May 26, 2013: Quebec day 3
Port day. 9 am call. The youngest boy we have (aside from the three-year-old that really shouldn’t come because he’s not fully potty trained) wanted to spend the morning in Club HAL. He’s an interesting child to work with; he comes in saying he loves MarioKart and wants to play, wants to play it, but then after a few minutes of playing will get frustrated, give up and say it’s too hard for him and sit there just watching the rest of the race. I was kind of glad when his mom came to get him and he wanted to go off the ship with her. Most of the tweens came and I had the rest of the afternoon with them, which was very much a relief and a much easier job for me! The girl I found out, likes to draw and is really good at it, so she alternated between finishing a picture of a horse and playing Wii with the boys.
Lights Camera Acton night. I gave them little over an hour for free time before we started our night. They were all upset about having to stop playing Wii, but at least they got into it after a while. We made stars for our wall of fame, painted hands and put handprints on the wall of fame as well, and played “celebrity heads.” We just got a shipment of supplies that are slowly making their way to Club HAL. Conveniently, Carly came up tonight with this game that’s exactly like our celebrity heads, but there’s mickey mouse ears you wear and put the card/name on, and it’s all based on Disney characters! Even the tweens loved it! It was a very successful night in my opinion! Hour forward, so I went to bed early
Thursday, May 30, 2013
embark day in quebec
May 25, 2013: Quebec day 2 (embark)
I went out with Jenn this morning. We walked around town and got some breakfast and did some shopping before we both had to be back for work. I was surprised when I arrived at Club HAL because there was a woman in there with her son, already filling out the registration forms in the dark. Turns out that housekeeping had left one of the doors unlocked (not the main door, I had to unlock that to go in and talk to her). Her son is 5 and seems like he’ll be a bit of a handful, when I came in, he was in the kids room running around playing with everything, going down the slide, all while his mom was filling out the forms in the next room. Oh my. After they left, I ended up putting on Chicken Little to watch since it felt like it’d be a slow day. It was; I had one other kid register and a few tweens come by for a second to look around and say they’d register later. I had perfect timing with the movie though because it ended right at 3 when I could close! I got some internet in the terminal for a little while, then had to go to the entertainment dept meeting at 5, then just stayed on because I had work at 7. If it wasn’t for the meeting, Jenn and I were going to get off and get dinner before work because there would’ve been enough time. Oh well.
Somewhat uneventful Welcome Aboard party. Carly’s on teens and started to help me with the kids, but the teens showed up to see her so she left. It seems like they’ll be in the Loft a lot this week, so I’m on my own with the 2 kids and 10 tweens. Should be fun!
I went out with Jenn this morning. We walked around town and got some breakfast and did some shopping before we both had to be back for work. I was surprised when I arrived at Club HAL because there was a woman in there with her son, already filling out the registration forms in the dark. Turns out that housekeeping had left one of the doors unlocked (not the main door, I had to unlock that to go in and talk to her). Her son is 5 and seems like he’ll be a bit of a handful, when I came in, he was in the kids room running around playing with everything, going down the slide, all while his mom was filling out the forms in the next room. Oh my. After they left, I ended up putting on Chicken Little to watch since it felt like it’d be a slow day. It was; I had one other kid register and a few tweens come by for a second to look around and say they’d register later. I had perfect timing with the movie though because it ended right at 3 when I could close! I got some internet in the terminal for a little while, then had to go to the entertainment dept meeting at 5, then just stayed on because I had work at 7. If it wasn’t for the meeting, Jenn and I were going to get off and get dinner before work because there would’ve been enough time. Oh well.
Somewhat uneventful Welcome Aboard party. Carly’s on teens and started to help me with the kids, but the teens showed up to see her so she left. It seems like they’ll be in the Loft a lot this week, so I’m on my own with the 2 kids and 10 tweens. Should be fun!
quebec 1
May 24, 2013: Quebec day 1
I slept in just a little bit this morning, but still made it to breakfast, then went to see Jenn. She was getting off work in a bit, so we decided to get off the ship together. We shopped for a while, got her some breakfast and explored some of the town she hadn’t discovered yet. It was pretty wet and rainy so we spent a lot of time in stores looking around at stuff we didn’t want or need.
Donna had signed up for a tour, but found out last night that she was surprisingly scheduled for a demo at the time of the tour, so she couldn’t go; I volunteered to take her spot, so I met the tour in the terminal at 12:45. It was a walking tour of the Old Town and a wine tasting. By this time, it was raining pretty hard, but we still did the walking tour. It was very educational, but by the end I was extremely cold and wet; my shoes were soaked through (my one pair of shoes other than work shoes!), and my jeans were soaked up to the knee. I liked the tour, but definitely would’ve preferred it during the summer, on a sunny day! The wine tasting was nice though, it was warm inside the restaurant. They had three different things for us to try: a white wine, a red wine, and a maple whiskey. In addition to that, they had bread and brie!! Not like the brie on the ship, this was good, creamy, yellowish-white brie (last time I had brie on this ship, it was brownish in the middle… not good at all). Everyone split up from the restaurant, so I wandered around town for a while before I was too cold to be happy anymore, especially since I was making wet footprints in every store; I made my way back to the ship where I had enough time to get somewhat dried off before dinnertime. I would have liked to have had dinner off the ship, but I didn’t know where anyone was and I had to work at 7 anyway. It was pajama party/movie night, so put in the movie Babe and cleaned up while the movie was going.
I slept in just a little bit this morning, but still made it to breakfast, then went to see Jenn. She was getting off work in a bit, so we decided to get off the ship together. We shopped for a while, got her some breakfast and explored some of the town she hadn’t discovered yet. It was pretty wet and rainy so we spent a lot of time in stores looking around at stuff we didn’t want or need.
Donna had signed up for a tour, but found out last night that she was surprisingly scheduled for a demo at the time of the tour, so she couldn’t go; I volunteered to take her spot, so I met the tour in the terminal at 12:45. It was a walking tour of the Old Town and a wine tasting. By this time, it was raining pretty hard, but we still did the walking tour. It was very educational, but by the end I was extremely cold and wet; my shoes were soaked through (my one pair of shoes other than work shoes!), and my jeans were soaked up to the knee. I liked the tour, but definitely would’ve preferred it during the summer, on a sunny day! The wine tasting was nice though, it was warm inside the restaurant. They had three different things for us to try: a white wine, a red wine, and a maple whiskey. In addition to that, they had bread and brie!! Not like the brie on the ship, this was good, creamy, yellowish-white brie (last time I had brie on this ship, it was brownish in the middle… not good at all). Everyone split up from the restaurant, so I wandered around town for a while before I was too cold to be happy anymore, especially since I was making wet footprints in every store; I made my way back to the ship where I had enough time to get somewhat dried off before dinnertime. I would have liked to have had dinner off the ship, but I didn’t know where anyone was and I had to work at 7 anyway. It was pajama party/movie night, so put in the movie Babe and cleaned up while the movie was going.
charlottetown
May 22, 2013: Charlottetown
I got off after fire drill with Jenn and we walked around for a while before finding a place to get lunch. We had a nice lunch at a place that makes their own root beer (I found out that I don’t like root beer, it tastes something like toothpaste), I had to leave early though because Marc told me that he could get me on a tour if I was there at 1. I got my camera and went out to the terminal to meet this tour, but none of the excursions meeting there were the one Marc had told me about and I didn’t see him anywhere. I gave up after waiting about half an hour, I had my camera out so decided to take pictures around the area. I got some cool pictures of flowers. I spent another hour or so in the terminal online, but it was cold so I got back on the ship and read until dinner, curled up under the covers trying to get warm again.
The night I guess was mostly uneventful; I actually don’t even remember what the theme was to be honest. It’s been a long cruise, thankfully it’s almost over
I got off after fire drill with Jenn and we walked around for a while before finding a place to get lunch. We had a nice lunch at a place that makes their own root beer (I found out that I don’t like root beer, it tastes something like toothpaste), I had to leave early though because Marc told me that he could get me on a tour if I was there at 1. I got my camera and went out to the terminal to meet this tour, but none of the excursions meeting there were the one Marc had told me about and I didn’t see him anywhere. I gave up after waiting about half an hour, I had my camera out so decided to take pictures around the area. I got some cool pictures of flowers. I spent another hour or so in the terminal online, but it was cold so I got back on the ship and read until dinner, curled up under the covers trying to get warm again.
The night I guess was mostly uneventful; I actually don’t even remember what the theme was to be honest. It’s been a long cruise, thankfully it’s almost over
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
the weather finally was sunny!
May 19, 2013: Bar Harbor
I had to do tendering this morning. So much fun. At least the guests seem to be pretty nice and patient this cruise. I talked to a lot of them and think I made a good impression for the “on location team.” At first it was really slow going, they were giving people tender tickets and sending them straight downstairs to hand me the ticket and get on the tender. About 9:30 more people started showing up and there was a bit of a wait, but no more than 15 minutes. I talked to the guests that were waiting for their number to be called and joked around with them (I collect tender tickets in a blue pumpkin Halloween bucket, so if people give me a funny grinning look before handing me their tender ticket, I say “ticket or treat?”). After an hour, the wait got shorter and shorter and they finally decided to announce open tender. I returned the bucket to the Entertainment Office and met Jacqui and Jenn on the stairs to get downstairs. We agreed to meet in 10 minutes to catch a tender together to shore.
We got blueberry muffins right off the ship, shopped around for snacks/other foods and wandered around town for a bit before Jenn had to get back to work and Jacqui and I found a place to eat lunch. It was a good lunch, the fries at this place were much better than the burger though, and it took a long time for them to bring our checks, so there was a long line at the pier to get back on the ship. That’s the worst thing about tender ports, crew all-aboard is 30 minutes prior to guest all-aboard, but we can’t get in front of guests in line to get on the right tender. At least we made it on the right tender, but I had to run to the room to change and run upstairs to the Crow’s Nest for sailaway party. Not many people were there (why would they be, they didn’t have to be back on a tender for another 30 minutes!) but I found Donna and we mingled with some guests together for 20 minutes before we had to leave to set up for Kids in the Kitchen. I barely had time to help because I had to be in the Loft with the teens there. Carly and Donna did save me a strawberry though! :)
A few of the teens came and we played MarioKart until they had to leave to get ready for dinner. I started working on a puzzle that was in the Loft and worked on that until time for dinner. Dinner was extremely unsatisfactory. None of the meat looked remotely good, even ignoring the fact that it wasn’t food that I would ever choose to eat anyway. I had watermelon soup (really watermelon-flavored water, not up to the normal fruit-soup standards), a few rolls and an apple. Thank goodness for snack in Club HAL!
After dinner, I fiddled around the room for a bit until my cabin steward came by to give me sheets, then I went up to Club HAL to help Carly for a while. I went to the Loft at 8 for half an hour. When none of the teens showed up by then, I put a sign up on the door saying to come get me in the kids room and went to help out Carly. We had them make their “All about me” sheets and were about to start their handprint wall of fame when all the parents came. All the kids were gone by 9, so we cleaned up, checked to see the kid count for next week (13 teens and 11 kids), checked to see what new crew is coming in Quebec and next Boston, then decided we’d waited long enough. None of the teens had come, so Carly just had me lock up and we went downstairs to play Skip-Bo in the OB. It was hour forward night, so not many people were out, but we did get one of the spa girls to play with us. Slowly this ship may be getting more active and fun.
I had to do tendering this morning. So much fun. At least the guests seem to be pretty nice and patient this cruise. I talked to a lot of them and think I made a good impression for the “on location team.” At first it was really slow going, they were giving people tender tickets and sending them straight downstairs to hand me the ticket and get on the tender. About 9:30 more people started showing up and there was a bit of a wait, but no more than 15 minutes. I talked to the guests that were waiting for their number to be called and joked around with them (I collect tender tickets in a blue pumpkin Halloween bucket, so if people give me a funny grinning look before handing me their tender ticket, I say “ticket or treat?”). After an hour, the wait got shorter and shorter and they finally decided to announce open tender. I returned the bucket to the Entertainment Office and met Jacqui and Jenn on the stairs to get downstairs. We agreed to meet in 10 minutes to catch a tender together to shore.
We got blueberry muffins right off the ship, shopped around for snacks/other foods and wandered around town for a bit before Jenn had to get back to work and Jacqui and I found a place to eat lunch. It was a good lunch, the fries at this place were much better than the burger though, and it took a long time for them to bring our checks, so there was a long line at the pier to get back on the ship. That’s the worst thing about tender ports, crew all-aboard is 30 minutes prior to guest all-aboard, but we can’t get in front of guests in line to get on the right tender. At least we made it on the right tender, but I had to run to the room to change and run upstairs to the Crow’s Nest for sailaway party. Not many people were there (why would they be, they didn’t have to be back on a tender for another 30 minutes!) but I found Donna and we mingled with some guests together for 20 minutes before we had to leave to set up for Kids in the Kitchen. I barely had time to help because I had to be in the Loft with the teens there. Carly and Donna did save me a strawberry though! :)
A few of the teens came and we played MarioKart until they had to leave to get ready for dinner. I started working on a puzzle that was in the Loft and worked on that until time for dinner. Dinner was extremely unsatisfactory. None of the meat looked remotely good, even ignoring the fact that it wasn’t food that I would ever choose to eat anyway. I had watermelon soup (really watermelon-flavored water, not up to the normal fruit-soup standards), a few rolls and an apple. Thank goodness for snack in Club HAL!
After dinner, I fiddled around the room for a bit until my cabin steward came by to give me sheets, then I went up to Club HAL to help Carly for a while. I went to the Loft at 8 for half an hour. When none of the teens showed up by then, I put a sign up on the door saying to come get me in the kids room and went to help out Carly. We had them make their “All about me” sheets and were about to start their handprint wall of fame when all the parents came. All the kids were gone by 9, so we cleaned up, checked to see the kid count for next week (13 teens and 11 kids), checked to see what new crew is coming in Quebec and next Boston, then decided we’d waited long enough. None of the teens had come, so Carly just had me lock up and we went downstairs to play Skip-Bo in the OB. It was hour forward night, so not many people were out, but we did get one of the spa girls to play with us. Slowly this ship may be getting more active and fun.
hanging out in boston
May 18, 2013: Boston
Carly, Jacqui and I went out today. They wanted to go to Nordstrom Rack, so I flagged down a taxi and we went on a shopping adventure. There were quite a few stores around there, so we split up to go where we each really wanted to, and agreed to meet in Panera at 11:30 (it was 10:30 by the time we split up). I wandered around a few stores before determining that I really didn’t want/need to buy anything, so I wandered down the street. I probably should’ve taken pictures, but I was focused on walking and exploring and being back on time. One of the churches I walked by had a fence around it. On the fence were tons of strips of fabric, there was even a tie amidst the torn pieces of other fabric. People had written prayers on the fabric and tied them to the fence, prayers for the bombing that happened the other week in Boston, and for anything and everything. It was really cool.
I wandered back to Panera and the three of us had bagels for lunch before walking around a bit, ready to head back to the ship. I flagged us down another taxi and we headed back. We got to the terminal to find it in chaos. Apparently the tide went down and they couldn’t move the gangway, so there was no way to get on/off the ship. Carly was freaking out a bit because she had to work Open House in 30 minutes and they said the tide might be back in a good place in an hour or so. She managed to make them let her upstairs to wait in the front of the line. Jacqui and I didn’t really want to wait in line, so we went to the Seafarer’s area, looked around a bit, then walked around outside the port before getting in a slightly shorter, but definitely moving line. It took probably an hour to get through the line and back onto the ship. I’m very glad we’re not guests embarking because the check-in line was just as long as the line to get up and through security!
I changed and went up to help Carly with the last bit of Open House and wristbands. I attempted to find Jenn because I’m supposed to move into her room today, but she was nowhere to be found. After the drill, I packed, then Carly and I had to go to the sailaway party in the Crow’s Nest. We did our time ‘mingling’ and found Jenn, so afterwards Jenn helped me move all my stuff since I hadn’t been given a key yet. Jenn, Donna (the party planner… well, now the Culinary Arts Center Host), and I went to dinner early where Carly joined us. So, we had an “On Location team” family dinner. At 7, I had to go to the Crew Office so I wouldn’t be homeless any longer. All my stuff was in the new room and I couldn’t get in! I was 5th in line and had to wait 30 minutes before my turn. I think the 10 people behind me were very glad I didn’t have to take a long time there because they were all new-crew with lots of papers to sign, pictures to take, and IDs to make.
I helped Carly with the kids for a while after I put a sign on the Loft door as soon as I finished in the crew office. A few minutes after 8, some of the teens came looking for me. I had 4 of them within 15 minutes! Looks like these teens are going to want to hang out. We played Phase 10, MarioKart and went on a pizza hunt (all the food areas were closed though). All the younger kids left and Carly got me to help her clean up and discuss two situations that had come up tonight. When I got back to the Loft, the four had left and our snack of pizza had just arrived. Two teens (who I found out later are actually 19 and were just bored) came for a while and we chatted until they left. I waited to 11, and they didn’t come to take the snack tray down, so I cleaned up and took it down myself before changing and heading to the OB to play Scattegories with Marc, Johnny, Carly and Jacqui.
Carly, Jacqui and I went out today. They wanted to go to Nordstrom Rack, so I flagged down a taxi and we went on a shopping adventure. There were quite a few stores around there, so we split up to go where we each really wanted to, and agreed to meet in Panera at 11:30 (it was 10:30 by the time we split up). I wandered around a few stores before determining that I really didn’t want/need to buy anything, so I wandered down the street. I probably should’ve taken pictures, but I was focused on walking and exploring and being back on time. One of the churches I walked by had a fence around it. On the fence were tons of strips of fabric, there was even a tie amidst the torn pieces of other fabric. People had written prayers on the fabric and tied them to the fence, prayers for the bombing that happened the other week in Boston, and for anything and everything. It was really cool.
I wandered back to Panera and the three of us had bagels for lunch before walking around a bit, ready to head back to the ship. I flagged us down another taxi and we headed back. We got to the terminal to find it in chaos. Apparently the tide went down and they couldn’t move the gangway, so there was no way to get on/off the ship. Carly was freaking out a bit because she had to work Open House in 30 minutes and they said the tide might be back in a good place in an hour or so. She managed to make them let her upstairs to wait in the front of the line. Jacqui and I didn’t really want to wait in line, so we went to the Seafarer’s area, looked around a bit, then walked around outside the port before getting in a slightly shorter, but definitely moving line. It took probably an hour to get through the line and back onto the ship. I’m very glad we’re not guests embarking because the check-in line was just as long as the line to get up and through security!
I changed and went up to help Carly with the last bit of Open House and wristbands. I attempted to find Jenn because I’m supposed to move into her room today, but she was nowhere to be found. After the drill, I packed, then Carly and I had to go to the sailaway party in the Crow’s Nest. We did our time ‘mingling’ and found Jenn, so afterwards Jenn helped me move all my stuff since I hadn’t been given a key yet. Jenn, Donna (the party planner… well, now the Culinary Arts Center Host), and I went to dinner early where Carly joined us. So, we had an “On Location team” family dinner. At 7, I had to go to the Crew Office so I wouldn’t be homeless any longer. All my stuff was in the new room and I couldn’t get in! I was 5th in line and had to wait 30 minutes before my turn. I think the 10 people behind me were very glad I didn’t have to take a long time there because they were all new-crew with lots of papers to sign, pictures to take, and IDs to make.
I helped Carly with the kids for a while after I put a sign on the Loft door as soon as I finished in the crew office. A few minutes after 8, some of the teens came looking for me. I had 4 of them within 15 minutes! Looks like these teens are going to want to hang out. We played Phase 10, MarioKart and went on a pizza hunt (all the food areas were closed though). All the younger kids left and Carly got me to help her clean up and discuss two situations that had come up tonight. When I got back to the Loft, the four had left and our snack of pizza had just arrived. Two teens (who I found out later are actually 19 and were just bored) came for a while and we chatted until they left. I waited to 11, and they didn’t come to take the snack tray down, so I cleaned up and took it down myself before changing and heading to the OB to play Scattegories with Marc, Johnny, Carly and Jacqui.
immigration, tendering and port day
May 17, 2013: Bar Harbor
We had to go through immigration today, what fun. It was a bit of a complicated morning. I had to help with immigration, go through it myself, AND work port day. We had to help out starting at 7:15; Carly and I were in charge of scanning the cards of everyone that came through so we could keep track of who had and hadn’t gone through immigration. I had to leave early to open up Club HAL for the three-year-old. Almost as soon as I got up there, they made an announcement for all crew that joined in Ft. Lauderdale and after to go to immigration, so Carly had to come relieve me almost right away so I could go. It was a lot of waiting. I went to the Half Moon room where they checked everyone off a list, then they dismissed US and Canadian citizens to the library where immigration was happening. We waited there, got our passports, and then waited in line. Once I finally got up to the CBP officer (something border protection), it took about 4 seconds for us to talk, him look over my passport, then let me go.
The girl and I watched a few movies today and did a lot of coloring. At least it was kind of an easy-ish day for me with only one to look after, but getting up early kind of rid me of a lot of patience; it didn’t help that she was a bit tired as well so in addition to talking bad and not listening, her attention span was even shorter than usual. Lunch thank goodness wasn’t too bad. I did have to keep threatening to go straight back up to Club HAL if she got up and ran around instead of finishing her food, and there was an incident when she ran between tables in the Lido screaming in her highest-pitched voice and a few people gave me angry looks as I tried to chase her down and get her out of there.
Later in the afternoon, the two siblings came, and the 3-year-old calmed down. We watched Shrek and made bead animals/bracelets. The 3-year-old surprisingly left early, so it was just the tweens and me for an hour. I was much happier then, we just finished our bead animals and played MarioKart.
I attempted to nap because I was so tired, but it just didn’t work. Someone in a room near ours had really loud music on with pounding bass, so I ended up getting a headache instead of rest. Dinner wasn’t that great, and I went up to Club HAL for a bit to check the expected list with Carly. There are 5 teens coming, and 9 kids, so I’ll be on teens next week (if they show up). The three tweens are staying on, which will be fun, they’ll be glad to have more kids around. After that, I took a long time to change into smart casual and relax before going back up to Club HAL to say bye to the three-year-old (who actually didn’t come tonight) before meeting the Port Shopping Ambassador Johnny to go to the show.
It was my first time seeing Dancing with the Stars at Sea on a small ship. There were only two different dances instead of three, the main singers had to be “pros” as well as the acupuncturist (because she’s had some prior dance experience). It was interesting, definitely not as much consistency in costumes because only the two pro dancers had the same costume. It was interesting though, Johnny’s thinking about being a judge in the coming weeks and we discussed how he’d do at it and what he could say, what his gimmick could be, etc. After the show, we went to the OB. I was extremely tired by this time, very grateful it was already 11. I decided I’d stay up until 12 so I could do my hours, then I’d finally get to sleep. I barely made it, the table was my support for keeping my head up and me slightly awake. Right at 12, I said by and left quickly to do my hours and happily climb in bed.
We had to go through immigration today, what fun. It was a bit of a complicated morning. I had to help with immigration, go through it myself, AND work port day. We had to help out starting at 7:15; Carly and I were in charge of scanning the cards of everyone that came through so we could keep track of who had and hadn’t gone through immigration. I had to leave early to open up Club HAL for the three-year-old. Almost as soon as I got up there, they made an announcement for all crew that joined in Ft. Lauderdale and after to go to immigration, so Carly had to come relieve me almost right away so I could go. It was a lot of waiting. I went to the Half Moon room where they checked everyone off a list, then they dismissed US and Canadian citizens to the library where immigration was happening. We waited there, got our passports, and then waited in line. Once I finally got up to the CBP officer (something border protection), it took about 4 seconds for us to talk, him look over my passport, then let me go.
The girl and I watched a few movies today and did a lot of coloring. At least it was kind of an easy-ish day for me with only one to look after, but getting up early kind of rid me of a lot of patience; it didn’t help that she was a bit tired as well so in addition to talking bad and not listening, her attention span was even shorter than usual. Lunch thank goodness wasn’t too bad. I did have to keep threatening to go straight back up to Club HAL if she got up and ran around instead of finishing her food, and there was an incident when she ran between tables in the Lido screaming in her highest-pitched voice and a few people gave me angry looks as I tried to chase her down and get her out of there.
Later in the afternoon, the two siblings came, and the 3-year-old calmed down. We watched Shrek and made bead animals/bracelets. The 3-year-old surprisingly left early, so it was just the tweens and me for an hour. I was much happier then, we just finished our bead animals and played MarioKart.
I attempted to nap because I was so tired, but it just didn’t work. Someone in a room near ours had really loud music on with pounding bass, so I ended up getting a headache instead of rest. Dinner wasn’t that great, and I went up to Club HAL for a bit to check the expected list with Carly. There are 5 teens coming, and 9 kids, so I’ll be on teens next week (if they show up). The three tweens are staying on, which will be fun, they’ll be glad to have more kids around. After that, I took a long time to change into smart casual and relax before going back up to Club HAL to say bye to the three-year-old (who actually didn’t come tonight) before meeting the Port Shopping Ambassador Johnny to go to the show.
It was my first time seeing Dancing with the Stars at Sea on a small ship. There were only two different dances instead of three, the main singers had to be “pros” as well as the acupuncturist (because she’s had some prior dance experience). It was interesting, definitely not as much consistency in costumes because only the two pro dancers had the same costume. It was interesting though, Johnny’s thinking about being a judge in the coming weeks and we discussed how he’d do at it and what he could say, what his gimmick could be, etc. After the show, we went to the OB. I was extremely tired by this time, very grateful it was already 11. I decided I’d stay up until 12 so I could do my hours, then I’d finally get to sleep. I barely made it, the table was my support for keeping my head up and me slightly awake. Right at 12, I said by and left quickly to do my hours and happily climb in bed.
rain rain go away
May 16, 2013: Halifax
My day off. I slept in a bit, had a nice calm breakfast, then hung out for a bit for Jenn to get off work. It was a gross cold, rainy day but we decided to get off anyway. I wanted to walk through the Farmer’s Market and she wanted to get some food from Atlantic Superstore. We wandered around the market for a bit, then ventured out in the rain to find the store. After stepping in some rather large puddles and crossing the street a few times looking around to find this store, we found it! Wet umbrellas in hand, we searched for the food she wanted (she’s nearly as picky and eater as me, and has pretty much given up on eating in the Lido). I found Dr. Pepper, so bought that; Jenn bought her snacks and we headed back out into the rain. Neither of us were ready to get back on the ship, and we had a few hours before we had to anyway, so we returned to the Farmer’s Market and got crepes for lunch. We had a long, leisurely lunch before going back to get into dry clothes and warm up. I checked on Carly in Club HAL for a bit, and just relaxed and read the rest of the afternoon.
Tonight was Camp Night. Only the oldest tween and the three-year-old showed up. We had an extended free time before theme night started. I let the boy play MarioKart instead of doing the first craft, but he did want to decorate a bear, so started that when his dad came. The 3-year-old girl left only a few minutes later, so I cleaned up and left a bit early.
My day off. I slept in a bit, had a nice calm breakfast, then hung out for a bit for Jenn to get off work. It was a gross cold, rainy day but we decided to get off anyway. I wanted to walk through the Farmer’s Market and she wanted to get some food from Atlantic Superstore. We wandered around the market for a bit, then ventured out in the rain to find the store. After stepping in some rather large puddles and crossing the street a few times looking around to find this store, we found it! Wet umbrellas in hand, we searched for the food she wanted (she’s nearly as picky and eater as me, and has pretty much given up on eating in the Lido). I found Dr. Pepper, so bought that; Jenn bought her snacks and we headed back out into the rain. Neither of us were ready to get back on the ship, and we had a few hours before we had to anyway, so we returned to the Farmer’s Market and got crepes for lunch. We had a long, leisurely lunch before going back to get into dry clothes and warm up. I checked on Carly in Club HAL for a bit, and just relaxed and read the rest of the afternoon.
Tonight was Camp Night. Only the oldest tween and the three-year-old showed up. We had an extended free time before theme night started. I let the boy play MarioKart instead of doing the first craft, but he did want to decorate a bear, so started that when his dad came. The 3-year-old girl left only a few minutes later, so I cleaned up and left a bit early.
surprise
May 15, 2013: Sydney… rather, surprise sea day
We knew the weather was going to be an issue today because there were rumors flying around the crew yesterday that we would have to tender today. It was my port day and Carly’s day off. At 6, we heard a muffled announcement (it was made in guest areas only, we heard it through the wall since we’re right next to a guest hallway). I was still half asleep and it was hard to hear, but I heard the words “nautical miles… Sydney… safely to Halifax” so pretty much figured that meant we were skipping Sydney and heading straight to Halifax (with how slow this ship goes, we couldn’t get there early to make it an overnight in Halifax to make up for missing Sydney). Carly agreed with me, so we both went back to sleep for a while before getting up for work at 9 like a normal sea day. It was still her day off, so she made the new schedule for the day, then went back to bed. It was a pretty relaxed day; the three-year-old didn’t show up, but the tweens did so we played a lot of MarioKart, Skip-Bo, xbox games, and made animals out of beads and lanyard string. Not such a bad morning or afternoon. It was kind of nice having lunch in the Lido for once without looking after the kids the whole time.
I did some laundry and read this afternoon between work and dinner. It was my night off, but I went to Club HAL for a while anyway to help out during free time since it was movie night anyway.
We knew the weather was going to be an issue today because there were rumors flying around the crew yesterday that we would have to tender today. It was my port day and Carly’s day off. At 6, we heard a muffled announcement (it was made in guest areas only, we heard it through the wall since we’re right next to a guest hallway). I was still half asleep and it was hard to hear, but I heard the words “nautical miles… Sydney… safely to Halifax” so pretty much figured that meant we were skipping Sydney and heading straight to Halifax (with how slow this ship goes, we couldn’t get there early to make it an overnight in Halifax to make up for missing Sydney). Carly agreed with me, so we both went back to sleep for a while before getting up for work at 9 like a normal sea day. It was still her day off, so she made the new schedule for the day, then went back to bed. It was a pretty relaxed day; the three-year-old didn’t show up, but the tweens did so we played a lot of MarioKart, Skip-Bo, xbox games, and made animals out of beads and lanyard string. Not such a bad morning or afternoon. It was kind of nice having lunch in the Lido for once without looking after the kids the whole time.
I did some laundry and read this afternoon between work and dinner. It was my night off, but I went to Club HAL for a while anyway to help out during free time since it was movie night anyway.
Friday, May 17, 2013
charlottetown
May 14, 2013: Charlottetown
It was a cold day. I wasn’t ready to get up in the morning, so slept in and missed breakfast, got ready really slowly and then went to lunch, after which I got off the ship. It was cold and looked like rain so I walked around towards town for a few minutes, looked in two shops near the port, then quickly determined that it was too cold to do anything else, so I went back to the terminal and got online for an hour. I was still cold from that few minute walk when I got back on the ship, so crawled under the covers and attempted to warm up before attending the sailaway party in the Crow’s Nest. These things are difficult to attend. There’s so many people there, all already sitting in groups and chatting. It shouldn’t be called ‘mingling,’ it should be ‘intruding on the conversations of passengers.’ Thank goodness we didn’t really have to do much of that; Carly, Donna (the party planner), Aiden (the techspert) and I ended up talking about tendering since I’m supposed to have immigration in Bar Harbor and Carly has to work tendering so we need to figure out how that’s going to work for port day in Club HAL. While we were talking, Kelsey the cruise director came over and suggested we all sit and chat. So, she bought us all drinks and we talked until some of them had to go do work. Carly and I went to dinner and stayed there until I had to go to work. We’ve changed up the schedule a bit since there’s really no reason for both of us to be there when only one or two of the kids show up at night, so whoever works port day gets the night off.
It was a cold day. I wasn’t ready to get up in the morning, so slept in and missed breakfast, got ready really slowly and then went to lunch, after which I got off the ship. It was cold and looked like rain so I walked around towards town for a few minutes, looked in two shops near the port, then quickly determined that it was too cold to do anything else, so I went back to the terminal and got online for an hour. I was still cold from that few minute walk when I got back on the ship, so crawled under the covers and attempted to warm up before attending the sailaway party in the Crow’s Nest. These things are difficult to attend. There’s so many people there, all already sitting in groups and chatting. It shouldn’t be called ‘mingling,’ it should be ‘intruding on the conversations of passengers.’ Thank goodness we didn’t really have to do much of that; Carly, Donna (the party planner), Aiden (the techspert) and I ended up talking about tendering since I’m supposed to have immigration in Bar Harbor and Carly has to work tendering so we need to figure out how that’s going to work for port day in Club HAL. While we were talking, Kelsey the cruise director came over and suggested we all sit and chat. So, she bought us all drinks and we talked until some of them had to go do work. Carly and I went to dinner and stayed there until I had to go to work. We’ve changed up the schedule a bit since there’s really no reason for both of us to be there when only one or two of the kids show up at night, so whoever works port day gets the night off.
sea day
May 13, 2013: Sea Day
Successful sea day!
This morning the tweens showed up and we let them do free time for a while; we played MarioKart, decorated stars since they left before “lights, camera, action” (turned into under the sea because of the age) and then actually started following the schedule and played Spoons. Just in time too because Jana, the EM came in to see how everything was. While she was there, the family left and the three of us chatted for a bit. She’s done a lot of moving around in the Entertainment Department. She’s been librarian, DJ, cruise director, and Club HAL. It was good getting to talk to her for a while, I think we made a good impression on her, especially with our nearly-perfect ratings last cruise :)
We had a nice relaxing lunch with some of the officers, HAL Cats, Jacki (the internet manager), Eve (the acupuncturist) and someone from the front office. Carly and I played a game or two of MarioKart before the tweens got there. Then we started them making ‘portholes’ (decorating a cut out paper plate with what could be seen outside). We were doing that when the other tween came by. He hadn’t registered yet, so the three of us showed him around while Carly talked to his parents and registered him. The two boys went to play xbox while the girl, Carly, and I played Skip-Bo. We had a quick trip for ice cream at 3, then back to the games!
Dinner, then back to work. It was pirate night, but only two of the kids showed up, the tween that signed up yesterday and the three year old. The tween left around 8, so we did pirate night with the girl. It took a surprisingly long time to finish all the crafts; I guess I’m just used to working with tweens or the kids that color as quickly as possible, this girl just gets distracted by anything and everything. We had a 3-clue pirate hunt and got back to Club HAL just as her parents arrived to pick her up.
Successful sea day!
This morning the tweens showed up and we let them do free time for a while; we played MarioKart, decorated stars since they left before “lights, camera, action” (turned into under the sea because of the age) and then actually started following the schedule and played Spoons. Just in time too because Jana, the EM came in to see how everything was. While she was there, the family left and the three of us chatted for a bit. She’s done a lot of moving around in the Entertainment Department. She’s been librarian, DJ, cruise director, and Club HAL. It was good getting to talk to her for a while, I think we made a good impression on her, especially with our nearly-perfect ratings last cruise :)
We had a nice relaxing lunch with some of the officers, HAL Cats, Jacki (the internet manager), Eve (the acupuncturist) and someone from the front office. Carly and I played a game or two of MarioKart before the tweens got there. Then we started them making ‘portholes’ (decorating a cut out paper plate with what could be seen outside). We were doing that when the other tween came by. He hadn’t registered yet, so the three of us showed him around while Carly talked to his parents and registered him. The two boys went to play xbox while the girl, Carly, and I played Skip-Bo. We had a quick trip for ice cream at 3, then back to the games!
Dinner, then back to work. It was pirate night, but only two of the kids showed up, the tween that signed up yesterday and the three year old. The tween left around 8, so we did pirate night with the girl. It took a surprisingly long time to finish all the crafts; I guess I’m just used to working with tweens or the kids that color as quickly as possible, this girl just gets distracted by anything and everything. We had a 3-clue pirate hunt and got back to Club HAL just as her parents arrived to pick her up.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
church in Quebec!
May 12, 2013: Quebec day 3
Carly had to get up early today to be in Club HAL since the pager doesn’t work. I slept in a bit and went to breakfast before going to check on her before I got off. She didn’t need anything, so I changed and got off the ship by 10:15! I wandered around a bit, reacquainting myself with the city, and ended up right next to a church at 11 when the bells started going off!
I went in and happily got to sit through a service. It was different for me, I don’t think I’d been to an Anglican service before, but it’s similar to Catholic mass and Lutheran services so I followed along easily enough (it helped that I happened to make it to the one English service). The people there were very nice, they helped me find a seat and thanked me for coming. I was just glad I’d actually found a place to worship this morning! After that, I walked around some more, bought a few scarves (I hadn’t thought of scarves when I packed; not thinking it’d be this cold I guess) then got back on the ship for lunch. After a quick lunch of pasta, I changed again and went to the terminal so I could get on the internet for a little while. Mom and I had a good chat and I went through my emails. It was nice to have a place close by I could do that at.
At 2:30 I got back on the ship and changed again so I could do the wristband walkaround with Carly during the emergency drill, then we had to go up to the Crow’s Nest to mingle for the sailaway wine-and-cheese party. We didn’t stay for long because there were a lot of people there which made it difficult to walk around and chat.
Carly and I rested for a bit, then went up to dinner and work. It’s really our first dinner without Beth, so it was a bit odd.
The two tweens came for a while, but left not long after the three-year-old got there. So, we were left with the little one for the rest of the night. It wasn’t so bad though, she’s getting used to us, talking more, and is more willing to do activities we suggest. We made fish and whales last night for “under the sea” night. After we made them, we put them in the “ocean” (Paintbucket) and sat around it while she ‘read’ us some stories until her mom came.
After work, we changed and went down to the OB where we played Catch Phrase with some people. It was hour forward so not many people were out, we didn’t stay out long either.
Carly had to get up early today to be in Club HAL since the pager doesn’t work. I slept in a bit and went to breakfast before going to check on her before I got off. She didn’t need anything, so I changed and got off the ship by 10:15! I wandered around a bit, reacquainting myself with the city, and ended up right next to a church at 11 when the bells started going off!
I went in and happily got to sit through a service. It was different for me, I don’t think I’d been to an Anglican service before, but it’s similar to Catholic mass and Lutheran services so I followed along easily enough (it helped that I happened to make it to the one English service). The people there were very nice, they helped me find a seat and thanked me for coming. I was just glad I’d actually found a place to worship this morning! After that, I walked around some more, bought a few scarves (I hadn’t thought of scarves when I packed; not thinking it’d be this cold I guess) then got back on the ship for lunch. After a quick lunch of pasta, I changed again and went to the terminal so I could get on the internet for a little while. Mom and I had a good chat and I went through my emails. It was nice to have a place close by I could do that at.
At 2:30 I got back on the ship and changed again so I could do the wristband walkaround with Carly during the emergency drill, then we had to go up to the Crow’s Nest to mingle for the sailaway wine-and-cheese party. We didn’t stay for long because there were a lot of people there which made it difficult to walk around and chat.
Carly and I rested for a bit, then went up to dinner and work. It’s really our first dinner without Beth, so it was a bit odd.
The two tweens came for a while, but left not long after the three-year-old got there. So, we were left with the little one for the rest of the night. It wasn’t so bad though, she’s getting used to us, talking more, and is more willing to do activities we suggest. We made fish and whales last night for “under the sea” night. After we made them, we put them in the “ocean” (Paintbucket) and sat around it while she ‘read’ us some stories until her mom came.
After work, we changed and went down to the OB where we played Catch Phrase with some people. It was hour forward so not many people were out, we didn’t stay out long either.
hot chocolate on a rainy day in Quebec
May 11, 2013: Quebec day 2/embark
This morning was confusing. I wasn’t sure if I could get off, so I ended up sleeping in. Carly signed Beth and her parents on as visitors for the day and I worked Open House. There was no drill today, so after work, Carly and I decided to venture into the rainy Quebec and get some hot chocolate before the night session. Jenn came with us (after we put in our laundry, yay clean clothes), and we found a café not far from the terminal. We had a nice hour and a half break, we relaxed and enjoyed our time away for a bit. We ended up getting pizza to go with our hot chocolate and then each took a hot chocolate to-go as well.
The embark day entertainment dept meeting went by quickly. We made ratings this cruise (over the long South America repositioning, everyone was down on ratings); actually Club HAL didn’t just make ratings, we almost got a perfect score! 8.8 out of 9! :) Not bad for Carly’s first cruise as YPC! She did a great job.
We had about an hour in Club HAL before anyone showed up, and they only looked around and registered, the two tweens didn’t stay. Not long after, a little 3-year-old came up, registered and stayed. She’s an interesting one. She didn’t particularly want to do anything, but we did start playing some games at least. I don’t think her mom has left her for that long before, so after a while, she started saying she wants to go find her mom. We half distracted her with making bead bracelets, but eventually did have to call. Her grandmother came and picked her up, and we started cleaning up slowly. We left right at 10, a first since we usually start tidying up at 10! We went to the OB and hung out there for a bit, no one we knew was going out, so I decided to stay in and call it another early night.
Quebec day 1
May 10, 2013: Quebec day 1
I worked port day today. The pager has been working about ½ the time, so I decided to go up to Club HAL early with a bag of stuff to do and hang out there most of the day. So, I got everything together and took it to Club HAL to drop it off before breakfast. I get up the stairs and there’s a family there waiting on me. They apparently had just called the front office because the pager didn’t go through. What a way to disorient someone first thing in the morning. The rest of my day kind of followed suit. The family of 4 was signed in all day, from 9:30 until 4. The 3 and 5-year olds were a handful; they’d stayed up late last night because of the dessert extravaganza and hadn’t napped in the last two days. So, they were wild and cranky and grumpy and screaming and crying all morning and afternoon.
I would look away for a few seconds to help one of their older siblings do something and the youngest would suddenly scream and start crying, then blame it on the 2nd youngest, who had been in my line of sight the whole time. The little on I think just liked to blame her own mistakes on her ‘big’ sister. The afternoon definitely kept me on my toes. I was extremely relieved when 4 o’clock came around.
I thought since I had to stay on and didn’t have to work until 7 that I could do laundry. Now, on this ship, there is only one room for laundry; in this room, there are two washers and two dryers. Not only are there these 4 machines for all crew, you have to use a quarter to start them! Carly had showed me how to work them on my second day, so I thought I’d be okay. Not at all. I couldn’t get the machine to start, all it would do was beep at me. I ended up giving up, taking my stuff back up to the room and attempting to nap.
I slept through my alarm and was still slightly emotional because it’d been a long day and it still wasn’t over, but I thought I could make it through a quiet, quick dinner. I got up there, and someone said something to me which caused my eyes to brim over again. I still thought I might be able to get food, but there was a ton of people in the Lido, which didn’t help me at all. I all but ran out to the back of the deck outside and tried to calm down. I did compose myself long enough to make it to the bathroom in the Lido to grab some tissues before escaping up to Club HAL. After a few minutes there, trying to compose myself, Carly came in and we talked for a bit before she sent me down to the room to rest for a bit before going up and getting food, then coming up for pajama party. My eyes were still kind of red when I went back up, but eating and being around people helped.
After work, I changed and went down to the OB to hang out with people until they left to go out for the night, then I went up to the room and watched a movie until it was late enough to go to sleep.
I worked port day today. The pager has been working about ½ the time, so I decided to go up to Club HAL early with a bag of stuff to do and hang out there most of the day. So, I got everything together and took it to Club HAL to drop it off before breakfast. I get up the stairs and there’s a family there waiting on me. They apparently had just called the front office because the pager didn’t go through. What a way to disorient someone first thing in the morning. The rest of my day kind of followed suit. The family of 4 was signed in all day, from 9:30 until 4. The 3 and 5-year olds were a handful; they’d stayed up late last night because of the dessert extravaganza and hadn’t napped in the last two days. So, they were wild and cranky and grumpy and screaming and crying all morning and afternoon.
I would look away for a few seconds to help one of their older siblings do something and the youngest would suddenly scream and start crying, then blame it on the 2nd youngest, who had been in my line of sight the whole time. The little on I think just liked to blame her own mistakes on her ‘big’ sister. The afternoon definitely kept me on my toes. I was extremely relieved when 4 o’clock came around.
I thought since I had to stay on and didn’t have to work until 7 that I could do laundry. Now, on this ship, there is only one room for laundry; in this room, there are two washers and two dryers. Not only are there these 4 machines for all crew, you have to use a quarter to start them! Carly had showed me how to work them on my second day, so I thought I’d be okay. Not at all. I couldn’t get the machine to start, all it would do was beep at me. I ended up giving up, taking my stuff back up to the room and attempting to nap.
I slept through my alarm and was still slightly emotional because it’d been a long day and it still wasn’t over, but I thought I could make it through a quiet, quick dinner. I got up there, and someone said something to me which caused my eyes to brim over again. I still thought I might be able to get food, but there was a ton of people in the Lido, which didn’t help me at all. I all but ran out to the back of the deck outside and tried to calm down. I did compose myself long enough to make it to the bathroom in the Lido to grab some tissues before escaping up to Club HAL. After a few minutes there, trying to compose myself, Carly came in and we talked for a bit before she sent me down to the room to rest for a bit before going up and getting food, then coming up for pajama party. My eyes were still kind of red when I went back up, but eating and being around people helped.
After work, I changed and went down to the OB to hang out with people until they left to go out for the night, then I went up to the room and watched a movie until it was late enough to go to sleep.
sea day before Quebec
May 9, 2013: Sea Day
It was a busy sea day today. Kids were there from open until close every session. The family of 4 came up a lot, so it was kind of hectic as I was with the kids, Beth was starting to prepare to leave and Carly was making sure she had this YPC thing down before Beth left. So, it was kind of a long day. Luckily the family didn’t stay for long at night, so Camp Night was quiet. All we really got around to was making our bear-ear headbands and decorating our bears. We didn’t even go on a bear hunt!
After work, we quickly got formal-ized and met a group in the Ocean Bar. I think everyone was pretty excited to be out around the ship and just hanging out somewhere other than the OB. We listened to the Neptunes’ last songs and then just hung out there for a while chatting before going up to the Crow’s Nest where we sat and chatted some more, only to different music and in separate groups because the chairs are group together in tight circles. I left kind of early because I was tired and they started discussing plans for tomorrow’s overnight in Quebec. I’m staying on-ship because we haven’t worked out this IPM thing yet, and Beth and Carly have known each other longer and Beth is leaving so they need to hang out.
It was a busy sea day today. Kids were there from open until close every session. The family of 4 came up a lot, so it was kind of hectic as I was with the kids, Beth was starting to prepare to leave and Carly was making sure she had this YPC thing down before Beth left. So, it was kind of a long day. Luckily the family didn’t stay for long at night, so Camp Night was quiet. All we really got around to was making our bear-ear headbands and decorating our bears. We didn’t even go on a bear hunt!
After work, we quickly got formal-ized and met a group in the Ocean Bar. I think everyone was pretty excited to be out around the ship and just hanging out somewhere other than the OB. We listened to the Neptunes’ last songs and then just hung out there for a while chatting before going up to the Crow’s Nest where we sat and chatted some more, only to different music and in separate groups because the chairs are group together in tight circles. I left kind of early because I was tired and they started discussing plans for tomorrow’s overnight in Quebec. I’m staying on-ship because we haven’t worked out this IPM thing yet, and Beth and Carly have known each other longer and Beth is leaving so they need to hang out.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Charlottetown
May 8, 2013: Charlottetown
I had a fire drill this morning, then Carly and I got off together to go wander around. She’d been here a few years ago on a family road trip so remembered some, but I showed her around a bit more. We had lunch at Lobster on the Wharf (the place with really good hot chocolate from last fall), they sat us out on the patio area, on a deck over the water. It was nice and a pretty gorgeous day (for cool weather in Canada, haha. Nothing compared to the Caribbean of course).
Carly got back on to take over for Beth since a family was on an excursion without the kids until 5:30, but I stayed out in the terminal and got internet for a while. I got back on, had dinner then off to work for the first time today. It was movie night, so it went pretty quickly. We watched Toy Story. I helped clean some of the stuff in the kids room and took stuff to a pantry downstairs to be washed
I had a fire drill this morning, then Carly and I got off together to go wander around. She’d been here a few years ago on a family road trip so remembered some, but I showed her around a bit more. We had lunch at Lobster on the Wharf (the place with really good hot chocolate from last fall), they sat us out on the patio area, on a deck over the water. It was nice and a pretty gorgeous day (for cool weather in Canada, haha. Nothing compared to the Caribbean of course).
Carly got back on to take over for Beth since a family was on an excursion without the kids until 5:30, but I stayed out in the terminal and got internet for a while. I got back on, had dinner then off to work for the first time today. It was movie night, so it went pretty quickly. We watched Toy Story. I helped clean some of the stuff in the kids room and took stuff to a pantry downstairs to be washed
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
I'd nearly forgotten how boring Sydney is...
May 7, 2013: Sydney
It was a late-arrival morning, so we had to have scheduled activities from 9-10. Luckily, the party planner was free so we’d scheduled our “kids in the kitchen” time. We got to make pancakes!
After that, Beth and I went to change and met up with Jacki, the internet manager, to go out. We stopped at Tim Hortons for internet for a while, then Beth went back to the ship to get John (her boyfriend, 4th officer) and the four of us went to lunch. All of us ended up only getting appetizers, but that was more than enough food to make a meal. I got potato skins; a bit different from the ones in the US; these were literally thin strips of the skins doused in cheese and bacon. It was very good though!
After lunch, we split up. I went to look around to see if I could find some scarves because I only brought one and it’s been too cold for my taste. No luck on that, but I stayed off the ship until about 3 (all aboard was 4:30). Back in the room, I just killed time in the room on my computer until dinner.
Carly had had a long port day (one family stayed until 4:45), so slept through dinner. I got to catch up some with Jenn at dinner! Jenn is the librarian, she was on the Oosterdam with me last summer and we haven’t seen each other since.
It was country carnival theme, so I got to run back to the room and change into jeans and grab a bandana to stick with the theme. We had a little bit of free time, then set up all the games. We did ring-toss, bean bag toss, bowling and a race! I’m pretty sure all the kids had a really good time with it!
It was a late-arrival morning, so we had to have scheduled activities from 9-10. Luckily, the party planner was free so we’d scheduled our “kids in the kitchen” time. We got to make pancakes!
After that, Beth and I went to change and met up with Jacki, the internet manager, to go out. We stopped at Tim Hortons for internet for a while, then Beth went back to the ship to get John (her boyfriend, 4th officer) and the four of us went to lunch. All of us ended up only getting appetizers, but that was more than enough food to make a meal. I got potato skins; a bit different from the ones in the US; these were literally thin strips of the skins doused in cheese and bacon. It was very good though!
After lunch, we split up. I went to look around to see if I could find some scarves because I only brought one and it’s been too cold for my taste. No luck on that, but I stayed off the ship until about 3 (all aboard was 4:30). Back in the room, I just killed time in the room on my computer until dinner.
Carly had had a long port day (one family stayed until 4:45), so slept through dinner. I got to catch up some with Jenn at dinner! Jenn is the librarian, she was on the Oosterdam with me last summer and we haven’t seen each other since.
It was country carnival theme, so I got to run back to the room and change into jeans and grab a bandana to stick with the theme. We had a little bit of free time, then set up all the games. We did ring-toss, bean bag toss, bowling and a race! I’m pretty sure all the kids had a really good time with it!
working port day in Halifax
May 6, 2013: Halifax
I was on port day duty today. This ship is different when it comes to port day on low kid counts. The EM claims that Club HAL is part of the IPM schedule on all S-class ships (not true), so one of us has to stay on the ship. So, instead of sign-ups, the one of us (me today) who’s on board has the YPC pager; we can hang out in the room or anywhere around the ship, and go up when one of the families pages us. We weren’t expecting anyone to come until at least 2, but I got paged at 11. The family of 6 wanted to leave the two youngest with me for the day. We played games for a while, managed to stretch lunch out over two hours (I wasn’t too happy about that craziness), then played more games with the other kids who arrived.
It was a loonnngg afternoon dealing with pretty much all the kids on board including wild three-year-olds and 12-year-olds. I at least managed to rest and read until dinner, then we started Pirate Night. That was pretty fun, I got to hide the clues as we were searching around the ship for them. Overall, I think it was a successful night! We went to the OB afterwards and gathered a group to play Skip-Bo again.
I was on port day duty today. This ship is different when it comes to port day on low kid counts. The EM claims that Club HAL is part of the IPM schedule on all S-class ships (not true), so one of us has to stay on the ship. So, instead of sign-ups, the one of us (me today) who’s on board has the YPC pager; we can hang out in the room or anywhere around the ship, and go up when one of the families pages us. We weren’t expecting anyone to come until at least 2, but I got paged at 11. The family of 6 wanted to leave the two youngest with me for the day. We played games for a while, managed to stretch lunch out over two hours (I wasn’t too happy about that craziness), then played more games with the other kids who arrived.
It was a loonnngg afternoon dealing with pretty much all the kids on board including wild three-year-olds and 12-year-olds. I at least managed to rest and read until dinner, then we started Pirate Night. That was pretty fun, I got to hide the clues as we were searching around the ship for them. Overall, I think it was a successful night! We went to the OB afterwards and gathered a group to play Skip-Bo again.
tendering isn't fun
May 5, 2013: Bar Harbor, Maine
I had to help with tendering this morning, so at 7:30 I went by the entertainment office to see what I needed to do. The EM said I could get breakfast then go back and collect tickets starting at 8, so I happily had breakfast before going down to the gangway. It was freezing there, the wind was coming in and up the stairs right to where I was standing. At least I got somewhat of a break because I had to go to a meeting. But then it was right back to standing in the cold for another two hours. Carly came to relieve me after that because none of us had expected tendering to take this long.
It still wasn’t open tender by 11:45, so I went ahead to get lunch, unsure of what else to do. I had just finished lunch when they finally announced open tender, so I went back to the room, got ready and got off for a bit. It was the early departure day, so I only had about an hour off, but it was nice.
I had to be in the Loft at 3 since that’s when we left, so I went up and played card games in there until Carly and Beth came in after Club HAL ended and said we could go. The afternoon went by pretty slowly.
We had our normal dinner around 6:15, then started our “under the sea” night. It was interesting with only two kids there, mainly we decorated cut-out fish. Easy night.
I had to help with tendering this morning, so at 7:30 I went by the entertainment office to see what I needed to do. The EM said I could get breakfast then go back and collect tickets starting at 8, so I happily had breakfast before going down to the gangway. It was freezing there, the wind was coming in and up the stairs right to where I was standing. At least I got somewhat of a break because I had to go to a meeting. But then it was right back to standing in the cold for another two hours. Carly came to relieve me after that because none of us had expected tendering to take this long.
It still wasn’t open tender by 11:45, so I went ahead to get lunch, unsure of what else to do. I had just finished lunch when they finally announced open tender, so I went back to the room, got ready and got off for a bit. It was the early departure day, so I only had about an hour off, but it was nice.
I had to be in the Loft at 3 since that’s when we left, so I went up and played card games in there until Carly and Beth came in after Club HAL ended and said we could go. The afternoon went by pretty slowly.
We had our normal dinner around 6:15, then started our “under the sea” night. It was interesting with only two kids there, mainly we decorated cut-out fish. Easy night.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Boston
May 4, 2013: Boston, embark day
So, because we’ve been in Code Red, we had to SuperSan the entire ship after the passengers disembarked and before the new passengers embarked. Carly and I went to the entertainment office at 8 like we were told to, to see when we could start. The EM told us she’d call because we weren’t even docked yet. It was weird because we weren’t doing the SuperSan ourselves, HAL had hired a company to come and clean, we were just there to supervise a team. It was a long and intense process, making sure every surface in every room and public area was wiped down. There were lots of groups at least, so that helped. About 1:30, my team finished our area so we went up and were allowed to go get some lunch before coming back at 2. When we got back, they didn’t have anything else for us to do, other teams were double-checking to make sure everywhere was finished and then we were finally dismissed.
Passengers weren’t let on until 3:15, which set everything back. I was supposed to work Open House 1-3, but that didn’t happen obviously; we cancelled open house. The drill was supposed to be at 4, but was pushed back until 5. Our entertainment department meeting was right after the drill. Beth, Carly and I went to dinner immediately after the meeting and it was extremely crowded. Carly and I were in line and had one of the passengers complain to us about the ineptness of everyone ashore today and how badly this cruise started off. Apparently they weren’t told until after 1:30 that they weren’t getting on for a while, and around 2, they were given a shuttle to take them into town to get lunch before coming right back to get onboard. I’m glad I’ve learned how to say “I’m sorry for how that was handled. We are glad you’re here. We’ll do our best to make sure the rest of the cruise is much better. ETC, ETC” I mean it all, which I hope they understand from how I say it. Sometimes people just want someone to complain to, and because we’re allowed to eat in the Lido, we usually are those people that get the complaints.
Even though I’m technically on teens this cruise, I went up at 7 with Beth and Carly and helped them for an hour before I went over to explore the Loft a bit. I’d only really been in there about 15 minutes before Carly came to ask if I wanted some pizza. I went over and had snack with them and stayed there the rest of the evening, with a note on the Loft door telling where I was in case one of the two teens happened to show up. All but one of the kids came, registered and stayed for a while tonight. They’re mostly a young group, the oldest ones are all siblings but they left early for dinner. It was a pretty easy night. Carly and Beth worked on YPC stuff (some weekly reports and trying to get a family to understand that we can’t take 2-year-olds) while I sat on the floor near the two kitchen sets and helped the kids make and eat dinner.
We all cleaned up and were looking through last week’s comments when one of the teens showed up. I’d already locked up the Loft, so I unlocked it and showed him around a bit. It looks like he might end up coming, his family didn’t realize how few young people are on this cruise and he’s desperate to have something to do. He didn’t want to stay tonight, so I told him about tomorrow’s schedule, locked up again, and went to the OB with Beth and Carly to celebrate Carly’s first day as YPC.
So, because we’ve been in Code Red, we had to SuperSan the entire ship after the passengers disembarked and before the new passengers embarked. Carly and I went to the entertainment office at 8 like we were told to, to see when we could start. The EM told us she’d call because we weren’t even docked yet. It was weird because we weren’t doing the SuperSan ourselves, HAL had hired a company to come and clean, we were just there to supervise a team. It was a long and intense process, making sure every surface in every room and public area was wiped down. There were lots of groups at least, so that helped. About 1:30, my team finished our area so we went up and were allowed to go get some lunch before coming back at 2. When we got back, they didn’t have anything else for us to do, other teams were double-checking to make sure everywhere was finished and then we were finally dismissed.
Passengers weren’t let on until 3:15, which set everything back. I was supposed to work Open House 1-3, but that didn’t happen obviously; we cancelled open house. The drill was supposed to be at 4, but was pushed back until 5. Our entertainment department meeting was right after the drill. Beth, Carly and I went to dinner immediately after the meeting and it was extremely crowded. Carly and I were in line and had one of the passengers complain to us about the ineptness of everyone ashore today and how badly this cruise started off. Apparently they weren’t told until after 1:30 that they weren’t getting on for a while, and around 2, they were given a shuttle to take them into town to get lunch before coming right back to get onboard. I’m glad I’ve learned how to say “I’m sorry for how that was handled. We are glad you’re here. We’ll do our best to make sure the rest of the cruise is much better. ETC, ETC” I mean it all, which I hope they understand from how I say it. Sometimes people just want someone to complain to, and because we’re allowed to eat in the Lido, we usually are those people that get the complaints.
Even though I’m technically on teens this cruise, I went up at 7 with Beth and Carly and helped them for an hour before I went over to explore the Loft a bit. I’d only really been in there about 15 minutes before Carly came to ask if I wanted some pizza. I went over and had snack with them and stayed there the rest of the evening, with a note on the Loft door telling where I was in case one of the two teens happened to show up. All but one of the kids came, registered and stayed for a while tonight. They’re mostly a young group, the oldest ones are all siblings but they left early for dinner. It was a pretty easy night. Carly and Beth worked on YPC stuff (some weekly reports and trying to get a family to understand that we can’t take 2-year-olds) while I sat on the floor near the two kitchen sets and helped the kids make and eat dinner.
We all cleaned up and were looking through last week’s comments when one of the teens showed up. I’d already locked up the Loft, so I unlocked it and showed him around a bit. It looks like he might end up coming, his family didn’t realize how few young people are on this cruise and he’s desperate to have something to do. He didn’t want to stay tonight, so I told him about tomorrow’s schedule, locked up again, and went to the OB with Beth and Carly to celebrate Carly’s first day as YPC.
sea day 2
May 3, 2013: Sea Day
I’ve only been here two days and they days are already running together, that’s not good. I guess that’s what I get for joining in the middle of a cruise, during Code Red, with two sea days right at the start. Beth let me sleep in today since there’s only one kid and three of us. Carly could’ve slept in as well, but she wanted to work more on programming. I went to breakfast around 9:45, and was up at Club HAL by 10. The kid wasn’t there, so I worked on more cut-outs while Carly and Beth did programming. It was an easy morning. Carly went to nap because she’s not feeling at her best, but Beth and I went to lunch. I had pasta and an apple. I might have to get used to eating early again, because we went right at 11:30 once we closed Club HAL.
This afternoon, Carly slept because she was feeling bad, so Beth and I worked Club HAL. It was a pretty easy afternoon. The kid came after an hour or so, and we played MarioKart the rest of the afternoon. Tonight, I worked Club HAL while Carly and Beth had dinner in the Pinnacle. We’re out of code red, so could play with some of the toys we’ve had put in cabinets for a while. The boy and I played with the jenga blocks for a while, and then a train/tracks before moving on to watch Monsters Inc. Carly and Beth came to work not long after we started the movie. His parents have great timing because they came to pick him up right as the movie was ending.
We said our goodbyes, then Carly, Beth and I SuperSan-ed the rooms and set up for Open House, then went to the show because we’d heard some good things. I was definitely not impressed, but I stuck through it and we changed and went to the OB. It was the first time it’d been open in a few weeks (they’d closed it because of Code Red), so it was pretty full for a small ship. The three of us played Skip-Bo with a few other people, mostly people who’d gotten on the same day as me. It was a fun night, I’m finally beginning to meet people.
I’ve only been here two days and they days are already running together, that’s not good. I guess that’s what I get for joining in the middle of a cruise, during Code Red, with two sea days right at the start. Beth let me sleep in today since there’s only one kid and three of us. Carly could’ve slept in as well, but she wanted to work more on programming. I went to breakfast around 9:45, and was up at Club HAL by 10. The kid wasn’t there, so I worked on more cut-outs while Carly and Beth did programming. It was an easy morning. Carly went to nap because she’s not feeling at her best, but Beth and I went to lunch. I had pasta and an apple. I might have to get used to eating early again, because we went right at 11:30 once we closed Club HAL.
This afternoon, Carly slept because she was feeling bad, so Beth and I worked Club HAL. It was a pretty easy afternoon. The kid came after an hour or so, and we played MarioKart the rest of the afternoon. Tonight, I worked Club HAL while Carly and Beth had dinner in the Pinnacle. We’re out of code red, so could play with some of the toys we’ve had put in cabinets for a while. The boy and I played with the jenga blocks for a while, and then a train/tracks before moving on to watch Monsters Inc. Carly and Beth came to work not long after we started the movie. His parents have great timing because they came to pick him up right as the movie was ending.
We said our goodbyes, then Carly, Beth and I SuperSan-ed the rooms and set up for Open House, then went to the show because we’d heard some good things. I was definitely not impressed, but I stuck through it and we changed and went to the OB. It was the first time it’d been open in a few weeks (they’d closed it because of Code Red), so it was pretty full for a small ship. The three of us played Skip-Bo with a few other people, mostly people who’d gotten on the same day as me. It was a fun night, I’m finally beginning to meet people.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
rocky sea day 1
May 2, 2013: Sea Day
Despite going to bed early, I was exhausted this morning. It didn’t help that we’re right under the Bridge, next to the elevators and there were a few huge “BANG”s early this morning. I didn’t feel seasick, but my stomach apparently thought I was sick. After breakfast, the whole morning was a competition between my brain and my body. I would feel like I was going to throw-up, I’d cough for a minute and run to the bathroom, then feel fine a minute later. It was an odd feeling. Luckily, the kid didn’t come this morning so Carly and I distracted ourselves from feeling bad by playing more Skip-Bo. We weren’t quite feeling up to lunch when we got off work, so we went back to the room and napped for an hour. I ended up only having some fruit and hot chocolate. The hot chocolate helped me feel better at least. The kid came this afternoon, we finished the movie, played with model magic and played MarioKart on the wii, while Beth helped Carly with scheduling and making programs for next cruise.
I tried to take another nap this afternoon because I was still very tired, but I was unsuccessful so I ended up reading instead. Dinner was better tonight, I felt more up to eating which was good. I forgot how limited the choices in food on the smaller ships are. Back in Club HAL, we sat around for a few minutes before the kid came up. He only stayed for an hour because his parents wanted to take him to see the impressionist. After he left, Carly and Beth worked on programs while I went through the cut-outs for the theme nights to make sure we had enough. It was an early night again for me, no going out especially since we’re still in Code Red.
Despite going to bed early, I was exhausted this morning. It didn’t help that we’re right under the Bridge, next to the elevators and there were a few huge “BANG”s early this morning. I didn’t feel seasick, but my stomach apparently thought I was sick. After breakfast, the whole morning was a competition between my brain and my body. I would feel like I was going to throw-up, I’d cough for a minute and run to the bathroom, then feel fine a minute later. It was an odd feeling. Luckily, the kid didn’t come this morning so Carly and I distracted ourselves from feeling bad by playing more Skip-Bo. We weren’t quite feeling up to lunch when we got off work, so we went back to the room and napped for an hour. I ended up only having some fruit and hot chocolate. The hot chocolate helped me feel better at least. The kid came this afternoon, we finished the movie, played with model magic and played MarioKart on the wii, while Beth helped Carly with scheduling and making programs for next cruise.
I tried to take another nap this afternoon because I was still very tired, but I was unsuccessful so I ended up reading instead. Dinner was better tonight, I felt more up to eating which was good. I forgot how limited the choices in food on the smaller ships are. Back in Club HAL, we sat around for a few minutes before the kid came up. He only stayed for an hour because his parents wanted to take him to see the impressionist. After he left, Carly and Beth worked on programs while I went through the cut-outs for the theme nights to make sure we had enough. It was an early night again for me, no going out especially since we’re still in Code Red.
welcome aboard the veendam
May 1, 2013: Fort Lauderdale… first day
This morning was absolutely crazy. I had breakfast at 7:30 (not good for my stomach since I’m used to getting up at 9 or so), then went up to my room to grab my luggage to meet the shuttle. I was already a bit freaked out since everyone I’d talked to from HAL that was staying in that hotel was going to the Amsterdam. I got downstairs before 8 and one shuttle had already gone, so I settled in to wait with the others for the next one. An hour passed and the hotel started calling to check on it since it normally only takes 30 minutes to get there and back. Another 30 minutes pass and another shuttle finally comes. It says “Amsterdam crew” on it, so I wait to ask the driver if he’s taking anyone to the Veendam. In the meantime, the van fills up. There are three of us left at this point, so the driver calls and gets another shuttle for us. We sit and talk until it finally gets there, then we have to go to another hotel to pick up more crew for the Amsterdam.
I finally get to the ship around 10:20. They’re about to start a fire/general emergency drill for Coast Guard, AND USPH is on board. What a way to arrive. Lauren (photog from the Maasdam) was getting off today, so she helped me get my stuff to my room and hung out for a while until it was nearly time for her to leave. I’d been told to wait in my room until HR called me once the drills were over for the meeting. It was after 11 when they finally called. 8 of us joined today, I was the only one in Entertainment, and the only girl. We did the normal “this is a ship, this is how you stay safe and healthy, etc” meeting, then went out to the muster stations for our first “safety drill.” After that, I was done, so I went back to the room, changed and went to lunch. I’d yet to see my roommate or my YPC.
I felt really awkward at lunch because all the guests already knew each other, and the crew knew everyone, and I knew nobody. I sat at a 2-person table off in a corner because I didn’t even know if I was allowed to eat on that side of the Lido. The officer who did our safety drill sat with me, he’s dating the YPC, who it turns out had to get off with a lot of others to get medicals. I went back to the room and met my roommate, Carly, the other Club HAL. She’s taking over as YPC in Boston. She showed me around a bit and we talked until she decided she needed a nap and I wanted to go call Mom and Dad one last time. No passenger drill today (thus, no wristband duty) because despite 600 guests disembarking today, none embarked. So, we sailed away without much notice.
Again, I went back to the room, and met Beth (the YPC) this time, who was visiting with Carly. The three of us talked for a little bit, then I went down to turn in my medical, and then back to the room to kill time until dinner. Thankfully it was an uneventful night. One of the two kids on board came, and he wanted to watch more of the movie they started a few days ago. Beth, Carly and I played Skip-Bo. His parents picked him up at 9, and we played Skip-Bo until 10 when we could finally close. I went to bed almost immediately.
This morning was absolutely crazy. I had breakfast at 7:30 (not good for my stomach since I’m used to getting up at 9 or so), then went up to my room to grab my luggage to meet the shuttle. I was already a bit freaked out since everyone I’d talked to from HAL that was staying in that hotel was going to the Amsterdam. I got downstairs before 8 and one shuttle had already gone, so I settled in to wait with the others for the next one. An hour passed and the hotel started calling to check on it since it normally only takes 30 minutes to get there and back. Another 30 minutes pass and another shuttle finally comes. It says “Amsterdam crew” on it, so I wait to ask the driver if he’s taking anyone to the Veendam. In the meantime, the van fills up. There are three of us left at this point, so the driver calls and gets another shuttle for us. We sit and talk until it finally gets there, then we have to go to another hotel to pick up more crew for the Amsterdam.
I finally get to the ship around 10:20. They’re about to start a fire/general emergency drill for Coast Guard, AND USPH is on board. What a way to arrive. Lauren (photog from the Maasdam) was getting off today, so she helped me get my stuff to my room and hung out for a while until it was nearly time for her to leave. I’d been told to wait in my room until HR called me once the drills were over for the meeting. It was after 11 when they finally called. 8 of us joined today, I was the only one in Entertainment, and the only girl. We did the normal “this is a ship, this is how you stay safe and healthy, etc” meeting, then went out to the muster stations for our first “safety drill.” After that, I was done, so I went back to the room, changed and went to lunch. I’d yet to see my roommate or my YPC.
I felt really awkward at lunch because all the guests already knew each other, and the crew knew everyone, and I knew nobody. I sat at a 2-person table off in a corner because I didn’t even know if I was allowed to eat on that side of the Lido. The officer who did our safety drill sat with me, he’s dating the YPC, who it turns out had to get off with a lot of others to get medicals. I went back to the room and met my roommate, Carly, the other Club HAL. She’s taking over as YPC in Boston. She showed me around a bit and we talked until she decided she needed a nap and I wanted to go call Mom and Dad one last time. No passenger drill today (thus, no wristband duty) because despite 600 guests disembarking today, none embarked. So, we sailed away without much notice.
Again, I went back to the room, and met Beth (the YPC) this time, who was visiting with Carly. The three of us talked for a little bit, then I went down to turn in my medical, and then back to the room to kill time until dinner. Thankfully it was an uneventful night. One of the two kids on board came, and he wanted to watch more of the movie they started a few days ago. Beth, Carly and I played Skip-Bo. His parents picked him up at 9, and we played Skip-Bo until 10 when we could finally close. I went to bed almost immediately.
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