August 5, 2013: Dubrovnik
It was an interesting day. Planning out today last night didn’t work at all, I left the OB after a few minutes frustration. Not good. So rounds out the cruise of plans failing over and over.
I had breakfast with James, who was exhausted because he couldn’t get to sleep last night, so he wasn’t going out today. I wasn’t sure what to do after that so ended up going back to bed for a bit, then deciding it was critically important that I buy laundry detergent today, so I HAD to go out. At the store, I met up with Jessie and two of the engineers. I hung out with them as we all did shopping. I needed that, just to hang out with people, I haven’t had time like that much this cruise.
We got back to the ship to drop off stuff before a potential beach trip. It was already 1 by that point, so we decided there wasn’t enough time to have a good beach afternoon, and Jessie wanted to do some work that she didn’t this morning. So, I hung out in the room for a bit, then got off to possibly find internet. It was very crowded everywhere and there was only an hour left before all aboard so I gave up on that idea and came back to the ship to do laundry.
Sometimes I forget how nice it is to have all my clothes clean.
The teens weren’t into Casino night for some reason, which is very odd because the teens have always loved Casino night. It turned into a night of just hanging out and playing Just Dance.
After work, Jenny and I met up with the rest of Club HAL in the OB. Apparently they’ve been out a lot lately and have seen shooting stars. So, we hung out and watched for more, I saw a lot. It was a beautiful night!
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Monday, August 5, 2013
port day..
August 4, 2013: Kotor, Montenegro
I had port day again today. It was a late arrival day though, so I had the morning off and didn’t have to go up until 11. We’d apparently arrived very early (9:30 instead of 11), so it was at open tender by the time I got up to Club HAL, nice for the rest of the staff since they didn’t have to wait to get off. It was a very busy day. I had 11 kids there for lunch, and a few teens I had to kick out of the Loft while the kids and I went to lunch. It was a bit of a hectic lunch because the 3-year-old that doesn’t speak English was there, and wasn’t happy about something, she kept repeating something over and over and over in Russian and was getting frustrated and upset when I didn’t know how to respond. Then one of the tweens kept running off away from the group, and I wouldn’t know where he was for a few minutes. Luckily once he came back and I told him that he needed to stay with the group, he would ask me if he could go get a refill of drink or something. We got ice cream once everyone had finished eating, and that was the quietest they’d been all day, so that was nice. Even the Russian girl sat and ate her ice cream quietly.
The rest of the afternoon dragged on as more as more kids came, they fought over the Wii controllers and Monopoly rules. I finally had to find all 8 Wii remotes and sync 4 to each Wii, and make sure they knew not to mix up the remotes and to take turns, or else I’d take all the remotes away. That calmed them down for the most part, and I took over the banker job in Monopoly with less interruptions. It was nice for a while, some girls playing Just Dance on the Kinect, others playing Wii and the rest playing or watching Monopoly. At the end of the afternoon, I was pretty tired, but I had to take three of the kids down to their room because Ryan had given permission for me to do that since their grandmother had a hard time moving around. I had maybe an hour in my room before dinner. Linda had organized for her, Johan, James, and me to have dinner in Pinnacle, but that ended up falling apart because it filled up with guests, so they had to cancel our reservation. Maybe next cruise we’ll finally be able to do that, we’ve been trying this whole cruise to make that dinner happen.
It was Olympic night in the Loft, so we hung out for an hour before going up to the Sports Deck where they wanted to play dodgeball. I refereed that for an hour, when they finally got tired of it, then we all went downstairs. Not long after that, most everyone left because they had curfew at 11. So, for half an hour, it was just one teen playing Guitar Hero while Jenny and I read. He left and we read for a little bit before deciding it was late enough that we could go ahead and clean up and close for the night. I’m supposed to meet Linda at the OB to discuss plans for tomorrow, but I don’t really want to stay long because port days tire me out, especially with as many kids as I had today
I had port day again today. It was a late arrival day though, so I had the morning off and didn’t have to go up until 11. We’d apparently arrived very early (9:30 instead of 11), so it was at open tender by the time I got up to Club HAL, nice for the rest of the staff since they didn’t have to wait to get off. It was a very busy day. I had 11 kids there for lunch, and a few teens I had to kick out of the Loft while the kids and I went to lunch. It was a bit of a hectic lunch because the 3-year-old that doesn’t speak English was there, and wasn’t happy about something, she kept repeating something over and over and over in Russian and was getting frustrated and upset when I didn’t know how to respond. Then one of the tweens kept running off away from the group, and I wouldn’t know where he was for a few minutes. Luckily once he came back and I told him that he needed to stay with the group, he would ask me if he could go get a refill of drink or something. We got ice cream once everyone had finished eating, and that was the quietest they’d been all day, so that was nice. Even the Russian girl sat and ate her ice cream quietly.
The rest of the afternoon dragged on as more as more kids came, they fought over the Wii controllers and Monopoly rules. I finally had to find all 8 Wii remotes and sync 4 to each Wii, and make sure they knew not to mix up the remotes and to take turns, or else I’d take all the remotes away. That calmed them down for the most part, and I took over the banker job in Monopoly with less interruptions. It was nice for a while, some girls playing Just Dance on the Kinect, others playing Wii and the rest playing or watching Monopoly. At the end of the afternoon, I was pretty tired, but I had to take three of the kids down to their room because Ryan had given permission for me to do that since their grandmother had a hard time moving around. I had maybe an hour in my room before dinner. Linda had organized for her, Johan, James, and me to have dinner in Pinnacle, but that ended up falling apart because it filled up with guests, so they had to cancel our reservation. Maybe next cruise we’ll finally be able to do that, we’ve been trying this whole cruise to make that dinner happen.
It was Olympic night in the Loft, so we hung out for an hour before going up to the Sports Deck where they wanted to play dodgeball. I refereed that for an hour, when they finally got tired of it, then we all went downstairs. Not long after that, most everyone left because they had curfew at 11. So, for half an hour, it was just one teen playing Guitar Hero while Jenny and I read. He left and we read for a little bit before deciding it was late enough that we could go ahead and clean up and close for the night. I’m supposed to meet Linda at the OB to discuss plans for tomorrow, but I don’t really want to stay long because port days tire me out, especially with as many kids as I had today
I tried Octopus today...
August 3, 2013: Corfu, Greece
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do today and hadn’t heard from anyone, so I’d kind of decided just to get out and get internet for a while on my own. I was leaving breakfast as James arrived so I stayed with him while he ate, and he told me Linda want all of us to get lunch out together after 1. So, I tried calling her when I got back to the room, glad to have a plan with friends, but she didn’t answer so I ended up napping until 1 and tried calling again. No one answered the phone. I hadn’t gotten off the ship the last few days and really needed to see the sun, so I decided just to get off on my own even though I kind of hate doing that sometimes. I wasn’t sure what to do since it was 2 by that point, but I started walking. I walked to the terminal, then started the walk towards town. Halfway there, I see waving from inside a restaurant. I found Linda and Johan and ended up joining them there.
I realized that I hadn’t had lunch yet, so ordered some food after they got theirs. Johan had ordered octopus and somehow managed to convince me to try a piece. Not doing that again. It was gross. The thing still had suctions on it, and they crunched as I chewed. Ewwww. I was glad I only got a small piece, and I covered up the grossness with a milkshake (a real milkshake, not a smoothie! Usually in Europe they say things are milkshakes, but they’re really smoothies. Milkshakes are not at all common here, so it’s great to find one somewhere).
We came back and I took another nap before a small dinner. My stomach kind of felt like the octopus was trying to suction cup its way out of my stomach (not in the ‘I’m going to be sick’ way, but still it is not very comfortable) so I didn’t really feel like eating anything more than fruit.
The Loft tonight was a bit crowded. No one had a curfew so they were all ready to hang out all night. We had another ‘dance’ on the outside deck, I had to go upstairs for that, but no one really came to dance. At least two of the boys decided to come keep me company for the hour I had to be up there. We talked about places we’ve all been and different cruises and a lot of other stuff. I’m glad we have the group of teens we have this cruise, they’ve been awesome. What other teens would decide to forgo playing xbox inside to join their counselor outside on a really windy deck so she wouldn’t be bored?
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do today and hadn’t heard from anyone, so I’d kind of decided just to get out and get internet for a while on my own. I was leaving breakfast as James arrived so I stayed with him while he ate, and he told me Linda want all of us to get lunch out together after 1. So, I tried calling her when I got back to the room, glad to have a plan with friends, but she didn’t answer so I ended up napping until 1 and tried calling again. No one answered the phone. I hadn’t gotten off the ship the last few days and really needed to see the sun, so I decided just to get off on my own even though I kind of hate doing that sometimes. I wasn’t sure what to do since it was 2 by that point, but I started walking. I walked to the terminal, then started the walk towards town. Halfway there, I see waving from inside a restaurant. I found Linda and Johan and ended up joining them there.
I realized that I hadn’t had lunch yet, so ordered some food after they got theirs. Johan had ordered octopus and somehow managed to convince me to try a piece. Not doing that again. It was gross. The thing still had suctions on it, and they crunched as I chewed. Ewwww. I was glad I only got a small piece, and I covered up the grossness with a milkshake (a real milkshake, not a smoothie! Usually in Europe they say things are milkshakes, but they’re really smoothies. Milkshakes are not at all common here, so it’s great to find one somewhere).
We came back and I took another nap before a small dinner. My stomach kind of felt like the octopus was trying to suction cup its way out of my stomach (not in the ‘I’m going to be sick’ way, but still it is not very comfortable) so I didn’t really feel like eating anything more than fruit.
The Loft tonight was a bit crowded. No one had a curfew so they were all ready to hang out all night. We had another ‘dance’ on the outside deck, I had to go upstairs for that, but no one really came to dance. At least two of the boys decided to come keep me company for the hour I had to be up there. We talked about places we’ve all been and different cruises and a lot of other stuff. I’m glad we have the group of teens we have this cruise, they’ve been awesome. What other teens would decide to forgo playing xbox inside to join their counselor outside on a really windy deck so she wouldn’t be bored?
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Sea day and Teen Prom night
August 1, 2013: Sea day
Another long day, two in a row is a bit rough. Yesterday I worked almost 13 hours, and today was nearly 11. This morning was quiet, most of the teens didn’t turn up until 11, when they were supposed to meet to go to the pool. They ended up not going to the pool this morning and just hanging out with us. This afternoon however, they did go to the pool, then came back around 3 and we went them on a scavenger hunt. That took up a lot of the afternoon. One group of boys, like the rest of the week, played xbox the whole time. They were actually kind of rude to Jenny, she asked if they wanted to join a team for the scavenger hunt, and they asked for another controller. The rest of the afternoon went well though, some of the teens went swimming again, and others of us played MarioKart until 6 when we closed for dinner.
After a quick dinner, Jenny and I went downstairs to change for formal night and the teens prom night. It was an interesting evening. We hung out for about 45 minutes, then went downstairs to take pictures (an hour was set aside for that on the schedule for some reason, it only took about 15). Then, we just went back up to the Loft and hung out some more, voted on Prom King and Queen, and played Celebrity Heads to pass the time until the dance in the Crow’s Nest. Unsuccessful dance in my opinion, Ryan wasn’t really playing much dance music, so most of the time it was me and Jenny on the dance floor trying to get everyone to come up. Two groups that haven’t really come to the Loft showed up, a group of Dutch teens, and another group that had 2 teens I’d seen before. The Dutch kids would dance for a bit, then leave, come back, dance, leave again, over and over and over. The other teens didn’t dance at all, but sat on the sides and watched like they were too cool for it. Stereotypical ‘popular’ teenager attitude. By 11, all the ones that usually come to the Loft had left, and it was only the Dutch teens left (and they kept leaving), so Jenny, Ryan and I had fun dancing until 11:30 (that’s when we had to leave) when he told us to check the Loft to see if any teens were there, if not, then we were free to leave. No one was there, so we left and went to the OB.
Another long day, two in a row is a bit rough. Yesterday I worked almost 13 hours, and today was nearly 11. This morning was quiet, most of the teens didn’t turn up until 11, when they were supposed to meet to go to the pool. They ended up not going to the pool this morning and just hanging out with us. This afternoon however, they did go to the pool, then came back around 3 and we went them on a scavenger hunt. That took up a lot of the afternoon. One group of boys, like the rest of the week, played xbox the whole time. They were actually kind of rude to Jenny, she asked if they wanted to join a team for the scavenger hunt, and they asked for another controller. The rest of the afternoon went well though, some of the teens went swimming again, and others of us played MarioKart until 6 when we closed for dinner.
After a quick dinner, Jenny and I went downstairs to change for formal night and the teens prom night. It was an interesting evening. We hung out for about 45 minutes, then went downstairs to take pictures (an hour was set aside for that on the schedule for some reason, it only took about 15). Then, we just went back up to the Loft and hung out some more, voted on Prom King and Queen, and played Celebrity Heads to pass the time until the dance in the Crow’s Nest. Unsuccessful dance in my opinion, Ryan wasn’t really playing much dance music, so most of the time it was me and Jenny on the dance floor trying to get everyone to come up. Two groups that haven’t really come to the Loft showed up, a group of Dutch teens, and another group that had 2 teens I’d seen before. The Dutch kids would dance for a bit, then leave, come back, dance, leave again, over and over and over. The other teens didn’t dance at all, but sat on the sides and watched like they were too cool for it. Stereotypical ‘popular’ teenager attitude. By 11, all the ones that usually come to the Loft had left, and it was only the Dutch teens left (and they kept leaving), so Jenny, Ryan and I had fun dancing until 11:30 (that’s when we had to leave) when he told us to check the Loft to see if any teens were there, if not, then we were free to leave. No one was there, so we left and went to the OB.
long port day
July 31, 2013: Naples
It was an extremely long day. I had to be up in Club HAL at 8 for port day. Kind of nice though because no one showed up until 10. It wasn’t that bad of a day, not like the port days that the others have been having (at least 20 there for most of the day). Only 4 kids were there for lunch, one 3-year-old didn’t speak English, so that was interesting. Other than that, lunch went really well. After lunch we went back to Club HAL and continued the games they’d been playing before lunch. A few more kids slowly came in as the afternoon went on, but I still had less than 15 total. I’d been up a really long time, so was very exhausted when 4 came around and there were still 10 kids waiting to be picked up. Having that many late parents never happens, so I wasn’t sure what to do. Luckily, most of them came by in the next 10 minutes. 4 kids, from 2 families were left though and I started trying to call the rooms for the parents. One came only a few seconds after I’d called. The other, I tried to call a few different numbers, but no answer. The parents came finally at 4:30. I wasn’t too happy about that and they didn’t apologize or make any excuse for being late. Of course, it was a bit difficult for them to do that because I had another family who’d walked in wanting to register their daughter for tomorrow.
Finally I got them all to leave and got to come down to the room for a bit of relaxation before dinner. It was a long dinner and I had to run back downstairs to grab my bag before running back upstairs with the keys so we could open. Good dinner conversation though, Emily (the librarian) is pretty awesome, she and I talked about Doctor Who, Halloween costumes and a bunch of other stuff.
I was so tired tonight, I don’t really remember much of what we did. I know the teens were kind of concerned about me because I looked so exhausted.
It was an extremely long day. I had to be up in Club HAL at 8 for port day. Kind of nice though because no one showed up until 10. It wasn’t that bad of a day, not like the port days that the others have been having (at least 20 there for most of the day). Only 4 kids were there for lunch, one 3-year-old didn’t speak English, so that was interesting. Other than that, lunch went really well. After lunch we went back to Club HAL and continued the games they’d been playing before lunch. A few more kids slowly came in as the afternoon went on, but I still had less than 15 total. I’d been up a really long time, so was very exhausted when 4 came around and there were still 10 kids waiting to be picked up. Having that many late parents never happens, so I wasn’t sure what to do. Luckily, most of them came by in the next 10 minutes. 4 kids, from 2 families were left though and I started trying to call the rooms for the parents. One came only a few seconds after I’d called. The other, I tried to call a few different numbers, but no answer. The parents came finally at 4:30. I wasn’t too happy about that and they didn’t apologize or make any excuse for being late. Of course, it was a bit difficult for them to do that because I had another family who’d walked in wanting to register their daughter for tomorrow.
Finally I got them all to leave and got to come down to the room for a bit of relaxation before dinner. It was a long dinner and I had to run back downstairs to grab my bag before running back upstairs with the keys so we could open. Good dinner conversation though, Emily (the librarian) is pretty awesome, she and I talked about Doctor Who, Halloween costumes and a bunch of other stuff.
I was so tired tonight, I don’t really remember much of what we did. I know the teens were kind of concerned about me because I looked so exhausted.
off in Civitavecchia!
July 30, 2013: Civitavecchia
Linda and I had decided last night to make today a beach day. She had to wait for someone to come on board and help fix something in the theatre, but after that she was free. Last time this person came on board, they got on around 8 and were on for two hours or so, so she figured it’d be the same today. Nope. They ended up not coming until around 1, which meant I spent the morning hanging out in the room waiting for Linda to call and let me know what the plan was. We ended up giving up on our beach plans and instead getting off around 3 for a late lunch and wifi. We had some great pizza. The good thing about going out with Linda is that getting wifi isn’t antisocial like it is a lot of the time with others. Usually when I’m with a group and we find wifi, suddenly everyone is in their own worlds, attached to their phones, but with Linda we still kept up conversation between the two of us as we checked on the outside world.
I wasn’t really too hungry at dinner because of our late lunch, but I ended up at least eating some fruit before heading up to work. It was random games night, so we let them just hang out, like they always want to. I got out cards and taught some of them various card games while another group played Apples to Apples. Jenny had to leave for a while to help out with a ‘teen dance’ on Deck 12 that the new EM decided to have us host to try to have more activities for all the teens to do. I stayed in the Loft with the teens that didn’t want to go.
Linda and I had decided last night to make today a beach day. She had to wait for someone to come on board and help fix something in the theatre, but after that she was free. Last time this person came on board, they got on around 8 and were on for two hours or so, so she figured it’d be the same today. Nope. They ended up not coming until around 1, which meant I spent the morning hanging out in the room waiting for Linda to call and let me know what the plan was. We ended up giving up on our beach plans and instead getting off around 3 for a late lunch and wifi. We had some great pizza. The good thing about going out with Linda is that getting wifi isn’t antisocial like it is a lot of the time with others. Usually when I’m with a group and we find wifi, suddenly everyone is in their own worlds, attached to their phones, but with Linda we still kept up conversation between the two of us as we checked on the outside world.
I wasn’t really too hungry at dinner because of our late lunch, but I ended up at least eating some fruit before heading up to work. It was random games night, so we let them just hang out, like they always want to. I got out cards and taught some of them various card games while another group played Apples to Apples. Jenny had to leave for a while to help out with a ‘teen dance’ on Deck 12 that the new EM decided to have us host to try to have more activities for all the teens to do. I stayed in the Loft with the teens that didn’t want to go.
lazy day in Livorno
July 29, 2013: Livorno
I got up this morning not entirely sure what to do with my day. I went up for breakfast and saw the weather, which decided for me that I was going to stay on the ship today. It was rainy and hot. Most of Club HAL, and Jessie were all going to Pisa on the crew excursion (I’d already been, and it’s not one of those places that you feel the need to go to more than once. Been there, took the picture, bought the postcard, now I don’t need to go back.
So, I took a nap between breakfast and lunch (haven’t been sleeping the best the last few nights). I helped Ryan with the kids who were on for port day, then went to the library for a while to read. It got crowded there so I ended up going back to the room and watched a movie on my computer. I didn’t do too much today, but at least I felt somewhat productive.
I’m getting to that point now of being tired of ship food (again). I’m extremely glad that they’ve opened up the pasta line at dinner, but still there isn’t much non-seafood or simple food at dinner. Of course, I’ve learned now that the food changes depending on location, so maybe once it goes back to the Caribbean fruit soup will be available more often, and different options at dinner! Pasta every night is starting to get a bit old.
It was an easy night, movie night. We let them hang out for a while, then had them vote on one of the 6 movies Jenny and I had it narrowed down to. They ended up deciding on James Bond, however once they got to the front office, they found out it had already been checked out, so they came back with Iron Man 2. Oh well. Some of the kids weren’t really into watching the movie so Jenny and I hung out and talked to them anyway.
I got up this morning not entirely sure what to do with my day. I went up for breakfast and saw the weather, which decided for me that I was going to stay on the ship today. It was rainy and hot. Most of Club HAL, and Jessie were all going to Pisa on the crew excursion (I’d already been, and it’s not one of those places that you feel the need to go to more than once. Been there, took the picture, bought the postcard, now I don’t need to go back.
So, I took a nap between breakfast and lunch (haven’t been sleeping the best the last few nights). I helped Ryan with the kids who were on for port day, then went to the library for a while to read. It got crowded there so I ended up going back to the room and watched a movie on my computer. I didn’t do too much today, but at least I felt somewhat productive.
I’m getting to that point now of being tired of ship food (again). I’m extremely glad that they’ve opened up the pasta line at dinner, but still there isn’t much non-seafood or simple food at dinner. Of course, I’ve learned now that the food changes depending on location, so maybe once it goes back to the Caribbean fruit soup will be available more often, and different options at dinner! Pasta every night is starting to get a bit old.
It was an easy night, movie night. We let them hang out for a while, then had them vote on one of the 6 movies Jenny and I had it narrowed down to. They ended up deciding on James Bond, however once they got to the front office, they found out it had already been checked out, so they came back with Iron Man 2. Oh well. Some of the kids weren’t really into watching the movie so Jenny and I hung out and talked to them anyway.
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