My gosh, it’s been a long time since I’ve written- but I have been absolutely flat out (and very tired) for the last week. Really, my job is awesome yet totally insane.
A lot of people on the ship think the cruise staff have it easy, but I find those those are generally the people who havn’t thought about whether or not they could actually do our job. I must admit, I find this job to be a lot of fun – actually I love every second of it – and I find that it comes naturally to me (which is really nice). But most of the other crew on this ship (and probably most people in general) – especially the ones who think we have it easy – would probably struggle to do our job – it only looks easy because the people who do it are good at what they do.
We are around passengers 11-14 hours a day. And when we are around passengers we are ON. Completely ON. Always FUN FUN FUN all the time. We entertain them, we talk to them, we help them, we make them smile. I’ve become very good at making random conversation with strangers- especially ones who are just sitting there, minding their own business. I think most people would struggle, given you also have to host events, run activities and stay up until 1am in the evening and start work at 9am.
Cruise Staff is not an easy job – it’s a lot of fun for the sort of people who are drawn to the role – for others it might be some kind of nightmare.
Anyway, that aside, I am very excited because today I hosted pool games for the first time. Now, although that does’t sound very exciting (and yes, I have hosted plenty of other activities this cruise already) but pool games is a whole other ball game.
Pool games is tricky. One cruise staff hosts and two are the team captains. You have about 200 spectators. You have to get the crowd ( who were, util you started on the microphone, lying in the sun minding their own business) pumped up, introduce the teams and explain the rules of each games properly yet interestingly yet succinctly, run each event and provide commentary keeping everyone involved.
I was pretty nervous before I started hosting – especially as we had 16 people playing and a huge amount of people int eh pool areas. However, it went really well and I’m really proud to have conqured that challenge.
We played three games – Over and Under, Live Preserver Gladiators and the Great T-Shirt Race.
It went really smoothly, except for a brief moment when the captain interrupted with an announcement over the ship’s PA (which knocks out the music and my microphone) so I had to call a time out AND when security came over and started yelling at my participants for jumping safely into the pool (I did not allow diving – but you have to allow them to jump in a race!!).
This is the same security officer who smokes round the back of the ceramics cart much to my chargin.
ALso, last night I taught a line dance at country night for the first time! man, I feel like a woman.
grapevine to the right, grapevine to the left, mosey mosey mosey mosey, easy walk, easy walk, "doggy pee pee", turn it around.
I love line dancing.
Another exciting thing that happened was that last Friday, I SWUM WITH THE STINGRAYS on Grand Turk. They were so amazing and cute! So gentle, they came in and swam around us in the shallows and we were able to hold them, kiss them and get a stingray massage! So cool! They feel all slimy and fishy and cute! I even got to kiss the stingray’s tail barb. Also we got photos with the stingray “smiling”- they hold her out of the water and she spurts water out her mouth and it looks like she’s smiling!
On the same tour I also got to snorkel at some off-shore reefs- very awesome to dive down deep and explore – there were GIANT BARACUDA! Very very cool!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
upload failed
So I'm sitting here in a cafe in st maarten, trying desparately to upload photos on the island-time internet. I've been uploading for an hour... the upload finishes and up pops the dialogue box "Upload failed, please try again".
Die in a hole, internet.
Tonight is island night. Island night is definitely the most demanding theme night. It starts off slow, we do the hookie-lau (however it's spelled), the macarena, the electric slide - and everything is nice.
Then "jump and wave, jump and wave, wave your hands wave your hands if you like the band" for half an hour. It gets to the point where I' i go into the "zone" because otherwise i would probably pass out! JUMP AND WAVE. JUMP AND WAVE
Die in a hole, internet.
Tonight is island night. Island night is definitely the most demanding theme night. It starts off slow, we do the hookie-lau (however it's spelled), the macarena, the electric slide - and everything is nice.
Then "jump and wave, jump and wave, wave your hands wave your hands if you like the band" for half an hour. It gets to the point where I' i go into the "zone" because otherwise i would probably pass out! JUMP AND WAVE. JUMP AND WAVE
Saturday, May 15, 2010
saftey first!
Saftey safety safety!
So yesterday morning, I did some crisis and human behaviour training with the rest of my team IN CASE OF EMERGENCY. It was actually a lot of fun and I learned a lot about disasters that have befallen us in the past.
The biggest disaster that ever happened to our fleet was on board the Star or so years ago… Here is a link to the video.. see for yourself.
Passengers stood around taking this video before the crew even knew the ship was on fire (thus we see how stupid people can be in an emergency). Basically what happened is someone flicked a cigarette overboard (or it simply was blown over by the wind) and instead of falling into the sea, it fell onto a towel resting on the railing of a balcony below.
Now, safety on the decks of our ships is INTENSE, but no one ever thought that we would have to deal with a fire OUTSIDE trying to get in.
The crew alert was sounded at 3am in the morning and all the passengers evacuated to their muster stations. Our fire fighters fought the fire for three hours until it was extinguished. Passengers were held in the muster stations for over 8 hours, to ensure the ship was structurally sound enough to continue to the next port.
Can you imagine. How terrified you would be. To hear the crew alert sound at 3am. Apparently passenger son the other side of the ship didn’t want to leave their cabins. People wanted the bars opened. They were ON THE VERGE of evacuating the ship, and people wanted to drink. So you can see, that crisis training is very important. The ship was saved by the high fog sprinklers we have in every cabin, on every deck. If we had regular sprinklers like some of the older ships at the time… my goodness.
What happened on the Star is an excellent example of a crisis that was very well managed- everything went according to plan and not a single life was lost (or injury sustained). Also, all areas are now fitted with smoke detectors and hi-fog system. Also, in the passenger drill they now make a really big deal of smoking & balcony saftey.
But… can you imagine looking out your cabin window and seeing that? This is why you shouldn’t smoke!!
Also someone mentioned that once on an alskan run, a ship hit a whale carcass and it got stuck to the bow! So they sailed into harbour with a stinky dead whale on the front of the boat, which had to be cleared before the passengers saw it.. can you imagine? hahah
So yesterday morning, I did some crisis and human behaviour training with the rest of my team IN CASE OF EMERGENCY. It was actually a lot of fun and I learned a lot about disasters that have befallen us in the past.
The biggest disaster that ever happened to our fleet was on board the Star or so years ago… Here is a link to the video.. see for yourself.
Passengers stood around taking this video before the crew even knew the ship was on fire (thus we see how stupid people can be in an emergency). Basically what happened is someone flicked a cigarette overboard (or it simply was blown over by the wind) and instead of falling into the sea, it fell onto a towel resting on the railing of a balcony below.
Now, safety on the decks of our ships is INTENSE, but no one ever thought that we would have to deal with a fire OUTSIDE trying to get in.
The crew alert was sounded at 3am in the morning and all the passengers evacuated to their muster stations. Our fire fighters fought the fire for three hours until it was extinguished. Passengers were held in the muster stations for over 8 hours, to ensure the ship was structurally sound enough to continue to the next port.
Can you imagine. How terrified you would be. To hear the crew alert sound at 3am. Apparently passenger son the other side of the ship didn’t want to leave their cabins. People wanted the bars opened. They were ON THE VERGE of evacuating the ship, and people wanted to drink. So you can see, that crisis training is very important. The ship was saved by the high fog sprinklers we have in every cabin, on every deck. If we had regular sprinklers like some of the older ships at the time… my goodness.
What happened on the Star is an excellent example of a crisis that was very well managed- everything went according to plan and not a single life was lost (or injury sustained). Also, all areas are now fitted with smoke detectors and hi-fog system. Also, in the passenger drill they now make a really big deal of smoking & balcony saftey.
But… can you imagine looking out your cabin window and seeing that? This is why you shouldn’t smoke!!
Also someone mentioned that once on an alskan run, a ship hit a whale carcass and it got stuck to the bow! So they sailed into harbour with a stinky dead whale on the front of the boat, which had to be cleared before the passengers saw it.. can you imagine? hahah
Cozumel: best. port. ever!
Well, yesterday was pretty much the best day ever. I would just like to put it out there that the Mexican island of Cozumel is definitely my favourite port. Ever.
Mark and I were lucky enough to have the day off yesterday and had the luck to have been able to book an adventure tour going zip lining and snorkelling with the stingrays. However, disappointment was to strike when we walked into club fusion for London Pub night on Thursday evening at 11:30pm to be told that we had been enrolled in safety training the next day from 9-11am, effectively dashing our stingray dreams.
Safety training was actually really really interesting. But it’s really outside the scope of this particular blog entry (see the next blog entry – I’ll write about it – it was very cool). So at about 11:30 Mark and I walked down the gangway and into Cozumel. To see shopping. So much shopping.
The problem with all the ports I’ve been to before is that there are only two types of things to buy- Really really expensive duty free items/diamonds/watches/diamond encrusted watches AND really really cheap souvenir t-shirts/key-chains/assorted-crap-you-don’t-want-or-need. Cozumel, although possessing both of these, introduced a third category – cool, reasonably-priced-stuff-I-actually-want.
I bought an amazing leather belt and leather bag for $40 (the guy originally wanted $35 for the belt and $45 for the bag, so I drove a good bargain). Also a pair of sunglasses and a mask + snorkel.
After making it out of the cruise terminal flea market, we caught a taxi into town. It was such a beautiful day – blue skies, warm temperatures, nice and dry (not horribly humid like other islands). Cozumel is very clean, the people are friendly (even the pushy shop owners are very charming), and everything is wonderfully Mexican.
We went for lunch at Toro’s place, a Mexican (duh) restaurant with beautiful views of the harbour. And my god. Mexican food in Mexico? You could not believe the awesomeness. The nachos were to die for – and the fajitas? Kill me now that I will not be able to have them again for two weeks! I got mixed fajitas – so beef, chicken and prawns – just perfection! Top it off with a bottle of corona with lime and you have the ultimate dining experience!
Before I tell you what happened next, I’d just like to point out something that really grinds my gears. At pretty much every single port we stop at (including tiny Grand Turk) there is a big chain bar/restaurant- Senor Frog or (most prolific) Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville. You see our passengers flock into these giant bars when they arrive in port, not to leave until right before the ship departs. WHY? I DON’T UNDERSTAND! You are in a new country, surrounded by new sights to see and activities to do- and you disappear into a tacky chain bar, get drunk with other Americans and listen to American music, not seeing anything that island has to offer. MAKES ME SO MAD!
Anyway, after lunch I decided we would rent a scooter and drive out to some Mayan ruins. Mark was… unenthused at the outset. We rented a little 50cc scooter in a back street for $20. The contract was a little like signing your life away “YOU ARE 100% RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SCOOTER AND THE DAMAGE YOU CAUSE TO THE LIFE OR PROPERTY OF OTHERS”. However once we were on the road (and mark stopped screaming), we had a fabulous time. I love riding scooters… except when a bug flies in your eye.
We drove to some Mayan ruins that were free to visit. We rolled into a sleepy little town and became confused as to where the actual ruins were. We walked around for a while, but with still no ruins sighted we asked some locals. And sure enough, next to a little church was the smallest Mayan ruin known to man. It was very cute for a ruin.
Sure enough, we were enticed into a small man’s gift shop, and feeling guilty after driving all the way to the middle of nowhere, we were both guilted into buying a small ceramic bowl each.
Afterwards we cruised along the highway on our little scooter, eventually stopping at a party beach bar in the middle of nowhere called MR. SANCHO’S… It was like a crazy metropolis in the middle of nowhere… you could buy Mexican wrestling masks there! The ocean was filled with giant inflatable pyramids, anchored to the sea floor, for climbing and falling from. There were drunken passengers everywhere!
After a little R&R and rum and coke, we headed back to the ship via a massive Wal-Mart style store, aptly named MEGA. I find being able to buy white goods, clothes and crackers in the same store somewhat unnerving.
Mark and I were lucky enough to have the day off yesterday and had the luck to have been able to book an adventure tour going zip lining and snorkelling with the stingrays. However, disappointment was to strike when we walked into club fusion for London Pub night on Thursday evening at 11:30pm to be told that we had been enrolled in safety training the next day from 9-11am, effectively dashing our stingray dreams.
Safety training was actually really really interesting. But it’s really outside the scope of this particular blog entry (see the next blog entry – I’ll write about it – it was very cool). So at about 11:30 Mark and I walked down the gangway and into Cozumel. To see shopping. So much shopping.
The problem with all the ports I’ve been to before is that there are only two types of things to buy- Really really expensive duty free items/diamonds/watches/diamond encrusted watches AND really really cheap souvenir t-shirts/key-chains/assorted-crap-you-don’t-want-or-need. Cozumel, although possessing both of these, introduced a third category – cool, reasonably-priced-stuff-I-actually-want.
I bought an amazing leather belt and leather bag for $40 (the guy originally wanted $35 for the belt and $45 for the bag, so I drove a good bargain). Also a pair of sunglasses and a mask + snorkel.
After making it out of the cruise terminal flea market, we caught a taxi into town. It was such a beautiful day – blue skies, warm temperatures, nice and dry (not horribly humid like other islands). Cozumel is very clean, the people are friendly (even the pushy shop owners are very charming), and everything is wonderfully Mexican.
We went for lunch at Toro’s place, a Mexican (duh) restaurant with beautiful views of the harbour. And my god. Mexican food in Mexico? You could not believe the awesomeness. The nachos were to die for – and the fajitas? Kill me now that I will not be able to have them again for two weeks! I got mixed fajitas – so beef, chicken and prawns – just perfection! Top it off with a bottle of corona with lime and you have the ultimate dining experience!
Before I tell you what happened next, I’d just like to point out something that really grinds my gears. At pretty much every single port we stop at (including tiny Grand Turk) there is a big chain bar/restaurant- Senor Frog or (most prolific) Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville. You see our passengers flock into these giant bars when they arrive in port, not to leave until right before the ship departs. WHY? I DON’T UNDERSTAND! You are in a new country, surrounded by new sights to see and activities to do- and you disappear into a tacky chain bar, get drunk with other Americans and listen to American music, not seeing anything that island has to offer. MAKES ME SO MAD!
Anyway, after lunch I decided we would rent a scooter and drive out to some Mayan ruins. Mark was… unenthused at the outset. We rented a little 50cc scooter in a back street for $20. The contract was a little like signing your life away “YOU ARE 100% RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SCOOTER AND THE DAMAGE YOU CAUSE TO THE LIFE OR PROPERTY OF OTHERS”. However once we were on the road (and mark stopped screaming), we had a fabulous time. I love riding scooters… except when a bug flies in your eye.
We drove to some Mayan ruins that were free to visit. We rolled into a sleepy little town and became confused as to where the actual ruins were. We walked around for a while, but with still no ruins sighted we asked some locals. And sure enough, next to a little church was the smallest Mayan ruin known to man. It was very cute for a ruin.
Sure enough, we were enticed into a small man’s gift shop, and feeling guilty after driving all the way to the middle of nowhere, we were both guilted into buying a small ceramic bowl each.
Afterwards we cruised along the highway on our little scooter, eventually stopping at a party beach bar in the middle of nowhere called MR. SANCHO’S… It was like a crazy metropolis in the middle of nowhere… you could buy Mexican wrestling masks there! The ocean was filled with giant inflatable pyramids, anchored to the sea floor, for climbing and falling from. There were drunken passengers everywhere!
After a little R&R and rum and coke, we headed back to the ship via a massive Wal-Mart style store, aptly named MEGA. I find being able to buy white goods, clothes and crackers in the same store somewhat unnerving.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
it's time for my...recount of today
Today started hilariously badly.. I was scheduled for a meeting with Collette, the DCD, to discuss my “goals” for this contract at 9:30… However when I woke up, I was SURE that the meeting had been postponed- so I got up and started organising my stuff for the day (medals, prizes, champagne etc) I got a phone call from collette at 9:45 “umm, where are you Jess”? I was like.. umm.. I thought it was cancelled.. then I realised.. I must have dreamed that it was cancelled. I woke up SO SURE it was not on. Oh well – we have rescheduled it for tomorrow anyway.
Today is a sea day… Sea days are really big days for cruise staff – every person works from 9:30/10 until midnight on a sea day. Today I started off with two hours of ceramics, which is quite fun. Passengers come to the ceramics cart on deck 16 and I explain the process to them – I do a bit of a demonstration and then I get them all set up. They then spend an inordinate amount of time painting really simple designs onto their pieces- but occasionally a work of brilliance emerges. Actually, they all turn out really well – its nice to see them once they have been fired in the kiln on deck 2.
Once people are set up I either chat to them or fill up little squeezy bottles with glaze. Today was a squeezy bottle day. I got ‘ cotton tail’, ‘tuxedo’, ‘java bean’,’ jack-o-lantern’ and ‘cheeky pink’ done today – tomorrow I conquer the cool colours!
The ceramics cart is my area of responsibility – I have to make sure it is stocked, tidy and ready for the next person. I generally also bring speakers along and play enya music as well.
After that, I had to run a basketball shoot-out competition. For that, I play some basketball style music (boom boom boom a let me hear you say way-oh (way-oh)) etc. and then get them to do a warm up drill. Then we play shots in a minute – and I give points for different types of shots.. they get 7 points for a shot from half way. At the end I do a medal presentation and interview with the winners.
After basketball I hosted a vetrans get together in crooners cocktail lounge.. I blow up balloons and write on them- I drew lots of stars because I think americans seem to like them. Then I wait. Today only 6 people came – a young soldier who has served in Afghanistan, A Vietnam Vetran and a 2nd world war vetran (plus wives). It was very interesting to hear their respective stories and see the older guys giving advice to the young soldier.
After get together I had library.. my god I love the library. You pretty much just sit there and hang out – I normally go on the computer and do some princess U courses- today I did one on email etiquette that was pretty pointless, but extremely extremely hilarious- I felt bad for laughing in the library.
At 5pm, DJ dave and I had to decorate club fusion for 80’s night. We don’t have any 80’s decorations so we had to improvise… rainbow balloons and streamers. As we were finishing up, a passenger who had been watching us said “yeah, doesn’t look very 80’s”… sad face.
I now have a short break until 7:15 – which I am using to write this AND get dressed in my formal dress. Tonight is the piazza party and champagne waterfall. It’s a bit rough tonight so I hope the champagne waterfall doesn’t collapse (like last week – we lost about a fifth of it… shattering glasses and awkward silences.
After that, I’ve got a chance to grab dinner (the security department are doing curry night tonight- I’m not quite sure what that involves but… hmm) and then off to de-greet at the princess theatre- chat to passengers, tell them about what is happening around the ship – push 80’s night (because the more the merrier)
After that, we have our 80’s night party – we do 80’s dances, teach them thriller and have a Michael Jackson dance off. After that, I have to do some hosting at the second princess popstar heats.. top two singers as voted by the audience go through to the finals on Saturday night.
Swanning 9-12 any time I’m free…
Tomorrow we are in Jamaica (which apparently is.. not so nice?) but I can’t get off the ship as I’m on IPM… however in two weeks time I’ll be off.. so I will have to wait until then to make my own judgement.
Today is a sea day… Sea days are really big days for cruise staff – every person works from 9:30/10 until midnight on a sea day. Today I started off with two hours of ceramics, which is quite fun. Passengers come to the ceramics cart on deck 16 and I explain the process to them – I do a bit of a demonstration and then I get them all set up. They then spend an inordinate amount of time painting really simple designs onto their pieces- but occasionally a work of brilliance emerges. Actually, they all turn out really well – its nice to see them once they have been fired in the kiln on deck 2.
Once people are set up I either chat to them or fill up little squeezy bottles with glaze. Today was a squeezy bottle day. I got ‘ cotton tail’, ‘tuxedo’, ‘java bean’,’ jack-o-lantern’ and ‘cheeky pink’ done today – tomorrow I conquer the cool colours!
The ceramics cart is my area of responsibility – I have to make sure it is stocked, tidy and ready for the next person. I generally also bring speakers along and play enya music as well.
After that, I had to run a basketball shoot-out competition. For that, I play some basketball style music (boom boom boom a let me hear you say way-oh (way-oh)) etc. and then get them to do a warm up drill. Then we play shots in a minute – and I give points for different types of shots.. they get 7 points for a shot from half way. At the end I do a medal presentation and interview with the winners.
After basketball I hosted a vetrans get together in crooners cocktail lounge.. I blow up balloons and write on them- I drew lots of stars because I think americans seem to like them. Then I wait. Today only 6 people came – a young soldier who has served in Afghanistan, A Vietnam Vetran and a 2nd world war vetran (plus wives). It was very interesting to hear their respective stories and see the older guys giving advice to the young soldier.
After get together I had library.. my god I love the library. You pretty much just sit there and hang out – I normally go on the computer and do some princess U courses- today I did one on email etiquette that was pretty pointless, but extremely extremely hilarious- I felt bad for laughing in the library.
At 5pm, DJ dave and I had to decorate club fusion for 80’s night. We don’t have any 80’s decorations so we had to improvise… rainbow balloons and streamers. As we were finishing up, a passenger who had been watching us said “yeah, doesn’t look very 80’s”… sad face.
I now have a short break until 7:15 – which I am using to write this AND get dressed in my formal dress. Tonight is the piazza party and champagne waterfall. It’s a bit rough tonight so I hope the champagne waterfall doesn’t collapse (like last week – we lost about a fifth of it… shattering glasses and awkward silences.
After that, I’ve got a chance to grab dinner (the security department are doing curry night tonight- I’m not quite sure what that involves but… hmm) and then off to de-greet at the princess theatre- chat to passengers, tell them about what is happening around the ship – push 80’s night (because the more the merrier)
After that, we have our 80’s night party – we do 80’s dances, teach them thriller and have a Michael Jackson dance off. After that, I have to do some hosting at the second princess popstar heats.. top two singers as voted by the audience go through to the finals on Saturday night.
Swanning 9-12 any time I’m free…
Tomorrow we are in Jamaica (which apparently is.. not so nice?) but I can’t get off the ship as I’m on IPM… however in two weeks time I’ll be off.. so I will have to wait until then to make my own judgement.
Friday, May 7, 2010
goodbye east hello west
This week marks our last week on the Eastern Carribean run – on Sunday we change to Western Caribbean – HELLO JAMAICA! HELLO COZUMEL!! HELLO GRAND CAYMAN!! Hello… princess cays (again ugh).
Last night was a late late night – we finished London Pub night at about 1am, and then had a ‘team meeting’ with drinks in club fusion until ten to two. This morning, Barbara and I did the napkin folding demonstration – it’s amazing how much enthusiasm people have at 9:30 am for table decorations!
This afternoon I get to take my first trivia. It’s not really that exciting – very very easy to do – however, it’s the first time I’ve actually been allowed on the microphone to host an activity.. and you know how much I love a microphone.
This week the entertainment department is in a bit of upheaval as we are switching casts for our production shows. Dancers/Singers that have been performing on board for 6 months are swapping off for a brand new cast that have been rehearsing shore side for a month. They had their first show last night – and the old cast has their last show tonight! Can you IMAGINE how big the party in the crew bar will be on their last night? Wow.
I really like the end of the week on board, By this time the passengers know you, they’ve seen you and they are really keen to talk to you. It’s a bit like being a celebrity.. for a group of 3000 people at a time.
I am on IPM (in port manning) today, and I have been preparing for the “on deck for a cure” 5k walk I am hosting in the morning. I have been making signs, getting prizes ready and making a CD of “chariots of fire” to play at the start of the run. I’m going to wear my cheerleader costume from 50’s night as I cheer for the passengers as they walk – and use my giant novelty sized scissors (from lorena bobbit costume for pub night) to cut the ribbon to start the walk. I hope it all goes well.
Last night was a late late night – we finished London Pub night at about 1am, and then had a ‘team meeting’ with drinks in club fusion until ten to two. This morning, Barbara and I did the napkin folding demonstration – it’s amazing how much enthusiasm people have at 9:30 am for table decorations!
This afternoon I get to take my first trivia. It’s not really that exciting – very very easy to do – however, it’s the first time I’ve actually been allowed on the microphone to host an activity.. and you know how much I love a microphone.
This week the entertainment department is in a bit of upheaval as we are switching casts for our production shows. Dancers/Singers that have been performing on board for 6 months are swapping off for a brand new cast that have been rehearsing shore side for a month. They had their first show last night – and the old cast has their last show tonight! Can you IMAGINE how big the party in the crew bar will be on their last night? Wow.
I really like the end of the week on board, By this time the passengers know you, they’ve seen you and they are really keen to talk to you. It’s a bit like being a celebrity.. for a group of 3000 people at a time.
I am on IPM (in port manning) today, and I have been preparing for the “on deck for a cure” 5k walk I am hosting in the morning. I have been making signs, getting prizes ready and making a CD of “chariots of fire” to play at the start of the run. I’m going to wear my cheerleader costume from 50’s night as I cheer for the passengers as they walk – and use my giant novelty sized scissors (from lorena bobbit costume for pub night) to cut the ribbon to start the walk. I hope it all goes well.
Monday, May 3, 2010
the cruise staff team
My very good (and very much missed friend) Clare asked me the other day about my team on board the ship. Im extremely lucky in that we all get along very well- so I will be able to describe them for you in my blog entry for today.
The Cruise Director’s Staff are made up of:
- The Cruise Director (Tim, an ex copper and comedian from England who has been with the company 19 years and is amazing- you should see our pub night) the cruise director is the face of entertainment on board, he speaks at the big events, introduces the big shows, runs pub night and sail away and is everywhere all the time
- The deputy cruise director (collette – a lovely Australia girl from Brisbane who is directly responsible for managing the rest of us, the ACDs and JACDs)
CD ad DCD do the hosting for a lot of the biggest events and have really cool cabins- they also spend a lot of time in the office
- The Assistant Cruise directors (ACDs) – James (uk), Mark (uk) and Boogie (Romania)
- The ACD DJ – Dave (Canada)
And finally,
- The Junior Assistant Cruise Directors (JACDs) – Barbara (from brazil) and me!
Barbara and I share a cabin, but the rest of the team have their own cabins.
That is the structure of our team. I’ll write more later but I have to go and take water volleyball now...
The Cruise Director’s Staff are made up of:
- The Cruise Director (Tim, an ex copper and comedian from England who has been with the company 19 years and is amazing- you should see our pub night) the cruise director is the face of entertainment on board, he speaks at the big events, introduces the big shows, runs pub night and sail away and is everywhere all the time
- The deputy cruise director (collette – a lovely Australia girl from Brisbane who is directly responsible for managing the rest of us, the ACDs and JACDs)
CD ad DCD do the hosting for a lot of the biggest events and have really cool cabins- they also spend a lot of time in the office
- The Assistant Cruise directors (ACDs) – James (uk), Mark (uk) and Boogie (Romania)
- The ACD DJ – Dave (Canada)
And finally,
- The Junior Assistant Cruise Directors (JACDs) – Barbara (from brazil) and me!
Barbara and I share a cabin, but the rest of the team have their own cabins.
That is the structure of our team. I’ll write more later but I have to go and take water volleyball now...
Fort Lauderdale shop shop shop
Well, yesterday was the day I had been waiting for – Finally I had the day off in Fort Lauderdale! Finally the chance to shop shop shop!
The thing is, when you start this job there is no way you can know what to take with you.. especially when, like me, you had no idea where you were going to be in the world until after you left.
Shopping on the islands is shit. Unless you want tacky shirts and trinkets or $20000 diamonds. Then it’s great. But I need things like a kettle, paper an pens, band aids, no-doz, boxes for organising all my junk, candy – all of which are in short supply on the islands. I also need more clothes. I regret not taking certain items – and mum, get ready for an email detailing all the things I need you to send me from home!!
When you disembark the ship in fort Lauderdale, there are little mini busses outside that will run you to various shopping centres around Fort Lauderdale and Miami. Because I was on disembarks form 6:30 am – 10am (een though it was my day off), I missed the busses going to Galleria and Aventura mall ( the best places), however I was able to catch the “cow bus” to Sawgrass Mills, the largest mall in Florida.
My god.
The largeness.
The awesomeness.
The sheer novelty of seeing all the shops you’ve only read about or seen on TV in real life.. and buying shit from them!!
Saks 5th avenue, Walgreens, Windixie, taco bell, chuck.e.cheeze, J.C Penney, dollar tree (which is literally the greatest dollar shop I have ever experienced)… and like 8 million others – I was a little excited. I BOUghT A BRA FROM VICTORIA’S SECRET.. it is the greatest bra ever. Out of control.
I had taco bell for lunch. Yuk. I hate it. Bleugh. Next time, subway.
I sshoppeed and shopped and shopped, but still only ended up with half the stuff I needed. For example I got the kettle and the milk, but no instant coffee… oh well, there’s always next week.
Next week is very exciting as well, as we are changing itineraries from eastern to western Caribbean – then alternating for the rest of my contract. It will be nice to have a change of scenery.
In our meeting last night, we found out that the cruise staff team on board the emerald is blowing the other 16 ships in the fleet out of the water in terms of ratings and feedback. Woo we are the best.
The thing is, when you start this job there is no way you can know what to take with you.. especially when, like me, you had no idea where you were going to be in the world until after you left.
Shopping on the islands is shit. Unless you want tacky shirts and trinkets or $20000 diamonds. Then it’s great. But I need things like a kettle, paper an pens, band aids, no-doz, boxes for organising all my junk, candy – all of which are in short supply on the islands. I also need more clothes. I regret not taking certain items – and mum, get ready for an email detailing all the things I need you to send me from home!!
When you disembark the ship in fort Lauderdale, there are little mini busses outside that will run you to various shopping centres around Fort Lauderdale and Miami. Because I was on disembarks form 6:30 am – 10am (een though it was my day off), I missed the busses going to Galleria and Aventura mall ( the best places), however I was able to catch the “cow bus” to Sawgrass Mills, the largest mall in Florida.
My god.
The largeness.
The awesomeness.
The sheer novelty of seeing all the shops you’ve only read about or seen on TV in real life.. and buying shit from them!!
Saks 5th avenue, Walgreens, Windixie, taco bell, chuck.e.cheeze, J.C Penney, dollar tree (which is literally the greatest dollar shop I have ever experienced)… and like 8 million others – I was a little excited. I BOUghT A BRA FROM VICTORIA’S SECRET.. it is the greatest bra ever. Out of control.
I had taco bell for lunch. Yuk. I hate it. Bleugh. Next time, subway.
I sshoppeed and shopped and shopped, but still only ended up with half the stuff I needed. For example I got the kettle and the milk, but no instant coffee… oh well, there’s always next week.
Next week is very exciting as well, as we are changing itineraries from eastern to western Caribbean – then alternating for the rest of my contract. It will be nice to have a change of scenery.
In our meeting last night, we found out that the cruise staff team on board the emerald is blowing the other 16 ships in the fleet out of the water in terms of ratings and feedback. Woo we are the best.
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