5 - Ecstasy

Where should I begin? I have a 4 hour break until I start again so I thought I’d catch up on some internet time and put fingers to keyboard with the latest happenings. The soccer world cup final is on in the background – this will be the first full game I will have seen. I thought there would be more world cup spirit on board, but no. The games are on at strange times here so most people don’t get to watching them.

I am on the Ecstasy. It is like South Africa boat – there are so many of us here!! I really like my photo team. There are only 3 girls in the team of about 14 and we have a really good manager. I am sharing a room with one of the other girls – Angelica from Peru. Our room is bigger than the last one on the Sensation which is a relief! Although, the one thing that does get to me is that I cannot sit up straight in bed without hitting the ceiling, but it’s the same for both bunks (I’ve got the top bunk). I am slowly getting used to the routine of boat life. My training is coming to an end – I had a four hour session with other new crew members on crowd control for emergency situations, followed by a test on it, and had to write another test on boat safety and evacuation (both very easy). Our day shifts differ but we always work in the evening and end at about 11:30pm. My legs and feet are taking strain, not used to so much standing. Tonight is a formal night which means we work extra hard. Tonight I’ll be photographing portraits and dinner from about 4pm. The guests dress up in smart clothes for tonight, some really go over the top, but most don’t look that smart. The Americans don’t like to dress up too much. They’re often only in their formal attire for a few hours and have changed back into their shorts and tees before we even finish photographing.

I am on the Ecstasy, the second oldest ship in the fleet and one of the smaller ships. It sails from Galveston (near Houston), Texas, to Progreso and Cozumel in Mexico on 4 and 5 day cruises. Due to bad weather (a hurricane in the Gulf) my first cruise on this boat was only a 3 day cruise and it sailed to nowhere starting one day late. Very nice for our sales as the only place the guests can spend money is on the ship. We ended the cruise with a nice bonus :) . (Luckily, hurricane and all, the boat did not rock too much). For my second cruise on this ship I was port manning - something I didn’t know existed. Basically they take away your crew ID for one cruise and you are supposed to stay aboard while in ports to help if there are emergencies or something. A bit of a disappointment as I had quite a bit of time off, but it’s done now so hopefully it’ll be quite a while before my next one.

I’m slowly getting to know the ship and all it has to offer. I have discovered the midnight meal (served from midnight onwards) which I can often catch as we finish so late. I think the midnight meal food is slightly nicer than what’s served during regular hours. Perhaps it’s leftovers from the guest’s dinner and they feel they must spoil the staff who all work so hard. My midnight favourites are the magic chocolate pots (warm chocolate cake goo in a little bowl) and the smoked salmon (?) or some sort of fish which I put on brown bread with butter and lemon. Mmmmm. The guy who puts it out knows I like it, and tells me if it’s ready early :). Hopefully it won’t all go to the hips! ...I have also discovered the gym which I must visit more often!

As I am staff, I have a few privileges. One being I can use certain guest areas if dressed appropriately (much smarter than the guests ever look). I have been to the disco a few times already – great fun. Then there’s a 24hour pizza restaurant on deck 10 which gets a visit after the disco (at around 3:45am... more reason to visit the gym often). A late night, this makes waking up the next morning quite difficult!

I helped with embarkation photos for the first time yesterday. Four of us go ashore into the terminal and photograph everyone before they get onto the ship. 5 hours worth – it’s a long time with lots of people (more than 2000). My job was to hand out ‘easy photo finder cards’ (a card which states photo gallery hours and the batch number the guest’s photo was taken in, to help guests find their photos easier). A simple concept (well maybe to me anyway). One woman asked “are these for free drinks on the ship?” The most consistent statement about the cards was “but this is not my picture, this is not me!” (the cards also have a sample photo on them showing what the picture will look like). SO many people thought I was handing them their photo that they had just had taken, less than 5 seconds ago. Yes, that I was a magic printer that could receive and print a photo from a camera a few metres away with no machinery needed, just some magic photo paper...??? Sometimes I don’t know what goes through their minds, all one can do is laugh.

Yesterday I experienced another (seemingly pointless) formality. Full crew ID and I95 inspection. This happens every 3 months. Every single member of staff has to go ashore while in the ship’s home port and produce their crew ID and I95 form (a little piece of paper that allows us into the United States - as they take away our passports – and costs $320 if lost) to the US immigration officials. A very slow process!

I am enjoying my time aboard, but could really use a weekend off! In time I’ll get used to the routine and enjoy myself more. The other day I saw a whole lot of dolphins jumping next to the ship as we sailed along. I wish I had my camera with me and could have watched them for longer.

Love to all

xxx

P.S. In reference to the previous blog entry where I was asked “Whe(re) da formalidies at?” ... I discovered the Formalities is a shop where guests can rent suits and smarter clothing for the formal evening or other events (there are quite a lot of weddings and vow renewals on board). It all makes sense now.