Today I rose early at 8 am, desperately trying to adjust to the time change. I went up to the buffet to eat some breakfast and test out their 1st meal menu... verdict: scrambled eggs- HORRIBLE, fruit- amazing, grits- surprisingly available and yummy, and various potato dishes- greasy. All in all, not bad and I'll definitely be trying more items tomorrow. I've sat outside for every meal so far and it's really overwhelming! The seating is on the aft (back) of the ship, so you can see the trail of waves this giant floating city is leaving behind.
It was awfully windy outside when I walked around after my breakfast. Instead of taking to the outdoor jogging track, I decided to hit the inside gym, which was packed with passengers! I was able to use several weight machines while waiting for a treadmill to open up. The gym is on the port (left) side of the ship and the view was incredible. We were fairly close to the coast and various islands of Croatia. It was breathtaking, literally, to be running AND looking out over lush green, mountainous islands and coastline! Just as I was finishing up, we heard an announcement that due to the winds, we would not be tendering at our port today. (All this cruise lingo and procedure is very new to me, so I'll explain as best I can to other cruise virgins...) When we would normally dock at Dubrovnik, the passengers would disembark into tenders, smaller boats, that would take them ashore. Due to the size of the cruise ship, it can be very difficult for them to get close enough to an actual pier, so the tenders are used to bridge that gap. However, it was entirely too windy for them to come get the folks. Eventually, the captain was able to secure a location to pull up alongside a pier and let the passengers off. A series of shuttle buses would be available for them to travel into the downtown area for excursions.
Once docked, I went back up to the deck and had lunch outside. The vegetarian Indian food is outstanding and I'm sure it'll be a daily delight for me! The shore was stunning as you can see in the pictures. Since I hadn't received my cruise ID yet and I had safety training part 2 today at 3:45, I wasn't able to take shoreleave this time. I explored the boat some more and took lots of pictures from my excellent vantage point! Training was... boring.... and I've got two more sessions tomorrow - one at 8:20 am for safety and 4 pm for environmental policies and then an exam to certify that I know what to do when something goes awry on the beautiful briney sea. Then next week, I undergo pretty extensive first aid training.
Tomorrow's our first show, World Beat, and we have tech rehearsal in the afternoon. I'm very excited to get into my work here! It'll be a very long day tomorrow, so I'm really hoping I can get on schedule tonight. I made myself stay up all afternoon and after training, I had dinner, more walking around, and an hour of reading my Greek Islands tour book in the really lovely library on board. We leave Croatia in an hour and spend the entire day tomorrow at sea. On Tuesday at 7 am, we arrive in Athens, which I'm very excited about getting out and about to see.
I'm noticing quite a lot about the hierarchy of crew and the striking differences in lifestyle aboard the ship based on one's position. I realized today that I probably have just about the most access to amenities, passenger areas, etc. that any non-officer could have. I knew that the entertainment staff was granted many privileges, but was not fully aware how little other staff could do. The food & beverage, housekeeping, maintenance, receiving, and probably lots of other departments I don't even know about yet, cannot access most passenger areas, must eat all meals in the crew mess, workout in the crew gym, and rarely get any time off to take shoreleave or do much of anything really. They express difficulty with working so many hours and being under constant surveillance with the hundreds of security cameras watching them at all times. They seem to be held to strict guidelines regarding dress and grooming. Not surprisingly, they are almost all people of color - primarily Filipino, South Asian and South American. I asked specific questions to my supervisor about my restrictions and rules and there are literally only two places on the ship that I have been told I'm not allowed to utilize. I can pretty much wear whatever I like and my work hours will probably hit 30 on a busy week. I can't help feel the blatant discrepancy in workload and expectations and can only hope that there is some greater benefit that the harder workers gain- in pay or otherwise- although I'm not crossing my fingers...
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