Oct 13, 2011 23:00
Sleep, eat, work. Sleep, eat work. Right now that's pretty much how my days go. My coworkers on the desk have been giving me shit for not coming out at night but when I work at 7 the next morning it just doesn't work for me. Gotta look out for number 1, there will be plenty of time to party.
So tonight I found out I'm a popular guy. I came into my bunk and Bernardo asked me what I thought of Flora (female officer) because she likes me. Then at dinner one of the girls I work with told me that the Russian guy that plays the piano likes me too. Good lord, at least I have universal appeal. I don't know what "like" really means nor what things like bf/gf means on the ship so I plan on staying away from all of that for a while.
Today we were on the water the entire day as we sailed up the St Lawrence river headed for Quebec City.
The customer service on a European ship is VERY different from everything that we're used too as North Americans. They are very strict with their rules and give refunds or compensation for pretty much nothing. That's kind of a bummer for me cause being able to brighten someone's day by giving them something small was one of my favorite parts of working in hotels. It's very odd not to be able to fully deliver the type of service I'm used to giving. Once again though, just being able to speak proper English brings smiles to the guests' faces every day. It sucks to hear two diff passengers tell me tonight that they will never book with this line again. Hopefully as I get more comfortable with my job I can help to manage people's disappointments by managing their expectations and by giving clear explanations.
La belle province in the morning, sleep time.
At some point I'll take a bunch of pics of the ship and post them for all two of you (thanks mom and dad!) who read this blog. :)
About Me
- DrewonaBoat
- Follow my travels and get insight from behind the scenes as I work my 6 month contract as a Guest Service representative onboard a cruise ship.
Friday, 14 October 2011
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Day 3 Charlottetown
No clue about this blog thing but I know that life on the boat is very odd. EVERYTHING is Italian and as someone who's first language is English I'm a HUGE minority.
Just a simple post to see if this thing works. More later... maybe?
More!
Every day things start to get a little better and dare I say "normal". Despite not speaking the same languages I'm starting to build some bonds with the people I work with.
Step one of socializing I think is complete. There are 4 guys I already have a decent relationship with. I work with Anatholio (Madagascar) and Patrick (Italy) who are both pretty cool. Toni's English is quite good so he's a bit easier to talk to than Pat but it's all good. Then I've got my roommate Bernardo (Italy) who works elsewhere on the ship. We talk about girls and tech, can't go wrong with that! And then today I met Oscar from of all places CHICAGO!!! When I found out he was from the states I couldn't help but hug the guy. You don't realize how nice it is to talk to someone normally until you can't for a few days.
Today we were in Charlottetown and I got off the boat for an hour and a half. Didnt do any sight seeing but I did find a coffee shop and some wifi so I could look at my awful fantasy football teams. The coffee was amazing but maybe that's just because I tried the staff coffee at breakfast today which tasted like shit drug through tar. Note to self, get Nescafe French vanilla instant coffee when I'm in Hali... A lot of it. Talking about food, the staff meals are pretty crappy. Only real constantly safe options are salad and rolls. As for dressing we have one option, Italian of course.
Tomorrow's my first sea day as we travel to Quebec City. The other staff talk about it like it's a bad thing but I see any chance to talk with our English guests as a gift.
My writing style for these is crap because I do them on my phone then upload them later. It's also the last thing I do before bed and I'm typically pooped after my regular 9 hour days. It's kinda like camp on steroids. Night!
Ps. Must learn Italian...
Pps. Check out my sweet in bunk tv aka iPad stuck to the wall using the smart cover
Just a simple post to see if this thing works. More later... maybe?
More!
Every day things start to get a little better and dare I say "normal". Despite not speaking the same languages I'm starting to build some bonds with the people I work with.
Step one of socializing I think is complete. There are 4 guys I already have a decent relationship with. I work with Anatholio (Madagascar) and Patrick (Italy) who are both pretty cool. Toni's English is quite good so he's a bit easier to talk to than Pat but it's all good. Then I've got my roommate Bernardo (Italy) who works elsewhere on the ship. We talk about girls and tech, can't go wrong with that! And then today I met Oscar from of all places CHICAGO!!! When I found out he was from the states I couldn't help but hug the guy. You don't realize how nice it is to talk to someone normally until you can't for a few days.
Today we were in Charlottetown and I got off the boat for an hour and a half. Didnt do any sight seeing but I did find a coffee shop and some wifi so I could look at my awful fantasy football teams. The coffee was amazing but maybe that's just because I tried the staff coffee at breakfast today which tasted like shit drug through tar. Note to self, get Nescafe French vanilla instant coffee when I'm in Hali... A lot of it. Talking about food, the staff meals are pretty crappy. Only real constantly safe options are salad and rolls. As for dressing we have one option, Italian of course.
Tomorrow's my first sea day as we travel to Quebec City. The other staff talk about it like it's a bad thing but I see any chance to talk with our English guests as a gift.
My writing style for these is crap because I do them on my phone then upload them later. It's also the last thing I do before bed and I'm typically pooped after my regular 9 hour days. It's kinda like camp on steroids. Night!
Ps. Must learn Italian...
Pps. Check out my sweet in bunk tv aka iPad stuck to the wall using the smart cover
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