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Published: June 16th 2007
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Pride karaoke contest
DJ Kyle and his backup dancers My Carnival experience improved on a random afternoon in Nassau without any warning at all. My boss happened to be in port because he was cruising with another ship, and we all planned a lunch get together. Sitting down at a Chinese restaurant only staff know how to find, he got right to the point - I was to be pulled off the Carnival Liberty the following morning due to room space issues and budgeting shortages.
I was given less than 10 hours to be packed and ready to go through immigration. I was furious, because I hadn’t been given a respectable amount of time to say my goodbyes and visit the beautiful Caribbean ports once last time. I packed my overflowing bags as quickly as possible, then went to the crew bar for one last evening out with my friends. The next morning I was up at 5am for processing by immigration, and then I was off the Carnival Liberty for good.
I was picked up at the port by a senior Club O2 Director who also happened to be in Miami for a while. The plan was to have me working out of Miami’s corporate office
until a new ship assignment could be arranged. What should have only been a week turned into three because my mom had already booked a visit to Florida for the weekend and my boss promised me that I could still see her, so he kept me around until her visit. I passed the days working in the office and helping out with various projects for the Club O2 program, including creating a new employee welcome packet and building a PowerPoint that displayed images of each ship’s Club O2 hangout spot.
My boss also gave me a few days off to head down to Key West with a friend of mine who I had met cruising only a few weeks before. We spent the weekend eating amazing food and lounging around on the beach, and this relaxed me enough for the huge transition I was about to make, as I prepared to get onto a new ship.
Joining a new ship is a lot like switching high schools. You need to make new friends and establish yourself as the kind of person people like to be around. Every ship has its cliques, but I found the Carnival Pride to
"D" Party
Damon's birthday be such an improvement from the Carnival Liberty. Usually I make friends quite easily, but on the Liberty I had a really hard time breaking down the walls of the cliques within my department. On the Pride, I was instantly welcomed in and made a part of the activities as though I had been there all along.
The Pride also puts a lot of energy into providing staff activities that are entertaining and those helped me to feel instantly at home. Within my first week, the crew hosted a Karaoke Idol competition in which two dozen staff members sang and danced for a judge panel consisting of the Production Singer, the Musical Director and the Hotel Director. Everyone went all out with their choreography and this made it all the more hilarious.
The Dancers threw a birthday party for their Dance Captain, and since his name is Damon they made it a “D” themed party, so everyone had to show up danced as something that starts with the letter D. Costumes included Daisy Duke, Dirty, Dateless, Dominoes, a Doll, a Diety, and I simply stuffed my shirt with two huge balloons and went as “Double-Ds”, which of course
"D" Party
A Doll, Dateless and Dirty were all present won over the crowd instantly.
The Pride’s run is a lot less exciting than the Liberty but the staff makes an effort to enjoy themselves as much as possible. In Puerto Vallarta one of the Dancers’ parents have a house, and we enjoy going to visit and soaking in the simple pleasure of sitting in a real living room on a real couch. We pass the time lounging in his hammock, pool, massage chair or Lazy Boy. Last week we put together a group of people to visit a local orphanage, where we spent a few hours playing with the kids who never get enough attention or affection. Then his parents cooked us a huge dinner. There is also a 5 star resort that the staff frequents, and this has multiple beautiful pools and access to the beach. The other night, a few of us booked a table at Supper Club, the nicest place to eat on the ship - on slow nights staff is allowed to dine up there for a small fee, and believe me it was worth it - I had three appetizers, Surf n' Turf followed by two deserts. Deeelicious!!
This week in Cabo
"D" Party
My Double D's were a hit a few of us hiked a small mountain that overlooks the ocean. It was only a 45 minute climb at full speed, but it was at such an extreme slope that we all were out of breath at the top (and eating three grilled cheese sandwiches before the climb was definitely not smart on my part). The peak of the mountain allowed us to perch at the highest point of the island, and we looked out over calm seas, broken only by the wakes of parasailers and fishermen. We climbed back down the mountain to swim in the freezing ocean, then ate sushi and listened to a Latin Jazz Trio at a small local spot off a side road on the Marina.
All I can say is how happy I am to be on the Pride. I think that my new friends and the positive vibe on the ship has rejuvenated me not only for my job, but also for this lifestyle, On the Liberty the negativitiy and cattiness made me feel that perhaps I wasn’t cut out for shiplife, but here on the Pride I feel like part of a family.
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Herc
non-member comment
I'm SO SO SO glad that things have drastically improved for you Miss-Alainey! I miss ya! Make sure to hit me up whenever you get a chance!