So I have now figured out how to put pictures here. I have to go to a place off the ship that has free wi fi. Like the Blenz Coffee I am sitting in right now in Vancouver. It is like 10 times faster than the internet on the ship. So here are a few I have taken so far. Again there are more on facebook because for some reason the pictures take quite some time to upload even now. And I am somewhat impatient.

My cabin mate Judy, unpacking and showing off our sweet bunk beds.

Skagway, Alaska

My ship docked in Skagway

Glacier Bay

Well I have seen how unorganized a large corporate environment can be since working here. For the last two weeks there were rumors going around that they were going to take the other cook in the restaurant, Lemont, away and move him somewhere else. After trying to confirm this with the executive chef of the ship he just said, "You never know what is going to happen." Then the last night we were told that he would be changing positions today. So in one night everything got messed up. There was no time to train the new guy, and the chef of my restaurant is busy helping the guest chef on board and I have no idea what goes on at that station. So I have a feeling that dinner tonight will be very interesting.

I have also been informed by many of the crew that they are all extra nice to me, not because of my seniority in the kitchen. It is because they think that after this contract I will become the 2nd cook, which is just under the executive chef of the ship and skip the sous chef position, and eventually become chief cook, or the executive chef. So they expect that if they are nice now and give me anything I want I will remember in the future and return the favor. I laughed when they told me this.

On to the topic of piracy! This kitchen is all about it, at least in my restaurant. Most of the items on our food orders never get approved because of budget restrictions. So we are forced to go around to all of the other kitchens and snag whatever we need. If I need fruit I go to garde manger and swipe what I need and hide it in a covered pan as I walk away. If I need vegetables I go to the vegetable guy and try to bargain for a bell pepper or two. If I need mashed potatoes I go to the potato man, and yes there is a guy who only deals with potatoes, and I usually trade him a red bull for some mashed potatoes. This is worth it because it saves me time. And then I go to the soup man and take from him what I need, well you get the picture. I am constantly walking around all of the kitchens looking for tools and pans and hijacking them and hiding them in our kitchen. We lock up our equipment at the end of the night. Plastic wrap is worth more than gold as there is currently two rolls for the deck 4 kitchens. One for my restaurant and one for the main galley, garde manger, bakers, buffet, and salad kitchens. Ours is always hidden or locked up. Also 1/3 hotel pans, 1/9 hotel pans, whisks and silicone molds are a precious commodity, that are locked up and hidden. Even the key to get into our padlocked cabinet is hidden. You can't trust anyone, and some stuff even makes its way back to my cabin every night, as I don't want to risk losing any of it. Once it goes missing, consider it gone forever. The art of stealing, bargaining, and trading are very important here.

Other than that nothing else new for me. I will try to take some pictures of the kitchens and post them soon.