Days 104-113: Jamaica, Sea, Florida, Sea, Sea, St Thomas, San Juan, Sea, Florida, Key West

January 31, 2012 at 02:13

I've managed to survive the last two weeks of working regular shifts and since Saturday I've been working the nights and will be for the remainder of my contract.  I've been looking forward to this ever since I got my first taste two weeks ago. Excursions, getting to go out in every port, sleeping for 8 hours at a time… It's going to be amazing.

Working nights now is a godsend because it gives me time to be at work yet in a quiet place at the same time.  When I started this job I was overwhelmed at the tediousness of everything that we do with little to no training and the unrealistic expectations that went with it. All the extensive record keeping, messaging, meetings, everything!  But as I've come around and learned what's necessary to excel in this position I've realized that it's no different than any other desk job. Be approachable, confident, kind, decisive, concise, diplomatic, efficient, flexible and adaptable.  That's the essence of what I do. 

Before Christmas I wrote a out how quickly time was going to go by with all these little mile stones and I was right on the money.  It feels like it was only yesterday that it was Christmas eve and now I'm only two cruises away from mom and dad coming on board and less than two months from being home.

For the rest of my contract we continually two an Eastern and a Western cruise of the Caribbean so there isn't going to be much more variety aside from any excursions I go on.  With the excitement of the locations out of the way it's really starting to set in that real life is creeping back up on me and the big questing looms; What's next?

Since getting into hospitality I've had more life direction than I've ever felt before but now there's so many options in front of me and I really have no idea which route to take.  A few things that I know for sure after doing my stint onboard are that I want to work in North America or the Caribbean, I can't settle for working a line job any more, I have to get back into a position where I can make a difference, and I have to work with people who are as passionate about what they do as I am.  Where am I going to find all of that? Who knows, but the hunt is on.