Well today is turnaround day and it is one that many crew on the ship dread. It is like the equivalent of a Monday back home. The big issue for me is the lifts because on the night before turnaround day every passengers’ luggage is taken down from their cabins to deck 1 using the lifts and on the day of turnaround all the new passengers’ luggage is taken up to their cabins in them. It is quite a sight to see just how many bags they can stuff into a lift. Since the lifts are usually pushed to the limit during these operations it is not uncommon for problems to develop.
I was hoping to get out for an hour or two in Southampton to stretch my legs and buy some stuff but it just didn’t happen this time. For sure next time though.
Every night on turnaround day for dinner there is a pub dinner in the wardroom. I may have mentioned this back on DAY 1. It is a good time to meet any new joiners that have arrived today. This time around a few people came back that I had met on my last contract. There were also a few new faces.
After a fairly hectic day it is always nice to put it all behind you, collapse onto the bed, and drift into a deep sleep.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
DAY 15
Today was the last night of this cruise and a sea day. Basically it felt like quite before the storm of the next turnaround day when a new cruise would start and new passengers would come aboard. I had a quiet day (calm before storm) walking around checking the lifts and fire detection system. After work I went to the gym and swam some lengths in the pool. I was getting ready to have a nice dinner in the conservatory where it was Country Western night when I got a page to attend one of the crew lifts that was quite important to the baggage operation that was going on being that it was the last night of the cruise. I spent nearly two hours and missed my dinner trying to figure out the cause of the breakdown but it was all for naught as I would find out the next day because, as is often the case, the problem was quite simple requiring less than an hour to fix. The baggage operations that night were still successful because all the other lifts were working well.
After I had given up on the lift I went to the last show of the cruise called “World Steps”, which happens to be my favourite. The music and comedy is what does it for me. I’ll have to take a video of some of it sometime to bring home to show everyone.
After the show, my nerves were still quite charged from the lift fiasco so I went up stairs to Horizons for a drink. I met some people up there I had seen a few times throughout the cruise and a couple I met for the first time and we all had a farewell drink together. Some of the nicest people I’ve met not wanting to put a drink on my tab because they wouldn’t be able to reciprocate since it was the last night of the cruise. Bless them.
One fellow I just met tonight told me that he is a professional cruiser and only stays in the penthouse suite on every ship he goes on. If what he said and how he said it didn’t convince me that he had a lot of money, it was the copious amounts of bling that he wore that did. He literally had on every finger a massive ring with multiple precious stones. If he wasn’t one of the nicest and down to earth passengers I had ever met on a cruise I’d probably loathe him, but he was. You just never know who you will meet on the little ship with a big heart.
After I had given up on the lift I went to the last show of the cruise called “World Steps”, which happens to be my favourite. The music and comedy is what does it for me. I’ll have to take a video of some of it sometime to bring home to show everyone.
After the show, my nerves were still quite charged from the lift fiasco so I went up stairs to Horizons for a drink. I met some people up there I had seen a few times throughout the cruise and a couple I met for the first time and we all had a farewell drink together. Some of the nicest people I’ve met not wanting to put a drink on my tab because they wouldn’t be able to reciprocate since it was the last night of the cruise. Bless them.
One fellow I just met tonight told me that he is a professional cruiser and only stays in the penthouse suite on every ship he goes on. If what he said and how he said it didn’t convince me that he had a lot of money, it was the copious amounts of bling that he wore that did. He literally had on every finger a massive ring with multiple precious stones. If he wasn’t one of the nicest and down to earth passengers I had ever met on a cruise I’d probably loathe him, but he was. You just never know who you will meet on the little ship with a big heart.
DAY 14
Today we were in Dublin for nearly 18 hours (0600-2330), and believe it or not I managed to stay on board that whole time. Dublin is one of those special cities where everyone on board makes the effort to go ashore even if only for a couple of hours. We are headed there again next cruise for the same amount of time so I’ll make sure to get ashore then. It is supposed to be a nice city to go out and have a drink in a pub. It was Saturday so a lot of people came back saying it was absolutely buzzing around town.
I hit the officer mess for dinner and then went up to the cyber Study to use the internet where a friend happens to work. After I had finished on the web we went up for a quick drink up in Horizons before we headed to the Indian Independence Day party that was just getting started in the crew mess. The actual day of independence is tomorrow on the 15th, but they made the good decision to have the party on the second-to-last night of the cruise since “almost” everyone has a busy day on turnarounds and tomorrow is a sea day. The party was a success and there was lots of music and dancing late into the night.
I hit the officer mess for dinner and then went up to the cyber Study to use the internet where a friend happens to work. After I had finished on the web we went up for a quick drink up in Horizons before we headed to the Indian Independence Day party that was just getting started in the crew mess. The actual day of independence is tomorrow on the 15th, but they made the good decision to have the party on the second-to-last night of the cruise since “almost” everyone has a busy day on turnarounds and tomorrow is a sea day. The party was a success and there was lots of music and dancing late into the night.
DAY 13
Today we were in Greencastle, Ireland. I was able to get off the ship for some time and explore. The ship was anchored just off the shore so everyone getting off the ship was taken to land on tender boats. I took a shuttle bus from where the tender dropped me 45 minutes away to Londonderry. Derry is supposedly the last completely walled city still in existence in Britain. The first thing I did was walk all the way around the city on top of the wall. It still looked like a wall that men with bows and arrows would stand on and shoot at the enemies through the cracks at the top of the wall. As I walked around the wall there were a few people in period costumes from the 17th century. They were acting as someone would back in those days.
I had heard about the age-old battle between the people from the North of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, but I didn’t expect that it was still on display for all to see. I saw one example of this walking around Londonderry in the form of a tall stack of crates with the Irish flag at the top. When I saw it I didn’t think anything of it really, but someone told me later that in the evening they set fire to the stack of pallets and watch the flag burn in support of a united country under British rule.
Loads of people were late getting back to the ship including me. I took the last shuttle bus out of Londonderry, which left at about quarter past four. There was some traffic as we head out that slowed us down by about 10 minutes so we didn’t get back to the ship until about ten past five. All on board was supposed to be at five....We weren’t the only ones, however, because there was still a long queue for tender boats and a tour bus that still hadn’t arrived back yet.
In the evening at quarter to eight until half past, there was a Wardroom event called Pre-dinner Drinks where the officers were meant to invite any passengers that they wanted up for a drink (you guessed it) before dinner. I invited the mother/daughter team I had met from the Senior Officer’s Cocktails. We had a good chat and I showed them around the wardroom. I could see they were impressed and I told them it’s not bad being an officer on board the ship of dreams.
That night I went up to the Trattoria in the conservatory with a fellow officer. There is Trattoria in the Conservatory every formal night and there are two different menus, which they alternate through. I ordered a pizza that had parmaa ham and mushrooms on it with an antipasti to start.
After dinner me and my colleague headed up to the Horizon for a nightcap and spotted a passenger I had invited to the wardroom Pre-dinner drinks event earlier on. After a friendly chat it was off to bed to end another day on board the Artemis.
I had heard about the age-old battle between the people from the North of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, but I didn’t expect that it was still on display for all to see. I saw one example of this walking around Londonderry in the form of a tall stack of crates with the Irish flag at the top. When I saw it I didn’t think anything of it really, but someone told me later that in the evening they set fire to the stack of pallets and watch the flag burn in support of a united country under British rule.
Loads of people were late getting back to the ship including me. I took the last shuttle bus out of Londonderry, which left at about quarter past four. There was some traffic as we head out that slowed us down by about 10 minutes so we didn’t get back to the ship until about ten past five. All on board was supposed to be at five....We weren’t the only ones, however, because there was still a long queue for tender boats and a tour bus that still hadn’t arrived back yet.
In the evening at quarter to eight until half past, there was a Wardroom event called Pre-dinner Drinks where the officers were meant to invite any passengers that they wanted up for a drink (you guessed it) before dinner. I invited the mother/daughter team I had met from the Senior Officer’s Cocktails. We had a good chat and I showed them around the wardroom. I could see they were impressed and I told them it’s not bad being an officer on board the ship of dreams.
That night I went up to the Trattoria in the conservatory with a fellow officer. There is Trattoria in the Conservatory every formal night and there are two different menus, which they alternate through. I ordered a pizza that had parmaa ham and mushrooms on it with an antipasti to start.
After dinner me and my colleague headed up to the Horizon for a nightcap and spotted a passenger I had invited to the wardroom Pre-dinner drinks event earlier on. After a friendly chat it was off to bed to end another day on board the Artemis.
DAY 12
Today was the second sea day in a row and I was looking forward to another quiet day but unfortunately it didn’t happen.
One of the lifts was acting up, but after some time I was able to get it going again. I had to replace a part on the lift cab.
There was Artemis Uncovered from 1030 to 1130, which is an event held in the Atrium where all of the departments set up a table with a demonstration or information about what they do on board. The 3ETO is usually one of the people to host the electrical departments table but since I was on duty today I was exempt. The 2ETOH and the 1ETO did it this time. Our table has on display an electrical motor, fire detectors, a large board with pictures of electrical equipment from around the ship, and a few meters. It is not the most exciting table but we usually get a good number of people asking how we generate the electricity on board.
Today was also the Portunus Gold-Tier Members Luncheon, and unfortunately I couldn’t attend because I was on duty. This is a special lunch in the Coral dining room (main restaurant on board) where only Gold-tier members are invited and ideally each table has an officer host. I usually volunteer because it is a good chance to meet some interesting people and have some good food and wine.
In the evening I just had dinner in the officer’s mess because I couldn’t be bothered to go all the way up to the conservatory. It was Neptune’s Buffet, which means seafood.
One of the lifts was acting up, but after some time I was able to get it going again. I had to replace a part on the lift cab.
There was Artemis Uncovered from 1030 to 1130, which is an event held in the Atrium where all of the departments set up a table with a demonstration or information about what they do on board. The 3ETO is usually one of the people to host the electrical departments table but since I was on duty today I was exempt. The 2ETOH and the 1ETO did it this time. Our table has on display an electrical motor, fire detectors, a large board with pictures of electrical equipment from around the ship, and a few meters. It is not the most exciting table but we usually get a good number of people asking how we generate the electricity on board.
Today was also the Portunus Gold-Tier Members Luncheon, and unfortunately I couldn’t attend because I was on duty. This is a special lunch in the Coral dining room (main restaurant on board) where only Gold-tier members are invited and ideally each table has an officer host. I usually volunteer because it is a good chance to meet some interesting people and have some good food and wine.
In the evening I just had dinner in the officer’s mess because I couldn’t be bothered to go all the way up to the conservatory. It was Neptune’s Buffet, which means seafood.
DAY 11
Today was the first of two sea days before we get to Greencastle, Northern Ireland.
Sea days for the electrical department are generally a bit quieter than those in port, which is ironic because we tend to want to get off the ship in port.
There were absolutely no issues at all with the lifts today. Until about 1800, when I had to put a crew lift back into service after a fault had occurred.
Tonight in the wardroom was an event called Race Night organized by one of the officers on board. The idea is to create an atmosphere that evokes an English darby. A few days before the event, an email was sent out asking if anyone would like to buy a horse for 10 quid each. These people became known as owners and profited threefold if their horse won their race.
The race itself was randomly selected people in the wardroom at the time with a broomstick horse between their legs as the jockeys. Each horse had a different colour and there were 4 horses; blue, red, yellow, and green. There was a “race course” set up that consisted of essentially a 4 x 15 square grid. There were numerous things laying on the grid and if you happen to land on one you had the accept the consequences.
I bought a horse but it ran terrible so I lost my race. I managed to win betting on a horse in a different race. When I was a jockey I rode my horse to victory for another officer. After a few drinks it was off the bed.
Sea days for the electrical department are generally a bit quieter than those in port, which is ironic because we tend to want to get off the ship in port.
There were absolutely no issues at all with the lifts today. Until about 1800, when I had to put a crew lift back into service after a fault had occurred.
Tonight in the wardroom was an event called Race Night organized by one of the officers on board. The idea is to create an atmosphere that evokes an English darby. A few days before the event, an email was sent out asking if anyone would like to buy a horse for 10 quid each. These people became known as owners and profited threefold if their horse won their race.
The race itself was randomly selected people in the wardroom at the time with a broomstick horse between their legs as the jockeys. Each horse had a different colour and there were 4 horses; blue, red, yellow, and green. There was a “race course” set up that consisted of essentially a 4 x 15 square grid. There were numerous things laying on the grid and if you happen to land on one you had the accept the consequences.
I bought a horse but it ran terrible so I lost my race. I managed to win betting on a horse in a different race. When I was a jockey I rode my horse to victory for another officer. After a few drinks it was off the bed.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
DAY 10
Today we were in Reykjavik, Iceland. It was a really warm and sunny day all day.
Today was the roughly-biweekly full crew drill. This is where the entire ship gets exercised in their emergency duties. I am in the boundary cooling party, which means in case of a fire I am partly responsible for making sure that the outside of the area the fire is in is kept cool to prevent the spread of fire to other areas of the ship.
There was a crew tour to the Blue Lagoon, which is a large hot spring that features a geyser as well. The tour was from about 1200 to about 1600. The owner of the area has made it into a sort of spa resort.
I continued on with the fire detection system and the lifts.
In the evening there were Senior Officers’ Cocktails where only passengers invited by officers attend. This event is held in the Horizon lounge at the very top and back-end of the ship. I ended up chatting with a very nice mother daughter duo from Redding, the daughter being one of the youngest passengers I have seen on this ship in a while. Since this is a child-free ship the age limit is 18 years old. They seemed to be having a great time on their cruise and were really grateful to have been invited to the cocktails. There was a 60s/70s theme all night on the ship and passengers are encouraged to air out their bellbottoms and flower shirts and dress up. A few people showed up at the cocktails looking like hippies.
After the cocktails I went up to the Conservatory for dinner and joined a couple of other officers just starting to eat. It was an Asian/Oriental Buffet and it was amazing. I liked absolutely everything that ended up on my plate and I wanted seconds. I was stuffed by the end, but still managed a dessert.
Today was the roughly-biweekly full crew drill. This is where the entire ship gets exercised in their emergency duties. I am in the boundary cooling party, which means in case of a fire I am partly responsible for making sure that the outside of the area the fire is in is kept cool to prevent the spread of fire to other areas of the ship.
There was a crew tour to the Blue Lagoon, which is a large hot spring that features a geyser as well. The tour was from about 1200 to about 1600. The owner of the area has made it into a sort of spa resort.
I continued on with the fire detection system and the lifts.
In the evening there were Senior Officers’ Cocktails where only passengers invited by officers attend. This event is held in the Horizon lounge at the very top and back-end of the ship. I ended up chatting with a very nice mother daughter duo from Redding, the daughter being one of the youngest passengers I have seen on this ship in a while. Since this is a child-free ship the age limit is 18 years old. They seemed to be having a great time on their cruise and were really grateful to have been invited to the cocktails. There was a 60s/70s theme all night on the ship and passengers are encouraged to air out their bellbottoms and flower shirts and dress up. A few people showed up at the cocktails looking like hippies.
After the cocktails I went up to the Conservatory for dinner and joined a couple of other officers just starting to eat. It was an Asian/Oriental Buffet and it was amazing. I liked absolutely everything that ended up on my plate and I wanted seconds. I was stuffed by the end, but still managed a dessert.
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