May 20, 2012
This was party week in Team HR. Not only was Rosie on board for our anniversary but we also had two birthdays to celebrate, Tim’s and Dwight’s. Tim’s was first and we would be at anchor that day in the harbor of Split, Croatia. It was going to be a busy day, but Tim, Karen, Rosie and I decided that we would feast Tim’s annual celebration on shore in Split.
Tender operations are quite different than when we dock. Tendering can happen for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the draft of the boat is too deep to get close to the dock due to shallow water. Sometimes there are simply too many boats visiting and all the dock space is taken. Split meets the first condition. So our boat sat safely in anchor on the bay and our ship’s tender boats were in the water to carry guests and crew from and to the ship. We boarded the bright orange boat and clambered up to the top deck to enjoy the view of Split as we arrived. The city has a lovely beach front charm to it. Knowing little about Croatia we were pleasantly surprised at what we saw. The look was that of some of the most upscale beach communities in the United States from the 50s and 60s. When we reached shore we were ready to explore.
But food came first. Not too far down the beach we found a collection of cafes in a small plaza that opened up to the beach. We saw a Croatian crewmate eating at one of the restaurants and took that as a sign that it must be good. We walked up to her table, asked her for her recommendation, and then found a table in a corner so we could take in the entire view of the plaza and shore in front of us. The food was great and the company delightful as we toasted the anniversary of Tim’s birth. We passed on dessert as we had seen a gelataria along the promenade. We made a beeline for the sweet shop as we finished our meal.
That’s when things got weird. Karen and I are accustomed to being noticed by ship’s guests, either because of my guest engagement events like DWTS or Karen’s magnificent work in al Bacio. But this time, we were stopped by guests to talk to . . . Rosie! She had made friends with a couple while exploring the ship and when they saw her ashore they decided to chat her up. For those of us who represent the cruise line we found it amusing that the newest ‘guest’ on Silhouette should be the focus of attention for our guests. The conversation eventually included us all but the couple was chatty. When we looked at the clock at the end of this guest encounter we understood that there would be no time for shopping excursions or further explorations. We headed back to the tender boat and loaded for our brief sale back home. The top deck was full of crew all in great spirits from our short time ashore in Split. For most of us it was a first visit and we were glad we had.
Now you really didn’t expect that anyone was going to do the ‘splits’ in this entry, did you?
And the adventure continues . . .
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