few days in one

September 8, 2013
Sometimes I forget just how privileged I am with this job and all the travel I get to do. It’s a trap all crew members fall into at some point. Visiting exotic ports all over the world every week or so, the novelty of it wears off. It’s just daily life to us, like going to the grocery store, but for us it’s going to Greece. Part of why I haven’t written much lately is because I’ve fallen into this myself for the last months. I’ve been taking it for granted. Although, I have lasted longer than most others do. Some days it’s just as easy to stay on the ship and sleep instead of going out to take advantage of all the wonderful things available in the ports, the things to do, people to talk to, and different food to eat. Routine has become all-too common for me at the moment.

I got off the ship in Naples and only made it as far as the terminal, where I bought some crackers, a sprite and used the wifi for an hour. Of course, part of the reason I didn’t go much further was that I couldn’t find anyone to go out with me, and getting pizza alone didn’t really appeal to me that day; meals off-ship should be shared.

The next day was a sea day; during this run, the sea day is somewhat of a restful day for the passengers (because they don’t have to get off and see the historic stuff in the port). It was busy for me and Ryan, but not nearly as busy as usual sea days are. We split up the hours, including the teens hours, so I worked the first half of each session (really the one that the kids came to), and Ryan took over for the last bit and stayed to see if any teens came. It’s nice for us to have a schedule to follow for once instead of just giving them free time like we have to on port days. It wasn’t that bad of a day. I had the first half of the night session, so I was done by 9, which meant I got to get dressed up and go out for formal night. I talked to James for a few minutes while he was working, then met Emily at the show. I’m finally getting to see some of the cast shows on this ship! Not a fan of this one: “It Takes Two,” but I know there are some other really good ones from what other people have said.

I intended to get off in Katakolon, but slept badly the night before, so spent the day reading, watching movies and attempting to get some rest. Getting off in port wasn’t nearly as important to me at the time as sleeping. I was glad to finally get to work, be done with work and actually climb in bed for the night at 10.

It seems today like the world was against my getting sleep. I had bizarre dreams last night that kept me from feeling rested. After I put up the sign on Club HAL’s door, had breakfast, I attempted to go back to bed for a bit. However, about the time I finally managed to fall asleep, we had a fire drill that I had to attend now that I’m on Passenger Notification Team again. I got a call during the drill and had to go up to work. The four-year-old came up with her dad, we colored and watched Winnie-the-Pooh until lunch, then came back and colored some more until her dad came to pick her up. I went back to the room and had just climbed into bed when I got a call and had to go back upstairs where I spent the rest of the afternoon. They played Xbox, asked me millions of questions about my book, we played Skip-Bo, then sports on the Xbox Kinect, the 4-year-old came as well, but she was perfectly content to color and talk to me. It’s weird, her grandmother or mother didn’t try to stay with her today, and I actually heard her speak for the first time; she’s a lot more communicative when her grandmother or mother don’t drop her off. When they came with her, she’d never said a word and would color with the same expression on her face. Today, we talked and she laughed and smiled. Hopefully her dad drops her off instead of the other two from now on, I can deal with her this way.