August 20, 2011

TURNAROUND DAY, FTL

Wow, early night…home by 10:30!  Seems unnatural somehow.  Also don’t have to be at work until 0945…I keep looking at the schedule to verify, but it is true.  

Well, as I wrote on Facebook last night, I just couldn’t wait to see the end of the last cruise.  That was just a hard week all around, and no amount of candy coating can make it otherwise.  It was all I could do to host the Final Farewell…I don’t think there has ever been a cruise week so fraught with technical difficulties.  All but 1 of the Hairsprays were cancelled because the sound system crashed, then, (in the same theatre, the Opal), the Kung Fu Panda 2 movie, which I adore, went to a blank screen at the peak moment of the climax, then there were the troubles with, (in the same theatre again), the show “Come Fly With Me”.  It seemed that just about everywhere you went there was something going wrong.  To cap it all off, the crowd at the Final Farewell was just not going to participate.  Oh, I got them to clap and make some noise, but it was like pulling teeth.  A last hour of Rising Tide, and I was done.  And jolly good riddance.

This morning woke up and had Box Office, (360), from 10AM to basically 7PM, with a break for the Safety Drill.  It went beautifully.  I found out that as Bingo Host I will also be Supervisor for 360, and this lets me off of any more Debarks.  I share this duty, and the long day, with the Theme Night Captain, Luis.  So every other week I will have off in Fort Lauderdale.  That is something to look forward to.  I am also going to be responsible for making the schedules for the team and making sure that everyone fills out their Voyage Reports.  This is a report we have to update daily that is a brief synopsis of our events we have hosted; the number of people attended, etc. 

There is a lot of computer work involved in Bingo Hosting, besides the paperwork, which I guess is why it is counted a supervisory position.  For some reason no one wants it…I am sure I will find out why, but it is a necessary position to have to be noticed and work my way up.  I am almost at the half way point, so if I can carry this off to the end of my contract it will be great.  It is also a very large commission every week, which will be VERY helpful.

Yesterday, during the All Access Tour, Margaret, the HR Officer, hosted the group through the Crew Areas.  While there she explained that it is the HR office that is responsible for ordering and stocking the Slop Chest, (the “grocery store”).  They used to have dried mango, which is a comfort food for me.  I asked why I hadn’t seen it lately and she said it should be there.  Well, during Box Office I received a call from Margaret, she asked where I was, and I told her.  She told me she would be done in a minute, she had something for me.

When she walked in I was with a guest and she waited while I finished with their questions.  Then, hands behind her back, she said, “If you can guess what I have in my hands, you can have it”.  Of course, in the middle of Box Office I couldn’t even begin to guess.

“Oh, come on!” She said.  “What did we talk about yesterday?”  

“I wish I could tell you Margaret, but I have pretty much erased the last cruise from my memory bank.”

She laughed, and held out a BAG OF DRIED MANGO!  Bless her heart, she had remembered, bought a bag, and brought it to me!  You can guess what I am chewing on right now as I write this….it is soul food…

I’ll have to go now.  The rest of the bag is calling….