiz

Cadiz is an ancient port city in southwest Spain and is almost entirely surrounded by water. It was named Gadir when it was founded in 1100 BC by the Phoenicians. It was later controlled by the Carthaginians and then the Romans. In the early 16th century is was a launching point for the journey to the newly discovered lands of America. Cadiz was raided by Sir Francis Drake in the struggle to gain control of trade with the New World and also managed to withstand a siege by Napoleon’s army. In the early 19th century Cadiz was the center of Spain’s liberal movement and the country’s first Constitution was declared here in 1812.

We visited Cadiz on April 7th. It was our second land stop during our Transatlantic cruise. We started with a Hop On Hop Off tour that took us around the city. Part of the time, I listened to mine in German. We got off the bus at the Roman Theater and my dad took lots of pictures. Then we walked around trying to find the other side of the theater. We asked lots of people and no one knew where it was. We kept walking around until we finally found it. We took more pictures and watched a short video about the work they are doing.

We looked at a few shops and bought some postcards then we stopped for some chocolate and churros. My mom ordered 2 chocolates and 2 churros and we got a lot of churros. People kept coming by the table and asking us to give them money. Sometimes the restaurant guys would tell them to go away and other times they would just let them, which is very weird.

Interview with Ron Cameron

I met Ron one night at dinner. He was in the Navy for 22 year, he was a contractor for 15 years after that, and he has been on 110 cruises. Ron was the first person I interviewed for my blog.

Katarina: What is your name?

Ron: My name is Ron Cameron.

Katarina: Where and when were you born?

Ron: I was born in Los Angeles on April 26, 1935.

Katarina: Did you have any brothers or sisters?

Ron: Yes, I did. I have 1 brother who is 16 months older than me. My brother is a Cell Biologist named Ivan Cameron.

Katarina: What was your favorite thing about school?

Ron: I loved football and I was a football player and very athletic back then, but for something in the classroom I liked history.

Katarina: What was your first job?

Ron: My first job was stocking shelves at a Mom and Pop grocery store. I was paid $0.25 per hour. I was 13 years old.

Katarina: What is your favorite place to visit?

Ron: Well, I love Barcelona, but I lived in Hawaii for 3 years so I would have to say Hawaii. I can’t live there anymore because the prices are too high.

Katarina: I understand you have been on 110 cruises - do you have a favorite?

Ron: No. If I want to hang out with old people, I go on Holland America Line. If I want to hang out with young people I go on Carnival.

Katarina: Why did you choose the Navy? Did you like it?

Ron: My father was in the Navy. My Grandfather was in the Navy. My son was in the Navy. I wanted to go to sea and I loved the Navy.

Katarina: How many ships have you been on in the Navy?

Ron: Just guessing, 25. All the ships that I was on in the Navy were hot rods and they were 35 watts. What they did was protect submarines and could shoot from 23 miles. The ships had 370 men and were 370 feet long.

Our day in Funchal

Funchal is the largest city and the capital of Madeira, a Region of Portugal. The city has a population of 11,892, making it the 6th largest city in Portugal, and it has been the capital of Madeira for more than 5 centuries. Christopher Columbus was an early settler in Funchal.

On April 5th  we got off the ship and like that we were in FUNCHAL  it was very fun and hot. We went produce shopping for all sorts of PASSION FRUITS (like banana passion fruit). After we got GELATO!! - it was very yummy - and guess what flavor i got?  You are all probably thinking passion fruit, but i got STRAWBERRY. My dad got PASSION FRUIT. My mom got TIRAMISU. While we were sitting and enjoying our gelato we saw our trivia partners Carol and Martin and they recommended an open faced sandwich with grilled cheese with bacon on top so we just had to have it. We weren’t ready for lunch so we went to the public market to get some more passion fruit. Afterwards we went to the store to get... (if you’re thinking passion fruit, you are wrong) we got POSTCARDS!!!! Then we went to lunch and had the cheese and bacon sandwiches called Bolo do Caco. After lunch we wrote and sent the postcards. Then we got back on the ship AND WE MISSED TRIVIA!!!!! GRRRR... I am very mad  because we have NEVER missed trivia before. Tomorrow is another sea day. Our last sea day of this trip - BOOOO.

Cruising the Atlantic Ocean

Day 2  of the Transatlantic Holland America cruise. We started the day off with an omelette with cheese, onions, mushrooms, and bacon and a sticky bun, which tastes like a cinnamon bun. I also started some world-schooling on Math and Langauge Arts, so I am working very hard on making that fun for myself. After I finish world-schooling I get to do fun activies like Trivia. We did not win. We lost by 7 and I know you are probably thinking “Wow that is not a lot”, but the questions are really hard. We also watched a cooking demonstration of how to make chicken with smoked cumen which sounds pretty good to me. The show was boring, but at least we got the recipe.  Then we did some more Language Arts before we headed off to the Cabana for chcocolate dipped strawberries and champagne (don’t worry, I did not have any champagne). Afterwards we got dressed up for formal night and had a very scrumptious dinner.

Day 3 we got up at 8:30 and got the usual breakfast. Then Mom and I went to a craft class to make a recipe book with the recipes from Holland America Line. Man did they have cool recipes!  After, I did more world-schooling on a langauge arts seqence chart. Then we went down to deck 2 and watched J.T.,  the Cruise Director, and Amy, the Spa Manager, in CHEF WARS. It was a cook off making hamburgers. J.T. won. After that we went up to deck 9 to play ping-pong. While we were playing ping-pong we watched Crew vs Guests at volleyball in the water and the guests won. Then we went back to our Cabana and read for a bit before going to tea. The tea was very good, but the food was meh. The napkins were reeeeeally small. After that we went to Guest Services and got my dad’s coat and hat. My dad forgot to bring his hat and coat, so our friend shipped it to the Fort Lauderdale cruise terminal.  We went back to our cabin and chilled and blogged and read.

TO BE CONTINUED ...

Days 4-9 We were "at sea". Our days were the same - we got up and had the usual breakfast. We always tried o sit in the section where Nyoman was the server. He was very happy and always said HI to me.

After breakfast we did world schooling. Then we met up with our team for team trivia. Martin and Carol from Alabama and Rick and Sandra from North Carolina. We also met up with them to play other games like Scattergories, Euchre, Crazy Eights, Go Fish and RF.

This picture was taken on the day that we WON Team Trivia!!!!

Sometimes we went to afternoon tea and sometimes we played BINGO.

Most nights we had dinner in the dining room and my Dad always asked to sit with "nice, friendly people". We met some really interesting people at dinner.

One night we met a guy named Ron Cameron who has been in the Navy for 22 years and has also been on 110 cruises and a girl named Mari who was booked ont he Andrea Doria when she was 3 but she switched ships. I found these people so interesting that I decided to interview them for a separate blog post.

On another night, we had dinner with people from Germany and the other people were from Canada. We also had dinner with Mary from Canada. Mary told interesting stories. We met lots of people from Florida, too.

On the nights we didn't eat in the dining room we usually went to the buffet and brought the food back to the room and watched a movie. One night we watched Hotel Transylvania, one night we watched Minions, and on another night we watched When in Rome. We also watched an Indian film called Bride and Prejudice.

We made ribbon roses and cork place card holders with Melodye and mine turned out pretty good.

One night we went to Karaoke. I didn't sing, but our friend Rick sang.

We also went to the Chef Wars finale with Rick and Sandra and Martina nd Carol. It was very comical. Erwin, the Dining Room Manager, and JT, the Cruise Director, dressed up. Erwin was an Indonesian warrior and JT was his "wife". JT is a boy, so it was really funny.

On Day 10 we are finally back on land. We are in Funchal, Madiera, Portugal. My next blog post will be about Funchal.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Bon Voyage Napa

The adventure began when we went on an airplane for 4 long hours.We flew to Florida and then we stayed at the Renaissance hotel.

We went to Kelly’s Landing for dinner and had the best clam chowder, it was so creamy and soft in your mouth.

Then out of the blue BAM!!!!! a plate fell on my chair, but luckly it did not fall on me, it just fell on the floor. So I could not get up, then another out of the blue another plate fell and broke, so again I could not get up. I was flabbergasted! Then we finally left and by that point I was like they definitely don’t like me, but they were very nice so I would recommend that place to anybody who is going to Florida.




We also had fried clams which were surprisingly very good.


We had lobster as well.

Anyway, after dinner we went to Winn Dixie - and no I did not see a dog who was knocking everything off in the produce section. If you read the book or watched the movie - “Winn Dixie” - you would get my terrible joke.

The next day we checked out of the Renaissance hotel and we were off in a taxi.  We were dropped off at Port Everglades and we had to go through customer service and then go through another long line to get our  room cards and to take my credit privileges away. Finally, we got on Holland America Line’s Eurodam for a 7 day Caribbean cruise. 

On Day 1 we looked around and then we did the life boat drill and I was not feeling very well so I barfed and then the medic came and the rest is history. Then my ear was really hurting, so we went to see the medic again. I also barfed again. You know the saying “1st the worst” - that was true - “2nd the best” - untrue - “3rd wins the treasure chest” - it is actually true because 1st was the worst and 2nd was the best because it was the last time and 3rd was the treasure chest because it did not happen again. Thankfully the day was over YAY!!!   Finally.

Day 2 was a sea day. We did some Trivia and got 5 out of 15 right YAY!!! But we did not win, the winning team got 12 right and won a bottle of Champagne. We also played Pictionary and met Alexis and Ernestine - our team lost by 1, but I still got a pin! 

Then we discovered our Cabana and the guys are super nice. We have a very nice view of the water.

Day 3 we sailed to Turks and Caicos. We got of the ship and explored the shops. We went to Margaritaville and I had a virgin margarita and we sat in hammocks and swinging chairs on the beach. On our way back to the ship, we went into a shop and bought 3 postcards, then we went to the post office.

Day 4 we sailed to San Juan and we got off the ship. We did a history tour and it was also a culinary tour. First we learned about San Juan and about the Mayor and stuff. We learned that Puerto Rico is actually part of the United States, but they cannot vote for the President. We saw a nunnery and a Cathedral. Then we got to the culinary part. First we made Mojitos which has rum in it. I had a virgin mojito so mine had mint, lime, ice, sparkling water, and last but not least simple syrup. Then we made mofongo, a very popular dish in Puerto Rico.  Mofongo has plantains, which look like bananas, but are used more like potatoes.  We added chicken stock then we smashed the plantains and added butter,oil and garlic and then we mashed again. We made the mashed plantains into the shape of a bowl and we put chicken and a creole sauce in it, then we ate it. After the tour, we went on a shopping spree and I bought a Michel Kors purse and my mom bought a Louie Vuitton. It  started pouring rain so it was very hard to get back to the ship.

Day 5 we sailed to San Maarten and met the Yoda guy. He is the guy that created and helped build Yoda. He was all about following your dreams and do not be average. In the Yoda museum there were lots of plaster masks, like Bob Hope, Katherine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, and klingon clown.

Day 6 was a sea day so we hung out on the ship and Day 7 we sailed to Half Moon Cay. We stayed on the ship and played ping-pong and played Bingo but we did not win. We also played trivia and got 11 out of 15 YAY!!!  

Day 8 we were back in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We stayed on the ship and just chilled. We played ping-pong again and got ready for the next cruise.

TO BE CONTINUED ….

Our Itinerary

Right now we are on our way to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Tomorrow (March 20) until March 27th -- Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Holland America Eurodam
Ports to be visited include: Turks and Caicos, San Juan Puerto Rico, Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, and St. Maartin - with a couple of sea days to enjoy the basketball/tennis/volleyball courts, the culinary courses, crafts, and the trivia contents.

March 27- April 10 - Transatlantic Cruise on the Holland America Eurodam
Lots more sea days on this portion of the cruise - ends up with a stop in Funchal, Portugal, Cadiz, Spain, Malaga, Spain, Cartegena, Spain, and finally, Barcelona - where we will visit some of our favorite places from our visit 2 years ago. We are also planning to meet up with Brent, Clara and Josh - a family that we met in Paris last year at the playground behind Notre Dame.

April 10-14 - Barcelona

April 14-May 1 - Tuscany (just outside of Impruneta and 40 minutes from Florence)

May 1-7 - Rome

May 7-20 - back to Tuscany

May 20-23 - quick flight to Paris to pick up our leased car and visit Disneyland Paris before the annual passes that we bought last year expire.

May 23-June 18 - Colmar

June 18 - TBD

June 19-June 24 - We are staying at Julia and Paul Childs cottage in Provence. Anyone who knows how much KT love Julia Childs will understand what an amazing treat this will be.

June 24-July 18 - Mont Boron in the hills above Nice and Villefranche-sur-Mer

July 18-August 13 - Boulbon (in Provence)
We are staying out in the county on a farm with orchards.

August 13-August27 - Paris

Less than and hour and a half until we get to Fort Lauderdale and we try a cubano - just like the movie Chef.