Grand Turk

So we had a sad event happen in Grand Turk this week. A woman was found face down in the water and was dead. Not sure what happened; if she had a heart attack or couldn't swim. I haven't heard a lot of details about it except that she was probably in her 70s. We left Grand Turk about an hour and a half late because they were taking her body off the ship and her family left with her. We do have a morgue on board here, but it's ultimately up to the family as to what they want to do. If they want to wait until we get back to home port or leave. That would be such a hard decision to make! Grand Turk is a very small island with a very small airport so it would not be easy to travel back, but it also wouldn't be fun to wait out the rest of the vacation.

I'm not sure what Carnival does; I don't think they would pay for the trip home, but maybe they bring a private jet in? And I'm sure they reimburse their cruise or offer then another one.

Very, very sad.

Boat Drill

Yesterday I had my first boat drill. Boat drill is where they test us/refresh us on what to do in an emergency. Every Sunday we do a safety briefing with our guests where we wait at the muster stations (where the lifeboats are) and the guests come and we line them up, just so the guests know where they go in case of an actual emergency. During safety briefing I stand at muster station D and hand out wristbands to kids under the age of 11 so in case they are separated from their family, we know where to take them.

Boat drill is for us crew to complete our full emergency duties. So if there was a real emergency, I wouldn't just go to muster station D and hand out wristbands. I would first go up to deck 10 and make sure Club O2 is clear. For us camp staff, we meet at the Ivory Piano bar on deck 3 and bring any children with us. We then take the kids to our specifies miter station (mine is D) and we reunite them with their families. If we cannot find their families we keep them with us. We ALWAYS keep unclaimed children with us. We are then supposed to go back into the piano bar with any leftover kids, but our supervisor argues this. She says why would you and any children come back into the ship where something is going wrong?! So she tells us to wait at the muster stations.

Then we wait for the announcement for crew to reach their final destination. Mine had been a crew muster station on deck 4, but it is now muster station D. Which is nice because in case something does happen, I don't have to go anywhere!

I also had crowd and crisis management training yesterday. We just learn what to do in an emergency, how to be assertive and keep people calm. They showed us a video of emergencies that have happened on ships, one of which was a cruise ship in Europe that sank in 15 minutes. Thank guys, that didn't scare me or anything...

We also have I wear our lifejackets the whole one during boat drill. Here is me in mine- Hot, I know!

Atlantis!

Yesterday we were in beautiful Nassau in the Bahamas. I think this may be my new favorite place on our trip. It is gorgeous there and there is so much to do. Right off the ship there are shops and all kinds of restaurants like Señor Frogs. Some of the Entertainment staff went to Breezes yesterday which is basically a beach bar with all you an eat and drink, etc.

I went to the Atlantis with 3 o my friends. It was an $8 can ride there an we paid $80 with our crew IDs (the tickets are usually $175). Our ticket allowed access to the water park, beach, and aquarium. The ground there are so beautiful, and the aquarium is awesome! I took a few pictures from my phone and some on my underwater camera that I will upload later. Enjoy!

Laundry

I did laundry for the first time today! I sat in the room the entire time because apparently people like to steal laundry out of the dryers- like, even underwear!

My roommate had stuff stolen a few days ago; some shirts and yoga pants. I sat in the hot laundry room and watched like a hawk because I cannot afford to lose any of the small amount of clothes I brought with me. I took some pictures of the room while I was in there. It's free laundry which is very nice!

Week #1

My first week is officially over and it has flown by! It's been a little overwhelming just because there is so much to learn, but so far so good. We only had about 12 teens this week, so it was a nice easy week to start. This week we visited Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Freeport. I didn't get to get off in Grand Turk because I had orientation, but I got off in the others and they were beautiful. A lot of people don't get off in port, even if they have the day off. I plan to get off this ship as much as possible to keep myself sane! 

Everyone on board has been so great. I've made a lot of new friends already and they've all been very helpful and welcoming. I've even gone out a few nights! We have a crew bar where most people go after their shifts. It gets very crowded, but CHEAP drinks! I get 16oz beers for a dollar each and my vodka sodas for $1.50. Since I'm on staff I'm allowed to go to the guest nightclub. I get 50% off there as well, so $5 martinis! It's so funny to go and watch some of the guests dance! We're not allowed to dance with guests, so luckily I have that excuse to keep the drunk creeps away. There's also always security in there and they are quick to swoop in to rescue us! 

We have crew activities scheduled throughout the month. Last week we had an Alien Party; basically everyone wore glow sticks. Our crew parties are outon Deck 4 on the bow of the ship. It is amazing out there. You're at the forward most part of the ship and you can see all the stars. It was so fun!

The food has been good so far. Everyone complains that they are sick of it, but I don't think it's so bad. The menu is on a 21 day rotation and they make food from all cultures. There's always fish and another meat of some sort, and you can always have them make you fries, hamburgers, pizza,  and omelets. There is always salad stuff and fresh fruit as well. There's pizza and ice cream 24/7, so I'm trying to be disciplined so my ass doesn't grow to be the size of the ship! Luckily I've been good about going to the gym.

I'm still getting used to the schedule. We work until midnight or 1:00am every night, and for those of you who know me well, I like my sleep and I'm an early bird, so its hard staying up that late. I definitely drifted off to sleep for a few minutes during movie night the other night.. Oops! I do have time to nap in the evenings. We usually start work around noon and go until 5:00pm on sea days, so I've been trying to go to the gym then take a quick nap, shower, eat, then we open the club again at 8:00 or 9:00pm. 

We are open less hours when we are in port depending on where we are. Grand Turk and Freeport are shorter days so we usually open around 2:00pm. Half Moon Cay, Port Canaveral, and Nassau are longer days (which are our favorites) so we don't open until 8 or 9! 

Most of our activities take place in Club02. We have lots of board games, Xbox, Wii, and TVs. We also do some scavenger hunts and trivia.  We do some stuff outside of the room such as a pool party, karaoke, and dance class. We've added in 'water slide races' because a few times a week we have to man the water slide. All we do is tell people when they can go, and to go feet first on their backs. I've enjoyed the job. People are very friendly up there and it's the best view on the ship. We also go to 3 of the shows during the week. Our dancers are awesome! I've really enjoyed getting to go to the shows. 

Here are some pictures of CLUB 02:

We just set sail again. Heading for Port Canaveral, Nassau, and Freeport. My plans this week are to shop in Port Canaveral-- I did not bring enough clothes, surprisingly! We have to dress up in our formal wear 2 nights of the week and I basically now have 1 formal dress because the hook on my other broke Friday night! Some friends and I are planning to go to Atlantis Thursday in Nassau and I am beyond excited! So, should be a fun week. After all, our motto here at Carnivak is "Fun for all and all for fun!" 

Xo

Move in day!

I am officially a resident of the Carnival Pride! I arrived at port around 10:30 this morning, checked in, filled out my paper work, and was shown to my room! I somehow didn't overpack and have sk much room to spare!

Y

 

 

My roommate is Heather who is the other Club O2 Director. She is here for only 2 more weeks and then will be sent home and I take over. She's really nice and very helpful. Here she is in our room!

So far everyone has been so friendly. I feel right at home already. My director's name is Tharia and she's awesome! She is from Souh Africa and we clicked right away. She's really cool and very laid back.

I found out that I pretty much have everyday in port off! At least as long as our ship I stopped in port. So I hope I can do some exploring this week. So far heather and I have decided to snorkel and do kenedsy space center next week!

I had to safety briefing which I didn't understand at all, but I'm sure I'll learn! We have to stand at a certain part of the ship and hand out wristbands to kids under 11 in case they get separated.

I apparently have service until tonight at 3am! It has been a whirlwind of a day so far. A lot to learn and take in! We have youth orientation soon, then diner, then a party tonight! Hopefully I can post later in the week when I'm in port somewhere, but this will probably be my last post for a few days! Sorry if none of this makes sense or I have a lot of typos.. I've been writing this in a hurry and very sporadically throughout the day! If y'all have any questions for me please comment! Our ship has officially left port!

Xoxo

Here we go..

Coming to you live from my Bolt Bus heading towards Baltimore! Trying not to get carsick, but as our buses WiFi is out, this is what I am left to do. Luckily I hopped on a bus leaving an hour earlier than mine and I got on RIGHT as it started pouring the rain. There have been tornado warnings here all day and a very ominous looking sky as I got on my bus, it made me feel like I was back in Kentucky!

So my journey to Baltimore has officially begun! First let me recap the past few days. Wednesday I went to Pittsburgh  with my dad to visit my brother for the day. He just started school at the Art Institute and he turned 20 on Thursday, so we went to lunch to celebrate. He showed us around the town and the restaurant he just got a job at. I am so proud of that kid! After spending a few hours together, I then flew to New York City to say farewell to my friends there. 

I had a very action packed few days in the city, and I am exhausted. I had a great time my friends and being very touristy! All of my friends work during the day, so I was left on my own to explore, which I love to do. On Thursday I went to Bryant Park, which is awesome, and had some breakfast and sat and enjoyed the park. 

That's ones of my favorite parts about the city, all the cute little spots of greenery among the gigantic buildings. Parks are also great places to people watch, which is one of my favorite past times. 

I then went into the New York Public Library. Such a cool building! I also couldn't help but think about Sex and the City the whole time I was in there. I also stopped in Grand Central Station. 

 I then navigated my way down to Battery Park and I took a round trip on the  Staten Island Ferry. It's a fun, short ride, and gives you great views of the Statue of Liberty and the city sky line. It was nice to be on the breezy water (a great change from the muggy land), and I got some practice in before I started my job. Good news- I didn't get sea sick (I wasn't worried)! 

When I got back to shore, I realized I was starving. I knew I was near a place on the water where I had gone to with my family when I was younger, so I started walking towards the Brooklyn Bridge and found it. Pier 17! I found this fun beer garden and ha some amazing fish tacos and french fries as I overlooked the bridge and boats on the water. 

After that I walked around Seaport and stopped in the Heartland Brewery for a pumpkin ale, which turned out to be the best one I've ever had! I got sad though because I have to skip fall this year since I'll be working, and I won't get to experience my favorite time of the year. 

Friday morning I went to Murray's bagels where I got one of my favorite breakfasts; an everything bagel with lox cream cheese. I took my bagel over to Union Square and found a nice table in the shade to sit and eat. 

After this I realized I was on Fifth Ave so I started walking around, browsing the stores in which I can't afford anything. As I was walking I noticed people taking pictures on something behind me and realized I was  right in front of the Flatiron building. That's another great thing I love about the city; you can just walk around and stumble upon cool things. You don't need to have an agenda to see the sights! 

I kept walking and then realized I was near the Empire State Building. My plan for Friday was to spend the day in Central Park, but seeing the ESB, I decided I had to go up. I've been up before, but it was in middle school, and all I remember was standing in line for 5 hours (yes, that is an exaggeration, but when I was 12 years old it seemed like ages). I was up and down in about an hour, and boy am I glad I did it! I forgot what an absolutely breathtaking view that is. I could have stayed up there all day, but A) I'm afraid of heights,  B) there were too many people and I got annoyed, and C) I was hungry (shocking). 

Yes, I took a selfie.

After that, I decided to head down to Central Park.  I decided to go into the Plaza Hotel and explore and find some lunch. They had afternoon tea, but as I was by myself, sweaty, and wearing jean shorts, I decided to turn that option down. They have a food court downstairs where I got a delicious panini and an ice cold Coke. The Plaza had always been another one of my favorite spots to visit as a child, mostly because of the book Eloise. 

I then meandered over to Central Park. I should have done this earlier in the day. I found myself lost in the very center of the park walking in circles with a dead phone. I was to the point where I couldn't see any buildings around me and started having a mini panic attack. I tried to take in the beauty, but I was slightly freaking out. 

I finally found my way out (no search parties were called) and somehow found the Subway and made it back to meet Rebecca. We went out for drinks with our other friends Sam and Paige, then Paige and I got delicious Mexican for dinner. In case you haven't noticed, my favorite part about NYC is the food. 

Today I spent some quality time with my girls, relaxing and watching 30 Rock on their new TV! Rebecca and I then went into the city where we parted ways. She had to go work at the Tibi Spring fashion show! So cool. It was really sad saying bye to her and I tried my hardest not to cry in the middle of 22cd street. She's my girl. 

So here I am now on my way to Baltimore. I'm excited, nervous, and sad. It hasn't hit me yet that by this time tomorrow I will be out in middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  It's been a very emotional week of goodbyes to the people I love the most. It's going to be one of the hardest things to be away from you all for 6 whole months. It seems like such a long time. 

And now as I sit here crying on my bus, I realize how lucky am to have so many wonderful people in my life that make me cry because saying goodbye to you all is so hard. Thank you all so much for being supportive and excited for me. You are all amazing. Words cannot begin to describe how much I love you all and how much I will miss each of you. 

Anchors away!

My adventure has begun! For those of you just checking in, I am about to start a new job this Sunday (September 9th) with Carnival Cruise Lines as the Club O2 Director on board the Carnival Pride. I went to Miami,FL (awesome city) in May for an interview and was told the next week I had a job!  I had to do all kinds of things to be approved for the job: background check, fingerprints, a very extensive physical  (including a drug test, which I passed, in case you were wondering). I got approved towards the middle of August and they gave me my assignment 2 weeks ago! 

It will be ~6 months and I will permanently live on board the ship in a teeny-tiny room (30 inch closet!!) that I will share with a roommate. I have no idea who my roommate will be, I only know that it will be another girl and I'm assuming a girl in the Youth Department or Entertainment Department. I think (I hope) they will try to room me with someone who has a similar schedule to mine.

The Pride is docked in Baltimore and it does two alternating week long cruises. I will be back in Baltimore every Sunday morning, send one group of guests off, and then welcome the next group on and we ship out around 4:30pm the same day, unless there are storms or hurricanes, in which case I don't know what will happen. My first week will be a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise. We leave Sunday and the schedule is:

Monday and Tuesday: days at sea

Wednesday: Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos

Thursday: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

Friday : Freeport, Bahamas 

Saturday: day at sea

The second week will be a 7 day Bahamas cruise:

Monday and Tuesday: days at sea

Wednesday: Port Canaveral, Florida

Thursday: Nassau, Bahamas 

Friday: Freeport, Bahamas

Saturday: day at sea

The days at sea will be my busiest, as the kids are stuck on the boat with no where to go! Camp Carnival offers kids camps for kids ages 2-5, 6-8, and 9-11. Then there is Circle C which is 12-14 year olds. I will be in charge of Club O2 which is the 15-17 year olds. My first week I will shadow a Youth Director and learn the ropes, but after that I'm on my own. There is a room on board where they can come hang out, listen to music, play video games, etc. and there are also scheduled activities such as scavenger hunts, pool parties, karaoke, and discos. The ship also had a running track, mini golf, a water slide and 4 pools! A lot of people have said things to me such as "Wow, you have to deal with the kids whose family stuck them in day camp all day, that will be fun". No worries! The older kids can sign themselves in and out, so if there is any activity they don't want to do, they can leave, which is great (for me; no whining!) and gives them their own freedom. However, part of my job is to make it appealing and fun so that they won't want to leave. They can also sign up for certain short excursions when we are in port, such as snorkeling, and I think I will get to go with them and supervise! I'm hoping one of the excursions they can sign up for in Port Canaveral will be Disney World so I can go since I've never been, thanks Mom and Dad!

I'm not sure what my schedule will be; I will get it the day I sign on. I know I will have some time off in ports so that I can go explore. My logic was that by requesting to work with the older kids, my hours would be a little better. I won't be starting work at 6:00am and I won't be partaking in the babysitting Carnival offers until 3:00am (woof)! I'm really looking forward to leading the teens. Some people think I'm crazy for requesting it (but it beats changing diapers all day!), but I think most of the teens I'll have will be excited to be there and want to have a good time. 

I really don't know what else to expect, which is one of the reasons I made this blog. I've gotten all kinds of questions about my job and life on the ship that I don't know the answer to, so I will use this to keep everyone updated and tell y'all about it! So please, if anyone has questions, leave me comments and I will get to them. I plan to take lots of pictures to put in my posts so they won't all be so wordy like this one (sorry)! 

I'll post soon about the first few days of my adventure. I've been in NYC, and I've taken plenty of pictures! 

Over and out! Xo