So, I am in the middle of my last cruise on the ship before I'll be home. It's hard to believe that I've been here for over 5 months now...
The visit with my parents went well. I didn't acutally get to see a whole lot of them, I was on night shift for the first few days that they were here, so I was sleeping a lot of the time during the evenings, and then I managed to get a pretty horrible cold, so I was trying to sleep that off the best I could. But I still managed to pass it along to them in the end. But even if they weren't visiting with me all the time, they were doing a lot of sightseeing on their own, with tours every day, so they weren't too lonely. We did manage to get out for a dinner at one of the specialty restaurants one night, Portofino, which is our Italian one. It was very good, but of course a lot of food, and I think we all ate too much. We decided to go to the show afterwards with the singers and dancers, but I'm pretty sure that all three of us slept through it.
So, now I think I have about a week or so left, and I have to pack and get everything together, and try to manage to fit everything into my suitcases. I'm very excited to be coming home, but at the same time, I am definitely going to miss it here and all the people that I've met so far. It will be different to be able to sleep in, and not have to listen to guest complaints all day. But of course, they have me scheduled to come back here in October, so I'm sure that before long I'll be back on the ship, and it will seem like I never left.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Malta & Night Shifts
Our tour in Malta ended up being pretty cool. They had a minibus rented for us, and then drove us all over the island showing us all the important sights. They had some really pretty churches, and the scenery was very nice. We went to see where they have a blue lagoon, it was such a nice colour, but I'm sure the pictures don't do it justice. It's pretty hilly in some spots, and they have really straight streets (not like at home) so some of the streets look like San Francisco.
It was nice to be on tour with all crew and not have to worry about guests, I must admit. It was a very relaxing day. We even had lunch too, I had a pasta with octopus, but it wasn't all that good unfortunately. The day was very hot, and I managed to get a little bit of sun. But I have definitely lost any hopes I had of a tan, we'll see if I manage to get back to anything in the next couple of weeks.
Night shifts were mostly okay, in the beginning at night it's usually busy, and the same with early in the morning. Aside from that I didn't mind it too much. Except for the fact that it really did tire me out. I even did have a missing person, and I seemed to do everything fine... actually it was two girls, who really just stayed out too late, and their mom's couldn't find them, but of course you have to take everything seriously just in case.
Mom and Dad made it onto the boat okay, but I haven't really seen them aside from the first day after the boat drill for a bit. They arrived taking pictures of me in my nice flourescent green vest, so you've got those pictures to look forward to of me. They've moslty gone out on tours, and when they came back I've been asleep before my shift. They do stop by the desk to say hi though, so I've seen a little bit of them.
Tonight I'm trying to stay awake to get back on a regular schedule, so we've booked dinner in one of the specialty restaurants, Portofino, which is Italian, so that should be a nice meal. They're off to Rome today on a long tour, so they'll have some time to rest once they get back. I guess they'll have pictures to show everyone once they get back, before me. But of course, I've only got one cruise left before I'm home after that, so not too much longer now.
Colourful boats
A Blue Lagoon
The inside of a church.
Scenic view of the island.
The outside of the church we were in.
The outside of a church that we didn't go in. If I remember correctly, they have tonnes of churches in Malta. I think our guide said that they commonly say that they have at least one church for every day of the year, which is a lot for a fairly small island.
A statue outside of the church that I thought looked pretty.
One of the streets in Malta. They said that people often think of the streets as being similar to those in San Francisco. Very long, straight streets that are very steep.
It was nice to be on tour with all crew and not have to worry about guests, I must admit. It was a very relaxing day. We even had lunch too, I had a pasta with octopus, but it wasn't all that good unfortunately. The day was very hot, and I managed to get a little bit of sun. But I have definitely lost any hopes I had of a tan, we'll see if I manage to get back to anything in the next couple of weeks.
Night shifts were mostly okay, in the beginning at night it's usually busy, and the same with early in the morning. Aside from that I didn't mind it too much. Except for the fact that it really did tire me out. I even did have a missing person, and I seemed to do everything fine... actually it was two girls, who really just stayed out too late, and their mom's couldn't find them, but of course you have to take everything seriously just in case.
Mom and Dad made it onto the boat okay, but I haven't really seen them aside from the first day after the boat drill for a bit. They arrived taking pictures of me in my nice flourescent green vest, so you've got those pictures to look forward to of me. They've moslty gone out on tours, and when they came back I've been asleep before my shift. They do stop by the desk to say hi though, so I've seen a little bit of them.
Tonight I'm trying to stay awake to get back on a regular schedule, so we've booked dinner in one of the specialty restaurants, Portofino, which is Italian, so that should be a nice meal. They're off to Rome today on a long tour, so they'll have some time to rest once they get back. I guess they'll have pictures to show everyone once they get back, before me. But of course, I've only got one cruise left before I'm home after that, so not too much longer now.
Colourful boats
A Blue Lagoon
The inside of a church.
Scenic view of the island.
The outside of the church we were in.
The outside of a church that we didn't go in. If I remember correctly, they have tonnes of churches in Malta. I think our guide said that they commonly say that they have at least one church for every day of the year, which is a lot for a fairly small island.
A statue outside of the church that I thought looked pretty.
One of the streets in Malta. They said that people often think of the streets as being similar to those in San Francisco. Very long, straight streets that are very steep.Wednesday, July 2, 2008
An update since it's been awhile...
Happy Canada Day! (Only slightly late...)
Lately things have been going fairly smoothly. Guests have been alright, pretty much their usual annoying selves. I have finally been put onto the night shift which I was definitely resisting at first. But so far no major issues, it's usually pretty quiet at night, so I've got some time to relax and not have to worry about dealing with too many guest problems.
Last cruise I had a chance to go out into some new ports. I went out in Mykonos as well as Santorini in Greece. Both were very beautiful. I took some nice pictures. Unfortunately I have given up all hope of putting up pictures before I come home, so you'll just have to wait. Santorini is on top of this big cliff, and you have to take a cable car in order to get to the top. I had lunch with Marcelo who works with me. It's actually his last cruise here, in 3 days he gets to go home!
A couple of days ago I also went out for a short bit in Croatia. The city we were in, Split, was very pretty. Lots of palm trees, and very old buildings around the shopping areas, with narrow streets that are pedestrian only. I had lunch (pizza!) with my new roommate Sandie, who is from Denmark. So far we are getting along very well.
I'll actually be coming home soon too, it's hard to believe that I have been here for almost 5 months now. I should fly back on the 28th, but I don't know my flight details yet. So once this cruise is over in 3 days, I only have 2 cruises left. Of course, my parents are coming to visit next cruise, so that will make the time pass even faster I'm sure.
So, while I am definitely sad to leave here and all the great people I've met, I am excited to come home and see everyone, and finally get to post and show my pictures. And of course there's also Carolyn's wedding to look forward to as well. But I have decided that I am going to come back for another contract, which will bring me back to this ship in October if everything goes as planned.
Right now I should go and get ready, we are in Malta today, and I'm actually going to go on a bit of a private "familiarization tour" with the people that sell the tours as well as some other staff. It should be exciting!
The view of Mykonos, Greece from where the tenders docked.
Me in the streets of Mykonos.
An old windmill (I think...) at the top of the hill in Mykonos.
The streets in Mykonos
The cliffs in Santorini, Greece
The cable cars we took to get to the top of the cliffs.
The view of the ship from the restaurant where we had lunch.
The town of Santorini.
Along the shoreline in Split, Croatia.
Pedestrian area of Split.
Our pizzas cooking in the oven (you can sort of see them on the right side).
Statue in the park in Split
Lately things have been going fairly smoothly. Guests have been alright, pretty much their usual annoying selves. I have finally been put onto the night shift which I was definitely resisting at first. But so far no major issues, it's usually pretty quiet at night, so I've got some time to relax and not have to worry about dealing with too many guest problems.
Last cruise I had a chance to go out into some new ports. I went out in Mykonos as well as Santorini in Greece. Both were very beautiful. I took some nice pictures. Unfortunately I have given up all hope of putting up pictures before I come home, so you'll just have to wait. Santorini is on top of this big cliff, and you have to take a cable car in order to get to the top. I had lunch with Marcelo who works with me. It's actually his last cruise here, in 3 days he gets to go home!
A couple of days ago I also went out for a short bit in Croatia. The city we were in, Split, was very pretty. Lots of palm trees, and very old buildings around the shopping areas, with narrow streets that are pedestrian only. I had lunch (pizza!) with my new roommate Sandie, who is from Denmark. So far we are getting along very well.
I'll actually be coming home soon too, it's hard to believe that I have been here for almost 5 months now. I should fly back on the 28th, but I don't know my flight details yet. So once this cruise is over in 3 days, I only have 2 cruises left. Of course, my parents are coming to visit next cruise, so that will make the time pass even faster I'm sure.
So, while I am definitely sad to leave here and all the great people I've met, I am excited to come home and see everyone, and finally get to post and show my pictures. And of course there's also Carolyn's wedding to look forward to as well. But I have decided that I am going to come back for another contract, which will bring me back to this ship in October if everything goes as planned.
Right now I should go and get ready, we are in Malta today, and I'm actually going to go on a bit of a private "familiarization tour" with the people that sell the tours as well as some other staff. It should be exciting!
The view of Mykonos, Greece from where the tenders docked.
Me in the streets of Mykonos.
An old windmill (I think...) at the top of the hill in Mykonos.
The streets in Mykonos
The cliffs in Santorini, Greece
The cable cars we took to get to the top of the cliffs.
The view of the ship from the restaurant where we had lunch.
The town of Santorini.
Along the shoreline in Split, Croatia.
Pedestrian area of Split.
Our pizzas cooking in the oven (you can sort of see them on the right side).
Statue in the park in Split
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