Sunburnt and loving it

Well, here I am, sitting on my top bunk, legs sunburnt and loving it.  Oh yes, my pale white Oregonian skin has not seen the sun for a few months and now it’s loving it.  I’ve been on board for 3 weeks now.  Today was my 3 week anniversary.  And quite honestly, it’s been a blast.  I truly enjoy it here.  I have yet to have a feeling of doubt.  The people I have met here are great!  The job has of course it’s ups and downs but so far has not been overwhelmingly difficult.  If anything I’ve enjoyed the challenges it has presented me and I try my best to seek for more.  I feel like I’ve made some great connections with the managers and HR.  I really want this opportunity here to open up the door for future opportunities.  Everyone who I’ve talked to about that has told me that right now is the time to step up because of the way the business is growing.  There are two brand new ships scheduled to set sail in the next year or two.  The rumor is that they will send 25% of the crew from each current ship to the new ships.  Positive for transitioning: New LARGER ship.  Negative: they would be taking over the current Wonder & Magic itinerary, thus my ports would stay the same.  It’s definitely way too soon to determine anything but it definitely keeps me motivated. 

Work is going great though, still learning all the responsibilities of the job and have had a few times to get off and enjoy the islands.  Last night I got off early and went to the theater on the ship and watched Bolt in 3D.  Then a few days ago I had a good 5 hour chunk of time off while in Nassau so I went on a walk around the town.  I didn’t have any cash on me so I didn’t buy anything.  But I just got paid and think I might go buy an awesome pair of fake Gucci or Prada sunglasses.  If anyone wants a fake Coach or Louis Purse let me know! The market is full of them.  I’m going to try to sign up for some shore excursions too (i.e. parasailing, scuba diving, deep sea fishing, etc…).  They are actually free for me!  Just have to book them and make sure the time of the excursion corresponds with time I have off from work.  Unfortunately though, the one excursion that still costs us is swimming with the dolphins.  But that would still be awesome so maybe some day I will splurge.  Tomorrow I have the ever so famous 10 hour shift…with no breaks.  8 to 6.  I’ll be able to eat, I just eat with the kids.  So it’s really not that bad.  And tomorrow is Late Night in Nassau!  So a few of us are going to try to get off the boat early and go out to a nice dinner and bar somewhere in Nassau.  Maybe at Atlantis?  Who knows.  No one plans anything in advanced here by the way.  We don’t get our schedules until the night before.  So I didn’t know my schedule for tomorrow until I got off work tonight.  Then during the day we make tentative plans like - "Hey, Hot tub on Deck 10 tonight?” “sure, maybe.”  And then you just wait until you get off to see what happens.  I don’t mind, it’s just the way things are here. 

But I’m heading off now I think, it’s late and I need to sleep.  But to sum things up, the people here are amazing, the locations we go to are great, the kids are a blast and ship life is quite different but also really fun.  I’ll write more later…Cheers!