My Five Week Plan

I like to know exactly where my life is going and I am a bit of a control freak, and for those reasons “ten-year-plans” don’t work for me. The concept is good, but ten years is a long and a lot of things can change, and when that happens I feel lost because my life isn’t where I planned it to be ten-years before (silly, I know). For example, when I was fifteen I wrote out a ten-year plan that included a husband, a house, at least one kid, and a job as a teacher. When I was about twenty-three I revised the plan to include law school within five years. Twenty-five was a really hard birthday for me because I had none of the things I had planned and my job at a law firm had cured my desire for law school; I felt like I had failed and I wasn’t sure where to go next (learning to go with the flow is an on-going process for me). In retrospect, I am glad my plans did not pan out because at fifteen I had no clue of the amazing things the Lord had in store for me. While I would love to be a wife and a mother, that opportunity has not yet come along yet and I still have time. I have had so many enriching and fulfilling experiences over the past decade that I wouldn’t have been able to if I were married but will make me a better wife and mother (my mission for the LDS church and traveling the world with my job are among the most significant). As for law school, I would be miserable if I had followed that plan; a career in law is definitely not for me. Instead of writing out ten year plans I find it’s much better for me to have long-term goals. Goals are much more flexible than trying to determine exactly where my life will be.

All that having been said, I have decided that short-term plans, those within the foreseeable future, are perfectly okay. So, I decided to write out a five-week plan of all the things I hope to accomplish by the end of my contract.

My Five-Week Plan (a lot of it is food based, don’t judge):

-Eat as much paella as my stomach can hold (I’ve done it before – I was uncomfortably full – and I’ll do again)

-Taste wrinkly potatoes (a specialty of the Canary Islands)

-Take a picture of Rick’s Café

-Buy myself a parasol in Cadiz, Spain (by the time I decided I wanted one last time the shop was closed for siesta)

-Acquire a healthy “glow” (My dermatologist would kill me if she found out I was tanning and I usually go straight to red, but it would be nice to go back home a shade or two darker than pasty white)

-Quote Casablanca as many times as humanly possible while in the city of Casablanca

-Find really unique Christmas presents

-Find a monkey charm in Gibraltar

-Find something to be in awe of each day

-Eat pizza in Italy

-Try to use the language of the country as much as possible, even if it's as simple as saying “gracias” instead of “thank you;” I'm in their country

-Buy Italian yarn

-Take time, when visiting churches, to step out of tourist-mode for a moment and spend a moment reflecting or being reverent

-Eat a lot of pastries

-Take time to notice the people and the character of the city instead of focusing solely on the major landmarks

-Enjoy myself

I'll try to keep you updated on whether or not I stick to the plan. These next five weeks will be a great way to end the contract.

A Perfect (but rainy) Montreal Morning

My job has given me friends scattered across every inhabited continent and many countries. I love the fact that I can go so many places and know someone. I also love the fact that my job often takes me to my friends’ home town. Unfortunately, because my friends also work on ships it is a rare that I actually get to see someone (Remember England? I had three friends I planned to see and all three of them ended up being gone). That’s why it was such a treat to have breakfast with my friend Jen and her husband Chris in Montreal.

Last summer, Jen and I were roommates for two weeks on the Volendam. We hit it off and became good friends, but she only did that one contract. When I posted on Facebook that the Maasdam would be out of Montreal, Jen wrote and said that she would love to meet up sometime. The first day of a cruise is always crazy busy and I don’t have any time off after 11:00am so we could just never make it work. Yesterday, however, was our last Montreal call of the season, so I knew that we had to make it work because I really wanted to see her.

Jen and Chris picked me up and we headed into the Old Port for breakfast. It can often be awkward to go out with a friend and their significant other because someone ends up being the third wheel (be it the significant other or the single friend), but it was not like that at all. We all enjoyed each others’ company and enjoyed laughing at the cheesy French Café music in the restaurant. The rain cleared up while we were eating, so we were able to walk around a bit and enjoy the beautiful fall colors before I had to get back to the ship. I wish I had had more time to explore the city; I will have to take Jen and Chris up on their offer to visit them again.

Beautiful city, good food, and great company: A formula for a perfect morning!

Huh?

Before I even donned my first orange polo on the Volendam, a fellow crew member issued this warning: “The most common thing people forget to pack is their brain.” It’s true. For the most part, people just don’t think their questions through before they ask, but sometimes the questions are just flat out dumb.  Anyone who knows me well knows I usually have a smart-mouthed response to almost anything (probably not my best attribute), but I usually bite my tongue at work (the only exceptions are when I have a relationship with the guests and I know they appreciate a little sarcasm). Keeping my comments to myself at work does not mean I have to keep them to myself on the blog.

Guest: Can you tell me where One-oh-nine, deck eight is?

Me (with confusion): Where?

Guest: That’s what the program says: Some Roman numerals, then deck eight.

Me (looking at a copy of the daily program): Let me see... Ma’am, that says ‘mix.’

First, it would have been 1009. Second, I might understand if it had been the first day, but this was day six and MIX lounge is always heavily advertised.

American Guest to my friend Simone

Guest (hearing her accent): Where are you from?

Simone: From London.

Guest: Where?

Simone: London, in the UK.

Guest (after thinking for a moment): Oh, well you’re English is very good my dear.

There is a reason for that. Obviously geography was never his best subject.

Crazy Lady: Do you have any say on where the library is located?

Me: What do you mean?

Crazy Lady: Well, when you come on the ship do you get to say where you want the library, or is it usually already set up?

Me: No, the rooms on the ship are pretty much set.

Crazy Lady: Well, can you recommend moving the casino? I know you can’t move it now, because if you move it mid-cruise people will get confused and upset, but maybe before the start of next cruise you can move it to a more out-of the location, maybe somewhere in the back of the ship.

Me (not knowing how to respond, but not wanting to upset the crazy woman): You can always make suggestions by turning in a comment card to guest relations.

Guest: I already did. They were dumb and confused and said it couldn’t be done.

It can’t be done. Perhaps you are the one who is dumb and confused.

Guest: I am returning this travel book.

Me: Thank you, sir. Just so you know for the remainder of the cruise, travel books are reference materials and cannot be checked out.

Guest: I Know. That’s why I didn’t check it out; I just took it to my room to read.

You’re right, you didn’t check it out; you stole it. Maybe that “Please Do Not Remove From the Exploration’s Cafe” sticker needs to be clearer.

Written Comment Card

Guest: Please get rid of Fox news. It is only for the uninteligint.

The following comment may come across as a joke but I can assure you it was not. The guest was clearly upset.

Guest: You shouldn’t have books that will take longer than a week to read. It’s not fair. If we can’t read it in a week don’t tease us with it!

Some people read fast; some guests stay on for two weeks at a time; we have one cruise that lasts six weeks. If you don’t want to read it, don’t read it! It’s that simple.

*That same cruise I had another guest read the controversial book in two days.

A Monday Morning Conversation

Guest: I need to know who won the football game.

Me: It should be on the back page of the NYTimes Digest, right there ma’am.

Guest: The game isn’t until tonight, but I need to know who won!

Well, my crystal ball is broken so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow.

FINISHED!

It took a while, but I am (finally) finished with my first knitting project: my scarf. I ripped out several portions and redid them (other people probably would not have noticed the imperfections, but I would have known they were there), but overall I think it turned out pretty well for a first try. I am excited to wear it this winter.

Now I am on to my next project: a crocheted hat. The pattern says it is supposed to be easy, but I have ripped it out and restarted at least three times (what you see below is after two hours of knit club, that's how much ripping I did). I refuse to let things be misshapen or funky-looking just because I made them; if I am going to take the time to make it, I might as well do it right.  It might be a while before I finish the hat, but I am definitely enjoying learning new skills!

Mo

*I hope this post doesn’t make me sound like an emotional basket-case, but I am in tears as I write it so maybe I am.*

Let’s be honest: Last contract, at least the first four months, was not great for me. I won’t go into all the gory details, but there was more than one occasion when I called my parents or best friend in tears, wanting them to tell me it was okay to quit and come home (fortunately my parents are amazing and, after listening to me cry, always gave me a loving yet firm “put on a smile, fake it ‘til you make it, and tough this contract out” lecture). I like to call it my “growing contract.”

I believe firmly that the Lord never leaves us alone in tough situations. He is always near to comfort and strengthen, but he often places someone near us to hold us up, give perspective, or simply give a hug when needed. On the Rotterdam, that person was my roommate Simone. Mo once came into the room to find me sobbing on the floor and she took an hour out of her day to pull me (literally) up off the floor, hold me in her arms, listen to my dilemma, offer advice, listen to me talk through my options, then give me a pep talk and send me off to face what I had to do. It was the next best thing to having my mom (I don’t care how old you are, sometimes you just want your mom). Later that night she pulled me off my bed, sent me into the bathroom with a bottle of Visine and an outfit she had plucked from my closet, then dragged me down to the OB where she had already alerted our friend Claire to have a soda waiting. She never breached confidences, but she let a few people know what had happened so they could be there for me as well. That day, more than any other, stands out as a day that she was there when I couldn’t do it alone and I will always love her for it. Mo was not the only one whom I leaned on during that contract (special shout-out to Claire, Laura, Karyn, Paul, Glen, Ace, Anna, Andrew, and James), but as my roommate she was there day or night and I hope I was also there for her on her bad days.

I don’t want it to sound like every day was bad, because it wasn’t and we made a lot of fun memories. There were nights of room service and movies, evenings out in the Crow’s Nest or MIX with Claire or Glen, trips into port (Maui will always make me think of Mo and smile –I think it’s the only port where we went out together every time), thousands of jokes that no one else would find funny, and countless hours spent laughing until tears streamed down our faces. The combination of good and bad times helped us to form a unique bond. We were incredibly close and enjoyed spending time together, but neither of us was hurt when the other made plans with someone else. We were also brutally honest with each other, but it was always constructive and never offense. Even though we live an ocean apart, I hope we always remain dear friends.

Because I would visit Southampton on the Voyage of the Vikings, Mo planned to drive down from London to spend the day with me. A few weeks before my visit she was offered a last minute contract on the Eurodam. I was disappointed, so I was thrilled to receive an email from my Hotel Director informing the crew that we would be docked next to the Eurodam in Quebec City. I sent Mo an email and made plans to meet for lunch.

It was so great to see her. We ended up going to lunch with four guys we were friends with on the Rott who are all now on the Maasdam with me. We ate pizza while enjoying the gorgeous day and each others' company.  It had been almost six months since any of us had seen Simone, but it felt like we had never  left. That's one of the amazing things about ship friendships: It's so easy to pick up exactly where you left off.

With our friends Pieter, Jim, and Mac

Thanks for a great afternoon, Mo! I can't wait until the next time our paths cross!

The End of An Era

I have always gotten along with the other members of the Explorations Team (what you might call the cruise staff), but I have never worked with a team whom I felt close to as a team (though that’s not to say that I haven’t felt close to individuals on the team). We were always able to work together without any problems, but there has always been at least one person who does his own things socially and I would never say that we were all good friends. This contract, however, has been different; this contract I consider the team to be my closest friends.

Me, Rashida (Shore Excursion Staff), Jo, Krista, and Amber at the Officer's Ball

Krista, Jacob, Jo, Amber, Benji, and I have all become good friends over the past few months. We’re not cliquish or exclusive (I hope), but we have our inside jokes, we go ashore together, we eat dinner together, and we often spend our evenings together whether telling stories in the OB or watching videos in someone’s room.

Me, Amber, and Jo celebrating Jo's Birthday

This week marks the end of the era. One person leaves at the end of each cruise until I leave in November. Krista leaves tomorrow, Amber leaves next Saturday, Jacob leaves October 6, Benji leaves October 19 after a thirteen-day repositioning, and I leave in November after a 42-day cruise (Jo is here until at least January).I’ve been living in denial that Krista is actually leaving, but once she got her flights I had to accept it. I’m sure everyone who comes will be great and we may all be just as close, but it will still be different. We will have to have a different set of inside jokes, a different routine, and different things in common. In short, I look forward to meeting new people, but I am very sad to see everyone go.

Krista, Me, and Jo enjoying a night in the Crow's Nest

Here’s to the end of an era... Thanks for the fun memories, the many laughs, and two great months. Safe travels and I hope to work with each of you again!

At Dessert Extravaganza

You Might Work on a Cruise Ship If...

 Somebody asks what day it is and your reply is a city, not a day of the week.

You have a wallet full of bills and coins but not one of them is from your home country or the country in which you are.

You don’t know have any of your friends’ cell phone numbers.

You think clocking fifty hour constitutes an easy work week.

Weight and packability are among your requirements when shopping for clothes.

You have visited dozens of countries since renewing your passport but only have a handful of stamps, most of them from your home country.

You think a group with an average age of 58 is a “young crowd.”

It's funny because it's true. Feel free to leave a comment with your own scenarios.