This blog is about to change. For the last year and a half this has been about my adventures as I traveled across the United States doing ministry and video work. It is now going to be about my adventures cruising on the Atlantic Ocean doing video work professionally and ministry socially. The updates may be sporadic- just like my internet access. I would love to include pictures, but I’m having some equipment issues on my end so I’ll post those when I can.
As always, your feedback, comments, and questions are welcome and encouraged. Let me know what you want to hear about. Do you want me to write about ports? People? The ship? My job? Ship life? I write this hoping that you’ll enjoy reading it, so let me know what you want to read about then we’ll all be happy.
To start us off, here is a little something I wrote about my first few days onboard:
October 12, 2009
Well, I’m off…and stopped. Today is day 3 of my first cruise and I think we may already be in Kings Wharf, Bermuda- I’m not sure. I haven’t left my room yet and I certainly don’t have any windows in here, but we were scheduled to get there about ½ an hour ago.
Things are pretty much how I expected them. The job is as I had pictured it, but I still have so much to learn. I feel like maybe I should have dedicated sometime this summer to learning Avid instead of goofing off the whole time, but I sure did have fun this summer.
I’ve met quite a few people and I’m doing okay with names. It’s helpful that we all have nametags on when in uniform. I will probably have a harder time when we’re in casual clothes. People that I know who have worked on cruise ships told me that the crew gets drunk every night and sleeps around. I figured that was an exaggeration, but I really don’t think it is. I had a welcome note on my door when I came that my hall mates wrote while they were drunk. Then I met this girl named Heather who as been very nice and very helpful to me. She told me she would have helped with the sign, but she had blacked out before they started making in. Someone then gave her the game Jenga so she’s writing things on each tile like “take the right sock or sandal off of the person on your left using your teeth.” The goal of this game is to start getting drunk, then start playing, and you have to do whatever is on each tile you get. I’ve only been here 2 nights and they’ve asked me to drink with them both nights. I keep playing the “I’m tired from all my traveling and training” card. I’m not sure how long I can keep that up. I’ll probably go to the crew bar with them on the way back to the states, just to see what it’s like and hopefully meet more people.
Aside from all the drinking, I really do like the people that I’ve met. They’ve done a really good job of trying to include me- they call when they’re going to dinner, ask me what I’m doing that night, etc. Ben is my neighbor and another Broadcast Tech on the ship- he’s been so helpful! He does extra training with me since I don’t know how to use Avid and he’s going to walk me to my emergency station during our drill today. Heather is on youth staff and seems to have adopted me. She’s the one that always calls to take me to dinner. She said she sat in her cabin for most of her first contract and doesn’t want to see other new hires go through that- she’s really nice. Then there’s Ishmael. Ishmael stayed in the same hotel I did the night before we joined the ship, so I saw him there in the morning and we were on the same bus here. We had a few conversations in training because we recognized each other, but it wasn’t until the end of Day 1 that I asked for his name. We had training together again yesterday then went to lunch. Ishmael is from the Dominican and he feels that his English is not very good. I can usually understand him just fine and compared to most people here, his English is great! He has a harder time understanding me though. He works in room service. My other friends tell me to keep him around because the room service guys are good people to know. Since he’s in room service and I’m part of the technical team, we’re not always allowed in the same places. I ate lunch with him yesterday in the mess, but the people I work with and most of the people I’ve met eat in the Crew Dining Room and never go into the mess. I think I’d like a mix of both. There is a difference between crew and staff. I’m considered staff, so I get many of the perks that the officers do. I guess that’s a good thing, I mean if I have to be in one class I guess it’s good to be in the upper one. But I have a hard time reconciling that with everything I did this summer and everything I’ve been learning lately. I’m better than no one so why can some of my friends not eat with me?
Ishmael told me that he came to the states a day early to go to New York. On the plane from the Dominican he couldn’t believe that he was really going to America- he’s waited a year for his assignment (I waited 4 months for mine). He said Time’s Square was unbelievable to him- there is nothing like that anywhere in his country. He told me that people who have a university education cannot find a job in the Dominican that pays better than his job on this ship. He’s here to make money for himself and his family, but he would also like to save money to go home and start his own business.
October 17, 2009
My room is bigger than I expected. My bathroom is smaller than I expected. My room has lots of shelf and closet space and a refrigerator. I definitely should have brought more t-shirts. I had them packed, but then was afraid I had over packed so I took a lot of things out. Then I got here and realized that I had lots of space. Oh well. Now you all know what to send me. There’s so much storage space that I can’t possibly imagine who brings that much when they come to work on a ship! I had a large suitcase (the same one I used when on the road for 9 months), a large duffel bag, and my backpack. I don’t really know what else I would have brought- aside from more clothes. I have 2 televisions in my room- the small one that comes in every cabin then a much larger one. I guess that’s one of the perks of being a broadcast tech- you can put any unused equipment in your cabin. I have 4 large shelves. I put my 4 books on one shelf and my laundry and cleaning supplies on the other. What do people put there? Well, in the few other cabins that I have seen, people keep alcohol or souvenir glasses there- like a little liquor cabinet. It seems that the whole ship is a liquor cabinet. My guess is that my room was a two person room before it became a single cabin. It is made of tan metal walls with stained green carpet and a few green highlights in the room (the bathroom door, etc.). It’s pretty bland. I had some pictures printed at Target last turn around day and have posted those in my room. I also have Pirate game and movie tickets as decorations. I’m sure this decor doesn’t sound appealing, but each picture/ticket has a memory and a smile associated with it, so I think my decorating skills would make Martha Stewart jealous.
I bought an alarm clock right before I came. I was really happy with my purchase. It’s not only an alarm, it is also a sound machine with a variety of sounds to fall asleep to. However it kept gaining time. I’d set it for 7:30, but it would gain time as I slept and it would go off when it displayed 7:30, but it was actually 6:45. I have learned that this happens because of the fluctuating power of the ship. I didn’t learn this until after I bought a second alarm clock and got up 45 minutes early the first day I used it…
The seas were really rough yesterday. I loved it! No seasickness at all- praise God! I like the really rough as opposed to moderately rough. Moderately rough feels like a highway in poor condition. Really rough feels like a roller coaster. I was eating in the staff and officers dining room on Deck 5 yesterday. This room is always at least 2 decks above sea level, but it was so rocky that we would go way up in the air and see all sky out the window then tip back the other way and see almost all ocean. It was pretty sweet…a little tough to walk, climb steps, film, etc…but still fun.
Well, all aboard is in 2 hours and I have a fear of missing the ship, so I should probably start packing up here and walking back toward the pier.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you in the comments and posting again soon.
Thanks for reading!
