Today we had boat drill. I’m sure you’re all shocked! Boat Drill? Again?!? Never you fear. The crew of the Norwegian Dawn know the procedures in case of an emergency. Nor I have heard many of the crew state that they will jump into the boats and leave the passengers behind, but we all know the procedures. It was actually fairly short today because we had a Captain’s meeting. Awesome!
Funny thing about the meeting, the Captain wasn’t there. He was apparently sick and they (don’t know who “they” are) decided he should rest rather than be at the meeting. We started off the meeting with someone (I think it was the Staff Captain) giving us sort of a pep talk…sort of. He started off by just talking to us about very general things, but ended the chat warning us of the perils of drug trafficking. Yeah, drug trafficking. Apparently there have been crew members who bring drugs from New York to Bermuda. They are in jail now. Nice way to end the meeting before all the celebrationy stuff, eh?
The S.T.Y.L.E. awards were right after the meeting. In case I didn’t mention, my supervisor was nominated for Manager of the Month, the YCs were nominated for team of the month, and I was nominated for Rookie of the Month. Well, Sunshine didn’t win and our team didn’t win, but I DID!! Yeah, me! It was super exciting and it felt good to be recognized. Also, apparently it is extremely uncommon for YCs to win…ever! I got a goody bag of NCL/S.T.Y.L.E. stuff and an internet card, so that was cool. Everyone was extremely proud and took lots of pictures.
We weren’t going to have a ton of beach time after the meeting, so we decided to go to Snorkel Park. I had bought a snorkel set for cheap in the gift shop and decided that today was the first day to try it out. I was wrong. Now, it was fun, but the sand was so stirred up that there wasn’t much I would be able to see. Oh well. We got enough of a show with all the foreign men and their skimpy suits. We even had one who, while covering himself, changed out of his suit and into some shorts. We didn’t need a snorkel for that.
While we were waiting for our crew Catamaran tour, Pops and I went shopping at the mall. My sunglasses broke, so I found a pair there. When we finished and headed back to the ship, we had just enough time for me to run in, drop off my towel, and change out of my wet swimsuit. Glenn, the Crew Welfare guy, had told us that it was just a sight-seeing tour. I got back to the meeting place in record time. When the Catamaran pulled up, there were lounging rafts across the front of the boat. I told Popsicle that I would probably regret changing out of my swimsuit since we could tan. One of the crew on the Catamaran, Sidley, started telling us the important information; where the bathrooms were, where the life jackets are, and where the bar is once we dropped anchor for our swimming. Yes, our swimming. That’s right. This Catamaran trip involved and hour and a half of swimming. I was so pissed. We went down to the bar to get a drink and one of the guys asked why I took my suit off. I told him that I thought it was a sight-seeing tour and Sidley overheard me. She said that there may be an extra suit on board that I could borrow. Turns out there was, but it was Smitty’s (the captain of the catamaran). Well, as she said, I would at least keep my shorts dry. When it was time to go swimming, I was trying to decide what to do to hopefully keep my tank top dry. I finally just gave up. Good thing my bra sort of looked like a swimsuit top! It was well worth it. We had an absolute BLAST swimming around (once we moved away from the beach with the tingly water. It was weird) and got to use their snorkel gear to explore the reefs. That was so much fun that we did it twice; we swam from the beach to the boat and then decided to swim back to the beach. What an awesome time!
That night one of our activities was to go see the Second City in their mainstage show. I, again, hadn’t seen it before and I was SUPER excited to go. It was a lot of fun. They did some rehearsed sketches but also did some improv. It was actually pretty funny and I was glad to have had the chance to see one of their full length shows. Only one of the kids showed up, so it was me, Pops, and Shane.
Right after the show we were scheduled to go to the Chocoholic Buffet. Shane and I got in line right away while Pops went to see if there was anyone else meeting in the disco to join us. He came down with a HUGE group of kids who tried to get in line with us, but there were too many so I sent them to the back. Most of them ended up leaving because they didn’t want to wait in line at all. Oh well, the chocolate wasn’t that good anyway!
As soon as I was finished with my chocolate it became my night off. I went over to the T-Rex Center because I needed some help from Rainbow Fish. That night was the night of the Art Party. Basically, the art auction that had been on board the previous week went really, really well. As a celebration of all the money they made, we got to have a party at the Bimini. There was a contest to dress up as a work of art. The prizes rocked again! 1st was a digital camera, 2nd a PSP, and 3rd an iPod. I had Rainbow Fish paint me. I didn’t have much of an idea, so I just let her go and ended up with an awesome moon/star thing going on. I did not win any prizes, but we had a great time hanging out and having fun.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Day Twenty-Five: Blah with a Splash of Excitement
Today sort of sucked as a port day. I knew I was going to have to be back on ship early because of port play, so I didn’t make any major plans. Lego wanted to do something with me, so we decided to meet for breakfast. After that, she and I went shopping. We went to this jewelry store that has these really pretty stones called “Ocean Mist.” Supposedly they are made to mimic the color of the ocean in Bermuda. Well, needless to say, they are pretty. And they were having a sale. So after some texting discussion with Jim, we decided that I should get them for our anniversary. After all, I was in Bermuda for our 4th anniversary.
Lego had to wonder back to the ship long before I did because she was going to the beach with everyone else who didn’t have to work. Since I was all alone with not much to do, I decided to go on a hunt. A hunt for the supposed free wireless internet along the streets near our ship. I walked around a little bit with my laptop out and open. I found a couple signals, but they were very weak. I tried to think about what one of the girls told me about a street and alcoves. I ended up finding a street that sort of fit the profile, but the connection was still weak. I decided to give it a shot and it worked great! I took a seat and spent about an hour or so surfing for free. It was nice.
I had to be at port play by 2:00. It wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, but with the teen schedule I didn’t have to work until 9:15. I tried to get Croc to switch with me, but he didn’t want to have to deal with it on Thursday either. Oh well, I guess it really isn’t that big of a deal. There were a total of three kids throughout the whole thing, but each got added in at spread out intervals. I played a lot of guitar hero and they really enjoyed the jungle gym. It was fun. While I was there, I realized that I missed a training the day before. Crap. Hopefully it won’t be that big of a deal or come with any sort of consequence. I left my supervisor a note letting her know. We’ll see.
I randomly gave Jim a call because I had some time and a phone card. I don’t know what made me decide to do it, but it was an awesome decision. He told me that our friend, Gabe, just got cast in the Broadway cast of “Spring Awakening!” Not only have we always thought that Gabe was an amazing talent, but it’s so thrilling to have someone you know succeeding in what they truly love to do. It definitely made my day.
That night I got to see another of the Jean Ann Ryan Co. shows, “South Beach Rave.” It was decent. It wasn’t the best thing in the world, but it was definitely entertaining. Besides, they had some good music and some fun dancing. Apparently it is the least favorite show of the performers. I do think that the others were better and wonder which came first, the dislike or the bad show?
After the show we were scheduled to dance with the teens on the pool deck. None of them were there. Pops and I danced around deck for about 10 minutes and decided no one was coming. We took a very short break and then went up to the disco for our dance party. Pops and I each got one of the late nights off this week and he chose Wednesday so that he could hopefully to the club in Hamilton. I did my share of dancing and playing music before they all checked out.
Lego had to wonder back to the ship long before I did because she was going to the beach with everyone else who didn’t have to work. Since I was all alone with not much to do, I decided to go on a hunt. A hunt for the supposed free wireless internet along the streets near our ship. I walked around a little bit with my laptop out and open. I found a couple signals, but they were very weak. I tried to think about what one of the girls told me about a street and alcoves. I ended up finding a street that sort of fit the profile, but the connection was still weak. I decided to give it a shot and it worked great! I took a seat and spent about an hour or so surfing for free. It was nice.
I had to be at port play by 2:00. It wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, but with the teen schedule I didn’t have to work until 9:15. I tried to get Croc to switch with me, but he didn’t want to have to deal with it on Thursday either. Oh well, I guess it really isn’t that big of a deal. There were a total of three kids throughout the whole thing, but each got added in at spread out intervals. I played a lot of guitar hero and they really enjoyed the jungle gym. It was fun. While I was there, I realized that I missed a training the day before. Crap. Hopefully it won’t be that big of a deal or come with any sort of consequence. I left my supervisor a note letting her know. We’ll see.
I randomly gave Jim a call because I had some time and a phone card. I don’t know what made me decide to do it, but it was an awesome decision. He told me that our friend, Gabe, just got cast in the Broadway cast of “Spring Awakening!” Not only have we always thought that Gabe was an amazing talent, but it’s so thrilling to have someone you know succeeding in what they truly love to do. It definitely made my day.
That night I got to see another of the Jean Ann Ryan Co. shows, “South Beach Rave.” It was decent. It wasn’t the best thing in the world, but it was definitely entertaining. Besides, they had some good music and some fun dancing. Apparently it is the least favorite show of the performers. I do think that the others were better and wonder which came first, the dislike or the bad show?
After the show we were scheduled to dance with the teens on the pool deck. None of them were there. Pops and I danced around deck for about 10 minutes and decided no one was coming. We took a very short break and then went up to the disco for our dance party. Pops and I each got one of the late nights off this week and he chose Wednesday so that he could hopefully to the club in Hamilton. I did my share of dancing and playing music before they all checked out.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Day Twenty-Four: Dancing the Nights Away
Today was pretty easy. We started off with board games and a little scavenger activity. After lunch we went to a memory seminar put on by the magician on board. It was fairly interesting…but I could not stay awake. In fact, there were quite a few people who were sleeping during the seminar. Oh well. Right after the seminar I went to get ready for our first teen dinner.
We were supposed to go to dinner at one of the formal restaurants, but we could not get a reservation. We ended up going to Blue Lagoon again (that’s the restaurant that we can’t go to.) After dinner we played poker with the teens on the pool deck and that was a HUGE hit. We also got to go see the show of the evening which was cool since it’s the only way I’m going to see those shows. There is a main stage show every evening, but with the younger groups we only see the Monday and Friday shows.
We found out tonight that we are going to have a dance party every night this week. Apparently there are some teens that are complaining about not having any place to go at night. That’s funny, because only a few of them showed up to our movie night the night before. And, when we did have a dance on the first night very few people danced and then they all left early! Whatever. We’ll dance. It went fine tonight; a couple people danced here and there, but they were all out of there by about 12:15 or so. We’ll see how tomorrow goes!
We were supposed to go to dinner at one of the formal restaurants, but we could not get a reservation. We ended up going to Blue Lagoon again (that’s the restaurant that we can’t go to.) After dinner we played poker with the teens on the pool deck and that was a HUGE hit. We also got to go see the show of the evening which was cool since it’s the only way I’m going to see those shows. There is a main stage show every evening, but with the younger groups we only see the Monday and Friday shows.
We found out tonight that we are going to have a dance party every night this week. Apparently there are some teens that are complaining about not having any place to go at night. That’s funny, because only a few of them showed up to our movie night the night before. And, when we did have a dance on the first night very few people danced and then they all left early! Whatever. We’ll dance. It went fine tonight; a couple people danced here and there, but they were all out of there by about 12:15 or so. We’ll see how tomorrow goes!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Day Twenty-Three: Strange Schedule
Well, today was the first day that we were with the teens all day long. It really wasn’t that bad, but our breaks are weird. We have little short breaks, but not really enough to get anything accomplished. Then we had a longer break before the evening program, but we end up scheduled until 1:30 am or so. It made it really hard to do laundry. I try to do it late at night because I use the passenger laundry and I want to stay out of their way, but it was impossible to do this week/today. Oh well.
We ate lunch with our teens today as part of program. It was fun because we went to a restaurant that we are not normally allowed to eat at. I’m really excited about that aspect of this whole week. Because our schedule is different, we will be able to do all sorts of things that I don’t normally get to. I’ll fill you in on more of that later!
We ate lunch with our teens today as part of program. It was fun because we went to a restaurant that we are not normally allowed to eat at. I’m really excited about that aspect of this whole week. Because our schedule is different, we will be able to do all sorts of things that I don’t normally get to. I’ll fill you in on more of that later!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Day Twenty-Two: First Day of Teens
I started this morning with breakfast with Lego, Croc, and Croc’s family. It was nice to spend a little more time with someone’s family, even if it wasn’t mine. They said a tearful goodbye and we all went to get ready to go to New York City. There were a bunch of us (Me, Lego, Crocodile, Lollipop, Strawberry, Felix, and Alex) and we were initially met by Jerry just outside the pier! I think I have gotten to see him more this year than I have ever before. They may all be short visits, but at least they are visits! He took us all on a “tour” of Times Square. Felix, one of the hosts who is a wedding photographer back home, was our own personal photographer. In fact, someone asked if he had been hired to photograph us! We even ran into the Naked Cowboy and got our picture taken with him!!
Our main stop was Conway, and everyone fell as much in love with it as Lego and I did the first time. I ended up finding a pretty cool suitcase for only $16.99! And yes, I did have to buy a suitcase to hold all of my junk coming home. Leah met up with us there. She hadn’t been able to get to the package my parents sent, so it looks like I’ll be in glasses for another week. Did I mention that I ripped the only pair of contacts I have last Wednesday? I think the kicker of the whole thing is that she called the UPS store and told them she was on her way AND asked her roommate, who was right around the corner, to get them. Roomie’s response? “I don’t really want to get up or go anywhere.” Grr. I still appreciate her making the effort and trying for me.
Jerry left after we had been at Conway a bit and most of the group who came with us headed back to the ship. Lego stuck around so that she could go to lunch with us. We went by Ann Taylor to return a pair of pants that I had bought from there. After that, we headed to Chipotle to meet Gabe and his roommate/friend, Rainey. It was super fun. Lego commented on the fact that she enjoyed hanging out with my friends since hers are so far away.
We rushed back to the ship to make it in time and I showered before I had to go work registration. We had a ton of people registering and I didn’t even finish all of the bracelets before I had to go. It was my first night with the teens and I had to where my official Business Casual outfit. We did registration and a little scavenger hunt, but that was not very well received. After a few other games, we had our first dance/pizza party. They only danced a little bit, but they really seemed to enjoy it. They were all out of there by 12:15, so Popsicle and I got to leave at 12:30. Overall it was a good night. There are a couple of kids who can act like punks, but there are also a few who seem great. We’ll see!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Day Twenty-One: Last Day of Week 3
Today started off better. We had a plan of what to do, and we were going to follow it. We didn’t have very many kids in the morning, so we just played some card games and hangman. We finally started our scheduled activity right as I was going on break. When I came back from break, it was time for our Family Amazing Race. I had volunteered to help with it because I hadn’t had the opportunity to work on it before and I wanted to know how. It was a lot of fun sending the families away to find their clues, and then watch them try to do the challenges. Then we started noticing that the last half of the groups had not checked in in a long time. Turns out that some of the annoying teenagers had stolen the envelope and gotten rid of it. Ugh. Well that kind of ruined it for a lot of the other families but we gave them a consolation prize any way. After the Amazing Race was over, we headed back to the Kid’s Club and did some t-shirt decorating.
I took my break and then headed back for our weekly pajama party. When I got there, Averey, the 2-year old who sat on my lap at Bollywood, was crying. I picked him up and walked a little with him, the whole time with his head on my shoulder and eyes falling shut. We decided to put on a “Dora” tape for him to watch, but he was asleep before it started. There were a couple other criers who were pulled out, so we watched “Dora” and then went to color. Averey slept on my shoulder for about and hour and a half until he woke up. Even then, he didn’t want to do anything, was dead weight, and lying on my shoulder for the next 2 hours. I eventually put him down, and not long after I did he fell asleep on a rug on the floor.
We did okay on tips this week, but the week before was better. After we split it all up and got our embarkation duties, I went downstairs with Croc to talk to his family for a little bit. After that I headed to the Second City show with the new cast. We only got to see one sketch and it wasn’t very good. When we talked to other people who saw the entire show, they said it was absolutely hilarious but that the last sketch was not very good. After the show we went to the Crew Bar for a little bit before I called it a night. I can’t believe 3 weeks have already passed!
I took my break and then headed back for our weekly pajama party. When I got there, Averey, the 2-year old who sat on my lap at Bollywood, was crying. I picked him up and walked a little with him, the whole time with his head on my shoulder and eyes falling shut. We decided to put on a “Dora” tape for him to watch, but he was asleep before it started. There were a couple other criers who were pulled out, so we watched “Dora” and then went to color. Averey slept on my shoulder for about and hour and a half until he woke up. Even then, he didn’t want to do anything, was dead weight, and lying on my shoulder for the next 2 hours. I eventually put him down, and not long after I did he fell asleep on a rug on the floor.
We did okay on tips this week, but the week before was better. After we split it all up and got our embarkation duties, I went downstairs with Croc to talk to his family for a little bit. After that I headed to the Second City show with the new cast. We only got to see one sketch and it wasn’t very good. When we talked to other people who saw the entire show, they said it was absolutely hilarious but that the last sketch was not very good. After the show we went to the Crew Bar for a little bit before I called it a night. I can’t believe 3 weeks have already passed!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Day Twenty: Fun Daytime, Annoying Nighttime
This morning we decided to go play volleyball at Snorkel Park. When I got outside to meet everyone, it was just me and Crocs. Cupcake and Popsicle arrived a short while later, so we grabbed lunch, called Lollipop and Kiwi and told them to meet us there, and headed for the beach. If you were not already aware of this, I am not a very good volleyball player. That may come as a shock to some of you, but it’s true. We played for about an hour before deciding that a game of two on two with me being half of a team was enough. I did come really close to the ball a few times and I had a couple of good ducks.
It was sprinkling which made it a little cooler, but we decided to go in the water to cool off a little more. It was quite refreshing for the bottom part of my legs, but that was it. It was EXTREMELY cold. By this time, the rest of our volleyball players showed up. It started raining harder, so we decided that beach time was over. Rather than head immediately back to the ship, we went by the Bermuda Rum Cake Factory and Glass Blowing. It was really neat there. I didn’t buy anything yet, but I will for sure have to get some rum cake and at least a glass ladybug!
When we got back to the ship, we made a visit to the spa. It was a blast with 6 of us lounging in the jacuzzi. After we had been in there for a while, we went to the pool that’s in the spa where we did flips, handstand contests, and even played Marco Polo. I never would have guessed that I would be 25, on a cruise ship, in the spa, and playing Marco Polo. Since we were back on ship early, I was able to veg out and take a nap before I had to get ready for program.
Tonight was Bollywood night. The show is pretty cool, especially the acrobatic stuff. I had a 2-year old on my lap who had been dropped off lateish and was crying as he always does when he gets dropped off. He really enjoyed the show, but his 8-year old brother who was sitting next to us had other comments about it. Now, his dad had already told us earlier in the week that he was their “prude son” and would not let them eat at Aqua because there were naked people on the walls. About 10 minutes into the hour long show, he asks me if it’s almost over. About 5 minutes later, he tells me that his parents wouldn’t want him to see it if they had known it would be like this. I told him it was fine and they saw what the show was in the program of events.
*NOTE: The show does have a lot of belly dancing, and women in bra tops and extremely high cut bottoms. But it’s a cruise ship. That’s how all of the shows are.*
The lead girl came out again in some scandalous costume, and Criofan (pronounced “Griffin.” Seriously? Could his parents be any meaner?), looked at me again. I told him that if there was something he shouldn’t see he could just close his eyes. Well the girl is pulled up on a rope, part of her costume is ripped away, and they do one of those cirque acts where she is being spun around at an amazing rate of speed by some man standing on the floor. Criofan leans over to me and says, “I’m just watching the guy on the floor spinning the rope because I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to see her butt.” He is far too concerned with all the nakedness for his own good. I decide to put an end to the whole thing by saying, “it’s just like she’s wearing a bathing suit.” Luckily, he accepted that and we moved on.
When we got upstairs to program after the show, we were supposed to go to the Teen Disco for a dance party. This ended up being my worst work experience so far. The kids came in and started playing all the games around the room. I had been told to start with the dance party and then let them play games if it didn’t work. Well, the other two YCs at the time didn’t enforce that as we entered, so it was a little hard to get it all started. It started off okay with a lot of them dancing, but the novelty wore off quickly. So Rainbow Fish set up the chairs to play musical chairs. After talking, at length, with Lego about this, I think that was the beginning of my crankiness. We have a boy in our group who is in a wheelchair. How do you play musical chairs if you are in a wheelchair? Before we started the game and told the kids what we were doing, I pulled Rainbow Fish over and told her my concern. Her response was that we couldn’t change every single activity because of one child {I didn’t want to change every activity. Just the one that required standing, walking, and then sitting.} and used a child with autism as an example. If we have a child with autism, we aren’t going to cancel the activity because they won’t like it {I would probably shy away from doing activities involving loud noises or other possible triggers if I had a child with autism.}. My response to that was while a child with autism might not want to do an activity and might choose not to participate, he would at least have an opportunity to do it. Wonic (yes, Wonic) wasn’t going to even have that chance. We needed to have some way he could participate. It ended up that he came into the DJ booth and got to start and stop the music. After we had played a couple of times and the kids were bored with it, I started to get them ready for Chubby Bunny, the other game that Rainbow Fish had already gotten the supplies for. Well, it turns out that we weren’t going to play after all because Lego was afraid of the kids choking on the mini marshmallows instead of the big ones and we wouldn’t have enough for the 3 teams I had split the teams into. When Rainbow Fish came back, I asked if we had any of the jumbo marshmallows left but we didn’t because they had all been eaten. By the YCs. I said that we could have had them start out with the big ones and then add the small ones, but I was told to “Relax.” I lost it at this point. I said I’d go relax somewhere else because it wasn’t worth it to me having all the kids stand around wanting to know what we were doing next when we weren’t even supposed to be running the activities. Needless to say, the rest of the evening in program sucked with us trying to figure out what to do and how to fix things. We did end up discussing all the conflicts between not planning, not communicating, and not being on the same page, but I was still cranky when Lego and I went for our late night snack. I decided that the Crew Bar would be a good place to go for part of the evening and had a good time. I also found out that next week I’m going to be working with the Teen Group with Popsicle. That made me excited. We’ll see how it turns out!
It was sprinkling which made it a little cooler, but we decided to go in the water to cool off a little more. It was quite refreshing for the bottom part of my legs, but that was it. It was EXTREMELY cold. By this time, the rest of our volleyball players showed up. It started raining harder, so we decided that beach time was over. Rather than head immediately back to the ship, we went by the Bermuda Rum Cake Factory and Glass Blowing. It was really neat there. I didn’t buy anything yet, but I will for sure have to get some rum cake and at least a glass ladybug!
When we got back to the ship, we made a visit to the spa. It was a blast with 6 of us lounging in the jacuzzi. After we had been in there for a while, we went to the pool that’s in the spa where we did flips, handstand contests, and even played Marco Polo. I never would have guessed that I would be 25, on a cruise ship, in the spa, and playing Marco Polo. Since we were back on ship early, I was able to veg out and take a nap before I had to get ready for program.
Tonight was Bollywood night. The show is pretty cool, especially the acrobatic stuff. I had a 2-year old on my lap who had been dropped off lateish and was crying as he always does when he gets dropped off. He really enjoyed the show, but his 8-year old brother who was sitting next to us had other comments about it. Now, his dad had already told us earlier in the week that he was their “prude son” and would not let them eat at Aqua because there were naked people on the walls. About 10 minutes into the hour long show, he asks me if it’s almost over. About 5 minutes later, he tells me that his parents wouldn’t want him to see it if they had known it would be like this. I told him it was fine and they saw what the show was in the program of events.
*NOTE: The show does have a lot of belly dancing, and women in bra tops and extremely high cut bottoms. But it’s a cruise ship. That’s how all of the shows are.*
The lead girl came out again in some scandalous costume, and Criofan (pronounced “Griffin.” Seriously? Could his parents be any meaner?), looked at me again. I told him that if there was something he shouldn’t see he could just close his eyes. Well the girl is pulled up on a rope, part of her costume is ripped away, and they do one of those cirque acts where she is being spun around at an amazing rate of speed by some man standing on the floor. Criofan leans over to me and says, “I’m just watching the guy on the floor spinning the rope because I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to see her butt.” He is far too concerned with all the nakedness for his own good. I decide to put an end to the whole thing by saying, “it’s just like she’s wearing a bathing suit.” Luckily, he accepted that and we moved on.
When we got upstairs to program after the show, we were supposed to go to the Teen Disco for a dance party. This ended up being my worst work experience so far. The kids came in and started playing all the games around the room. I had been told to start with the dance party and then let them play games if it didn’t work. Well, the other two YCs at the time didn’t enforce that as we entered, so it was a little hard to get it all started. It started off okay with a lot of them dancing, but the novelty wore off quickly. So Rainbow Fish set up the chairs to play musical chairs. After talking, at length, with Lego about this, I think that was the beginning of my crankiness. We have a boy in our group who is in a wheelchair. How do you play musical chairs if you are in a wheelchair? Before we started the game and told the kids what we were doing, I pulled Rainbow Fish over and told her my concern. Her response was that we couldn’t change every single activity because of one child {I didn’t want to change every activity. Just the one that required standing, walking, and then sitting.} and used a child with autism as an example. If we have a child with autism, we aren’t going to cancel the activity because they won’t like it {I would probably shy away from doing activities involving loud noises or other possible triggers if I had a child with autism.}. My response to that was while a child with autism might not want to do an activity and might choose not to participate, he would at least have an opportunity to do it. Wonic (yes, Wonic) wasn’t going to even have that chance. We needed to have some way he could participate. It ended up that he came into the DJ booth and got to start and stop the music. After we had played a couple of times and the kids were bored with it, I started to get them ready for Chubby Bunny, the other game that Rainbow Fish had already gotten the supplies for. Well, it turns out that we weren’t going to play after all because Lego was afraid of the kids choking on the mini marshmallows instead of the big ones and we wouldn’t have enough for the 3 teams I had split the teams into. When Rainbow Fish came back, I asked if we had any of the jumbo marshmallows left but we didn’t because they had all been eaten. By the YCs. I said that we could have had them start out with the big ones and then add the small ones, but I was told to “Relax.” I lost it at this point. I said I’d go relax somewhere else because it wasn’t worth it to me having all the kids stand around wanting to know what we were doing next when we weren’t even supposed to be running the activities. Needless to say, the rest of the evening in program sucked with us trying to figure out what to do and how to fix things. We did end up discussing all the conflicts between not planning, not communicating, and not being on the same page, but I was still cranky when Lego and I went for our late night snack. I decided that the Crew Bar would be a good place to go for part of the evening and had a good time. I also found out that next week I’m going to be working with the Teen Group with Popsicle. That made me excited. We’ll see how it turns out!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Day Nineteen: Beach Day…Again!
Today we decided to go to the Church Bay beach. All of us were going to go, but when it was actually time to meet only Lego, Lollipop, and I showed up. Everyone else needed sleep after the previous evening’s festivities. We decided to go eat at the Officer’s Mess in our beach gear before we left. Of course, who is there but the Safety Officer. Nice. Oh well.
When we got off of the ship, Lego realized that she didn’t have a towel, so she went back to get one. Lollipop and I continued on to wait for the bus. One showed up and the next one would be 30 minutes later, but Lego wasn’t there yet. I started talking to one of the bus drivers who had a second bus for more people and said we could wait on Lego who we could now see. Even though he said it wasn’t a problem to wait, I waved at her to run because I had had to run the day before. I thought it was funny.
Church Bay, as with all of the other beaches, was absolutely beautiful. It was not, however, my favorite beach. The water was extremely rocky, there was very little actual beach space, there were jelly fish in the water, there were funny little snails, and something either bit or cut my toe. I was just standing in the water and suddenly I got a major pain in my toe. It wasn’t any more than a papercut would have been, but it was still weird. After our swimming, some of the other YCs met us there and we hung out for a bit. It was a lot of fun. Our bus ride back was a little bit crazy because the bus was so full. We stood the whole way.
We stopped by the small local mall for a bit and then headed back to the ship to go to the spa. Got to love the spa. So much fun!
That night was the Kid’s Crew Dinner and since I was on 10-12’s, we got to go to Aqua, one of the restaurants on the ship that I had never eaten at. It was a lot of fun and we ended up seeing Croc’s family at dinner there as well.
After dinner we went back to the T-Rex center for Officer Snook night. I somehow missed seeing the video again, but we had fun with the trivia, games, and Croc dressed up as Snook again. In fact, when we went to get Croc changed into the costume, Cupcake had hidden in the bag containing the costume and totally freaked him out. It was pretty funny.
After work, we were walking to our rooms and noticed that the S.T.Y.L.E. award nominees had been posted. These are monthly awards with various categories recognizing the on board employees. We nominated our supervisor for supervisor of the month, and it turned out that she had nominated our team for team of the month. She also nominated yours truly for rookie of the month! It was very exciting. Apparently very few YCs ever get nominated. The awards are sometime next week, so I’ll let you know how it turns out.
We decided to go out that night, so after drinking some at the crew bar we headed over to Snorkel Park. It wasn’t nearly as much fun as it had been the week before, but overall we had a great time. I learned a dance from one of the onboard dancers and had my first Dark ‘n Stormy for my D ‘n S passport. Good times. On the way back, we rocked one of the smaller docks, climbed out on someone’s boat, and watched one of the drunken fitness instructors take a swim in the icky dock water. It was pretty entertaining!
When we got off of the ship, Lego realized that she didn’t have a towel, so she went back to get one. Lollipop and I continued on to wait for the bus. One showed up and the next one would be 30 minutes later, but Lego wasn’t there yet. I started talking to one of the bus drivers who had a second bus for more people and said we could wait on Lego who we could now see. Even though he said it wasn’t a problem to wait, I waved at her to run because I had had to run the day before. I thought it was funny.
Church Bay, as with all of the other beaches, was absolutely beautiful. It was not, however, my favorite beach. The water was extremely rocky, there was very little actual beach space, there were jelly fish in the water, there were funny little snails, and something either bit or cut my toe. I was just standing in the water and suddenly I got a major pain in my toe. It wasn’t any more than a papercut would have been, but it was still weird. After our swimming, some of the other YCs met us there and we hung out for a bit. It was a lot of fun. Our bus ride back was a little bit crazy because the bus was so full. We stood the whole way.
We stopped by the small local mall for a bit and then headed back to the ship to go to the spa. Got to love the spa. So much fun!
That night was the Kid’s Crew Dinner and since I was on 10-12’s, we got to go to Aqua, one of the restaurants on the ship that I had never eaten at. It was a lot of fun and we ended up seeing Croc’s family at dinner there as well.
After dinner we went back to the T-Rex center for Officer Snook night. I somehow missed seeing the video again, but we had fun with the trivia, games, and Croc dressed up as Snook again. In fact, when we went to get Croc changed into the costume, Cupcake had hidden in the bag containing the costume and totally freaked him out. It was pretty funny.
After work, we were walking to our rooms and noticed that the S.T.Y.L.E. award nominees had been posted. These are monthly awards with various categories recognizing the on board employees. We nominated our supervisor for supervisor of the month, and it turned out that she had nominated our team for team of the month. She also nominated yours truly for rookie of the month! It was very exciting. Apparently very few YCs ever get nominated. The awards are sometime next week, so I’ll let you know how it turns out.
We decided to go out that night, so after drinking some at the crew bar we headed over to Snorkel Park. It wasn’t nearly as much fun as it had been the week before, but overall we had a great time. I learned a dance from one of the onboard dancers and had my first Dark ‘n Stormy for my D ‘n S passport. Good times. On the way back, we rocked one of the smaller docks, climbed out on someone’s boat, and watched one of the drunken fitness instructors take a swim in the icky dock water. It was pretty entertaining!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Day Eighteen: Family Day!
Well, we had boat drill again today. Oh, man. This week’s was interesting. Magic and I were supposed to have special drill duties, but someone else had to take over for Magic since she had been sick. She did get released from quarantine, but spent the whole day in the room sleeping and laying low. I had to be downstairs by 9:00 to find out what I had to do. Since boat drill wasn’t until a little after 10:00, I had time to go to the Tailor to get my pants hemmed, to the doctor to get checked again for GI, and to personnel to get my card reactivated. When it was time to go to boat drill, I had to go to deck 11, aft with a sign that said “I Need Wheel chair.” (note the fabulous grammar) When I got there, one of the girls asked me if I needed a wheelchair and called down to reception for it. I sat on the stairs and waited until 3 Filipino men and 1 Filipino woman show up with a wheelchair. They called down to the bridge to see if we were allowed to use the elevator (sometimes you can, sometimes you can’t in a drill). They didn’t get a response right away, so they continued as though it were a regular emergency. That means that the four of them had to CARRY ME DOWN THE STAIRS IN A WHEELCHAIR. Wow. I kept offering to get out and let them carry the empty chair while I walked. That didn’t work. So this group of people carried me down 2 full flights of stairs before they got the okay for us to take the elevator. Then we took the elevator down and ran all the way to my pretend muster station. No one was there, so I told them we were supposed to be out on the deck. They took me there, parked me, and left. I had to sit and wait for the rest of the drill. The safety guy walked past and asked me something, then suggested that I start filling out my evaluation form. The only negative comment I had was that no one gave me a life jacket. I probably would have asked for one had it been a real emergency. When it was all over, I walked my wheelchair back to reception and headed to our meeting.
I don’t know if it is supposed to be a weekly thing or not, but we’ve had these meetings in the theatre with all of the cruise staff last week and today. Today was not the day I wanted one. Lego and I were supposed to meet up with Crocodile, his mom, and his aunts. The ferry we wanted to take over to Hamilton left at 11:30 am. The next one was not until 1:00 pm. So I ended up giving Kiwi, one of the new girls, my sheet because she had to take hers back to the Safety Manager also and when the meeting ended at 11:25, Lego and I booked it out of there. We grabbed our stuff from our rooms and booked it off the ship. After we got off of the gangway, we ran around the road to the ferry stop. As we got closer, I got more tired and started waving hoping that I would get either the ferry driver’s or Croc’s attention. Well, it sort of worked. Croc saw us and was going to make the ferry wait, but I think that we also got there in the nick of time. We took the ferry to Hamilton, walked to the bus station, and took the bus (which was such crazy driving that Croc’s family was a little freaked out) to the caves.
In the early 1900’s, two caves were discovered in Bermuda. They have opened Crystal Cave and Fantasy Cave to the public to see the stalactite and stalagmite formations as well as the lakes of water that have pooled. It was really neat and we had an awesome time seeing it all alongside the company we were with. One of Croc’s aunts even treated us to the whole experience. We had such a great time.
After the caves, we took the bus into St George, a city that I had not seen before. It is at the other end of the island from King’s Wharf. We drove past the airport on the way, too, which was fun to see also. Once we got to St. George, we only had a little bit of time to walk around and get some ice cream before we caught the ferry back.
At that point, Lego and I just came back to the ship to start getting ready for that evening’s program. Croc had the night off because he had one YC of the week and chose to make it on a night where he would be able to see his family.
That night at program was rocket science/under the stars. Magic was still out and Popsicle started feeling poorly. He wasn’t sure if it was GI or the fact that he had spent all day on the beach in the sun drinking 4 beers. You pick which one it was. Because he went to bed, I helped out in the 2-5 room again. It was fun, but it was totally unplanned which kind of sucked. Oh well.
After all that, I just ended up hanging out. I decided not to go out with everyone again. It had been a busy day!
I don’t know if it is supposed to be a weekly thing or not, but we’ve had these meetings in the theatre with all of the cruise staff last week and today. Today was not the day I wanted one. Lego and I were supposed to meet up with Crocodile, his mom, and his aunts. The ferry we wanted to take over to Hamilton left at 11:30 am. The next one was not until 1:00 pm. So I ended up giving Kiwi, one of the new girls, my sheet because she had to take hers back to the Safety Manager also and when the meeting ended at 11:25, Lego and I booked it out of there. We grabbed our stuff from our rooms and booked it off the ship. After we got off of the gangway, we ran around the road to the ferry stop. As we got closer, I got more tired and started waving hoping that I would get either the ferry driver’s or Croc’s attention. Well, it sort of worked. Croc saw us and was going to make the ferry wait, but I think that we also got there in the nick of time. We took the ferry to Hamilton, walked to the bus station, and took the bus (which was such crazy driving that Croc’s family was a little freaked out) to the caves.
In the early 1900’s, two caves were discovered in Bermuda. They have opened Crystal Cave and Fantasy Cave to the public to see the stalactite and stalagmite formations as well as the lakes of water that have pooled. It was really neat and we had an awesome time seeing it all alongside the company we were with. One of Croc’s aunts even treated us to the whole experience. We had such a great time.
After the caves, we took the bus into St George, a city that I had not seen before. It is at the other end of the island from King’s Wharf. We drove past the airport on the way, too, which was fun to see also. Once we got to St. George, we only had a little bit of time to walk around and get some ice cream before we caught the ferry back.
At that point, Lego and I just came back to the ship to start getting ready for that evening’s program. Croc had the night off because he had one YC of the week and chose to make it on a night where he would be able to see his family.
That night at program was rocket science/under the stars. Magic was still out and Popsicle started feeling poorly. He wasn’t sure if it was GI or the fact that he had spent all day on the beach in the sun drinking 4 beers. You pick which one it was. Because he went to bed, I helped out in the 2-5 room again. It was fun, but it was totally unplanned which kind of sucked. Oh well.
After all that, I just ended up hanging out. I decided not to go out with everyone again. It had been a busy day!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Day Seventeen: Icky Sicky
So…today was interesting. Magic woke up and was still not feeling well. I told her she needed to let our supervisor know and she agreed. We went up to work and she got a pass to the medical center. I went about my morning working with the kids and we got to do our sports morning outside this week. When I got back to the center, my supervisor told me that Magic did have GI and that I had to go get checked…after I helped with the 2-5 parade. They were short staffed again with Magic out and one of the other girls taking her safety test.
So I went down to the medical center and they asked me questions about how I felt and took my temperature. I’m okay, but I have to have my temp taken tomorrow, too. Even though I haven’t been sick, I’ve felt nauseated all day long. I think it’s a mental thing. So far (knock on wood) I have not experienced anything that Magic did. She is on full quarantine for 24 hours. That’s right, QUARANTINE! I think they let her go to get some things from the room because when I went to do it I noticed some of her things randomly missing. I had our room steward change out all our linens and glasses, and sanitize our bathroom. I’m hoping I’ll avoid the whole thing.
Other than that, work was fine except that I was a couple minutes late to each of my shifts! I kept waking up from naps late. I jumped around some more between the age groups, and pizza making was a little hectic, but the time really went by quickly. There’s still drama/struggles between some of the staff, but I don’t know how it will all work out.
Oh! And I requested and was approved to be here an extra week. That means I am officially at my halfway point. I wanted to stay longer, but didn’t want to leave Jim longer and didn’t want to miss too much of my break, so a week seemed like a good way to handle the whole thing. I’ll leave New York on July 6. Don’t miss me too much more!
So I went down to the medical center and they asked me questions about how I felt and took my temperature. I’m okay, but I have to have my temp taken tomorrow, too. Even though I haven’t been sick, I’ve felt nauseated all day long. I think it’s a mental thing. So far (knock on wood) I have not experienced anything that Magic did. She is on full quarantine for 24 hours. That’s right, QUARANTINE! I think they let her go to get some things from the room because when I went to do it I noticed some of her things randomly missing. I had our room steward change out all our linens and glasses, and sanitize our bathroom. I’m hoping I’ll avoid the whole thing.
Other than that, work was fine except that I was a couple minutes late to each of my shifts! I kept waking up from naps late. I jumped around some more between the age groups, and pizza making was a little hectic, but the time really went by quickly. There’s still drama/struggles between some of the staff, but I don’t know how it will all work out.
Oh! And I requested and was approved to be here an extra week. That means I am officially at my halfway point. I wanted to stay longer, but didn’t want to leave Jim longer and didn’t want to miss too much of my break, so a week seemed like a good way to handle the whole thing. I’ll leave New York on July 6. Don’t miss me too much more!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Day Sixteen: This Will Work…
Things are still rough with the traveling. It’s hard to remember where we are supposed to be and when, and I think the parents are having a hard time with it also. At the same time, the kids seem to be getting better. Even the ones who were reluctant to participate are doing a little more now. And some of the ones who were completely opposed haven’t come back yet.
I’ve also worked a bit with the 2-5 group. There are 4 YCs assigned to the group, but the 2 who have been here the longest were on the same break schedule today. That left a brand new girl, Lollipop, and a girl who has only been here a week. When that happened I went in the room since I’ve been here longer and said that they were my favorite group.
*Note: they were my favorite, but we had a much smaller group that was extremely well behaved. We’ll see how it goes as the numbers keep increasing.
Tonight was my early off night, so I made plans with all of the others on the same schedule to go and eat at Salsa, one of the specialty restaurants.
*Note: The food is awful here. And by awful, I mean that I can eat every single day at the buffet and at the specialty restaurants when I can work them into my schedule. I eat. A lot.
Croc’s mom and his two aunts decided to take a cruise together for fun and so they could visit Croc during his adventures. We all got to eat with them, and it was a ton of fun! I had all kinds of yummy dishes including an awesome tortilla soup (that’s right Jim, be jealous) and LOBSTER tacos. Yummy.
After that, I started my laundry and then went to meet some of the other YCs for drinks it was fun and got me through the wash cycle. When I got back to the room after putting everything in the dryer, my roomy came in and said she felt awful and had just thrown up. She went back to our bathroom with the possibility of the same thing occurring, so I went to get on the internet and ended up meeting the new Second City cast. All in all, it was a pretty basic day!
I’ve also worked a bit with the 2-5 group. There are 4 YCs assigned to the group, but the 2 who have been here the longest were on the same break schedule today. That left a brand new girl, Lollipop, and a girl who has only been here a week. When that happened I went in the room since I’ve been here longer and said that they were my favorite group.
*Note: they were my favorite, but we had a much smaller group that was extremely well behaved. We’ll see how it goes as the numbers keep increasing.
Tonight was my early off night, so I made plans with all of the others on the same schedule to go and eat at Salsa, one of the specialty restaurants.
*Note: The food is awful here. And by awful, I mean that I can eat every single day at the buffet and at the specialty restaurants when I can work them into my schedule. I eat. A lot.
Croc’s mom and his two aunts decided to take a cruise together for fun and so they could visit Croc during his adventures. We all got to eat with them, and it was a ton of fun! I had all kinds of yummy dishes including an awesome tortilla soup (that’s right Jim, be jealous) and LOBSTER tacos. Yummy.
After that, I started my laundry and then went to meet some of the other YCs for drinks it was fun and got me through the wash cycle. When I got back to the room after putting everything in the dryer, my roomy came in and said she felt awful and had just thrown up. She went back to our bathroom with the possibility of the same thing occurring, so I went to get on the internet and ended up meeting the new Second City cast. All in all, it was a pretty basic day!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Day Fifteen: Hmm…Well, let’s see!
Well, today I had embarkation duties. I thought I was going to have to tell passengers how to foind different areas on board the ship and I was totally freaked out about it. I can’t find half of the stuff on the ship still, and I’ve been here for two weeks! Luckily, thye needed someone to sanitize the passengers before they boarded. Any time people get on board the ship, they have to be sprayed with hand sanitizer. It’s our way of hoping to avoid any bacteria or viruses. Because of all of that, I was unable to get off the ship in New York today. That totally sucked. Did I mention that my camera is no longer working? I figured out after about five days that one of the waterproof seals moved out of place. So now my amazing camera is an amazing paperweight. I wanted to go to Best Buy to buy a new one, but I didn’t get the chance.
We were supposed to leave New York at 4:00, but we were waiting on some delivery so we didn’t end up leaving until after 6:00. That kind of sucked too because I wanted to watch the sailing. We had to be at work that evening, so I didn’t really get to see anything. We did see the Statue of Liberty from the Garden Café which was neat.
We got a new group of kids today and this week I’m working with the 10-12 age group. When I originally came on board, I wanted to work with the older kids rather than the little bitties. I don’t think that’s the case any more. These kids just kept talking when we were trying to give directions and you could tell that some thought they were just too cool for school. The attitude can sometimes be that they really don’t want to be there. I think it’s extra hard because if it were a classroom I would just make them follow the rules but since this is their vacation it’s completely different.
Also, starting this week the 10-12 year olds will be in a different room away from the kid center. Instead of deck 13 aft (back of the ship) where the kid’s center is, we are on deck 12 forward (the front of the ship). We only had to transfer once tday, but it was hard on both us and the parents. The parents didn’t know where their kids would be, and half the time we didn’t know either. Plus, we don’t have a first aid kit, any of the supplies, any music, or TV. We have to lug it all everyday. And there are cabins right below our room, so we’ve already gotten complaints about being too loud. To help prepare, Rainbow Fish stayed with me for about 30 minutes so that we could gather some of the things we would almost always need. . It will definitely be an interesting week
We were supposed to leave New York at 4:00, but we were waiting on some delivery so we didn’t end up leaving until after 6:00. That kind of sucked too because I wanted to watch the sailing. We had to be at work that evening, so I didn’t really get to see anything. We did see the Statue of Liberty from the Garden Café which was neat.
We got a new group of kids today and this week I’m working with the 10-12 age group. When I originally came on board, I wanted to work with the older kids rather than the little bitties. I don’t think that’s the case any more. These kids just kept talking when we were trying to give directions and you could tell that some thought they were just too cool for school. The attitude can sometimes be that they really don’t want to be there. I think it’s extra hard because if it were a classroom I would just make them follow the rules but since this is their vacation it’s completely different.
Also, starting this week the 10-12 year olds will be in a different room away from the kid center. Instead of deck 13 aft (back of the ship) where the kid’s center is, we are on deck 12 forward (the front of the ship). We only had to transfer once tday, but it was hard on both us and the parents. The parents didn’t know where their kids would be, and half the time we didn’t know either. Plus, we don’t have a first aid kit, any of the supplies, any music, or TV. We have to lug it all everyday. And there are cabins right below our room, so we’ve already gotten complaints about being too loud. To help prepare, Rainbow Fish stayed with me for about 30 minutes so that we could gather some of the things we would almost always need. . It will definitely be an interesting week
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Day Fourteen: I'm Tired
Today was the last day of my second week. I’m not as sad to see this group go. They were a little rough. We had pirate morning, board game afternoon, and pajama party night. They were all pretty successful, but there were still problems with everything. It amazes me that we could have kids fighting and kids who cry in the same group. It made it interesting to work with. I still have to say that I liked working with the 2-5’s better.
After work we went to see the Second City improv show. It was their last show because the current cast is leaving tomorrow and a new cast is coming in to replace them. I had only really met Brett (one of the SC guys) yesterday, but he told me that he would include me in the show. He did! The whole thing was very funny
After the show there was a going away party for a lot of the people who are leaving the ship tomorrow. I think a lot of people are going, but I don’t know very many of them. I went to the party, but I didn’t know very many people and they didn’t have any alcohol I like so I didn’t stay for very long. Probably a good thing…I’ve done some late nights and I’d like to go into New York for a little bit before work.
PS…apparently it’s lightening outside. The boat is SUPER rocky. I haven’t noticed it this much since I’ve been on board!
After work we went to see the Second City improv show. It was their last show because the current cast is leaving tomorrow and a new cast is coming in to replace them. I had only really met Brett (one of the SC guys) yesterday, but he told me that he would include me in the show. He did! The whole thing was very funny
After the show there was a going away party for a lot of the people who are leaving the ship tomorrow. I think a lot of people are going, but I don’t know very many of them. I went to the party, but I didn’t know very many people and they didn’t have any alcohol I like so I didn’t stay for very long. Probably a good thing…I’ve done some late nights and I’d like to go into New York for a little bit before work.
PS…apparently it’s lightening outside. The boat is SUPER rocky. I haven’t noticed it this much since I’ve been on board!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Day Thirteen: Lots of Alcohol
Today I had my first Port Play. On the days that we are in port, only two staff members have to work during the day, splitting a 10-hour shift. I had to turn on the Teen Disco, but I didn’t have all of the keys, so I just did what I could. I was really tired after yesterday, so I hoped no one would actually show up. No such luck. I had one little girl, Maison, the entire time I was there. I did manage to write some postcards, cut out some of the things we use for programs, and make some bead things.
When I finished Port Play, I went to the Garden Café to eat with Crocodile and then got off the ship to mail some of my postcards. I also did a little window shopping before heading back. When I got back to my room, I took a shower and took a 2-hour nap. It was nice. We got dressed up to go see “Bollywood” again. After the show we had a White Hot dance party and a snowball fight. It was a lot of fun except that we tried to use the Teen Disco and still couldn’t without the keys. Oh well.
After program, we all went and changed for the Filipino party. They did the show the night before, but the after party was tonight. They had a raffle (I didn’t win) and free alcohol again! It was fun but really windy. After too much drinking, we smuggled some “lemonade” (as we call it in front of any passengers) down to one of the Second City guys’ room (remember the free room service thing? Oh yeah. Free.). Try fitting 7 adults in one cruise ship room. It was pretty funny. We ordered a lot of food and drank more before heading home. When we left, Popsicle kicked someone’s room service tray in the hall making a lot of noise. To make it worse, when Lego walked past 30 seconds later, she did the exact some thing. Oops. Hope the passenger she woke doesn’t complain!!
When I finished Port Play, I went to the Garden Café to eat with Crocodile and then got off the ship to mail some of my postcards. I also did a little window shopping before heading back. When I got back to my room, I took a shower and took a 2-hour nap. It was nice. We got dressed up to go see “Bollywood” again. After the show we had a White Hot dance party and a snowball fight. It was a lot of fun except that we tried to use the Teen Disco and still couldn’t without the keys. Oh well.
After program, we all went and changed for the Filipino party. They did the show the night before, but the after party was tonight. They had a raffle (I didn’t win) and free alcohol again! It was fun but really windy. After too much drinking, we smuggled some “lemonade” (as we call it in front of any passengers) down to one of the Second City guys’ room (remember the free room service thing? Oh yeah. Free.). Try fitting 7 adults in one cruise ship room. It was pretty funny. We ordered a lot of food and drank more before heading home. When we left, Popsicle kicked someone’s room service tray in the hall making a lot of noise. To make it worse, when Lego walked past 30 seconds later, she did the exact some thing. Oops. Hope the passenger she woke doesn’t complain!!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Day Twelve: Happy Anniversary To Me!
My day started EXTREMELY early in the morning when my drunken roommate came back from the club. She turned on all of the lights and started talking to me…but she didn’t remember my name. She started yelling a bunch of different names; Lisa, Leftovers, Joe, before finally yelling, “You! Under the covers! What’s your name?” She started taking off her pants and fall to the ground all the time telling me how wasted she was. Nice. Then she went to order room service and spend the night in someone else’s room (we can’t get room service, but the entertainers from Second City can.
We had boat drill this morning which was MUCH better now that I have my new assignment. All of the YCs meet in a restaurant and wait for any fake missing children. (While we were there they all wished me a happy anniversary. I thought it was awesome that they remembered.) After that happens, we wait for the abandon ship alarm and then go to the outside deck where we put on our life jackets and wait for attendance. So much easier (except that we had to relive how drunk some of the other YCs were the night before). After boat drill we had a meeting with cruise staff. That was boring and unnecessary. I guess we all have those kinds of meetings occasionally.
Crocodile and I had decided to go shopping today and while we were eating in the officer’s mess, Sunshine decided to join us. We took the ferry over to Hamilton and shopped at some of their mall shops and some tourist souvenir shops. I spent a LOT of money, but I think I’m finished buying gifts. I still want to get myself something that says “Norwegian Dawn,” but that can happen later.
As soon as we got back from shopping, I showered and got ready for work. Today was our Kid’s Crew dinner which was a lot of fun, but not the same as last week’s. We ate at the Garden Café which is where we usually eat, so it wasn’t anything different. After dinner, it was our Officer Snook program on pollution. This week Crocodile dressed up in a big mascot outfit as Officer Snook. It was pretty funny.
Today is Filipino Independence Day, so they had a special program with dancing and singing (and free alcohol). It took forever to start, so I ended up leaving so that I could talk to Jim for a while. We got to chat for a half an hour which was nice. I went back and caught the last 30 minutes of the program. It was a lot of fun and evident that the crew members had put in a lot of time. After it was over, we were all smuggling our extra alcohol (they give away a LOT of free alcohol) off the ship and onto the island. The place we were going was closed by the time we left the ship, so we went to a beach party that was happening at Snorkel Park. It was absolutely amazing. We were all drinking and dancing and hanging out on this warm night under the beautiful stars with the palm trees and sand all around. Wow. While we were dancing, Popsicle asked me if on my 3rd anniversary I would have ever guessed that I would be in Bermuda without Jim. I said no, but now that I think about it, I would have missed my anniversary last year if I had done this all last summer. Oh well.
Happy Anniversary, Jim. I’ll spend next year’s with you!
We had boat drill this morning which was MUCH better now that I have my new assignment. All of the YCs meet in a restaurant and wait for any fake missing children. (While we were there they all wished me a happy anniversary. I thought it was awesome that they remembered.) After that happens, we wait for the abandon ship alarm and then go to the outside deck where we put on our life jackets and wait for attendance. So much easier (except that we had to relive how drunk some of the other YCs were the night before). After boat drill we had a meeting with cruise staff. That was boring and unnecessary. I guess we all have those kinds of meetings occasionally.
Crocodile and I had decided to go shopping today and while we were eating in the officer’s mess, Sunshine decided to join us. We took the ferry over to Hamilton and shopped at some of their mall shops and some tourist souvenir shops. I spent a LOT of money, but I think I’m finished buying gifts. I still want to get myself something that says “Norwegian Dawn,” but that can happen later.
As soon as we got back from shopping, I showered and got ready for work. Today was our Kid’s Crew dinner which was a lot of fun, but not the same as last week’s. We ate at the Garden Café which is where we usually eat, so it wasn’t anything different. After dinner, it was our Officer Snook program on pollution. This week Crocodile dressed up in a big mascot outfit as Officer Snook. It was pretty funny.
Today is Filipino Independence Day, so they had a special program with dancing and singing (and free alcohol). It took forever to start, so I ended up leaving so that I could talk to Jim for a while. We got to chat for a half an hour which was nice. I went back and caught the last 30 minutes of the program. It was a lot of fun and evident that the crew members had put in a lot of time. After it was over, we were all smuggling our extra alcohol (they give away a LOT of free alcohol) off the ship and onto the island. The place we were going was closed by the time we left the ship, so we went to a beach party that was happening at Snorkel Park. It was absolutely amazing. We were all drinking and dancing and hanging out on this warm night under the beautiful stars with the palm trees and sand all around. Wow. While we were dancing, Popsicle asked me if on my 3rd anniversary I would have ever guessed that I would be in Bermuda without Jim. I said no, but now that I think about it, I would have missed my anniversary last year if I had done this all last summer. Oh well.
Happy Anniversary, Jim. I’ll spend next year’s with you!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Day Eleven: Another Week, Another Beach
I got up this morning to meet up with Lego, Crocodile, and Strawberry to go to the beach. We thought that more of the YCs were going to go, but it ended up just being the four of us. It was a beautiful ride on the bus to Elbow Beach…until our bus broke down. Luckily, there was another bus right behind us that took us the rest of the way. Elbow Beach was a lot less rocky than Warwick, the sand was softer, but it was more crowded. We had a great time playing in the water (in spite of the fact that it was SO cold!) and we got to spend some time laying out on the beach. We also got to see some pretty yellow and black fish (pictures to come later).
We had to be back to the ship by 4:00 for training. I thought we’d need more time, but everyone else thought that an hour would be enough. By the time we waited for the bus to actually show up and ride back with all of the stops, we got to our stop at 3:57. We ran back to the ship for about 3 minutes then had to go through security, up the gangway, through other security, down the hall, and straight into training. We were about 2 minutes late but it was not a big deal. The training was fine, but I don’t think I can handle much more! I start to fall asleep every single time. Oh well. I guess it isn’t the end of the world.
After training, we went up to the spa to spend some time in the jacuzzi and the lap pool. We also went into the steam room for a couple of minutes. I love hanging out in the spa. I headed back to the room after to get ready for work.
We changed program a little bit tonight. Popsicle got the chance to go play soccer with some other crew members, so we started out by making posters to cheer him on. We went to watch the game and then went to play with the big parachute on the helipad. It amazes me how many of the kids this week don’t follow directions. Last week I don’t remember having the same kind of issues with any of the kids, no matter their ages. After the parachute games, we went back to the Kid’s Crew to make rocket ships like my students did in Finch’s class last year. It was a lot of fun. They had the chance to race the rocket ships across the center and really enjoyed it.
I had my first Late Night tonight. I switched with Magic because she wanted to go over to the club in Hamilton and I didn’t really care. It wasn’t bad, I just played Wii with a kid until his parents came. It wasn’t a big deal, but I didn’t know all of the details of how to close the center and it took me a while. I’m also not sure that I did it all correctly, but whatever. Another night!
We had to be back to the ship by 4:00 for training. I thought we’d need more time, but everyone else thought that an hour would be enough. By the time we waited for the bus to actually show up and ride back with all of the stops, we got to our stop at 3:57. We ran back to the ship for about 3 minutes then had to go through security, up the gangway, through other security, down the hall, and straight into training. We were about 2 minutes late but it was not a big deal. The training was fine, but I don’t think I can handle much more! I start to fall asleep every single time. Oh well. I guess it isn’t the end of the world.
After training, we went up to the spa to spend some time in the jacuzzi and the lap pool. We also went into the steam room for a couple of minutes. I love hanging out in the spa. I headed back to the room after to get ready for work.
We changed program a little bit tonight. Popsicle got the chance to go play soccer with some other crew members, so we started out by making posters to cheer him on. We went to watch the game and then went to play with the big parachute on the helipad. It amazes me how many of the kids this week don’t follow directions. Last week I don’t remember having the same kind of issues with any of the kids, no matter their ages. After the parachute games, we went back to the Kid’s Crew to make rocket ships like my students did in Finch’s class last year. It was a lot of fun. They had the chance to race the rocket ships across the center and really enjoyed it.
I had my first Late Night tonight. I switched with Magic because she wanted to go over to the club in Hamilton and I didn’t really care. It wasn’t bad, I just played Wii with a kid until his parents came. It wasn’t a big deal, but I didn’t know all of the details of how to close the center and it took me a while. I’m also not sure that I did it all correctly, but whatever. Another night!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Day Ten: Easy Peasy
Well, today was an interesting day. It was sports morning from 9:00-12:00, but we only had the actual sports court until 11:00. There were no kids in the center until 10:30. It was crazy. We got to do some craft prep and sit around chatting. Once we had a few more kids there, we actually played some sports and then did the craft project. We also had an Un-Birthday Party, did Family Pizza Making, had some Spongebob trivia and contests, and did a superhero night. Overall, it was a fun day, but I was surprised by the lack of kids there in the morning. I’m going to actually go to bed early tonight. We’ll be in King’s Wharf tomorrow, so I want to be rested enough to go play. Plus, I’ll have to be back earlier because we have training at 4:00. Oh well. It’s still Bermuda!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Day Nine: Harder Than Last Week
Today was an interesting day. Popsicle and I are the only two who are working with the 6-9 group. That means that when he is on break I’m alone with the group for 2 hours and when I’m on break he’s alone for 2 hours. Now don’t get me wrong, I can handle a group of kids, but I feel so unfamiliar with all of the games, activities, room, etc. Oh well. I was in charge of the drama time (you’d think it would be easy, huh?) and that didn’t go too badly. And, Crocodile is with a small 10-12 group so he is with us when he’s not on break.
I thought I’d be able to do a lot during my breaks today, but I had to go to another training this afternoon. Short, yes, but I cannot stay awake in the lecture . At least we had the magic show to fill some of our work time. Even that was harder with this group. We had double the number of kids go with us this week and when we got there a little girl and a bigger boy (her cousin) were crying. She got upset because our singing was too loud on the walk to the theatre. He got upset because he just hates to see her cry. Then, the little girl had to use the bathroom. That pretty much started a snowball effect. After a lot of bathroom breaks, we got to the part of the show with the strobe lights. Suddenly I heard crying again. Apparently that little one didn’t like all the light to dark. Ugh.
Today was also the day that I got my early night off. Lego, Strawberry, and I decided to try one of the specialty restaurants on board. We went to Impressions, the French-style restaurant. One of the cool features of this restaurant is the fact that they have real artwork…stuff by Monet and other people. It all totals around $20 million. And the food was really good on top of everything else. After all of that I decided to do my laundry for the first time. It was a bit of an adventure figuring it all out, but it wasn’t too bad. I can definitely handle it all.
I thought I’d be able to do a lot during my breaks today, but I had to go to another training this afternoon. Short, yes, but I cannot stay awake in the lecture . At least we had the magic show to fill some of our work time. Even that was harder with this group. We had double the number of kids go with us this week and when we got there a little girl and a bigger boy (her cousin) were crying. She got upset because our singing was too loud on the walk to the theatre. He got upset because he just hates to see her cry. Then, the little girl had to use the bathroom. That pretty much started a snowball effect. After a lot of bathroom breaks, we got to the part of the show with the strobe lights. Suddenly I heard crying again. Apparently that little one didn’t like all the light to dark. Ugh.
Today was also the day that I got my early night off. Lego, Strawberry, and I decided to try one of the specialty restaurants on board. We went to Impressions, the French-style restaurant. One of the cool features of this restaurant is the fact that they have real artwork…stuff by Monet and other people. It all totals around $20 million. And the food was really good on top of everything else. After all of that I decided to do my laundry for the first time. It was a bit of an adventure figuring it all out, but it wasn’t too bad. I can definitely handle it all.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Day Eight: Start of Week 2
Well, this morning started off with a bang. I was supposed to report at 7:45 am to take care of all of the immigration things that I have to do before I could get off the ship in New York. I woke up at 8:00. Needless to say, I was running late. I threw on my glasses and an outfit that was near my bed and ran. We were meeting just down the hall (a 2 minute walk, but still) so I knew it wouldn’t be the end of the world. They weren’t there. So I went to the Crew Mess. Not there. The Officer’s Mess. Not there. The Crew Recreation Room, the Lecture Room, the I-Don’t-Know-How-Many-Others Rooms. Not there. I went back to the Officer’s Mess hoping to find someone who would be able to help me. I ran into my supervisor and she told me where to find them and to be prepared to be yelled at. I’m telling you, they are cranky here. Or, as Lego but it, “they run a tight ship.” Well, I found them and got to the end of the line. It looked like they had just finished attendance, but I didn’t want to point out that I was late. At that point it became cattle time again. We stood in a line on the deck until they moved our line to the outside of the shipping building/custom’s office, then moved our line inside the building. This was an hour long process before I could see where our ending point might be. When we got to the light near immigration, they started to pass out everyone’s paperwork. When they came across mine, they called out my name and told me I should be at the front of the line since I am an American. I felt kind of bad for jumping, but it took a LOT less time for me to get through with everything. By the time I actually got to the counter, it took me a minute to be finished. So I got back onboard to get ready to get off the ship.
I walked in to Times Square with Lego. She and I had some shopping to do so that I would have some clothes to wear on the nights we can wear our own clothes. We found an AWESOME store called Conway with super cheap prices. I bought three pairs of shoes, two tops, two jackets, a dress, and a pair of leggings for only $86! Craziness! Leah met up with us there and Lego headed back toward the ship. Leah and I met up with Gabe and ended up having lunch at Planet Hollywood. It was actually really good! I’m always afraid that a place like that is not going to have good food since it’s such a tourist place. We went shopping at a couple more stores before I started my LONG walk back to the ship. It was nice because I got to talk to Jim the whole way back.
When I got back to the ship my roommate told me that we needed to “work on” my not waking up to an alarm. I told her that that was my biggest fault and that it has been a problem since I was a kid. Don’t know what to tell you. I took a shower before I had to be upstairs at PM registration. This was super easy and consisted of having parents fill out a form about their children so that we know all the important stuff. I would not mind having that as my duty any Sunday because I was still able to get off of the ship in New York. For some duties you are not able to do that at all.
This evening we had our opening night program with the new group of kids. It was interesting. The 2-5 room had some kid puke, so they spent most of their time in the jungle gym which meant that we were not able to go in at all. We had a child whose parents described a concern as “transitions.” Wow. He was ODD or Autistic or something. He kept walking around talking about how he hated being there and would kick things, yell, and spit. When we were playing 2 Truths and a Lie, his brother wrote “I suck, I’m weird, and I hate myself.” When he showed it to me he started to cry. It was really sad and we talked to the mom after. I think this is not irregular behavior. When they arrived before all of this, they said that “the three devils are here.” Nice. We also had a ton of kids who like to scream. It seemed like a crazy day. Not end of the world bad, but way worse than last week. It should be interesting.
I walked in to Times Square with Lego. She and I had some shopping to do so that I would have some clothes to wear on the nights we can wear our own clothes. We found an AWESOME store called Conway with super cheap prices. I bought three pairs of shoes, two tops, two jackets, a dress, and a pair of leggings for only $86! Craziness! Leah met up with us there and Lego headed back toward the ship. Leah and I met up with Gabe and ended up having lunch at Planet Hollywood. It was actually really good! I’m always afraid that a place like that is not going to have good food since it’s such a tourist place. We went shopping at a couple more stores before I started my LONG walk back to the ship. It was nice because I got to talk to Jim the whole way back.
When I got back to the ship my roommate told me that we needed to “work on” my not waking up to an alarm. I told her that that was my biggest fault and that it has been a problem since I was a kid. Don’t know what to tell you. I took a shower before I had to be upstairs at PM registration. This was super easy and consisted of having parents fill out a form about their children so that we know all the important stuff. I would not mind having that as my duty any Sunday because I was still able to get off of the ship in New York. For some duties you are not able to do that at all.
This evening we had our opening night program with the new group of kids. It was interesting. The 2-5 room had some kid puke, so they spent most of their time in the jungle gym which meant that we were not able to go in at all. We had a child whose parents described a concern as “transitions.” Wow. He was ODD or Autistic or something. He kept walking around talking about how he hated being there and would kick things, yell, and spit. When we were playing 2 Truths and a Lie, his brother wrote “I suck, I’m weird, and I hate myself.” When he showed it to me he started to cry. It was really sad and we talked to the mom after. I think this is not irregular behavior. When they arrived before all of this, they said that “the three devils are here.” Nice. We also had a ton of kids who like to scream. It seemed like a crazy day. Not end of the world bad, but way worse than last week. It should be interesting.
Day Seven: End of Week 1
Well, today was the last day of my first week! I am still very happy that I’ve been able to take this opportunity. It has been a total blast so far.
Today was a long day. It was a 10 hour workday and the kids were totally on a roll. They were stuck on the ship again and it was the last day of their fabulous vacations. It was madness. Mika, our crazy party girl, was all over the place fighting, hitting, and biting. But ultimately, she was a cutie. We did a lot of fun activities including decorating t-shirts and having a pajama party. Yes, I got to wear PJs to work. Sort of PJs, anyway. My PJs are a shirt and shorts, but the shorts are too short for kid’s crew so I wore a pair of yoga pants and I had to wear my sneakers since I don’t have any slippers here. Hm. One more thing I don’t have that I have MORE than enough of at home. Yes, that does mean that I don’t need slippers for any holiday in the near or distant future. In case you were checking your lists.
This week was Mango’s last week, so we all went to the comedy sketch show put on by Second City tonight and then went to Dazzles for drinks. I didn’t stay there very long; I’ve been tired and have to get up early tomorrow
So tomorrow starts a new group and a new week of duties. I’ll be working with the 6-9 group next week. Yee-haw! I finally felt like I understood the 2-5’s and now I’m moving. Oh well. C’est la vie!
Today was a long day. It was a 10 hour workday and the kids were totally on a roll. They were stuck on the ship again and it was the last day of their fabulous vacations. It was madness. Mika, our crazy party girl, was all over the place fighting, hitting, and biting. But ultimately, she was a cutie. We did a lot of fun activities including decorating t-shirts and having a pajama party. Yes, I got to wear PJs to work. Sort of PJs, anyway. My PJs are a shirt and shorts, but the shorts are too short for kid’s crew so I wore a pair of yoga pants and I had to wear my sneakers since I don’t have any slippers here. Hm. One more thing I don’t have that I have MORE than enough of at home. Yes, that does mean that I don’t need slippers for any holiday in the near or distant future. In case you were checking your lists.
This week was Mango’s last week, so we all went to the comedy sketch show put on by Second City tonight and then went to Dazzles for drinks. I didn’t stay there very long; I’ve been tired and have to get up early tomorrow
So tomorrow starts a new group and a new week of duties. I’ll be working with the 6-9 group next week. Yee-haw! I finally felt like I understood the 2-5’s and now I’m moving. Oh well. C’est la vie!
Friday, June 6, 2008
Day Six: Last Port Day for Week 1
Today is the only day (I think) that the ship will go to Hamilton. It’s funny because it is about a 45 minute ferry ride from King’s Wharf to Hamilton but when the ship stopped in Hamilton, it was a 30 minute tender ride to Hamilton. I guess the only difference is that the tender is free!
I wanted to go shopping as opposed to going to the beach or something else. We weren’t able to get off of the ship until around 11:00 and had to be back to the tenders at 3:00, so a big activity seemed pointless. Lego and I took the tender to Hamilton and shopped around a little bit. Some of the other YCs were coming out a little later, so we all met up for lunch at a place called Flanagan’s. I had THE BEST sandwich ever! It was so good!!
After we finished lunch, we didn’t have much time for shopping, so Lego and I went and bought half price bus tokens. Normally it’s $4 to take the bus or the ferry, but these were a pack of 15 for $30. This way when we go to the beach it won’t be $8 round trip, but $4. Plus, if we do something where we have to take the ferry and the bus, it will be $8 instead of $16. And that is your math lesson for the day.
When we got back, we went to the spa again. This time we used the hot tub and the sauna. Not a fan of the sauna. It was miserably hot there. I hated it. I only lasted 5 minutes at the most. Ick.
That night we had program and got to go see the onboard show; “Bollywood.” They describe it as a mix between Moulin Rouge, Cirque de Soleil, and belly dancing. Wow. Wow. There was one man and one woman singing who were not amazing. They danced to and partially mouthed the words to the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. There was a lot of belly dancing. The best parts of the show were the cirque acts. I am so impressed by that skill and technique. Other than that, I was not impressed. Oh well, it was fun overall and a nice break from the kid’s crew room.
I wanted to go shopping as opposed to going to the beach or something else. We weren’t able to get off of the ship until around 11:00 and had to be back to the tenders at 3:00, so a big activity seemed pointless. Lego and I took the tender to Hamilton and shopped around a little bit. Some of the other YCs were coming out a little later, so we all met up for lunch at a place called Flanagan’s. I had THE BEST sandwich ever! It was so good!!
After we finished lunch, we didn’t have much time for shopping, so Lego and I went and bought half price bus tokens. Normally it’s $4 to take the bus or the ferry, but these were a pack of 15 for $30. This way when we go to the beach it won’t be $8 round trip, but $4. Plus, if we do something where we have to take the ferry and the bus, it will be $8 instead of $16. And that is your math lesson for the day.
When we got back, we went to the spa again. This time we used the hot tub and the sauna. Not a fan of the sauna. It was miserably hot there. I hated it. I only lasted 5 minutes at the most. Ick.
That night we had program and got to go see the onboard show; “Bollywood.” They describe it as a mix between Moulin Rouge, Cirque de Soleil, and belly dancing. Wow. Wow. There was one man and one woman singing who were not amazing. They danced to and partially mouthed the words to the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. There was a lot of belly dancing. The best parts of the show were the cirque acts. I am so impressed by that skill and technique. Other than that, I was not impressed. Oh well, it was fun overall and a nice break from the kid’s crew room.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Day Five: Did I mention that my job rocks?
I slept in this morning after our late night last night. We met at the gangway this afternoon to go play beach volleyball. I suck at that if you didn’t know. After we played volleyball, we went into the water and this little beach for a while and then made our way back to the ship.
On port days when most of the guests are off of the ship, we have access to the onboard spa. Yeah, the spa. Lego, Crocodile (2 of the other YCs), and I went to the hot tub. It was SO much fun! We ended up running into my roommate, Magic, there and we all hung out for about an hour.
Tonight before program we had the Kid’s Crew dinner. Kids get to sign up to go have dinner with their friends and the counselors in one of the restaurants. We only had 8 kids sign up, but it was fun to get to hang out at dinner with some of the little cuties.
After that, we went upstairs for program. Tonight’s theme was ocean pollution. We watched a little video, played a sorting game between the trash can and the ocean, watched some “Finding Nemo,” and did some coloring. Oh yeah, we also read and did the jungle gym as usual.
Most of the other YCs decided to go out again tonight, but I decided I’d rather get some sleep, go shopping tomorrow, and not deal with all the drunkenness, crowdedness, and creepy guys.
On port days when most of the guests are off of the ship, we have access to the onboard spa. Yeah, the spa. Lego, Crocodile (2 of the other YCs), and I went to the hot tub. It was SO much fun! We ended up running into my roommate, Magic, there and we all hung out for about an hour.
Tonight before program we had the Kid’s Crew dinner. Kids get to sign up to go have dinner with their friends and the counselors in one of the restaurants. We only had 8 kids sign up, but it was fun to get to hang out at dinner with some of the little cuties.
After that, we went upstairs for program. Tonight’s theme was ocean pollution. We watched a little video, played a sorting game between the trash can and the ocean, watched some “Finding Nemo,” and did some coloring. Oh yeah, we also read and did the jungle gym as usual.
Most of the other YCs decided to go out again tonight, but I decided I’d rather get some sleep, go shopping tomorrow, and not deal with all the drunkenness, crowdedness, and creepy guys.
Day Four: What a Day!
Today was our first port day. We docked in Bermuda at 8:00 am. The passengers were pretty much able to get off of the ship immediately. The crew had to stay on to do their weekly emergency drill. This week they did a “Code Bravo” (fire) and Abandon Ship drill. Well, I was a little nervous about what to do, but I figured that it would all work out. I don’t think I mentioned it yet, but the crew is expected to never travel where the guests can. We are to use a specific hallway called the I-95 that is a below the decks where the guests can go. Now, I am starting to figure out that this does not necessarily apply to me since 1. I’m in the cruise staff/people that the guests are supposed to see and interact with and 2. I live on a guest deck. My neighbors paid a lot of money to be next door to me. Anyway, I was trying to go to my emergency station in the back hall, but then talked to my roommate about using the guest halls since it was an “emergency.” We decided that was good. I thought I found the restaurant where I was supposed to go, but I was on the wrong floor for the actual entrance. I was told to go upstairs and then told to cut through the galley. I kind of got lost there, too. I eventually found my way and they took attendance. Then we had to go to the theatre for another part of the drill. I was following some guy because I didn’t know where it was and we ended up sitting there for a few minutes. Then we were told to leave and go to our abandon ship spots. Well, to get the life jackets was a RIDICULOUS crowd of people. People were SHOVING to get their life vests. And this was a DRILL! Whatever. I was completely shocked though. So the girl we followed from the theatre told us to stand in a specific spot. The people around us were all having attendance taken, but not us. And only half of us were left. And we were now with the J8 sign, not the N8 sign. Oh well, she told us to stand there. So then, the English crabby guy comes town and tells us to go to our chute stations (where we would go through a chute to a life raft if we immediately had to get off of the boat). We assumed that’s were we were since the lady told us to stand there. Wrong. So we went to the other spot and stood there for a few minutes until they told us the drill was over and we went on our way.
Other than that, the port days are amazing. Once every so often you will have “Port Play” which is a 5-hour shift where you are in charge of any kids who sign up. It costs the parents money (unlike the other program times) and it’s while we’re in a port where the guests want to visit. Rarely anyone actually goes to it so it’s usually a chance to hone your Guitar Hero Skills. In the evenings of port days, we are expected to only work from 6:45-10:45 unless there is another activity on the schedule. I do not have port play this week, so I have all three days off with the opportunity to spend in Bermuda! Today .I met with a bunch of the other YCs (Youth Counselors) outside so that we could go to the beach. We took a bus from near the ship that we thought would take us to our beach of choice. It didn’t, but we had a beautiful scenic walk that took about 15 minutes to get to our beach of choice. Wow. It was absolutely amazing there. We climbed up on some huge cliff type things to look out at the ocean. Then we walked down the beach to a place where we could swim and lay out. We had a blast playing in the waves. The only downside was that on my first big wave I got hit and fell into the sand. I scraped my knees a bit. On my SECOND big wave I got hit and thrown into a rock. Much worse. Big, bloody scrape. Icky. Oh well, the water was great, laying out was a blast, and it was fun to play in the waves. When we were finished, we just caught a bus back. I went to the shopping mall near where the ship was docked to do a little shopping. I didn’t buy a ton of souvenirs because I figured I could go back next week and get them if I didn’t find anything else.
Program tonight was outer space adventures. We pretended to fly to the moon, created our own aliens, and played on the helipad. We used the parachute and lay down to look at the stars. It was a blast.
After program, we all got ready to go out. I figured that I should at least go out the first night of my first week. We met in the crew bar for drinks before we went out where they were more expensive. That’s right, we have our own bar where the beers and Smirnoff Ice’s are only ONE DOLLAR! Awesome. At about midnight we took a ferry for about 30 minutes to the town of Hamilton. Some bar owner is paying for this ferry so that everyone will come and spend money at his bar. We danced the way there on the ferry. Once we docked, we walked a few blocks to the bar. It was packed. We danced, I tried something called the “Dark and Stormy” (rum and gingerale), and I got an ego boost from the creepy locals who would hit on me (in case you are worried, Jim has NOTHING to worry about). We caught the ferry back at 3:15. On the way back, we sat at the front of the ferry and got to look out on the water as we drove. Beautiful. What a job. I made it back to the room, but I am exhausted. Good night!
Other than that, the port days are amazing. Once every so often you will have “Port Play” which is a 5-hour shift where you are in charge of any kids who sign up. It costs the parents money (unlike the other program times) and it’s while we’re in a port where the guests want to visit. Rarely anyone actually goes to it so it’s usually a chance to hone your Guitar Hero Skills. In the evenings of port days, we are expected to only work from 6:45-10:45 unless there is another activity on the schedule. I do not have port play this week, so I have all three days off with the opportunity to spend in Bermuda! Today .I met with a bunch of the other YCs (Youth Counselors) outside so that we could go to the beach. We took a bus from near the ship that we thought would take us to our beach of choice. It didn’t, but we had a beautiful scenic walk that took about 15 minutes to get to our beach of choice. Wow. It was absolutely amazing there. We climbed up on some huge cliff type things to look out at the ocean. Then we walked down the beach to a place where we could swim and lay out. We had a blast playing in the waves. The only downside was that on my first big wave I got hit and fell into the sand. I scraped my knees a bit. On my SECOND big wave I got hit and thrown into a rock. Much worse. Big, bloody scrape. Icky. Oh well, the water was great, laying out was a blast, and it was fun to play in the waves. When we were finished, we just caught a bus back. I went to the shopping mall near where the ship was docked to do a little shopping. I didn’t buy a ton of souvenirs because I figured I could go back next week and get them if I didn’t find anything else.
Program tonight was outer space adventures. We pretended to fly to the moon, created our own aliens, and played on the helipad. We used the parachute and lay down to look at the stars. It was a blast.
After program, we all got ready to go out. I figured that I should at least go out the first night of my first week. We met in the crew bar for drinks before we went out where they were more expensive. That’s right, we have our own bar where the beers and Smirnoff Ice’s are only ONE DOLLAR! Awesome. At about midnight we took a ferry for about 30 minutes to the town of Hamilton. Some bar owner is paying for this ferry so that everyone will come and spend money at his bar. We danced the way there on the ferry. Once we docked, we walked a few blocks to the bar. It was packed. We danced, I tried something called the “Dark and Stormy” (rum and gingerale), and I got an ego boost from the creepy locals who would hit on me (in case you are worried, Jim has NOTHING to worry about). We caught the ferry back at 3:15. On the way back, we sat at the front of the ferry and got to look out on the water as we drove. Beautiful. What a job. I made it back to the room, but I am exhausted. Good night!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
NOTE/DISCLAIMER
I have limited access to the internet and it costs me money, so I won't necessarily post everything at once. I'm typing it on my laptop (thanks LSD) and then posting it. So, I post dated the entries. Look back a bit!
Day Three
Took my test this morning. I passed! Congratulations to me! I think training is officially over.
In Kid’s Crew, we did some activities in a Bug’s Life theme. The kids got their faces painted like bugs, they made antennas, and they decorated wings. Once they were all dressed, we got to co on a parade around the ship. It was fun to see all the adults play along and smile and wave. Good times! We then did some bubble activities including painting with bubbles. This evening is the dress like a princess or superhero or whatever night. I’ll let you know how it goes! I think I can actually get on the internet to post this all, so I hope to get some comments soon!
In Kid’s Crew, we did some activities in a Bug’s Life theme. The kids got their faces painted like bugs, they made antennas, and they decorated wings. Once they were all dressed, we got to co on a parade around the ship. It was fun to see all the adults play along and smile and wave. Good times! We then did some bubble activities including painting with bubbles. This evening is the dress like a princess or superhero or whatever night. I’ll let you know how it goes! I think I can actually get on the internet to post this all, so I hope to get some comments soon!
Day Two Recap
Well, I had more training stuff to do today. It’s so cold in there! And I’m so tired! Oh well, it’s almost over. Tomorrow I have to take a test and then that’s the end of it (I think).
On days when we are at a port, we all have the evening shift from about 7-10:30 and a few people have the day shifts with the “port play.” On the days that we are at sea, there are 14 hours that we split up into blocks. Each block is 2 hours and we have 2 blocks on, 1 block off. Today I trained from 8-11:45, changed clothes, ate lunch, and then went to work until 2:45. I had a two hour break where I napped and took care of some things at the personnel office. Then I worked again from 4:45-8:45. It’s bizarre…I was obligated for more than 8 hours, but it didn’t really seem like that long. It’s really nice in that way!
I had to do a safety journal thing…it was a super pain. Important, I’m sure, but a pain. It sent me all around the ship to find the places I would need to go if there was an emergency. It is amazing how quickly I could get lost! At the same time, it’s crazy all of the different places that I can access now as a crew member. I had no idea how many different passageways there were, how many behind the scenes things we could see, or any of the other stuff that goes on. It gave me a chance to explore a little more.
After that, a group of us went to one of the night clubs on board for drinks and dancing. I didn’t do any dancing, and while I was there, they didn’t do much dancing either. It was a good time, but I cut out early to read up for my test tomorrow.
On days when we are at a port, we all have the evening shift from about 7-10:30 and a few people have the day shifts with the “port play.” On the days that we are at sea, there are 14 hours that we split up into blocks. Each block is 2 hours and we have 2 blocks on, 1 block off. Today I trained from 8-11:45, changed clothes, ate lunch, and then went to work until 2:45. I had a two hour break where I napped and took care of some things at the personnel office. Then I worked again from 4:45-8:45. It’s bizarre…I was obligated for more than 8 hours, but it didn’t really seem like that long. It’s really nice in that way!
I had to do a safety journal thing…it was a super pain. Important, I’m sure, but a pain. It sent me all around the ship to find the places I would need to go if there was an emergency. It is amazing how quickly I could get lost! At the same time, it’s crazy all of the different places that I can access now as a crew member. I had no idea how many different passageways there were, how many behind the scenes things we could see, or any of the other stuff that goes on. It gave me a chance to explore a little more.
After that, a group of us went to one of the night clubs on board for drinks and dancing. I didn’t do any dancing, and while I was there, they didn’t do much dancing either. It was a good time, but I cut out early to read up for my test tomorrow.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Day One: 1 Down, 28 to go!
I’m getting ready to go to bed after my first day. Overall it wasn’t too bad, but there are little things that totally sucked.
When I got to the ship we were herded like cattle. Not that big of a deal, but they send us all kinds of wrong places. Then all of our luggage/belongings were sniffed by the drug sniffing dogs. We got to get on the ship and it was time for the lines. I spent most of the rest of the day in lines.
We have a TON of safety training to do. And our safety guy is some man from England who is not very pleasant. He’s extremely fast (in spite of the fact that he is super short) and extremely impatient. I can’t tell you how many times he yelled at people to hurry up or to come in closer, or that he wasn’t waiting on them. In fact, at a couple of the LONG and BORING meetings, he would offer to buy watches for the people who were late or awaken those falling asleep in a not-so-nice way. Oh well, he never caught me sleeping!
I had to pick up my uniforms today. I. Look. So. Hot.
When I got to the ship we were herded like cattle. Not that big of a deal, but they send us all kinds of wrong places. Then all of our luggage/belongings were sniffed by the drug sniffing dogs. We got to get on the ship and it was time for the lines. I spent most of the rest of the day in lines.
We have a TON of safety training to do. And our safety guy is some man from England who is not very pleasant. He’s extremely fast (in spite of the fact that he is super short) and extremely impatient. I can’t tell you how many times he yelled at people to hurry up or to come in closer, or that he wasn’t waiting on them. In fact, at a couple of the LONG and BORING meetings, he would offer to buy watches for the people who were late or awaken those falling asleep in a not-so-nice way. Oh well, he never caught me sleeping!
I had to pick up my uniforms today. I. Look. So. Hot.
It’s actually not that bad, especially when I untuck my shirt from the PLEATED pants. I hate pleats. I normally wouldn’t think I had a had a fupa, but those pants make it! Oh, and I was told to bring 1 long and 2 cocktail formals, right? WRONG! I don’t need any formals. I just need ‘business casual” tops and black pants or skirts. I have a TON of those…at HOME! What a pain! So now I either have Jim send stuff to Leah or Jerry or Gabe for me to get next Sunday when I’m in New York or I buy new stuff. Now, I’m all about new clothes, but I spent a lot of money before this trip and New York can be expensive! Oh well, my supervisor said that she would make sure I have leave on Sunday to take care of this stuff.
I also had my first official night at work! This week I’m with the 2-5’s (kids age 2-5. Get it? I won’t explain that any further. I really like the people I work with. Sometimes I feel lost in the shuffle, but they made it a point to invite me up to dinner the first night and we hung out after shifts and should be going to Bermuda together! Part of the program is that we all have silly names. The original idea is that it starts with the same letter as your first name. Well, I am officially “Ladybug.” I love it! We had a great time with the kids playing in our little room and playing in the jungle gym – a huge mess of climbing, tunnels, slides, and balls. I have my favorite for the week, a little boy named David. He has the greatest smile and giggle! And he’s extremely sweet. We also have one little guy who, as my mom would put it, is a pill. He’s very bright, but very defiant and very aggressive. One of the other counselors talked to the mom today, but she didn’t seem very receptive about the whole thing. Oh well, we’ll see what happens. I’m super tired. Night!
I also had my first official night at work! This week I’m with the 2-5’s (kids age 2-5. Get it? I won’t explain that any further. I really like the people I work with. Sometimes I feel lost in the shuffle, but they made it a point to invite me up to dinner the first night and we hung out after shifts and should be going to Bermuda together! Part of the program is that we all have silly names. The original idea is that it starts with the same letter as your first name. Well, I am officially “Ladybug.” I love it! We had a great time with the kids playing in our little room and playing in the jungle gym – a huge mess of climbing, tunnels, slides, and balls. I have my favorite for the week, a little boy named David. He has the greatest smile and giggle! And he’s extremely sweet. We also have one little guy who, as my mom would put it, is a pill. He’s very bright, but very defiant and very aggressive. One of the other counselors talked to the mom today, but she didn’t seem very receptive about the whole thing. Oh well, we’ll see what happens. I’m super tired. Night!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Bad Start.
Today is not off to a good start. I was supposed to be in the lobby to meet my ride at 9:30 am. I got up with enough time to take a nice shower and have some time to get ready…in a relaxed way. I’m drying off after my shower at 8:30 when the phone in my room rings. I’m trying to figure out how Jim got the number to the hotel as I go to answer it. It’s not Jim. It’s the front desk. My ride is there. My response? “I’m supposed to be down there by 9:30.” Her response? “They come between 8 and 8:30. So I get dressed and packed in a record SIX minutes and run to the elevator. When I start going down, 5 adults with their luggage and 2 children are getting on. One of the children, Michael, doesn’t want to get on and mom is wrangling the suitcase. I am crammed against the wall. I wanted to tell her to wait. I didn’t. Not my place.
I run to the front desk where they tell me that my bus is the gold one out front. I get to it but I can’t get my suitcase on. It’s too heavy and there isn’t enough room. So I wait for the driver. I wait out there for 15 minutes until driver comes out (with no one else by the way. I was the last one they were waiting on). So now I’m on the bus. I’m hoping it will get better. Let you know!
I run to the front desk where they tell me that my bus is the gold one out front. I get to it but I can’t get my suitcase on. It’s too heavy and there isn’t enough room. So I wait for the driver. I wait out there for 15 minutes until driver comes out (with no one else by the way. I was the last one they were waiting on). So now I’m on the bus. I’m hoping it will get better. Let you know!
Saturday Night…
So the ride waiting for me at the airport was one of those guys with the dry erase board that had a name on it. Sure enough, there’s ARNET. I was in a black shiny car and had a driver who told me all kinds of interesting information as we drove. He also used a LOT of colorful language. Not that I was offended by it, but every other word was a swear word. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was how he spoke with all of his passengers. Oh well. He was very helpful in telling me the best ways to get from the hotel to Manhattan.
So I found my way to the city to meet Leah and her fam for the show. They were still in Brooklyn for the first visit to her apartment, so I had some tome on my own. I gave Gabe a call to find out where he was so that I could possibly go see him. The conversation is as follows:
ME: Hey Gabe!
HIM: Hey! Can you believe we’re in the Big Apple together
ME: I know! It’s crazy! Where are you guys?
HIM: Starbucks.
Starbucks? STARBUCKS?!? I’m supposed to find you at Starbucks? Do you know how many Starbucks there are in New York? There are like, eight at the LAKE OF THE OZARKS. And that is way different from New York City. So I wandered a bit. Happened upon Bubba Gump’s where a guy I know works…he wasn’t there. Took a picture of myself in Times Square to prove my trip there.
Wandered a little more until I found Gabe right before his show. I let them go in and walked a little before I decided I should go wait at the theatre. So I waited. And waited. And waited. Until 8:05. Little did any of us know that Leah’s apartment is an HOUR from midtown! Poor thing’s going to have a LONG commute to work every day! When we got in the theatre, we had to wait until the end of the first musical number to be seated. That was okay with me because it gave me the chance to run to the bathroom before we were seated. They did have televisions in the lobby to watch the first number, but some of the other late people were SO loud!
The show was AWESOME! I loved Igor. I hated the woman sitting next to me. There were a lot of strobe lights during the show. A LOT. Like at a club kind of strobe lights. I almost had to get my groove on. But I didn’t. I just enjoyed the show, strobe lights and all. That was me, not the lady sitting next to me. Every time they would start using the strobes or the situation lent itself to using the strobes, she would audibly say, “Here come the lights again” and cover her eyes. This happened. A lot. She also hated Igor. He was Ha-larious. He had a bunch of stupid jokes. And my “friend” would say things like, Oh, not him again,” or “that was stupid,” or if it was a joke or phrase or something we all new, she would let us all know the line in advance in case we hadn’t figured it out. She also didn’t applaud. I did not like her.
After the show, we met up with Gabe and his family and my cousin, Jerry. We had a BLAST at Dallas BBQ. Good food, good drinks, and I got the chance to use the AWESOME purse hanger from Marcia, Kathy, and Curtis (thanks guys!)
After our late night dinner, Jerry took me to the subway and gave me my directions. I did pretty well taking the subway to the second to last stop, getting on the AirTrain, and taking the shuttle to my hotel. It took me about an hour and 15 minutes. I got to the hotel before Leah and her parents got to her apartment.
So I found my way to the city to meet Leah and her fam for the show. They were still in Brooklyn for the first visit to her apartment, so I had some tome on my own. I gave Gabe a call to find out where he was so that I could possibly go see him. The conversation is as follows:
ME: Hey Gabe!
HIM: Hey! Can you believe we’re in the Big Apple together
ME: I know! It’s crazy! Where are you guys?
HIM: Starbucks.
Starbucks? STARBUCKS?!? I’m supposed to find you at Starbucks? Do you know how many Starbucks there are in New York? There are like, eight at the LAKE OF THE OZARKS. And that is way different from New York City. So I wandered a bit. Happened upon Bubba Gump’s where a guy I know works…he wasn’t there. Took a picture of myself in Times Square to prove my trip there.
Wandered a little more until I found Gabe right before his show. I let them go in and walked a little before I decided I should go wait at the theatre. So I waited. And waited. And waited. Until 8:05. Little did any of us know that Leah’s apartment is an HOUR from midtown! Poor thing’s going to have a LONG commute to work every day! When we got in the theatre, we had to wait until the end of the first musical number to be seated. That was okay with me because it gave me the chance to run to the bathroom before we were seated. They did have televisions in the lobby to watch the first number, but some of the other late people were SO loud!
The show was AWESOME! I loved Igor. I hated the woman sitting next to me. There were a lot of strobe lights during the show. A LOT. Like at a club kind of strobe lights. I almost had to get my groove on. But I didn’t. I just enjoyed the show, strobe lights and all. That was me, not the lady sitting next to me. Every time they would start using the strobes or the situation lent itself to using the strobes, she would audibly say, “Here come the lights again” and cover her eyes. This happened. A lot. She also hated Igor. He was Ha-larious. He had a bunch of stupid jokes. And my “friend” would say things like, Oh, not him again,” or “that was stupid,” or if it was a joke or phrase or something we all new, she would let us all know the line in advance in case we hadn’t figured it out. She also didn’t applaud. I did not like her.
After the show, we met up with Gabe and his family and my cousin, Jerry. We had a BLAST at Dallas BBQ. Good food, good drinks, and I got the chance to use the AWESOME purse hanger from Marcia, Kathy, and Curtis (thanks guys!)
After our late night dinner, Jerry took me to the subway and gave me my directions. I did pretty well taking the subway to the second to last stop, getting on the AirTrain, and taking the shuttle to my hotel. It took me about an hour and 15 minutes. I got to the hotel before Leah and her parents got to her apartment.
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