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Published: February 21st 2007
A Night At The Disco
Brooks, Me and RickyI’ve had so many people at home comment on how it seems like I never work, that my life with Carnival is just filled with parties and exotic locations. It is true that there are many parties and I am lucky to be visiting so many exciting places and doing wonderous things. But between it all, I am living and working on a ship. The living and working parts of these six months away from home seem like th boring parts, so I rarely talk about them. But I forget that anything I do here is different from life at home, so I should be sharing all of it. And so, this entry is about my regular day-to-day life on the ship.
The Good Parts About Work:
I finally am getting decent numbers of teens on the ship and along with that, groups of teens coming to my club to participate in the activities I am offering. Two cruises ago, I had the best cruise experience yet. There were only 17 teens who regularly came to my club, but they came every day, nearly every activity ran, they bonded really well with one another and they adored me. They even
My cabin
The top bunk is mine. The room looks very pink. Most of the stuff (and all of the pink) belongs to my roommate, Shannon. came to the ship-wide deck party to dance up a storm with me on stage and all of the “old” people on the dance floor. I was truly sad to see them go. It was such an incredible joy to finally enjoy my work.
The Not-So-Good Parts About Work:
The most frustrating part I haven’t figured out yet, is what to do when I have one or two teens show up who are excited to do an activity, but nobody else comes. I can only be exciting to a 15 year old boy for some many afternoons in a row before we’re both like “Why can’t somebody else just show up already?” And then there are the handful of real jerks who come to cruise. Like last week, I had a really awful night. The gist of is was one teen threw candy at me, refused to apologize, then when I told him he needed to respect me or leave, he laughed at me. I was so angry. I’ve worked with thousands of teenagers and have never had someone be so disrespectful, be called on it and continue to be rude. The only comforting thing is that the rest
The Other Side Of My Cabin
The door leads into the hall. On the right hand side is our tiny little bathroom. But that's it! All we've got! of my teens recognized how awful he was being, apologized to me and then didn’t want to hang out with them. Though that’s a rather passive-aggressive way to feel better about the situation.
General Life On The Ship:
Many people have asked me what it’s like to live with everyone else on the ship. To me, it’s like a combination between high school and living in a small town. It’s like high school in that there is a similar sort of social politics and drama. There are hierarchies and cliques and gossip and drama. There are distinct “groups” of people, though everyone is still pleasant enough to one another. But it is very much like living in a small town. Everyone knows everyone else and everyone knows what everyone else is up to. There is rarely anyone new around and when there is, everyone is interested in who they are and what their story is. We are incredibly isolated - but even more so than living in a rural town. On the ship, there is one of everything we could possibly need: a bar, a disco, a coffee shop, a gym, a formal restaurant, a shop, etc. So you’re
My Club
Welcome to Club O2! This is the dance floor, in the centre of the club. never lacking in anything except variety.
A Typical Day:
This is my day on a typical sea day. I get up around 11:30 am - I know this seems ridiculously late, but it will make sense after you read the rest. Then I have lunch at noon with friends in the staff mess. There are 3 messes for crew: the officer’s mess, the staff mess (“staff” consist of entertainment, spa, gift shop, pursers, etc.) and a crew mess (for everyone). After lunch, I’ll go to my office, which is shared with everyone else in the cruise staff department (cruise staff consist of entertainers, art auction, the super shopper, the dj, the golf pro, etc.) to check emails and do various organizational things for my program. I go to my club to begin activities by 1pm. Every afternoon I offer activities like scavenger hunts, trivia games, board games, card tournaments, video game tournaments, yoga classes, sports, etc. I close the club around 5pm or so. Then I go the gym to work out while I watch Ellen on tv. The gym is great as long as there’s something good to watch! After the gyn, I have dinner back in the
staff mess with friends. In the early evening I’ll do personal stuff like emails, laundry, visit with people, read, write in my journal, etc. I usually have an hour or so to myself. Then I start getting ready for evening work. At night I have to be at least dressed in casual business wear, at most formal clothing, so getting ready takes time. I again go to my office for emails and paper work before going to my club. I’m usually in my club by 9:30pm or so. Every evening I run activities like dances, movie nights, game nights, etc. I finish my evening work between midnight and 1:30am depending on the activity, the number of teens and how the evening is playing out. When I finish work, I go to the crew bar to see friends and to see what’s happening. Most nights we just stay there to socialize. Some nights we’ll go up to the guest area to one of their bars or to dance at the disco. Then I get to bed sometime around 3am, maybe a bit later. Thus, why I get up so late in the day!
In the days we are in port,
Netter The DJ
DJ-ing for Club O2. the daytime is varied somewhat in that I’ll get off the ship and do something wherever we are, like a tour or go to a beach. Then I’ll get back on the ship, run late afternoon activities for my teens, then go the gym and the rest of the day is the same.
The routine of every night at the crew bar is occasionally varied. Each month a different department is in charge of crew activites. They organize everything from Blackjack and Bingo nights to movie nights to theme parties. Usually once a cruise we have a party that is held in one of the guest areas, either a lounge or out on the deck. These are nice changes from the regular nights in the crew bar.
The last few years I have done so many wonderful things all over the place. But in doing those things, I’ve never been able to really set up a day-to-day routine. I have that here. And it’s bizarre because we’re all over the place. But it is still a sort of routine. Sea days are like a regular work week at home. Fort Lauderdale ( home port) days are like a
The Crew Training Centre (CTC)
This is where Brooks works and therefore, where I often spend time hanging out. Saturday at home, a day to run around and do personal errands like buy groceries, do banking and send mail. Port days are like weekends when you get to do something different and fun and exciting - though you can’t do anything too crazy because you’ll be working that evening! I have a regular place to eat, drink, work, work out, hang out and then there are “special” places to go - the guest buffet is like going to eat out, supper club is like having a formal fancy dinner date, the guest disco is like going to a club, etc.
And life on the ship is what regular every day life at home is like. It is very very different from home. But once you become settled in it, it becomes your regular every day life.
Friends Here:
The first month I was away was very difficult for me. I was homesick. I was overwhelmed. Work was slow. I didn’t know anyone. All of this has become better in the last couple of cruises. Finally I feel comfortable with people on the ship. I have a few really great confidants, a group of people I love to
More Disco
Cat, Ricky and Brooks hang out with and many others I feel comfortable socializing with. Through being comfortable with those people, it is easier to casually greet and speak with everyone else. It has taken me time, but I’m feeling quite comfortable now in this crazy little world. I miss people from home who provide me with things nobody else can. But there are some truly lovely people here who I love to laugh with, play with, party with, chat with and just be with. And I feel wonderfully blessed to have so many lovely people here to enjoy while still having such a phenomenal support system back home.
And so, that is a bit about life on the ship. I do work! I do boring every day stuff like laundry and banking and cleaning! I do have responsibilities and people to report to! But these things have become part of my every day life and so to me they seem uninteresting and so I don’t write about them. I save this space for my wild adventures, crazy parties and beautiful locales. I forget that this entire experience is something new and different.
Yesterday I got my official end of contract
date: June 3rd. I am one-third of the way through my contract. The last few days I have made a conscious choice to make sure that I am getting everything out of this experience that I can, that I am taking everything in and not passing anything up. Now that this all seems routine and regular, I can forget that it is only a small chapter of my overall life. I want to remember that in only a few months, all of this will be a memory, part of the part. So for now, I need to embrace everything that I can.
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swills82
Sarah Willett
I was totally thinking "Man, that room is pink!" then you said it yourself. Cute room. Looks cozy. Top bunk huh? Oh camp. You're totally right in what you said in your letter. Reading your "people" section reminds me of how I feel a lot of the time. Is nice to have close confidents down here but no one TRULY knows you like those who have known you for years through many different situations. Comforting knowing they're there though huh? Carpe Diem Netter.