I rode a donkey in Greece

September 21, 2013: Santorini
I had to be up early again today, this time to help with tendering. I collected tickets and talked with some of the guests until we hit open tender after only an hour and a half. Just in time to run up and get breakfast! I called Megan and she joined Emily and me for breakfast; we ended up staying there talking until 11. Megan and I went downstairs, changed and got off the ship to walk around Santorini.

I managed to convince Megan that we should take the donkeys up the mountain instead of the cable car, so we did that. It was interesting, at least they didn’t just set the donkeys off on their own like I’ve heard a lot of people talk about. We didn’t take a whole lot of pictures because Megan didn’t have time to get her camera out before they told her to get on the donkey, and I had my camera out, but it was a really bumpy ride! Someone did take pictures though, and had them printed out and waiting for us once we reached the top (for a price of course, but we bought them anyway, 4 euros to have the documentation that you rode a donkey in Greece isn’t bad).

We just wandered around taking pictures until we ran into part of the photo team, we joined up with them for lunch and internet, and ended up walking down the mountain (on the slippery donkey path/steps). I definitely do NOT recommend walking down! I slid and fell quite a few times, got cut off from the others by a train of donkeys, got squished against the wall by a donkey and just slid down a few of the steps a lot It’s a dangerous way to go.

Once we got back to the ship, I decided to go through some of my pictures from the last few days, but ended up inadvertently taking a nap instead. Megan and I split did the two night shifts together again, we played Skip-Bo, Super Mario Bros, air hockey, foosball, made paper airplanes and played hide-and-seek with the kids. A pretty busy night for us. After work, we ended up playing Skip-Bo in the OB for a while, talking to a few people and attempted to be somewhat social in our exhausted state. It’s another busy day tomorrow, I have port day, and there’s a crew party (in Club HAL of all places… they’re going to be trying to set up while we have kids there, should be interesting; we’ll see how that turns out.).

Ephesus

September 20, 2013: Ephesus
I had port day yesterday, so didn’t have to deal with Lesbos tendering, of course that meant that I never got off at that port, but according to most people, there’s not much to miss in going. Anyway, I signed up for a few excursions to Ephesus a few days ago, hoping that I may get one, despite the fact that the sign-up page was already half full. Luckily, there were at least two buses for each excursion, and it seems like they sent an escort with each bus, so I got to go to Ephesus. It was a very early morning, I had to be in the showroom by 7:15 to meet the rest of the group and direct them downstairs where we all got off the ship and walked around to find our bus. The Celebrity Equinox arrived in port and got cleared the same time as us, so all of their excursions were leaving at the same times as well, it was a bit chaotic! The parking lot was full and there were people attempting to direct tours to their buses, and directing traffic as buses left. I almost walked into a bus, yikes. We had a small bus, a rather small tour group; 23 of us including me. The 30 minute drive to Ephesus wasn’t bad, our guide told us a bit about the history of the area and the general plan for our tour.

We arrived and hung out at the entrance, and bought hats/bottles of water while our guide got the tickets. Once inside, we put in our headphones and tuned into our tours’ channel on the audio guide things and followed her as she told us about what different building were, what they were used for, where the harbor was, etc. That was a LOT of information thrown at us all at once, especially as we were trying not to lose her in the crowd and take pictures at the same time. I also had the added responsibility of making sure all the guests in our tour weren’t lost and were managing to keep up somewhat well (the ground was somewhat slippery as we were going downhill on well-worn rocks).

It wasn’t bad though, we got a good tour of the area and got to go up into one of the Terrace Houses. We had about 30 minutes on our own near the end to either get some souvenirs, use the restrooms, or see the theatre. I walked around the theatre, took some pictures, ran into a 5-minute long “gladiator” show, and got a snack since I’d missed breakfast. We all made it back to the bus on time and listened to our guide talk as we rode back to the ship. We got back just after 11:30, so I hung out in the room a bit before going to lunch and hang out with Megan in Club HAL since it was her port day. We watched a movie with the 4-year-old that’s been staying most days this cruise (she’s bored of it, will have been here for 24 days at the end of this cruise, too long for this child).

After 4, Megan and I got off and walked around inside the port for a bit, took a few pictures, broke a few hearts (because we didn’t stop in some of the shops in the port area), and bought a few souvenirs; all in the hour before all aboard. I had enough time to go through a few of my pictures before dinnertime. It was another movie night, so we hung with Ryan for a bit until he put in the movie, then Megan and I walked around the ship for an hour or so, running various errands (picking up photos from the photo gallery, withdrawing money at the crew office, looking around the shops, and generally showing Megan around the areas of the ship she hasn’t been to yet). Then, we went back upstairs just as the movie was ending and my night shift started. Right about the time that movie ended at 9, all but one of the kids left, so we put in Dumbo (it’s only an hour) for her, and after she left Megan and I tried not to fall asleep for the last hour of my shift. We had intended to play Skip-Bo in the OB, but decided against it since we both had almost fallen asleep watching movies tonight.

Istanbul

September 18, 2013: Istanbul day 2
Megan and I got breakfast together, then I had to go for the fire drill, she got ready, and we met up after the fire drill was finished. We got off the ship, and walked to the Spice Market, walked around for a while, then to the Grand Bazaar. I led the way, despite the fact that I’d only been once before. That was a bit scary, especially when I went for a few minutes without recognizing anything. We got there fine though, the few times I thought we were going the wrong way, we were going the right way and I just didn’t realize it for a few minutes. We wandered around the whole Bazaar, not buying anything but looking and taking quite a few photos.

Once we figured we had walked around the whole thing, we made our way back down the hill to the bridge. We considered making our way to Taksim Square since I hadn’t been there yet and so many people talk about it, but ended up going back to the restaurant we were at yesterday and getting internet for an hour or so before heading back to the ship early (I was paranoid about getting back before the lines got long).

Emily and I ended up getting to chat in the room, I hadn’t seen her much over the last two days. Who knew you could live in the same room with someone, work in the same department and not see them for nearly two days? She went to work, and I sat down to read until dinner and work. Megan and I shared the night, it was “games galore” but none of the kids were really into doing anything at all, so we played Skip-Bo. Two of them found something to complain about every other minute, but they all left about 9, I think they’d just had a really busy day and were tired, that’s why they were so grumpy and whiny. I left later than usual, half past 9 instead of 9, just as another kid was coming in, a guest entertainer’s kid; I felt bad leaving Megan alone with her, but I’d told Emily I’d meet her and Steph in the Queen’s Lounge to listen to the band. Formal night, so I had to change and head up, just in time for the last 15 minutes or so of 50/60’s night. The band had another set though, so we stuck around and the three of us got to hang out, which was fun. After the band finished, they had a meeting, so we went up to the Lido for pizza since we were hungry for some reason. It was a nice “girls night.” Hopefully next time, it’ll be Megan’s night off or her early work shift so all four of us can have a girls night

sea day/Istanbul

September 17, 2013: Istanbul day 1
Today was half a sea day for us of course, I got to sleep in, then went to breakfast and hung out in Club HAL with Megan for half of her morning shift. I had the afternoon shift and Megan hung out with me for a bit during that. It was a small group, so not bad at all, and they all left around 3:30 because parents wanted to get them ready because it looked like we were arriving a bit early. I got to change, and Megan met me at my room not long after we docked so we could go out in Istanbul together. She was absolutely amazed by everything she saw; I’m still amazed by Istanbul. We walked down the coast to the bridge that leads to the Spice Market and Grand Bazaar. We didn’t go to the Bazaar today, we got to the bridge, then turned around and started walking back to the ship. We stopped at a restaurant, got some “Turkish pancakes” (basically quesadillas), coke, and wifi. It was nice just sitting, snacking, and talking to friends back home. I had to get back for work though, so we left and made our way back to the ship. I got changed and to work just in time. It was movie night, so I started “The Princess and the Frog.” Megan came up to join me after a while, and we watched “Great Mouse Detective.” Still none of the kids came, so around 10, we went downstairs for pizza before moving in to the Loft and watched the start of the new “Alice in Wonderland.” None of the teens came, so we left after 11, too tired to stay much later and finish the movie. It was fun sharing both of our shifts, especially since it was movie night and that would be very lonely to work alone.

last Katakolon

September 15, 2013: Katakolon
I had port day today. I got up early, and put the sign on the Club HAL door at 8, then went to breakfast. There were a surprisingly small number of people at breakfast, I guess this cruise is full of late risers that come to breakfast late or early risers who all go to shore. It was kind of odd. Anyway, after breakfast I’d figured I’d only have a little bit of time before someone called for me on the YPC deck phone to go to work. However, I went back to the room and ended up going back to sleep until Emily had to go to her abandon ship drill at 10:30. I kept waking up thinking I heard the phone ring, but it hadn’t. I ended up going back to sleep until lunchtime, then after lunch hung out in Club HAL for a bit before going back to the room and reading. The whole afternoon I ended up having to answer the room phone when people called Emily, and the YPC phone when people tried to get a hold of Ryan. IT was kind of entertainin the situation with Emily; she would leave the room and someone would call, and when she came back and called them back, they weren’t there. They kept missing one another. Even when she went up to see him, a few seconds after she left, he knocked on our door. As I was getting down from the bunk to answer the door, I stepped on the chair and misstepped, causing the chair to fold in on itself, around my leg. That was an exciting way to answer the door. No one ended up calling for me to come up for Port Day.

I had dinner with Megan and went up to Club HAL with her for a bit, then changed clothes so I could go to the show. It wasn’t a bad show, especially since it was a comedian and I don’t typically find comedians very entertaining. Then I went to the Queen’s Lounge to hang out with Emily and watch the band play.

so starts the last Greece/Turkey cruise

September 13, 2013: Venice day 3
I didn’t have anything to do until 3 today. Lucky though because I woke up this morning and it felt like someone had their hand around my eye and were pulling on it. Painful. I went to breakfast, then went up to see how Ryan’s port day was. A bit of excitement there, as I was walking in, a guest came up to me, asked if I was staff, then showed me to a woman who’d fallen on the wet outside decks. I went in and got Ryan to call for help. Her husband thought she’d broken her wrist, but she seemed to be doing pretty well, more embarrassed than anything. The doctors came and took her to the medical center a few minutes later. First time I’ve seen anything like that happen here (not that it doesn’t, I’ve just never been around thank goodness). I still had the headache, so went back to the room to lay down for a while. I ended up missing lunch, but I did manage to wake up and get to work on time.

It was an easy afternoon, working 3:30-6. 30 minutes with two kids, and then I went to the Loft and worked on my puzzle until dinnertime.

Maasdam reunion in Venice!

September 12, 2013: Venice embark
I had to be up fairly early for Club HAL on an embark day, but that’s because of a roundabout reason. A few cruises ago, HAL got rid of the disembarkation talk and “Love in Any Language,” which was a kind of show for the guests, featuring at least half the people from every department, it was the “crew’s farewell to the guests.” Once they got rid of that, they replaced it by having one or two people from every department stand on the gangway the whole time guests are disembarking, just to wave and say bye. That’s before 7am until after 10am, just waving and saying bye. I think it’s weird, it’s too early in the morning for those of us who have this as our one absolute morning off, and it’s unfair to the departments who have to work all embark day and yet have to sacrifice a few people to just stand and wave.

Anyway, Club HAL is now on that rotation in the entertainment department, so Ryan and I split the morning, I got to stand out there 8:30-10, then had to finish packing and move rooms. Moving rooms took a lot longer than anticipated for a few reasons. I didn’t have a key, because I’ve been working when the crew office has been open the last few days; once I got a key though, the key to my old room was deactivated and I didn’t discover that until I’d gone all the way back to the room to get a load of stuff. By the way, my room was all the way at the back of the ship, and crew office is all the way forward, not to mention that they’re supposed to be closed on the morning of embark day. Then, once I got them to fix that key, I tried the other key, which wasn’t working now, and when I finally got to my third and final trip to my old room, that key had been deactivated. So, I got my exercise this morning running from the back of the ship, to the front and back and forth again and again.

Anyway, once I got that fixed and got all my stuff into the room finally, I went by to say by to James. Cass and I had agreed to meet at my gangway at 11, so we met and since I’d moved already, we went into Venice together just to walk around and catch up. We walked a different way than I’ve walked before and we saw quite a lot of cool stuff, there’s one shop that lets you paint your own Venetian mask, they apparently made masks for a movie Nicole Kidman was in, with the mask, they give you an instruction/history book of the masks. Pretty cool; we didn’t have the time to do it, but Cass and I are both thinking of going back there when we’re next in Venice. We got pizza for lunch and then had to head back to the ship so she could be ready for their drill before all aboard time.

I had a bit of a scare involving my pillow, stuffed animals, neck pillow, and devotional (all in my pillow) being gone from my newly-made bed, but I got the HR manager to help me fix it and housekeeping gave me my stuff back (which they’d apparently thought the girl before me had left).
Then I went up to Club HAL to see how Open House was going. I met Megan, a new Club HAL girl that none of us knew was coming today. She said she was supposed to come last cruise; still odd that none of us knew, Crew Office was in a scramble this morning to find a room for her (they told me this as I came in to get my key fixed for the third time).

I got to relax in my new room the rest of the afternoon, chatting with Emily. After dinner, I did the same until Ryan called to ask if I could come up early to cover for him because he had to meet someone and do Event Manager stuff (he’s taken over for the next two weeks since our EM had to go to Seattle for some kind of training). Megan came up later and we worked the night shift together. Just one kid for 15 minutes, and we played Skip-Bo. After he left (one of the 11yearolds that was here last cruise as well), we played a few more games of Skip-Bo, then closed up at 10 and went to the Loft in case one of the three teens showed up. They didn’t, so we ended up working on my puzzle for the next hour and a half before I showed her the OB and we hung out there until we could do our hours.