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Published: February 9th 2007
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My Training Mgr and I at the Crew Christmas Party
This is Vanessa, she is from S.Africa and is nuts. Off the wall and very cheery which is great for me. Happy Double O Seven to everyone...
There have been many interesting events take place over the past little
while and let me tell you about them. In short, French Caribbean,
Christmas, New Years and A new Manager....
As I was mentioning before the Christmas season on board the Carnival
Legend is very interesting. There are a lot of decorations, joy and
carols through out the entire ship. However there are a lot of sad
faces as well. For those crew members on board that don't have the
luxury of having a lot of time off during the holiday season it can be
seen in their work and seem to have a lack of bounce in their step.
And rightfully so. During Christmas I got the chance to sing some
carols, attend the Christmas show and work in my Training Centre with
some foreign cultures and learn their customs. It was actually very
rewarding. The things that I am learning on board I don't think I
would be able to learn anywhere else really.
For Christmas Eve, Vanessa my T&D Manager and I took a tender boat
Sonja and I
I forgot to add this photo last entry. It is of Sonja and I heading to the White Water Rafting Trip in Costa Rica. She is S.Africa and is a nurse onboard. (takes you from the ship to port) in Belize and had an amazing lunch.
We then got a little tipsy over some STRONG Margaritas. Christmas Eve
we sang at the Christmas show. But the best part about the Christmas
show was seeing someone's hair ignite..... Yes I did say ignite.
Vanessa and &%$##@, a social host, have a love hate relationship. Before Vanessa and I were to go down the aisles of the theatre to
sing, V asked $, “What songs do we need to sing"? $ said, "I guess
you will figure it out when we music starts". So V grabbed her pony
tail when she turned around and playfully held it over the candles we
were holding (for Silent Night) and POOF... A tuft of smoke and that
undeniable burnt hair smell followed. (Only a little POOF of hair but
still) $ said, “What’s that smell"? V said "I'm not to sure may be
someone had some bad lunch". I COULDN'T EVEN LAUGH, BUT SNORT I
SURE DID! I couldn't help myself. So, after all of that we then
accompanied the Entertainment Department (Cruise Director,
Ginger Bread anyone?
The ginger bread village that was displayed over the holidays. Asst.
Cruise Director, Production Singers, Dancers, Social Hosts, and Teen
Directors) Nurses and some of the Shop Keepers to some drinks in the
Crew Bar. It was actually a very nice evening. Christmas day Vanessa
and I went into the Infirmary to exchange some gifts with the Nurses,
and have some Champagne. I tried to get a line out, to call Family and
Friends for about 3 hours, but it was almost impossible. As you can
imagine with over 3000 people on board and only 4 satellite lines to
call out, it was very hard. I managed to get a line out to call a few
people at about 2 minutes each within the following 5 days.
That would bring us to New Years...Its going to take a little while
for me to remember what it was like during New Years Eve...nah I'm
just kidding. None of you have ever seen me with one drink to many...
Well okay, maybe one or two of you... Again, the Nurses, Tara the Teen
Director, Vanessa and I all had a good meal and then we got all
gussied up and then we to Lido Deck - the Main deck with all of the
Cones (The Crews term for guests) watched the Filipino Band (whom
are AMAZING) had Champagne and watched the count down to ring in
Double O Seven. After which we all changed into our civilian clothes
and went to the Firebird Lounge and danced the night away. Where more
drinks, card games and socializing took place.... Sheesh it sounds
like all we do here is party. Which is not the case at all.
On our last cruise to the Southern Caribbean, Sonja, one of the nurses
and I got off in St.Maarten and went to this little restaurant on the
beach for lunch. As we generally only get a few hours off that we
could get off at a port we often go and get REAL FOOD. Food that we
are not eating in the Staff Mess. During this cruise Marama a Nurse
from New Zealand and I got off in Barbados - my day off, and we snuck
into a very private resort called Turtle Beach. WHICH WAS
BEAUTIFUL... I didn't think I would like Barbados, well that was
because I hadn't been to Turtle Beach yet. You can see some of the
picture below of Turtle Beach. Marama and I managed to get some free drinks and swim in a great pool and just lounge. That evening Marama
and I walked to a restaurant called Aqua to meet up with Jane, another
nurse from England - and yes, is a WINO!! I love it. Aqua was the
finest of dinning I had eaten at EVER. I didn't realize the cost of
everything until the bill came. 100$ and change per person. It was
amazing.
A group of us managed to get off in Martinique as well on
this cruise and we again snuck into Les trois ilets, which is a very
exclusive French resort. Again beautiful!!! You can see from the
pictures below. On this day I fell asleep in the sun and got a little
crisp. Everything in Martinique is in Euros, so it is very expensive.
A bottle of water is 4 Euros, so about 11$ Canadian. So we made sure
to stay parched until our return to the ship. I will include pictures
below of all of our adventures so far. I hope you all like them.
Many of you have been asking what it is that I do on board, let me
tell you some of those things:
I am a Corporate Trainer, which means that I train everyone on board.
I train 102 nationalities to speak English, train new compliance with
Corp. Policies, US. Coast Guard compliance. I am a lended ear, Human
Resources, attend the Hotel Directors Meetings and represent the crew
and my department. I help maintain all of the records sent to the US
Coast Guard, perform English Evaluations, greet guests and am the
welcome wagon to all new sign on employees. Essentially, I am the
first line defense for the crew, they can come to me or my manager to
ask anything you could possible imagine about shipboard life. Other
than that, you would have to be here and see what we actually do in
the in-between times. It is kind of hard to explain but considering
Les Trois Islet
As we walked down a small promenade a rainbow awaited. my
Corp. Boss is not onboard they are in Miami, the crew feels as though
we are neutral that they can come to the Corp. Trainers about anything
and we can provide them with the answers. My Manager Vanessa just
signed off for vacation in Ft. Lauderdale and a new Manager Robert,
who is from New Brunswick Canada. Vanessa signs back onto this ship in
February after the Training Manager Conference.
That is pretty much it right now, I want to wish everyone a FANTASTIC
2007 - may all of your wishes come true.
I miss you all, and for those of you who sent me Christmas items,
THANK YOU Mom/Dad/Tyler/Kitty/Hollie and Krissy I received your
packages and I loved them so much. It was great to get something from
home. I really really appreciate it.
But I have to get going before I start to write all of the juicy X
rated details. I'm just kidding there isn't any of those to
share.
HUGS Brooks
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