Free Time off the Ship

So, I've managed to get off the ship twice so far. Once last cruise in Cartagena, Colombia, and once during the current cruise in Aruba.

In Colombia I went on a tour of the mangroves with one of the girls that I work with, Natasha, who's from Puerto Rico. It wasn't too different from other mangroves that I've seen before, but it was still nice all the same. We also had some time at a hotel after we went to the mangroves, so I was happy I'd worn my bathing suit, as we were able to use the pool.

They also gave us a tour of the city on the way back to the ship, which was really nice. I unfortunately had to get ready quickly for the tour after my shift, and so I had forgotten to charge my camera battery. So, I don't have pictures from the city, just of the mangroves. I made sure to charge my batteries after I got home, so I'll be able to take pictures next time.

Yesterday we stopped in Aruba, and I had a long break from 12-7, so I went to the beach with a bunch of people I work with. Or I guess we technically went to the pool. There's a long stretch of beaches on one side, with resorts on the other side of the road, so we opted to go and stay at one of the resorts instead of the beach. I'm working on getting an actual tan, which is not working so well, they were teasing me that I looked like casper. Oh well, I'm hoping that it will come eventually.

So I just spent a relaxing day away from the ship, I was able to go shopping and pick up a few things that I was missing, and it was nice to be out in the fresh air. They encourage us to get off the ship if we can, mostly to preserve our sanity. It can get to be long days in a confined space with the same people all the time. But so far everything is going well!

Canoeing in the mangroves - Cartagena, Colombia

Lizard by the pool in Aruba

Starting to Get Settled

Okay, so I figure that I should give this blogging thing an actual try, so that I don't have to send as many emails. Of course, I do still like getting emails! For those of you that don't know, I'm working a six month contract with Royal Caribbean on the Brilliance of the Seas. The ship will be travelling around the Caribbean for the first bit, and then Europe for the last while I'm onboard.

So, getting on the ship was definitely an experience in itself. I found out a week and a half before I was to be on the ship that I actually had a contract. So, that meant lots of running around and renewing my passport, getting a medical done, medical tests, and shopping for things I would need for the next six months.

I finally got everything in, and by three days before I was to get onboard, I finally had everything in and realized that it might actually happen that I would get on the ship. But of course, even getting to the ship had its difficulties. When I arrived in Miami, the hotel that I was told to call for my shuttle told me that I wasn't on their list, so that I would have to contact my recruiting company at home. $40 in phone cards to home and lots of messages with the company, I found an emergency number to call, and figured out that I was put in another hotel.

At the hotel I was put in a room with another girl from Guyana who was supposed to work in the kitchen. Then in the morning we boarded a bus, and had an hour drive as they went to all the hotels to pick up crew for two of the ships. Then when we finally got to the pier, there was lots of waiting and scanning our luggage, then they finally started letting us through to get on board. Of course, I wasn't on their first list, so I had to wait aside even longer to get through.

By 11am I was onboard, and filled out more forms, they looked over my medical tests (for syphilis, hepatitis A,B,&C, as well as tuberculosis, and my cholesterol among others...). Then I was picked up by someone from my team, and it was on to training right away!

So, since then I've gone through lots of trainings, the first cruise I had one pretty much every day, for things like Royal Caribbean standards, lifeboat and safety training, harrassment training, drug and alcohol policy training, and on, and on, and on...

Anyway, I've mostly been working on getting used to life onboard now, while trying to get everything figured out for the job. I'm doing alright, but it's just figuring out who to call when things go wrong, or how things get done here. I feel like I don't know anything, and I'm having to ask a lot of questions, but I guess that's the only way I'll actually learn. Today they let me know that I am picking things up quickly, and they're not used to people doing it so fast, so that made me feel good, and I know I'm doing okay so far.

I don't know if/how often I'll be able to publish photos, because I don't think I can on the ship, but later on I'll see if I'm able to in ports.

Last Minute Packing

So, while I am supposed to be packing, I figured I would instead set up this blog so that everyone can hear about my adventures while working on a cruise ship. I leave tomorrow (in about 12 hours actually, better finish my packing soon...).

I guess we will see if I can actually find the time to update a blog in between working and sleeping. But for now, back to packing so that I can actually get on the ship!