September 28, 2012
Wow, it’s been three days since I’ve written anything! Sorry about that, it’s been pretty busy.
In Charlottetown, Kayley and I walked around town, and found a thrift store where she found lots of clothes to use as show outfits. It was sunny thankfully, so we had a nice time outside on the walk back to the ship.
I got back to the ship after Kayley because she had a set before we left, but I went to listen to them when I got back. Not much interesting happened after we got back on the ship. It was “sing with the HAL Cats” (karaoke with a live band) night, so I went up and talked with the guests there as they thought about what song to sing or whether to sing or not. It was good to be sitting with the guests and talking with them instead of standing around with the other crew in the corner.
Wednesday was Sydney day. I got off and got to go on an excursion “Relive History at the Fortress of Louisbourg.” There was a 30 minute bus ride to get to the former French fortress. The fortress was beautiful, and the weather was really nice. The excursion was pretty much the bus ride with admittance to the fortress, we could wander around on our own once inside the fortress. It was a great experience, there were people acting as members of the forces, wives of officers, blacksmiths, a baker, etc. They all could speak French I think and told us about the area they were situated in. I learned a bit about making lace, baking bread, the army’s living arrangements, life as a servant in the house of the engineer (the 3rd highest ranking person in the fortress), etc. Of course, I also took lots of pictures! We got back near all aboard time, so I changed and went upstairs to get some lunch, a really late lunch.
While I listened to the HAL Cats play, I ate and talked to one of the guests that Kayley, Alyssa and I befriended this week, she’s travelling with a few friends/acquaintances who aren’t quite as active as she is. There were a lot of people sitting by the pool and by the sound of it, they loved Kayley! Lucky thing that I sat with her because it turns out that the dessert extravaganza night was changed this week, it was Wednesday night, not during formal night on Thursday. It was very odd. I went to the show and took pictures because I wanted to figure out the best settings for the HAL Cats performance Friday. Then, Kayley and I went to the dessert extravaganza, lots of chocolate fondue, but they were sadly out of strawberries to dip in the chocolate though. After that, we had bible study. They’d changed the date to make it so it wasn’t the same night as the dessert extravaganza because a few of the people work serving during it. No one had known about the night switch.
Thursday was Halifax day. I went to the mall/WalMart with Glenn and Kayley. We split the money for a cab and shopped. I ended up buying some yoga pants to wear when I’m hanging out in the crew area. We had a fun time, although we were rushed to get back to the ship, especially after stopping for lunch between Walmart and the mall. Kayley and I hung out for a while before her set, then walked around talking to some of the guests. I wore the dress I bought a few weeks ago in Bar Harbor finally, got a few compliments on it too! I actually ended up going to see the show twice because I saw it with Kayley at 8, then again with Alyssa at 10. Kayley left to go fill out a paper after the show, and I was going to meet her, but we kept missing each other, so I found Glenn and Alyssa at the piano bar and hung out with them until the show at 10. I did meet up with Kayley again in the Ocean bar where we listened to the Neptunes play (kind of a jazzy band, they live on our hall too) until they finished for the night.
Today I got to get off in Bar Harbor again. Alyssa and Jacob helped with immigration and tendering, and I was supposed to be a floater; I was supposed to get a call telling me where to go to help out, but the call never came. However, after immigration and ticketed tendering were over, the fire alarm went off, and we had to post announcements all over the ship to practice for the inspection we’re having next week.
Finally we got to get off though, Kayley and I both made some phone calls. She finished before I did and went ahead and bought us ‘breakfast’ from the bakery at the dock. Blueberry muffins (they make amazing ones; we had them last week!), and a piece of blueberry pie. Then we window shopped for a while, and had a quick lunch before going to take a few pictures and get back on the ship. I ended up staying ashore for a while to check emails and stuff on my phone and to call Mom.
It was last night of the cruise. I went to the HAL Cats performance again. It was much better executed than last week, there was a lot more structure, no awkward silences, the audience loved it! I took a lot of pictures that I still have to work my way through. After the show, we all went to the OB because it was the last night for a lot of people, mainly the cast. It was a sad night.
September 29, 2012
Kayley, Brandi and I said our goodbyes to Alyssa and got off early in Boston. We got off so early that we had to wait for the newly embarking crew to board. I met my new roommate (the HAL Cats sax player Cassandra) and we took her stuff to our room before getting off. Robyn’s (Kayley’s band leader) father was picking her up to spend time with her, so she convinced him to drop the three of us off at the South Bay Plaza (where we wanted to go, there’s a target, tj maxx, marshalls, etc); they thought we were crazy because we’d planned on walking there (it’d only be about a 45 minute walk)!
We shopped for a while, then had a fun experience trying to get a taxi back to the ship. Kayley had gone to school in Boston, so knew the number for the taxi service, but the first two times she called, she accidently called the airport shuttle service. Then, she got in contact with one and they hung up on her, then said it’d be a 15 minute wait. We decided to move and see if we could find another while we waited for that one, so we walked down to the other side of all the stores. As soon as we got to the other end, the taxi driver called her, angry because we weren’t there, and he refused to drive down to the other end of the shopping center, we had to walk back to him, then he hung up on her again. Kayley wasn’t happy with that, so we started walking towards the ship on our own, hoping to find a taxi along the way. We did end up getting one about 10 minutes down the road and made it back to the ship about lunchtime.
Kayley had two groups of friends come aboard to visit for the day (a family of 3 and one of her college friends), so the six of us had lunch together and we gave them a tour of the ship before they had to leave. Kayley and I went down to the room and hung out with Cassandra until the two of them had to help with the embark day guest fire drill. I went up for a rainy Sail Away and learned that there really aren’t any kids on board this week, so we’re definitely doing the security scanning at the gangway every day. Great.
After dinner with Cass, a few of the spa people, and photographers, I just hung out until the show; the first time seeing the show with the new cast. It’s very different, it really made me miss the old cast. We’ll see what they’re like as the first few weeks go by.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Week... is this week 6?
September 22, 2012
Montreal day again, wow. We only have one more left now. I got up late because I really felt like I needed to sleep, then I just got off to get the internet, nothing too exciting happened. Sail Away was in the Lido because it was kind of rainy, so it wasn’t really interesting at all. Turns out that we have 0 kids this week. That’s right, we don’t have ANY kids. Makes our schedule completely different because we’re just helping out with whatever people say they need help with.
After sailaway, we were free until dinner, then until 10 when we had to be in the Crow’s Nest to see if anyone showed up for the Generation Next activity. No one did, so I just hung out up there with Brandi and Alyssa (we all would be Generation Next if we weren’t crew). Uneventful night altogether, but at least I didn’t have to wear my uniform much.
After hanging out at the Crow’s Nest, down in the OB, I ended up having a good conversation with Glenn and Gil about spirituality and such things, before moving on to cars and music when Mack and Jim (two members of the Neptunes band) joined us after a while. It was a late night, but a really good one! It’s really fun talking with all of them, Mack plays upright bass and Jim plays the drums for the Neptunes, they’ve worked together before. Normally the Neptunes keep to themselves (I never met the ones on the Oosterdam and the first group here), but this group is social!
September 23, 2012
I really do love Quebec! We were there with the Eurodam today. About half the Maasdam crew was on the Eurodam, and half the Eurodam crew was on the Maasdam; there were a lot of friends visiting one another. Alyssa and I got off together and walked around shopping some. It was good that everyone else had other plans because we didn’t have to sit around and wait for anyone for once (usually in groups with Alyssa, we can’t do anything until everyone is absolutely ready to go, usually about an hour or two after we’d agreed to leave). It was a really nice day, cold weather, but we did a lot of walking so I was comfortable in my hoodie. I’m finally seeing some fall colors, not a lot quite yet, but there’s some yellow and orange in the leaves. We stopped for lunch at a crepe restaurant. YUUMM!!! They had free wifi, spoke to me in French (Alyssa in English), and crepes, AND pepsi products! I like that place! I had a mozzarella & pepperoni crepe for the meal and strawberry & chocolate for dessert. :)
After a lovely day ashore, we came back on and got ready for the Generation Next activity: volleyball. We went to the tennis court, but no one showed up again, so we played tennis for a while. Alyssa had a special dinner planned with her Spanish-speaking people, so I went to the Lido alone (this is happening more and more often). Kayley and I went up to the show together at 8, it was my first time seeing this show. The show was incredibly funny, it featured all four of the guys, and had more of a story line than the other shows, they were a business trying to figure out what to do and reminiscing about their old band days trying to think of new ideas.
After that, I had to run quickly down to the room to change into “country” gear (I got to wear jeans up in the guest area of the ship!!) for the country line-dancing night in the Crow’s Nest. That was actually pretty fun, I did a LOT of dancing and a few of the guests thought I was actually one of the dancers in the show. After that was karaoke, after a very difficult start, where I had to go around and encourage people to sing, eventually we had a steady stream of people singing. Kayley and I even kept with the earlier country theme and sang a Dixie Chicks song.
September 24, 2012
It was a very cold sea day. I slept in while Alyssa and Jacob went to CPR training (glad that I did that beforehand!). Our first ‘job’ for the day was to be “cheerleaders” for On Deck for the Cure: 13 laps around deck 6 to raise money for breast cancer. We held up signs keeping track of how many laps were left and just encouraged them all to continue. I about froze, so I was extra hyper, jumping around to keep warm. Not much went on the rest of the afternoon, so I hung out in the room reading. I had a long dinner with Kayley and Alyssa before going to change for the 50s/60s prom night in the Crows Nest, then the show at 10. It was the last time this cast is performing Bob Mackey’s Broadway! So sad, but the show was incredible!
After that we hung out with some of the cast in the Crows Nest before Kayley and I went to the OB to play cards with Mack. I really need to practice certain games now so I can give better competition!
September 25, 2012
We finally made it to Charlottetown! I went to breakfast with Kayley and Brandi before the fire drill, then Kayley and I came out to go to the Lobster on the Wharf (the restaurant we were at the last time we were here, when it was raining), but it wasn’t open yet so we did some souvenir shopping and walking around, enjoying the actually warmish weather before coming back when they opened. This afternoon we’re going to walk around some since Kayley hasn’t really had much of a chance to experience the town!
Montreal day again, wow. We only have one more left now. I got up late because I really felt like I needed to sleep, then I just got off to get the internet, nothing too exciting happened. Sail Away was in the Lido because it was kind of rainy, so it wasn’t really interesting at all. Turns out that we have 0 kids this week. That’s right, we don’t have ANY kids. Makes our schedule completely different because we’re just helping out with whatever people say they need help with.
After sailaway, we were free until dinner, then until 10 when we had to be in the Crow’s Nest to see if anyone showed up for the Generation Next activity. No one did, so I just hung out up there with Brandi and Alyssa (we all would be Generation Next if we weren’t crew). Uneventful night altogether, but at least I didn’t have to wear my uniform much.
After hanging out at the Crow’s Nest, down in the OB, I ended up having a good conversation with Glenn and Gil about spirituality and such things, before moving on to cars and music when Mack and Jim (two members of the Neptunes band) joined us after a while. It was a late night, but a really good one! It’s really fun talking with all of them, Mack plays upright bass and Jim plays the drums for the Neptunes, they’ve worked together before. Normally the Neptunes keep to themselves (I never met the ones on the Oosterdam and the first group here), but this group is social!
September 23, 2012
I really do love Quebec! We were there with the Eurodam today. About half the Maasdam crew was on the Eurodam, and half the Eurodam crew was on the Maasdam; there were a lot of friends visiting one another. Alyssa and I got off together and walked around shopping some. It was good that everyone else had other plans because we didn’t have to sit around and wait for anyone for once (usually in groups with Alyssa, we can’t do anything until everyone is absolutely ready to go, usually about an hour or two after we’d agreed to leave). It was a really nice day, cold weather, but we did a lot of walking so I was comfortable in my hoodie. I’m finally seeing some fall colors, not a lot quite yet, but there’s some yellow and orange in the leaves. We stopped for lunch at a crepe restaurant. YUUMM!!! They had free wifi, spoke to me in French (Alyssa in English), and crepes, AND pepsi products! I like that place! I had a mozzarella & pepperoni crepe for the meal and strawberry & chocolate for dessert. :)
After a lovely day ashore, we came back on and got ready for the Generation Next activity: volleyball. We went to the tennis court, but no one showed up again, so we played tennis for a while. Alyssa had a special dinner planned with her Spanish-speaking people, so I went to the Lido alone (this is happening more and more often). Kayley and I went up to the show together at 8, it was my first time seeing this show. The show was incredibly funny, it featured all four of the guys, and had more of a story line than the other shows, they were a business trying to figure out what to do and reminiscing about their old band days trying to think of new ideas.
After that, I had to run quickly down to the room to change into “country” gear (I got to wear jeans up in the guest area of the ship!!) for the country line-dancing night in the Crow’s Nest. That was actually pretty fun, I did a LOT of dancing and a few of the guests thought I was actually one of the dancers in the show. After that was karaoke, after a very difficult start, where I had to go around and encourage people to sing, eventually we had a steady stream of people singing. Kayley and I even kept with the earlier country theme and sang a Dixie Chicks song.
September 24, 2012
It was a very cold sea day. I slept in while Alyssa and Jacob went to CPR training (glad that I did that beforehand!). Our first ‘job’ for the day was to be “cheerleaders” for On Deck for the Cure: 13 laps around deck 6 to raise money for breast cancer. We held up signs keeping track of how many laps were left and just encouraged them all to continue. I about froze, so I was extra hyper, jumping around to keep warm. Not much went on the rest of the afternoon, so I hung out in the room reading. I had a long dinner with Kayley and Alyssa before going to change for the 50s/60s prom night in the Crows Nest, then the show at 10. It was the last time this cast is performing Bob Mackey’s Broadway! So sad, but the show was incredible!
After that we hung out with some of the cast in the Crows Nest before Kayley and I went to the OB to play cards with Mack. I really need to practice certain games now so I can give better competition!
September 25, 2012
We finally made it to Charlottetown! I went to breakfast with Kayley and Brandi before the fire drill, then Kayley and I came out to go to the Lobster on the Wharf (the restaurant we were at the last time we were here, when it was raining), but it wasn’t open yet so we did some souvenir shopping and walking around, enjoying the actually warmish weather before coming back when they opened. This afternoon we’re going to walk around some since Kayley hasn’t really had much of a chance to experience the town!
Saturday, September 22, 2012
missing Charlottetown again
September 18, 2012
I’ve been on this ship for a month now! Wow.
Sydney day again. Kayley had IPM so couldn’t get off the ship, so I planned to get off alone and just get internet since Sydney isn’t the most interesting port to hang out in alone. I met Gil as he was getting off so we just went to the café to get internet. It was great getting to post pictures and other stuff and not want to explore.
I didn’t work until seven so I hung out with Kayley after her sailaway set. Work wasn’t too interesting. Jacob and I played cards and a few board games with the kid before going down to play ping-pong.
After work, it was time to get ready for Alyssa’s salsa party. I helped her set up the room (taping balloons to the walls/ceilings and setting out the food), then the dancing started. It was so much fun, there were quite a few people there and it was fun to watch those that really knew how to salsa dance well. Everyone had fun just hanging out for a few hours off work at the end of the night.
September 19, 2012
I woke up this morning early so I could be ready for work and have it over with so I could go into Charlottetown with Kayley. I got up to breakfast and noticed that we were still surrounded by water, when we were supposed to arrive in Charlottetown at least an hour before that. Jacob found me and told me that we were again skipping Charlottetown, this time because of wind or the current or something. So, we were having two sea days instead of the normal one as we went around the island. I took the morning/afternoon shifts and we let Alyssa sleep in and have the afternoon/night shifts. That meant I had the night off! It was a long morning and a long afternoon. We played lots of cards in the morning, and catch phrase and UNO. In the afternoon, we took the kid to the ping-pong skills competition because the lifesylist told us about it and we thought he’d like it since he loves ping pong so much. The goal was to bounce a ball into one of the cups, certain cups were worth more points. I ended up getting more points than the kid, mainly because I hit the pingpong ball more gently which gave it a chance to make it in the cups rather than just knocking them over.
Kayley and I went to dinner at the normal time, it felt odd and great not to be wearing my uniform to dinner! Kayley and I played cards over dinner since every ‘meeting place’ in the crew area was being used for dinner. We got a few more people to join us as we played, which was fun, expanding the group of people who may join us in our game nights. After dinner, Kayley talked with her boyfriend on the phone for a while while I watched TV in my room. Once she finished, we went to the OB to play cards again; Andy finally taught us how to play Spades. It was a lot of fun, but I had to leave early because I had to work in the morning.
September 20, 2012
Second sea day in a row. A lot of people think that this is a lot, but we had a lot of sea days and half sea days on the last ship, so it’s not odd for me. The kid didn’t come in this morning at all, so Jacob and I just played cards and video games until lunch. He came in the afternoon though and we spent little time in Club HAL before going out to the ping pong tables, where we spent the rest of the afternoon.
I hung out with Kayley and Andy in the Crow’s Nest after dinner. Kayley and I helped with the “champagne song request” night. Basically, everyone filled out song request forms and if theirs got picked out of the bucket and they danced to it, they got a free glass of champagne. It was fun, actually having a reason to go up and talk to guests. I ended up sitting with Andy and a couple and chatting with them for a while. Then Kayley, Andy and I went to the dessert extravaganza! We all got something to snack on, Andy was surprised he went for the first time in months; he’s been here for a while already and stopped going to things at night because it got boring after a while. Kayley and I went to Bible Study, which lasted a lot longer than anticipated because the computers wouldn’t work for the powerpoint and music, and some of the people arrived late because they were working at the dessert extravaganza.
September 21, 2012
Worked 9-4. The kid never showed up, so I was alone that whole time. I got am exemption from taking the CPR the rest of the youth staff have to take next week, because I’ve already been certified. I just studied, read, played cards, colored, and played video games all day. At 4, I walked around outside until we left port. I attempted to read in bed and take a nap, but I was unsuccessful in both. After a quick dinner, Kayley and I went to the room as she prepared for the HAL Cats show (finally, something other than a movie for entertainment on the last night!). They were GREAT; for the first time, they all got to show their real talent, instead of just doing the 400 approved songs. Everyone had some sort of solo act and they played a lot together, I enjoyed it a LOT, especially since it was my friends up there!
Kayley, Andy and I gathered to play Cranium with Glenn and Gil, but ended up playing various card games. I actually lost pretty badly at ERS, which hasn’t happened since I just started learning to play it; I’m going to have to practice in the next week so I can play better against Andy.
I’ve been on this ship for a month now! Wow.
Sydney day again. Kayley had IPM so couldn’t get off the ship, so I planned to get off alone and just get internet since Sydney isn’t the most interesting port to hang out in alone. I met Gil as he was getting off so we just went to the café to get internet. It was great getting to post pictures and other stuff and not want to explore.
I didn’t work until seven so I hung out with Kayley after her sailaway set. Work wasn’t too interesting. Jacob and I played cards and a few board games with the kid before going down to play ping-pong.
After work, it was time to get ready for Alyssa’s salsa party. I helped her set up the room (taping balloons to the walls/ceilings and setting out the food), then the dancing started. It was so much fun, there were quite a few people there and it was fun to watch those that really knew how to salsa dance well. Everyone had fun just hanging out for a few hours off work at the end of the night.
September 19, 2012
I woke up this morning early so I could be ready for work and have it over with so I could go into Charlottetown with Kayley. I got up to breakfast and noticed that we were still surrounded by water, when we were supposed to arrive in Charlottetown at least an hour before that. Jacob found me and told me that we were again skipping Charlottetown, this time because of wind or the current or something. So, we were having two sea days instead of the normal one as we went around the island. I took the morning/afternoon shifts and we let Alyssa sleep in and have the afternoon/night shifts. That meant I had the night off! It was a long morning and a long afternoon. We played lots of cards in the morning, and catch phrase and UNO. In the afternoon, we took the kid to the ping-pong skills competition because the lifesylist told us about it and we thought he’d like it since he loves ping pong so much. The goal was to bounce a ball into one of the cups, certain cups were worth more points. I ended up getting more points than the kid, mainly because I hit the pingpong ball more gently which gave it a chance to make it in the cups rather than just knocking them over.
Kayley and I went to dinner at the normal time, it felt odd and great not to be wearing my uniform to dinner! Kayley and I played cards over dinner since every ‘meeting place’ in the crew area was being used for dinner. We got a few more people to join us as we played, which was fun, expanding the group of people who may join us in our game nights. After dinner, Kayley talked with her boyfriend on the phone for a while while I watched TV in my room. Once she finished, we went to the OB to play cards again; Andy finally taught us how to play Spades. It was a lot of fun, but I had to leave early because I had to work in the morning.
September 20, 2012
Second sea day in a row. A lot of people think that this is a lot, but we had a lot of sea days and half sea days on the last ship, so it’s not odd for me. The kid didn’t come in this morning at all, so Jacob and I just played cards and video games until lunch. He came in the afternoon though and we spent little time in Club HAL before going out to the ping pong tables, where we spent the rest of the afternoon.
I hung out with Kayley and Andy in the Crow’s Nest after dinner. Kayley and I helped with the “champagne song request” night. Basically, everyone filled out song request forms and if theirs got picked out of the bucket and they danced to it, they got a free glass of champagne. It was fun, actually having a reason to go up and talk to guests. I ended up sitting with Andy and a couple and chatting with them for a while. Then Kayley, Andy and I went to the dessert extravaganza! We all got something to snack on, Andy was surprised he went for the first time in months; he’s been here for a while already and stopped going to things at night because it got boring after a while. Kayley and I went to Bible Study, which lasted a lot longer than anticipated because the computers wouldn’t work for the powerpoint and music, and some of the people arrived late because they were working at the dessert extravaganza.
September 21, 2012
Worked 9-4. The kid never showed up, so I was alone that whole time. I got am exemption from taking the CPR the rest of the youth staff have to take next week, because I’ve already been certified. I just studied, read, played cards, colored, and played video games all day. At 4, I walked around outside until we left port. I attempted to read in bed and take a nap, but I was unsuccessful in both. After a quick dinner, Kayley and I went to the room as she prepared for the HAL Cats show (finally, something other than a movie for entertainment on the last night!). They were GREAT; for the first time, they all got to show their real talent, instead of just doing the 400 approved songs. Everyone had some sort of solo act and they played a lot together, I enjoyed it a LOT, especially since it was my friends up there!
Kayley, Andy and I gathered to play Cranium with Glenn and Gil, but ended up playing various card games. I actually lost pretty badly at ERS, which hasn’t happened since I just started learning to play it; I’m going to have to practice in the next week so I can play better against Andy.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
it's the one month mark!
September 14, 2012
Bar Harbor!!! YAY I actually got to get off ship for a while this time! It was really foggy at first, we could hardly see the water from the Lido. By the time the tender got to shore though, the fog had lifted and the sun was out! I met up with Colin and we walked around for a bit before we met up with Alyssa at a café. Lots of walking around to explore the town, it was beautiful weather! I got to experiment with video chatting over skype on my phone too. We had to be back on the ship an hour and a half earlier than the guests (probably because of the fog in the morning). Back on the ship, I hung out in the OB and talked to Mom some more (I miss being able to use my phone sometimes). It was the last night with the 9-year-old, we played cards all night until he left early. It was another early night for me, despite it being the last night of a run and a lot of people were leaving in Boston.
September 15, 2012
Boston day, new group of people. We ended up with a surprise guest; a teenager. So, there are 2 people in Club HAL this week, not quite as lonely as last week for them.
I got off the ship with Colin and Brandi and we explored a while and shopped some. Boston is a rather pretty place, but I feel too enclosed amidst all those buildings, there isn’t enough space. A lot of people were in town, walking around, shopping, eating, etc. Colin, Brandi and I got sandwiches at a shop and took them to the park where we ate before heading back to the ship so Brandi could get ready for her set during sailaway. I went to the OB for a while to start making use of my remaining time in the US with phone service and 4G internet.
Last night the 10-year-old came up and stayed most of the night, he’s a very active kid, likes playing card games a whole lot. The teen and her family found us halfway through the night, she didn’t stay but she knows we’re there and seems like she might come some this week. Kayley and I went to Bible Study together and then I had another early night, I was really tired for some reason.
September 16, 2012
I woke up this morning, got ready and had a long breakfast with Kayley, Edison joined us after a while as well. Kayley and I got off the ship with Brandi and explored. We took lots of pictures because the town is pretty and it was clear, even though it was rather cold. We did a little bit of shopping too; Kayley needed more things to wear (she doesn’t have a uniform, so she wears dresses and skirts when she sings). It was a lot of fun taking pictures of each other, especially since Brandi has a nice camera too, a Canon. On the upbound trip, we leave Bar Harbor at least two hours before we leave going down, so we had to be back on the ship around 2. Kayley and I had lunch together before she sang, then I stayed in the Lido pool area as the band did their set, talking to people as they came by (crew and guests). If you’re doing something, it’s more likely that guests will come up to do than if you’re just sitting there looking bored, so why is it in the house rules that we can’t have books in guest areas? Oh well, a lot of people were enjoying the band, which is definitely good! After the set, Kayley and I went down to our rooms and got ready for formal night. After work, I went to the show with Kayley and Alyssa, then Kayley and I came down to the OB to play cards, we were playing Rummy when two other people asked if we could teach them too. So, we stayed up playing card games and made two new friends.
September 17, 2012
Halifax again. I seem to always have a lot of time in Halifax, which I like because it’s a beautiful place and it’s always been pretty sunny. Today, the Caribbean Princess was in port behind us. Kayley had agreed to be in costume for pictures at the gangway, so wasn’t available to get off until around 10:30. I was going to get off earlier, then come back to hang out with her, but I overslept so I just went to breakfast and waited for her to get back on and change. It was odd, I went up at 10 to eat, but they were closed; hot breakfast is supposed to closed at 10:30. At least they still had cereal and fruit.
Finally, we got off and Edison joined us. Alyssa had told us to meet up with her, so we had to get internet to check Facebook to see where she was. Turns out she was at a café all the way down the boardwalk. While getting internet, we discovered a man selling crepes! I was very happy about this and we decided to make that our lunch! Yummy! We walked around and took pictures on the way. There’s a giant wave thing that you can climb up and slide down, and we took pictures on it, having fun acting like kids again.
We did find Alyssa and her two Spanish-speaking friends at the café, but Kayley and I didn’t stay for long because we didn’t want to just sit on the internet all day. We went looking for a thrift store and found a store that’s only open to the public 2 days a year as they get rid of some of their inventory. It’s called “Dress for Success”, a store for women who don’t have too much money, but need professional-looking clothes for interviews and jobs. Twice a year, the store opens to everyone to get rid of clothes that aren’t professional enough. We just happened to show up on the right day somehow! Kayley ended up buying a lot of shirts to wear for work, and I helped her find stuff. With an hour left before having to be back on the ship, we went to another café that specializes in chocolate. I had a nutty hot chocolate; it had bits of hazelnut in it, it was good, very different from any kind of hot chocolate I’ve had before.
Back on the ship, I changed and went upstairs to enjoy the sun and listen to the HAL Cats sailaway set (even though we weren’t sailing away yet; they’re always scheduled to start an hour before we leave, funny thing is, they finished right before we leave most of the time). I got to watch as the Caribbean Princess sailed away, but then came down to the room to relax before dinner and go through some of the pictures from today!
Alyssa and I worked last night. We played ping pong for a while with the 10-year-old, Alyssa had a stomachache so I had to play for an hour or so. Then, we went up and played UNO, we hadn’t finished when his grandfather came up so we just stopped the game. SuperSan last night too, I picked up the games and Xbox discs while Alyssa sanitized everything. I went changed went up to the Crow’s Nest to hang out with Kayley during karaoke. We met another 20-something girl and hung out with her. The younger people on this ship need to stick together!
Bar Harbor!!! YAY I actually got to get off ship for a while this time! It was really foggy at first, we could hardly see the water from the Lido. By the time the tender got to shore though, the fog had lifted and the sun was out! I met up with Colin and we walked around for a bit before we met up with Alyssa at a café. Lots of walking around to explore the town, it was beautiful weather! I got to experiment with video chatting over skype on my phone too. We had to be back on the ship an hour and a half earlier than the guests (probably because of the fog in the morning). Back on the ship, I hung out in the OB and talked to Mom some more (I miss being able to use my phone sometimes). It was the last night with the 9-year-old, we played cards all night until he left early. It was another early night for me, despite it being the last night of a run and a lot of people were leaving in Boston.
September 15, 2012
Boston day, new group of people. We ended up with a surprise guest; a teenager. So, there are 2 people in Club HAL this week, not quite as lonely as last week for them.
I got off the ship with Colin and Brandi and we explored a while and shopped some. Boston is a rather pretty place, but I feel too enclosed amidst all those buildings, there isn’t enough space. A lot of people were in town, walking around, shopping, eating, etc. Colin, Brandi and I got sandwiches at a shop and took them to the park where we ate before heading back to the ship so Brandi could get ready for her set during sailaway. I went to the OB for a while to start making use of my remaining time in the US with phone service and 4G internet.
Last night the 10-year-old came up and stayed most of the night, he’s a very active kid, likes playing card games a whole lot. The teen and her family found us halfway through the night, she didn’t stay but she knows we’re there and seems like she might come some this week. Kayley and I went to Bible Study together and then I had another early night, I was really tired for some reason.
September 16, 2012
I woke up this morning, got ready and had a long breakfast with Kayley, Edison joined us after a while as well. Kayley and I got off the ship with Brandi and explored. We took lots of pictures because the town is pretty and it was clear, even though it was rather cold. We did a little bit of shopping too; Kayley needed more things to wear (she doesn’t have a uniform, so she wears dresses and skirts when she sings). It was a lot of fun taking pictures of each other, especially since Brandi has a nice camera too, a Canon. On the upbound trip, we leave Bar Harbor at least two hours before we leave going down, so we had to be back on the ship around 2. Kayley and I had lunch together before she sang, then I stayed in the Lido pool area as the band did their set, talking to people as they came by (crew and guests). If you’re doing something, it’s more likely that guests will come up to do than if you’re just sitting there looking bored, so why is it in the house rules that we can’t have books in guest areas? Oh well, a lot of people were enjoying the band, which is definitely good! After the set, Kayley and I went down to our rooms and got ready for formal night. After work, I went to the show with Kayley and Alyssa, then Kayley and I came down to the OB to play cards, we were playing Rummy when two other people asked if we could teach them too. So, we stayed up playing card games and made two new friends.
September 17, 2012
Halifax again. I seem to always have a lot of time in Halifax, which I like because it’s a beautiful place and it’s always been pretty sunny. Today, the Caribbean Princess was in port behind us. Kayley had agreed to be in costume for pictures at the gangway, so wasn’t available to get off until around 10:30. I was going to get off earlier, then come back to hang out with her, but I overslept so I just went to breakfast and waited for her to get back on and change. It was odd, I went up at 10 to eat, but they were closed; hot breakfast is supposed to closed at 10:30. At least they still had cereal and fruit.
Finally, we got off and Edison joined us. Alyssa had told us to meet up with her, so we had to get internet to check Facebook to see where she was. Turns out she was at a café all the way down the boardwalk. While getting internet, we discovered a man selling crepes! I was very happy about this and we decided to make that our lunch! Yummy! We walked around and took pictures on the way. There’s a giant wave thing that you can climb up and slide down, and we took pictures on it, having fun acting like kids again.
We did find Alyssa and her two Spanish-speaking friends at the café, but Kayley and I didn’t stay for long because we didn’t want to just sit on the internet all day. We went looking for a thrift store and found a store that’s only open to the public 2 days a year as they get rid of some of their inventory. It’s called “Dress for Success”, a store for women who don’t have too much money, but need professional-looking clothes for interviews and jobs. Twice a year, the store opens to everyone to get rid of clothes that aren’t professional enough. We just happened to show up on the right day somehow! Kayley ended up buying a lot of shirts to wear for work, and I helped her find stuff. With an hour left before having to be back on the ship, we went to another café that specializes in chocolate. I had a nutty hot chocolate; it had bits of hazelnut in it, it was good, very different from any kind of hot chocolate I’ve had before.
Back on the ship, I changed and went upstairs to enjoy the sun and listen to the HAL Cats sailaway set (even though we weren’t sailing away yet; they’re always scheduled to start an hour before we leave, funny thing is, they finished right before we leave most of the time). I got to watch as the Caribbean Princess sailed away, but then came down to the room to relax before dinner and go through some of the pictures from today!
Alyssa and I worked last night. We played ping pong for a while with the 10-year-old, Alyssa had a stomachache so I had to play for an hour or so. Then, we went up and played UNO, we hadn’t finished when his grandfather came up so we just stopped the game. SuperSan last night too, I picked up the games and Xbox discs while Alyssa sanitized everything. I went changed went up to the Crow’s Nest to hang out with Kayley during karaoke. We met another 20-something girl and hung out with her. The younger people on this ship need to stick together!
Friday, September 14, 2012
crazy days
September 12, 2012
I didn’t stay off the ship for very long in Sydney. Kayley and I went to a café for internet for almost two hours before getting back on the ship and changing to go lay out in the sun (possible pool since we are allowed to use the back pool on port days up until 30 minutes before all aboard). We soaked up the sun for a while and it was amazing. I really miss spending time in the sun, seeing the sun from windows even. Oh the things you take for granted living on land like seeing the sun and feeling it’s warmth often.
The HAL Cats had a set by the Lido pool as we left Sydney, so I changed and went up to eat some snack/dinner (it was about 4 and I’d had a late breakfast before getting off the ship) and listen to them play and sing. I went walking around Deck 12 after that, following where the sun was shining, enjoying the beautiful day as much as possible. I worked the night shift with Jacob; the kid and Jacob beat me pretty badly at Sorry a few times. We got off early and I was very excited to go see people. I met up with Brandi and the two dancers on the way to the room and hung out with them for a bit, changed and then went back to the Mix to hang out with them some more. The four of us went to the show together. I’d seen the show before, but it was fun meeting Terry and Allison, and finally seeing Brandi when we both are off-duty for a while.
I met up with the rest of the group at late night snack, I had even more food; I guess it was kind of my dinner. I still finished before some of the others though. Kayley and I went to the OB to play Rummy (she and Edison wanted to learn how to play), and told everyone that we’d be there if they wanted to come, but we were going to go ahead and start. We played for a long time, Andy joined us for a while, but then Kayley and I realized how tired we were and went to bed.
September 13, 2012
I slept in later than anticipated this morning. I wanted to get up by 9, so I could get to breakfast and get off the ship at least by 10. That didn’t happen. I heard Alyssa get ready for work and leave, but then somehow fell asleep. I only woke up when she called at almost 10 asking if I’d heard an announcement in the crew area (she didn’t hear what they said in one). Oh, random bit of information. Crew areas and guest areas don’t necessarily get the same announcements. Some are just for guests, while others are for everyone. I’m not sure if they can make announcements just for crew. That’s kind of frustrating on tender port days because we don’t hear them announce open tendering. Anyway, that woke me up for sure.
I did get off the ship by 10:45 at least, giving me 45 minutes to enjoy the sun some more (there was beautiful weather in Halifax!) We were in port with another ship for the first time today. We were docked somewhere different, so it was a slight maze to get from road to ship, but it was nice to see another ship somewhere again! I just sat on the boardwalk next to the water, loving the warmth.
I had lunch in Club HAL and we watched a movie while we both ate. Then, he wanted to play games, so we played Connect 4 and some others before he left and I had two hours to myself this afternoon. I played Lego Harry Potter and managed to get all the way through Year 4, so now I can go through and free play through Hogwarts now; there’s still enough to do.
I walked around on Deck 12 for a while, then came down to the room and finally got to start laundry. I still think it’s ridiculous that they only have 5 washers and dryers (one of each not working) for ALL crew! I guess I could send use the drycleaning/laundry provided by housekeeping, but I prefer to do that myself. Even if most people did get housekeeping to take their stuff, 4 washers and dryers?! There’s around 400 people working on this ship!
Alyssa and I went to dinner kind of early so we could sit around and chat for a while; I hadn’t seen that many people all day (it’s not like the other day when I worked the whole time and did everything alone; today I mostly chose to be somewhat alone, I got off the ship by myself). Jacob, Alyssa and I were working in Club HAL tonight. The four of us played Sorry and Cranium and had a 30 minute snack break; and I explained Quelf.
After work, Alyssa and I went for a walk on Deck 6, then I came back down to the room to type this up. I’m getting to sleep at a normal hour tonight! I’m free until 7 tomorrow, so I get to actually go into Bar Harbor! Back in the States again finally! It’ll be nice being able to actually see the city, unlike the one other time (in 3 weeks) I got off when I only stayed off for an hour because plans had been messed up.
I’m definitely getting into the swing of things here finally, not feeling so confined to my room, I’ve made friends in various departments and have stuff to do with them (cards or board games from Club HAL). I know for certain that I’m not changing rooms again, and I’ve figured out how most everything works here. I had the realization yesterday that I’m on a cruise ship, in Canada! It really hit me then, sunbathing by the back pool in Sydney. That is just amazing, I can’t believe that I actually get to do this and I get paid for all this! Visiting cities I would never have gone to otherwise, hanging out with kids, meeting people from all over the world in all sorts of occupations, speaking French when I’m in some ports AND they pay me for doing this?! God really did bless me with this job, doing all sorts of things I love. If I start feeling negative again at any time, feel free to remind me of all this, remind me that I’m on the ship to make sure the kids have a good time officially and to be a witness to guests and crew alike for God. God place me here for a reason, and I’m glad He did!
I didn’t stay off the ship for very long in Sydney. Kayley and I went to a café for internet for almost two hours before getting back on the ship and changing to go lay out in the sun (possible pool since we are allowed to use the back pool on port days up until 30 minutes before all aboard). We soaked up the sun for a while and it was amazing. I really miss spending time in the sun, seeing the sun from windows even. Oh the things you take for granted living on land like seeing the sun and feeling it’s warmth often.
The HAL Cats had a set by the Lido pool as we left Sydney, so I changed and went up to eat some snack/dinner (it was about 4 and I’d had a late breakfast before getting off the ship) and listen to them play and sing. I went walking around Deck 12 after that, following where the sun was shining, enjoying the beautiful day as much as possible. I worked the night shift with Jacob; the kid and Jacob beat me pretty badly at Sorry a few times. We got off early and I was very excited to go see people. I met up with Brandi and the two dancers on the way to the room and hung out with them for a bit, changed and then went back to the Mix to hang out with them some more. The four of us went to the show together. I’d seen the show before, but it was fun meeting Terry and Allison, and finally seeing Brandi when we both are off-duty for a while.
I met up with the rest of the group at late night snack, I had even more food; I guess it was kind of my dinner. I still finished before some of the others though. Kayley and I went to the OB to play Rummy (she and Edison wanted to learn how to play), and told everyone that we’d be there if they wanted to come, but we were going to go ahead and start. We played for a long time, Andy joined us for a while, but then Kayley and I realized how tired we were and went to bed.
September 13, 2012
I slept in later than anticipated this morning. I wanted to get up by 9, so I could get to breakfast and get off the ship at least by 10. That didn’t happen. I heard Alyssa get ready for work and leave, but then somehow fell asleep. I only woke up when she called at almost 10 asking if I’d heard an announcement in the crew area (she didn’t hear what they said in one). Oh, random bit of information. Crew areas and guest areas don’t necessarily get the same announcements. Some are just for guests, while others are for everyone. I’m not sure if they can make announcements just for crew. That’s kind of frustrating on tender port days because we don’t hear them announce open tendering. Anyway, that woke me up for sure.
I did get off the ship by 10:45 at least, giving me 45 minutes to enjoy the sun some more (there was beautiful weather in Halifax!) We were in port with another ship for the first time today. We were docked somewhere different, so it was a slight maze to get from road to ship, but it was nice to see another ship somewhere again! I just sat on the boardwalk next to the water, loving the warmth.
I had lunch in Club HAL and we watched a movie while we both ate. Then, he wanted to play games, so we played Connect 4 and some others before he left and I had two hours to myself this afternoon. I played Lego Harry Potter and managed to get all the way through Year 4, so now I can go through and free play through Hogwarts now; there’s still enough to do.
I walked around on Deck 12 for a while, then came down to the room and finally got to start laundry. I still think it’s ridiculous that they only have 5 washers and dryers (one of each not working) for ALL crew! I guess I could send use the drycleaning/laundry provided by housekeeping, but I prefer to do that myself. Even if most people did get housekeeping to take their stuff, 4 washers and dryers?! There’s around 400 people working on this ship!
Alyssa and I went to dinner kind of early so we could sit around and chat for a while; I hadn’t seen that many people all day (it’s not like the other day when I worked the whole time and did everything alone; today I mostly chose to be somewhat alone, I got off the ship by myself). Jacob, Alyssa and I were working in Club HAL tonight. The four of us played Sorry and Cranium and had a 30 minute snack break; and I explained Quelf.
After work, Alyssa and I went for a walk on Deck 6, then I came back down to the room to type this up. I’m getting to sleep at a normal hour tonight! I’m free until 7 tomorrow, so I get to actually go into Bar Harbor! Back in the States again finally! It’ll be nice being able to actually see the city, unlike the one other time (in 3 weeks) I got off when I only stayed off for an hour because plans had been messed up.
I’m definitely getting into the swing of things here finally, not feeling so confined to my room, I’ve made friends in various departments and have stuff to do with them (cards or board games from Club HAL). I know for certain that I’m not changing rooms again, and I’ve figured out how most everything works here. I had the realization yesterday that I’m on a cruise ship, in Canada! It really hit me then, sunbathing by the back pool in Sydney. That is just amazing, I can’t believe that I actually get to do this and I get paid for all this! Visiting cities I would never have gone to otherwise, hanging out with kids, meeting people from all over the world in all sorts of occupations, speaking French when I’m in some ports AND they pay me for doing this?! God really did bless me with this job, doing all sorts of things I love. If I start feeling negative again at any time, feel free to remind me of all this, remind me that I’m on the ship to make sure the kids have a good time officially and to be a witness to guests and crew alike for God. God place me here for a reason, and I’m glad He did!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
surprise overnight in Quebec!?!
September 9, 2012
I spent the day in Quebec with Kayley, Alyssa and Edison. We took a TON of pictures and walked around just having fun! I got back on the ship a little bit early and sat down with my camera to organize some of my pictures when an announcement came on. Because of a hurricane or bad weather heading toward us, it is safer for us to stay in Quebec overnight than to go to Charlottetown! Surprise overnight in a French city!!! We leave at three tomorrow and can get off/on all night, morning and afternoon!
So, that was the third freaky thing that happened!
I work tomorrow all day, but at least I can get off tonight. No one came to Club HAL tonight so we left a bit early to make plans for the night and to let everyone else know the plans.
September 10, 2012
So, surprise overnights are frustrating in my opinion (at least going from what happened last night). I was looking forward to going out and hanging out with Kayley and Brandi, tagging along with Alyssa and her people because they knew places to go to go dancing. After work, I was all ready to go, just waiting on the rest of the group and Alyssa to get off work and get ready. Kayley then found out that she had IPM (in-port-manning; each department has a certain number of people who have to be on the ship at all times just in case of an emergency). Brandi and I both kind of lost interest in going with the group because we were mainly going so the three of us could hang out. Other groups were going searching for other places to go. I really didn’t want to wander around for hours hoping to find something, especially when I worked at 9am, so I got off to see if I could access the internet for a little bit (I barely got on, too many people were in the terminal online). I got back on the ship after a short time and met up with Kayley at the OB, along with all the other unfortunate people on IPM. We had a party of our own there; put on cheesy songs we could sing and dance to and we just had fun with the few of us that were there. Kayley, Lauren (one of the girls from photo gallery) and I ended up watching “Sleepless in Seattle” in Kayley’s room to finish up our night. I actually had a lot of fun. I might should have gone out with some of the other groups that asked me in the OB (they thought it was weird I was staying on with Kayley when I could get off), so I could’ve gotten to know some different people, but I really enjoyed just having a relaxing, goofy evening.
This morning came too early. I woke up with a slight headache and went to work. There wasn’t a whole lot to do, so I studied Italian, read some, played Lego Harry Potter, etc. The 9 year old did come for about two hours, and we played Kinect Sports and stuff together, but he left before lunch even and I had to run downstairs and eat alone before coming back to spend the afternoon upstairs alone with my headache. I did make it through Year 3 in the Lego Harry Potter at least.
I got back to the room where Alyssa and Edison were talking, I just wanted to collapse in bed after being alone, having to piddle around in Club HAL all day. However, Edison wanted to eat and I’d planned on eating in 20 minutes, so I met him upstairs just as he was finishing somehow. So, I had dinner alone as well. Now, I’m waiting to hear back from Kayley about what she does on formal nights while we’re at work. Because I worked all day, I don’t have to work tonight, so I get free time to see the shows, go dancing, whatever; I just don’t know what’s available TO do.
I just realized that I never talked about the Bible Study I went to on Saturday night. It was different than I expected. There were about 8 of us. Kayley led the music (she was sight reading to play the songs on her guitar, and only one person it seemed actually knew the songs well), and one man gave the lesson. It was cold in the room and he has a heavy accent that’s especially difficult to understand above the sound of the air conditioning. I did enjoy it though, knowing that there are other Christians besides me and Kayley on the ship. The lesson was about keeping faith despite everything that tries to prevent our belief. Next Bible Study is Halifax night.
September 11, 2012
Sea day. I worked morning and afternoon shift and was off in the evening. Jacob and I were there in the morning and the kid came for just an hour or so and we played Sorry. It was a very close game, it all came down to the last few cards since we played that you had to have the exact number to get into the Home space. I had a leisurely lunch of Hawaiian pizza (first time trying pizza on this ship. It’s actually not bad!) with people for a change!
Back in Club HAL, it was me and Alyssa all afternoon. We put on some new music and played games all afternoon. Quite a few people were wandering around the ship and came in, so we talked to them for a while when they came in, but otherwise it was a very slow afternoon. After work, Alyssa and I walked around on Deck 6. I walked two miles (8 times around) before I got bored and decided to see if Kayley was around and organize pictures if she was busy (it’s a long process!). So, I went through pictures until dinnertime.
I was very excited that I didn’t have to wear my uniform to dinner because I wasn’t
working; I got to dress somewhat normal for once! I sat at dinner with Andy, Glenn, Edison, Colin, and the piano bar player Barry talking and listening for a long time after I finished eating. I finally managed to find Kayley in her room as she was getting ready for “Sing with the HAL Cats (live karaoke). I went with her and watched as they played/sang and talked to the guests that were sitting near me. I actually had fun. A lot of crew came up to the Crow’s Nest as well which was different, I haven’t seen many crew members up there since I’ve been here.
After a quick late snack, Kayley and I came down to retrieve Andy and set up to play Balderdash (game where you have to come up with definitions of weird words, complete weird laws, figure out why people are ‘famous,’ spell out acronyms and write a plot of a strange movie title). We had it set up when some of the others got there; I was very happy about that because it’s been annoying to me that people try to make plans to do something and it’s late before anything actually is done. Edison and Alyssa seemed a bit perturbed that we didn’t wait on them to start, but they hung out at late snack for an hour after we left! Next time I plan out game night, I’m going to set a specific time and place and just start then, everyone can come whenever they’re ready, but I’m not waiting on them (Kayley’s been frustrated by this too). So, Andy, Kayley, Glenn and I played the game and laughed a lot because of the responses some of us wrote down. It was a lot of fun, but I left before the game was over because I was tired.
September 12, 2012
There was a fire drill this morning again. This happens every week; why can’t we just have one a month so the new people do get the fire drill when they’re still new, but the rest of us don’t have to do it every single week? I also had a raft drill, but after that, I was free to get off ship for the first time since day one of Quebec!
I spent the day in Quebec with Kayley, Alyssa and Edison. We took a TON of pictures and walked around just having fun! I got back on the ship a little bit early and sat down with my camera to organize some of my pictures when an announcement came on. Because of a hurricane or bad weather heading toward us, it is safer for us to stay in Quebec overnight than to go to Charlottetown! Surprise overnight in a French city!!! We leave at three tomorrow and can get off/on all night, morning and afternoon!
So, that was the third freaky thing that happened!
I work tomorrow all day, but at least I can get off tonight. No one came to Club HAL tonight so we left a bit early to make plans for the night and to let everyone else know the plans.
September 10, 2012
So, surprise overnights are frustrating in my opinion (at least going from what happened last night). I was looking forward to going out and hanging out with Kayley and Brandi, tagging along with Alyssa and her people because they knew places to go to go dancing. After work, I was all ready to go, just waiting on the rest of the group and Alyssa to get off work and get ready. Kayley then found out that she had IPM (in-port-manning; each department has a certain number of people who have to be on the ship at all times just in case of an emergency). Brandi and I both kind of lost interest in going with the group because we were mainly going so the three of us could hang out. Other groups were going searching for other places to go. I really didn’t want to wander around for hours hoping to find something, especially when I worked at 9am, so I got off to see if I could access the internet for a little bit (I barely got on, too many people were in the terminal online). I got back on the ship after a short time and met up with Kayley at the OB, along with all the other unfortunate people on IPM. We had a party of our own there; put on cheesy songs we could sing and dance to and we just had fun with the few of us that were there. Kayley, Lauren (one of the girls from photo gallery) and I ended up watching “Sleepless in Seattle” in Kayley’s room to finish up our night. I actually had a lot of fun. I might should have gone out with some of the other groups that asked me in the OB (they thought it was weird I was staying on with Kayley when I could get off), so I could’ve gotten to know some different people, but I really enjoyed just having a relaxing, goofy evening.
This morning came too early. I woke up with a slight headache and went to work. There wasn’t a whole lot to do, so I studied Italian, read some, played Lego Harry Potter, etc. The 9 year old did come for about two hours, and we played Kinect Sports and stuff together, but he left before lunch even and I had to run downstairs and eat alone before coming back to spend the afternoon upstairs alone with my headache. I did make it through Year 3 in the Lego Harry Potter at least.
I got back to the room where Alyssa and Edison were talking, I just wanted to collapse in bed after being alone, having to piddle around in Club HAL all day. However, Edison wanted to eat and I’d planned on eating in 20 minutes, so I met him upstairs just as he was finishing somehow. So, I had dinner alone as well. Now, I’m waiting to hear back from Kayley about what she does on formal nights while we’re at work. Because I worked all day, I don’t have to work tonight, so I get free time to see the shows, go dancing, whatever; I just don’t know what’s available TO do.
I just realized that I never talked about the Bible Study I went to on Saturday night. It was different than I expected. There were about 8 of us. Kayley led the music (she was sight reading to play the songs on her guitar, and only one person it seemed actually knew the songs well), and one man gave the lesson. It was cold in the room and he has a heavy accent that’s especially difficult to understand above the sound of the air conditioning. I did enjoy it though, knowing that there are other Christians besides me and Kayley on the ship. The lesson was about keeping faith despite everything that tries to prevent our belief. Next Bible Study is Halifax night.
September 11, 2012
Sea day. I worked morning and afternoon shift and was off in the evening. Jacob and I were there in the morning and the kid came for just an hour or so and we played Sorry. It was a very close game, it all came down to the last few cards since we played that you had to have the exact number to get into the Home space. I had a leisurely lunch of Hawaiian pizza (first time trying pizza on this ship. It’s actually not bad!) with people for a change!
Back in Club HAL, it was me and Alyssa all afternoon. We put on some new music and played games all afternoon. Quite a few people were wandering around the ship and came in, so we talked to them for a while when they came in, but otherwise it was a very slow afternoon. After work, Alyssa and I walked around on Deck 6. I walked two miles (8 times around) before I got bored and decided to see if Kayley was around and organize pictures if she was busy (it’s a long process!). So, I went through pictures until dinnertime.
I was very excited that I didn’t have to wear my uniform to dinner because I wasn’t
working; I got to dress somewhat normal for once! I sat at dinner with Andy, Glenn, Edison, Colin, and the piano bar player Barry talking and listening for a long time after I finished eating. I finally managed to find Kayley in her room as she was getting ready for “Sing with the HAL Cats (live karaoke). I went with her and watched as they played/sang and talked to the guests that were sitting near me. I actually had fun. A lot of crew came up to the Crow’s Nest as well which was different, I haven’t seen many crew members up there since I’ve been here.
After a quick late snack, Kayley and I came down to retrieve Andy and set up to play Balderdash (game where you have to come up with definitions of weird words, complete weird laws, figure out why people are ‘famous,’ spell out acronyms and write a plot of a strange movie title). We had it set up when some of the others got there; I was very happy about that because it’s been annoying to me that people try to make plans to do something and it’s late before anything actually is done. Edison and Alyssa seemed a bit perturbed that we didn’t wait on them to start, but they hung out at late snack for an hour after we left! Next time I plan out game night, I’m going to set a specific time and place and just start then, everyone can come whenever they’re ready, but I’m not waiting on them (Kayley’s been frustrated by this too). So, Andy, Kayley, Glenn and I played the game and laughed a lot because of the responses some of us wrote down. It was a lot of fun, but I left before the game was over because I was tired.
September 12, 2012
There was a fire drill this morning again. This happens every week; why can’t we just have one a month so the new people do get the fire drill when they’re still new, but the rest of us don’t have to do it every single week? I also had a raft drill, but after that, I was free to get off ship for the first time since day one of Quebec!
Sunday, September 9, 2012
things always come in threes
September 9, 2012
I'm waiting for the third thing to happen.
It turns out that I did not dream about a big bump when we arrived in Montreal. Apparently we hit the dock and damaged the ship a bit. It was incredibly windy all day, so they used the wind as an excuse for our leaving Montreal late instead of telling all the passangers that they had to fix the ship. We normally leave around 5, but we left around 8. It was gorgeous seeing the city as the sun set behind it at least! Strange though to eat dinner without looking outside to see us moving.
The second thing to happen was the electricity went out! The sun had just set and Jacob and I were in Club HAL playing on the xboxes(Alyssa had gone down to the room to get her camera). We heard some strange humming noises and looked around for those. They stopped and we went back to the games. Suddenly, the lights and TVs went out. It was dark! I almost tripped getting up to make my way toward the window (we were still docked, so could see all Montreal's lights). The few emergency lights came on and we could walk around. We went downstairs for a minute and found out that the emergency lights were the only lights on all over the ship! A few minutes later, they made an announcement to reassure everything that everything was okay. Alyssa and I took our cameras outside to get some beautiful night shots of the city! Soon, the lights came back on and all was well.
Eventful first day of the cruise! The one kid on board didn't come last night, so we left early and went to the introduction show for the entertainment staff, since we're always working during it.
In Quebec again today. I'm about to get back on the ship for lunch, then head out to town with a group (Kayley, Alyssa, Edison and probably some others I don't know about; I didn't realize that I was included in the plans until I got off the ship and saw Edison, haha). I get to explore more and take lots of pictures, hopefully some of people finally!
I'm waiting for the third thing to happen.
It turns out that I did not dream about a big bump when we arrived in Montreal. Apparently we hit the dock and damaged the ship a bit. It was incredibly windy all day, so they used the wind as an excuse for our leaving Montreal late instead of telling all the passangers that they had to fix the ship. We normally leave around 5, but we left around 8. It was gorgeous seeing the city as the sun set behind it at least! Strange though to eat dinner without looking outside to see us moving.
The second thing to happen was the electricity went out! The sun had just set and Jacob and I were in Club HAL playing on the xboxes(Alyssa had gone down to the room to get her camera). We heard some strange humming noises and looked around for those. They stopped and we went back to the games. Suddenly, the lights and TVs went out. It was dark! I almost tripped getting up to make my way toward the window (we were still docked, so could see all Montreal's lights). The few emergency lights came on and we could walk around. We went downstairs for a minute and found out that the emergency lights were the only lights on all over the ship! A few minutes later, they made an announcement to reassure everything that everything was okay. Alyssa and I took our cameras outside to get some beautiful night shots of the city! Soon, the lights came back on and all was well.
Eventful first day of the cruise! The one kid on board didn't come last night, so we left early and went to the introduction show for the entertainment staff, since we're always working during it.
In Quebec again today. I'm about to get back on the ship for lunch, then head out to town with a group (Kayley, Alyssa, Edison and probably some others I don't know about; I didn't realize that I was included in the plans until I got off the ship and saw Edison, haha). I get to explore more and take lots of pictures, hopefully some of people finally!
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Sea Day, Quebec and a little Montreal!
September 6, 2012
We had a weird schedule for today. It’s a sea day, so it’s usually a long day for all youth staff. However, because there aren’t many kids on board, they divide the day up into A, B and C schedules. I have B shift: 10-12, 2-4 and 8-10. Alyssa had A, and the afternoon off, Jacob had C and the morning off. Through the day, all four of them were there most of the time. This week has pretty much been free time all the time; although, we haven’t played on the xbox much at all.
It was a pretty easy day, we played games, took them for ice cream, ran around outside on the sports deck, and of course read more books.
September 7, 2012
Quebec! I had the day off until 7! It was wonderful. I got off the ship around 10:30 with Glenn and Colin (the DJ) and we wandered around, found a post office to mail stuff, did some touristy shopping, etc. We had lunch at a Mcdonalds (it was cheap and quick and right near where we were), then Glenn got back on the ship to get ready to play for “sailaway” (they finish before all aboard). Colin and I walked around taking many more pictures and watching the bike race (the Grand Prix of Quebec: 5 hours long riding around/through the city, I think 12 times). We almost had time to watch the end, but not quite because I was worried about getting back on time. We had an interesting time getting back to the ship because the most direct route was closed because of the race.
I got back, then changed and went up to the top deck to watch as we pulled away from the city. It was ridiculously windy. I had to hold onto the railing so I wouldn’t be blown away; the second I let go, the wind would push me backwards, a few feet from where I was to start with.
Work last night was fun, Shawn, the 19-year-old, and I entertained the 3-year-olds by reading while Tara and Alyssa played on the Kinect. The 3-year-old girl left after a little while (she has an early bedtime that her parents actually adhere to), and so Shawn and I were left to entertain the boy; his mom had brought a blanket for him, so we spent about 30 minutes playing with that: throwing it over each others head, playing catch, throwing it over the head to sneak up and tickle the person. Then we played a weird version of duck, duck, goose. The 3-year-old would tag one of us, and we’d chase each other around the room over and over. Then, we all joined in as he chased us around “cutting off” arms or legs. Luckily, I didn’t have to run because he promised not to hurt me. It was fun helping him chase and catch the others! His mom came right on time to pick him up, but Alyssa and I stayed a little late to clean up some.
September 8, 2012
Montreal day, disembarkation/embarkation day. I went off ship with Glenn, Gil (the sax player, Glenn’s roommate), Alyssa, and Kayley. We got off kind of early and walked around for a while looking for some vintage clothing stores. We didn’t find the one Glenn found the other week, and it was getting late; the band had to be back to play at 1. We ended up taking up a corner of a coffee shop and eating or getting on the internet. I only had my phone so I just chatted as they did what they needed to online. Alyssa and I walked around town for a while, despite the ferocious wind before returning to the ship for lunch. We had a fun lunch with some of the photographers, then came back out for some good long internet time. It’s still really windy, we all think it’s going to storm because the wind is so bad, it’s blowing trees to the side, and I can barely stand up to it! Alyssa mentioned that if it’s bad enough, we might get to Quebec late, then have an overnight there tomorrow if it’s still bad; or we might have an overnight here if it’s too bad we can’t leave. That would be very interesting. Probably won’t happen though, no one else has mentioned anything like that. We’ll see.
Tomorrow we’re back in Quebec, YAY! I have the day off, so I’ll get to explore and speak French on my own this time hopefully. I’m hoping to do some excursions starting this week, so probably won’t be on the internet as much while I’m in port.
We had a weird schedule for today. It’s a sea day, so it’s usually a long day for all youth staff. However, because there aren’t many kids on board, they divide the day up into A, B and C schedules. I have B shift: 10-12, 2-4 and 8-10. Alyssa had A, and the afternoon off, Jacob had C and the morning off. Through the day, all four of them were there most of the time. This week has pretty much been free time all the time; although, we haven’t played on the xbox much at all.
It was a pretty easy day, we played games, took them for ice cream, ran around outside on the sports deck, and of course read more books.
September 7, 2012
Quebec! I had the day off until 7! It was wonderful. I got off the ship around 10:30 with Glenn and Colin (the DJ) and we wandered around, found a post office to mail stuff, did some touristy shopping, etc. We had lunch at a Mcdonalds (it was cheap and quick and right near where we were), then Glenn got back on the ship to get ready to play for “sailaway” (they finish before all aboard). Colin and I walked around taking many more pictures and watching the bike race (the Grand Prix of Quebec: 5 hours long riding around/through the city, I think 12 times). We almost had time to watch the end, but not quite because I was worried about getting back on time. We had an interesting time getting back to the ship because the most direct route was closed because of the race.
I got back, then changed and went up to the top deck to watch as we pulled away from the city. It was ridiculously windy. I had to hold onto the railing so I wouldn’t be blown away; the second I let go, the wind would push me backwards, a few feet from where I was to start with.
Work last night was fun, Shawn, the 19-year-old, and I entertained the 3-year-olds by reading while Tara and Alyssa played on the Kinect. The 3-year-old girl left after a little while (she has an early bedtime that her parents actually adhere to), and so Shawn and I were left to entertain the boy; his mom had brought a blanket for him, so we spent about 30 minutes playing with that: throwing it over each others head, playing catch, throwing it over the head to sneak up and tickle the person. Then we played a weird version of duck, duck, goose. The 3-year-old would tag one of us, and we’d chase each other around the room over and over. Then, we all joined in as he chased us around “cutting off” arms or legs. Luckily, I didn’t have to run because he promised not to hurt me. It was fun helping him chase and catch the others! His mom came right on time to pick him up, but Alyssa and I stayed a little late to clean up some.
September 8, 2012
Montreal day, disembarkation/embarkation day. I went off ship with Glenn, Gil (the sax player, Glenn’s roommate), Alyssa, and Kayley. We got off kind of early and walked around for a while looking for some vintage clothing stores. We didn’t find the one Glenn found the other week, and it was getting late; the band had to be back to play at 1. We ended up taking up a corner of a coffee shop and eating or getting on the internet. I only had my phone so I just chatted as they did what they needed to online. Alyssa and I walked around town for a while, despite the ferocious wind before returning to the ship for lunch. We had a fun lunch with some of the photographers, then came back out for some good long internet time. It’s still really windy, we all think it’s going to storm because the wind is so bad, it’s blowing trees to the side, and I can barely stand up to it! Alyssa mentioned that if it’s bad enough, we might get to Quebec late, then have an overnight there tomorrow if it’s still bad; or we might have an overnight here if it’s too bad we can’t leave. That would be very interesting. Probably won’t happen though, no one else has mentioned anything like that. We’ll see.
Tomorrow we’re back in Quebec, YAY! I have the day off, so I’ll get to explore and speak French on my own this time hopefully. I’m hoping to do some excursions starting this week, so probably won’t be on the internet as much while I’m in port.
rainy day in Charlottetown
September 5, 2012
Yesterday, I got off in Sydney with the new DJ, Edison, Glenn and the new sax player (Glenn’s roommate, Gill). We took some fun pictures in front of the giant violin right at the port before heading out to find Kayley, who had gone to shore early. We eventually found her and went shopping for a bit, walking around the music store in town! There’s so much stuff there, it’s amazing, tons of music for all types of instruments, and the instruments they have there, you can play! Our group slowly dwindled in numbers as people decided to head back to ship early to make sure they weren’t late for rehearsal. Those of us that remained walked around for a while before getting back on the ship. I moved a little bit more into the room until I went upstairs to watch as we left Sydney. There wasn’t much to take pictures of though, sadly.
Last night the three-year-olds didn’t show up, so we just hung out and played Rummy with Tara (the 11-year-old) and Shawn (the teen). I had a headache, so took the night off and went straight to bed after work.
This morning, I started at 8. I did manage to get upstairs with time for breakfast, but then remembered that I hadn’t done my hours (I usually put them in before I go to sleep after 12), and the computer in Club HAL broke at the beginning of the week. So, I got to Lido Deck and had to turn around and go all the way back down to B deck to put in hours. I did at least have time to grab a muffin and juice and take it up to Club HAL to eat before anyone got there. I was alone for a while, and then the 3-year-old boy came. It was just the two of us and I read a whole lot of stories. There was a little bit of a situation just as I was supposed to leave, and Alyssa was running late, thankfully Jacob and his wife came up to get a battery for his deck phone. I stayed up there for another 30 minutes to make sure everything was okay.
I had lunch before meeting up with Kayley to get off the ship. It was really rainy; a very gross day outside, and the internet in the terminal wasn’t working well, so we went to a restaurant a few minutes from the terminal where they had wifi. They were very nice, despite the fact that the few crew members there were dripping water all over the place. I had a really good hot chocolate and enjoyed some time using reliable internet for the first time in a while and hanging out talking to Kayley and two of the dancers. Before we knew it, it was time to head back into the rain to get back to the ship. We were drenched by the time we got to our rooms, so we changed and then Kayley decided to play with my hair, she put it up really fancy and did my makeup (she thought it was formal night) all before dinner. I was very shiny for dinner (some part of her makeup has glitter in it), and got a few comments because I looked so dressy.
Shawn and the 3-year-old were the first ones in Club HAL. Shawn decided to take over for us reading the children’s books since I’d been reading them for hours at a time the past few days; then, we all took turns reading. The 3-year-old left kind of early and Tara came, so we played foosball, trying to see how to team up to make more evenly matched pairs. After Tara left, the rest of us played Rummy until 10, when Alyssa and I got off. I went to the show and then came back to the room to organize all the pictures I’ve taken. I’d gotten through a good many when Kayley came by and we went out together to hang out with other crew members. We played darts with two of the cast. My team won, despite my hindrance. It was a much more relaxed night than it has been.
Yesterday, I got off in Sydney with the new DJ, Edison, Glenn and the new sax player (Glenn’s roommate, Gill). We took some fun pictures in front of the giant violin right at the port before heading out to find Kayley, who had gone to shore early. We eventually found her and went shopping for a bit, walking around the music store in town! There’s so much stuff there, it’s amazing, tons of music for all types of instruments, and the instruments they have there, you can play! Our group slowly dwindled in numbers as people decided to head back to ship early to make sure they weren’t late for rehearsal. Those of us that remained walked around for a while before getting back on the ship. I moved a little bit more into the room until I went upstairs to watch as we left Sydney. There wasn’t much to take pictures of though, sadly.
Last night the three-year-olds didn’t show up, so we just hung out and played Rummy with Tara (the 11-year-old) and Shawn (the teen). I had a headache, so took the night off and went straight to bed after work.
This morning, I started at 8. I did manage to get upstairs with time for breakfast, but then remembered that I hadn’t done my hours (I usually put them in before I go to sleep after 12), and the computer in Club HAL broke at the beginning of the week. So, I got to Lido Deck and had to turn around and go all the way back down to B deck to put in hours. I did at least have time to grab a muffin and juice and take it up to Club HAL to eat before anyone got there. I was alone for a while, and then the 3-year-old boy came. It was just the two of us and I read a whole lot of stories. There was a little bit of a situation just as I was supposed to leave, and Alyssa was running late, thankfully Jacob and his wife came up to get a battery for his deck phone. I stayed up there for another 30 minutes to make sure everything was okay.
I had lunch before meeting up with Kayley to get off the ship. It was really rainy; a very gross day outside, and the internet in the terminal wasn’t working well, so we went to a restaurant a few minutes from the terminal where they had wifi. They were very nice, despite the fact that the few crew members there were dripping water all over the place. I had a really good hot chocolate and enjoyed some time using reliable internet for the first time in a while and hanging out talking to Kayley and two of the dancers. Before we knew it, it was time to head back into the rain to get back to the ship. We were drenched by the time we got to our rooms, so we changed and then Kayley decided to play with my hair, she put it up really fancy and did my makeup (she thought it was formal night) all before dinner. I was very shiny for dinner (some part of her makeup has glitter in it), and got a few comments because I looked so dressy.
Shawn and the 3-year-old were the first ones in Club HAL. Shawn decided to take over for us reading the children’s books since I’d been reading them for hours at a time the past few days; then, we all took turns reading. The 3-year-old left kind of early and Tara came, so we played foosball, trying to see how to team up to make more evenly matched pairs. After Tara left, the rest of us played Rummy until 10, when Alyssa and I got off. I went to the show and then came back to the room to organize all the pictures I’ve taken. I’d gotten through a good many when Kayley came by and we went out together to hang out with other crew members. We played darts with two of the cast. My team won, despite my hindrance. It was a much more relaxed night than it has been.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
missed a few days, so here's a long post!
September 3, 2012
It feels like it’s been a really long time since I last posted. In a way, it has; I had my last day with my teens, and now we have 7 kids (in all age groups: 3-17) on board. I’ve also changed rooms.
Let’s see, last time I wrote it was Bar Harbor morning. I got off work a little late because of the whole lunch fiasco, and called Kayley to meet up and get off ship, but she wasn’t in her room. Eventually I gave up and went off the ship on my own because no one else was answering their room phone either. It was nice being back in the US, using my phone as a phone to text and call and not having to search for wifi to get on the internet for a few minutes. I shopped and talked to Mom until I walked into a drugstore to see if they had Dr. Pepper. In the drugstore, I found everyone I’d been trying to call all morning. There apparently had been a misunderstanding about our plans. I got to hang out with them for about 10 minutes before they all got back on the ship. I walked around some more on my own, and researched what churches were in town. I got back to the ship 30 minutes early (Bar Harbor is a tender port, so it’s best to head back early because the last few tenders fill up quick). I fiddled around my room until dinner, then work.
It was my last night with the teens. They were all in the Lido when I went down to the Half Moon room, then came about 20 minutes later. We played card games until we went to Club HAL. They really like playing spoons, especially when I hide the spoons all around the room and they have to try to find them. It would be more fun if we had a Loft though, because there would be more places to hide them. In a room of two tables, and a bunch of chairs, there aren’t many options. Back in Club HAL, we chatted and played more cards until we went down to the Lido for a snack (after already having devoured the ensamadas that had been delivered to the room). Have I explained what ensamadas are yet? They’re basically buns covered in butter and sugar. They’re amazing.
After work, I met up with Alyssa, Kayley, Glenn and Edison in the Lido, then we went to the Crow’s Nest to hang out with the DJ on his last night (very few people go to the Crow’s Nest at night on this ship it seems. Every time I’ve been there, it’s been empty). Then, we went down to hang out with the rest of the crew leaving.
Saturday we returned to Boston. I was going to get off with Glenn (we have to take a bus to get where anything is and I didn’t want to do that for the first time on my own), but I woke up late, and he realized that he had to play at 1, so I didn’t get off at all. I did text a little when I was helping with Open House. A total of one family came in during my hour. There are 8 kids under 18 on board this week. Two 2-year-olds, a 6-year-old, 11-year old, three teens and a 1-year old. I haven’t even seen some of them this week even though we’ve combined all the age groups.
Dinner was interesting. Alyssa’s best friend on the ship came back on after going through special training (she’s a photographer), so they spent a lot of time catching up on everything that happened in the past two weeks. The two three year olds came in a little late, one of them left before 9, understandable because they need to go to bed early. The 11-year old came in after that, and Jacob brought up the one teen that showed up. So, three youth staff with three kids of ages 3, 11, and 17. That was different. I ended up building stuff with jenga blocks with the 3-year-old while the others played cards. He left before 9 and the five of us remaining played two-on-two foosball, switching out every turn who sat out. It was fun!
Alyssa and I got off kind of early and went down to talk to our friends in the photo gallery before going to Deck 6 and walking around, enjoying the water.
Sunday was Bar Harbor Day. I was planning on getting up early and going with Kayley to a church in town. The ship had other ideas. I worked at 12, so I wasn’t going to have much time, but I was determined to get to church finally. After breakfast, I checked with Alyssa to see if open tender had been announced yet. She said it wasn’t and that the Event Manager was looking for me. I went down to see her and I was told that I was changing rooms. Alyssa’s roommate, the librarian, was moving to another cabin and I was moving in with Alyssa. That began the change in my plans. I had to pack up and get new key card and stuff now too. I still thought I could get off, so I went by Kayley’s room and we chatted while waiting for them to call for open tender. 11 o’clock came (the church started at 10), and I gave up on getting to shore. So, I packed up and had a long lunch before work. It turns out that only one of the tenders was working, and it was having problems (I knew it sounded bad on Friday!). That explains why things were taking so long.
I didn’t have any kids for the first few hours of work. One man came in just to look around and take pictures, but I got to sit and play Lego Harry Potter for a long time. Tara, the 11-year old, came in and joined me for a while until the 3-year-old arrived. The three of us built with blocks and played foosball until time to go. I spent my break unpacking again in the new room with Alyssa. Still need to organize stuff, but at least I know I’m not moving again. I told the Event Manager about my moves on the Oosterdam and she promised to keep me in this room until I left!
Last night, it was pretty much the same as the first night except the 3-year-old that left before 8 didn’t come. I played with the other 3-year-old while Jacob and Alyssa hung out with the other two. I’m going to be an expert at block building by the end of this week I think. I also am learning to read stories out loud. We have a lot of children’s books and I read a few of them last night, probably will read more tonight as well. Tara left not long after the 3-year-old, so Alyssa and I got to leave early again. We changed into formal wear (well, I was in my formal blue dress, Alyssa was in black pants and a shirt) and went to the show. Then we ended up talking to Edison for at least 30 minutes while waiting on Alyssa’s friend to finish working on something. Edison and I went up to the Lido to meet up with the rest of the group and get something in our systems so we wouldn’t feel bad. The ship was moving a lot, so I was lightheaded and a lot of the others were a bit seasick.
Today, I was going to get off the ship around 9:30, but Alyssa was in the shower when I wanted to get up, so I got up after she left and was at breakfast by 10. It was a good thing though, because I met Brandi as I came down from breakfast and we got off the ship together. I didn’t realize it was labor day; all the shops were closed so there wasn’t a whole lot to do aside from walk around in my allotted hour. I got back on the ship and accidently walked the wrong way to get to my cabin. It was very confusing for me when I couldn’t find the stairs. I did find my way at least, only with less time to spare for lunch.
When I got to the grill, the line was moving very slowly, so I had about 7 minutes to eat before work. I took some of it with me up to Club HAL anyway. There weren’t any kids there. I read some, studied a little Italian, played Lego Harry Potter again, and worked on an I Spy book. Finally, the teen showed up and helped me with the level in the video game, then Tara came up and watched us play until 4. I got to start laundry after work! It was very exciting to find the washer and dryer fixed (at least two of each have been broken since I arrived; there’s only 6 to begin with!). I walked around outside and watched us move away from the dock before I came back to the room to write some postcards and type all this out!
Tuesday September 4, 2012
Both of the three year olds came last night! And of course Tara. I need to talk to Alyssa and switch it up some because I’ve been entertaining the three year olds while she’s just played cards with Jacob, the teen, and Tara. I read stories for an hour straight, until my voice gave out for a bit, then I convinced them to eat snack, which lasted about 30 minutes. The girl and I finished our popcorn quickly, but the boy ate very slowly, and then got another bag; so, we watched the other 4 play cards. They both stayed pretty late considering their normal bedtime is around 8 or 8:30. The boy stayed almost until 10, his mom came to check in on him every 30 minutes to see if he was ready to go. Of course, he wasn’t; we read some more and played with blocks (I’m getting better at building stuff with Jenga blocks now). We did get to leave a little early at least, and got to see the whole show! After the show, I made plans to meet up with everyone at the Crow’s Nest to hang out during Karaoke night. I looked through the book, and discovered 4 pages of French songs! Brandi, Kayley and I had lots of fun dancing and trying to get Glenn, Edison, Alyssa and everyone else in the room to dance too. We stayed up just hanging out.
I had work at 9 this morning, which meant that I had time after I got ready to go get breakfast! I had 20 minutes to myself, then the 3 year old boy came in, with Jacob right behind to cover for me while I attended a make-up drill. There were 8 of us in that drill. We’d all been working during the Coast Guard drill last week, so had to do our own this week. And there’s another general drill tomorrow; apparently they have one of those every week. Why not once a month or something? The new people will still get it in their first few weeks, and it’s not as troublesome for everyone that way. Oh well. Our make-up drill lasted maybe 10 minutes, and I went back up to Club HAL. I read stories for another hour until my mouth was so dry, I could hardly speak; I tried to distract him from wanting me to read more, but he isn’t easily distracted, so it took some time before we got out the beads to make bracelets. The girl came in not long before Jacob came and we took the two of them down to lunch. Even though there was only two of them, I helped out and ate with them since I needed to eat anyway. After I finished, I met up with Edison and sat with him for a while.
It feels like it’s been a really long time since I last posted. In a way, it has; I had my last day with my teens, and now we have 7 kids (in all age groups: 3-17) on board. I’ve also changed rooms.
Let’s see, last time I wrote it was Bar Harbor morning. I got off work a little late because of the whole lunch fiasco, and called Kayley to meet up and get off ship, but she wasn’t in her room. Eventually I gave up and went off the ship on my own because no one else was answering their room phone either. It was nice being back in the US, using my phone as a phone to text and call and not having to search for wifi to get on the internet for a few minutes. I shopped and talked to Mom until I walked into a drugstore to see if they had Dr. Pepper. In the drugstore, I found everyone I’d been trying to call all morning. There apparently had been a misunderstanding about our plans. I got to hang out with them for about 10 minutes before they all got back on the ship. I walked around some more on my own, and researched what churches were in town. I got back to the ship 30 minutes early (Bar Harbor is a tender port, so it’s best to head back early because the last few tenders fill up quick). I fiddled around my room until dinner, then work.
It was my last night with the teens. They were all in the Lido when I went down to the Half Moon room, then came about 20 minutes later. We played card games until we went to Club HAL. They really like playing spoons, especially when I hide the spoons all around the room and they have to try to find them. It would be more fun if we had a Loft though, because there would be more places to hide them. In a room of two tables, and a bunch of chairs, there aren’t many options. Back in Club HAL, we chatted and played more cards until we went down to the Lido for a snack (after already having devoured the ensamadas that had been delivered to the room). Have I explained what ensamadas are yet? They’re basically buns covered in butter and sugar. They’re amazing.
After work, I met up with Alyssa, Kayley, Glenn and Edison in the Lido, then we went to the Crow’s Nest to hang out with the DJ on his last night (very few people go to the Crow’s Nest at night on this ship it seems. Every time I’ve been there, it’s been empty). Then, we went down to hang out with the rest of the crew leaving.
Saturday we returned to Boston. I was going to get off with Glenn (we have to take a bus to get where anything is and I didn’t want to do that for the first time on my own), but I woke up late, and he realized that he had to play at 1, so I didn’t get off at all. I did text a little when I was helping with Open House. A total of one family came in during my hour. There are 8 kids under 18 on board this week. Two 2-year-olds, a 6-year-old, 11-year old, three teens and a 1-year old. I haven’t even seen some of them this week even though we’ve combined all the age groups.
Dinner was interesting. Alyssa’s best friend on the ship came back on after going through special training (she’s a photographer), so they spent a lot of time catching up on everything that happened in the past two weeks. The two three year olds came in a little late, one of them left before 9, understandable because they need to go to bed early. The 11-year old came in after that, and Jacob brought up the one teen that showed up. So, three youth staff with three kids of ages 3, 11, and 17. That was different. I ended up building stuff with jenga blocks with the 3-year-old while the others played cards. He left before 9 and the five of us remaining played two-on-two foosball, switching out every turn who sat out. It was fun!
Alyssa and I got off kind of early and went down to talk to our friends in the photo gallery before going to Deck 6 and walking around, enjoying the water.
Sunday was Bar Harbor Day. I was planning on getting up early and going with Kayley to a church in town. The ship had other ideas. I worked at 12, so I wasn’t going to have much time, but I was determined to get to church finally. After breakfast, I checked with Alyssa to see if open tender had been announced yet. She said it wasn’t and that the Event Manager was looking for me. I went down to see her and I was told that I was changing rooms. Alyssa’s roommate, the librarian, was moving to another cabin and I was moving in with Alyssa. That began the change in my plans. I had to pack up and get new key card and stuff now too. I still thought I could get off, so I went by Kayley’s room and we chatted while waiting for them to call for open tender. 11 o’clock came (the church started at 10), and I gave up on getting to shore. So, I packed up and had a long lunch before work. It turns out that only one of the tenders was working, and it was having problems (I knew it sounded bad on Friday!). That explains why things were taking so long.
I didn’t have any kids for the first few hours of work. One man came in just to look around and take pictures, but I got to sit and play Lego Harry Potter for a long time. Tara, the 11-year old, came in and joined me for a while until the 3-year-old arrived. The three of us built with blocks and played foosball until time to go. I spent my break unpacking again in the new room with Alyssa. Still need to organize stuff, but at least I know I’m not moving again. I told the Event Manager about my moves on the Oosterdam and she promised to keep me in this room until I left!
Last night, it was pretty much the same as the first night except the 3-year-old that left before 8 didn’t come. I played with the other 3-year-old while Jacob and Alyssa hung out with the other two. I’m going to be an expert at block building by the end of this week I think. I also am learning to read stories out loud. We have a lot of children’s books and I read a few of them last night, probably will read more tonight as well. Tara left not long after the 3-year-old, so Alyssa and I got to leave early again. We changed into formal wear (well, I was in my formal blue dress, Alyssa was in black pants and a shirt) and went to the show. Then we ended up talking to Edison for at least 30 minutes while waiting on Alyssa’s friend to finish working on something. Edison and I went up to the Lido to meet up with the rest of the group and get something in our systems so we wouldn’t feel bad. The ship was moving a lot, so I was lightheaded and a lot of the others were a bit seasick.
Today, I was going to get off the ship around 9:30, but Alyssa was in the shower when I wanted to get up, so I got up after she left and was at breakfast by 10. It was a good thing though, because I met Brandi as I came down from breakfast and we got off the ship together. I didn’t realize it was labor day; all the shops were closed so there wasn’t a whole lot to do aside from walk around in my allotted hour. I got back on the ship and accidently walked the wrong way to get to my cabin. It was very confusing for me when I couldn’t find the stairs. I did find my way at least, only with less time to spare for lunch.
When I got to the grill, the line was moving very slowly, so I had about 7 minutes to eat before work. I took some of it with me up to Club HAL anyway. There weren’t any kids there. I read some, studied a little Italian, played Lego Harry Potter again, and worked on an I Spy book. Finally, the teen showed up and helped me with the level in the video game, then Tara came up and watched us play until 4. I got to start laundry after work! It was very exciting to find the washer and dryer fixed (at least two of each have been broken since I arrived; there’s only 6 to begin with!). I walked around outside and watched us move away from the dock before I came back to the room to write some postcards and type all this out!
Tuesday September 4, 2012
Both of the three year olds came last night! And of course Tara. I need to talk to Alyssa and switch it up some because I’ve been entertaining the three year olds while she’s just played cards with Jacob, the teen, and Tara. I read stories for an hour straight, until my voice gave out for a bit, then I convinced them to eat snack, which lasted about 30 minutes. The girl and I finished our popcorn quickly, but the boy ate very slowly, and then got another bag; so, we watched the other 4 play cards. They both stayed pretty late considering their normal bedtime is around 8 or 8:30. The boy stayed almost until 10, his mom came to check in on him every 30 minutes to see if he was ready to go. Of course, he wasn’t; we read some more and played with blocks (I’m getting better at building stuff with Jenga blocks now). We did get to leave a little early at least, and got to see the whole show! After the show, I made plans to meet up with everyone at the Crow’s Nest to hang out during Karaoke night. I looked through the book, and discovered 4 pages of French songs! Brandi, Kayley and I had lots of fun dancing and trying to get Glenn, Edison, Alyssa and everyone else in the room to dance too. We stayed up just hanging out.
I had work at 9 this morning, which meant that I had time after I got ready to go get breakfast! I had 20 minutes to myself, then the 3 year old boy came in, with Jacob right behind to cover for me while I attended a make-up drill. There were 8 of us in that drill. We’d all been working during the Coast Guard drill last week, so had to do our own this week. And there’s another general drill tomorrow; apparently they have one of those every week. Why not once a month or something? The new people will still get it in their first few weeks, and it’s not as troublesome for everyone that way. Oh well. Our make-up drill lasted maybe 10 minutes, and I went back up to Club HAL. I read stories for another hour until my mouth was so dry, I could hardly speak; I tried to distract him from wanting me to read more, but he isn’t easily distracted, so it took some time before we got out the beads to make bracelets. The girl came in not long before Jacob came and we took the two of them down to lunch. Even though there was only two of them, I helped out and ate with them since I needed to eat anyway. After I finished, I met up with Edison and sat with him for a while.
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