October 26, 2012: Sea Day 4
We’re halfway across the Atlantic now! Halfway done with our long sea days. I slept in a bit this morning because I’d stayed up late watching Under the Tuscan Sun on TV, so by the time I got up and ready, I had to wait until lunch before getting food. Luckily, I have a supply of fruit loops and apples to eat on days like this. I went up for lunch and ended up sitting with Laurie and Jim until they left to go do stuff, then Edison and a few people from the shops joined me. I’m getting so tired of sandwiches now, I’ve had one every day this week for lunch, because the grill hasn’t been open (I’ve been kind of craving a chicken burger).
I had work at 1, the room was extremely humid so I had to open a door (it was much cooler outside than in that room). Housekeeping had also plugged in a fan in the middle of the room to help with the condensation on the floor (last night we kept slipping on the slightly wet floor). It was loud but didn’t really do much for the heat and humidity. The girl came in first, of course. We colored for about an hour and a half before I took her downstairs to get some water, and just to get out of the room. We met the other kids down in the Lido and they got signed in. Once the girl finished her water, I took them all outside to play games on the Sports Deck. It felt really good outside, cool for my taste but at least it wasn’t the stagnant, humid heat in Club HAL. We went back in and I opened the door to outside to get some of the breeze in and the kids played video games and colored.
I’d nearly forgotten about Bingo when DJ B called asking if I was coming. The kids had just left and I was on my way out, so I ran down there to help him sell the cards. The people who play know me very well by now and had been worried about me, why I wasn’t there early like usual.
I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with Cass, then went to dinner. Dinner was surprisingly decent. They had brie! I sat with the band and some of the cast members. Kayley joined us as dinner was ending. We went down to our rooms so she could get a book to return to the library and so I could change out of my uniform. We returned her book then went to the Mix to listen to the remainder of Brandi’s set for the night. J was there (cast member) so we hung out with him and Brandi when her set finished. They have these tables in the Mix that are interactive. You can draw and play games on them! We played with this thing called “Ribbons.” You draw something and it’ll take it and redraw it all over the table. While we were doing this, the cruise director came by and we all talked for a while. He’s really nice, very enthusiastic and wants to get to know everyone and make sure all our jobs are going okay and everything else.
The four of us (J, Brandi, Kayley and me) went to the show together. The singer did a show entitled “Tribute to the Divas.” She did a good job with it, no wonder Cass told me that she had a big voice. After the show, I came back to the room and watched the news (all the satellites are out except for Fox news – no internet either). It’s funny that a few weeks ago, it seemed like Fox News was very supportive of Obama, but now they’re saying he’s been lying about what happened in Libya on September 11 this year. It’ll be interesting to see what happens after the election. Wow, that’s not far away now. It is strange how out-of-touch we are sometimes on this ship with the rest of the world, despite travelling all over the world
October 27, 2012: Sea Day 5
I had to work this morning. I put up the sign as usual and ate breakfast before heading up to stay in Club HAL. I studied Italian all morning because the kids didn’t show up at all. It was good though, I was productive.
I went back to the room to sleep a bit more (I had a hard time going to sleep last night and waking up this morning) until lunch. I went up to lunch at one to hang out with the HAL Cats between their sets. Turns out that they didn’t have a set at all because it was kind of rainy. But, they were still up there sitting around and chatting so I joined in. I stayed up there through the time change (another hour forward, now we’re three hours ahead… two more to go!) then went down to help with Bingo.
Cass and I talked all afternoon about various things: music, how we got on ships, different types of jobs, etc. I had dinner and went up to Club HAL. Not much interesting happened there, the girl was up there the entire time and they all just played games with each other. They left right at ten so I had to run down and change really quick to get to the show: ballroom dance couple!
After that, Kayley and I started to watch the second Harry Potter, but I got too tired so we didn’t finish it.
October 28, 2012: Sea Day 6
It’s strange to think that for the last six days, I’ve looked outside and seen nothing but water and sky, and I know that there’s not any land for hundreds of miles. That just hit me today, that we’re in the middle of the ocean with no land close by.
Anyway, I had a lazy morning since I didn’t work until 1. I went up to lunch (pasta for the first time in a while) and sat with the acupuncturist and Laurie the party planner. We had some interesting conversation about aviation school, the news, etc. Of course there was the few minutes of silence in between conversations because we’ve all been on the ship with nothing too too exciting happening for six days now, so some normal conversation topics have been exhausted (did you get off at the last port, what did you do, what happened while you were off?).
I was only upstairs for a few minutes with the girl came up, she was there for about two hours before the other kids came. She spent most of the time wondering why her friend wasn’t there yet and trying to get me to tell her what to draw. Since I’ve given her lots of suggestions on this the last few days, I suggested she think of something to draw on her own. After sitting for a few minutes and complaining that she couldn’t think of anything, she started to copy the butterfly I was drawing. So much for being creative on your own. Oh well. Finally the other kids came and the girls played house together while the boy got me to help him with Lego Star Wars. I spent the rest of the afternoon running back and forth between playing the game and putting glue on foam animals so the girls could make photo frames (they’d decided not to play house when they realized I wouldn’t be in there for them to ‘cook’ for me.)
I ran off to Bingo as soon as the kids left at 4. Luckily the DJ had already started selling cards- he knows I work in the afternoons so is fine with me being late- so I just helped with the last few people and then did all the math. Slowly but surely the prizes (determined by how many people buy cards and how much the cards they by are) are getting larger.
After Bingo, I came back to the room to rest for the first time since lunch. Cass and I talked for a bit, then I went to Kayley’s room so we could finish watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. We finished it in perfect time to go to dinner. We sat with the rest of the band and just hung out until nearly their call time for the show tonight. I went back to the room until the show. It was a farewell variety show tonight. A few of the guest entertainers are leaving at the next port so the cruise director let them do one last show split between the three of them. Livewire was great, as usual; I wasn’t too impressed with the comedian/magician though and of course the lady from last night was good. I’m going to be most sad to see Livewire leave though, they’re very nice people and I really liked their shows (the Celtic music).
October 29, 2012: Sea Day 7
I had to work early this morning. I put up the sign and went down for breakfast, not really expecting the girl to show up considering she hasn’t for the past few days. I was halfway through breakfast, not really expecting the girl to show up considering she hasn’t for the past few days. I was halfway through breakfast when she and her dad came by, eating breakfast themselves. A few minutes after I got up to Club HAL, they followed. She had no idea what she wanted to do, and she shot down everything I suggested so we just sat there in silence for a few minutes until she decided to draw. But then she couldn’t decide what to draw and kept asking me what she should draw; I just responded “whatever you want to draw, anything you can think of” and she’d ask me again, and again, and again. She’s not entirely the easiest kid to work with. Most kids like to play board games or video games or watch a movie, or go outside, but not her. I’m starting to run out of activities to suggest. I kind of wish I knew what activities are normally on the kids schedule; I’d only worked with the tweens and teens, and those activities aren’t really easy enough for the younger ones so I don’t have much to go on.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
so many sea days
October 22, 2012: Philipsburg, Sainte Maarten
We had a fire drill this morning. Luckily, I’d known about it so was ready when the alarm went off. I was supposed to hear from some people about going to the beach, but they never called me after the drill, so Edison called and we got off together. We met Brandi right off the ship and all bought sunscreen and took the water taxi to the beach. We were walking along, shops on one side, sand and water on the other, when we finally saw someone we knew. Daniel was sitting on the beach so we joined him and all went swimming for a while before laying out in the sun.
Daniel had to leave after a while because he had to get ready for work again, and Mack and Kayley joined us on the beach. We stayed out there for a while longer, drying off from our many trips to swim. Then, we walked around for a while, looking for somewjhere to eat lunch. After stopping at a few places, we finally decided on one and sat down. It was about an hour until our food arrived, so we spent that time on the internet (our last guaranteed time on the internet until we reach Europe). I got Hawaiian pizza, Kayley got a quesadilla, Brandi and Edison got jerk chicken and Mack got a BBQ sandwich. We sat there for a while eating and just enjoying each others company, by the time everyone finished, Brandi and I were ready to get back on the beach, so we left the rest of the group, crossed the street and set up camp before jumping in the water. We spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between beach and water. I read some Le Fantome de L’Opera while the others slept.
We decided to head back just after 3:30 since all aboard was at 4:30 and we were walking back. It was a pretty walk; we saw chickens in the boatyard and some goats on the hill and heard lots and lots of birds.
When we got back, I quickly showered, got ready and went upstairs to get some last minute pictures of the area as we sailed away. Then, I realized that the sun was going to set soon, so I went to the very back of the ship with my camera and watched as it set over the water, right by the island we’d been at all day.
I dropped my camera off before going to dinner. I spent a lot of time at dinner since I didn’t have to work tonight. I made plans to meet Glenn for the show (Livewire, the couple that puts a Celtic twist on music and plays some Irish stuff as well), then went to work out for a while.
I went to the show, managed not to find Glenn until the very end. Turns out that while I had gone up early to the Ocean Bar where he was, he’d come down to B deck to find me. He did make it for the last song though. After the show, I borrowed the first Harry Potter DVD from J, one of the cast members (he used to work at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, he was one of the conductors on opening day even!), and watched it until it was time to do hours and go to sleep.
October 23, 2012: Sea Day 1
I didn’t really sleep in late this morning for once. I got up and went to breakfast before coming back to the room to watch the rest of Harry Potter. Despite feeling awake at breakfast, as soon as I started to watch the movie, I started falling asleep. So, I ended up taking a nap until lunch. I started eating lunch alone, then Rik came to join me, and Jo the lifestylist. We sat and talked for a while, Edison came and joined us, then the other two left and Janet (another photographer) came. We actually stayed at the table chatting until two when we changed the clocks an hour forward. It’s kind of nice that they do that during the day because it makes the long sea day slightly shorter, and it doesn’t cut time from our sleep schedule!
I changed the time and talked to Cass for a bit in the room before I had to head up to Bingo. It’s pretty fun to work with this DJ; he includes everyone around in his small talk to the guests as we sell the cards. He’s very energetic and generally happy. After we finished selling cards, I started to leave, then got caught up talking to Bea and Daniel as they waited to hand out flyers. Since they didn’t have many appointments in the spa, their job for the afternoon was to go to all the events and hand out flyers as they ended. I sat with them until Bingo ended.
Finally, I finished Harry Potter before dinner and work. The kids came up about 20 minutes after I opened Club HAL. The girls colored and prepared for a show they wanted to perform for the rest of us. The boy played video games and I helped him out. Time was almost up when the girls finally were ready to put on their show for us. The four-year-olds parents were there by that point to pick her up. They let her perform for a little bit before reminding her that it was long past her bedtime. The siblings stayed until nearly 10 when their dad came in a rush to get them to the show. I managed to lock up Club HAL, go to my room and change and made it to the show just as they were starting!
It’s going to be an early night for me, just as soon as I can put in my hours I’m going to get some sleep. (We have from midnight to noon to put hours in for the day before, I usually do it at midnight just to make sure I don’t forget in the morning.)
October 24, 2012: Sea Day 2
Cabin inspection this morning meant that I was out of my room by 9 for breakfast. I stayed at breakfast for over an hour! It was wonderful and I felt full afterwards! Edison, Glenn and Rik joined me and we just relaxed and enjoyed the time not working.
After breakfast, I went down to the room and talked to Cass and read until it was time for lunch. I had lunch with the DJ. Brian came after a while, then they both left (I had gone early to make sure I had enough time to get food since lunch on sea days are typically packed and it takes a long time to get food and a table; today however, not many people were in line). Then the Travel Guide Brett and the techspert Trevor came and sat with me. I hadn’t officially met either of them yet, so it was interesting to talk to them. I was alone in Club HAL for the first hour, but then the 4year old came up. She colored and cut out pictures for me to put up on the wall. The boy came up for a little bit while the girl did schoolwork, then they switched. The two girls decided to practice for another show so I helped them decorate and make invitations and let them practice. Brian came to take over for me as I went to Bingo so I didn’t get to see their show.
Bingo went smoothly, I think I’m getting faster at doing the math, or else it’s taking longer for anyone to call Bingo. After that, I sat in the room until dinner. Cass had rehearsal so I read some. My head started hurting; I was considering ordering room service until Cass came back and was going to dinner, so I went with her. I was feeling a little better directly after dinner, but as I waited on time to change for the show, the headache came back with a vengeance. I ended up going to sleep by 9:30.
October 25, 2012: Sea day 3
I worked morning shift today. I got there at exactly 9 and stuck up the sign saying I was in the Lido, then went to breakfast. I knew that the siblings never come in the morning, and the girl probably wouldn’t get there until after ten so I had a long breakfast. I went upstairs and studied Italian for a bit until the girl came. Before she came though, the fire alarm went off. There was an actual fire this time, in the guest laundry room; it was small though so they just made announcements letting everyone know what was going on. I had to call in for my duty because I was working. Anyway, the girl has colored every coloring sheet we have already, so I suggested that we actually draw stuff today instead. She was very happy about that, she drew Tinkerbell, a rainbow (after seeing mine), and a water park. I was busy drawing the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Coliseum, a pyramid and the beach. The time went by pretty quickly.
I came down to the room for a bit before heading up for lunch since I didn’t have anything to do until 3:45 Bingo. When I went up to lunch today, there were long lines everywhere, and all the tables were taken. I did manage to find two seats and sat to eat, Kayley found me and sat with me during the break between their sets. We got ice cream together and when we went outside (for their next set of music) there were tables open by the pool, so I sat and listened to the HAL Cats until the time change (another hour forward!).
After Bingo, I went through some of my pictures, deciding which ones are best. I went to dinner and then work. The girl didn’t come in until about 15 minutes after I got there. We played with blocks until the other kids came and the girls practiced for their show while the boy played video games. Basically the girls practiced and the boy played video games all night.
We had a fire drill this morning. Luckily, I’d known about it so was ready when the alarm went off. I was supposed to hear from some people about going to the beach, but they never called me after the drill, so Edison called and we got off together. We met Brandi right off the ship and all bought sunscreen and took the water taxi to the beach. We were walking along, shops on one side, sand and water on the other, when we finally saw someone we knew. Daniel was sitting on the beach so we joined him and all went swimming for a while before laying out in the sun.
Daniel had to leave after a while because he had to get ready for work again, and Mack and Kayley joined us on the beach. We stayed out there for a while longer, drying off from our many trips to swim. Then, we walked around for a while, looking for somewjhere to eat lunch. After stopping at a few places, we finally decided on one and sat down. It was about an hour until our food arrived, so we spent that time on the internet (our last guaranteed time on the internet until we reach Europe). I got Hawaiian pizza, Kayley got a quesadilla, Brandi and Edison got jerk chicken and Mack got a BBQ sandwich. We sat there for a while eating and just enjoying each others company, by the time everyone finished, Brandi and I were ready to get back on the beach, so we left the rest of the group, crossed the street and set up camp before jumping in the water. We spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between beach and water. I read some Le Fantome de L’Opera while the others slept.
We decided to head back just after 3:30 since all aboard was at 4:30 and we were walking back. It was a pretty walk; we saw chickens in the boatyard and some goats on the hill and heard lots and lots of birds.
When we got back, I quickly showered, got ready and went upstairs to get some last minute pictures of the area as we sailed away. Then, I realized that the sun was going to set soon, so I went to the very back of the ship with my camera and watched as it set over the water, right by the island we’d been at all day.
I dropped my camera off before going to dinner. I spent a lot of time at dinner since I didn’t have to work tonight. I made plans to meet Glenn for the show (Livewire, the couple that puts a Celtic twist on music and plays some Irish stuff as well), then went to work out for a while.
I went to the show, managed not to find Glenn until the very end. Turns out that while I had gone up early to the Ocean Bar where he was, he’d come down to B deck to find me. He did make it for the last song though. After the show, I borrowed the first Harry Potter DVD from J, one of the cast members (he used to work at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, he was one of the conductors on opening day even!), and watched it until it was time to do hours and go to sleep.
October 23, 2012: Sea Day 1
I didn’t really sleep in late this morning for once. I got up and went to breakfast before coming back to the room to watch the rest of Harry Potter. Despite feeling awake at breakfast, as soon as I started to watch the movie, I started falling asleep. So, I ended up taking a nap until lunch. I started eating lunch alone, then Rik came to join me, and Jo the lifestylist. We sat and talked for a while, Edison came and joined us, then the other two left and Janet (another photographer) came. We actually stayed at the table chatting until two when we changed the clocks an hour forward. It’s kind of nice that they do that during the day because it makes the long sea day slightly shorter, and it doesn’t cut time from our sleep schedule!
I changed the time and talked to Cass for a bit in the room before I had to head up to Bingo. It’s pretty fun to work with this DJ; he includes everyone around in his small talk to the guests as we sell the cards. He’s very energetic and generally happy. After we finished selling cards, I started to leave, then got caught up talking to Bea and Daniel as they waited to hand out flyers. Since they didn’t have many appointments in the spa, their job for the afternoon was to go to all the events and hand out flyers as they ended. I sat with them until Bingo ended.
Finally, I finished Harry Potter before dinner and work. The kids came up about 20 minutes after I opened Club HAL. The girls colored and prepared for a show they wanted to perform for the rest of us. The boy played video games and I helped him out. Time was almost up when the girls finally were ready to put on their show for us. The four-year-olds parents were there by that point to pick her up. They let her perform for a little bit before reminding her that it was long past her bedtime. The siblings stayed until nearly 10 when their dad came in a rush to get them to the show. I managed to lock up Club HAL, go to my room and change and made it to the show just as they were starting!
It’s going to be an early night for me, just as soon as I can put in my hours I’m going to get some sleep. (We have from midnight to noon to put hours in for the day before, I usually do it at midnight just to make sure I don’t forget in the morning.)
October 24, 2012: Sea Day 2
Cabin inspection this morning meant that I was out of my room by 9 for breakfast. I stayed at breakfast for over an hour! It was wonderful and I felt full afterwards! Edison, Glenn and Rik joined me and we just relaxed and enjoyed the time not working.
After breakfast, I went down to the room and talked to Cass and read until it was time for lunch. I had lunch with the DJ. Brian came after a while, then they both left (I had gone early to make sure I had enough time to get food since lunch on sea days are typically packed and it takes a long time to get food and a table; today however, not many people were in line). Then the Travel Guide Brett and the techspert Trevor came and sat with me. I hadn’t officially met either of them yet, so it was interesting to talk to them. I was alone in Club HAL for the first hour, but then the 4year old came up. She colored and cut out pictures for me to put up on the wall. The boy came up for a little bit while the girl did schoolwork, then they switched. The two girls decided to practice for another show so I helped them decorate and make invitations and let them practice. Brian came to take over for me as I went to Bingo so I didn’t get to see their show.
Bingo went smoothly, I think I’m getting faster at doing the math, or else it’s taking longer for anyone to call Bingo. After that, I sat in the room until dinner. Cass had rehearsal so I read some. My head started hurting; I was considering ordering room service until Cass came back and was going to dinner, so I went with her. I was feeling a little better directly after dinner, but as I waited on time to change for the show, the headache came back with a vengeance. I ended up going to sleep by 9:30.
October 25, 2012: Sea day 3
I worked morning shift today. I got there at exactly 9 and stuck up the sign saying I was in the Lido, then went to breakfast. I knew that the siblings never come in the morning, and the girl probably wouldn’t get there until after ten so I had a long breakfast. I went upstairs and studied Italian for a bit until the girl came. Before she came though, the fire alarm went off. There was an actual fire this time, in the guest laundry room; it was small though so they just made announcements letting everyone know what was going on. I had to call in for my duty because I was working. Anyway, the girl has colored every coloring sheet we have already, so I suggested that we actually draw stuff today instead. She was very happy about that, she drew Tinkerbell, a rainbow (after seeing mine), and a water park. I was busy drawing the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Coliseum, a pyramid and the beach. The time went by pretty quickly.
I came down to the room for a bit before heading up for lunch since I didn’t have anything to do until 3:45 Bingo. When I went up to lunch today, there were long lines everywhere, and all the tables were taken. I did manage to find two seats and sat to eat, Kayley found me and sat with me during the break between their sets. We got ice cream together and when we went outside (for their next set of music) there were tables open by the pool, so I sat and listened to the HAL Cats until the time change (another hour forward!).
After Bingo, I went through some of my pictures, deciding which ones are best. I went to dinner and then work. The girl didn’t come in until about 15 minutes after I got there. We played with blocks until the other kids came and the girls practiced for their show while the boy played video games. Basically the girls practiced and the boy played video games all night.
Monday, October 22, 2012
about to cross the atlantic
Thursday October 18, 2012: Port Canaveral
I had an AMAZING day! I went to Disney World for the first time! Eight of the crew members went and it was a good group. We managed to stay together (except for one) most of the day. One of the girls, Heidi actually went to school with someone I knew on the Oosterdam; it’s a small world after all. First thing we did was a roller coaster; the last time I remember riding a roller coaster was… I really don’t remember. We rode space mountain, I kept my eyes shut the whole time (good because it was dark with occasional lights; but that meant I didn’t hurt my neck because I wasn’t anticipating anything the ride was about to do). We went through the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, and Stitch’s Great Escape and made it back to the castle in time for a parade! We had great timing! We walked around a lot more, did some shopping. I opted out of going to Splash Mountain (the water ride) and took pictures of the rest of them on it.
We split up not long after that, Heidi and I went around the rest of the park (we were only in Magic Kingdom) just to see what was there. We had even more great timing because we got to the main street and a parade was just starting! All the characters were in it so I have lots of pictures of that. She had to find a piglet stuffed animal so we went searching for that; sadly, they don’t have many of the Pooh characters other than Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore. We found one though and as we were leaving the area, Pooh and Tigger came by! We bounced after them and got in line to have pictures taken with them! Luckily, the line was short and we had time to do some last-minute souvenir shopping before meeting the rest of the group to head back to the bus.
Everyone was tired on the bus ride back, most of them fell asleep. I got back and had to change quickly and get to dinner so I could get to work on time. The kids did end up coming up and we just watched movies until their dad came.
I hung out with Lauren afterwards since it was her last night, and Daniel and I talked some before I went to bed. I was exhausted from the early morning and busy day.
October 19, 2012: Embark day; Fort Lauderdale
I got to sleep in a bit today since it was embark day. I had lunch and set up Club HAL for open house. I stayed up for all of open house and met a few guests. Just as I was about to close up and leave, the new kid and her grandparents came. I gave them a quick outline of what Club HAL is and then we all left (the 1-year-old, her younger sister, was crying).
It was a pretty boring afternoon. During the passenger drill, I went through some of my pictures from yesterday. I hung out with Laurie during sail-away (very few people were there for that).
Back in Club HAL for the night session, all three of the kids came. The girls were very happy to have someone else their age on board and played together all night, while the boy played Lego Harry Potter, occasionally asking for my help in getting past a level.
October 20, 2012: Sea Day 1
I got to sleep in today, good thing too because I was exhausted for some reason. I had Bingo at 3:45, but that was the first thing I had to do today. I still think it’s odd that they have me helping with Bingo despite the fact that we have kids. It means I get to get to know the new DJ and the guests but sometimes it is a bit of an inconvenience.
I mostly went through my Disney pictures after Bingo until dinner, then went from dinner to work. Just the siblings came tonight. We played Lego Harry Potter most of the night, then the girl wanted to watch a movie, so I put a movie on for her, and helped the boy with the game. Their dad came to pick them up a little early so they could get ready for the show, which meant I had time to run and change into my formalwear before the show as well! The show was a group called “The Company Men.” They kind of reminded me of a boy-band. I sat with Jo, the lifestylist and two guests. We went to late night snack together afterward and Cass joined us there.
Cass and I went to the OB to hang out with the band since they’re only on until St. Maarten. They’re pretty nice guys, they made sure everyone was included in some conversation and everyone had a great time.
October 21, 2012: Sea Day 2
Again, I had a late start. I had a lazy morning, watched a movie on TV and went to lunch. I finally saw Kayley (somehow we’ve been unable to coordinate schedules this cruise); we ate lunch together with a guest she was already sitting with (so, I didn’t really get to talk to her much). I had about 30 minutes without any kids in Club HAL after lunch, then the 4-year-old came up, wondering for the next hour and a half where the other two were. We colored, made necklaces and colored some more. Once the other kids came, we all decorated a “Happy Birthday” sign for the entertainment dept October birthday party (there’s been at least 12 birthdays so far this month) tonight.
I had to leave early to help with Bingo again so Brian had to come up and cover for me for the last half hour. It went pretty quickly, not many people have been coming to bingo this cruise. After that, I just came back to the room and hung out with Cass until we both went to dinner.
I took Brian’s shift for today because he was invited to an event with the cruise director (I’ll get off tomorrow night now). The 4-year-old came right at the beginning and didn’t stay long, she has and early bedtime so left not long after the other kids finally arrived. Once she left, the three of us just played Lego Harry Potter (the boy is determined to beat all the levels very quickly) until their dad came to take them to the show.
I hung out in the room for a bit with Cass before going to the birthday party. It was fun, we had balloons everywhere, tons of food (chips, candy, cake, etc) and a lot of people showed up. I talked with Daniel for a bit and we watched as one of the guest entertainers hypnotized one of the dancers (she wanted to see what it was like). I left after they finished because I was really tired.
I had an AMAZING day! I went to Disney World for the first time! Eight of the crew members went and it was a good group. We managed to stay together (except for one) most of the day. One of the girls, Heidi actually went to school with someone I knew on the Oosterdam; it’s a small world after all. First thing we did was a roller coaster; the last time I remember riding a roller coaster was… I really don’t remember. We rode space mountain, I kept my eyes shut the whole time (good because it was dark with occasional lights; but that meant I didn’t hurt my neck because I wasn’t anticipating anything the ride was about to do). We went through the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, and Stitch’s Great Escape and made it back to the castle in time for a parade! We had great timing! We walked around a lot more, did some shopping. I opted out of going to Splash Mountain (the water ride) and took pictures of the rest of them on it.
We split up not long after that, Heidi and I went around the rest of the park (we were only in Magic Kingdom) just to see what was there. We had even more great timing because we got to the main street and a parade was just starting! All the characters were in it so I have lots of pictures of that. She had to find a piglet stuffed animal so we went searching for that; sadly, they don’t have many of the Pooh characters other than Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore. We found one though and as we were leaving the area, Pooh and Tigger came by! We bounced after them and got in line to have pictures taken with them! Luckily, the line was short and we had time to do some last-minute souvenir shopping before meeting the rest of the group to head back to the bus.
Everyone was tired on the bus ride back, most of them fell asleep. I got back and had to change quickly and get to dinner so I could get to work on time. The kids did end up coming up and we just watched movies until their dad came.
I hung out with Lauren afterwards since it was her last night, and Daniel and I talked some before I went to bed. I was exhausted from the early morning and busy day.
October 19, 2012: Embark day; Fort Lauderdale
I got to sleep in a bit today since it was embark day. I had lunch and set up Club HAL for open house. I stayed up for all of open house and met a few guests. Just as I was about to close up and leave, the new kid and her grandparents came. I gave them a quick outline of what Club HAL is and then we all left (the 1-year-old, her younger sister, was crying).
It was a pretty boring afternoon. During the passenger drill, I went through some of my pictures from yesterday. I hung out with Laurie during sail-away (very few people were there for that).
Back in Club HAL for the night session, all three of the kids came. The girls were very happy to have someone else their age on board and played together all night, while the boy played Lego Harry Potter, occasionally asking for my help in getting past a level.
October 20, 2012: Sea Day 1
I got to sleep in today, good thing too because I was exhausted for some reason. I had Bingo at 3:45, but that was the first thing I had to do today. I still think it’s odd that they have me helping with Bingo despite the fact that we have kids. It means I get to get to know the new DJ and the guests but sometimes it is a bit of an inconvenience.
I mostly went through my Disney pictures after Bingo until dinner, then went from dinner to work. Just the siblings came tonight. We played Lego Harry Potter most of the night, then the girl wanted to watch a movie, so I put a movie on for her, and helped the boy with the game. Their dad came to pick them up a little early so they could get ready for the show, which meant I had time to run and change into my formalwear before the show as well! The show was a group called “The Company Men.” They kind of reminded me of a boy-band. I sat with Jo, the lifestylist and two guests. We went to late night snack together afterward and Cass joined us there.
Cass and I went to the OB to hang out with the band since they’re only on until St. Maarten. They’re pretty nice guys, they made sure everyone was included in some conversation and everyone had a great time.
October 21, 2012: Sea Day 2
Again, I had a late start. I had a lazy morning, watched a movie on TV and went to lunch. I finally saw Kayley (somehow we’ve been unable to coordinate schedules this cruise); we ate lunch together with a guest she was already sitting with (so, I didn’t really get to talk to her much). I had about 30 minutes without any kids in Club HAL after lunch, then the 4-year-old came up, wondering for the next hour and a half where the other two were. We colored, made necklaces and colored some more. Once the other kids came, we all decorated a “Happy Birthday” sign for the entertainment dept October birthday party (there’s been at least 12 birthdays so far this month) tonight.
I had to leave early to help with Bingo again so Brian had to come up and cover for me for the last half hour. It went pretty quickly, not many people have been coming to bingo this cruise. After that, I just came back to the room and hung out with Cass until we both went to dinner.
I took Brian’s shift for today because he was invited to an event with the cruise director (I’ll get off tomorrow night now). The 4-year-old came right at the beginning and didn’t stay long, she has and early bedtime so left not long after the other kids finally arrived. Once she left, the three of us just played Lego Harry Potter (the boy is determined to beat all the levels very quickly) until their dad came to take them to the show.
I hung out in the room for a bit with Cass before going to the birthday party. It was fun, we had balloons everywhere, tons of food (chips, candy, cake, etc) and a lot of people showed up. I talked with Daniel for a bit and we watched as one of the guest entertainers hypnotized one of the dancers (she wanted to see what it was like). I left after they finished because I was really tired.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
third sea day
So, somehow this didnt paste in the last blog and it wouldnt let me edit it.
October 17, 2012 sea day 3
It’s the last sea day for a few days! I had to help with Bingo at 9:15 this morning, so it was a good thing I went to sleep early last night. After Bingo, I signed up to go on a crew excursion to…. Disney World! I’ll leave the ship at 8 and get back around 6:30. I’m SO EXCITED!!! There was the option of going to Universal, but I have no idea what’s there aside from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I seriously considered going to Universal just for that, but hopefully I’ll have other chances. I’ll have to look up Universal and see what all’s there for next time.
I read some before going to lunch. I ended up having a nice long lunch with Lauren (the photographer); she’s leaving in Fort Lauderdale which is very sad for me because she’s one of the first people I met on this ship although I haven’t hung out with her but for little bits of time here and there and meals.
The kids did not come up yet again. So, while I was up in Club HAL, I got through another bonus level of Lego Harry Potter, played lots of card games, and went through some of the CD’s and wrote down the songs I know on them (so we can generally know what to expect when we put in a mix CD.) I left work and went straight down to Bingo where a lot of people were buying cards, I was there about 45 minutes (instead of the normal 20-30) selling cards and doing the math.
October 17, 2012 sea day 3
It’s the last sea day for a few days! I had to help with Bingo at 9:15 this morning, so it was a good thing I went to sleep early last night. After Bingo, I signed up to go on a crew excursion to…. Disney World! I’ll leave the ship at 8 and get back around 6:30. I’m SO EXCITED!!! There was the option of going to Universal, but I have no idea what’s there aside from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I seriously considered going to Universal just for that, but hopefully I’ll have other chances. I’ll have to look up Universal and see what all’s there for next time.
I read some before going to lunch. I ended up having a nice long lunch with Lauren (the photographer); she’s leaving in Fort Lauderdale which is very sad for me because she’s one of the first people I met on this ship although I haven’t hung out with her but for little bits of time here and there and meals.
The kids did not come up yet again. So, while I was up in Club HAL, I got through another bonus level of Lego Harry Potter, played lots of card games, and went through some of the CD’s and wrote down the songs I know on them (so we can generally know what to expect when we put in a mix CD.) I left work and went straight down to Bingo where a lot of people were buying cards, I was there about 45 minutes (instead of the normal 20-30) selling cards and doing the math.
three sea days
October 13, 2012: Halifax day 2
A lot of us hung out and stayed up kind of late since it was an overnight. I ended up waking up really late, quickly getting ready, eating lunch, then getting off the ship. I immediately walked to the farmers market and found it even bigger and much more crowded than I’d ever seen. Areas that had been blocked off were full of stands and there were students everywhere.
I didn’t have a lot of time to look around because all aboard was in three hours, so I walked around a little and talked to Mom on skype (my first internet in nearly a week!). Funny thing happened when I was using my phone for internet. I was sitting at a table on the second story of the building, the railings were glass, with space at the bottom above the floor. My phone somehow jumped out of my hands, rolled through the awning above a food stand, and landed on the first floor at someone’s feet. I was leaning over the edge by the time it hit the ground; it happened in slow motion and I didn’t have the time to catch it before it slid down the awning. I had to run downstairs to the man who’d picked it up and held onto it for me. Crazy thing is, my phone was still on, and Mom was wondering why I hadn’t responded to her messages yet!
I walked around the farmers market a bit longer, then down the boardwalk one last time, in search of a dropbox for some postcards. I found one eventually, right across the street from the terminal. I spent a while looking around all the shops in the terminal before getting back on the ship.
Kayley and I spent the afternoon hanging out, since we’ve been missing each other the last few days. We went to dinner a little late because she wasn’t particularly hungry yet. The kids didn’t come up to Club HAL, so Brian and I just watched Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon. It gave us the hours since we were up there and I hadn’t seen the movie yet. With about 15 minutes left of the movie (after 9), they came. If we’d started the movie 15 minutes earlier, we wouldn’t have been in the room by the time they got there. They stayed until 10, then Brian and I went to get changed and see the show. This cast did a pretty good job since it was their first time performing Goode Company.
October 14, 2012: Bar Harbor
I had to help with tendering again this morning. Despite the fact that there was a steady flow of people and the percentage required for open tender was reached by 10am, open tender didn’t start until 11, which meant that I had to be helping with tickets from 8 to 11. I spent a little bit of time in the room and called the family to see if the kids were coming up this afternoon (if they weren’t, I could get off the ship); they wanted to come. So, I went up to Club HAL early to talk to Mom for a bit and check email before they arrived. We watched a movie, went to lunch, watched another movie, played connect-4, colored and watched part of another movie.
The kids were in Club HAL all afternoon. After they left, I stayed in Club HAL to get the last bit of use out of my phone until we reach Florida. I came down to the room for a while to read my Bible for a while (I usually do it before I go to sleep, but didn’t last night), then went to dinner.
The kids came to Club HAL only slightly late, again we watched movies, played Twister and colored. They’re very indecisive kids; it’s my new rule that if we take a game out, we have to play it for at least 10 minutes before we clean it up and move on to something else.
I went to the show, Celtic music. A married couple who played guitar and violin got the HAL Cats to help and they had a very good show! I really hope that they stay on the ship, or at least come back to perform again before I leave. I missed the first part of it because I had to change after the kids left at 10.
October 15: Sea Day 1
I went to bed early last night, I was just too tired to stay up and socialize. I had to help out with Bingo at 9:45. Not much really happened that morning, or that afternoon since the kids didn’t come. We left at 3 since it didn’t look like they were coming and I went down to the Lido to eat a cookie and waste some time before Bingo at 3:45. I really like sitting near a window and watching as the horizon moves.
The rest of the afternoon wasn’t that eventful either, I read a book in my room until dinner, then work. We finished Transformers and I read until we determined that it was late enough we could leave. Altogether it was a very boring first sea day. It doesn’t bode well for the next few.
October 16: Sea Day 2
I woke up this morning and turned on the TV to the channel that shows where we are in the world. Turns out that we were next to Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills! It made me happy that I was kind of near home (as near as I’ll be until December).
I went to breakfast and ate with the piano bar entertainer Buddy. I was about halfway done when they made an announcement that there was a fire drill. On my schedule, it was supposed to be tomorrow. I had to leave my half-eaten breakfast and run downstairs for my life jacket before going to the front office. They never said we had to post signs, so we just sat there and talked, I ended up talking to Rachel the librarian the whole time. We weren’t dismissed for at least 45 minutes, so it was nearly lunchtime by the time we got out.
After organizing a few things in my room and reading for a little bit, I went up and ate lunch with the cast before work. The first few hours of work I just went through the CDs and tried to identify the songs and write them down so we can generally know what’s on each of them. Then, I helped make some decorations for “tropical night” in the crow’s nest. Yet again, the kids didn’t show up which meant I had to leave early to help out with Bingo.
I had dinner in Canaletto (the Italian restaurant reservation-only section of the Lido) with Rachel (the librarian), Laurie (the party planner), and Jo (the lifestylist) for Rachel’s birthday. You’ll be proud of me mom, I tried all the “appetizers” they had (selection of stuff on a plate, before the salad/soup). It was mostly vegetables: zucchini, tomatoes, asparagus, olives, cheese, peppers, mushrooms, a few slices of different meats, and calamari. I didn’t really like any of it, but at least I tried. I skipped the salad part and had an extra piece of bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar instead. For the meal, I had chicken cacciatore. It was good, but not great; I’ve had much better chicken at home, of course this was served with carrots and some mashed-potato-like dish. It had the texture of grits, I wasn’t happy it got on the chicken. They brought Rachel a cake and we all sang happy birthday to her and ate the cake with gelato. It was a nice dinner; a much-appreciated change from the normal ‘staff dinner’ side of the Lido.
The rest of the girls had to go do some work, so I went to the room and read for a bit before changing for “tropical night.” It wasn’t really a big thing, about 10 guests were up there, and 2 did some dancing, but the rest just sat there. All the “explorations team” (apparently youth staff is part of it, who knew? It consists of the travel guide, techspert, librarian, life stylist and party planner.) were supposed to mingle, but when some of the guests refuse to talk to you, and there’s about as many of you as there are guests, we didn’t have a lot of chance.
I went to the show, then the dessert extravaganza with Kayley and a few cast members. Edison joined us at the dessert extravaganza after he finished work. Apparently it was clumsy night for everyone. I dropped a strawberry on the floor, Joshua (from the cast) had all the cheese fall off his ensamada onto the floor, Edison dropped some stuff as well. After we all finished eating, we went straight down to the OB. I didn’t stay for long because there weren’t that many people there and I was feeling tired already.
October 17, 2012: Sea Day 3.
It
A lot of us hung out and stayed up kind of late since it was an overnight. I ended up waking up really late, quickly getting ready, eating lunch, then getting off the ship. I immediately walked to the farmers market and found it even bigger and much more crowded than I’d ever seen. Areas that had been blocked off were full of stands and there were students everywhere.
I didn’t have a lot of time to look around because all aboard was in three hours, so I walked around a little and talked to Mom on skype (my first internet in nearly a week!). Funny thing happened when I was using my phone for internet. I was sitting at a table on the second story of the building, the railings were glass, with space at the bottom above the floor. My phone somehow jumped out of my hands, rolled through the awning above a food stand, and landed on the first floor at someone’s feet. I was leaning over the edge by the time it hit the ground; it happened in slow motion and I didn’t have the time to catch it before it slid down the awning. I had to run downstairs to the man who’d picked it up and held onto it for me. Crazy thing is, my phone was still on, and Mom was wondering why I hadn’t responded to her messages yet!
I walked around the farmers market a bit longer, then down the boardwalk one last time, in search of a dropbox for some postcards. I found one eventually, right across the street from the terminal. I spent a while looking around all the shops in the terminal before getting back on the ship.
Kayley and I spent the afternoon hanging out, since we’ve been missing each other the last few days. We went to dinner a little late because she wasn’t particularly hungry yet. The kids didn’t come up to Club HAL, so Brian and I just watched Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon. It gave us the hours since we were up there and I hadn’t seen the movie yet. With about 15 minutes left of the movie (after 9), they came. If we’d started the movie 15 minutes earlier, we wouldn’t have been in the room by the time they got there. They stayed until 10, then Brian and I went to get changed and see the show. This cast did a pretty good job since it was their first time performing Goode Company.
October 14, 2012: Bar Harbor
I had to help with tendering again this morning. Despite the fact that there was a steady flow of people and the percentage required for open tender was reached by 10am, open tender didn’t start until 11, which meant that I had to be helping with tickets from 8 to 11. I spent a little bit of time in the room and called the family to see if the kids were coming up this afternoon (if they weren’t, I could get off the ship); they wanted to come. So, I went up to Club HAL early to talk to Mom for a bit and check email before they arrived. We watched a movie, went to lunch, watched another movie, played connect-4, colored and watched part of another movie.
The kids were in Club HAL all afternoon. After they left, I stayed in Club HAL to get the last bit of use out of my phone until we reach Florida. I came down to the room for a while to read my Bible for a while (I usually do it before I go to sleep, but didn’t last night), then went to dinner.
The kids came to Club HAL only slightly late, again we watched movies, played Twister and colored. They’re very indecisive kids; it’s my new rule that if we take a game out, we have to play it for at least 10 minutes before we clean it up and move on to something else.
I went to the show, Celtic music. A married couple who played guitar and violin got the HAL Cats to help and they had a very good show! I really hope that they stay on the ship, or at least come back to perform again before I leave. I missed the first part of it because I had to change after the kids left at 10.
October 15: Sea Day 1
I went to bed early last night, I was just too tired to stay up and socialize. I had to help out with Bingo at 9:45. Not much really happened that morning, or that afternoon since the kids didn’t come. We left at 3 since it didn’t look like they were coming and I went down to the Lido to eat a cookie and waste some time before Bingo at 3:45. I really like sitting near a window and watching as the horizon moves.
The rest of the afternoon wasn’t that eventful either, I read a book in my room until dinner, then work. We finished Transformers and I read until we determined that it was late enough we could leave. Altogether it was a very boring first sea day. It doesn’t bode well for the next few.
October 16: Sea Day 2
I woke up this morning and turned on the TV to the channel that shows where we are in the world. Turns out that we were next to Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills! It made me happy that I was kind of near home (as near as I’ll be until December).
I went to breakfast and ate with the piano bar entertainer Buddy. I was about halfway done when they made an announcement that there was a fire drill. On my schedule, it was supposed to be tomorrow. I had to leave my half-eaten breakfast and run downstairs for my life jacket before going to the front office. They never said we had to post signs, so we just sat there and talked, I ended up talking to Rachel the librarian the whole time. We weren’t dismissed for at least 45 minutes, so it was nearly lunchtime by the time we got out.
After organizing a few things in my room and reading for a little bit, I went up and ate lunch with the cast before work. The first few hours of work I just went through the CDs and tried to identify the songs and write them down so we can generally know what’s on each of them. Then, I helped make some decorations for “tropical night” in the crow’s nest. Yet again, the kids didn’t show up which meant I had to leave early to help out with Bingo.
I had dinner in Canaletto (the Italian restaurant reservation-only section of the Lido) with Rachel (the librarian), Laurie (the party planner), and Jo (the lifestylist) for Rachel’s birthday. You’ll be proud of me mom, I tried all the “appetizers” they had (selection of stuff on a plate, before the salad/soup). It was mostly vegetables: zucchini, tomatoes, asparagus, olives, cheese, peppers, mushrooms, a few slices of different meats, and calamari. I didn’t really like any of it, but at least I tried. I skipped the salad part and had an extra piece of bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar instead. For the meal, I had chicken cacciatore. It was good, but not great; I’ve had much better chicken at home, of course this was served with carrots and some mashed-potato-like dish. It had the texture of grits, I wasn’t happy it got on the chicken. They brought Rachel a cake and we all sang happy birthday to her and ate the cake with gelato. It was a nice dinner; a much-appreciated change from the normal ‘staff dinner’ side of the Lido.
The rest of the girls had to go do some work, so I went to the room and read for a bit before changing for “tropical night.” It wasn’t really a big thing, about 10 guests were up there, and 2 did some dancing, but the rest just sat there. All the “explorations team” (apparently youth staff is part of it, who knew? It consists of the travel guide, techspert, librarian, life stylist and party planner.) were supposed to mingle, but when some of the guests refuse to talk to you, and there’s about as many of you as there are guests, we didn’t have a lot of chance.
I went to the show, then the dessert extravaganza with Kayley and a few cast members. Edison joined us at the dessert extravaganza after he finished work. Apparently it was clumsy night for everyone. I dropped a strawberry on the floor, Joshua (from the cast) had all the cheese fall off his ensamada onto the floor, Edison dropped some stuff as well. After we all finished eating, we went straight down to the OB. I didn’t stay for long because there weren’t that many people there and I was feeling tired already.
October 17, 2012: Sea Day 3.
It
Saturday, October 13, 2012
long few days without internet.
October 9, 2012: Baie Comeau
Another new port. I had to work security at 10. I got there and was surprised to see water outside, there was a small pier that we’d pulled alongside, but from the gangway doors, all you could see was water. The gangway was steep, so I had something to small talk with guests about, aside from the weather, the fact that I’m the only girl they’ve seen on gangway security duty, the breeze coming in from outside, etc. The hour went by pretty fast despite the cold. After my hour though, no one came up to take over, so the security guys called about it; the schedule actually said “pending,” which meant that they didn’t have anyone, so the hotel director ended up coming down and bringing one of the beverage people, I helped train her quickly before I changed and got off the ship.
After a long walk to get off the pier, I decided to walk to town (1.5km) instead of taking the shuttle, mainly because I had my camera and wanted to take pictures. There wasn’t really anything to take pictures of though. The sidewalk took the long way, winding around next to the water; I ended up taking a side path near a pond before meeting back up with the main sidewalk. Honestly, the most picturesque thing I could find was a church nestled among the colorful trees on a hill I got slightly lost trying to find the town center. When I found it though, I realized that it wasn’t much of a town center; it consisted of one street of shops, most of which were closed. I was wandering alone and was just about to wander back to the ship when I met up with Kayley, Jim and Mack. We ended up going to a café for a while, then back to the ship since there was nothing left to do in town.
The four of us ate lunch back on the ship. We were sitting in the Lido for a long time, various people came to sit with us and eat, then leave because they had somewhere to be. We finally split up and I came to the room to possibly take a nap before dinner. It was a rather boring day, there was nothing better to do.
At dinner, I saw the kids. I asked the parents if they were going to come up to Club HAL, but the kids said they’d rather do homework. Odd. Brian and I stayed in Club HAL for an hour in case they changed their minds, then left. I knew Kayley had to sing tonight in the Crow’s Nest so wasn’t available to hang out with, so I changed and went to the gym for an hour, showered then went up to the Crow’s Nest. Not very many people were there this week; it definitely pales in comparison to the attendance last week, but Kayley was kind of happy about that because she got to sing instead of sometimes singing back-up for other people.
October 10, 2012: Gaspe
I had to help with tendering this morning. Apparently it went very smoothly for tendering; Laurie (the party planner) and Rachel (the librarian) do it every week, and they were impressed with how smoothly it went. We only had about 30 people waiting in the Showroom at a time, and only for a few minutes because we were just waiting on a tender to arrive; we actually sent most people straight to the tender to wait for it to fill up. It was pretty boring, especially since it was early. There was no crew leave, despite the lack of interest the guests had in going into the town. Edison and Lauren did get to go to shore, because they’re out there to take photos as people get off the ship, they said that there was absolutely nothing there.
I hung out in Club HAL for a few hours before Brian came to relieve me since I’d been scheduled to help with Bingo during my Club HAL hours (why am I doing three jobs instead of just the one I was hired to do?).
It was a lazy rest of the afternoon at sea. There was a lovely announcement informing us that… yet again, we’re skipping Charlottetown. There’s also a possibility that we’re skipping Sydney as well. I found it strange that they made the announcement only in passenger areas; when I got down to B deck to see Kayley, she hadn’t heard it, so I was the bearer of bad news.
It was a short night in Club HAL, the 5 year old girl did come at least. I think her dad wanted her to not be in the way as the boy did schoolwork, but it seems like she had fun. We colored, played with blocks and dominos and watched a movie.
I went to the show with Kayley and Josh, the tenor who is the only one who isn’t in the show Roadhouse. It was interesting to see this casts take on the songs; I definitely know that some people just shouldn’t try to sing country music. It’s good when they don’t try to sound country, but kind of awful when they can’t but still try. It was an early night for me, hour forward as well and potentially a fire drill in the morning (it was on the schedule, but now that it’s a sea day instead of a port day, I don’t know.)
October 11, 2012: Sea Day
I got up early to make sure I was ready in case there was a fire drill. There wasn’t, but at least I got to eat breakfast! After I ate, I decided to go back to sleep for a while. That was a terrible idea; the ship was rocking so much that when I woke up, I felt incredibly seasick. I thought for a little bit that I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed, but I went to the Lido for lunch and felt a lot better being able to see what the ship was doing. It was kind of fun for me after that, but being downstairs with no windows and no sense of which direction we might be going next is disconcerting.
During lunch, the captain made an announcement about the itinerary. We’re missing Sydney because the weather is still bad, but we’re going to Halifax early and spending the night there. Wow, another overnight! I have to work in the afternoon and have lots of drills in the morning, but I’ll be able to get off at night and all Saturday! I was in Club HAL all afternoon, the kids came up for a few hours even! I had to leave early to help with Bingo though so didn’t get to play Monopoly with them. I came back downstairs for a bit and found Kayley in her room, feeling very seasick. I convinced her to come upstairs, get some tea and watch a movie in Club HAL. It helped her a lot; a few minutes into the movie after a quick walk around outside in the cold, she was happy and talkative again. We ended up timing it perfectly because by the time the movie finished, it was dinnertime!
The kids came up again tonight. They finished their game of Monopoly with Brian, I was banker. That lasted the first two hours. Then they played twister until their dad came to pick them up. The evening went by quickly.
After work, I managed to get some laundry done finally and hung out in the OB with Cassandra because it was her birthday. Daniel and I ended up talking about religion and comparing our tastes in music. I like having someone I can talk some about religion with, I can some with Kayley, but she dominated the conversation most of the time so I don’t get to voice my thoughts much.
October 12, 2012: Halifax day 1
This morning dragged on and on. The fire drill from yesterday was rescheduled today at 9:30, then I had a liferaft drill, then I had security duty at 11, then I was in Club HAL. We ended up not having to post any signs during the fire drill, so we all just sat in the front office talking; the liferaft drill wasn’t anything new, they went over the same information as they always do.
The kids didn’t come to Club HAL this afternoon; I’m assuming they went to Halifax with their parents since very few people were on the ship today.
Another new port. I had to work security at 10. I got there and was surprised to see water outside, there was a small pier that we’d pulled alongside, but from the gangway doors, all you could see was water. The gangway was steep, so I had something to small talk with guests about, aside from the weather, the fact that I’m the only girl they’ve seen on gangway security duty, the breeze coming in from outside, etc. The hour went by pretty fast despite the cold. After my hour though, no one came up to take over, so the security guys called about it; the schedule actually said “pending,” which meant that they didn’t have anyone, so the hotel director ended up coming down and bringing one of the beverage people, I helped train her quickly before I changed and got off the ship.
After a long walk to get off the pier, I decided to walk to town (1.5km) instead of taking the shuttle, mainly because I had my camera and wanted to take pictures. There wasn’t really anything to take pictures of though. The sidewalk took the long way, winding around next to the water; I ended up taking a side path near a pond before meeting back up with the main sidewalk. Honestly, the most picturesque thing I could find was a church nestled among the colorful trees on a hill I got slightly lost trying to find the town center. When I found it though, I realized that it wasn’t much of a town center; it consisted of one street of shops, most of which were closed. I was wandering alone and was just about to wander back to the ship when I met up with Kayley, Jim and Mack. We ended up going to a café for a while, then back to the ship since there was nothing left to do in town.
The four of us ate lunch back on the ship. We were sitting in the Lido for a long time, various people came to sit with us and eat, then leave because they had somewhere to be. We finally split up and I came to the room to possibly take a nap before dinner. It was a rather boring day, there was nothing better to do.
At dinner, I saw the kids. I asked the parents if they were going to come up to Club HAL, but the kids said they’d rather do homework. Odd. Brian and I stayed in Club HAL for an hour in case they changed their minds, then left. I knew Kayley had to sing tonight in the Crow’s Nest so wasn’t available to hang out with, so I changed and went to the gym for an hour, showered then went up to the Crow’s Nest. Not very many people were there this week; it definitely pales in comparison to the attendance last week, but Kayley was kind of happy about that because she got to sing instead of sometimes singing back-up for other people.
October 10, 2012: Gaspe
I had to help with tendering this morning. Apparently it went very smoothly for tendering; Laurie (the party planner) and Rachel (the librarian) do it every week, and they were impressed with how smoothly it went. We only had about 30 people waiting in the Showroom at a time, and only for a few minutes because we were just waiting on a tender to arrive; we actually sent most people straight to the tender to wait for it to fill up. It was pretty boring, especially since it was early. There was no crew leave, despite the lack of interest the guests had in going into the town. Edison and Lauren did get to go to shore, because they’re out there to take photos as people get off the ship, they said that there was absolutely nothing there.
I hung out in Club HAL for a few hours before Brian came to relieve me since I’d been scheduled to help with Bingo during my Club HAL hours (why am I doing three jobs instead of just the one I was hired to do?).
It was a lazy rest of the afternoon at sea. There was a lovely announcement informing us that… yet again, we’re skipping Charlottetown. There’s also a possibility that we’re skipping Sydney as well. I found it strange that they made the announcement only in passenger areas; when I got down to B deck to see Kayley, she hadn’t heard it, so I was the bearer of bad news.
It was a short night in Club HAL, the 5 year old girl did come at least. I think her dad wanted her to not be in the way as the boy did schoolwork, but it seems like she had fun. We colored, played with blocks and dominos and watched a movie.
I went to the show with Kayley and Josh, the tenor who is the only one who isn’t in the show Roadhouse. It was interesting to see this casts take on the songs; I definitely know that some people just shouldn’t try to sing country music. It’s good when they don’t try to sound country, but kind of awful when they can’t but still try. It was an early night for me, hour forward as well and potentially a fire drill in the morning (it was on the schedule, but now that it’s a sea day instead of a port day, I don’t know.)
October 11, 2012: Sea Day
I got up early to make sure I was ready in case there was a fire drill. There wasn’t, but at least I got to eat breakfast! After I ate, I decided to go back to sleep for a while. That was a terrible idea; the ship was rocking so much that when I woke up, I felt incredibly seasick. I thought for a little bit that I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed, but I went to the Lido for lunch and felt a lot better being able to see what the ship was doing. It was kind of fun for me after that, but being downstairs with no windows and no sense of which direction we might be going next is disconcerting.
During lunch, the captain made an announcement about the itinerary. We’re missing Sydney because the weather is still bad, but we’re going to Halifax early and spending the night there. Wow, another overnight! I have to work in the afternoon and have lots of drills in the morning, but I’ll be able to get off at night and all Saturday! I was in Club HAL all afternoon, the kids came up for a few hours even! I had to leave early to help with Bingo though so didn’t get to play Monopoly with them. I came back downstairs for a bit and found Kayley in her room, feeling very seasick. I convinced her to come upstairs, get some tea and watch a movie in Club HAL. It helped her a lot; a few minutes into the movie after a quick walk around outside in the cold, she was happy and talkative again. We ended up timing it perfectly because by the time the movie finished, it was dinnertime!
The kids came up again tonight. They finished their game of Monopoly with Brian, I was banker. That lasted the first two hours. Then they played twister until their dad came to pick them up. The evening went by quickly.
After work, I managed to get some laundry done finally and hung out in the OB with Cassandra because it was her birthday. Daniel and I ended up talking about religion and comparing our tastes in music. I like having someone I can talk some about religion with, I can some with Kayley, but she dominated the conversation most of the time so I don’t get to voice my thoughts much.
October 12, 2012: Halifax day 1
This morning dragged on and on. The fire drill from yesterday was rescheduled today at 9:30, then I had a liferaft drill, then I had security duty at 11, then I was in Club HAL. We ended up not having to post any signs during the fire drill, so we all just sat in the front office talking; the liferaft drill wasn’t anything new, they went over the same information as they always do.
The kids didn’t come to Club HAL this afternoon; I’m assuming they went to Halifax with their parents since very few people were on the ship today.
long few days without internet.
October 6, 2012
This always happens that I’m needed before I plan on being needed in the mornings. I woke up this morning around 8, knowing that my buddy/the new YPC had a meeting at 9 and I wouldn’t be needed until after that. However, at 8:30, Human Resources called me to show my buddy around before the meeting. When I dropped him off at the meeting he said he’d be fine until work so I got ready to get off the ship. I had a quick breakfast in the room since they close the Lido really early on embark days apparently. Kayley and I went out for internet only because it was raining and cold. We were in the Seaman’s Club for a few hours, enjoying having free, reliable internet (we don’t know where we’ll have that good internet the rest of the trip).
When we finally decided that it was too late to put off returning to the ship for lunch, we came back. I was actually kind of happy with lunch; they had Brie and good kind of squishy rolls! The realization just struck me yesterday how much the Lido reminds me of Moffatt, just with different permanent options. We sat there talking until I figured I’d go up to Club HAL to see if Brian, the YPC was doing all right. We ended up talking to him for an hour, good for me because it made the night session less awkward because it was just the two of us there, the kids didn’t show up.
I didn’t do much until dinner, the HAL Cats had rehearsal at 6, so I went up alone, but I did find people to sit with, and Kayley and the rest of them showed up not long after I’d sat down.
Brian and I played video games while waiting to see if the kids would show up. They didn’t, so we just talked some and played Lego Harry Potter and Fifa. We left at 10 and I hung out in my room until a normal hour to meet people in the OB. I ended up sitting with a lot of the people from the spa and a few of the cast members; it was a pretty diverse group of people, I haven’t spent a whole lot of time with some of them so far, I was happy that I got to tonight.
October 7, 2012
Since we hadn’t heard about when the kids might show up, I worked the morning shift. They didn’t come, but I had fun anyway studying Italian for a bit, playing cards and talking to the new housekeeping person in Club HAL. Brian came up to take over, so we had lunch with Jo, the life stylist. I felt like I ate healthy for once, I had a sandwich, fruit, celery and Brie/bread.
After lunch, I was able to get off! It was still cloudy in Quebec and cold, but it wasn’t raining, definitely a good thing because I had my DSLR out since it was my last day in Quebec. I couldn’t find Kayley or anyone else, so I went wandering around on my own. Fall has really come in quickly, and the city has been getting ready for Halloween. I found leaves and pumpkins everywhere!
Despite the cold, I managed to stay out and walking for nearly three hours! I took a LOT of pretty pictures, yes I did manage to get some of me with ‘Quebec in autumn’ in the background. By the time I got back though, my cheeks and nose were bright red and I couldn’t feel my fingertips. It took about an hour of hanging out in Mack and Jims room for me to thaw out (my room is too cold, the AC is stuck on full blast, has been for three weeks now). It was fun hanging out with Kayley, Mack and Jim (I hardly ever see Mack and Jim during the day unless it’s at a meal); we had a Spanish/French/Italian lesson time, and Kayley learned some music theory.
Dinner was somewhat disappointing after lunch, but it was still okay; I had pasta (no surprise there) with chicken. I met up with the singer, her husband and the kids on the way up to Club HAL, they said they’d definitely come tonight, but would give me time to set up and everything, which was nice for me. Brian came up and then the family. They definitely don’t seem to fit with everything we’ve heard about them. We’d heard that the kids were kind of crazy and energetic and the parents took way too much advantage of Club HAL. I didn’t get that impression from them at all though. They missed the first 3 sessions of Club HAL, came slightly late and left an hour early. The kids were rather quiet too, we played with the pirate ship for a while, tried out some carnival games on the Xbox Kinect, then sat down to watch a movie. We were still watching the movie, them being very quiet, until their dad came to pick them up.
Not what we expected, but …..we have kids again in Club HAL!!!! After two weeks of not being able to do what I came on the ship to do, I finally get back to my real job. Sadly, we still have to work security some, so I won’t be able to spend as much time in the new ports as I’d like, but at least that’s not my main task anymore.
October 8, 2012: Saguenay
Everyone knows that I hate cold, but right now I feel completely justified in absolutely despising it. Cold is bearable in small doses, but when there is no relief from it, that’s when it’s worse. That’s how it is right now for me. It’s freezing outside, the AC in my room got stuck on full blast a few weeks ago, Club HAL has no AC right now, but it gets really cold from the air outside. I have nowhere to go to finally thaw out, I’ve just been going from cold place to cold place. Florida is going to be a wonderful blessing, provided my fingers and toes don’t freeze off before we get there. I really do feel like I missed summer completely this year, and that makes me sad.
Enough of the complaining about cold; we visited a new port today! The first of three! I had to work security at 11 and in Club HAL at 12, so I got up early so I could at least walk around a little bit. I was surprised when I first got off the ship by lots of people in costume right outside. I’d forgotten that it’s Canadian Thanksgiving! The people of the town allowed us to celebrate a little with them. They gave out flags, had samples of blueberry juice, an area for log-cutting, some Native American homes, and even some group dancing! I was almost overwhelmed by everything there. However, after I got through the terminal (stands of homemade crafts, jewelry, soaps, clothes, etc), I realized that that was by far the most exciting part of the town. It was pretty and quaint, but there wasn’t really much to it. I walked along the water (and on the beach… in Canada!), and took pictures of the scenery and the church (the focal point of the town; it was by far the tallest building in sight, even though it wasn’t that tall). I would’ve liked to have had more time in this port today though, mainly to see the Thanksgiving Day stuff.
There’s not much to talk about security today, just the fact that it was cold since we’re standing in a metal wind tunnel, without any sunlight reaching us. I ran up to Club HAL to put a sign on the door saying I was at lunch, then had a quiet, leisurely lunch complete with hot chocolate. I spent the rest of the afternoon playing Lego Harry Potter, reading and studying Italian (Nothing new there). After work, I ran down to the room, talked to Cass for a bit, then went back upstairs with my camera to get some photos of the town from the ship as we were leaving. I met Rik up there and we talked and took pictures together until it got too cold for me to stand it anymore and he had to get to work.
I finally got a small reprieve from the cold in Kayley’s room; it was the first time in two days she’d been there when I knocked! We hung out for a little while, she told me about her excursion and I told her about the Thanksgiving stuff that had concluded by the time she’d gotten off the ship. She’d eaten lunch really late, so skipped dinner. I ended up eating a very unsatisfactory meal; they were actually recognizing Canadian Thanksgiving so had a lot of turkey.
Yet again, the kids didn’t come. They definitely don’t fit in with any of the rumors we’d heard from people who’ve worked with them on previous ships. I ended up getting through a whole chapter in the Italian book; for some odd reason, numbers in Italian make much
This always happens that I’m needed before I plan on being needed in the mornings. I woke up this morning around 8, knowing that my buddy/the new YPC had a meeting at 9 and I wouldn’t be needed until after that. However, at 8:30, Human Resources called me to show my buddy around before the meeting. When I dropped him off at the meeting he said he’d be fine until work so I got ready to get off the ship. I had a quick breakfast in the room since they close the Lido really early on embark days apparently. Kayley and I went out for internet only because it was raining and cold. We were in the Seaman’s Club for a few hours, enjoying having free, reliable internet (we don’t know where we’ll have that good internet the rest of the trip).
When we finally decided that it was too late to put off returning to the ship for lunch, we came back. I was actually kind of happy with lunch; they had Brie and good kind of squishy rolls! The realization just struck me yesterday how much the Lido reminds me of Moffatt, just with different permanent options. We sat there talking until I figured I’d go up to Club HAL to see if Brian, the YPC was doing all right. We ended up talking to him for an hour, good for me because it made the night session less awkward because it was just the two of us there, the kids didn’t show up.
I didn’t do much until dinner, the HAL Cats had rehearsal at 6, so I went up alone, but I did find people to sit with, and Kayley and the rest of them showed up not long after I’d sat down.
Brian and I played video games while waiting to see if the kids would show up. They didn’t, so we just talked some and played Lego Harry Potter and Fifa. We left at 10 and I hung out in my room until a normal hour to meet people in the OB. I ended up sitting with a lot of the people from the spa and a few of the cast members; it was a pretty diverse group of people, I haven’t spent a whole lot of time with some of them so far, I was happy that I got to tonight.
October 7, 2012
Since we hadn’t heard about when the kids might show up, I worked the morning shift. They didn’t come, but I had fun anyway studying Italian for a bit, playing cards and talking to the new housekeeping person in Club HAL. Brian came up to take over, so we had lunch with Jo, the life stylist. I felt like I ate healthy for once, I had a sandwich, fruit, celery and Brie/bread.
After lunch, I was able to get off! It was still cloudy in Quebec and cold, but it wasn’t raining, definitely a good thing because I had my DSLR out since it was my last day in Quebec. I couldn’t find Kayley or anyone else, so I went wandering around on my own. Fall has really come in quickly, and the city has been getting ready for Halloween. I found leaves and pumpkins everywhere!
Despite the cold, I managed to stay out and walking for nearly three hours! I took a LOT of pretty pictures, yes I did manage to get some of me with ‘Quebec in autumn’ in the background. By the time I got back though, my cheeks and nose were bright red and I couldn’t feel my fingertips. It took about an hour of hanging out in Mack and Jims room for me to thaw out (my room is too cold, the AC is stuck on full blast, has been for three weeks now). It was fun hanging out with Kayley, Mack and Jim (I hardly ever see Mack and Jim during the day unless it’s at a meal); we had a Spanish/French/Italian lesson time, and Kayley learned some music theory.
Dinner was somewhat disappointing after lunch, but it was still okay; I had pasta (no surprise there) with chicken. I met up with the singer, her husband and the kids on the way up to Club HAL, they said they’d definitely come tonight, but would give me time to set up and everything, which was nice for me. Brian came up and then the family. They definitely don’t seem to fit with everything we’ve heard about them. We’d heard that the kids were kind of crazy and energetic and the parents took way too much advantage of Club HAL. I didn’t get that impression from them at all though. They missed the first 3 sessions of Club HAL, came slightly late and left an hour early. The kids were rather quiet too, we played with the pirate ship for a while, tried out some carnival games on the Xbox Kinect, then sat down to watch a movie. We were still watching the movie, them being very quiet, until their dad came to pick them up.
Not what we expected, but …..we have kids again in Club HAL!!!! After two weeks of not being able to do what I came on the ship to do, I finally get back to my real job. Sadly, we still have to work security some, so I won’t be able to spend as much time in the new ports as I’d like, but at least that’s not my main task anymore.
October 8, 2012: Saguenay
Everyone knows that I hate cold, but right now I feel completely justified in absolutely despising it. Cold is bearable in small doses, but when there is no relief from it, that’s when it’s worse. That’s how it is right now for me. It’s freezing outside, the AC in my room got stuck on full blast a few weeks ago, Club HAL has no AC right now, but it gets really cold from the air outside. I have nowhere to go to finally thaw out, I’ve just been going from cold place to cold place. Florida is going to be a wonderful blessing, provided my fingers and toes don’t freeze off before we get there. I really do feel like I missed summer completely this year, and that makes me sad.
Enough of the complaining about cold; we visited a new port today! The first of three! I had to work security at 11 and in Club HAL at 12, so I got up early so I could at least walk around a little bit. I was surprised when I first got off the ship by lots of people in costume right outside. I’d forgotten that it’s Canadian Thanksgiving! The people of the town allowed us to celebrate a little with them. They gave out flags, had samples of blueberry juice, an area for log-cutting, some Native American homes, and even some group dancing! I was almost overwhelmed by everything there. However, after I got through the terminal (stands of homemade crafts, jewelry, soaps, clothes, etc), I realized that that was by far the most exciting part of the town. It was pretty and quaint, but there wasn’t really much to it. I walked along the water (and on the beach… in Canada!), and took pictures of the scenery and the church (the focal point of the town; it was by far the tallest building in sight, even though it wasn’t that tall). I would’ve liked to have had more time in this port today though, mainly to see the Thanksgiving Day stuff.
There’s not much to talk about security today, just the fact that it was cold since we’re standing in a metal wind tunnel, without any sunlight reaching us. I ran up to Club HAL to put a sign on the door saying I was at lunch, then had a quiet, leisurely lunch complete with hot chocolate. I spent the rest of the afternoon playing Lego Harry Potter, reading and studying Italian (Nothing new there). After work, I ran down to the room, talked to Cass for a bit, then went back upstairs with my camera to get some photos of the town from the ship as we were leaving. I met Rik up there and we talked and took pictures together until it got too cold for me to stand it anymore and he had to get to work.
I finally got a small reprieve from the cold in Kayley’s room; it was the first time in two days she’d been there when I knocked! We hung out for a little while, she told me about her excursion and I told her about the Thanksgiving stuff that had concluded by the time she’d gotten off the ship. She’d eaten lunch really late, so skipped dinner. I ended up eating a very unsatisfactory meal; they were actually recognizing Canadian Thanksgiving so had a lot of turkey.
Yet again, the kids didn’t come. They definitely don’t fit in with any of the rumors we’d heard from people who’ve worked with them on previous ships. I ended up getting through a whole chapter in the Italian book; for some odd reason, numbers in Italian make much
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
walking on a beach in canada
October 6, 2012
This always happens that I’m needed before I plan on being needed in the mornings. I woke up this morning around 8, knowing that my buddy/the new YPC had a meeting at 9 and I wouldn’t be needed until after that. However, at 8:30, Human Resources called me to show my buddy around before the meeting. When I dropped him off at the meeting he said he’d be fine until work so I got ready to get off the ship. I had a quick breakfast in the room since they close the Lido really early on embark days apparently. Kayley and I went out for internet only because it was raining and cold. We were in the Seaman’s Club for a few hours, enjoying having free, reliable internet (we don’t know where we’ll have that good internet the rest of the trip).
When we finally decided that it was too late to put off returning to the ship for lunch, we came back. I was actually kind of happy with lunch; they had Brie and good kind of squishy rolls! The realization just struck me yesterday how much the Lido reminds me of Moffatt, just with different permanent options. We sat there talking until I figured I’d go up to Club HAL to see if Brian, the YPC was doing all right. We ended up talking to him for an hour, good for me because it made the night session less awkward because it was just the two of us there, the kids didn’t show up.
I didn’t do much until dinner, the HAL Cats had rehearsal at 6, so I went up alone, but I did find people to sit with, and Kayley and the rest of them showed up not long after I’d sat down.
Brian and I played video games while waiting to see if the kids would show up. They didn’t, so we just talked some and played Lego Harry Potter and Fifa. We left at 10 and I hung out in my room until a normal hour to meet people in the OB. I ended up sitting with a lot of the people from the spa and a few of the cast members; it was a pretty diverse group of people, I haven’t spent a whole lot of time with some of them so far, I was happy that I got to tonight.
October 7, 2012
Since we hadn’t heard about when the kids might show up, I worked the morning shift. They didn’t come, but I had fun anyway studying Italian for a bit, playing cards and talking to the new housekeeping person in Club HAL. Brian came up to take over, so we had lunch with Jo, the life stylist. I felt like I ate healthy for once, I had a sandwich, fruit, celery and Brie/bread.
After lunch, I was able to get off! It was still cloudy in Quebec and cold, but it wasn’t raining, definitely a good thing because I had my DSLR out since it was my last day in Quebec. I couldn’t find Kayley or anyone else, so I went wandering around on my own. Fall has really come in quickly, and the city has been getting ready for Halloween. I found leaves and pumpkins everywhere!
Despite the cold, I managed to stay out and walking for nearly three hours! I took a LOT of pretty pictures, yes I did manage to get some of me with ‘Quebec in autumn’ in the background. By the time I got back though, my cheeks and nose were bright red and I couldn’t feel my fingertips. It took about an hour of hanging out in Mack and Jims room for me to thaw out (my room is too cold, the AC is stuck on full blast, has been for three weeks now). It was fun hanging out with Kayley, Mack and Jim (I hardly ever see Mack and Jim during the day unless it’s at a meal); we had a Spanish/French/Italian lesson time, and Kayley learned some music theory.
Dinner was somewhat disappointing after lunch, but it was still okay; I had pasta (no surprise there) with chicken. I met up with the singer, her husband and the kids on the way up to Club HAL, they said they’d definitely come tonight, but would give me time to set up and everything, which was nice for me. Brian came up and then the family. They definitely don’t seem to fit with everything we’ve heard about them. We’d heard that the kids were kind of crazy and energetic and the parents took way too much advantage of Club HAL. I didn’t get that impression from them at all though. They missed the first 3 sessions of Club HAL, came slightly late and left an hour early. The kids were rather quiet too, we played with the pirate ship for a while, tried out some carnival games on the Xbox Kinect, then sat down to watch a movie. We were still watching the movie, them being very quiet, until their dad came to pick them up.
Not what we expected, but …..we have kids again in Club HAL!!!! After two weeks of not being able to do what I came on the ship to do, I finally get back to my real job. Sadly, we still have to work security some, so I won’t be able to spend as much time in the new ports as I’d like, but at least that’s not my main task anymore.
October 8, 2012: Saguenay
Everyone knows that I hate cold, but right now I feel completely justified in absolutely despising it. Cold is bearable in small doses, but when there is no relief from it, that’s when it’s worse. That’s how it is right now for me. It’s freezing outside, the AC in my room got stuck on full blast a few weeks ago, Club HAL has no AC right now, but it gets really cold from the air outside. I have nowhere to go to finally thaw out, I’ve just been going from cold place to cold place. Florida is going to be a wonderful blessing, provided my fingers and toes don’t freeze off before we get there. I really do feel like I missed summer completely this year, and that makes me sad.
Enough of the complaining about cold; we visited a new port today! The first of three! I had to work security at 11 and in Club HAL at 12, so I got up early so I could at least walk around a little bit. I was surprised when I first got off the ship by lots of people in costume right outside. I’d forgotten that it’s Canadian Thanksgiving! The people of the town allowed us to celebrate a little with them. They gave out flags, had samples of blueberry juice, an area for log-cutting, some Native American homes, and even some group dancing! I was almost overwhelmed by everything there. However, after I got through the terminal (stands of homemade crafts, jewelry, soaps, clothes, etc), I realized that that was by far the most exciting part of the town. It was pretty and quaint, but there wasn’t really much to it. I walked along the water (and on the beach… in Canada!), and took pictures of the scenery and the church (the focal point of the town; it was by far the tallest building in sight, even though it wasn’t that tall). I would’ve liked to have had more time in this port today though, mainly to see the Thanksgiving Day stuff.
There’s not much to talk about security today, just the fact that it was cold since we’re standing in a metal wind tunnel, without any sunlight reaching us. I ran up to Club HAL to put a sign on the door saying I was at lunch, then had a quiet, leisurely lunch complete with hot chocolate. I spent the rest of the afternoon playing Lego Harry Potter, reading and studying Italian (Nothing new there). After work, I ran down to the room, talked to Cass for a bit, then went back upstairs with my camera to get some photos of the town from the ship as we were leaving. I met Rik up there and we talked and took pictures together until it got too cold for me to stand it anymore and he had to get to work.
I finally got a small reprieve from the cold in Kayley’s room; it was the first time in two days she’d been there when I knocked! We hung out for a little while, she told me about her excursion and I told her about the Thanksgiving stuff that had concluded by the time she’d gotten off the ship. She’d eaten lunch really late, so skipped dinner. I ended up eating a very unsatisfactory meal; they were actually recognizing Canadian Thanksgiving so had a lot of turkey.
Yet again, the kids didn’t come. They definitely don’t fit in with any of the rumors we’d heard from people who’ve worked with them on previous ships. I ended up getting through a whole chapter in the Italian book; for some odd reason, numbers in Italian make much
This always happens that I’m needed before I plan on being needed in the mornings. I woke up this morning around 8, knowing that my buddy/the new YPC had a meeting at 9 and I wouldn’t be needed until after that. However, at 8:30, Human Resources called me to show my buddy around before the meeting. When I dropped him off at the meeting he said he’d be fine until work so I got ready to get off the ship. I had a quick breakfast in the room since they close the Lido really early on embark days apparently. Kayley and I went out for internet only because it was raining and cold. We were in the Seaman’s Club for a few hours, enjoying having free, reliable internet (we don’t know where we’ll have that good internet the rest of the trip).
When we finally decided that it was too late to put off returning to the ship for lunch, we came back. I was actually kind of happy with lunch; they had Brie and good kind of squishy rolls! The realization just struck me yesterday how much the Lido reminds me of Moffatt, just with different permanent options. We sat there talking until I figured I’d go up to Club HAL to see if Brian, the YPC was doing all right. We ended up talking to him for an hour, good for me because it made the night session less awkward because it was just the two of us there, the kids didn’t show up.
I didn’t do much until dinner, the HAL Cats had rehearsal at 6, so I went up alone, but I did find people to sit with, and Kayley and the rest of them showed up not long after I’d sat down.
Brian and I played video games while waiting to see if the kids would show up. They didn’t, so we just talked some and played Lego Harry Potter and Fifa. We left at 10 and I hung out in my room until a normal hour to meet people in the OB. I ended up sitting with a lot of the people from the spa and a few of the cast members; it was a pretty diverse group of people, I haven’t spent a whole lot of time with some of them so far, I was happy that I got to tonight.
October 7, 2012
Since we hadn’t heard about when the kids might show up, I worked the morning shift. They didn’t come, but I had fun anyway studying Italian for a bit, playing cards and talking to the new housekeeping person in Club HAL. Brian came up to take over, so we had lunch with Jo, the life stylist. I felt like I ate healthy for once, I had a sandwich, fruit, celery and Brie/bread.
After lunch, I was able to get off! It was still cloudy in Quebec and cold, but it wasn’t raining, definitely a good thing because I had my DSLR out since it was my last day in Quebec. I couldn’t find Kayley or anyone else, so I went wandering around on my own. Fall has really come in quickly, and the city has been getting ready for Halloween. I found leaves and pumpkins everywhere!
Despite the cold, I managed to stay out and walking for nearly three hours! I took a LOT of pretty pictures, yes I did manage to get some of me with ‘Quebec in autumn’ in the background. By the time I got back though, my cheeks and nose were bright red and I couldn’t feel my fingertips. It took about an hour of hanging out in Mack and Jims room for me to thaw out (my room is too cold, the AC is stuck on full blast, has been for three weeks now). It was fun hanging out with Kayley, Mack and Jim (I hardly ever see Mack and Jim during the day unless it’s at a meal); we had a Spanish/French/Italian lesson time, and Kayley learned some music theory.
Dinner was somewhat disappointing after lunch, but it was still okay; I had pasta (no surprise there) with chicken. I met up with the singer, her husband and the kids on the way up to Club HAL, they said they’d definitely come tonight, but would give me time to set up and everything, which was nice for me. Brian came up and then the family. They definitely don’t seem to fit with everything we’ve heard about them. We’d heard that the kids were kind of crazy and energetic and the parents took way too much advantage of Club HAL. I didn’t get that impression from them at all though. They missed the first 3 sessions of Club HAL, came slightly late and left an hour early. The kids were rather quiet too, we played with the pirate ship for a while, tried out some carnival games on the Xbox Kinect, then sat down to watch a movie. We were still watching the movie, them being very quiet, until their dad came to pick them up.
Not what we expected, but …..we have kids again in Club HAL!!!! After two weeks of not being able to do what I came on the ship to do, I finally get back to my real job. Sadly, we still have to work security some, so I won’t be able to spend as much time in the new ports as I’d like, but at least that’s not my main task anymore.
October 8, 2012: Saguenay
Everyone knows that I hate cold, but right now I feel completely justified in absolutely despising it. Cold is bearable in small doses, but when there is no relief from it, that’s when it’s worse. That’s how it is right now for me. It’s freezing outside, the AC in my room got stuck on full blast a few weeks ago, Club HAL has no AC right now, but it gets really cold from the air outside. I have nowhere to go to finally thaw out, I’ve just been going from cold place to cold place. Florida is going to be a wonderful blessing, provided my fingers and toes don’t freeze off before we get there. I really do feel like I missed summer completely this year, and that makes me sad.
Enough of the complaining about cold; we visited a new port today! The first of three! I had to work security at 11 and in Club HAL at 12, so I got up early so I could at least walk around a little bit. I was surprised when I first got off the ship by lots of people in costume right outside. I’d forgotten that it’s Canadian Thanksgiving! The people of the town allowed us to celebrate a little with them. They gave out flags, had samples of blueberry juice, an area for log-cutting, some Native American homes, and even some group dancing! I was almost overwhelmed by everything there. However, after I got through the terminal (stands of homemade crafts, jewelry, soaps, clothes, etc), I realized that that was by far the most exciting part of the town. It was pretty and quaint, but there wasn’t really much to it. I walked along the water (and on the beach… in Canada!), and took pictures of the scenery and the church (the focal point of the town; it was by far the tallest building in sight, even though it wasn’t that tall). I would’ve liked to have had more time in this port today though, mainly to see the Thanksgiving Day stuff.
There’s not much to talk about security today, just the fact that it was cold since we’re standing in a metal wind tunnel, without any sunlight reaching us. I ran up to Club HAL to put a sign on the door saying I was at lunch, then had a quiet, leisurely lunch complete with hot chocolate. I spent the rest of the afternoon playing Lego Harry Potter, reading and studying Italian (Nothing new there). After work, I ran down to the room, talked to Cass for a bit, then went back upstairs with my camera to get some photos of the town from the ship as we were leaving. I met Rik up there and we talked and took pictures together until it got too cold for me to stand it anymore and he had to get to work.
I finally got a small reprieve from the cold in Kayley’s room; it was the first time in two days she’d been there when I knocked! We hung out for a little while, she told me about her excursion and I told her about the Thanksgiving stuff that had concluded by the time she’d gotten off the ship. She’d eaten lunch really late, so skipped dinner. I ended up eating a very unsatisfactory meal; they were actually recognizing Canadian Thanksgiving so had a lot of turkey.
Yet again, the kids didn’t come. They definitely don’t fit in with any of the rumors we’d heard from people who’ve worked with them on previous ships. I ended up getting through a whole chapter in the Italian book; for some odd reason, numbers in Italian make much
Saturday, October 6, 2012
I can't wait to get to warmer weather
October 2, 2012
Security isn’t so bad, the security guys are nice and a lot of the guests have started recognizing me (despite my having a different hairstyle every day, haha. I’ll explain that later). I worked 12-4 today. I woke up so I could go get breakfast, but as I was getting ready, they made an announcement about a fire drill. This is the second time there’s been a scheduled fire drill that I didn’t know about. I had to go to the front office for my duties with wet hair. On this ship, Club HAL is part of “passenger notification team” which means we go to the front office and hang out until they print and give us signs to put up around the ship to inform everyone of what is going on. That’s a lot of wasted paper because we normally just hang them up, return to the office, then get the announcement that the drill is over so we have to go take everything down. I have a question: if you heard an alarm, would your first reaction be to go to the elevators and read a paper sign that’s taped next to it? Mine wouldn’t, I wouldn’t think there would be enough time to make signs and put them up; and if I saw someone putting up the signs, I’d ask them rather than read the sign. Just my opinion, our “passenger notification team” duty isn’t really practical.
Anyway, Kayley and I went to breakfast late, just before they closed the continental breakfast side. We did have to ask for milk and bananas to put in our cereal though; I like being friends with people in charge in the Lido and various places around the ship, it makes life easier, not having to go up to a stranger to ask for something that’s not out anymore.
I had to go to the gangway after that to work for two hours. The gangway on B deck is a wind tunnel, it’s freezing, even when it’s not outside. I was very cold standing there scanning cards, but at least I had a few layers of clothes on and gloves.
I had an hour long lunch with Kayley, Mack came to join us while he had some coffee, before I headed back to the gangway, I didn’t have much to do because everyone was coming back on the ship and I was the outbound scanner.
October 3, 2012
It was a long day of working at security. I didn’t get to go to Charlottetown, but it was freezing in the terminal so I figured it’d be freezing out as well.
It’s nice sometimes getting to talk to all the guests that come through, quite a few recognized me from helping out with line dancing the other night and from seeing me around the ship every day. That night, I went to the show though I didn’t particularly enjoy it; it was a comedian who played guitar. I only stayed for a bit before going up to the Crow’s Nest for ‘Sing and Dance with the HAL Cats’. There were a lot of crew members there including the cast and a few of the managers in the dining room. I went to the Indonesian Crew Show with Rik (he’s in training in the dining room), and two members of the cast, then to late night snack with them. I’m getting to know new people again, good because a lot of the people I’d known my first weeks are gone already.
October 4, 2012: Sea Day
Not much happened today. I helped with Bingo and On Deck for the Cure again and basically killed time all day. I was by far the most energetic ‘cheerleader’ at On Deck for the Cure. Originally the group consisted of the cruise director, life stylist, DJ, and the youth staff. By the time half the laps had been completed, Jacob and I were the only ones left outside to keep track of laps and cheer them on. A lot of people commented on that, and the fact that I was still jumping around being happy (it was cold, I had to jump around to keep warm).
I went to Encore, which was very different than the last cast; they weren’t really bad, but they weren’t confident, didn’t know the songs well and didn’t have the presence the other cast had. It’s so weird that we’re spending more time with this cast, but get to see them perform less. I had 6 weeks with the other cast and they performed every week. I’m on for two months with this cast and get to see them perform… 4 times at most. They didn’t do many shows this week because they’re still learning about working on a ship, so we had a few guest entertainers. Then, over the 13 day trip down the coast, they perform each show once, then over the 42 day Med trip, they perform each show once, then again once on the 10 day run in the Caribbean. It’s strange to think that I only have 3 more cruises to go.
October 5, 2012 Quebec!
Sadly, it was rainy in Quebec today. I managed to eat a quick breakfast before security. Nothing really exciting happened but I talked to a few of the guests leaving about the weather, the steepness of the gangway today and generally how their cruise was going. Finally, I was off work, so ran up to lunch before going out. I got on the internet for just a few minutes, then walked around for a few hours. It started to rain so I was going to get back on the ship when I ran into Mack, we talked a bit as he tried to get internet (apparently it only wants to work on phones, not computers this time), then we got back on the ship to search for Kayley so we could play cards. We played cards until I had to help with Bingo again.
After Bingo, I went up to Club HAL for a walk through of Club HAL with Jacob and the Event Manager, basically they showed me where everything was and how to do stuff on the computer since it’s my job to show the new YPC (I’m his buddy; it’s only his second ship as well). I’m going to miss Jacob, he’s been a good YPC, he even bought a Dr Pepper for me yesterday!
I went back to the room for a while before dinner. The HAL Cats had rehearsal for their show at 6, so I ended up eating with the Explorations team (librarian, life stylist, Jacob, and the Event Manager). I was getting a headache so didn’t eat a whole lot. I got back to the room and tried to do some stuff, but the headache was getting worse, so I just went to bed.
Security isn’t so bad, the security guys are nice and a lot of the guests have started recognizing me (despite my having a different hairstyle every day, haha. I’ll explain that later). I worked 12-4 today. I woke up so I could go get breakfast, but as I was getting ready, they made an announcement about a fire drill. This is the second time there’s been a scheduled fire drill that I didn’t know about. I had to go to the front office for my duties with wet hair. On this ship, Club HAL is part of “passenger notification team” which means we go to the front office and hang out until they print and give us signs to put up around the ship to inform everyone of what is going on. That’s a lot of wasted paper because we normally just hang them up, return to the office, then get the announcement that the drill is over so we have to go take everything down. I have a question: if you heard an alarm, would your first reaction be to go to the elevators and read a paper sign that’s taped next to it? Mine wouldn’t, I wouldn’t think there would be enough time to make signs and put them up; and if I saw someone putting up the signs, I’d ask them rather than read the sign. Just my opinion, our “passenger notification team” duty isn’t really practical.
Anyway, Kayley and I went to breakfast late, just before they closed the continental breakfast side. We did have to ask for milk and bananas to put in our cereal though; I like being friends with people in charge in the Lido and various places around the ship, it makes life easier, not having to go up to a stranger to ask for something that’s not out anymore.
I had to go to the gangway after that to work for two hours. The gangway on B deck is a wind tunnel, it’s freezing, even when it’s not outside. I was very cold standing there scanning cards, but at least I had a few layers of clothes on and gloves.
I had an hour long lunch with Kayley, Mack came to join us while he had some coffee, before I headed back to the gangway, I didn’t have much to do because everyone was coming back on the ship and I was the outbound scanner.
October 3, 2012
It was a long day of working at security. I didn’t get to go to Charlottetown, but it was freezing in the terminal so I figured it’d be freezing out as well.
It’s nice sometimes getting to talk to all the guests that come through, quite a few recognized me from helping out with line dancing the other night and from seeing me around the ship every day. That night, I went to the show though I didn’t particularly enjoy it; it was a comedian who played guitar. I only stayed for a bit before going up to the Crow’s Nest for ‘Sing and Dance with the HAL Cats’. There were a lot of crew members there including the cast and a few of the managers in the dining room. I went to the Indonesian Crew Show with Rik (he’s in training in the dining room), and two members of the cast, then to late night snack with them. I’m getting to know new people again, good because a lot of the people I’d known my first weeks are gone already.
October 4, 2012: Sea Day
Not much happened today. I helped with Bingo and On Deck for the Cure again and basically killed time all day. I was by far the most energetic ‘cheerleader’ at On Deck for the Cure. Originally the group consisted of the cruise director, life stylist, DJ, and the youth staff. By the time half the laps had been completed, Jacob and I were the only ones left outside to keep track of laps and cheer them on. A lot of people commented on that, and the fact that I was still jumping around being happy (it was cold, I had to jump around to keep warm).
I went to Encore, which was very different than the last cast; they weren’t really bad, but they weren’t confident, didn’t know the songs well and didn’t have the presence the other cast had. It’s so weird that we’re spending more time with this cast, but get to see them perform less. I had 6 weeks with the other cast and they performed every week. I’m on for two months with this cast and get to see them perform… 4 times at most. They didn’t do many shows this week because they’re still learning about working on a ship, so we had a few guest entertainers. Then, over the 13 day trip down the coast, they perform each show once, then over the 42 day Med trip, they perform each show once, then again once on the 10 day run in the Caribbean. It’s strange to think that I only have 3 more cruises to go.
October 5, 2012 Quebec!
Sadly, it was rainy in Quebec today. I managed to eat a quick breakfast before security. Nothing really exciting happened but I talked to a few of the guests leaving about the weather, the steepness of the gangway today and generally how their cruise was going. Finally, I was off work, so ran up to lunch before going out. I got on the internet for just a few minutes, then walked around for a few hours. It started to rain so I was going to get back on the ship when I ran into Mack, we talked a bit as he tried to get internet (apparently it only wants to work on phones, not computers this time), then we got back on the ship to search for Kayley so we could play cards. We played cards until I had to help with Bingo again.
After Bingo, I went up to Club HAL for a walk through of Club HAL with Jacob and the Event Manager, basically they showed me where everything was and how to do stuff on the computer since it’s my job to show the new YPC (I’m his buddy; it’s only his second ship as well). I’m going to miss Jacob, he’s been a good YPC, he even bought a Dr Pepper for me yesterday!
I went back to the room for a while before dinner. The HAL Cats had rehearsal for their show at 6, so I ended up eating with the Explorations team (librarian, life stylist, Jacob, and the Event Manager). I was getting a headache so didn’t eat a whole lot. I got back to the room and tried to do some stuff, but the headache was getting worse, so I just went to bed.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
rainy day in Maine, long day in Halifax
September 30, 2012
It was a really rainy day. After an hour and a half working scanning people off the ship at the tenders, I determined that it wasn’t worth it to get off the ship; it was too cold and too wet. So, I climbed back in bed for a bit and went to lunch with Kayley. My Event Manager came up at lunch and asked if I’d like to help out with selling Bingo cards in the afternoon since she knew that I get bored if I’m not doing anything all day.
So, after a long, leisurely lunch and just hang out time with Kayley, Mack and Jim (two of the members of the Neptunes band-bassist and drummer respectively) I helped sell Bingo cards, at least it gave me something to do!
I just hung out with the three of them and Glenn the rest of the afternoon, then went to dinner. Kayley and I agreed to work out together in the gym. We actually did it too! I spent 20 minutes on the Elliptical. Now that I’ve gone to the gym once, it’s definitely more likely that I’ll return on my own and more often!
After getting into formal wear quickly, we went up to the Ocean Bar so Kayley could sing with the Neptunes. Although she didn’t get to sing (someone higher up doesn’t want the two groups to mix), we just listened to them play. Glenn and I went to the show, a guest pianist was performing. Then, I went to my room for a bit before the time we’d scheduled to play Balderdash. Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door, it was 30 minutes after the time we’d agreed to meet, and I’d fallen asleep. I met up with them, but no one really wanted to play anymore so I went back to sleep.
October 1, 2012
Wow, already October. It was a weird day, not so good of a day either. I’d entirely forgotten about hour forward last night and woke up thinking I had plenty of time to get ready and go to breakfast. However, that belief was short-lived. I got a call from Jacob who was wondering where I was to take over scanning at the gangway. I thought it was 10, but it was 11. He understood though, and the security people actually let me get off a bit early because I hadn’t eaten. I had to stay on the ship for the day, so after lunch, I decided to nap. Around 3, I woke up to water dripping on my face. Not good. Turns out the ceiling was leaking in various places right over my bed. The foot of my bed was getting soaked and the head where there’s a corkboard and a light as slowly getting wetter.
There was a lot of confusion with that. I told the band leader and she got hold of someone in housekeeping who agreed to call, the plumber. All day long, Cass and I tried to contact someone/ANYone that could help with no luck. The dripping got worse as the day wore on. There was no way I could sleep in the bed, and still no word from anyone about fixing the problem. It was a long day. I spent as little time in the room as I could for the rest of the day since I couldn’t sit on the bed and my bed stuff was in my chair so it wouldn’t get work. I went to the show, hung out with Kayley, and spent a lot of time in the Lido hanging out with all the musicians. Kayley let me sleep in her room at least, so I had a dry place to rest.
October 2, 2012
I could get off in Sydney! I did gangway scanning for an hour, had lunch, then got off with Kayley. I’d slept in Kayley’s room and when I got up, I found notes from Cass saying that she’d been moved to a guest room for the night, they came to look at the leak early in the morning, and they’d removed the mattresses, blankets, pillows, sheets, etc. So now my bed has a few buckets and towels instead of a mattress on it to catch the water until they can fix it. It should be fixed today hopefully. The night attendant was definitely the most helpful in remedying the situation, everyone else didn’t seem to thing it was a big deal (after all, they didn’t say anything about getting me a place to sleep for the night when my mattress was soaked through). Today is going to be much better though!
It was a really rainy day. After an hour and a half working scanning people off the ship at the tenders, I determined that it wasn’t worth it to get off the ship; it was too cold and too wet. So, I climbed back in bed for a bit and went to lunch with Kayley. My Event Manager came up at lunch and asked if I’d like to help out with selling Bingo cards in the afternoon since she knew that I get bored if I’m not doing anything all day.
So, after a long, leisurely lunch and just hang out time with Kayley, Mack and Jim (two of the members of the Neptunes band-bassist and drummer respectively) I helped sell Bingo cards, at least it gave me something to do!
I just hung out with the three of them and Glenn the rest of the afternoon, then went to dinner. Kayley and I agreed to work out together in the gym. We actually did it too! I spent 20 minutes on the Elliptical. Now that I’ve gone to the gym once, it’s definitely more likely that I’ll return on my own and more often!
After getting into formal wear quickly, we went up to the Ocean Bar so Kayley could sing with the Neptunes. Although she didn’t get to sing (someone higher up doesn’t want the two groups to mix), we just listened to them play. Glenn and I went to the show, a guest pianist was performing. Then, I went to my room for a bit before the time we’d scheduled to play Balderdash. Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door, it was 30 minutes after the time we’d agreed to meet, and I’d fallen asleep. I met up with them, but no one really wanted to play anymore so I went back to sleep.
October 1, 2012
Wow, already October. It was a weird day, not so good of a day either. I’d entirely forgotten about hour forward last night and woke up thinking I had plenty of time to get ready and go to breakfast. However, that belief was short-lived. I got a call from Jacob who was wondering where I was to take over scanning at the gangway. I thought it was 10, but it was 11. He understood though, and the security people actually let me get off a bit early because I hadn’t eaten. I had to stay on the ship for the day, so after lunch, I decided to nap. Around 3, I woke up to water dripping on my face. Not good. Turns out the ceiling was leaking in various places right over my bed. The foot of my bed was getting soaked and the head where there’s a corkboard and a light as slowly getting wetter.
There was a lot of confusion with that. I told the band leader and she got hold of someone in housekeeping who agreed to call, the plumber. All day long, Cass and I tried to contact someone/ANYone that could help with no luck. The dripping got worse as the day wore on. There was no way I could sleep in the bed, and still no word from anyone about fixing the problem. It was a long day. I spent as little time in the room as I could for the rest of the day since I couldn’t sit on the bed and my bed stuff was in my chair so it wouldn’t get work. I went to the show, hung out with Kayley, and spent a lot of time in the Lido hanging out with all the musicians. Kayley let me sleep in her room at least, so I had a dry place to rest.
October 2, 2012
I could get off in Sydney! I did gangway scanning for an hour, had lunch, then got off with Kayley. I’d slept in Kayley’s room and when I got up, I found notes from Cass saying that she’d been moved to a guest room for the night, they came to look at the leak early in the morning, and they’d removed the mattresses, blankets, pillows, sheets, etc. So now my bed has a few buckets and towels instead of a mattress on it to catch the water until they can fix it. It should be fixed today hopefully. The night attendant was definitely the most helpful in remedying the situation, everyone else didn’t seem to thing it was a big deal (after all, they didn’t say anything about getting me a place to sleep for the night when my mattress was soaked through). Today is going to be much better though!
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