December 26, 2013: St. Thomas
Andy and I had to work Kids in the Kitchen for our tweens this morning at 9. Only a few kids came to that, which was kind of nice because everyone got two Rice Krispy treats and a cup of whichever of the two smoothies we made. It wasn’t a bad way to start off the morning! I could’ve gotten off after that, but the rest of Club HAL had raft drills this morning (some of them two because they had the new-crew one in addition to a scheduled one for their number), so I had to go upstairs and cover for Christine in Club HAL during her drill. By the time all the drills were done, it was 11:30. A few of the boys came up to see what was going on and Andy, Ethan, Royce and I ended up deciding to eat a light lunch on the ship before heading to Magen’s Bay for some beach time.
It was a bit of a ride to get there, but once we were there, it was really nice weather, a beautiful beach, and lots of fun! They played soccer for a bit, we all swam, I got to lay out in the sun for a while, then we took a lot of time and walked from one end of the beach to the other, even exploring in the shallow rocky areas on either end. We actually saw quite a few fish which was cool, sea urchins, minnows and some small striped yellow and black fish. We only had about 30 minutes once we got back to our spot to enjoy the sun and for the boys to kick around the soccer ball before I made us leave to make it back on time. It was a good afternoon though, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Once back, I showered and lounged around reading until nearly dinnertime when I realized I had to go upstairs and eat soon! My tweens had RockStar night in the Loft. We hadn’t been in the Loft yet, so I gave them about half an hour to play foosball and air hockey before we moved onto playing ‘Just Dance’ on the Wii and Celebrity Heads. Celebrity Heads was quite popular, surprising for me since so many of them were trying to cheat and giving away the answers to the other kids.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Christmas Day in Puerto Rico
December 25, 2013
This morning was a whole day unto itself. I woke up at the usual time for work at 9, but instead of going to work in Club HAL, I had to quickly change into an elf and make my way to the Showroom at Sea. There, Christine told me and Christine basically to hide through the first activity (candy cane bingo), so we went down to the Pit and waited. We made sure that all the presents were there and pretty much in order, then I ended up actually falling asleep in “Santa’s chair.” Finally, they showed the video of Santa running around the ship, Santa came in the Showroom, the Pit rose, and Santa and his elves were reunited. Ryan (singer from the cast) was Santa, so we had a quick conversation and laugh as he sat down; he couldn’t see for the wig and hat, so we decided I’d just give out the gifts.
For the next hour, I smiled nonstop, gave out lots of presents and took more pictures than I have in my life so far. So many kids, adults, and families wanted pictures with Santa and his elves. It was fun though; Ryan, Rachel (the EM), and Christine all told me how good a job I did at both being ready for pictures and giving out the gifts at a proper time and perfectly according to age. :) That’s a good sign, when your boss and boss’ boss compliment you on something like that!
That took about an hour, housekeeping probably hates us because of all the snow that was slowly fluttering down all inside the Showroom that whole time. It was a nice effect, but a lot of clean-up work for them. Once the Showroom was clear of guests, I helped Christine carry the boxes of presents to the office, ran downstairs and changed before running up to help her with the last activity before port day. The rest of Club HAL had immigration, so it was just me, Christine and Ethan upstairs with three kids who colored those 30 minutes. Some parents, however, did not pick up their kids at the time posted, and ended up staying the rest of the afternoon (we were only scheduled for programming until 11:30, then port day started at 12). I stayed with them while Christine ran downstairs to quickly eat some lunch (some kids got picked up for a quick lunch and were returned to us in 15 minutes while others were signed in between 11:30 and 12.
After that, Ethan and I grabbed some lunch and the rest of us in Club HAL made our plans for the afternoon in San Juan. OF course we all wanted internet at some point, but Kristin wanted to find a beach, Phil wanted to go surfing, and Ethan wanted to wander on his own. So, I ended up hanging out with Andy and Royce, we walked around for about 2 hours, stopping a lot for photoshoots, then realized that if we wanted internet for a decent amount of time we’d better find a place. We found a restaurant right across the street from the ship and stopped there for wifi for about an hour and a half! I got to upload pictures (finally from the first two weeks back here), and get on skype! I’m actually still registering that I spent Christmas day in San Juan, Puerto Rico while my family is all still at home.
We had to hurry back to the ship because they were putting on a Christmas Dinner for those of us with Officer status and formalwear was required. I went for the more casual formalwear and most of the other girls did too (at least, the girls who weren’t actual officers or engineers who have an actual formal uniform to wear). We were a bit worried about having enough time to eat before work (especially because Kristin’s first contract was during Christmas and they never actually got their food before they had to run off to work), but it was fine, even though they did forget to give us our entrees for a while (they brought us dessert actually before our entrees). It was a bit strange sitting in the Lido and being served by housekeeping staff, but it was a nice dinner (I had fruit as an appetizer, and steak as my entrée! YUM, filet mignon!!).
We changed and made it to work right on time. It was movie night anyway, so we didn’t have anything to prepare for. We gave the kids 30 minutes of free time, then did a mummy wrap with wrapping paper, a snowball fight with the same (but torn up) wrapping paper, and then played four corners before we put on Wreck-it Ralph.
I was exhausted by then, I only barely managed to stay awake through Wreck-it Ralph; and I wasn’t the only one. All of us in Club HAL (with the exception of the teen counselors and Andy who volunteered to do after hours) went straight to bed at 10 (the others as soon as they were finished with work after midnight). It was a lonnnngg day. Good, but very long and tiring.
This morning was a whole day unto itself. I woke up at the usual time for work at 9, but instead of going to work in Club HAL, I had to quickly change into an elf and make my way to the Showroom at Sea. There, Christine told me and Christine basically to hide through the first activity (candy cane bingo), so we went down to the Pit and waited. We made sure that all the presents were there and pretty much in order, then I ended up actually falling asleep in “Santa’s chair.” Finally, they showed the video of Santa running around the ship, Santa came in the Showroom, the Pit rose, and Santa and his elves were reunited. Ryan (singer from the cast) was Santa, so we had a quick conversation and laugh as he sat down; he couldn’t see for the wig and hat, so we decided I’d just give out the gifts.
For the next hour, I smiled nonstop, gave out lots of presents and took more pictures than I have in my life so far. So many kids, adults, and families wanted pictures with Santa and his elves. It was fun though; Ryan, Rachel (the EM), and Christine all told me how good a job I did at both being ready for pictures and giving out the gifts at a proper time and perfectly according to age. :) That’s a good sign, when your boss and boss’ boss compliment you on something like that!
That took about an hour, housekeeping probably hates us because of all the snow that was slowly fluttering down all inside the Showroom that whole time. It was a nice effect, but a lot of clean-up work for them. Once the Showroom was clear of guests, I helped Christine carry the boxes of presents to the office, ran downstairs and changed before running up to help her with the last activity before port day. The rest of Club HAL had immigration, so it was just me, Christine and Ethan upstairs with three kids who colored those 30 minutes. Some parents, however, did not pick up their kids at the time posted, and ended up staying the rest of the afternoon (we were only scheduled for programming until 11:30, then port day started at 12). I stayed with them while Christine ran downstairs to quickly eat some lunch (some kids got picked up for a quick lunch and were returned to us in 15 minutes while others were signed in between 11:30 and 12.
After that, Ethan and I grabbed some lunch and the rest of us in Club HAL made our plans for the afternoon in San Juan. OF course we all wanted internet at some point, but Kristin wanted to find a beach, Phil wanted to go surfing, and Ethan wanted to wander on his own. So, I ended up hanging out with Andy and Royce, we walked around for about 2 hours, stopping a lot for photoshoots, then realized that if we wanted internet for a decent amount of time we’d better find a place. We found a restaurant right across the street from the ship and stopped there for wifi for about an hour and a half! I got to upload pictures (finally from the first two weeks back here), and get on skype! I’m actually still registering that I spent Christmas day in San Juan, Puerto Rico while my family is all still at home.
We had to hurry back to the ship because they were putting on a Christmas Dinner for those of us with Officer status and formalwear was required. I went for the more casual formalwear and most of the other girls did too (at least, the girls who weren’t actual officers or engineers who have an actual formal uniform to wear). We were a bit worried about having enough time to eat before work (especially because Kristin’s first contract was during Christmas and they never actually got their food before they had to run off to work), but it was fine, even though they did forget to give us our entrees for a while (they brought us dessert actually before our entrees). It was a bit strange sitting in the Lido and being served by housekeeping staff, but it was a nice dinner (I had fruit as an appetizer, and steak as my entrée! YUM, filet mignon!!).
We changed and made it to work right on time. It was movie night anyway, so we didn’t have anything to prepare for. We gave the kids 30 minutes of free time, then did a mummy wrap with wrapping paper, a snowball fight with the same (but torn up) wrapping paper, and then played four corners before we put on Wreck-it Ralph.
I was exhausted by then, I only barely managed to stay awake through Wreck-it Ralph; and I wasn’t the only one. All of us in Club HAL (with the exception of the teen counselors and Andy who volunteered to do after hours) went straight to bed at 10 (the others as soon as they were finished with work after midnight). It was a lonnnngg day. Good, but very long and tiring.
Christmas Eve & "where'd you find this adorable dog?"
December 24, 2013
Christmas on ships is an entirely different experience. A whole new world from Christmas on land. For one, it’s SUNNY and WARM! I don’t think I’ve ever really had a white Christmas (at least, not one I remember), so it’s not the snow I’m missing. However, it being Christmas Eve day and I spent it at the beach, that just seems like an oxymoron. Another thing is, family and tradition are missing. I’ve heard that ship-Christmases have their own traditions, but as this is my first Christmas on board, they are all foreign and new to me.
The Christmas-Tree Lighting Ceremony was one of these new traditions. I don’t think I elaborate on that much the other day so here goes. At around 7, all the available entertainment department members were gathered in the Ent. Office, Santa hats on, wearing nice clothes (for those that didn’t have to wear uniforms at all, or even just at night; basically everyone was in pretty/Christmasy clothes except for Club HAL). The cast had sheet music because they were in charge of leading the songs, and the rest of us just followed along as we hadn’t been given any instructions as to what we should do. Our department arrived, singing jingle bells in the atrium (about 30 steps from the office) and everyone else filed into place. The stage crew, librarian, show host, and party planner headed up the stairs quickly to Deck 3; the cast lined up along the stairs from Deck 1 to Deck 2; we just followed and ended up lining up behind the cast on those stairs. The room was full of noise, half the people were singing, the other half were just talking to one another, it seemed as if they were oblivious to the fact that something important was happening. The cruise director introduced us, we sang another song and then the main event took place. Two kids had been chosen earlier in the day to light the tree. They were up front and the cruise director took them aside, introduced them, and gave them the “magic snow” to sprinkle around the tree to make it light. We had a bit of technical errors as the magic took some time to work, but the tree lit up eventually. Immediately we launched into “Let It Snow” as the people on Deck 3 threw ‘snowflakes’ from buckets down onto the floors below, like magic right? I feel like it could’ve been better organized, but it still had some feel of magic to it, the kids definitely thought it was magic, they couldn’t see the secret buckets being reached into for the snow. That’s what counts on ships though, the kids view of Christmas, and of course the rest of the guests, but for me in Club HAL, it’s ALL about the kids. They enjoyed it, which means we did our job!
The morning was quiet when it comes to Christmas activities, I guess it’s just the fact that I seem to be the only one in the world who views Christmas Eve just as important as Christmas Day, possibly even more so. I guess it’s because of the candlelight service at church, really celebrating Jesus’ birth! Christmas Day is always exciting with the presents and all, but the REAL Christmas in my mind is always the night before; it reminds us of the real reason we celebrate, of why we give gifts. There were Santa hats everywhere, pretty much everyone was required to wear one today and tomorrow.
I found out that night in Club HAL that there was a Christmas Mass at 5, if I had known earlier, I probably would have attended, it would’ve been better than nothing, but they didn’t advertise it to crew or even much around the ship (probably because a lot of the families on board this cruise are Jewish).
At 11pm, we had our concert. It has some aspects of the candlelight service I’m used to, music of course, and the singing of “Silent Night” by ‘candle’light. I didn’t get to really watch and hear what was going on though, because we were stuck backstage until time for the international choir (anyone but Filipinos and Indonesians) to sing. There was a much bigger group for this than there was for rehearsals for a few reasons actually. 1) The engineers and deckies are required to be at the concert if they’re not on watch, but they aren’t required to go to rehearsals, and 2) free drinks at the OB as we waited to get organized and go onstage. It was definitely an interesting experience. We filed down the stairs at almost exactly 11, but the Filipino choir and Cantare (the 4 male singers of the cast) sang before us, so we were waiting on the crew staircase between decks 1 and 4 for about 20 minutes. Safety hazard? Plus, all the girls were wearing dresses and heels. Not a great combination with the stairs on a night when we were rocking pretty hard. All of us were glad when we finally had enough room backstage to stand and wait there before we crowded onto the stage, sang our three songs and went back backstage. After that, it was only a short time before we were back onstage, turning our ‘candles’ on, singing “Silent Night” and making our way up the stairs and out the Deck 3 doors. What they didn’t tell us in rehearsal about that is that we had to stand there and wait for all the guests to leave, wishing them all a Merry Christmas as they went.
After all the guests left, word quickly spread about a Christmas gathering for us in the Pinnacle. There, we found more free drinks and lots of food. I had my time of being the social butterfly (I have friends in lots of departments and they were all sitting in different parts of the room!), ate a few ensamadas and wished everyone I could a “Merry Christmas!” I was very Christmasy in a red dress and Santa hat, much more Christmasy than that elf costume I think!
After they closed up the Pinnacle, most everyone ended up in the Northern Lights, our guest area curfew had been extended, so we were allowed to be there for a while. I didn’t stay too long though because it was already really late, I was tired and I had work in the morning.
Now, to the non-Christmas-related part of my day.
Fire drill was at 10:30 this morning, which greatly delayed my getting off the ship and enjoying the sun. However, I did get off as soon as I could after that with Ethan. We met Phil on the beach and ended up far down the beach at a place a lot of crew members go (most guests never make it further than three restaurants away from the ship). It was nice, they had food, music, and of course, the beach right outside. And then, we found a dog. This dog belongs to the people who run this place and he has full run of the beach (not that he goes very far), the crew members that’ve been here since the start of the season know him well by now. I made a friend today! He’s a really sweet dog, it took him some time to listen, but we became friends after that. When Ethan, Phil and I first went in the water, the dog followed us a little bit in, then decided it’d be more fun to dig, so he dug and dug and dug, occasionally turning around as the sand flew behind him. I eventually figured out that he liked the sand flying through the air. So, I threw some clumps of sand up to see what he would do. I spent the next hour or so gathering sand and throwing I for him to try to catch! It was great fun! Though, we did draw a lot of attention from other people walking by. Once I got tired, I went to lay out on my towel for a little bit, and he followed me, resting for a bit, before running back towards the water to play some more, I couldn’t resist, so I followed.
Phil left, and the Recycled Percussion guys came out and found the dog just as fascinating as I did. “Where did you find this adorable dog?” They joined me in playing with him, and we even got him out further into the water. I’m not sure if he really has ever swam much before, he seemed rather uncertain about it, but he really wanted to join us. For a while, he was walking in the deeper water on his back paws. I picked him up and his instincts took over and he was swimming around us in no time. When he got tired, he’d swim over to me and I’d hold him up for a while. Finally, he got too tired and made his way back to more firm ground where he began digging again. One of the guys from the group actually ended up helping him dig. That was entertaining to watch, man and dog digging a hole in the sand, trying to beat the water which kept filling up the hole as they were working. Not long after that, I figured I should head back to the ship, perfect timing because as soon as I had my stuff together and was about to start walking, I felt a few raindrops. I started walking and suddenly it was a constant drizzle. Next thing I knew, Recycled Percussion and other crew members were running past me and it was raining much harder. I decided it wasn’t worth it, I was wet already, couldn’t hurt to get any more wet, so I just walked normally back to the ship. Of course, once there, I was drenched and looking like a wet dog. Luckily, Kristin was working the afternoon shift, so I didn’t have to worry about taking over the bathroom to take a good long shower once back in the room. The security at the gangway did find it hilarious how soaked I was though, guests were coming in with towels over their heads and umbrellas, but there I was, one with the rain and completely drenched!
Christmas on ships is an entirely different experience. A whole new world from Christmas on land. For one, it’s SUNNY and WARM! I don’t think I’ve ever really had a white Christmas (at least, not one I remember), so it’s not the snow I’m missing. However, it being Christmas Eve day and I spent it at the beach, that just seems like an oxymoron. Another thing is, family and tradition are missing. I’ve heard that ship-Christmases have their own traditions, but as this is my first Christmas on board, they are all foreign and new to me.
The Christmas-Tree Lighting Ceremony was one of these new traditions. I don’t think I elaborate on that much the other day so here goes. At around 7, all the available entertainment department members were gathered in the Ent. Office, Santa hats on, wearing nice clothes (for those that didn’t have to wear uniforms at all, or even just at night; basically everyone was in pretty/Christmasy clothes except for Club HAL). The cast had sheet music because they were in charge of leading the songs, and the rest of us just followed along as we hadn’t been given any instructions as to what we should do. Our department arrived, singing jingle bells in the atrium (about 30 steps from the office) and everyone else filed into place. The stage crew, librarian, show host, and party planner headed up the stairs quickly to Deck 3; the cast lined up along the stairs from Deck 1 to Deck 2; we just followed and ended up lining up behind the cast on those stairs. The room was full of noise, half the people were singing, the other half were just talking to one another, it seemed as if they were oblivious to the fact that something important was happening. The cruise director introduced us, we sang another song and then the main event took place. Two kids had been chosen earlier in the day to light the tree. They were up front and the cruise director took them aside, introduced them, and gave them the “magic snow” to sprinkle around the tree to make it light. We had a bit of technical errors as the magic took some time to work, but the tree lit up eventually. Immediately we launched into “Let It Snow” as the people on Deck 3 threw ‘snowflakes’ from buckets down onto the floors below, like magic right? I feel like it could’ve been better organized, but it still had some feel of magic to it, the kids definitely thought it was magic, they couldn’t see the secret buckets being reached into for the snow. That’s what counts on ships though, the kids view of Christmas, and of course the rest of the guests, but for me in Club HAL, it’s ALL about the kids. They enjoyed it, which means we did our job!
The morning was quiet when it comes to Christmas activities, I guess it’s just the fact that I seem to be the only one in the world who views Christmas Eve just as important as Christmas Day, possibly even more so. I guess it’s because of the candlelight service at church, really celebrating Jesus’ birth! Christmas Day is always exciting with the presents and all, but the REAL Christmas in my mind is always the night before; it reminds us of the real reason we celebrate, of why we give gifts. There were Santa hats everywhere, pretty much everyone was required to wear one today and tomorrow.
I found out that night in Club HAL that there was a Christmas Mass at 5, if I had known earlier, I probably would have attended, it would’ve been better than nothing, but they didn’t advertise it to crew or even much around the ship (probably because a lot of the families on board this cruise are Jewish).
At 11pm, we had our concert. It has some aspects of the candlelight service I’m used to, music of course, and the singing of “Silent Night” by ‘candle’light. I didn’t get to really watch and hear what was going on though, because we were stuck backstage until time for the international choir (anyone but Filipinos and Indonesians) to sing. There was a much bigger group for this than there was for rehearsals for a few reasons actually. 1) The engineers and deckies are required to be at the concert if they’re not on watch, but they aren’t required to go to rehearsals, and 2) free drinks at the OB as we waited to get organized and go onstage. It was definitely an interesting experience. We filed down the stairs at almost exactly 11, but the Filipino choir and Cantare (the 4 male singers of the cast) sang before us, so we were waiting on the crew staircase between decks 1 and 4 for about 20 minutes. Safety hazard? Plus, all the girls were wearing dresses and heels. Not a great combination with the stairs on a night when we were rocking pretty hard. All of us were glad when we finally had enough room backstage to stand and wait there before we crowded onto the stage, sang our three songs and went back backstage. After that, it was only a short time before we were back onstage, turning our ‘candles’ on, singing “Silent Night” and making our way up the stairs and out the Deck 3 doors. What they didn’t tell us in rehearsal about that is that we had to stand there and wait for all the guests to leave, wishing them all a Merry Christmas as they went.
After all the guests left, word quickly spread about a Christmas gathering for us in the Pinnacle. There, we found more free drinks and lots of food. I had my time of being the social butterfly (I have friends in lots of departments and they were all sitting in different parts of the room!), ate a few ensamadas and wished everyone I could a “Merry Christmas!” I was very Christmasy in a red dress and Santa hat, much more Christmasy than that elf costume I think!
After they closed up the Pinnacle, most everyone ended up in the Northern Lights, our guest area curfew had been extended, so we were allowed to be there for a while. I didn’t stay too long though because it was already really late, I was tired and I had work in the morning.
Now, to the non-Christmas-related part of my day.
Fire drill was at 10:30 this morning, which greatly delayed my getting off the ship and enjoying the sun. However, I did get off as soon as I could after that with Ethan. We met Phil on the beach and ended up far down the beach at a place a lot of crew members go (most guests never make it further than three restaurants away from the ship). It was nice, they had food, music, and of course, the beach right outside. And then, we found a dog. This dog belongs to the people who run this place and he has full run of the beach (not that he goes very far), the crew members that’ve been here since the start of the season know him well by now. I made a friend today! He’s a really sweet dog, it took him some time to listen, but we became friends after that. When Ethan, Phil and I first went in the water, the dog followed us a little bit in, then decided it’d be more fun to dig, so he dug and dug and dug, occasionally turning around as the sand flew behind him. I eventually figured out that he liked the sand flying through the air. So, I threw some clumps of sand up to see what he would do. I spent the next hour or so gathering sand and throwing I for him to try to catch! It was great fun! Though, we did draw a lot of attention from other people walking by. Once I got tired, I went to lay out on my towel for a little bit, and he followed me, resting for a bit, before running back towards the water to play some more, I couldn’t resist, so I followed.
Phil left, and the Recycled Percussion guys came out and found the dog just as fascinating as I did. “Where did you find this adorable dog?” They joined me in playing with him, and we even got him out further into the water. I’m not sure if he really has ever swam much before, he seemed rather uncertain about it, but he really wanted to join us. For a while, he was walking in the deeper water on his back paws. I picked him up and his instincts took over and he was swimming around us in no time. When he got tired, he’d swim over to me and I’d hold him up for a while. Finally, he got too tired and made his way back to more firm ground where he began digging again. One of the guys from the group actually ended up helping him dig. That was entertaining to watch, man and dog digging a hole in the sand, trying to beat the water which kept filling up the hole as they were working. Not long after that, I figured I should head back to the ship, perfect timing because as soon as I had my stuff together and was about to start walking, I felt a few raindrops. I started walking and suddenly it was a constant drizzle. Next thing I knew, Recycled Percussion and other crew members were running past me and it was raining much harder. I decided it wasn’t worth it, I was wet already, couldn’t hurt to get any more wet, so I just walked normally back to the ship. Of course, once there, I was drenched and looking like a wet dog. Luckily, Kristin was working the afternoon shift, so I didn’t have to worry about taking over the bathroom to take a good long shower once back in the room. The security at the gangway did find it hilarious how soaked I was though, guests were coming in with towels over their heads and umbrellas, but there I was, one with the rain and completely drenched!
Monday, December 23, 2013
life of an elf?
Dec 22, 2013: embark day of the Christmas cruise
The first ¾ of today was absolute insanity it seems. If I had known that they were THAT busy doing other things to think about organizing anything Christmas, I definitely would have volunteered to help organize it all because it was just a big confusing mess. Ethan, Christine and I were in the office with Amanda at 8am to fill up balloons and tie strings on them to put them all up in the check-in area and around the gangway. That part was kind of fun other than the fact that I was tired and hungry; we had a forest of balloons throughout the office. Once we got a good number, we tied them up in groups of three or four. Christine and Ethan went to take those and start decorating while Amanda and I finished the rest. They came back not long after and said that security wouldn’t let them off at the guest gangway, so they figured they’d wait on us and take them all out the crew gangway together. While we were doing more balloons, one of the new Club HAL guys came on, so Christine had to leave to get him settled and show him around. She came back just as we were leaving with all the balloons. We made it to the crew gangway and they were all confused about what we were doing, but they let us off. All but Christine because the other three new Club HAL people just arrived and had to be shown around as well. So, we get outside, and stand there for a few minutes, completely at a loss of where to go. We ask the HRM who’s there checking in the new crew, but she’s too busy to help, and then we ask the port security, who just suggest going around the building. So, we wander around the outside of the building for a while, carrying a ton of balloons blowing around in the wind, until we find the doors the passengers use to get to the check-in area. We finally get to where we’re supposed to be, and the hotel director is there, freaking out because no one can find us; as it turns out, we DID have permission to go through the guest gangway no matter what security said. He gives us a bit of direction about where to put the balloons, then leaves us to work. It was a bit complicated because before tying balloons onto the desks and the “waiting maze,” we had to first untangle the big bunches of balloons because the wind was not kind to the strings while we were outside.
It took close to an hour and a half to do that, basically just making it up as we went. Then, we got to go back in for an “on location” team meeting with someone from corporate, then we met up with the new Club HAL members. Kristin (who was here this summer for a few weeks) and I had to grab costumes and dress up as elves to wander around the check-in area to talk to guests as they waited. However, again, problems with security. Kristin just got on board so she didn’t have a crew ID for them to scan to allow her off the ship, so we stayed right inside the ship on the gangway greeting people. Bit boring really, no one gave us specific directions of what we were supposed to do. At lunchtime, we took turns running up to Club HAL and having Christine get us some lunch so we wouldn’t have to walk around the Lido as elves.
When I finished and got back down to the gangway to send Kristin up, Megan stopped me and ended up recruiting me to come pose with guests for pictures. They already had one of the band leaders as Santa on one side, so I took over being the “mascot” for the other side of the photography station, and occasionally switched back and forth, a lot of the families with kids wanted both Emma the Elf and Santa in their picture. I like to think I helped them a lot, a few people at first didn’t want a photo, but they ended up stopping for a photo with me! It was quite fun, at non-busy times we’d all just talk or take fun group photos to pass the time. Much more entertaining than standing inside the gangway where I felt in the way of everyone. Maybe they’ll ask me to help with gangway on some other port days?
Anyway, finally the flow of oncoming people stopped, and we went 10 minutes without seeing anyone. That’s when we decided to close down. I joined Kristin on the ship for another 10 minutes before we determined it was slow enough for us to leave. Finally, my first break of the day… at 3:30 after starting at 8. I had about an hour before the entertainment department meeting, so I went to the Bow to call Mom and Dad while I had a chance! The meeting was like our normal meeting, just telling us to keep up with what we’re doing, but even better because the VP is on board this cruise (with his kid, so maybe for the first time ever part of the entertainment meeting actually was somewhat relevant to us!). I met the new guys and we all went our separate ways for the next 45 minutes until dinner.
The night went by pretty quickly. We attended the Tree Lighting Ceremony at 7, and so didn’t open Club HAL until 8. Though, for the half hour after the ceremony before we opened, Christine and I worked on getting together the registration forms and going over the manifest for each age group. We opened at 8. Phil and Andy, two of the new guys (they’re really new actually, one has done a 3 week contract, the other hasn’t done any) are on tweens with me, though we have divided up the ages for this cruise since there are so many. They’re both on 8-10yr olds, while I’m on 11/12yr olds; most of our activities are together though, so I’m training them somewhat while working with my own group. We gave the kids about 45 minutes of free time before giving out snack, which took a long time because they weren’t quite sure how to handle it at first. Finally we got through snack though, and we worked together as a tweens group to come up with a Contract of Fun before splitting off into our two groups for get-to-know-you games. Two of my group of tweens actually were in my group last year for New Years, so I knew them already which was cool, my first repeat kids!! They remembered me first actually and were really excited to be back with me :) Yay! So, the boys led their group in “Two Truths and a Lie” on one side of the room, while my 8 older tweens gathered on bean bags on the other side of the room and played the toilet paper game (ripping off at least 3 squares, then once the roll has gone around, I tell them they have to state as many facts about themselves as squares they have, it’s entertaining and they usually give pretty good facts). That surprisingly lasted until their parents came. I stayed late to help Christine number and chronologically order programs since there are so many. It takes a lot less time with two of us than it would her doing it herself. After that, I met Andy, Phil, Kristin, and Alex at the OB where we hung out and talked until we all realized it was hour forward and should get to bed
The first ¾ of today was absolute insanity it seems. If I had known that they were THAT busy doing other things to think about organizing anything Christmas, I definitely would have volunteered to help organize it all because it was just a big confusing mess. Ethan, Christine and I were in the office with Amanda at 8am to fill up balloons and tie strings on them to put them all up in the check-in area and around the gangway. That part was kind of fun other than the fact that I was tired and hungry; we had a forest of balloons throughout the office. Once we got a good number, we tied them up in groups of three or four. Christine and Ethan went to take those and start decorating while Amanda and I finished the rest. They came back not long after and said that security wouldn’t let them off at the guest gangway, so they figured they’d wait on us and take them all out the crew gangway together. While we were doing more balloons, one of the new Club HAL guys came on, so Christine had to leave to get him settled and show him around. She came back just as we were leaving with all the balloons. We made it to the crew gangway and they were all confused about what we were doing, but they let us off. All but Christine because the other three new Club HAL people just arrived and had to be shown around as well. So, we get outside, and stand there for a few minutes, completely at a loss of where to go. We ask the HRM who’s there checking in the new crew, but she’s too busy to help, and then we ask the port security, who just suggest going around the building. So, we wander around the outside of the building for a while, carrying a ton of balloons blowing around in the wind, until we find the doors the passengers use to get to the check-in area. We finally get to where we’re supposed to be, and the hotel director is there, freaking out because no one can find us; as it turns out, we DID have permission to go through the guest gangway no matter what security said. He gives us a bit of direction about where to put the balloons, then leaves us to work. It was a bit complicated because before tying balloons onto the desks and the “waiting maze,” we had to first untangle the big bunches of balloons because the wind was not kind to the strings while we were outside.
It took close to an hour and a half to do that, basically just making it up as we went. Then, we got to go back in for an “on location” team meeting with someone from corporate, then we met up with the new Club HAL members. Kristin (who was here this summer for a few weeks) and I had to grab costumes and dress up as elves to wander around the check-in area to talk to guests as they waited. However, again, problems with security. Kristin just got on board so she didn’t have a crew ID for them to scan to allow her off the ship, so we stayed right inside the ship on the gangway greeting people. Bit boring really, no one gave us specific directions of what we were supposed to do. At lunchtime, we took turns running up to Club HAL and having Christine get us some lunch so we wouldn’t have to walk around the Lido as elves.
When I finished and got back down to the gangway to send Kristin up, Megan stopped me and ended up recruiting me to come pose with guests for pictures. They already had one of the band leaders as Santa on one side, so I took over being the “mascot” for the other side of the photography station, and occasionally switched back and forth, a lot of the families with kids wanted both Emma the Elf and Santa in their picture. I like to think I helped them a lot, a few people at first didn’t want a photo, but they ended up stopping for a photo with me! It was quite fun, at non-busy times we’d all just talk or take fun group photos to pass the time. Much more entertaining than standing inside the gangway where I felt in the way of everyone. Maybe they’ll ask me to help with gangway on some other port days?
Anyway, finally the flow of oncoming people stopped, and we went 10 minutes without seeing anyone. That’s when we decided to close down. I joined Kristin on the ship for another 10 minutes before we determined it was slow enough for us to leave. Finally, my first break of the day… at 3:30 after starting at 8. I had about an hour before the entertainment department meeting, so I went to the Bow to call Mom and Dad while I had a chance! The meeting was like our normal meeting, just telling us to keep up with what we’re doing, but even better because the VP is on board this cruise (with his kid, so maybe for the first time ever part of the entertainment meeting actually was somewhat relevant to us!). I met the new guys and we all went our separate ways for the next 45 minutes until dinner.
The night went by pretty quickly. We attended the Tree Lighting Ceremony at 7, and so didn’t open Club HAL until 8. Though, for the half hour after the ceremony before we opened, Christine and I worked on getting together the registration forms and going over the manifest for each age group. We opened at 8. Phil and Andy, two of the new guys (they’re really new actually, one has done a 3 week contract, the other hasn’t done any) are on tweens with me, though we have divided up the ages for this cruise since there are so many. They’re both on 8-10yr olds, while I’m on 11/12yr olds; most of our activities are together though, so I’m training them somewhat while working with my own group. We gave the kids about 45 minutes of free time before giving out snack, which took a long time because they weren’t quite sure how to handle it at first. Finally we got through snack though, and we worked together as a tweens group to come up with a Contract of Fun before splitting off into our two groups for get-to-know-you games. Two of my group of tweens actually were in my group last year for New Years, so I knew them already which was cool, my first repeat kids!! They remembered me first actually and were really excited to be back with me :) Yay! So, the boys led their group in “Two Truths and a Lie” on one side of the room, while my 8 older tweens gathered on bean bags on the other side of the room and played the toilet paper game (ripping off at least 3 squares, then once the roll has gone around, I tell them they have to state as many facts about themselves as squares they have, it’s entertaining and they usually give pretty good facts). That surprisingly lasted until their parents came. I stayed late to help Christine number and chronologically order programs since there are so many. It takes a lot less time with two of us than it would her doing it herself. After that, I met Andy, Phil, Kristin, and Alex at the OB where we hung out and talked until we all realized it was hour forward and should get to bed
sea day
Dec 20, 2013: Sea day
It was a typical long sea day, extremely busy with the kids.
We had Tamarind for dinner tonight, so the four of us got to dress up in our formals and have a nice dinner before work. It was Ethan and Christine’s first time there, so that make it fun. I got to explain the menu and all that. It was nice getting to relax and hang out as a group since we really haven’t had a whole lot of chance to that this cruise.
As we were getting ready for dinner, Christine found out that we had to participate in the concert on Christmas as part of the international choir, rehearsal was at 11pm. It wasn’t really a good start to that. Ethan and I went to the show right after work, and decided just to stay in formals for the rehearsal thinking it wouldn’t take too long, then we could meet Natalie after she finished work and all go to the Northern Lights. That didn’t happen. The rehearsal didn’t really ‘start’ until 11:15. And the first hour of it really was just the cruise director explaining the order of what was going on, twice, arguing with one of the choirs about who was in charge of them, and us all wondering why they hadn’t got anything organized before we all got there.
They finally got the rehearsal started around 12:30. First the Filipino choir had to perform, and no one knew which of the songs were tracked, or where the tracks were, or what number the tracks were, so that took another 15 minutes (I ended up going to get my laundry out of the dryer and to change into something more comfortable while that was going on). Finally we found out what songs we were singing, went up, had a horrible but quick run-through of the three songs, and we were all ready to go, but then we were told to stay because of the final group number. Luckily, t Indonesian choir had their stuff organized so their section went by quickly. They went through four different plans for the ‘candle’light Silent Night closing song before we finally settled on one and actually practiced it. Once we got to the doors of the theatre, we all kept walking like they told us, but straight to bed. It was an exhausting night and I was happy for it to be over finally at 1:30. Such a long night after a sea day.
It was a typical long sea day, extremely busy with the kids.
We had Tamarind for dinner tonight, so the four of us got to dress up in our formals and have a nice dinner before work. It was Ethan and Christine’s first time there, so that make it fun. I got to explain the menu and all that. It was nice getting to relax and hang out as a group since we really haven’t had a whole lot of chance to that this cruise.
As we were getting ready for dinner, Christine found out that we had to participate in the concert on Christmas as part of the international choir, rehearsal was at 11pm. It wasn’t really a good start to that. Ethan and I went to the show right after work, and decided just to stay in formals for the rehearsal thinking it wouldn’t take too long, then we could meet Natalie after she finished work and all go to the Northern Lights. That didn’t happen. The rehearsal didn’t really ‘start’ until 11:15. And the first hour of it really was just the cruise director explaining the order of what was going on, twice, arguing with one of the choirs about who was in charge of them, and us all wondering why they hadn’t got anything organized before we all got there.
They finally got the rehearsal started around 12:30. First the Filipino choir had to perform, and no one knew which of the songs were tracked, or where the tracks were, or what number the tracks were, so that took another 15 minutes (I ended up going to get my laundry out of the dryer and to change into something more comfortable while that was going on). Finally we found out what songs we were singing, went up, had a horrible but quick run-through of the three songs, and we were all ready to go, but then we were told to stay because of the final group number. Luckily, t Indonesian choir had their stuff organized so their section went by quickly. They went through four different plans for the ‘candle’light Silent Night closing song before we finally settled on one and actually practiced it. Once we got to the doors of the theatre, we all kept walking like they told us, but straight to bed. It was an exhausting night and I was happy for it to be over finally at 1:30. Such a long night after a sea day.
catamaran birthday party in Cozumel
Dec 19: Cozumel
I had the morning shift in Club HAL, but was able to get off after that to attend a Christmas/birthday catamaran/beach party/crew tour (confusing I know, but it was a Christmas-themed birthday party, it was a catamaran ride, with snorkel and beach time). It was actually a surprise party for Matt. We all met around 1, Cassandra got us all to hide off to the side, then get on the catamaran while she went back to the ship to get him, I think she told him he was escorting an excursion or something. He got there and we all sang happy birthday, then we set sail towards the snorkeling spot. Most of us snorkeled for a little while (I had a hard time because they made us wear life jackets and it inhibited my swimming and breathing abilities). Not really a whole lot there to see though, then we set off again on a 40 minute ride to a beach area. We spent an hour around the beach: inflatable games in the water, volleyball, hammocks on the beach (I want a hammock now, it was so comfortable!), just swimming, food, and drinks. Once back on the catamaran, they put on music, and a lot of us ended up dancing for a little while before we realized how tired we were. It got cold (to me) quickly after that, clouds came over the sun and it even started to rain.
Once we got back, a lot of them went to the crew bar in town, but some of us were the first off, running back to the ship so we could shower, eat and get to work.
I had the morning shift in Club HAL, but was able to get off after that to attend a Christmas/birthday catamaran/beach party/crew tour (confusing I know, but it was a Christmas-themed birthday party, it was a catamaran ride, with snorkel and beach time). It was actually a surprise party for Matt. We all met around 1, Cassandra got us all to hide off to the side, then get on the catamaran while she went back to the ship to get him, I think she told him he was escorting an excursion or something. He got there and we all sang happy birthday, then we set sail towards the snorkeling spot. Most of us snorkeled for a little while (I had a hard time because they made us wear life jackets and it inhibited my swimming and breathing abilities). Not really a whole lot there to see though, then we set off again on a 40 minute ride to a beach area. We spent an hour around the beach: inflatable games in the water, volleyball, hammocks on the beach (I want a hammock now, it was so comfortable!), just swimming, food, and drinks. Once back on the catamaran, they put on music, and a lot of us ended up dancing for a little while before we realized how tired we were. It got cold (to me) quickly after that, clouds came over the sun and it even started to rain.
Once we got back, a lot of them went to the crew bar in town, but some of us were the first off, running back to the ship so we could shower, eat and get to work.
horseback riding in Grand Cayman
Dec 18: Grand Cayman, horseback riding
This morning, I got to escort my first excursion this contract! It was great because I got to get up and out on one of the very first tenders instead of waiting around 3 hours for open tender. None of the other first 4 excursions had escorts (one was really just a transfer to the beach, so it makes sense it didn’t need an escort), so I had to lead the way for all of them to the crew staircase down to deck A and the tender platforms. Once in the port, we found the person with a sign for our excursion and met the group. Ours was a very small group, just four of us: three older ladies and myself. We signed our waiver then were taken on a 5 minute walk to our transportation to the stables on HoneySuckle Beach, an SUV. That was a bit odd for me, I guess I just had gotten used to the big (and full) tour buses for excursions in Europe over the summer; but for four of us, it was perfect. Our driver talked very little, but pointed out the big resorts and stuff along the way, he got more chatty as we got closer though, telling us about the island. Once at HoneySuckle Beach, we put our bags in the supply house, and were each given a horse to ride. I was the first, Mocha was his name, I got on pretty easily, then our guide led me and my horse to the fence to wait while the others got their horses. It took some time, but we were all ready to head out finally and our guide told me to go out the gate first and stop at the path right before the actual beach, apparently I was leading the rest, once we were all in order and the gate closed once more, our guide made his way to the front and we set off. One thing about this excursion, it’s definitely not suited for anyone who’s never ridden a horse before. We were given the reins, and though the horses knew the path and to follow, well, my horse, we still had to direct them, and keep up with the guide ourselves. A few times the two ladies in the back fell behind a bit, so I slowed down to let them catch up somewhat. It was a pretty day, warm in the long pants and shoes we’d been told we had to wear, but there was a nice breeze coming across the water, and the somewhat constant splash of water as we rode right at the waters edge. We rode out for about half an hour, then went deeper into the water, it wasn’t quite up to the stirrups, but getting close. We didn’t stay in the deep water for long, just long enough for us to give cameras to the guide for him to take pictures for us, then it was back on the trail back to the stable. On the ride back, we took a little bit different route, a few times through paths further inland among the trees. It was interesting seeing some of the things that had been collected washing ashore. One tree at the waterline was covered in shoes, I think they were actually stapled to the tree. Odd decoration, but interesting. Also on the way back, we saw people out on the water doing some kind of sport, we asked the guide and he told us all about kite surfing, which seems like it’d be pretty cool to try. The people out there that way went pretty far, pretty quickly, doing tricks too! Back at the stable, we gave each of our horses an apple (one of the ladies had brought 4 apples for that exact purpose), and got back in the SUV to head back to the ship.
It was kind of funny because about the time I got back to the tender to get back on, it was apparently open tender because a lot of crew members were just getting off. I hung out for a bit, then went to Club HAL to help Ethan with lunch before we got off to go to the beach. Alex came with us, and we ended up going to a different part of 7-mile beach from where I went last time we were here. It was good though because it was a bit cheaper for crew since the taxi ride was a dollar less each way and we didn’t have to pay the $2 entrance fee as crew members! Alex and Ethan got wifi for a bit whereas I went right to an empty spot on the sand, laid out my towel and jumped in the water. We only had about an hour there, because crew all aboard was early since we were tendering, but it was still a nice hour on the beach: time off, chatting, enjoying the sun and water. :) A very good day.
This morning, I got to escort my first excursion this contract! It was great because I got to get up and out on one of the very first tenders instead of waiting around 3 hours for open tender. None of the other first 4 excursions had escorts (one was really just a transfer to the beach, so it makes sense it didn’t need an escort), so I had to lead the way for all of them to the crew staircase down to deck A and the tender platforms. Once in the port, we found the person with a sign for our excursion and met the group. Ours was a very small group, just four of us: three older ladies and myself. We signed our waiver then were taken on a 5 minute walk to our transportation to the stables on HoneySuckle Beach, an SUV. That was a bit odd for me, I guess I just had gotten used to the big (and full) tour buses for excursions in Europe over the summer; but for four of us, it was perfect. Our driver talked very little, but pointed out the big resorts and stuff along the way, he got more chatty as we got closer though, telling us about the island. Once at HoneySuckle Beach, we put our bags in the supply house, and were each given a horse to ride. I was the first, Mocha was his name, I got on pretty easily, then our guide led me and my horse to the fence to wait while the others got their horses. It took some time, but we were all ready to head out finally and our guide told me to go out the gate first and stop at the path right before the actual beach, apparently I was leading the rest, once we were all in order and the gate closed once more, our guide made his way to the front and we set off. One thing about this excursion, it’s definitely not suited for anyone who’s never ridden a horse before. We were given the reins, and though the horses knew the path and to follow, well, my horse, we still had to direct them, and keep up with the guide ourselves. A few times the two ladies in the back fell behind a bit, so I slowed down to let them catch up somewhat. It was a pretty day, warm in the long pants and shoes we’d been told we had to wear, but there was a nice breeze coming across the water, and the somewhat constant splash of water as we rode right at the waters edge. We rode out for about half an hour, then went deeper into the water, it wasn’t quite up to the stirrups, but getting close. We didn’t stay in the deep water for long, just long enough for us to give cameras to the guide for him to take pictures for us, then it was back on the trail back to the stable. On the ride back, we took a little bit different route, a few times through paths further inland among the trees. It was interesting seeing some of the things that had been collected washing ashore. One tree at the waterline was covered in shoes, I think they were actually stapled to the tree. Odd decoration, but interesting. Also on the way back, we saw people out on the water doing some kind of sport, we asked the guide and he told us all about kite surfing, which seems like it’d be pretty cool to try. The people out there that way went pretty far, pretty quickly, doing tricks too! Back at the stable, we gave each of our horses an apple (one of the ladies had brought 4 apples for that exact purpose), and got back in the SUV to head back to the ship.
It was kind of funny because about the time I got back to the tender to get back on, it was apparently open tender because a lot of crew members were just getting off. I hung out for a bit, then went to Club HAL to help Ethan with lunch before we got off to go to the beach. Alex came with us, and we ended up going to a different part of 7-mile beach from where I went last time we were here. It was good though because it was a bit cheaper for crew since the taxi ride was a dollar less each way and we didn’t have to pay the $2 entrance fee as crew members! Alex and Ethan got wifi for a bit whereas I went right to an empty spot on the sand, laid out my towel and jumped in the water. We only had about an hour there, because crew all aboard was early since we were tendering, but it was still a nice hour on the beach: time off, chatting, enjoying the sun and water. :) A very good day.
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