Thursday, January 31, 2008

Weeee, windy!

30 Jan 08, 2145 hours

Cape Horn, South America


Hold on to your hat’s my friends! We have 50 knot gales right now! Luckily for us, it is at our back and port sides, so we aren’t going into it. We would have a much worse time of it if that was the case. We are listed about 20 degrees right now because the wind is so strong, so it is kind of funny to walk around; you kind of want to yell ‘everyone on the starboard side, go to the port side – and even us out!’ Ha ha. I would love to see what we look like from another ship’s point of view or something. It is still as light as day out, which still blows my mind. It is like 4pm and it is going on 10pm here. So weird! I am going to take a pic so you can see as well

We will be entering the Beagle Channel around 2300 tonight so it should calm down then. We don’t have the internet right now, so I am writing this offline while I burn copies of the newest mix from DJ Matte (my friend Matt from college who is a DJ in NYC) Its reallly good and since there aren’t any pax in the café, I can give it some volume too :)

Tomorrow we will be in Ushauia, Chile. I can’t wait to get on land (though I will probably walk like I am still on the ship LOL!) I have a few hours to get off the ship to wander around and I was told the town in right at the port – thank goodness! So I will go ashore after my shift ends at 10 and then I have to be back onboard by 12.45 for IPM Duty (In Port Manning) I like using my IPM days for the spa :) No one is up there and we get 40% off on port days

Speaking of the spa, the salon girls are throwing a pajama party in the crew bar. Should be a good time. Haven’t seen Matt much and I am not going out of my way to see him; he knows I like him, so let him come along to me and invite me out (for lunch or drinks) If not, I will find something else to focus on. I am looking forward to hanging out with my friends tonight – if I see him, it’s a bonus. If not, oh well :P

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Deception Island Antarctica

29 Jan 08

Deception Island, Antartica



It’s quite a lumpy day at sea today, but we are back out in the ocean now; we had been in the bay earlier around lunchtime near Deception Island. It was awesome; larger than life. The pics came out ok and I am uploading them now. The sun had peaked out and was shining down on the glaciers and it was magnificent!

Internet has been up and down the last day or so, so make sure you notice the date and where I am instead of what date it was actually posted. I can write off-line so I have been doing that and then posting it up when I can.

I checked the scale again and I am down another 2 kg’s. I am pretty proud of myself! I walk everywhere and since I don’t have a need to go to decks 5 to 8 I walk if I am going between 1 and 4 or otherwise take the ‘lift’ to the top. I have allowed myself a dessert once in a while – they are so scrummy. If I can keep up at a decent pace just doing this, I will be all right!

I was up on Deck 9 taking these pics:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bf232dhz.b4tql40n&x=0&y=m34jn8


The ocean is gloomy, it is foggy all around and we can’t see anything more than 40 yds of the side of the ship because of the weather. Which is another reason why we are so lumpy. I popped another Dramamine just in case; better safe now than sorry later. We are starting to smooth out a bit and I am getting sleeeeepy! It is so easy to fall asleep on the ship .. if she isn’t banging around, it is a great rocking motion. (she is still banging around now, since we are trying to steam through the rough open ocean and get back to land) Tomorrow we will be going by Cape Horn so it should settle down by then. Where we are now is the meeting of 3 oceans; Atlantic, Pacific and Antarctic.

Last night I did see Matt for a few – I didn’t plan it but I did forget to hand in my chits b/c I was running late and wanted to get changed before I headed off to the Fashion Show. We ended up chatting and bantering (we do it so well – it is quite funny) I don’t know where his head is at (well, I can probably guess; he is a man afterall) but I am playing the game we will see what happens from here on in.

Shops' Fashion Show

Last night the shoppies (crew members who work in the shops) hosted a Fashion Show to show all of their items to those who might not make it in there.


http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bf232dhz.beakni6v&x=0&y=mznre4


First up is Amie; then Bruce (in the red vest); then Clare, Lloyd, Tanya and Hugh. We had some pax join the group to model - so the female paz I don't know but is accompanied by Bob (shoppie); the next pax is accompanied by Jonathan (finance officer day; the next is Martyn (cutie huh? 1st Electro Technical Eng) then Jonathan again and then Andy is with one of my cafe pax, Beryl. It was fun and the shops have been pretty busy this morning. I bought a nice sweatshirt (Brit's call it a 'jumper') which is thin enough to wear to work; as well as a nice windbreaker jacket (that I have to pick up later)

Hope Bay, Antartica

Pics like this just don't need any explanation.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bf232dhz.1chuohvb&x=0&y=gvxblm

Being outside to take some of these was amazing! The bergs were so big, and close by, when I was out on deck, I felt like I could lean over and touch them!

I did find my way down to the bow - so once the weather gets nicer, I will let everyone know when I can go down and I can wave to everyone! (I was waving yesterday, but I didn't know the net connection had been lost)

Again, the webcam link is: www.pocruises.com/webcams/artemis

Bottom of the World

28 Jan 08

Hope Bay, Antartica



When I post the pictures I took today, you will see what I mean. It is unbelieveable! Breathtaking. To go out on deck and see these colassal icebergs, right near the ship (and they are even closer as we leave the bay area now!) I even shot some video that I will have to figure out how to load up and post. It just boggles my mind! I am sitting in the café now, looking out the window in complete and utter shock at how this part of the world is; and how lucky I am to be able to see it.

Yesterday we were cruising around the islands that are part of the country of Antartica, but today we are actually cruising in the bay of the top of the continent. That blows my mind; I am actually in Antartica! At the very bottom of the world; it doesn’t even register in my mind what that means. Hopefully, the pics and video are coming out well enough to show you how mamouth the ‘bergs are, how pristine white the snow is, how blue and clean the water is, etc. The air is so fresh, it is heavenly!

Right now it is almost 4pm ship time and we are leaving the bay, heading north and going through “Iceberg Alley” Well they weren’t kidding – they are everywhere. I saw penguins FINALLY! From the ship they look so small and unfortunately I don’t have that great of a camera (first thing on my list to buy!) for those kinds of pictures.

Last night (the 27th) I went to the crew bar – nothing major going on, just hung out with a few of the guys while Clare and Amie finished in the shop stock room (they are having a Fashion Show tonight – should be a hoot). Have some funny pics of me with each of them that I uploaded. (Of course I will have some good ones from tonights show too) Here they are:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bf232dhz.3hhwbnlj&x=0&y=-5bms7t

They are: Me :) then David, Bruce, Aranunab and then Ash (aka Fresh-Kabob LOL)

Nothing doing on the Matt front; we had fun the other night, talked a lot and got it out in the open on where we stood with each other. I told him I would take him up on the drink/coffee whenever we could and also for the lunch when we hit a port. Now the ball is in his court. I am not going to chase anyone. I may like him, but I am playing ‘The Game’ and being cool.

That’s it for now – internet is down again, so this will be posted whenever I can get it and the pictures loaded up to the blog.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Antartica Pics - Day 1

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bf232dhz.2vb5airj&x=0&y=cfd6py

Glaciers, mountains; Amie (L) and Clare who work in the shops next door, Clare and I, Tanya and I (she also works in the shops), more glaciers and mountains, David and his Penguin Hat, Iceberg, More glaciers, ME!, Cat and me - Deck 9 Aft, A very cool snow shelf and a very large iceberg

Penguins!

These are pictures my friend Cat, who I have mentioned in my blog previously, took while on the tour in Port Stanley, Faulkland Islands. Unfortunately they were booked solid, so I wasn't able to get on the tour :( Enjoy!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bf232dhz.1t8mmtj3&x=0&y=-v1ou0p

The Love Boat


27 Jan 08

Half Moon Island, Antartica


Where do I begin ~ with last night or today? :) Let’s start with today, woke up and the Satellite was down again. When I got to breakast I heard a bunch of the engineering guys talking about it and that it was local; due to the mountains and glaciers around us. When I got upstairs (our deadlights are still closed, so I hadn’t looked outside yet) I was like OMG! It was breathtaking; I felt like Drew Barrymore at the end of 50 First Dates when she looks out the window of the sailboat and her mouth hangs open.

Ok so last night – seems Mr. Night Officer and I are moving right along. So I will give up his name :P His name is Matt, he is (obviously) from England. About 6’5, stocky, dark hair and blue/green eyes. Ok, so that out of the way, I can talk about yesterday. I think I left off with the fact that we had an impromptu lunch. Well I ended up running into him (kind of on purpose on my end) at the end of the night when I had to hand in my reciepts (for manual charges I need to run) So instead of putting them in at the back office when I ended my shift at 10.30; I was sneaky and waited till after 11 and then went to drop off my ‘chits’ then. Since there was a party in the crew mess, Indian Republic Day, and 2 of the 3 Night Officers were there (which I had seen) so I knew Matt would be in the office alone. Hee hee. It was cool; he and I ended up just chatting and talking for well over an hour. When they guys came back, he had to go on rounds and then ‘count out’ at the Casino so we walked out together and I was going to head back to the party. (the Indians really throw a good party!) He asked if I was going to bed (no), where I would be and I said the crew mess, and about somewhere. He said he was going to do rounds, then go back to his cabin for a fag (ha ha it’s a cigarette! LOL) and did I want to come hang out with him again afterwards. So I said I would meet him in the crew bar, the crew mess or his cabin in about an hour, depending on where either of us was.

SO I went back to the party; was a lot of fun. Great music and it was cool to hang out with a lot more of the crew members that I don’t really know. Wait staff, bartenders, etc. Around 1ish Clare, Amy, Tanya and I went down to the crew bar ( on the way back to Clare’s cabin to change her shoes ) And Matt was in there with another officer just chatting. No one was in there since everyone was in the crew mess at the party; then we all had a drink with Nash – the Crew Bar bartender – since he was finishing up working and could now go out. Then we left and as we did, Matt walked out the other door. I wasn’t sure where he was heading, but then I saw him down by his cabin and he motioned for me to come with him. I hung back from the girls, signaled for ‘1 min’ to Matt and then yelled to the girls, ‘ I am right behind you – be there in a sec ‘ and darted down a different hallway. I felt like I was in Mission Impossible or something!! Ha ha :)

We just chilled out in his cabin – he had a cig, I drank my wine and we talked and talked. Turns out he heard through the grape vine that I ‘ fancied ‘ him; how the hell he heard that I don’t know considering I only told 3 girls. But I think Clare’s boyfriend might be the “mole”. She probably told him during pillow talk, and if she didn’t tell him to keep it quiet, he might have said something to someone else and gossip like that spreads like wildfire on a ship. Oh well. I asked what he thought of all that and he said he didn’t mind at all; he liked me a lot, enjoyed talking with me, thought I was cool, etc. So he wants to hang out in port sometime for a drink and some lunch – YAY!! (the next time we get to a port of course LOL) So it looks like I am going to be getting’ me a nice fella to hang around with.


That’s all for now – time for me to head down to dinner and to get changed for Formal Night. (Anyone want to bet I will actually put on makeup?? I haven’t worn a bit of it since I got a tan! How very unlike me .. but I will certainly do it up tonight. Afterall, there’s a certain bloke I am trying to impress on)

Antartica

If you havent before (or even if you have) you need to check out the ships webcam:

http://www.pocruises.com/webcams/artemis.aspx

We are in Antartica now and are seeing some great scenery!



Also, here is a link to look at the webcams for all the ships on our fleet:

http://www.pocruises.com/ship-tracker/all-ships.aspx

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Whew - a hell of a few days!

26 Jan 08

En Route to Antartica


Yesterday we were in the Faulkland Islands. Port Stanley is this cute little British town, a million miles from the ‘homeland’. The weather was quite ify so we were happy we could drop anchor and launch the tenders. It seems that many a time cruise ships have had to turnaround because the wind and waves are too rough to drop anchor. So the pax were in a tizzy the night before hoping we would have ok weather. The wind was still strong and the waves rough, but they deemed it ok enough to go forward with tendering in the pax. For those of you who don’t know (I didn’t know till now) the Faulkland Islands are a very important part of British history. They were owned by the Brit’s and then the Argentinians invaded and there was a bitter war over the land. Many pax (I would say about 75% are Brit’s as well as about 50% of crew) lost loved ones, or have some sort of a tie to the islands, so it was very important to get there. It was very cute there, we walked around and found a real Fish N Chips shop; we were excited till we found out that they were out of fish! So we had pizza and chips LOL. Found a grocery store and got some oatmeal. Couldn’t find many of the things I had asked Mum to get, so I am glad she is still sending them. (Knee-Hi’s, Foot Powder, Baking Soda, etc)

Today we are at sea; quite a sea day too. Internet finally came back up around lunchtime and has been good ever since, thank goodness!! The seas are pretty rough though. Just talked to Captain when he was in the café and he said they are about 20’ swells. He said we are handling them really well and she is taking them on at a good clip. Hopefully the seas will calm a bit. I don’t want to get sea sick – though I don’t very easily, it is still possible for anyone to get it in these conditions. Probably won’t be too many at dinner tonight. I will go down for some breads and what not.

Speaking of dinner ~ I have been eating heavy carbs today. I was a little “off” earlier. Cat told me (when I told her I had a headache) that a headache, neckache and then shoulders is the beginning of Sea Sickness. Accckkkk!! Nooooooo! So I popped a Dramamine pill and then went to eat; had some rice, mashed potatoes and a roll. LOL I know, it’s a lot of carbs, but not being sea sick is much more important. That was a few hours ago now, and between the events after lunch (will fill you in on the next paragraph) and the Dramamine ~ the headache is gone and I am feeling good. Whew! Crisis avoided J:)

Ok, the after lunch events: I was finishing lunch w/Cat and some of the girls from Photography, when Mr Night Officer walked in. Now, we aren’t supposed to be in groups of more than 4 or else it is looking “clique like” or something so he couldn’t sit with us. When we made eye contact and I put on a sad face and he just said “that’s ok I will go over here” and went and sat about 5 tables away. So I turned to Cat once he was gone and said “are you thinking what I am thinking?” and she said “yep, grab a drink, dessert or whatever and go talk to him!!” So I did – grabbed another glass of ice water and went and over and asked if he was waiting for anyone and he invited me to sit with him. So we got right down to talking .. lots of it! It was really great, getting to chat with him one-on-one finally ~ he asked about where I lived, I asked about where he lived, we talked about contracts and ship life; I was exstatic! When he had finished lunch he asked me if I wanted to get a drink with him (now) I couldn’t though, I already felt bad that I was late to go back to the café (but holy hell I have been working my arse off so I could skim a little time!) The Brit’s are big for having a beer or two at (or with) lunch, so no he isnt an alcholic or anything . Then he asked if I wanted to get coffee, dessert or anything else. I thought it was sweet and when I said I had to get back to the café he said he just wanted to keep talking to me .. awwww!!! So we finished up and walked out of the café together and he got in the ‘lift’ (elevator) with me. Rode down to Deck 3 (though he lives on Deck 1 like me) and walked me to the café. I think he was going to come in to chat, but saw I was busy and just touched my arm and said that he saw I was going to be busy and he would see me tonight (there is an Indian Dinner in the crew mess at 11pm that everyone is going to) and would pop over to chat then. So YAY! I was going to call him and tell him I wanted to take a raincheck on his offer of a drink/coffee, etc but then decided it was getting too late and he might have gone to sleep already. So I will save that for tonight when I see him (BTW, this all was from another nice, flirty-esque, kept great eye contact with me breakfast I had had with him this morning) I am stoked!

Ok, so in all this talk about food – guess what?? I have lost over 14 pounds since I got weighed last (at the nutty Dr’s!) Now I know there is a chance the skills are off a little being that it is 2 different scales I used, but they wouldn’t be off that much!!! YAY!!! If I could just stop working so much – I could get to the gym more! Though, I do walk all over this ship all day long, as well as eat better than I ever have (meat, veggie, carb on the plate) and use the stairs as well – I guess it does count for something! Wooo hoooo!

Oh and did I mention it is as hot as the equator in my café now? Since the a/c is off and the heat is on (it is only about 39 degrees out) my café is like the Amazon! Sweating it out helps to lose more weight right? LOL

Internet Connection Is Back!

If you are wondering why I didn't blog, or why I am not online or answering emails - well, we had NO satellite connection AT ALL

It is bound to happen again - so don't worry if you don't hear from me for a few days. Being in this part of the world (near the SOUTH POLE) we are out of range of the satellite, or there is a lot of interference.

We actually weren't expecting it to come back up for a few days - so the fact that it did is great!

I will post more of my blog when I can (keep fingers crossed the connection stays up!)

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Nothing Much Doing

24 Jan 08


Near the South Pole?
En Route to Port Stanley in the Faulkland Islands



Worked really late last night and was not a happy camper when I had to get up and do it all over again. However, when I went to breakfast with Cat and was joined by Mr Night Officer (among other people, but who cares! LOL) my mood swung a 180 .. he was a darling this morning. Chatty, laughing, etc. So I chalked the other night up to the fact he was working and had crap to deal with. It was a good banter I had going with him about anything and nothing (CNN, ESPN, The US) and when he started making fun of my accent and certain words .. it was a good sign. Remember back in grade school when boys used to pick on you and you never knew why? Then you figured it out in High School that is was b/c they really liked you, but had no way of showing it and were immature – so they teased you, ignored you and were mean to you. Now given Mr. Night Officer wasn’t being mean at all, it was in good fun really. And it gave me reason to consider that route again and be the one to keep the banter going ( I had a work issue, so I sent him an email for when he gets in tonight ~ picking up where we left off this morning ~ hoping it will keep on ) So that gave me a little pip in my step today; I guess I like him more than I thought. Who knows!

I must say, I sometimes wonder where I get the patience from! I have had several never-been-on-the-net users today and I was calm, cool and collected the whole time. Must be this job! I am so relaxed 95% of the time it is delightful. Heck, even my BP is starting to come down! 131/88 was what it was at lunch time! WOO HOO. Nkechi (the Doc) said anything under 135/90 was ok with her – so yay! I am still watching what I am eating, I have substituted butter/margarine for olive oil (Guy will be so proud, Mum) and hopefully that will help. (Don’t worry it isnt a lot, just enough to give rice or veggies some flavor) I am still refraining as much as I can from putting salt on anything. That kills me to do – I have put salt on everything since as long as I can remember. Someone send me some of that No-Salt! Dad also said I needed to find me some oatmeal as that will help; as well as eat more garlic. Yeah right! I have some, sometimes ~ But I am certainly not going to OD on it; Mr. Night Officer will run like the wind. As far as the oatmeal ~ I know the Brit’s like it, but I don’t think it is the oatmeal we eat; a bit different. I will see tomorrow morning. Otherwise, I am going to need a care package of Quaker Oatmeal please!! (and No-Salt!)

Karaeoke tonight in the crew bar; we turn the clocks back at 2am, plus it is a tender port which means most depts start a little later so it should be a good time all around. If I can make it till about 12, I can say Hi to Mr. Night Officer. :)

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Puerto Madryn

23 January 2008

Puerto Madryn, Patagonia (Argentina)


Had another busy day; this morning I had lots of crew training due to many new crew members getting onboard in the last few ports (since I didn’t get on in a major port, they had me wait till now) I have one more training session tomorrow morning at 0945. This morning they were long, boring and bleh. All about safety and being a “star service member” Yeah yeah .. I know it is important, but it was loooong. Then after that we had an IAATO conference. Basically explaining about how going to Antartica is venturing into unspoiled land and how we have to keep it that way, etc. Again, boring – but necessary.

Once that was over, spent a little time in the café getting some work done and then I zipped out and back to Deck 1 for some lunch before I headed off to my tour at 1330. I had a great group; most of the pax I knew even since they are frequent users of my café. Even my Nan and Pop were on my bus (IE: The Moore’s; they are the pax I told you I had met up with in Rio on the top of Sugarloaf; since then, they check on me everyday to see how I am “getting on”. So I call them Nan and Pop LOL)

So I took roll-call and we got underway. Our first stop was to be in Punta Loma to see the sea lions on their beach. They were so funny! Laying around, sunning, swimming; like they were tourists on the local beaches in town! Got some cute pics and tried to shoot some video but having an issue with the auto-focus. Will in the Photo Lab is going to try to help me out tomorrow with it. (Whoever is thinking it; No he is taken .. LMAO) We spent about 30 mins or so at Punta Loma then headed off to Estancia San Guillermo. The ride was bumpy as hell; it is all desert and there are no actual paved roads! “Route 1” is actually nothing more than a gravel road they widened; yikes! Got some good laughs with the pax about it though.

The Estancia is a small working ranch where they shear sheep for the wool to sell to manufacturers. We got to see them do 2 sheep ~ it was pretty neat and once they got it all off (they do it in one big piece) they laid it out on tables for us to see, then balled it up to sell. We were then able to wander about the ranch; I took to the dogs they were so hot the poor things! They just laid around; the owner said they help to keep animals away from the area around the ranch (not all the land, but around the outbuildings) There was this adorable puppy ~ it made me miss Mugsy so much!! :( :( I got a cute pic with the pup which made me smile. But, I miss snuggling with Mugs in bed. Sigh. I try not to think about the people and things I miss. I truly am loving it out here and I am living my dream to travel full time and being on a cruise ship as well.

We got back to the ship around 5 and I wasn't due to meet Cat till 6.30 for dinner, so I laid down for a nap. I am a napping queen these days! I am pooped ~ the officers have told me they havent seen an internet manager work this much or as hard. LOL So I have no idea what the previous ones have been doing! When I was getting dressed for dinner and then work, I noticed we still hadn't left port (we should have left at 6) Turns out the wind was blowing pretty strong and in the direction of pushing us against the pier. So if we let our lines go, we could have crashed into the dock. So we waited it out and finally got going around 9.45 or so. (It was still so light out at that time ~ like it was 4 in the afternoon! Craziness!) By the time we left I was almost done here in the cafe, so I put my pics up on Kodak Gallery and let them upload:


http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bf232dhz.61p5ggof&x=0&y=4t9d82


The pics above are: a Llama who wanted his pic taken, the Sea Lion beach and the views around it, self pic of me (so the Mom's can see I am not turning blue or anything) the Estancia and the shearing machine, the cute pup, shearing a sheep, sheep to be sheared, the shearing guy, me and the pup, some neat modern homes in the city of Puerto Madryn and the beach. (notice where the water is, where you can see where it was at high tide and how wide it is at low tide)

Buenos Aires Pics

Pics from Buddy's camera from clubbing in Buenos Aires!!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bf232dhz.2mbz2uy7&x=0&y=-2cs1i8

First pics are of me, Clare (short dark hair) Amie (blonde) and Buddy (dark hair with blonde streak) Then there are a few of friends, one of me and Toby (big guy in the printed shirt) some hot guy dancing and then the drag queens

Will get Clare's camera as soon as I can!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Throw another shrimp on the Bar'by

22 Jan 08


Somewhere on the same latitude as Sydney, Austrailia


We are pretty far south if we are parallel with Austrailia! Holy hanna .. it is getting cooler outside so we are definitely heading away from the heat and towards the cold Antartic. Thank goodness it will only last a few days; and it will be really cool to say I was in Antartica, saw the glaciers and the penguins!

Today has been a hellish day – so very busy in the café. I am beginning to dread sea days because we have so many of them that I get worn out! I worked from 9 till 1, went for lunch, then for Shore Excursions training and back to the café at 2; worked till 6.30, went for dinner, hurried to get dressed up (formal night) and then back to the café for 7 (was more like 7.30 actually) Whew! Thank goodness we are in Port tomorrow.

I am going on a tour tomorrow; we get to go on tours for free if we sign up to be a Tour Leader. Basically, I keep count of the pax, make sure everyone stays together and gets on the bus when we depart. Then all I have to do is a report at the end about the day; the pax enjoyment, how the guide did in running the excursion, etc. We are going to see the Sea Lions and Patagonia Ecstancia. Not 100% sure what it is, but I figure why not right? I also requested to be a leader in Port Stanley as they have some amazing Penguin tours. Don’t know (and won’t know) till the night before if I got it or not.

Some of you guys have still been asking about the pics from the night we went clubbing in Buenos Aires; I am still working on it. The shoppies (people who work in the shops) had a crisis and it turns out their crazy witch of a manager was fired ( they were celebrating!! ) but it means being more busy than ever. SO I still need to get the cameras from them. Hopefully tomorrow or the next sea day they will be back to normal.

Off for the night .. love and miss you all!

Monday, January 21, 2008

Land Ho!

21 Jan 08

Montevideo, Uruguay


Well, like I have said before – this is what this job is all about! Who gets the chance to get to some of these places? And for ‘work’?? LOL Montevideo is a lovely little town – mostly the normal hustle and bustle of a city, but many of the alleys in between some of the blocks had the cutest marketplaces. Little shops, street vendors and restaurants. Had a nice lunch with Cat at Pedro Adore; had fried Provolone, a chicken ka-bob and a nice wine. Not to mention the delicious Profiteroles for dessert! Yummy!!

After lunch we shopped in the market for a bit; I got a lovely hand painted print of the actual street with the restaurants and the big marketplace buliding behind it, another painting of a sailboat on a beach that has “Montevideo” on the side of it, an adorable hand made frog with the funniest grin and a nice little beach/pool bag with the country on it. Everything here is cheap. The paintings were about $10US, the frog was only $14US. I was expecting a lot higher but I guess I am getting used to the pound to dollar ratio. Once we were finished, we started to walk back towards the ship since I had to work at 1600 and Cat had to work at 1700. It was a lovely day and was nice to finally be in a port where we can walk to the town. (Recife, Buenos Aires and Rio you had to take a taxi to go anywhere nice – the ports were industrial, so nothing good was nearby)

Prior to going ashore, I had some free time before Cat was done work; after the crew drills that is. We had full drills today; was interesting. I have always been on the pax end, so it doesn’t seem like a big deal. But it is on the crew side. Basically they show us a film after every ALL crew drill to scare us silly ~ that was a little stressful!! That was over around 1100, so I went up on Dec 9 ½ again for about 2 hrs till she was available. I am putting on plenty of sunblock and timing how long I am on one side or another before putting more on, so don’t worry, I won’t make that mistake again! Iam shedding like a snake and I am leaving my trail of skin all over the cabin .. ewwwww. Our poor cabin steward has to Hoover everyday now. Thank goodness he loves me :) And thank goodness it is almost done – it is getting annoying! Its funny – I have peeled from head to toes .. in that order. First my face, then my chest, then my arms, now my thighs and my shins are next. Once they go, I am done! And the ankles are subsiding just a little and the Doc thinks I had a bad enough burn on my lower legs that any water I had was trying to re-hydrate my legs and instead was settling in my ankles just from gravity. They are starting to be a bit tender which (as my Mum knows) whenever you have a painful area, it seems everyone happens to bump into you in that spot! Right Mum? :)

We have just pulled out of port about 2 hours ago; we will have a Sea Day tomorrow as we head to Puerto Madryn, Argentina for Wednesday.

Here are the pics from today: (still working on trying to get the ones from Buenos Aires from the girls)

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bf232dhz.88qfndzz&x=0&y=4wgtla

First pics are at the restaurant, then of the marketplace, then the ship and then ME! LOL The next ones are of the view from Deck 9 ½ pulling out of Montevideo and lastly the pics of the items I bought (the frog and the 2 painted prints)

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Party Like A Rockstar

20 Jan 08


Departing Buenos Aires


Finally, I got back on land again last night; I have to say, for a World Cruise there seems to be an awful lot of sea days. I would think I am going to go a little nutty when we cross back across the Atlantic and we have about 6 in a row! I was glad to get out; I was feeling quite a bit homesick on my last shift. Missing my family, my dog, my friends; just the normalcy of being at home. I know it is normal so I didn’t give it too much thought and I am feeling better today.

I worked till 10pm (that’s 2200 hrs for you, Dad) and then went down to crew deck to locate my partners in crime, Amie and Clare, who were going to go out as well. Its pretty cool that it doesn’t get dark here till almost 10.30. At 9 it was looking like dusk, like how it would at home in the summer after dinner time. Anyway, found them in the crew bar .. we just sat and watched a movie for a bit as it was still early. Jenny (from the Spa) came in and dragged us out and told us we had 15 mins to get ready and to get moving. So I skuttled back to my cabin and got dressed. Finally got to wear a great top I had bought last year in London; wish my shoulders werent peeling, but at least it would be dark in the club! Borrowed some fancy flip flops to match and off I went to finish up getting dresses in Clare’s cabin. While everyone was in there, and some people were in Buddy’s cabin, it turns out that Mr. Night Officer came down to see what we were up to (we were blaring the music) I don’t know what happened, but something got messed up with who was on IPM duty and who had authorized a change and Liz and Jenny had switched so they could go out and supposedly the bridge called them to tell them they were not allowed to leave the ship. So he was down there explaining it to them. I tried to chat him up a bit and I go nowhere. I don’t know if it was due to the crankiness of the girls and he just didn’t want to deal with any of us or what. But brrr, there was some frosty winds blowing through. So that turned me off. Clare said it might have been the situation and not me, but who knows.

By the time that was all over, we got downstairs and outside to wait for the shuttle (we are in a working industrial port, so we are not allowed to walk to the terminal) it was now getting on almost 12. We ran into a few guys who were also going to the club we were all going to, so we took a few taxis and headed out (after we figured out where we were supposed to be going!!) It was about a 20 min cab ride, but it was only $15US so it was all good. The cover at the door was $14US and at first we weren’t going to go in, but then the guys found out it was an open bar .. so we said let’s go! We got into the club and there was no one in there .. I mean no one in general, not just crew; uhhh, where we in the right place? Buddy kept saying we were .. but we figured we would sit and have a few drinks and see if anyone turned up. After about an hour everyone had trickled in ~ some had gone to dinner before hand so they were showing up in dribs and drabs. But after a while, the crew members had pretty much taken over the area by the one bar. LOL I didn’t bring my camera, but Clare and Buddy did, so I will get their cameras and d/l the pics from their SD cards; hopefully I will get those up in the next few days. There are some great ones .. and of course lots of crazy and silly ones too. The club was fun; dancing, hanging out and just getting to know my fellow crew members and new friends. It was the big huge club you see on the Travel Channel when they show foreign city nightlife. It was awesome!

Around 4 something we decided we had had enough; the locals were quite the pain in the ass. I guess it got out that we were all from the ship, so there were flocks of them all telling us who knows what in Spanish. (at least it was spanish and not portugese! I know enough spanish to get me thru the day) We hoped a cab and then asked the driver if there was a McDonalds around. He had no idea what we were asking so we finally kept saying “Big Mac?” and using hand gestures as if to say we were eating a hamburger. It was so funny! He figured out what we wanted and took us to the one that was open on the way back towards the cruise terminal.

Ordering was a whole ‘nother adventure – that’s for sure!!! LMFAO The kid behind the counter spoke no English, so here I am (the only one who knows any Spanish) trying to order .. and Astin keeps saying she wants BBQ sauce and we have no way to figure it out to tell him. Thank goodness for a local cutie who spoke both languages and stepped in to help. I did ok with the food ~ it was the condiments that was hard! We made quite the spectacle of ourselves and everyone in the place was laughing (I am sure AT us instead of WITH us, but who cares, we won’t see them ever again) We laughed about it all the way back to the ship. When I see any of them today (Mila, Astin or Dani) I just say “BBQ sauce” and we all laugh. We decided to eat on the dock before going inside – and while we were eating a few more people started staggering back too. Everyone was very jealoous of our McDonalds find!

It was about 5.20am and I needed to put myself to bed; I knew it would be hard but I couldn’t stay up the next 2 hrs if I had nothing to do. So I went to my cabin, set my alarm for 7.30 and threw myself into my bunk. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. But OMG did it kill to have to get up 2 hours later! UGH that part sucked!! At least I could look forward to only having to work 2 hrs and knowing I could go right back to bed afterwards. Thank Gawd! So I struggled through the morning and at 10am I ran out of the café and downstairs to my waiting bed. I drew the curtains, put on the fan and off to sleep I went. I slept till about noon then got up and realized I was starving!!! So I got dressed in my bathing suit, put on lotion, packed my beach/pool bag and went to the mess for some lunch.

After lunch I went up to Deck 9 ½ ~ Deck 9 forward, then there is another top part to it where the crew all go (if they don’t want to go to Deck 4) I put on some more lotion and then got my iPod out and got comfy. Yes, I laid on my tummy! I couldn’t get that more burned. I needed some color on the other side ~ or else I was going to be very two-toned looking. Ewww. I was there for about an hour and then Clare and Amie came up as well. Then Tanya popped up a bit later. The weather was so beautiful; sunny, no clouds, nice breeze and about 85 degrees. Just lovely!

I was up there till about 3.30 and then I had to leave to go down and take a quick shower before work. I also had training with the new Executive Purser at 4.30, so I couldn’t be sweaty and smelly :P That leads me to where I am now ~ work! My shift is up and it is time to quit for the night.


Just remember: A bad day at sea is always better than a great day at the office

Saturday, January 19, 2008

3 Times A Charm

1030 hours

Buenos Aires


I guess the saying of Three Times Is A Charm is true; 3rd night out to the crew bar and wooo, hooo what a party! Everyone and their Mum turned up, even some of the officers who never seem to come out (I wouldnt either if I had to wear my uniform everywhere I went onboard!) I really had a kick ass time last night. Had some drinks, a lot of laughs and even had a few minutes to speak with Mr. Night Officer, who had come by on his rounds to check on things. Hmm :) We closed the place down at one .. they usually do last call at 12.45am and close the bar at 1am; but they don't kick the crew out of the lounge till about 2. I left at about 0130 and headed off to bed. Woke up at 4am to my roomie running around the cabin yelling for me to turn my iPod off! Huh?!?!? After turning off every imaginable object in the cabin, we realized it was the PA system; turns out the Engineers down in the Engine Room had their music on and had hit the switch to broadcast into the crew deck. Yikes. Someone was going to get a lickin' this morning. I heard even Captain heard it in his room. Ooops!!

I had to work this morning at 0800 so it was tough to get up; between the late night and the wild music at 4am .. I didnt get a good sleep. Worked till 10am and since we were in port had the mid day off, so I had made an appt to get my nails infilled. I was so pleased; Buddy is the nail tech up in the spa and she rocks! Since I was her only appt of the day I asked if I could get a pedi too. So we made an appt for me to come back at 1530 for that. After my nails, I went and threw some laundry in and then went to eat in the Officers Mess. It was actually quite lovely to sit, eat and chat without being in a rush! Then I went back to change the laundry to the dryer and went to take a nap till the laundry would be ready (I put it on the coolest dryer setting so nothing shrinks and it takes like an hour and a half to dry) Got up about 1445 and picked up my laundry, came back to fold it and put it away then went up for my pedicure. It was wonderful! I needed a good foot and ankle rub since my ankles are still swollen and sore. Buddy even sprayed some pain reliever on them to help them try to go down a bit. Once that was done, I went down to the Medical Center to see the Doc about the ankles. I have had enough. Only 1 pr of shoes fit (my slide on stretchy Disney sandal-flats) or flip-flops. She didnt think the swelling is due to the BP pills, since I had been on the pills about 9 days before the swelling started. She thinks it is more a combination of the sunburn, being on my feet more than usual (before this job) the salty food (no I am not adding salt I promise!) and even just being on the ship. Since my BP was still not great, she wanted me to start taking it again and then come and see her in a few days if the ankles are still swollen. In the meantime she wants me to make sure I drink plenty of water, elevate my feet whenever I can and put my life jacket under my mattress so my feet are elevated when I sleep. So we will see what happens.

We are in port overnight tonight, so the plan is for all of the crew (who can get off) to go out dancing tonight in the city. I am so psyched! Going clubbing in Argentina .. who gets to do this?? Oh, right - me! :) I cant wear my cute hooker heels .. they are too tight for my fat little feet to get into right now .. sigh, oh well :( So I went around to my neighbors and borrowed a few prs of fancy flip flops to wear so I dont look too under-dressed if I wore my Old Navy flips LOL

That's all for now - off to run my nightly reports.

Buzios and Rio De Janeiro Pics

Buzios

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bf232dhz.4zb4tutb&x=0&y=-do14j6



Rio

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bf232dhz.5nosqpa7&x=0&y=7rutdw

Cyber Cafe

Here are a couple of pics from the Cyb@study

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bf232dhz.b95momkf&x=0&y=-apgnb

I have 12 Workstations, 8 laptop stations and then my desk which faces out to them (like a teacher sort of)

Friday, January 18, 2008

Crew Bar – Take 2

18 Jan 08


Still En Route to Buenos Aires


1330 hours

Last night was going to hold the Dance Party in the Crew Bar. Ooo, I was excited! I was not happy that my ankles were still swollen (and were pretty stiff by the end of my shift) but I put on a pair of jeans and a fun top .. And flip-flops :) Went down to the crew bar and met up with a few of my friends; the music was just about to start and I thought it would be fun. I knew I couldn’t drink with the swollen ankles ~ I was afraid it would make them worse and they might’ve just exploded and blown off! LOL So I skipped that and had a diet coke (first soda in over a week!) As I was just sitting and chatting I could hear the waves crashing and banging against the hull – it was crazy! Then the ship was up, up, up .. Then down, down down. I started to think it wasn’t such a good idea for me to be partying; I don’t have my “sea legs” yet so I still feel it more than anyone else was feeling it. So I finished my soda and decided to bail and head home. Got up into my crawl space (aka top bunk bed in my cabin) and proceeded to put my feet up on the ceiling to have them “elevated” for a bit. Then I got too sleepy and rolled over. It is too easy to fall asleep on this ship!


1500 hours

Back after my lunch break; we are getting closer to land and the seas have finally calmed down. The sun has even come out! (after 2 days of blah clouds) I can see the littlest bit of land on the horizon, so even though we don’t get into Buenos Aires till the AM, I am sure Captain will slow us down this evening because we are getting closer. I would think he just wanted to get us out of the choppy seas.

Tonight is Girls Movie Night. A handful of us are going to watch a chick-flick on my cabin. Small as it is, it will still be fun :) Not sure what we are going to watch yet, probably will just take a vote once everyone has a chance to look through my DVD case to see what the choices are. Some people are going to Karaoke at the Crew Bar, but unless it is one of my friends doing it, I rarely find it fun or amusing (more like annoying) Might even go as far as getting some movie snacks; crisps (chips) and Minstrels (Like big M&M’s) I would kill for some movie popcorn. I swear I can’t wait till we get to FT Lauderdale in FL at the end of Feb. I have to go apply for my MMD card (for my next contract) in the morning and then I am sooo hitting a Wal-Mart or Target!!!

And .. Finally I think I have my eye on someone. I am not saying anything to anyone; I only confided in Cat and she won’t tell since she has her eye on one of the Bridge Officers LOL. Doing a little research Cat and I have found that neither of these 2 guys have a Ship-Mate (i.e.: girlfriend) This guy and I have managed to sit together the last 2 mornings at breakfast. (Coincidence? Are there really any actual coincidences?? Ha ha) He works at night, so he is getting off as I am going on ~ however, it would be fun to have someone to go ashore with. I sometimes need to deal with his dept if my revenue reports are off between MTN and P&O. So of course now I might have to hold any ‘problem’ till he comes on the night shift, instead of talking to the day shift Officer :) We will see. And that’s all I am saying about it for now. :D

Pictures!

The first few are of my silly hotel room in Recife, Brazil; the next are of my Lovely Lady the mv Artemis and the last are of my cabin


http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bf232dhz.bp7nax8v&x=0&y=s6sip8


I will get more up soon - I have some lovely ones from Rio, those are next :)

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Don't Rock The Boat

17 Jan 08


En Route to Buenos Aires
1900 hours


Well in just over 36 hours I will be on my own; the current manager is disembarking in Buenos Aires. I feel pretty good about this job. I am pretty confident and I have gotten many compliments from the officers about how the pax like me. The people are just lovely, so sweet and nice. I have one or two complainers, but in the scheme of things (the fact that we have roughly 1000 pax) that isnt bad at all!

Today we are having a “lumpy” sea day (as Captain calls it) We had gone through some sort of storm before lunch and the seas are a bit angry. So we are up .. then we are down .. its funny to walk in the crew hallways; feels like you are walking uphill, then downhill. Not to mention if you are in the hull, it sounds awful in there! Like the ship might break apart, and this isnt even rough, eeek! It is supposed to be worse in the Faulkland Islands and going around Cape Horn. Our poor old ship is working hard today :(

My sunburn is getting better. Still a little tender, but not at all as hot as it was. And the pain has gone down a lot too. However, as I've said before .. EDFS! So now that the sunburn problem has become minute, my ankles decided to swell. They are gross too .. I basically have legs the have little toes on the ends .. ewww! Last night I didn’t go out and instead just put my feet up; this morning the swelling had gone down somewhat, but it has come back up obviously because I can’t sit on my can all day with my feet raised. I am not sure if it is from the sunburn, something I ate, being on my feet more than usual (though my feet don’t hurt) being on the ship (sometimes too much iron in the area causes it with crew) or if it is possibly the BP meds. Judy (my godmother) said it used to make her ankles swell too so she couldn’t take it. I am not going to take it anymore and just monitor my BP with the machine I have and see what happens. I can always go to the Doc on board if need be and get something else if my BP goes back up.

I got some interesting piece of history on my old ship here. She is now called the Artemis; but she used to be called the Royal Princess. All of the ships in the P&O fleet have their names end in an ‘A’ IE: Aurora, Oriana, Arcadia, etc. Except this lovely lady. I had wondered why, but didn’t bother to ask ( I ask enough stupid questions in one day LOL ) However, my PSM Liz, my boss for right now, told me about it anyway when we were at lunch yesterday. She was named the Royal Princess after Princess Diana and sailed with Princess Cruises. (which I didn’t know) When the fleet began to grow, they re-named her (Artemis is the first of the fleet) and sent her over to P&O instead. Well the name Artemis means hunter in greek mythology; the name Diana is the name of an Italian Godess who was the godess of hunting; so that was how they were able to re-name her and still keep the link to Princess Diana. Now, how awesome is that?? Considering how much I loved Princess Diana, mourned her (and still do today) I think it was quite fitting that my first ship be named for her and that I get to be a part of her.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Rio De Janeiro

16 Jan 08

Rio De Janeiro
1330 hours


Well holy hell on a stick .. this is what it is all about! Worked this morning, then got off the ship about 10.30am and caught a cab up to SugarLoaf Mountain. I had watched the Shore Excursions Channel last night and decided that was what I wanted to do. I would have loved to go to Copacabana Beach or Ipanema, but I needed to stay out of the sun today. So Sugar Loaf it was! I was too late to get a tour, as they all left by 9am. So I figured I could do it on my own.

I got over there, paid the cabbie ($30US!) and then got in line for my ticket, which was $20US. They didn’t take Mastercard either (that is twice now) so I need to stick to bringing the Visa, since that is all they would take. Instead I paid them cash and got in line to board the first cable car up to the first mountain (It is a 2 step process; ground to first Mtn, then 1st Mtn to Sugar Loaf Mountain) Took a few pics up on the first mtn and then got in the cable car again. Got up to the top and WOW! What a view .. I took a few pics but looking at them now, they don’t do it any justice. The ones from the 1st mountain you can at least tell what you are looking at. Not more than 5 mins after I got up there, I ran into some pax that visit my café. After chatting with them a few mins, they mentioned their tour was over and the bus was picking them up in 20 mins at the bottom. So I attached myself to them figuring I could get a free ride back to the ship, which I did!! :) I was almost out of US money anyway! LOL

We are going to be pulling out of port shortly and my shift is up in 10 mins, so I will be back soon. I am going to go up and take some pics of us leaving.

P.S. In case you didn’t see my last post, I can’t upload pics to the Blog directly for some reason. I am going to try one other way, or else I am going to load them to Kodak Gallery in stages (first ones will be pics of the ship and my cabin .. then Rio, etc)

Pics

Ok, this site may be great for my blog, but it stinks for trying to upload pics! :( So I am going to work on getting them up on Kodak Gallery, then I will just post the links as I get them online. Sorry!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Life Is Good

14 Jan 08

Buzios, Brazil

What can I say??? I spent a lovely afternoon on a nice long break; spent my time on the Sun Deck getting some color! I was starting to wonder if I really worked on a cruise ship or not since I hadn’t been out in the sun or even up on deck since I got onboard :) I was planning to go ashore with Cat, but by the time she beeped me it was after 1.30 and I needed to be back and dressed for 4pm to go back up to the café. So I passed on going; we weren’t docked, so we were tendering pax back and forth and I couldn’t be bothered. Besides I was enjoying the fresh air and the sunshine as well as just laying around and relaxing.

Course, now I think I did too much of that laying around and relaxing, as I am as red as a lobster :( I did put SPF on, but where I was laying was so breezy, I never felt the sun getting hot on my skin. Yes I know .. silly move. Don't worry, it won't happen again. Lucky for me it only lasts a day or so and it is only on my front (so I can easily sleep on my back LOL) Once the redness fades it will be a lovely tan though, so I am off to a good start. As I sit in the café on my evening shift, I am freezing and I have a sweatshirt on over my work clothes. Not to mention my fellow crew members are giggling at me. They all are loving to tease me whenever they can; I am a ‘Greenhorn’ since I haven’t done any ships before (being a pax doesn’t count to them) and they are the first to pick up on any mistakes I make or silly questions I ask. They aren’t being mean, it is all in good fun really. Kind of an initiation to the working crew members 'group' of a luxury liner.

Tomorrow is Rio De Janiero and I am excited! It should be pretty cool. I will definitely be going ashore. We are going to be docked, so of course it will be easier to get on and off. Plus it is on my “Must See” list for this cruise. Some places I have never heard of (like Buzios) so it doesn’t matter if I go ashore or not. But Rio has always been a place on a distant travel list, and now I have the chance, so of course I am going. Even though I work for MTN, I am still a crew member of P & O; I have something called IPM, which is In Port Manning. Meaning that they require a certain amount of crew to stay onboard in every port in the event of an emergency or something. My group consists of about 6 people, so I only have to do it two times, for a half day each. My first one is on Saturday from 1300 to departure, which is in Buenos Aires. It is ok though since we are there for 2 days and this is the 2nd half of the 2nd day. I am sure I won’t mind by then :)

Still figuring out who is attached to whom as far as the crew members go. Once I get a feel for that a little better, I can throw myself out into the dating scene. There are some great guys onboard; cute, nice and of course you know they have to be fun if I dig them. If they can’t make me laugh, forget it. I lived the joke-free life before and I refuse to ever do it again.

I am finishing up my shift and I am going to go see if Alex, one of the Head Chef’s, will make me a jello bath or something to cool my burning skin :) LMAO!! ( Relax, Mum ~ I am kidding! Though I am sure it would feel great!)

Contacting me

I posted in my previous blog that the best way to get in touch with me is via Yahoo or Aim messenger; or my email address (but I won't be able to check it more than a few times a day)

A few of you guys have asked me to post my mailing address. The main address is:

Stacy Mihalik
Cyb@Study Manager
Cabin 1064
MV Artemis
P & O Cruise Lines
Richmond House
Terminus Terrace
Southampton UK
SO14 3PN


I will be back in our "turnaround" port on March 10th. So if you are sending me anything, make sure it is there by then please. After that, I will be back in that port every 3 to 4 weeks. If you need to send me something more urgent, let me know and I will give you the closest address of an upcoming port for the ship.

xoxoxo

Stacy

P.S. ~ going onto Buzios today; should have a post and some pics later on! :)

Monday, January 14, 2008

Because you asked ..

My hours are:

(you are going to have to look and see which are sea days and which are port days)

Sea Days

9am to 12 noon
2pm to 5pm
7pm to 10pm



Port Days

9am to 11am
4pm to 6pm
7pm to 11pm


Best way to get in touch with me is my email. However, if you have AIM or Yahoo Messenger, you can find me logged on there when I am working. The screen name I use (for both programs) is: LIBABEINPHILLY

Spoke To Soon About The Food :=)

14 Jan 08

Still sailing the Atlantic
Port Day tomorrow - Buzios, Brazil


Well I spoke to soon! The Officers Mess had great food tonight! Chicken Kiev ... yum! My brother and I used to eat these little frozen ones when we were kids. These weren't frozen and were pretty darn good .. my tummy was so happy :=) No good veggies tonight though. Hmmm oh well
Today was crazy busy in the cafe. We are always busier when it is a Sea Day, but we also ran a promotion called Happy Hour. Pax come in and log on, andhowever much time they are on, we credit half the time back. That went from 2 to 5. Well you would have thought I was giving out free Time Plans or somethingI mean I had a line at the cafe door of people waiting to get on a workstation. Whew! I am pooped out today

I am VERY much looking forward to tomorrow; for one we are finally going to be in port LOL (I am a bit tired of seeing all this water!) and two I will have more time off, for a longer span of time. Sea days I work 9 hrs (with only 2 hrs in between each shift) Port Days I work 8 hours .. 8-10 (or 9-11) and then notagain till 4pm; so I will be off a good portion of mid-day; yay! Can anyone say "pool time"?? (Damn, I wish it could be a Corona Fest! Maybe I can have one or twoand take a nap before I need to work again. And most of the pax will be off the ship so it will be pretty dead around the pool. Ha ha, I said "dead" We have been joking that we can't say any of those words (Dead, not living, etc) or else we are going to jinx ourselves and end up with a burial at sea! Eeeeeek! Weather tomorrow .. well, it is going to be the same as everyday. Hot and Sunny! :=) Usually about 85-90 degrees and mostlysunny. Ahhhh, I am looking forward to that tremendously!

Well I am off to do my nightly reports and crediting .. I am going to post this and see if I can upload a pic the manager Zoltan (who's place I am taking)took the night we were in Recife.

Crew Bar!

14 Jan 08

Still sailing the Atlantic
Heading SE Towards Rio De Janiero

Last night was my first night out to the crew bar; had a great time! Its not the crazy, insane party everyone thinks it is; well at least not on this ship :-) I found out that P & O has a few nicknames; one for the crew who frequent the bar (Poor & Old) and some other funny ones for the pax (Paralyzed & On the way out) LOL!! However, it was still a lot of fun ~ for me at least. Met a lot more people from other depts that I havent had contact with yet; My new "friends" range from Pursers to Food & Beverage Managers to Waiters to Production Staff. And everyone in between :) They come from England, India, S Africa, Scotland, The Phillipines ..

So anyway, had a few drinks; mostly bought by my new friends .. which was very sweet. I am getting to kow more people everyday, which is great since I can walk down the corridors now and see some faces I recognize and have actually met! Even if I haven't met them, everyone still says "Hi" when you pass by. Some cute guys were there, Hugh who works next door in the Gift Shop (quite a hottie, but I am sure he gets all the ladies) Bruce who is a Head Waiter, David who works in Starlights Lounge ... I am sure I will find more :=)

I don't remember if I said this before ( I write these on Word as I have time, then I will post one when I am finished with it ) but I am NOT impressed with the crew food AT ALL!! It is (obviously) catered to the British (Officer's Mess) and so is the buffet for the pax in the Conservatory. Bleh!!! (sorry Sam, but I actually think you would agree with me on this ..) I am dying for a friggin slice of pizza! LOL I heard last night that during Afternoon Tea they put out burgers and hot dogs (go figure, it is British "Tea" and they are putting out American food!) So I might have to hop up for a quick snack one of these days.

Breakfast for me consists of a small bowl of cereal, a piece of fruit and a small yogurt with some granola in it. Lunch and Dinner I just wing it .. I would love to get my hands on Ruby Tuesday's Salad bar!!!! Apparently the Brit's aren't big salad people .. not too much on the buffets for it. I have had my share of veggies though (Mom, you would be proud!) Carrotts, Green Beans, Cucumbers, New Potatoes .. They are ok. Usually for dinner I can find some sort of meat to fill me up a little. Pork, Turkey, Pepper Steak; they haven't been awful. And I found that plain white rice is always on the menu. Since my diet has been restricted, I figure now would be the great time to cut out soda (since we get juice for free, but you have to buy soda) and cut out desserts as well. Lastly, I decided if I was going less than 4 floors, I am NOT taking an elevator. And unless I am going up on the pool deck or to the Conservatory to eat, everything I go to and from is on Decks 1-4 anyway. I live on Deck 1, the Cyb@Study is on 3. Hopefully these changes will help me start to get this weight off. Therefore getting off the BP pills (last time I checked it - 2 days ago - it was 139/92 .. so much better)

Speaking of food, it is time for lunch :-)

Texting Me ~ Important!

Please, no more texts .. I need you all to stick to emailing me. ( stacy.mihalik@gmail.com ) My quota for the month is already used up, so I have turned my phone off so that I can't receive any more. If you have sent me a text since Friday, please email it to me.

Thanks!

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Busy Day at Sea

13 Jan 08
Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean
Heading South down the East Coast of South America


I can't start my blog today without first saying .... I LOVE MY JOB!! Seriously, I have the coolest job in the world. I mean, running the Cyber Cafe on a cruise ship?!?! My stress levels have gone down tremendously ... I feel no annoyances, frustrations or any of the normal work related things. People are cool, even doing nothing at night is fun .. if you are just hanging out somewhere on the deck. Not to mention I am working on a LUXURY CRUISE SHIP! Did I mention that? Oh and lastly, I am currently on a World Cruise Itinerary ... who can beat that?

Ok so it is 1530 here, we went over one time zone and added another hour, so I am now 3 hrs ahead ofthe East Coast. We are at sea today and tomorrow, then stopping in Buzios on Tuesday. We have a nice smooth ride going on about now, this morning I looked out my "window" haha IE: port hole and saw the waves were a bit rough and were splashing, so I hoped it wouldn't be a bad day, more for the pax thananything else (pax = passanger(s)) If they are unhappy, they will be miserable and therefore I will get part of it when they come into my cafe. :) But the sun came out and the sea smoothed out as well.

I have met a whole bunch of people already. Just kind of getting to know some of them; mostly the ladiesin my area of my cabin. My neighbor Sarah is with Shore Excursions, on the other side of her are Kat who is in Food and Beverage and her roomie Deb who is with Shore Excursions. My roomie is Shanessa and she is with the Pursers Dept as is my neighbor Kylie, who is on the Crew Office Staff. Since we all live down the corridorfrom the Officers Mess, we usually catch each other there when it is meal time and we aren't working.

I didnt go "out" on my first night, wasnt much going on and I was pooped anyway; last night they had a Star Gazing seminar out on the front pool deck that Sarah and I went out to. It was really awesome. They shut off all the deck lights and the sky sprang to life with millions of stars! What a perfectly clear night sky it was!! We were there for about 40 mins then decided to go for a drink. Went to one of the pax bars, but they were playing Bingo or Scrabble or something :) So we went to the officers lounge where some people were playing Wii. Had a few Coronas and watched. Some laughs and of course more introductions. Some cute guys on board too :) I have no idea who is involved with who, so I am just keeping that idea on the side for now. I have 5 months to enjoy the cuties on the ship, no rush right now.

Just came back from dinner; helping a few people now for my last shift of the day. Whew! Today has been a long day! We were really busy, so my shift's kept running late, not to mention when it was 12, we changed our clocks to 1pm so I lost an hour then too. Had an hour between morning and afternoon to basically eat and go to my cabin to "freshen up" and basically the same for the afternoon to evening shift. Tonight is formal night, so I am more dressed up than usual, but it is quiet here right now so its good :) I got some of my work done for tomorrow; we usually have some sort of promotion to get people in here and using the internet more (IE: buying more time = $$$)

Well I had to stop writing for a bit as I got busy with the Passenger Staff Manager and running some reports. We are finishing up here for the night, so I am going to sign off. Might be a crew bar night :)

Saturday, January 12, 2008

I made it!!

11 Jan 08
Friday
Recife, Brazil


Well I didnt get settled in time to get hooked up to the net, so I am writing these in word and will get them posted as soon as I can get situated.
Today was Day 1 of my contract! I woke up early, I guess I was too excited. Took my time gettingdressed and packing/closing my suitcases (for the last time Hooray!) I tried to call the front deskto have a bellman come up and help me, but gawd forbid someone knows *any* English!! Anyway, I went down there, hand gestured at the cart and the guy followed me back up to get my things. Someonefrom the port was picking me up around 9.30am so I wanted to be there and waiting when they came.
Andre showed up about 9.45 and was very nice. Drove me up through Recife and I got to see a better shot of the city. It was nice and the beaches were quite pretty. I figured out that I wasNOT in a tourist area at the hotel, but in the area the locals stay in when they vacation there. Ahhhh, so it made some more sense to me now. Anyway, after about a 20 min drive I got to the port and saw the ship for the very first time!! Yay!!! I was soo excited!! Now it was REALLY time ..
So we pull up, get my bags out of the car (yes all 3 and my backpack LOL) and Andre calls Marcio andlets him know we are here. He said he would be out in 10 mins. In the meantime, I kind of just watch the passengers come off the ship and take it all in. It was truly happening! About 5 mins laterZoltan walked down the gangway (he has the same polo as me; dead giveaway ha ha) and so we chatted for a few and then security came to "claim" me and then take me on board. I got on with my temp badge and Zoltan and I took my luggage to his cabin till I got my keys and signed on and all that.
We went up to the Internet Cafe and looked around, he showed me where everything was and then we went looking for the Crew Manager so I could get situated. She wasnt in her office, so we went up to the Front Desk (IE: Purser's Desk) and asked if she was around. Turns out my roommate, Sheneesa, was working and was able to lend me her key at least. I also met some of her co-workers; again, really lovely people! So friendly :)
So I came to my cabin and Zoltan went on shore for a bit; we had to be back to work in the cafe at 4pm so I saidI would meet him in there. In the meantime, I got down to the unpacking. Yikes :-) But it is all in, hung up, put away, etc. And yes, it all fits in my sardine can of a cabin LOL. At 3.30 I was to meet Kylie (the crew manager)in the Crew Office so I could hand in the rest of my papers and officially "sign on". I was a bit concerned aboutmy medical, since it had the restriction of "No Emergency Duties" but she really never looked it over to much. She sawI had it, it was signed and dated and that was it! Whew!!!! So I was officially a crew member!From there I went looking for the Security Office so I could see about getting my key. They weren't open till 4 so I came back to the cabin for a few to relax before going upstairs.
I was at the cafe about 30 mins when I got beeped and it was one of the officers from the bridge "Good Morning, goodmorning, good morning.. this is Captain Johnny from the bridge" LMAO (anyone who has cruised with me knows who I am talking about) Charles, who is one of the 2nd Officers needed to give me my first safety lesson .. on water tight doors, fire doors and how they work. Those water tight doors are pretty scary. Once they are activated to close, nothing (and I mean NOTHING) can stop them. So after some horrid stories about people getting killed, Charles proved his point and had me afraid of them! Once I was done there, I figured I would hop down and see if Security was open yet .. they were and I was able to get my key! YAY .. one more step to being official! So I then went upstairs to give Sheneesa her key back;it might be a small ship in comparison to some of the behemouths out there, but when you are trying to find someone (OR evensomething) this place is HUGE! I found her, returned her key and went back up to the cafe to finish up the shift till 6.
Which is where I am now .. just hanging in the room for a few before I go to the Officers Mess to eat at 6.30. I will surely check back in tomorrow even if all I do is write and post these all at once. We are just leaving the port so I want to go watch us pull out of here. Should be cool.

New phrase coined just for me! "E.D.F.S."

10 Jan 2008
Thursday
Recife, Brazil


Which stands for 'Everything's different for Stacy' It started off as a joke in training the first day because my ship (and therefore cruise line too) is run a little different than the others. First offit is the only line that MTN services that deals in British Pounds. All the others deal with US$So we would be going through a program we use, blah blah blah and then David (the Training manager) wouldsay, "well not for you Stacy" P & O does it this way .... it got to be really funny after a few of them.
Then it seemed to have more meaning, since I had the problem with the blood pressure, then we had an issue yesterdaywith trying to apply to the US Coast Guard (seems I am still getting sent to Hawaii eventually and I need it to get on one of those NCLA ships) So now it has really stuck.. Yesterday at the office it must have been saidabout every 15 mins or so by *someone* (even Penny, our VP caught on!)
Ok, so I am now in Recife, Brazil; no problems all the way here (except a long line to check bags in Miami)got to Sao Paulo at little late, but still had plenty of time to catch my connection. Had to go through silly Immigration and Customs; had to then pick up my bags and then take them over and check them back in. I have waited in more lines in the last week than I think maybe I *ever* have at Disney!! Anyway, get my bags really fast in Recife, get a cab and I am at the hotel in 10 mins! Woooo hooo. Well I get out of the cab and the 2 bellmen are getting my cases (which is fine, those things are a beast!) So the guy goes inside the hotel, I pay the cabbie and I go inside to check-in. Well guess what???? I am missing a bag!! Yeah, the 2nd carry on .. not the one with clothes or anythingthat I can replace ... the one with my laptop, DVD player, Digital Picture frame and about every cable to go with themthat you can think of. OMG I start to freak out .. of course no one at the hotel speaks English very well and I knowabout 4 words in Portuguese! Just frickin great. So we hand gesture and make up words to communicate and the manager was going to call the cab company, try to see if someone can figure out who brought me over and if they can come back. UGH at this point I am trying to stay calm but the Bellmen Manager and the other bellmen are making sure I know it wasn't their fault! PITA's!! Don't take any responsibilty or anything .. since I told them I had 3 bags! Don't takeany of the responsibility or anything!! WHATEVER
After a few mins the girl at the desk said she would call me and let me know what is going on. So I went up with my 2 bags, proceeded to call Mom and of course lost it! I was freaking out, cause I knew I could by that time.Luckily, she calmed me down, we talked about a few options and when I composed myself enough to go back downstairs, I went.As I was coming out of my room, the cabbie and the Bell Manager were coming off the elevator ... WITH MY BAG! Holy hell! That was a close one. He even made me inspect it and yes, everything was all there. I was so happy ~ I kissed him (the cabbie)on the cheek and gave him about R10,00 (which is $10 Real (said like "reel") .. which converts to about $8 US) and a few R to the manager too. Ok, so that is where EDFS comes in again .. seems I just keep getting into these conondrums. Lucky for me, they are all working out in the end!!
I realized when I posted on Tuesday about my BP issue, I really hadn't mentioned the first day at work and how it all went.So skipping back a few days - training has been great. There are some really cool things I will be doing (on the techie side) and of course now I really can't wait to get on the ship!! Everyone at the office is awesome!! So friendly, so nice .. like a family really. Right off the bat everyone is close ... when I left yesterday to go Miami airport, everyone was so sweet! Giving me hugs and kisses - after only knowing me in person for 2 days. I thought that was great. I am not too nervous about the job; I havea great support system there. My manager Terri, then I could go to the other 2 managers if I couldnt get Terri, as well as our supportdesk and then a NOC on top of that. Plus, an added bonus - the existing manager on the Artemis will be on with me for 8 days. So I can get used to things and knowing me and how I am, I am sure I will be running it by eary next week :)
It is now going on 9pm and I am getting my things together *again* for my final "move" to the ship in the morning. I am getting pickedup at 9.30am at the hotel and will be taken right to the ship. The port agent has been in touch with me and even came by and got my documents so he can make copies and clear me through before I even get there. Once I get there, he will board the ship with me and get me handed right over to the Purser or whomever is coming to meet me. YAY!! It is finally here .. like the actual "embarkation" of the ship! I can't wait tosee her in person. I am going to be like a tourist; taking pics, gawking over the ship, etc
Of course I will post as soon as I can once I get settled .. ttfn!

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

First day .. from HELL

Monday morning, I had a 6.35am flight out of Islip NY heading to Ft Lauderdale. We left on time, no problems and even landed about 15 mins early! There was no wait for our bags, so I was in a cab by 10am .. wooo hooo I was psyched! I needed to go and get my medical evaluation done (again) called an ENG1. So I went straight to the dr's office.

All was going great and very quickly, till he took my blood pressure. He said it was very high. Which is quite unusual for me. I said I had just flown in, just lugged all my bags over to his office, was hot and anxious about the trip. Well he wouldn't pass me!!! He said I was too overweight and that was not good enough of excuses. Holy crap!! I was starting to freak out - I mean, if I don't get the certificate, I don't get to go on a ship b/c they won't allow me on without it. So I start to get really upset, the tears start flowing and I don't know what to do. So I go outside and call my Dr and ask him to call or fax this Dr Douche-Bag some info so he knows my bp is not like this normally. Then I call my new office .. to let them know and to ask what I should do. Of course I also call my Mom as I just need to freak out and have a shoulder to cry on. It was decided I would go back inside and talk to him and let him know my Dr was going to contact him, and ask what he wanted me to do

He had me sit in a room and try to calm down; kept taking it every 15 mins or so. Still was high but it was slowly coming down a little. So he put me through a mini stress test and an EKG to see what was going on with my heart (he said my bp problem would show up there) Well when he didnt find anything, he said "well I guess maybe it is stress and nerves" Duh you a-hole, you think???

So he gave me a very low dose bp medicine (2.5mg of Norvasc) and told me to come back tomorrow. I went down to the CVS and filled the scrip as well as bought a cheap bp monitor. I kept checking it through out the evening and it was lower, so I wrote down when I took it and what it was.

Today I went to my first day at the MTN office! Everyone there is so nice and fun; it was great! Dawn, the HR admin, drove me down to the dr after lunch. It was still a bit high (higher than the one's from the night before) but he said I should increase my bp med to 5mg (2 pills) and that he would pass me, but "with restrictions". Eeeek - what did that mean? Well it meant I was fit for duty for my job, but nothing else. He actually put "No emergency duties" What an idiot! Who the hell isnt going to do that ???

Anyway - MTN thinks it will be fine as I have the report from my Dr from the physical I had a month ago and my bp was 122/82 then. So everyone keep your fingers crossed for me ok? That no one gets wacko on me from the ship staff and refuse me the right to board. Cause that would freakin' suck!! I will be boarding on Friday morning, so think positive thoughts then!!

Its getting late and I have a busy day again tomorrow, not to mention a long flight tomorrow night, so I will sign off for now. Wish me luck!

P.S. - the job is awesome! Lots of cool stuff was taught to us (there is one other manager in training) I will get to that on my next post

Sunday, January 6, 2008

The time has come!!!

Wow, I am leaving for FL in less than 24 hrs .. it is actually here!! I am a little nervous, a lot excited, slightly anxious and very much looking forward to the travel!!

I am doing my last minute things; packing, double checking, paying bills, keeping my Mom calm :) We are having a family brunch today at 12.30 ~ all of my parents, brothers, my future sister in law and her mom. Should be a nice afternoon. Afterwards, will come home and clean out my truck (my brother wants nothing "girly" in it) so my brother can take it home with him.

Tonight I will probably just look over my mounds of luggage and triple check that I have all of the necessary things (meds, underwear, etc LOL) Maybe even bribe my brother to carry it out to the car :)

I will check in tomorrow when I get to Florida !