Finally hello from Germany!!!!

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Helloooo!!!

I have finally managed to get onto a computer here. It took me ages to organise a time where I could get an internet card & write my first message from another country!

Well, it's been a busy week with drills, inductions, getting lost etc etc. The first day was a bit of a blur with all the info I had to take in. I was given what has to be the hardest 'crew station position' ever! We all have one on board & have to go to it before going to the muster stations where all the passengers would gather in an emergancy. I got lost of course & walked the ship 5 times, & even then officers who tried to help me didn't know where it was! Needless to say my friend Vinnie who works in the shops with me was kind enough to walk me through it again as his position is the next stairwell above mine.

I think I've settled in ok. It feels really 'alien' here as that you call your cabin 'home' because that's what you've gotta make it. My cabin is big, & I share with 3 other girls. The first is Bryony whose australian & the other is Verena whose german. They're both really nice have helped me where they can! I make them laugh with my british ways & sense of humour & am often commented as Mum for keeping things tidy. To me mess doesn't make sense, I learnt that from my Ma!!

The ships pretty big but I've established the route to the crew mess, the crew bar, work & the main passenger restaurant. The crew mess & bar is nothing to 'write home' about. The mess is very basic, but the food is good. I have learnt however to eat in the main passenger restaurant when I can & we often, after work which is usually 10-11pm go upstairs for a snack, & 'robbing' the pastries & muffins...ha ha.

You quickly realise that on this ship everyone gets to know your name. I've walked down the main corridor past the mess, bar etc called the 'M1' & I've had people say "Hi Lisa" & I'm not even wearing my name badge?!

I'm very, very lucky to have a big window in my cabin. Apparently that's a luxury. I'm situated to the very back of the ship, not sure what side, & the 2nd from end big window above the port holes. Our quarter is called 'Beverly Hills' because it is so nice compared to the others (majority!) which is called "The Bronx'.....that should explain things!

My first ports were Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Tallinn & now Warnemunde which as you'll notice is in Germany. Copenhagen, Stockholm & Helsinki were all ok. I mainly did a lot of walking around looking etc etc as these places are sooooo expensive! Helsinki was fun because a big group of us went to this theme park & had the best day out! Lots of rides, & feeling a little 'icky' afterwards. Stockholm was an odd place. It was kind of disjointed, & the 'modern art' museum provided much amusement to myself, Vinnie, Kevin & Dina. St Petersburg, the place I wanted to go to the most out of all the places on this particular cruise was a dump. The people were rude, it was dirty & expensive. It cost 20 euros just to get into town in a taxi?! As we were in St P'burg for 2 days I went on a crew tour the 2nd day. That was a little better & got to see some nice buildings etc but I still wasn't impressed & wont hurry to visit it again next time I'm there which is August I think. Tallinn was a big surprise. It was beautiful, & urge anyone to look at some pic's on the internet. The people were lovely & so was the food, & reasonably priced. I'm british, I hate having to pay out for more than I need to?!

The shop I work in is nice. My manager is called Mornay (South African), the asst mgr is called Gabriel (not too sure where he's from), the trainee asst mgr is called Tiffany (Canada), & then there's Dina (Aussie), Bryony (Aussie), Vinnie (Phillipines), Joanne (British), Kevin (British & started the same day as me), Karen (British), Josip (Russian), Jerry (Indian...he's names too long to pronounce so everyone calls him Jerry), Verena (German), Rachel (Aussie I think) & Sasha (Italian ....man) who I work with in the fragrance shop. I think that's it....I can't remember who else?!

I'll be back in Southampton soon for a day then we've got a charter cruise for 3 days, then back to Southampton, then off to the med! Hooray! I've been very lucky with the weather, no rain, only sun!

I will try to upload some pics when/if I can. The internet isn't very quick here & it isn't very cheap either. I'm trying to organise myself to update my blog once a week at least, so please bear with me!!

I'm doing ok, but miss everyone (& my boy...Brian) back home terribly. I only get a few sad moments, the rest I'm too busy or that I don't see the point of being sad when I'm doing something some can only wish to do!

I'll speak to you all soon, take care!!!!

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