12 days in and I am now starting to feel accustom to ship life. As I mentioned in the last post, ship life is not even close to the reality of life on land. I must admit, I am really enjoying life on sea. It is pretty simple, work, eat, drink, and sleep is the philosophy here with sleep being the last priority for many!
I made it through my first 7 day cruise with flying colours. I passed my safety tests and managed to navigate my way around the ship alone. In the first week there are numerous training sessions new crewmembers must complete. I was on information overload during the entire cruise but somehow I remembered to lock in all the important information so that I could pass the tests at the end of the week and continue my life on board.
Now I have two cruises under my belt, a 7-day and Fascinations regular 5 day cruise. I am in Jacksonville today but rather than getting off the ship to see the sights of Jacksonville I decided to take this opportunity to SLEEP! Sleeping has not been a priority with my work schedule and social life here on board. Good thing they sell red bull for $1.50 in the crew lounge on the ship!
As for the title of this post, I experienced my first Boat Drill in Nassau this past cruise. Basically a boat drill is exactly what it sounds like, all crewmembers must don their life jackets and report to their assigned assembly areas to practice their duties in the event there was a real emergency. In this case it was only a drill however there were many passengers in a tizzy seeing all the crew members on the lido and veranda deck with life jackets on. (Note: there were numerous announcements over the load speaker informing the guests this was just a drill but you know passengers, they are on vacation so they have tuned out announcements and only care about eating and drinking, among many other things on board). I remember my sister Brandi telling me about “Boat Drills”, I can now say I have experienced this and do not look forward to the monthly boat drills I will participate in over the next few months!
Sea days…oh dreaded Sea days! As a passenger in the past I really enjoyed Sea Days, the opportunity to tan on top deck or explore the ship and shops on board. Now Sea Days mean WORK and lots of it! Camp is open from 7:30 am to 3:00 am on sea days! And yes for all those wondering, our team will work the entire day with short breaks in between. I am excited for this upcoming 4 day cruise to the Bahamas because we only have 1 sea day compared to the first 7 day when we had 2 sea days back to back!
Half Moon Cay…I know the last post was about this place but I must say it again…it is paradise. I was able to get off again last cruise to sun bathe on this pristine beach and enjoy a couple of hours of complete and utter relaxation. For those of you wondering, yes I am getting quite the tan and your allowed to be jealous! LOL I hear it has been raining back home for quite some time now, I am really sorry to hear that.
My favourite thing so far is working with the children especially since they come on a rotating basis every 5 and 4 days! It really makes a huge difference and it never gets boring. I love the welcome aboard party we have with the kids. We all meet in the Diamonds are Forever Disco and have a huge dance party, playing games, laughing and getting the parents acting like children too! Also I LOVE that I have guest privileges. This means that on my time off I am able to go into guest areas and feel as though I am a passenger too! The other night I went out with a co-worker, we dressed in our formal dresses, took pictures on the Promenade deck, had a drink at the Piano bar, proceeded to the crew bar for some cheaper beverages (rum and coke = $1.50), then we back to the disco for a night of dancing fun.
My least favourite thing so far if I had to pick one would be the food in the staff mess. Already I am over the menu! Crew definitely do NOT get to eat the same delicious food as the passengers and there are only certain times the mess is open therefore if you work during those times, you can count on eating maybe some fruit or cereal (if you were smart enough to bring extra to your cabin).
Ship life is something that cannot be explained to those who have never done it. I can try and try to tell you all about it but it’s a different experience per every crewmember here. I have been struggling with maintaining my life at home and broadening my social life here on the ship. Thank god I have my sister to talk to, she really gets what I mean when I rant and rave about certain ship life realities or when I have nothing to say at all. I am doing my best to keep everyone up to date when I have the time to get online or post to my blog. Thanks to everyone for all the sweet emails and facebook posts! Please keep them coming, as I love to sign on and get a dose of my home life. I miss you all like crazy but please know I am having a blast here and I really believe I made the right choice to take on this new adventure.
No comments:
Post a Comment