Dominica is cool!

Dominica is a small, mountainous island with volcanic peaks rising steeply to over 2000ft above sea level. The whole island is covered in lush tropical rainforest, dotted with spectacular waterfalls and gorges- for this reason it’s known as “the nature island”. It has a population of 70,000 – including a reserve in the east for 2000 remaining Carib Indians.

Walking in to town from the ship (which is right there), it is easy to see that Dominica is a very poor place. Buildings are dilapidated and falling down – it appears that they have an ordinance to keep their colonial buildings and houses, but lack the finances to keep them in good condition. The people, however, are happy, friendly and the crime rate is low. Ships come here only a few times a month in the low season – but things are about to pick up.

I first went into town to find a place to eat lunch and sample the local cuisine. However, I really couldn’t find anywhere that seemed sanitary to eat (and I forgot my port & shopping guide). I went back to the ship for free lunch and then went back to the pier to wait for my tour to start.

My tour was “Ti Tou Gorge & Sulphur Springs”. We all piled into several busses – myself with a few passengers I already knew. We were the fun bus for sure, everyone was laughing and joking the whole way. Also, when a tour company know that they have a tour escort (aka me – we have to do tour write ups) they put the best guide on that bus. Our guide was a lovely 22 year old girl called J(insert crazy name here). She was great – very friendly and a lot of fun- and you could tell she really enjoyed her job.

Our first stop was Ti Tou Gorge – which was featured in Pirates of the Caribbean. We hiked up a mountainside past a hydroelectric power plant (smallest power plant ever.. very cute) and reached what looked like a man made pool. It didn’t look very impressive. We were all given little floating belts and went into the water. Being a mountain stream, it was beyond cold! I then noticed a gap in the sheer cliff to our right – this was the gorge. We swam up this gorge, which couldn’t have been more than 3m wide with sheer 20m rock cliffs on either side (and jungle reaching over the top). It was absolutely epic! When we got to the end there was a waterfall, which we swam into and jumped from rocks into its pool (which is over 10m deep and only 5m wide).


(not my photo but pretty cool)

Everyone was dazzled by the experience. Then it was on to the hot springs. These springs were mysteriously called “screw springs”- which leads to hilarious signs such as “SCREW PARKING”. We went down into the sulphur springs, which had had many lovely pools built around them. The water at the top was hottest, and grew cooler in each of the lower pools. Random 70’s music was playing and it was so relaxing and fun in the water. Apparently, swimming there makes you 10 years younger – so apparently I’m back in year 10 again!

It was a wonderful tour and a great way to experience the island and learn about its history and people. I love new ports!

HELLO TEN DAY CRUISING! you are my new friend!

Ten day cruising has finally arrived! We’re 4 days in and finally have hit our first new port. Today we’re in Dominica and I can’t wait to get off and explore; only we have crew drills first! I am doing a tour this afternoon- I’ll be going to Ti Tou Gorge and the Hot Springs. Ti Tou Gorge featured in the filming of pirates of the Caribbean – so I’m charging my camera right now to try and get some good footage!

From the first few days, which were similar to our seven day cruises in terms of itinerary (princess cays, sea day, St. Thomas), ten day cruises have proved to already be very different. Everything is so much more relaxed. For the first ceramics class on the sea day I had 2 people over the whole 2 hour session – on the 7-day, people would be fighting for chairs and developing extreme rages.
Princess Popstars had 7 sign ups in the first and third heats – and ONLY 4 singers in the second- I had to walk around canvassing the room to get the 4th singer so we could run the show!

In general the passengers are older and more experienced cruisers. There are people flashing their black “elite” cards left right and centre. We have a whole group of “cruise critics” on this week- which is a bit daunting because you KNOW they’re all writing reviews of the ship and its staff to go on their website.

Last night was island night – or rather was SUPPOSED to be island night but we were hit by a storm of epic proportions. Wind, rain, lightning, thunder – it would have blown the passengers to kingdom come. It has been rescheduled for the night we are in Bonaire.

The best and most exciting news is still to come, however. I am now the proud occupant of my own cabin. Mark’s replacement still hasn’t arrived and finally I’ve been able to wrangle this cabin for myself. Mico is apparently coming next cruise, so it’s only for ten days, but I am loving it. It has changed my whole life on board – finally I have a space that is all my own! For five months I’ve had constant contact with people, in my job and in my cabin, 24/7, all day every day.

Now for the first time I have somewhere that I can be alone. No one can walk in unless I want them to! The best part is waking up in the morning and not having to creep around in the dark or wait to use the bathroom – now I can get up, pump my music and get ready for the day on my own terms!

It’s wonderful – like a holiday! Even if I have to go back to sharing next week, it will only be for 20 days until I return home!

I just turned on the window (the bridge-cam TV channel) and it seems to be cloudy outside. There was a fog on the the mountains of Dominica, but It appears to have lifted- so perhaps the sunshine will break through.

1 month to go!

I can't believe it! In just 1 month's time, I will be in a bus on the way to Miami Airport!!

Have I really been at sea for FIVE MONTHS?

It's weird to think that the Emerald Princess really is my home now - I will miss her so much when I leave!

This week we begin 10 day cruising. I can't believe this day is actually here! New Ports! for the first time in5 months, I'm going to see somewhere else! This week we are going to Princess Cays, Domenica, Grenada, Aruba, Bonaire and St. Thomas. WE have 7 port days and 3 sea days!

Also, we are ALL going to have a night off this week! OMG A NIGHT OFF?!?! I have worked every single night for 5 months.. What on earth am I going to do with myself! Everything is going to slow down with the 10 day cruises - passengers are older and time is more abundant!

I am going to go out to dinner at the Crown Grill! my dream come true!

ups and downs

This week has been a week of crazy ups and downs.

FIrstly, from the moment I saw two men dressed as Santa come up the gangway last week, I knew it would be a crazy time! The Santas and Mrs Claus' were absolutely wonderful - A lot of people thought they were crazy- and they are but they are only crazy because they have dedicated their lifes to bringing joy to children.

THey all wear christmassy clothes all the time, except the "cool Santa" couple - who maintain they still own non-red clothes!

On the last night I danced with the santa puppets whilst hosting rock'n'roakie when a lady was singing "on top of the world" by the carpenters- which I think you'll agree is the greatest song to hug a puppet to!

On the last night, one of the Santas gave me his hat from his head and told me that I have a good heart and would make a great mrs claus one day.

SO fun in the piazza party to see 2 crazy puppets dancing above the crowd! THe santas are sending me the pictures- so stay tuned for a photo of me and 8 santas!

I also saw a lady at island night who was wearing a CASIO bum bag... so 80's! I complimented her on her crazy "fanny pack" and she said she worked for CASIO and is gonna send me one!

I really stepped it up a notch this week... I had a great week with the passengers - you can tell when this has happened because work makes you really happy those week. I am now the only "crazy one" on the team though...

Princess Popstars was just... the worst. It is teh best I've ever hosted it. I was the host and boogie was in the green room doing the video cross and the crowd and singers were great - they were happy and cheering! ONe of the singers in the final (Valerie), however was a friend of the dancers (but still a passenger). THe dancers made a big show of somehow getting voting slips and parading down to vote at the end (when it's supposed to be one vote per person). I took all their votes out and then some off Valerie and she still won by a landslide.

I then had a couple come up to me and scream in my face that Valerie worked on the ship and that we had all cheated. THey said I was disgusting.. that they've never been so disgusted in their life. that i'd tarnished the name of Princess... I tried to explain but they wouldn't listen. It was horrible. NO ONE has ever spoken to me like that in my entire life. When they walked away I couldn't help it, I sat down on the ground behind the booth and started bawling...

how embarassing. DJ DAve (my hero) ran after them and stopped them to say "once you're ready to behave like human beings, come and talk to me. My Name is Dave". A lot of passengers came up and gave me a hug as well, which was really nice.

There was a fun karaoke party in the electrician's workshop this week... Gary (2nd ETO) is leaving (well.. has left now I guess) so it was a fun celebration. They had party lights rigged up in there and everything!!

Not only were we short staffed, but hersh got signed off (through illness) twice during the week... SO we were running with a team of four people.. I have been IPM all week- I have worked 10-12 hours every single day... So no wonder I broke down after popstars. Too tired!

DJ dave leaves today. DJ Dave is DA BOMB. I will miss him and his crazy non-stop partying!

This week is our last 7 day run!! coming soon - all new ports!

Learning New Tricks!

Well this week has been a week of firsts for me- with mark gone and no one to replace him, I have had the chance to step up and take a lot more responsibility in the team.
I am now the line dancing instructor on board. This is not so unusual for a JACD, although I was suddenly thrust into this position without ever having attended a line dancing class. I had to find my own music, learn the steps and structure the class on my own. We did-

Electric Slide
Nutbush City Limits (for an Australian flavour – Americans don’t do nutbush)
Achey Breaky
Honky Tonk Stomp
Cowboy twist (dip’n’slide dip’n’slide)

It went really well! I love teaching line dancing! I have been chomping at the bit to take it on and, although I technically had no idea what I was doing, I got good feedback. It’s just like teaching body attack except it’s more like body attack on an overdose of valium.

I’m now sitting on my bed with a cup of tea puzzling over which line dances to teach in the second class on Saturday… I don’t know any others so I’m trying to work out what

“Cross left foot over right, rock back and cha cha cha to the left
Cross right foot over left, rock back and cha cha cha to the right
Cross left over right, side step with right foot, cross behind with left foot, side step with right foot, left foot forward, rock back on the right foot and cha cha cha to the left
Cross right over left, side step with left foot, cross behind with right foot, side step with left foot, right foot forward, rock back on the left foot and cha cha cha to the right
Step left foot forward, make a ½ turn to your right and cha cha cha on the spot
Step right foot forward, make a ¼ turn to your left and cha cha cha on the spot”

all means…. Eek

My favourite perk of being the line dancing instructor on board is getting away with wearing my cowboy hat and boots around all sea day before the class to “promote” it. Super fun!

As the line dancing instructor, I am also responsible for the running order for the Country and Western Hoe-Down running order and running the theme night. CNW hoe down is our Western theme night. It includes line dances, slow dances and the “bang bang” game – which most drama kids would be familiar with as BANG- only with hilairious commentary from Hersh. Old people love this game. I think this game is Hersh’s ultimate skill – I can’t imagine anyone being as hiliarious as him hosting it. Quote of the week this week was “YOU KILLED SANTA” and also “So she banged you, you banged the other one and your wife is standing right there” (you had to be there…).

Normally CNW running order is the same every week, except this week we have a new band (evolution have gone home) and I had to spend a lot of time working out songs with them before hand, designating who was teaching what now mark is gone and keeping the night flowing smoothly. Everything went really well until right at the end.. but it wasn’t my fault the band didn’t get faster in the tush push challenge!!

Also, as of today I am second in charge in my muster station (until we get a new photo manager). Normally we have to stay on the radio and phones and mark off the muster personel when they arrive then report to the bridge that all are present. Today however, it was a little more exciting as we evacuated most of the crew from the Emerald Princess. For some reason, Collette and I were in charge of organising the crew into lines on the dockside ( I don’t kno what the other 1st and 2nd in charges were doing). Getting 800 crew out and into lines was fine, but getting them back on board in an orderly fashion was not. It required constant yelling as everyone tried to break rank and get back on the ship first. By the end Collette just yelled “fuck you all”.

Being second in charge is good practice for me as when I get promoted, I will be first in charge of a muster station…

I got my flight details… I’m flying Delta from Miami to Atlanta departing at 3:50pm on October 19th. I arrive in Atlanta at 5:51pm and then fly out at 6:55 (omg nervous about that short layover!!) and arrive in Sydney on the 21st at 7:35 Am.
I leave Sydney airport on “DJ” whatever airline that is at 10AM and arrive in Brisbane at 10:30 AM (daylight saving I guess). I Can’t believe I only have 5.5 weeks to go! At the end of this cruise, I have only FOUR CRUISES left!!

New things & a Santa Convention!

Today the most amazing thing happened on the gangway. I was standing there, greeting the new passengers and getting their security photo “hihowareyousircomeoneoverwe’regoingtotakeyourmugshotjusthavealookinthecameraandsmile123cheeseverynicewelcomeaboard” when….
A couple dressed all in red and white came up the gangway. The man was older very tall, with a long white beard and the lady had long white hair, was decked out in holly and had a puppet elf on her arm. I was quite excited to see such an interesting sight, and even more excited to see two similar couples approach on the gangway.
Yes. This week there is a SANTA CONVENTION on board the emerald princess!!
I love the Santas! They are awesome! Some have puppets- little dogs and elves – and some give you little tokens that say “santa saw me being good”. Some use a program on their iphones to tell you if you have been naughty or nice!! They wear santa colours but kind of crazy clothes – one old couple get around in red converses (and their puppet has a pair too!!). They wear cool red hats… one was wearing a tam’o’shanter (?) with a white pom pom and stripey stockings and … yes. I love them.
Hersh thinks they are scary and uncool. I think they are awesome! They all started as men who were being the local santa and they loved bringing joy to people so much that they kind of took it up as a way of life! Yes, they are kind of mad, but I love it! It’s an innocent, playful madness- a bit like my own!
Whenever I see the Santas I just get so happy. I was crazy dancing in the theatre tonight. I’m glad they are here because, in other news, Mark left today. Mark, my very best friend on the ship! My crazy dancing partner! My duet partner! My (almost) everything!
Mark’s six months are up so he’s sitting at home drinking tea with his mum and dad right now while I am holed up in my cabin after a 13 hour day (commencing 6:30 am) I will miss him a lot. I was in the crew bar tonight and I kind of expected to see him pop in and say “Hon-NAY a la grande”. But no.
The band Evolution have also left. Evolution were the best band on the seven seas and were a huge part of my whole experience of being an Assistant Cruise Director up to this point. They were amazingly versatile and talented AND a big part of cruise staff events – country night, rock night, sailaway party, piazza party, island night & Rock and Roakie. They were also very supportive of me and we shared many crazy dancing moments… I love to crazy dance to the bands and get people up on the floor. I also had the chance to sing with them almost every week.
It’s the first time I’ve cried to see people leave. With only 6 weeks to go, the people who are now leaving have been here my whole contract (almost) and thus have been a huge part of my wonderful experience working on board the Emerald Princess.
In other exciting news, a few weeks ago the head honchos of cruise staff were on board the EP. Chris and Sally came on board to test out some new passenger programs- and oh my gosh, the new programs ROCK. First we had glass jewlery making – we learned how to do it and then attended the classes with some elite passengers. It was so lovely at the captain’s circle party to see everyone wearing their special jewlery! It went off- everyone loved it so hopefully it will be introduced next cruise. Also, ZUMBA!! Oh my gosh! I love zumba! They’re gonna get me certified! Can’t wait til it’s introduced next year- I’ll be instructing at sea!
Chris and Sally were very impressed by the 18-20’s program I was running (thanks so much to my peeps that week for being awesome and helping me impress them), so much so that I had to submit a report and recommendations to them and that they are going to consult with me on taking it fleet wide! I also had a one on one session with them and it looks as though I’m going to be getting promoted next contract! I successfully impressed the people that count! I love my job so I am extremely excited about this=- plus it means a pay rise and my own cabin! I do the same amount of work as the ACD’s as it is…. So I’m psyched that it was recognised!
With mark gone, I am also becoming the ship’s line dancing instructor as of this week! Having never attended any line dancing classes on board,I am pretty nervous but I can’t wait to get up on stage and teach! It’s like a mega slow mega easy body attack class… like body vive on tranquilizers I guess..
I have had some AMAZING days over the past month! No name bar in Cozumel, An amazing day lazing on the beach in Grand Turk and I WENt SCUBA DIVING FOR THE FIRST TIME!
Oh my goodness – I love to scuba! It was just a shore dive but it counts as my first dive in the 4 I need for certification. I’m gonna get my PADI book and get started! Diving in Cozumel was beautiful! A group of 10 of us all went with Troy Thurgill, the guest comedian and did a shore dive in Chakanab natural park. We dived into underwater caves and I cuddled a stingray that I wrangled (gently)- we saw lobsters and starfish and… so many beautiful and amazing tropical fish! Followed by beers and Mexican food then more beers at the no name bar, it really was the perfect day!
With time counting down before I go home, I’m now going to start being more thorough with things – including changing my money between accounts, keeping healthy & keeping you up to date in my blog. 6 weeks is going to fly – especially as after this week (eastern ) and next week (western) we are changing to the 10 day runs of which I have only three!