So I am finally off the night shift. But the day coming off of the night shift was something in itself. Since it is winter, and there are a lot of storms in the Mediterranean right now, we had to miss a port this cruise. There was a really big storm as we were supposed to come into Civitavecchia (the port for Rome), so we had to delay coming into port until around 6:00 pm, when we were supposed to arrive at 7:00 am. We have a new captain onboard this cruise however, so at least he came up with some solutions instead of just missing the port altogether.
We ended up having an overnight in Civitavecchia which ran into the next day. This also meant that we would have to miss Mykonos, Greece, but given the weather, we probably would have missed it anyway.
The night before we arrived to Rome was supposed to be my last night shift, so I was excited when I found out that we would have the overnight, since I would be able to get off the ship then. No such luck. They changed the schedule, so I had to work an extra night. So everyone else got to enjoy the night out but me. We always have a boat drill for the crew in Civitavecchia because all the guests get off the ship early, and we won't disturb them too much. Of course, this happens around 9:30am, so I hadn't slept yet. There are two parts to the drill. The first part we have emergency duties, and an emergency station. I have to go and check off that a bunch of crew are at their spots. Then the second part we have to go to our muster stations, where we would abandon ship if we had to. While we were at the second part, the Safety Officer comes over to my station, and says, "above you, in those two boxes, take out the lifejackets, and put them on" then we were instructed to go down to deck number 2, where we had the pleasure of filling a lifeboat.
I'm not sure what the exact purpose of filling the lifeboat was, other than to annoy crew by having them all squished together for a half an hour while they get things organzied. Hopefully it wouldn't take that long during a real emergency.
When our drill was finally over, we had a team meeting, after which I decided that I should go out for lunch to enjoy Italian pizza for one of the last times, so I didn't get to have too much of a nap before I had to be in to work for 8:00 pm, since they decided for some reason that the 8 hours you already worked that day was not enough.
Anyway, I am thankfully happily off of the night shift, and back on days. Of course, my sleeping schedule isn't fully adjusted, but hopefully soon everything will be good, and my body will stop hating me for making so many changes to my internal clock. Today I was able to go out for lunch in Santorini, Greece, which was very nice, despite a very needy cat that kept jumping in everyone's laps. Tomorrow we will be in Turkey.
Starting on my birthday, we have our new winter itinerary, which includes the Canary Islands, Sicily, Morocco, Egypt, Malta, and some others... although I'm sure having boarding day on my birthday is one of the least ways I would like to spend it, it will be nice to be able to see some new ports.
Showing posts with label santorini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label santorini. Show all posts
Monday, December 1, 2008
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)