My views do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
July 2024
Andi was here! I worked with Andi when we were both Assistant Cruise Directors on the Caribbean Princess in 2019. The way Andi tells the story, we both left the ship in Fort Lauderdale one day and Andi asked if he could tag along with me, and we’ve been friends ever since. There are moments from that contract that I think about frequently. That day in Fort Lauderdale, Andi commented on how hot and humid it was. It was March. He had no idea. Of course he had just come from winter in England, whereas I was remembering the summer I had just spent in the Caribbean where I sweat through my clothes every day. This summer in Japan I would think of that conversation I’d had with Andi when I asked my Japanese co-workers if this was how hot it was going to be – this time I had no idea.
Anyway, I was so excited and a little nervous to see my friend again after five years. It takes time to build relationships and I hadn’t yet bonded with anyone on the Diamond as I had previously with Andi. Would we still get to be friends if he was my boss? (yes) Would we be able to pick up where we had left off? (yes) I’d also heard mixed reviews about how Andi was as a Cruise Director from other cruise staff who had worked with him, and I really really wanted him to be good.
Andi had a week of handover where Fernando was still the Cruise Director. Andi could use that time to get settled, get used to the time zone, get to know the team and the ship, film all the videos that played around the ship, but most importantly (to me anyway) was that he didn’t have a safety card, so he could go out in every port and explore. I also had the day off in Nagasaki. Fernando, Andi, Jazmine who worked in the Officer’s Mess and I set out to explore. Jazmine had figured out where to go and she was our guide. We decided to take the tram to the Peace Park. On the way I grilled Andi – how was he? How did he like being Cruise Director? What were the best parts? What were the worst parts? What surprised him about the role? What had he wished he’d known before he got the role? I also reluctantly let Fernando talk to him too.
The peace park was… how shall I say… peaceful. I was a bit creeped out, though. It felt awkward being there as an American. I know I didn’t have anything to do with the bomb, but I was aware that I was from the country that did.
We left the park and went in search of lunch.
Jazmine wanted to visit a temple that was on the way.
Fernando bounded up the stairs. We followed him and then realized that he had led us to a cemetery that was not the temple. It was next to it.
It was so hot and there were so many stairs.
We climbed down the stairs and made Fernando go up and make sure the next steps were the correct ones before we climbed them.
This garden was so pretty. I really felt like I was in Japan.
We found a ramen place for lunch.
It was so good. Andi didn’t have ramen but he did by a T shirt, which he later wore all the time.
On the way back to the ship we had to stop in Chinatown – Jazmine, who was from Mexico, had never been to a Chinatown!
We got ice cream. Then I saw a sign for soda flavored ice cream – as a huge fan of soda water, I had to try it!
It was so weird. It did taste kind of fizzy and kind of like bubble gum.
It was such a hot sweaty great day hanging out with friends and exploring. I can tell you this now, because enough time has passed. Andi and I knew who Jazmine was, and we were having a great time hanging out with her, but for the whole day we could not remember her name. We whispered to each other trying to remember and figure out what it was, awkwardly dancing around the elephant in our minds – what was her name?! Back in the mess we snuck a glance at her name tag and then never forgot it. But Andi and I still talk about that day that we explored Nagasaki and didn’t know Jazmine’s name the whole time.