.: Cath’s Blog:.

I had a laugh yesterday in Calica. I had my training in the morning and finished at 3pm. I went straight to bed…I was exhausted and was woken up by Anoushka confirming the time for dinner.

Honestly I was not in the mood to go out, but I really need to make the effort, so I said I would go. I actually had a great time. Julie came and knocked on at 6pm and I spent 15 mins pissing around trying to work out which channel was ABC as “Lost” was on and I wanted to tape it. Anyway, We met Jo, Doc, Rui & Noush on the gangway at 6:15pm and headed out into what I thought would be baking heat…actually, it was pretty ok.

We took a taxi downtown and walked around a bit…they have done a lot in Playa, I was impressed. We found a nice restaurant and enjoyed our dinner…only the portions of EVERYTHING were pretty small. Drinks were in tumblers!! NO FISHBOWLS!!

After we finished we went into Carlos n’ Charlies for a drink and then back to the ship. I sat and watched lost and met up with Noush and went to the Crew Party. It was very dull, so I left about 1:30am. I was totally knackered this morning…not good since I had to be up at 6am.

With Britney Spears’ wedding to backup dancer/Red Bull aficionado Kevin Federline now confirmed, many fans (and foes) are wondering what will come next in the former Mouseketeer’s career. Whatever happened to the teen who was “Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman”?

With the couple still measuring their wedded bliss in hours instead of days or weeks, prognosticators and pundits alike are trying to figure out what Britney’s next move will be, and how her marriage will affect her career.

Many have criticized Britney’s choices lately: an impulsive quickie marriage here, a barefoot journey into a public restroom there. At 22, she seems to be heading on a downward spiral, one from which she may never recover. Herewith, a glimpse into her future:

September 18, 2004: Britney Spears marries Kevin Federline in a small, private ceremony attended by family and close friends. Those worried that Britney is losing her sense of tackiness can rest assured that guests dined on chicken fingers and ribs, and the couple shared a first dance to Journey’s “City By the Bay”, played on a boombox. Of all the cheesy love songs Journey produced, the happy couple chose the one about San Francisco? In addition, the men in the wedding party donned matching warmup suits emblazoned with the word “Pimps” on the back. Classy!

September 22, 2004: Kevin Federline’s ex-girlfriend Shar Jackson issues her own statement about how happy she is for the couple, and by the way, did you hear about her great idea for a reality show about a single mom?

October 2004: Tabloid reports begin to surface about Britney and Kevin feuding in public, and Britney travels to Louisiana to stay with her mother for a few weeks. Britney’s publicist strenuously denies any problems in the marriage.

November 2004: Britney and Kevin do an exclusive primetime interview with Katie Couric during November sweeps. They discuss how they want to start a family as soon as possible. They also work in no less than 10 mentions of Britney’s “Greatest Hits” CD, which drops Nov. 9.

April 2005: Britney reveals to a writer from Vanity Fair that she is pregnant and due in September. Vanity Fair puts her on the cover of its May issue, and there are behind-the-scenes reports from the photo shoot that Kevin wanted to be included in the photo and Britney refused. Allegedly, Kevin threw his half-empty can of Red Bull against the wall and stomped outside for a smoke. The cover photo featured a pregnant Britney alone.

September 2005: Justice Lynn Federline is born. Tabloids report that Kevin barely made it to the hospital in time for the birth of his third child, and rumors begin swirling that Britney and Kevin are no longer sharing a residence.

November 2005: Britney, Kevin, and Justice do an exclusive primetime sweeps interview with Diane Sawyer. Britney insists that her marriage is fine, and that they’ve never been happier.

January 2006: Britney files for divorce. The Smoking Gun Web site posts copies of Britney and Kevin’s prenuptial agreement. Kevin countersues, protesting that he signed the prenup while under the influence, and thus was unable to make rational decisions. An anonymous source from Britney’s camp asserts that even on a good day, Kevin is unable to make a rational decision. A California judge rules that the prenup is invalid, and Britney settles with Kevin for an undisclosed amount. Kevin promptly drops out of the public eye, and is last seen performing as a backup dancer on the New Kids on the Block reunion tour.

July 2006: Britney is photographed exiting a New York club with Tara Reid and Lindsay Lohan. Her publicist issues a statement that Britney was discussing potential film collaborations.

August 2006: Britney is photographed exiting a Los Angeles club with Ashton Kutcher, fresh from his July divorce from Demi Moore. Her publicist issues a statement that Britney was discussing a comeback vehicle for both of them, since Kutcher has not been seen on screen since “Punk’d: The Movie” bombed in late 2005.

September 2006: Britney delivers a rambling and incoherent discourse on the nature of celebrity during a press conference announcing the release of her new CD “Greatest Hits: Volume 2.” Her publicist issues a statement that Britney is suffering from exhaustion and jet lag.

November 2006: Britney’s new CD drops off the charts after spending two weeks at number 36. Rumors of Britney’s mental deterioration fuel tabloid stories. Late in the month, Britney checks into Promises rehab center for a month-long stay for addiction to prescription painkillers.

January 2007: Even the tabloids stop paying attention to Britney.

October 2008: Almost two years after her last CD was released, Random House announces a Britney Spears tell-all memoir on their fall release list, titled “Sometimes I Run.”

November 2008: Britney makes the talk show rounds to promote her new book. She wears a suit and appears both self-deprecating and lucid. “Sometimes I Run” stays on the New York Times Non-Fiction Best Seller List for 14 weeks. Critics hail the book as “courageous” and “juicy.” In it, Britney reveals that she never stopped loving Justin Timberlake, and that all of 2004 was a reaction to losing him. When reached for comment, Justin (in the middle of his ‘NSYNC reunion world tour) says, “Britney was my first love, and she will always have a special place in my heart.” Meanwhile, tickets sales for ‘NSYNC’s tour are less than expected.

June 2009: Britney announces a string of performances in Las Vegas at the Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace, recently vacated by Celine Dion. The shows sell out immediately, and Britney eventually performs a month’s worth of shows to rave reviews, then takes time off to record a new album.

May 2010: Britney does a tongue-in-cheek cameo as herself on ABC’s hip sitcom “No New Messages” during May sweeps.

June 2010: Paparazzi capture photos of Justin Timberlake kissing Britney on the cheek as they exit an L.A. restaurant. Britney’s publicist claims that they are “old friends and nothing more.”

July 2010: Justin Timberlake’s publicist issues a statement confirming that he and Cameron Diaz have divorced, and Cameron will retain custody of their two children, Rhubarb and Scarlett. The publicist denies that Britney Spears had anything to do with the breakup.

November 2010: Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake do an exclusive prime time sweeps interview, in which they admit that they are dating, but are trying to take it slow. They record a duet of a dance version of “The Mickey Mouse Club Theme Song” which hits number one on the club charts.

December 2010: Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake get married on New Year’s Eve in Memphis in a private ceremony. Shortly thereafter, Britney announces that she is pregnant, and due in early summer.

March 2025: Britney Spears is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility. The nominating committee cites her pioneering work as a teen pop artist, and despite a few missteps early on in her career, acknowledge that her more mature sound paved the way for both male and female artists in the years to follow. Britney attends the ceremony with her husband and fellow inductee, Justin Timberlake, as well as their children Justice, Rhubarb, Scarlett, and Britain.

Britney is back, and it’s fabulous…

I had a good day today. We got back into NOLA at the usual time and for some reason I really couldn’t get out of bed. The way the ship docked my window was blocked by part of the pier, so it looked really dark. I must have hit my snooze button ten times and finally got out of bed at 10am.

Last night I had been waiting for a crewmember to return resources till late and he didn’t come….typical!! He beeped me at 6:45am this morning and I called the number back and whoever answered the phone hung up on me (I was pretty angry), he beeped me later on about 8:30am and I spoke with him…maybe this was why I was tired.

I managed to get off the ship at about 10:30am and my intention was to go to the post office. I took the Riverfront Tram down to Canal Street and walked up to Canal Place where a local told me there was a Post Office…I was pissed when I got there and was told that it was a drop off only and the main Post Office was at the World Trade Center.

I feel a little uneasy going into ANY federal building in the United States to be honest…but I didn’t have much choice. I walked back down Canal and went up into the World Trade Center and bumped into my friend Diane who was mailing money orders to the bank for Anoushka.

The Little Miss Attitude Postal Clerk was quite rude telling us to hurry things up as the Post Office was closing for Lunch!!! Anyway, after messing around trying to make sure we were completing everything correctly we finally got done and me and Diane walked back up Canal.

I stopped by the payphone and called home. When I called on Friday Dad was sleeping, so I didn’t get to speak to him. Mum had told me that the Headway was sold, so I wanted to find out all the gossip about that. I was glad to hear that everything was ok at home…Dad updated me on all that had gone on at the Hotel and bits n’ bobs about computers too!

I called Ged too to touch bass, he is excited about going to NY and LV…lucky thing!! I didn’t get a chance to talk to the boys, they were eating.

I came back onto the ship at about 1:30pm and went straight to training. Hopefully we will have no more hurricanes this cruise!!

Well, we couldn’t go to NOLA today because of “Ivan The Terrible” (as my Mum calls it) and ended up in Galveston. I thought we would be able to get off the ship, but we sailed at 1pm :o(

Anyway we are at sea again on our way now to NOLA and should be there sometime tomorrow. We are having an overnight, so me and a few friends are going off for dinner hopefully and a bit of shopping. Thank goodness the hurricane didn’t really effect NOLA.

Ok, Hurricane Ivan is causing total chaos. We are today in Vera Cruz, MX and were in yucky Progresso yesterday with the Cele. Of course we had to cancel our ports of Calica and Cozumel as the ports had been closed because of the hurricane.

Now I am seeing news that the Hurricane is heading straight for New Orleans and if it hits the town dead on it could flood the city as apparently NO is approx 20 feet under sea level. Scary!!!

Anyway the guests have been informed there is a POSSIBILITY that we will not be going to NO, so I assume that there is a good chance this will be the case…..damn!! Maybe we will go to Galveston!!!

I went off for a walk this afternoon in Vera Cruz. It was pretty nice…not as good as the other two, but at least we didn’t have a day at sea.

Last night again I got absolutely no sleep and was pretty much pissed right off. I went to the Crew Bar last night with Gavin and ended up sitting in the internet cafe until about 2:30am. When I left the cafe and went into the bar I found that Gavin had gone to bed “light weight”. Luckily the CD was there, bought me a drink and we slagged off Wayne Rooney for about an hour…joy!!

The vibrations in my cabin when I got back from the crew bar were pretty unbearable….the doors were swinging on my cupboard and everything AGAIN was falling off my shelves!!! I got to bed at about 3:30am and set my alarm for 6:45am for immigration. My head felt a little saw but I managed ok. Luckily for me we get some good windows in New Orleans. After immigration I went back to my cabin and started packing. Luckily I hardly unpacked, as I knew I was moving cabins…so it didn’t take all that long.

The first window in NO is from 8-8:40am, so I went for breakfast, saw Gavin, said goodbye and headed out of the ship. I waited for a little while for a tram and then decided to walk downtown. I totally forgot that there was a Wallgreens downtown, which was a bit annoying and I went into Tower Records for a nosey. The weather was nice and it was starting to get really hot, so I jumped on a tram back up to Riverwalk and got back onto the ship.

My cabin was ready when I got back onboard and it was so great to finally unpack and just lie on my bed and relax without fucking rattling going on all day long!! Loads of crew signed on today, as they had been held up because of Frances, so the training had to be delayed for a while. After the training I relaxed for a while and went to work…where I am now…we’re sailing down the Mississippi!!!

Awwwww Bless, Gavin is leaving the Destiny.

We had a small gathering for him and he seemed really touched.

Now we have to face the bad weather heading our day :o(