July 31, 2011

NASSAU, BAHAMAS

It’s been several days again. I don’t know where the days go, but they seem to go very fast now and seem to be very full. By the time I have a moment to sit down I am usually so tired that all I want to do is sleep and not write. By the time I write there is so much to write about that it is daunting.

However…on Day 7 of the last cruise I led yet another All Access Tour. This time I had, though I did not know it until the very end, the CEO of Nationwide on the tour with me. By the time we got up to the Bridge the Captain met us, and I got a picture of me with him. He is a very nice man, as I have said before, though I would not want to be on the bad side of him. He chatted for quite a while with the guests. This is his last week, and then he goes on a ten week vacation and we have Captain Thor for ten weeks. He apparently is just the opposite. A very Old-World Captain, not much for chit-chat, not much sense of humor, and very likely will not be on the Bridge to greet guests. It ought to be interesting to see the comparison between the two leadership styles.

But the Captain knows who I am now….



Richard Spacey knows who I am now too. He is the Cruise Director, of course, and like Mike has a very different style. Mike was very much in the middle of us working with us. Richard is more hands-off and lets Amy do all the work. I had a very nice compliment by a group of guests on the evening of Day 7 on the last cruise. I was talking with them about the Cruise and how they had enjoyed it, etc. They asked about my plans as far as career, and I told them that at my age I was not in it to travel as much as I was in it to see how far I could go and how quickly. They all said they would look for me to be Cruise Director and that they loved my hosting style. They had been at three of my events, (Trivias, Karaoke and Rising Tide), and had enjoyed them immensely. That made me feel very good obviously. One of them had had a young son who was a singer at one of my Karaoke nights. Boy soprano and very good with it. The kid sang Bohemian Rhapsody better than anyone else I had heard. Which was a relief, frankly.

For the 70s Dance I was actually put on the stage to dance, which was surprising, but the dancing seems to come easier. I have lost a lot of weight, about a pantsize and a half. It is not from lack of eating, but it is from sweating and running around constantly. Maybe I don’t need to go to the gym after all!

Turnaround went well. I was on the Box Office from 10 AM until 3:30 PM. The computer systems worked well and the people seemed to have a minimal sense of frustration. I have already met several people from this cruise that stick out in my mind. One group of 4 Black women were hilarious. I’ve already seen them several times out and about on the ship. One of the women, Patrice, (spelling?), had her fruity drink in hand when she came down to Box Office after only being on ship MAYBE 15 minutes…it was already half gone! I cracked some joke about that and pulled out my “inner Black Woman”, which cracked them up.

I try to make the lines amusing and informative. It is frustrating enough to have to stand in a line as soon as you get on the ship, and if I can take their minds off that fact I make the job easier for the people at the computer terminals and easier for the guests as well. Plus, it is fun and I admit it…I like grandstanding…so sue me.

After the Passenger Safety Drill we re-opened the Box Office, this time in front of the Comedy Club. There are only two of us for this station as the majority of the guests have already been through the Box Office lines. One thing I stress ad nauseum is the 10 Minute Rule. All reservations are ONLY good until 10 minutes before showtime, and I tell all guests to plan on being there 15 minutes prior. This allows some leeway for them as we open all remaining seats to everybody at the 10 minute mark. Future Cruisers note this well….it won’t change, and all the other ships in the fleet are going to go on the same reservation system eventually. Save yourself the frustration and book all your shows online when you book your cruise, or tell your Travel Agent to do so. It will save you meeting me in the Box Office line.

I forgot to mention that the other day I got to meet "Bob, the World's Greatest Salesman", the commercial actor who does the Nationwide campaign.  He and his family came in to On Air to play Wii.  Very nice man, had a nice long chat with him as his kids played.  I was able to get a picture with him and his kids.

So there I was, no kidding, sitting and making reservations when this older couple came up. I had heard them speaking French, so I greeted them with a cheery “bon soir”, (good evening), as they walked up. They immediately started speaking very fast in French. Too fast. In my best Pidgin French I asked them to slow down, and realized that they knew NO English. Blast!

Putting on my ‘game face’ I once again dredged up all the French I knew. It was one thing to try to describe simple things the color of the sky, or a simple greeting…but to describe the shows, 10 Minute Rule, which shows were fully booked, and what days I could get them into the shows they wanted?.....I struggled for about 15-20 minutes with them, and they were very appreciative and understood everything I was attempting to tell them. I knew this because I could understand them as they spoke with each other. Gratified and with some sense of relief I wished them a good evening as they walked off, and the next group of four walked up.

“Ah, francais!” they cried when they walked up. I, naturally, assumed they were joking and commenting on the work I had just completed with the French couple.

“Nope, no more francais, I’m all out at the moment” I said, laughing. The laughter died on my tongue as I realized they did not understand me. They WEREN’T kidding. Just to make sure I said, “English?”

Smiling they replied, “Non, pas d’Anglais”. My heart sank.

Deep breath, and a muttered “Oh hell!” Smile.

“D’accord”, (OK). And off I went again. Man, I was so proud of myself…I was pulling out words I had not spoken in 20 years, adjusting my accent for theirs when I recognized words, or they corrected me when they understood what I was trying to say. Another 20 minutes of French and they went away smiling, understanding what I had wanted to tell them, and which shows they had on which days.

They walked off and the next couple walked up.

A big beefy guy and his wife, they looked American, but who can tell now…I waited breathlessly for their greeting…would I be speaking German next?

“Howdy, bud, how ya doin’?” the man said.

I released my breath in a relieved gasp. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I could hug you.” The entire line fell down laughing.

The night ended with doing doors at the Aqua Theatre where I got to see one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen off the Aft Deck right behind the theatre. It was amazing.