August 5, 2011

SEADAY enroute to FTL

Today was a hell of a day. All 11 hours of it. Woke up at 8:30 AM so I could get breakfast. If you go any later than 9AM they have cleaned it all out except for a very small insubstantial bar on the side in preparation for lunch. Lunch, by the way, is cleared away by 2PM, and then nothing until dinner from 6-7:30. Of course for our schedules THIS DOES NOT WORK! Little grumpy about this….I am tired of the same old food, leftover, overheated, dry, that is all the choice I have by the time I get to the mess hall. Any wonder that I have lost weight? Sometimes the only reason I go eat is because I know that if I don’t I won’t be able to work. Yes…for days on end eating is actually a chore. Plentiful, but boring. Lots of gravies, mashed potatoes and other starches and carbs. Lots of minute steaks and hamburgers. Today we DID have a Greek salad that was good.

Anyway, the day started with breakfast, and I bought myself a latte at the Java Shop. Three sips then off to Towel Folding Class with the Housekeeping Staff. This was the first time I had hosted the event. It was up in Dazzles, the two story lounge overlooking the Boardwalk and the Aqua Theatre. Looking Aft, I should say. Beautiful lounge.

Anyway, the Housekeeping Staff have an event where they display their towel folding skills for guests. If you have taken an RC cruise you know the elephants and monkeys an turtles, etc that you find on your bed when you get to your cabin? Well, now I know how to do that. We had about 30 people there, and I was on mic. I couldn’t help but see myself as a Regis type character…

(Peering over the shoulder of the Staff member as he rolls the towel) “Oh, so you are rolling the towel now? Everyone see this? That’s right, just roll the towel half way up the length. So you’re from Haiti? Oh, look, everyone! Now he’s folding the head. Isn’t that amazing! How about a round of applause!”

All I needed was a camera crew.

That was from 0945-1030. Then came the Ship Scavenger Hunt from 1030-1115. We meet in the On Air Bar daily and I supply them with the question sheets. Each day has an area of the ship as its theme. Today’s was the Entertainment Place neighborhood. You get the teams together, give them a time to be back, say “On your mark, get set, GO!” And then you have 20 minutes to sit and sip your coffee in the bar while they scurry around the ship finding the answers. They rush back, you give them the answers, score them, and award prizes to the team with the most correct answers.

1115-Noon – Trivia Games in the Schooner Bar. Bag in hand with question sheets, answer sheets, pencils and prizes, it’s off to the piano bar and one of my favorite activities… Trivia. This was a General Knowledge Trivia of 20 questions. I’ve got my coffee and am raring to go now. I love this event because it reminds me of being a child and sitting in my grandparents living room, spread out on the carpet, watching Jeopardy with them. My grandmother always said she had an amazing amount of useless knowledge in her head, and I think I take after her. 20 minutes of questions, side stories and jokes, then 10 minutes for answers, more jokes and side stories, then off to the Card Room and Library on Decks 14 and 11 from Noon to 1230.

The Library always has to be maintained and cleaned and the inbox empties of returned books…and all the books put back into place and arranged neatly. Cardroom has to have the games checked and cleaned up.

Lunch time finally. A few minutes to gorge my food down and then off to my cabin for a brief nap.

1345-1445: Flip Camera Scavenger Hunt in the On Air Bar– We supply the cameras, divide the people into teams (we had five teams of anywhere from 6-10 people). We give them scenes to shoot and award points for most scenes out of 30 shot. These can be anything from singing YMCA on the Promenade to spelling out words with their bodies, or proposing marriage to a stranger. Points awarded as well to most creative efforts. They record the videos on their cameras, rush back, and we play them on the big screen for everyone to see. Lots of fun and laughter.

1445-1530: General Knowledge Trivia again, back to the Schooner Bar for more Trivia. Read above.

1530-1645: To the Opal Theatre for selling Bingo cards for the Final Jackpot Bingo game. The Jackpot was over $5,000, so you can imagine the number of people. It was crazy. And no matter how clearly I spell out the ease of the handheld Bingo games, they STILL say it sounds too complicated. Constant source of amusement for me.

1645-1730: Music Trivia – Classic TV Theme songs. Back to the Schooner Bar for another Trivia game..this time with a CD of song selections, clips from famous TV shows ranging from I Dream of Jeannie and Love Boat to Hill Street Blues and Cheers. Always fun. More jokes and laughter and side stories. By this time I have a full house for the game as the previous game players have returned to my shows.

1730-1800 – Back to the Cardroom and Library for cleanup, then…

1800-1815 – Chapel to clear away the setting for the AA meetings that we host.
It was time for a break, and a nap, and dinner…not necessarily in that order. It was also time to start worrying about my first hosting of the Final Farewell.

1900-2030: Pacing begins at 1900 waiting for the techs to arrive, and watching the people begin to congregate on the Promenade in anticipation of the Final Farewell Party. I want to make this good as this will be the first time Richard really sees me work. Of course I am nervous as well as I don’t really know what I am doing as far as what songs mean what entrances and exits for the various sections. We have the Penguins from Madagascar for 20 minutes dancing on the Promenade with the children, then they leave and I introduce the entertainment staff of Cruise Staff, Youth Staff and Sports Staff. More dancing. Getting the people to clap in time, leading them in the Wave and yelling. More dancing. Shrek comes out. Introductions, more dancing, more Waves and screaming. Sweat soaked by now.

(By the way, a Side Story: 70s night was several nights ago, and there I was, sweat soaked and dancing in my blue-green, glittered and spangled polyester pirate shirt with Elton John glasses and blond Pippin Afro. Towards the end, the Cruise Staff, and some of the Youth Staff, are up on the stage above the Promenade. Richard rips my wig off my head and sends it sailing into the audience. Now for any of you reading that remember my Pippin in Key West, or ANY stage production I have been in, you know how much I sweat. Not drips. Not rivulets. Not a dainty glow. No. Torrents. Cascades. Inundations. And that is just standing. In Pippin I had a wig that I wore from the start of the show to the end, then in the very last minutes it would be ripped off my head and rainbows of sweat would arc across the stage. I always felt sorry for the poor sod who had to touch it, and sorrier when I would have to put it back on, chilled by this time, before Curtain Call. Well, Pippin was reborn. As Richard sends my wig flying into the audience a Tropical Storm of sweat descended upon the upturned faces…which quickly tried to cover their faces. Not easy to do in a packed arena. The light caught each drop of sweat sending a rainbow over the Promenade. What is most surprising is people actually caught it…handed it to each other..and sent it back to stage. Personally, I would have let it fall to the ground and called Facilities for a Toxic Waste cleanup on the Promenade.)

Finally, Richard comes out on the Bridge, screams of adulation, more dancing and we make our exit having said good bye to the guests.

2030-2115: Staff Meeting…this time in Johnny Rockets. Amy bought us dinner for our meeting. We had a great time laughing, and I enjoyed a root beer float. Damn, it tasted good! Johnny Rockets, as most of you know, is a 50s themed diner. A float just sounded the right thing to do.

Back to my cabin for a brief nap, then 2315 to the Rising Tide for the last couple hours of the day, making my way back to the cabin at 0120 in the morning.

That was my day. An average sea day. Tomorrow we are no longer delayed getting into port, and honestly, if there are any waves out there I am not feeling them right now at all. I would get to sleep in, but we have a full immigration check at 0600. This is done every 3 months, and no one can leave the ship until we have all been checked and processed. I called Ralph the other day…maybe it was today, can’t remember…and we agreed that even though I had the day off, and the storm was not due to arrive, that we would wait until September for our meeting. If he doesn’t show up I know immigration will be done by 8AM. If he showed up I know that we would not be done until 11AM. It’s just Murphy’s Law.

I get to sleep after that tomorrow though. I don’t have anything until 1530.