Happy Birthday and The Fattening

It is my birthday today!! It's my silver jubilee, which sounds much more exciting (and far less terrifying) than 25.

Birthdays are only scary if you're not doing what you want to be doing. I was terrified at 24- working at the crappy gym in a job that didn't belie my two degrees and future potential. However, the fact that I am about to skip the country in 8 days time seems to have made this 25th birthday of mine far less worrying.

Yeah, I can't describe myself with the vaguery of "early 20's" anymore - but it appears most people seem to think I'm 21-22 anyway, so my plan of action is just to never mention my age and let people assume away.

I got some great presents for my birthday too - an awesome Kikki K travel wallet, Napoleon Perdis lipstick, an amazing dress, an almost-nautical-themed pashmina, an Oroton bracelet and I think my sister is getting me a pair of Tsubi shorts. All awesome things and all things I can take with me on my trip - all thanks to my wonderful friends :)

Having your birthday so close to your leaving date is something that I can definitely recommend (not that you can really plan for that) as it means I've had more than one excuse to throw parties, go out to dinner and catch up with old friends.

I've put on 4kg in the past 2 weeks from constantly eating meal after meal of delicious food with my friends. Nando's, Works Burgers from the chippo, Grill'd, Big Breakfasts, KFC, unnecessary thickshakes and insane party foods - you name it, i've eaten it in the past 2 weeks. But quite frankly, I dont really care at the moment- as every time I eat at a particular place, I can justify it by saying "but its the last time I'll be able to have it for 10 months" (except for places like Nandos and KFC, where I say "it's the last time I'll have this in AUSTRALIA for the next ten months).

The pre-trip fattening has begun.

But I don't care - I'd rather just get maximum enjoyment out of my time left in Brisbane.

I'm pretty confident I'll the extra weight while i'm at sea- I read an article on Musicanwages.com (an excellent site for anyone interested in working on a cruise ship in any capacity) that leads me to believe it won't be too hard.

Also, I know there are excellent gym facilities on all ships in the fleet I'm going to work for. I'm not sure what kind of group fitness they have - I'm hoping they have some cardio classes - but if not, I know for sure they have yoga, pilates and heaps of gym equipment. However, If I have a mirror and a step, there's nothing stopping me from spending an hour with headphones on doing Bodystep or Body Attack - gotta remember to scan some chorey notes to take with me.

Who knows- maybe I'll be teaching aerobics? I certainly have the music resources to develop my own routines- not so much for step - but definitely for body attack. I'll admit that with some songs I have, I've already thought of choreography- I hope they'll let me. I could even do a low impact class! I've always wanted to teach freestyle.

Only 8 days left until my journey begins. I'm so excited!

The Confusion

When you're about to go away, people tend to ask you questions (duh).

Where are you going? How long for? And in my case especially, "WTF are you doing on a cruise ship?!"

And all I say can say is

umm... I think I'm the person who takes activities.. I think I get to say "and today... Bingo/Shuffleboard/Karaoke!"

...and that's how I found the (pretty crappy) name for this blog.

But, that's honestly pretty much all I know about what I'm going to be doing for the next 6 months.

Cruise Directors are responsible for the day to day activities of the passengers. As I've never been on a cruise, I don't actually know what those activities are (aside from the afforementioned bingo/shuffleboard/karaoke combo).

I've scoured the website of the cruise company I'm working for, gone through all my documentation with a fine tooth comb and searched the blogosphere for info, but have so far come up dry.

So far my list of certain occupations includes the b/s/k combo, library/pool duty, attending the formal ball evenings in a formal dress (evidence: instructions to bring a formal dress) and randomly wearing business attire sometimes (evidence: instructions to bring a suit).

Basically, I've been given no information about what I'll be doing for six months. eek! ANd don't forget, I'm a JUNIOR ASSISTANT cruise director.. the lowliest of the low- so I doubt I'll be up on stage hosting the western party dressed as a cowboy.

So, I got to wondering - what other activities do people even DO on cruise ships that require someone to boss them around?

I mean, there's aerobics + aqua aerobics (which I can teach), choirs and singing lessons (which I could take), dance lessons (which I should attend due to my epic fail in this department), "poolside activities" (which sounds suss to me), arts and crafts, sports games, quasi sports (croquet? horseshoes?) plus the company I'm working for seem to have a big focus on some kind of "university of the sea" thing.

I guess something that might take up a big part of my time could be planning awesome theme parties.. and hosting those- which would be rad!

In short.. I'm freaking confused about what I'm going to be doing on this ship! I don't even know which part of the world I'm going to be in after my 7 day mexican jaunt.

All I know is it's going to be so so so exciting and I can't wait until next Friday - just 10.5 days to go!

People have advised me to watch the love boat. I might take them up on that offer!

List item 29 - Start a blog

I have an extreme list of things to do before I begin my journey as a Cruise Director well, as a junior.. assistant... cruise director- #29 being "start a blog".

As I'm a graphic designer (sometimes), I thought - yep, get hosting, get domain, design awesome wordpress theme with all sorts of rad plug-ins.

But then I looked at the credit card bill I've incurred from the other 28 list entries- and the decision to join blogger was made for me.

So. The story so far.

Fed up with Brisbane (aka dodge city aka Brisboring aka BrisBANE of my existence etc etc) and with my less-than-optimal carreer progression since completing uni, I was siezed by the urge to GTFO of Dodge.

Thing is, I have no cash. So I began to scheme. How can I escape this town? As a person with alot of performance experience - a vocalist and performer of decent skill & experience - certainly enough to be getting professional work in those fields - I thought.. cruise ship! I could be a cruise ship singer!

So, in January I applied with www.cruisestaff.com.au . I paid my $50 to become a "member" and thought - ship singing here we come. However, given that I've also done a whole lot of random presentation/group leadership things, cruisestaff.com.au directed me towards the role of cruise director.

I'm a qualified Les Mills Body Attack and Body Step instructor, I've been a radio host (switch1197 am yeah como!), I've hosted events, been a roving character performer and coached basketball on top of my acting/singing experience - so really, this job was a no-brainer for me to get.

I got my placement with Princess Cruises and over the next few months, gradually learned by email that I'll be departing Brisbane on the 9th of April to join the crew of the Sapphire Princess for 1 week of training as we sail the Mexican Riviera.

I depart Brisvegas at 11am on the 9th of April and Arrive LAX at 7am the same day - gaining 4 extra hours of life to cash in on a day in the City of Angels.

Then - all aboard the Sapphire Princess - I'm being met by a cruise representative at 7am in the foyer of the LAX Crowne Towers who will escort me (and presumably other equally confused Junior Assistant Cruise Directors) to the ship.

And... that's all I know.

In this blog, I intend to record my experiences as a cruise director - hopefully entertaining my friends back home with my normal rubbishy crap, and also perhaps provide insight into the role for new recruits to the role.

I know pretty much NOTHING about what I'll be doing on the ship, which ship I'll even be assigned to after my training week. It's a bit scary and A LOT EXCITING, but I would love to have access to a blog that could have removed a little of the intense mystery that shrouds the "Life of a Cruise Director (junior) (assistant)".