Today, after our weekly drill, there was a Captain's meeting for the whole crew, and after that, our monthly divisional meeting led by the cruise director. The divisional meeting is for entertainment staff only. And because we have a couple of new guys in the orchestra, there was also another rehearsal for tonight's production show (Pure Energy). So we were busy from about 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. (with a break for lunch).

The Captain's meeting was pretty routine. A few issues were brought up that need to be addressed, but basically Captain Johnny was pretty happy with the crew of the Mariner. It seems we're scoring at the top of the fleet in terms of guest satisfaction, cleanliness, safety, and environmental (although we did use more water last month, for some reason). We all got t-shirts with a Mariner of the Seas – Crew emblem on the front and the crew slogan, “Work Hard, Play Harder!” on the back.

The Captain asked us to try very hard to be particularly nice to the guests this cruise, and he warned us that it would be "a challenge", because of the 1000-plus little a....... , er, children on the ship this week (and next). Also, there are only 600 "repeaters" this cruise – a record low. This means most of the 3600 guests have never sailed with Royal Caribbean before, and it's even more important to keep cool than usual. We want them to have a good experience so they'll come back.

Captain Johnny also mentioned that he had to throw one guest off the ship (not literally, into the water - he left him in Jamaica). This is a very rare occurrence, so the guest must have been a real jerk. Nine others involved in the same incident have been given warnings. I guess it's best to remove those who would ruin it for others. I mean, you can get thrown out of clubs, so why not a ship? It's just that being thrown off a ship is at least an order of magnitude more inconvenient, and expensive.

The Captain's meeting ended with a raffle, with a laptop, digital cameras and photo printers, home theater systems, I-Pods, etc. as prizes. We have these draws every couple of months. The proceeds from the draws go into the crew welfare fund, which I mentioned in an earlier posting.

I always get tickets for the draw, not because I want to win (I don't care), but because the crew welfare fund is a good cause. The welfare fund is used for various crew activities and excursions, bicycle purchase and upkeep, new crew facilities, videos, and so on. Recently the fund purchased a laptop and a video camera, both available for anyone to use.

Right after the Captain's meeting we had the divisional meeting, which was kept short because everyone has been so busy with X-mas, especially those who showed up as volunteers a couple of nights ago to wrap the 1000-plus presents, one of which each little f...., er, kid is getting when Santa arrives on Saturday. The wrapping party started at 10:30, and lasted long into the night. The crew welfare fund again helped to keep spirits high by supplying free wine and beer and pizza to the volunteers (a good incentive, wouldn't you say?).

Oh, there's a Santa Clause parade on the ship. Saturday. It starts on the Royal Promenade on deck five, and ends in Studio 2 (the ice rink) on deck two. My ex-roommate, David, has been chosen to be Santa, probably because of his build and jolly nature. I hope he doesn't have to get too close to the little bra... , er, children, though. At nine in the morning his breath is usually still quite ripe from partying the night before.

For the parade the dancers and skaters will be costumed as Santa's elves, and members of the orchestra will participate by playing some carols along the way. I get out of that one because the bass guitar is not a portable instrument.

One of the musicians, Troy, our lead trumpet player, would make an ideal Scrooge for the parade. Troy has a world view very similar to Scrooge's, and a scowl that would require very little makeup to enhance. But he's been passed over for this (I think the director missed the boat there, so to speak – Troy's a natural, both in appearance and demeanor). Oh well, what can you do?

I remember feeling quite empty and, well, lonely I guess, last Christmas. I didn't feel like participating in the parties. I spent most of Christmas night up on the dark deck, deck five forward, lying in a lounge chair in the calm, warm, Caribbean night, looking at the starry, starry sky. Thinking about the old times, past Christmases. Thinking about a lot of things. A bottle of Jamaican Appleton's rum handy in my knapsack.

This year's different – at least, somewhat different. I'm glad to be around people this time. I can think of only one place I'd rather be for Christmas than on the ship, and that's at home, of course. With family and friends.

Next year I intend to make it so.