After three months of bliss and slothfulness, I am back to work. I’m finishing up my second cruise and I’ve been back for about nine days now. In some ways it seems like I’ve been here for ages, but in other ways I still feel brand new.
I immediately knew my way around this ship. Although it is the biggest I’ve ever been on, it has the same layout as my first ship. It makes a big difference if you know you way around. It is a very odd feeling though- things are very similar to what I know except not exactly the same. The art work is different, or the carpet is a different color, or a door is a few yards down the hall from where I expect it to be. That last one had me nearly walking into a closed cabin door the other day thinking it was the entrance to the hallway I needed.
It’s also nice to see familiar faces. I knew of a few people from my past that would be here, but I had a few surprises as well. Some of them I worked with when we were both brand new in the company. Hard to believe, but we’ve become managers already in our careers on ships. It seems like last week I was seeing a cruise ship for the first time.
This ship has lots of things that are new to me. We have a giant screen on the pool deck and some of the events I film are sent directly to that screen so everyone has a great view. We also have a FlowRider, aka a wave machine, so you can learn how to surf on your cruise. This ship has a partnership with Dreamworks so I get to work with Shrek, Princess Fiona, and Puss in Boots from the Shrek family. I also work with Gloria, Alex, and King Julien from Madagascar. In fact, Gloria visited me at work in my office the other day. Not everyone can say that a hippo stops by to say hello, but I can! Because of the Dreamworks partnership we have a 3D projector for movies in the theater. I haven’t had time to watch a whole movie, but I saw part of Puss in Boots today. Pretty cool- and way better than paying $10 for it like when I was at home!
The best surprise for me was that I didn’t have to start work as soon as I got here! The person I am replacing has been here this whole time for what we call a “hand-over.” Last week I just watched him and took notes and this cruise I’ve been slowing doing more and more. Sadly, my vacation officially comes to an end tomorrow when he leaves. How sad.
Since I’ve been on a handover, I haven’t been able to move in to my own cabin yet. Luckily for me there have been spare guest cabins both cruises so I’ve been in cabins with a cleaning service and room service. As a matter of fact, I’m waiting for my last room service meal as I write this. I do not have a high enough rank to order room service once I am in my own room so this is a big deal to me. I’ve been taking full advantage of it and ordering lots every time so I have some to snack on as well. Maybe I’m ordering a bit to much though- when I ordered it a few nights ago the guy that brought it said, “Is this all for you?” I guess he wasn’t too concerned with earning a big tip. Speaking of tip, here’s a tip for all you readers in gratuity based positions: Don’t insult the gratuity giver. Learn from my experiences, your children’s college fund will one day thank you.
I only have one more cruise left until the end of March!?!?!? Where did the first quarter of the year go? By mid-April I will be sailing east, preparing to spend my summer in the south of France and Tuscany.
Room service, Tuscany, hippos in the work place. Who’s ready to book a cruise?
