August 21, 2013: Kotor, Montenegro
We arrived an hour early today, which was very nice. Although it did mean that we had to cut short Kids in the Kitchen so we could start setting up for tendering, but that’s okay. Tendering went surprisingly well considering it was later in the morning than usual. Ryan, Julia (the librarian-in-training), Santana, Emily, and I worked it. It seemed like a lot of us, but it worked so I’m not complaining. Ryan gave out tickets, Santana answered questions, Julia collected tickets, and Emily and I were ‘runners.’ Emily and I took turns getting the collected tickets from Julia and sorting them out to have ready for the next round of numbers. We pretty much got to sit and chat the whole time, although we did try to help Santana answer questions, not that there were too many.
We all went to lunch, then Emily and I got off together to wander around, neither of us having been to this port before. It was an extremely short tender ride, then we wandered into the Old Town, walked the wall, took some pictures, did some souvenir shopping, then wandered back towards the port area. We sat outside the Old Town wall for a while and just chatted, not quite ready to head back yet. We headed back after 3 and I didn’t do much between then and dinner, I just sat in my room and read.
It was Alien Night, so after free time, we set the kids on decorating an alien and space ship. It took longer than arts activities have been with this group, but that’s probably because we set out the glitter glue, and had a LOT of messes to clean up. We made it through though, and built our own weird-looking alien on a big sheet of paper, ready to throw wet towels at it to make it look cool. But by the time we’d finished building our alien, only girls were left, so we decided not to do the wet towel throwing, and we played 4-corners instead. These girls like to dance. We spent much less time in corners than we did dancing. All but one left during that, so I read “Moon Man” to the one girl that was left, her dad came right as I reached the end of the story, great timing!
Thursday, August 22, 2013
leaving Venice again, but I didn't see it this time..
August 20, 2013: Venice day 2
Work started at 1 again today, I didn’t get off this morning, but slept (a great nights sleep again finally!) until nearly drill time (I didn’t have to do wristbands for once!), then got ready and headed up to work. A few more kids came up today, only a few crew kids, and one girl who I think is going to be in Club HAL the whole time we’re open, every time. Her mom was asking about port day stuff and after-hours during Open House. We didn’t go up to the Sports Deck because it was raining, so we played a few games indoors instead. We did go get ice cream though, it was an interesting experience with 3 girls that only speak Russian, one of which refused at first to come to the Lido with us, I had to lead her out the door. Miranda and I are hoping that they get to be friends and hang out at the pool or something instead of their parents bringing them up to us, they can’t do any of the activities since we can’t explain them in Russian. This group isn’t at all into coloring, their attention span for coloring is about a minute, and then they’re ready to do something out, so this should be interesting with all the art-dominated theme nights.
Camp Night and the Venetian Ball were tonight. Free time was a bit chaotic, but it calmed down when we finally started camp night. We decorated bears, made a tent, told some stories, then put on the masks to head down to the Ball. That didn’t take that long, so we were back (with about half the group, the other half’s parents had signed them out downstairs) in Club HAL in 15 minutes. More parents came as soon as we got upstairs, and it wasn’t really worth it to do much in the way of Camp Night with them, so we read some stories until they were all signed out.
Work started at 1 again today, I didn’t get off this morning, but slept (a great nights sleep again finally!) until nearly drill time (I didn’t have to do wristbands for once!), then got ready and headed up to work. A few more kids came up today, only a few crew kids, and one girl who I think is going to be in Club HAL the whole time we’re open, every time. Her mom was asking about port day stuff and after-hours during Open House. We didn’t go up to the Sports Deck because it was raining, so we played a few games indoors instead. We did go get ice cream though, it was an interesting experience with 3 girls that only speak Russian, one of which refused at first to come to the Lido with us, I had to lead her out the door. Miranda and I are hoping that they get to be friends and hang out at the pool or something instead of their parents bringing them up to us, they can’t do any of the activities since we can’t explain them in Russian. This group isn’t at all into coloring, their attention span for coloring is about a minute, and then they’re ready to do something out, so this should be interesting with all the art-dominated theme nights.
Camp Night and the Venetian Ball were tonight. Free time was a bit chaotic, but it calmed down when we finally started camp night. We decorated bears, made a tent, told some stories, then put on the masks to head down to the Ball. That didn’t take that long, so we were back (with about half the group, the other half’s parents had signed them out downstairs) in Club HAL in 15 minutes. More parents came as soon as we got upstairs, and it wasn’t really worth it to do much in the way of Camp Night with them, so we read some stories until they were all signed out.
another embark day
August 19, 2013: Venice embark day
I happily slept in this morning, not having to be at work until 1 for Open House. I would’ve gotten up and gone out, but I really needed the sleep, and I didn’t know of anyones plans to go out with. Open House was extremely quiet. A few teens came by, and a handful of kids. I was on gangway duty for the second hour, so had to wait for kids to come, and give them the Club HAL program for their age and tell them about the open house. I saw about 5, 3 of which didn’t speak English at all. So, I spent most of the time talking to some of the beverage guys, and the spa girl who were also handing out flyers at the gangway. After that, I was just pretty tired, still haven’t been sleeping well, so I decided to forgo going out in Venice (again), and attempt to sleep. Sleep didn’t come, but I at least felt somewhat more rested. I don’t think anyone really got off this afternoon, it was extremely hot apparently.
I’m working with the little kids with Miranda this week; there’s 25 or so on board this week, and half of them are crew kids. Not many came tonight, which was kind of nice, I hope that may be an indication for the rest of the week. We had one for half an hour, then two more came, but they left by 9, and the first girl left by 9:30. Miranda and I just sat and talked until time to clean and lock up. It still wasn’t quite 10 yet, so we went by the tween room to see how they were doing to take up a few more minutes so we didn’t feel so guilty leaving early.
I went to the OB and hung out for a while, it was a busy night. The whole photo team was there, so I hung out with them for a while. James and I watched a movie afterwards since neither of us had to be up early.
I happily slept in this morning, not having to be at work until 1 for Open House. I would’ve gotten up and gone out, but I really needed the sleep, and I didn’t know of anyones plans to go out with. Open House was extremely quiet. A few teens came by, and a handful of kids. I was on gangway duty for the second hour, so had to wait for kids to come, and give them the Club HAL program for their age and tell them about the open house. I saw about 5, 3 of which didn’t speak English at all. So, I spent most of the time talking to some of the beverage guys, and the spa girl who were also handing out flyers at the gangway. After that, I was just pretty tired, still haven’t been sleeping well, so I decided to forgo going out in Venice (again), and attempt to sleep. Sleep didn’t come, but I at least felt somewhat more rested. I don’t think anyone really got off this afternoon, it was extremely hot apparently.
I’m working with the little kids with Miranda this week; there’s 25 or so on board this week, and half of them are crew kids. Not many came tonight, which was kind of nice, I hope that may be an indication for the rest of the week. We had one for half an hour, then two more came, but they left by 9, and the first girl left by 9:30. Miranda and I just sat and talked until time to clean and lock up. It still wasn’t quite 10 yet, so we went by the tween room to see how they were doing to take up a few more minutes so we didn’t feel so guilty leaving early.
I went to the OB and hung out for a while, it was a busy night. The whole photo team was there, so I hung out with them for a while. James and I watched a movie afterwards since neither of us had to be up early.
beach day in Argostali
August 17, 2013: Argostali, Greece
It was a sea day morning, but most of our tweens slept in so it was a quiet morning. I only saw Ryan and Leah this morning, and they were both just going to get internet onshore. I didn’t want to do that, so I tried to call Jessie and she if she wanted to get off and do something, since last time we said we’d find a beach here. She had to help out with Indonesian Independence day stuff, so couldn’t get off. I was determined to have a beach day, so I packed a bag and got off to find one alone. I did find one, not far of a walk away, I could actually still see the ship and hear some of the music at the gangway. It was a nice little spot on the rocks right next to the water. I’d forgotten to grab a towel, so I just laid out in the sun on the rocks, slightly painful if there was a sharp rock, but it wasn’t so bad, I did have my cover up dress to help me dry off after I swam for a bit at least. It was really nice, I alternated between laying out enjoying the sun, and swimming. I stayed at my little spot on the beach probably for around three hours before I decided I could go find internet for a bit before getting back on the ship for a shower. I’d forgotten how salty the water here is, when the sun dried me off, I kept finding areas of salt dried onto my arms and legs. I went to the restaurant Jessie and I went to last time we were here and got internet for a bit (I hope my face wasn’t too salty-looking, although everyone could tell I’d just come from the beach), then took my time getting back to the ship. I finally got to rinse all that salt off, and had just enough time to get ready before dinner.
Brave the Night was, as always, a huge success. We didn’t get to go through many activities though because they were all a little wild tonight. As soon as I told them half the instructions for an activity, they would start discussing it, and I got so tired of it, I just sat and waited until everyone began to wonder why I hadn’t given them paper or gotten out something for the activity, only then did I finish the instructions
It was a sea day morning, but most of our tweens slept in so it was a quiet morning. I only saw Ryan and Leah this morning, and they were both just going to get internet onshore. I didn’t want to do that, so I tried to call Jessie and she if she wanted to get off and do something, since last time we said we’d find a beach here. She had to help out with Indonesian Independence day stuff, so couldn’t get off. I was determined to have a beach day, so I packed a bag and got off to find one alone. I did find one, not far of a walk away, I could actually still see the ship and hear some of the music at the gangway. It was a nice little spot on the rocks right next to the water. I’d forgotten to grab a towel, so I just laid out in the sun on the rocks, slightly painful if there was a sharp rock, but it wasn’t so bad, I did have my cover up dress to help me dry off after I swam for a bit at least. It was really nice, I alternated between laying out enjoying the sun, and swimming. I stayed at my little spot on the beach probably for around three hours before I decided I could go find internet for a bit before getting back on the ship for a shower. I’d forgotten how salty the water here is, when the sun dried me off, I kept finding areas of salt dried onto my arms and legs. I went to the restaurant Jessie and I went to last time we were here and got internet for a bit (I hope my face wasn’t too salty-looking, although everyone could tell I’d just come from the beach), then took my time getting back to the ship. I finally got to rinse all that salt off, and had just enough time to get ready before dinner.
Brave the Night was, as always, a huge success. We didn’t get to go through many activities though because they were all a little wild tonight. As soon as I told them half the instructions for an activity, they would start discussing it, and I got so tired of it, I just sat and waited until everyone began to wonder why I hadn’t given them paper or gotten out something for the activity, only then did I finish the instructions
Saturday, August 17, 2013
santorini
August 16, 2013: Santorini
, Greece
Such an early morning. But I did sleep well at least! Finally! I had one kid for the first hour of work, then a few more showed up. They were all pretty well-behaved, playing xbox, Kinect and Wii, and helping me work on a puzzle. The morning went pretty quickly considering it was 5 hours long. Betty came and helped with lunch, and the kids suddenly got really wild. That wasn’t helped by the beverage department, who came and teased the kids with sodas, and one of the chefs who came by asking if they wanted cookies. Betty took over and I got to leave and relax for a bit. Everyone I could think of had already left, so I decided to get off and get some internet for the afternoon. On the tender, I found Regina and we joined up since she wanted lunch and wifi as well. On shore, we found Johan and one of people that work in the shops at a restaurant, so joined them. Regina got food, and I got an orange juice and we all sat and talked and checked out stuff on the internet. The three of them left around 2 and I was left alone. Soon after though, a waitress told me that I needed to leave because they needed the tables because it was getting to be lunchtime, this was after another woman had sat with me and ordered a drink so she could get online as well. They kicked her out, and moved a chair to the back for me to sit, but then they turned off the wifi! Right after I’d just started talking to Mom. So, I left, got on the tender and just spent an hour of my ship internet time to finish talking to her. On the tender though, I looked back at that restaurant, and half the tables were now empty. So much for the big lunch rush this lady was expecting.
Anyway, I rested the rest of the afternoon, had dinner and then it was up to Club HAL for “Cranium Craze.” We had 16 kids, so it was perfect for two games of cranium, with 2 people per team. I ended up with the wild group though, they kept getting a bit out of control, so I ended up just stopping the game for a bit until they calmed down somewhat. Having just Cranium as a theme night isn’t really the greatest idea, but some approved theme nights sometimes just aren’t very good for too many/few kids, or certain groups of kids. Maybe it works with other groups.
I had after-hours tonight, two of my tweens stayed. They tired themselves out running back and forth on the skate ramp for a while, then we sat down and they watched the end of Spy Kids 4. Easy after-hours! I was supposed to meet Jessie to hang out for a bit, but she’d gone to Betty’s room for a ‘nail party’ and when I got off, I was too tired to do much; it’d been a long day so I just went straight to bed.
, Greece
Such an early morning. But I did sleep well at least! Finally! I had one kid for the first hour of work, then a few more showed up. They were all pretty well-behaved, playing xbox, Kinect and Wii, and helping me work on a puzzle. The morning went pretty quickly considering it was 5 hours long. Betty came and helped with lunch, and the kids suddenly got really wild. That wasn’t helped by the beverage department, who came and teased the kids with sodas, and one of the chefs who came by asking if they wanted cookies. Betty took over and I got to leave and relax for a bit. Everyone I could think of had already left, so I decided to get off and get some internet for the afternoon. On the tender, I found Regina and we joined up since she wanted lunch and wifi as well. On shore, we found Johan and one of people that work in the shops at a restaurant, so joined them. Regina got food, and I got an orange juice and we all sat and talked and checked out stuff on the internet. The three of them left around 2 and I was left alone. Soon after though, a waitress told me that I needed to leave because they needed the tables because it was getting to be lunchtime, this was after another woman had sat with me and ordered a drink so she could get online as well. They kicked her out, and moved a chair to the back for me to sit, but then they turned off the wifi! Right after I’d just started talking to Mom. So, I left, got on the tender and just spent an hour of my ship internet time to finish talking to her. On the tender though, I looked back at that restaurant, and half the tables were now empty. So much for the big lunch rush this lady was expecting.
Anyway, I rested the rest of the afternoon, had dinner and then it was up to Club HAL for “Cranium Craze.” We had 16 kids, so it was perfect for two games of cranium, with 2 people per team. I ended up with the wild group though, they kept getting a bit out of control, so I ended up just stopping the game for a bit until they calmed down somewhat. Having just Cranium as a theme night isn’t really the greatest idea, but some approved theme nights sometimes just aren’t very good for too many/few kids, or certain groups of kids. Maybe it works with other groups.
I had after-hours tonight, two of my tweens stayed. They tired themselves out running back and forth on the skate ramp for a while, then we sat down and they watched the end of Spy Kids 4. Easy after-hours! I was supposed to meet Jessie to hang out for a bit, but she’d gone to Betty’s room for a ‘nail party’ and when I got off, I was too tired to do much; it’d been a long day so I just went straight to bed.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
stuck on the ship in Kusadasi
August 15, 2013: Kusadasi, Turkey
Again, I didn’t sleep well. Despite getting to sleep in until nearly 10, I felt exhausted and didn’t want to get up. I got up to Club HAL early to take over for Leah at 10:45 so she could go on the crew tour to the water park (apparently the 3rd biggest in Europe, and it has the biggest waterslide in Europe). There were 8 kids there, but they were a quiet group and were content to color and watch Brave and Monsters Inc. Lunch went fine, and it was quiet again until 2 when all the other kids started to show up. All the non-English-speaking kids came at once, and wanted me to get things for them all at once as well. So much for a quiet port day. I finally got them somewhat settled, got the little ones watching Finding Nemo, and I started playing Skip-Bo with the others for a while, then realized that the older Spanish kids were taking over the xbox games from the younger ones, and when the little ones would switch games, the older ones would follow. Frustrating. Finally I made them choose a game and it was a bit more quiet after that. They all came to the couches, and brought out the bean bags to watch Madagascar 3 for the last hour. And of course, some parents didn’t come until 4:15 to pick up their kids.
I probably could’ve gotten off the ship for an hour or so and gotten some wifi, but I’ve never been here before and don’t know how far away good wifi is, and I was still exhausted so I stayed on and tried (yet again) to nap. I tossed and turned until dinner. Dinner was good at least, the pasta line was open, they had fruit soup and ensaymadas! And Emily was there, so I took a quick trip to her room to get some melatonin to see if it’ll help me sleep tonight.
Movie night in Club HAL again, I feel like it’s a bit close to the last one, but oh well, I needed a night of not having to do a whole lot. I started a 2000 piece puzzle during free time with some of the kids (mainly to keep my mind busy so I wouldn’t drift off), then we all settled down to watch Zookeeper.
Indian Independence day is today and I was invited to the PO for a party, but I’m not sure if I’m going, especially since Ryan called me as soon as I got back to the room to tell me a family has an early tour and I need to be in Club HAL by 7:40 for them to drop the kids off. Although, if I don’t stay up until 12 to do my hours, I just know I’ll end up forgetting in the morning…
Again, I didn’t sleep well. Despite getting to sleep in until nearly 10, I felt exhausted and didn’t want to get up. I got up to Club HAL early to take over for Leah at 10:45 so she could go on the crew tour to the water park (apparently the 3rd biggest in Europe, and it has the biggest waterslide in Europe). There were 8 kids there, but they were a quiet group and were content to color and watch Brave and Monsters Inc. Lunch went fine, and it was quiet again until 2 when all the other kids started to show up. All the non-English-speaking kids came at once, and wanted me to get things for them all at once as well. So much for a quiet port day. I finally got them somewhat settled, got the little ones watching Finding Nemo, and I started playing Skip-Bo with the others for a while, then realized that the older Spanish kids were taking over the xbox games from the younger ones, and when the little ones would switch games, the older ones would follow. Frustrating. Finally I made them choose a game and it was a bit more quiet after that. They all came to the couches, and brought out the bean bags to watch Madagascar 3 for the last hour. And of course, some parents didn’t come until 4:15 to pick up their kids.
I probably could’ve gotten off the ship for an hour or so and gotten some wifi, but I’ve never been here before and don’t know how far away good wifi is, and I was still exhausted so I stayed on and tried (yet again) to nap. I tossed and turned until dinner. Dinner was good at least, the pasta line was open, they had fruit soup and ensaymadas! And Emily was there, so I took a quick trip to her room to get some melatonin to see if it’ll help me sleep tonight.
Movie night in Club HAL again, I feel like it’s a bit close to the last one, but oh well, I needed a night of not having to do a whole lot. I started a 2000 piece puzzle during free time with some of the kids (mainly to keep my mind busy so I wouldn’t drift off), then we all settled down to watch Zookeeper.
Indian Independence day is today and I was invited to the PO for a party, but I’m not sure if I’m going, especially since Ryan called me as soon as I got back to the room to tell me a family has an early tour and I need to be in Club HAL by 7:40 for them to drop the kids off. Although, if I don’t stay up until 12 to do my hours, I just know I’ll end up forgetting in the morning…
long day on the ship
August 14, 2013: Lesbos, Greece
It was a really long day. I haven’t slept well the last few nights and last night was no exception. I left breakfast and went up to Club HAL, then realized that we had kids in the kitchen this morning, so then I had to run all the way to deck 2 for that. It was a pretty hectic kids in the kitchen. We had a lot of them show up, some that hadn’t come before, so we had to run back upstairs for registration forms, and they didn’t give us forks to eat the pancakes with, so I ran up to the Lido for those, and they didn’t provide enough toppings so we had to closely regulate how many blueberries each kid got. I was relieved to go upstairs and play balloon volleyball and scattegories. Tendering didn’t start until 11, so I attempted to nap for an hour and a half, then went to lunch before checking on Meghna, Betty and Santana who were working tendering. It was crazy, so I went back to the room to try to make another attempt at a nap. Meghna came back at 2:45, finally done with tendering. She said crew were allowed shore leave, but last crew tender was at 4. I decided it wasn’t really worth it to get off for an hour, especially since the tender ride round trip would take up over half that hour. I did laundry instead.
The afternoon went by pretty slowly, I kept trying (unsuccessfully) to nap as I waited on my laundry. At least I was a productive day, clean clothes!
Olympic night was a bit crazy, lots of kids and some of them didn’t speak English so didn’t understand the rules of the games. Then some of the English speaking kids who are very competitive started to cheat and to contest our judgment and rules. I was glad when the night finally ended. I had after hours, but only for about 20 minutes, and we played Skip-Bo the whole time. Afterwards I tried to call Emily, who said she’d give me some melatonin to see if it might help me sleep, but she wasn’t in the room.
It was a really long day. I haven’t slept well the last few nights and last night was no exception. I left breakfast and went up to Club HAL, then realized that we had kids in the kitchen this morning, so then I had to run all the way to deck 2 for that. It was a pretty hectic kids in the kitchen. We had a lot of them show up, some that hadn’t come before, so we had to run back upstairs for registration forms, and they didn’t give us forks to eat the pancakes with, so I ran up to the Lido for those, and they didn’t provide enough toppings so we had to closely regulate how many blueberries each kid got. I was relieved to go upstairs and play balloon volleyball and scattegories. Tendering didn’t start until 11, so I attempted to nap for an hour and a half, then went to lunch before checking on Meghna, Betty and Santana who were working tendering. It was crazy, so I went back to the room to try to make another attempt at a nap. Meghna came back at 2:45, finally done with tendering. She said crew were allowed shore leave, but last crew tender was at 4. I decided it wasn’t really worth it to get off for an hour, especially since the tender ride round trip would take up over half that hour. I did laundry instead.
The afternoon went by pretty slowly, I kept trying (unsuccessfully) to nap as I waited on my laundry. At least I was a productive day, clean clothes!
Olympic night was a bit crazy, lots of kids and some of them didn’t speak English so didn’t understand the rules of the games. Then some of the English speaking kids who are very competitive started to cheat and to contest our judgment and rules. I was glad when the night finally ended. I had after hours, but only for about 20 minutes, and we played Skip-Bo the whole time. Afterwards I tried to call Emily, who said she’d give me some melatonin to see if it might help me sleep, but she wasn’t in the room.
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