Or at least that's what the guests have been saying lately. My supervisor seems to think this is the worst European cruise that he's been on, and he's been on the ship for 6 years. Here's a bit about why...
First off, we were supposed to go into Cannes, France as our first port. We were tendering there, but the wind was too strong, so we had to miss our first port. Which always sort of sucks, but it really doesn't start things off on a good note.
The guests seem to be a bit "cheap" this cruise too. Which I sort of don't like to say, because I hate grouping people in like that, but they don't seem to want to pay to book tours, but of course, none of them have done any research on the ports themselves, and have no idea on how to get around on their own. Nevermind the fact that none of them seem to understand the concept of a line, and just seem to gather on the sides of the desk because they can't seem to decide where they want to go. And then get mad at us when we tell them that the excursions desk or the foreign exchange is closed, but if they join our line we can help them out. (For those that don't know our ship setup, our desk is in the middle, and the other two are on each side of us, but there's no real separation of the desks, only a big column on each side, which I admit is sort of confusing).
Then of course we dock in Rome on a Sunday. Which means a lot of things are closed, like the Vatican Museum, where the Sistine Chapel is. Of course, travel agents should inform their guests of this at booking... but now it's our problem when they get onboard.
Then for a few days, things seemed to be going alright. We went to Venice, had our overnight (I ended up buying a nice paperweight that was sort of expensive, but it is Murano glass, and I got it for 10 euros off, I'll post a picture if I ever get my computer working with the internet).
Today, or I guess last night however, was the icing on the cake. The captain announced that we would again be missing a port, this time, Valetta, Malta. We of course had a sea day yesterday, and tomorrow is a sea day as well, before we return to Barcelona the day after that. Three sea days in a row. So now, the guests are cranky, they don't understand why we're doing this, and they seem to think that we're trying to get the guests to stay onboard so they'll spend money. Like our idea of a good time is to keep people onboard who clearly don't want to be there, so they can come and make our lives miserable? Like none of us wanted to get off this ship, because we are stuck in the crew areas, and a lot of people haven't even breathed fresh air in days?
Anyway, the captain is giving his "Captain's Corner" talk at 11:00 am today, and I'm VERY glad that I'm not him. We may have a possible mutiny on our hands. I have never been more happy to be on night shift than I am right now. I only had 3 or 4 guests coming to me, not the huge lines before. I think my favourite line though, was Tina told me that a guest was rather upset with her, and said, "well who should we talk to about this weather?" to which Tina replied, "I think God, ma'am." Tina is leaving soon, and really doesn't enjoy guest services. She's got a lot more nerve when it comes to talking back to guests that the rest of us.
So, that's pretty much been the fun that has been this cruise. Aside from the lady who always comes to see me at 7:00 am to talk about how dissapointed she is that there's no bibles in the staterooms. Apparently I should start reading it, but I should start with the new testament because the old one would just confuse me. She was a real joy to talk to early in the morning...
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Finally Back on the Ship
So, after an already long vacation, and then a nice 2 week bought with a bad flu, I am finally back on the ship. My trip was fairly uneventful, aside from being pulled aside in the Toronto airport after customs. They took me to a room on the right hand side, and the customs officer asked me about four times if I really had nothing to declare. I of course answered no, that I was just in transit through the US. He then opened my bags and verified this.... very exciting.
My flights were good, we left a bit late from the JFK airport, someone needed some medical attention onboard, but they never fully let us know why. So then I got to Barcelona. More about Barcelona another time, when I'll post some pictures too.
Life on the boat has been fairly easy to return to. Everything is mostly the same, it is just taking some time to remember everything, and learn the new processes for things. We also have a mostly new team. There are I think four new hires since I left. I am now one of the more senior people on the team, which feels a bit weird since I was the newbie for so long. Right now we have 3 Mexicans, an Argentinian, a Britt, one other Canadian, an Italian, a Brazilian, and an Indian on the team. We're still very international.
Today was an interesting day. I'm not sure on the exact details, whether the immigration authorities changed their policies, or whether it was partly our fault, but they decided today that the Greek officials wanted to see all the non-EU passports before we were cleared to leave port today. This essentially meant that we needed to collect 1700 passports from guests.
I got called into work an hour and a half early, and got to stand in the Pier Terminal informing guests of this. There were two of us there stopping all our guests as they came in (there were I think 3 other ships there too, one was the QE2). I'm pretty sure that I will hear "are you a guest on the Brilliance? What country is your passport from? The local authorities are requiring us to collect all non-EU passports so that they can look at them before we are cleared to set sail this evening. If you have a passport with you now, we can collect it here, or if it is still on the ship, then you need to take it to Guest Services on deck number 4 as soon as possible..."
Of course lots of people didn't want to hand over passports. Especially Americans. "we've always been told never to surrender our passports to anyone when travelling". And a surprisingly large number of them seemed to think it was because of the election. But of course we were collecting all non-EU, not just American, but that seems to be how they think.
Anyway, I'm tired out now from standing on the pier for 5 hours telling everyone this constantly, and trying to relieve their fears that we will lose their passports. Times like these I sort of wonder what I'm doing here....
My flights were good, we left a bit late from the JFK airport, someone needed some medical attention onboard, but they never fully let us know why. So then I got to Barcelona. More about Barcelona another time, when I'll post some pictures too.
Life on the boat has been fairly easy to return to. Everything is mostly the same, it is just taking some time to remember everything, and learn the new processes for things. We also have a mostly new team. There are I think four new hires since I left. I am now one of the more senior people on the team, which feels a bit weird since I was the newbie for so long. Right now we have 3 Mexicans, an Argentinian, a Britt, one other Canadian, an Italian, a Brazilian, and an Indian on the team. We're still very international.
Today was an interesting day. I'm not sure on the exact details, whether the immigration authorities changed their policies, or whether it was partly our fault, but they decided today that the Greek officials wanted to see all the non-EU passports before we were cleared to leave port today. This essentially meant that we needed to collect 1700 passports from guests.
I got called into work an hour and a half early, and got to stand in the Pier Terminal informing guests of this. There were two of us there stopping all our guests as they came in (there were I think 3 other ships there too, one was the QE2). I'm pretty sure that I will hear "are you a guest on the Brilliance? What country is your passport from? The local authorities are requiring us to collect all non-EU passports so that they can look at them before we are cleared to set sail this evening. If you have a passport with you now, we can collect it here, or if it is still on the ship, then you need to take it to Guest Services on deck number 4 as soon as possible..."
Of course lots of people didn't want to hand over passports. Especially Americans. "we've always been told never to surrender our passports to anyone when travelling". And a surprisingly large number of them seemed to think it was because of the election. But of course we were collecting all non-EU, not just American, but that seems to be how they think.
Anyway, I'm tired out now from standing on the pier for 5 hours telling everyone this constantly, and trying to relieve their fears that we will lose their passports. Times like these I sort of wonder what I'm doing here....
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Cookout & Picture Updates
Alright, so I have made it home, and I've been here for almost a month, so I decided that it was about time that I posted some pictures. I figured it would be easiest to go back and put the pictures sort of where they belonged, so I have done some editing of previous posts. If I'm feeling ambitious, I might do a large post with miscellaneous pictures that I didn't write about. But I'm on vacation and feeling pretty lazy, so don't hold your breath...
Also, on my last cruise, since a couple of other staff were leaving the ship for good (our Guest Services Manager, and the Group Coordinator, both of whom had been with the ship for a number of years), we decided to have a cookout.
For the cookout, everyone that wants to makes a dish from their home country, and we take over one of the kitchens for a few hours, and then later at night we get to sample all the dishes. Of course, it's also a time to just listen to music, dance, and hang out with your coworkers as well.
The food.
Everyone chowing down.
The ladies from guest services, financial, and explorations.
Most of the Guest Services Team
Also, on my last cruise, since a couple of other staff were leaving the ship for good (our Guest Services Manager, and the Group Coordinator, both of whom had been with the ship for a number of years), we decided to have a cookout.
For the cookout, everyone that wants to makes a dish from their home country, and we take over one of the kitchens for a few hours, and then later at night we get to sample all the dishes. Of course, it's also a time to just listen to music, dance, and hang out with your coworkers as well.
The food.
Everyone chowing down.
The ladies from guest services, financial, and explorations.
Most of the Guest Services TeamMonday, July 21, 2008
Almost back home...
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.
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 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 SplitSunday, June 1, 2008
(Sort of) Employee of the Month
So, every month or so we have a general staff meeting after our drill for the crew. The captain and some of the managers talk about stuff around the boat, what's going on with the company, what's going on with the ship, and things like that.
They also do the employee of the month. Everyone that's nominated has to go onstage, and then out of everyone you get an employee of the month for the whole ship. So, I was watching, not suspecting anything, when all of a sudden on the screen I see my picture. Was definitely not expecting that. I made my way up to the stage with the other people, and stood in front of all 800 or so staff, and waited. The girl next to me turns to me and said, "this is where we hold hands and cry..." like we were in a pagent, it was funny at the time... I wasn't the one picked, but I did get to shake hands with the captain... I feel special. Kinda wish I'd won, because then you at least get $500 bucks for standing up there.
So, anyway, I guess technically I got employee of the month for our division, which is definitely nice, and makes me feel like I'm doing a good job, even though I do feel lost a lot of the time. Awww, they do like me after all!!
They also do the employee of the month. Everyone that's nominated has to go onstage, and then out of everyone you get an employee of the month for the whole ship. So, I was watching, not suspecting anything, when all of a sudden on the screen I see my picture. Was definitely not expecting that. I made my way up to the stage with the other people, and stood in front of all 800 or so staff, and waited. The girl next to me turns to me and said, "this is where we hold hands and cry..." like we were in a pagent, it was funny at the time... I wasn't the one picked, but I did get to shake hands with the captain... I feel special. Kinda wish I'd won, because then you at least get $500 bucks for standing up there.
So, anyway, I guess technically I got employee of the month for our division, which is definitely nice, and makes me feel like I'm doing a good job, even though I do feel lost a lot of the time. Awww, they do like me after all!!
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