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On November 1st lots of VIPs came onboard and we were ready to look our smartest and be on our best behavior. Our Test Cruise (also called the Shakedown Cruise) was November 5-8, then we had a day to regroup before we welcomed our first guests for our first Revenue Cruise on November 10th.
We went from having the run of the ship to being tucked away into our crew quarters. For the first voyage we had no deck privileges (meaning we couldn’t use any of the guest areas like the bars, restaurants or shops). Usually we’re encouraged to hang out in guest areas in order to socialize with the guests outside of our events, but now we just went to work and back to the cabin (or the crew bar).
When the test cruise started, our schedule was now centered around guest activities (rather than when our department was assigned to eat) and when we showed up at the crew mess during our 30 minute eating window between activities we were told we weren’t allowed. It took a couple of days to sort that out with lots of calling heads of departments so that we could eat. Finally we were allowed in the Officer’s Mess and eventually, everything went smoothly when we were allowed to sit next to each other and fill the tables (we’d been sitting every other seat since we’d come aboard).
The Test Cruise was a three day non-revenue cruise to Princess Cays populated by Carnival employees, VIPs and travel agents. For us it was a bit shocking. The Entertainment Director tried to pack about 7 days of entertainment into 3 days. All of a sudden we were actually doing all the things we’d been preparing for. It felt so good to work again. It was awesome to have places to go and people to laugh at our jokes. I realized that what we had been through was a lot like live theater—we had spent a month preparing, and then here we were, doing our show for a live audience.
After the test cruise we had a full day in Fort Lauderdale (with no crew shore leave) before we welcomed our first guests. Normally the people from the previous cruise are all off the ship by 10am and we start welcoming on the next guests at 10:30, but now we had 46 hours! Boy did we need this day. Everyone on our little team felt like we had been hit by a truck. How were we going to do back to back 10 day cruises when 3 days knocked us off our feet (it turns out we have time to rest with 5 or 6 port days in the middle)? After a year and a half of only talking to my family and the occasional friend on a video call, it was super-stimulating to be chit chatting with so many people, even when we were just going to work and then back to the cabin. So we had maybe 10 hours to rest up while all of the most important people were pre-filming some pieces for our naming ceremony which wouldn’t be broadcast for another month. Jan Swartz, our beloved group president was onboard, along with the delightful Jill Whelan who played Vicki on the Love Boat. We had so many VIPs, I couldn’t keep track of them. We were called to be in the background for when they smash the champagne against the ship as part of the naming ceremony, but then they didn’t need us, so we stuck around to watch anyway. The scene that was about 1 minute of the presentation had about 4 hours of standing around to get the shot.
Now that it’s been broadcast, you can watch “Our World, Enchanted” on YouTube and Facebook. Jayson and Niki are featured in the beginning.
On November 10th, after a rehearsal the day before, select crew lined the three tiers of the Piazza to welcome our first guests. At the last minute we were moved down to stand behind the important people doing the presentation. I usually think all the big ceremonies are over-the-top, deceptively empty gestures, so I was more surprised than anyone to feel the tears rolling down my face. There’s nothing like having what you start to take for granted taken away to make you appreciate it even more.
So then we went into 10 day cruising. The first cruise was busy, exciting and stressful as we did everything for the first time (or second time if we’d done it on the test cruise). We still had some trainings and rehearsals that filled up the port days when we would have had some time off.
After the first cruise we were finally able to get off the ship in some of the ports (which I will elaborate on in a future post). The ports decide who they allow off the ship. Some of them are “bubble” ports where we dock, but you can only explore outside the shopping area if you are on an organized tour. Sometimes it has to be a Princess tour, and sometimes it can just be an ‘approved tour.’ For us, it means that sometimes when we thought we would have a lighter day, we have extra activities or it means we’re spending the day doing laundry, sleeping, or laying out by the crew pool. I learned to adjust our IPM schedule (where 2 of us stay on the ship for safety duties and to do the onboard activities) so we have an even number of days where we can get off the ship in Fort Lauderdale, in port when we can get off the ship, and when we have time off but can’t get off the ship.
Cruise by cruise our deck privileges increased and we were allowed to get coffee from the coffee bars and eat at the specialty restaurants (the pizza place is a favorite among crew for a fancy meal).
Gradually things started to get easier. At first, the schedule was made up of the activities and events that we’d told the Cruise Director we could do. In the first couple of cruises, we discovered what we hadn’t thought to take into consideration for the scheduling: some of the game shows had big sets that were set up on the stage for the whole evening, which made it difficult to do a trivia that relied on the big screen for visual aids. After a couple of cruises, I asked if we could have some input on the scheduling, made myself a grid, took in the whole picture and made a schedule that featured our best stuff at the busiest times, made sure the things that needed the screen were on a night when it wouldn’t be covered up, included a variety of music and non-music events, and tried to avoid one person doing 3 things in a row. I sat down with the Cruise Director as he meant to look at swapping out each event one by one if there was a good reason. I showed him my grid, and he realized I wanted to change everything. But as we went through it, he said, oh, I see what you’re doing here—I like it. Now, toward the end of the cruise I submit my requests for the schedule for Princess Live (where we do most of the evening events) for the next cruise, and most of my ideas are implemented. I’m having fun finding the themes like grouping TV theme songs with a trivia where you “Guess the Set” from movies and TV shows and putting the crazy stuff where we leave the structure of the rules next to each other.
The thing that has surprised me the most is that the guests on each 10 day cruise have a distinct group personality. I was imagining that it had been so long since people had been able to cruise that the guests would be grateful to be back and would complain less. That group didn’t show up until after the test cruise. Sometimes we have a group that doesn’t verbally respond at all during our gameshows but then come up to us afterward to tell us how much they enjoyed it. Madi pointed out that people have been watching TV for a year and a half and they have forgotten how to be a live audience. Sometimes we have a group that is very loud and responsive. Sometimes we have lots of trivia hecklers. Sometimes we have a group that is really kind and they shower us with compliments. Those are my favorite. As soon as I get used to a group, turnaround day comes and everything changes. I don’t remember there being such a noticeable mentality difference between groups before the pause.
With our first cruise starting November 10th, the second cruise was over Thanksgiving which had special events, then we thought we might have a minute to catch our breath before the holidays, but Jeremy was sent home unexpectedly, and then we had pre-Christmas cruise, then Christmas cruise (which is the busiest of the year) followed by the New Years cruise. After that, the Officers and crew will start to turn over and we’ll get new people, so we may never get the chance to establish a routine. Fortunately, change keeps things exciting and is exactly what I was looking for in this career.
We missed you at Selena’s shower yesterday!