12/24/11

Alright, so this week has had its ups and down. I received some very bad news from home on December 20^th which is why I have not written in this blog for a while. My poor brain is so overwhelmed with information right now I don’t think I can see straight!

So I have been training like crazy! Our first port of call was Manzinillo. The guests did not like this port AT ALL. There we complaints about the dock area, the stores all around, and the port adventures. This is not a normal stop on the Mexican Riviera cruise so it is not a huge worry, but the area there is not very nice.

The next day was Puerto Vallarta which was a lot better for the guests. My friend Colin and I went to a mall near the port and did a little shopping there. We went to Colin’s favourite store, Liverpool, which is sort of a mix between The Bay and Target. It has a little of everything. Colin did not buy anything there, but Colin bought me a super cute sailor jacket! He is such a genuinely sweet person. He bought it because I have no secret Santa and the department tonight is having their secret Santa party.

Overnight we headed towards Cabo San Lucas. The water was so rough that night I actually woke up at one point because I almost fell off the top bunk! But Cabo is so beautiful there!! The weather was a nice mid 70’s, so it was a bit on the cooler side, but it was still gorgeous. I took Colin out for lunch at my parent’s favourite place, COSTCO!! Colin had a chicken bake and I had a slice of cheese pizza. We walked around Costco for a while and I bought a couple of shirts (I took the “pack lightly” a little too seriously and now I am lacking clothes. I thought we wouldn’t wear them much, but it seems you do need more than 3 shirts), a towel, and a pillow. I can’t imagine how many filthy heads have been on my pillow so I slept easier last night knowing I had a new pillow. Items were not as cheap in Mexico as they are in Canada. 2 pillows, which in Canada would have been 9-12 dollars were 179 pesos which is about $17 USD. Not as cheap. They also have a Nikon D5001 camera (which looks really nice dad) for 12,900 pesos which is about $1,200USD. Apparently electronics in St.Maarten are really cheap.

We had to tender over to the port and then take a taxi to Costco (about $15 each way), but neither Colin nor I were really keen on the tender for two different reasons. I don’t like the tender because I don’t like small boats. I hate being that close to the water in a tiny craft. Colin doesn’t like it because he is afraid of Sea Lions!! He absolutely hates them!

So we tendered back to the ship with our booty and went to work until 22:30. So that was yesterday and the ship had the crew Christmas party last night, but I didn’t feel like celebrating so I went to sleep. I am going to go to midnight mass in the Walt Disney Theatre tonight with Colin.

On the food front, I am still an involuntary vegetarian. The meat they have in the crew mess is always, ALWAYS covered in some sort of sauce. There are a lot of curried meats, and meats with strange smelling sauces on them so I just avoid them entirely. So what I eat is potatoes! They have potatoes at breakfast, lunch and dinner; it is fantastic. They also always have a side of vegetables, usually steamed cauliflower which is great, but today they had pea and corn. Mom, you would be so proud of me: today I ate rice!! I had rice absolutely covered in peas and corn and it actually tasted like something I used to eat in childhood. Did we used to eat peas and rice?

The food definitely leaves something to be desires, and I would kill for a hot meal. Everything I have eaten so far has been semi-warm to cold. I just want a nice hot bowl of soup, or food that is steaming when I put it on my plate, not gelatinous. But, the food is usually eatable so I can’t really complain that much. Last night I went to the crew shop and found GINGER ALE!!! Canada Dry ginger ale!! I was so happy I skipped a little. I haven’t had a ginger ale since leaving home, so it was so nice to have one again. I am drinking my first one as I type.

So some things I forgot to bring with me/will have my parents bring are:

1.handsoap – for the bathroom, they only sell bar soap at the store (forgot)

2.moroccan oil – the humidity here is killing my hair and I forgot this at home (parents bring)

3.towel and pillow case – gross (bought, and parents bring pillow case)

4.pantyhose – I didn’t know what my costume was so I bought plenty of black socks and a few panty hose, big mistake. My costume is only a skirt so I have yet to wear a pair of black socks and I have run out of panty hose (parents PLEASE bring me pantyhose)

5.hair towel – a small towel for your hair, the towels you get from laundry are a tad crunchy (parents bring)

But all in all, you can buy anything you need on the ship, or in one of the ports. It is not a huge deal if you forgot something.

So I am on break now waiting for my final (!!!!) safety training at 13:30 until 17:50, so a long safety training.

Tomorrow is Christmas so I work all day long, but it is good. Work is keeping my mind occupied which is good at this moment in time. I want to wish everyone who reads this a very Merry Christmas tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!

Toodles!

Second Day Aboard – 12/19/11

So today was another early start with HR training at 8:00am. For some reason I can’t sleep past 5:00am so I just woke up and started getting ready. I took a shower the night before (it was wonderful!! The water pressure is amazing and I am pretty sure my shower is wider than the guest showers. It still has a curtain but it billows out away from you which is great). So I went to pick up Cheyenne and we headed to breakfast.

The one thing I am going to have to adjust to is the food on board. I am a picky eater at the best of times (I know it is a huge shock to anyone who knows me) and the food here is so-so. I have been able to eat at least one thing at every meal but nothing has blown me away. So far I have been a vegetarian because the meat looks iffy, but I will survive on it (as long as there is a potato product present).

So after breakfast we headed up to the HR training room and had yet another safety course and test. Then we had some more sexual harassment etc. presentations from HR and then stopped for lunch. After lunch we took a tour of the . . . I can’t remember the name of it, but it is where all the magic happens. I want to say engine room, but that wasn’t quite it. Anywho, after that we got all our electronic checked (all of mine passed!! Yay!) and then I went down to costuming to get fitted.

By this time is was 4:00 and costuming took quite a while because there are a lot of new hires to be fitted and get there costumes. After about 40 minutes I was finished and had to rush off to my cabin to change and get ready for my 5:00 training session. I got there and realized I forgot my binder so had to run back to my cabin to get it. I was still on time so I clocked in and headed to training.

I am training with a man named Bongani and he is very nice. I am learning a lot and having information thrown at me at an alarming rate. Everyone said this Christmas cruise is the worst to learn on because everything is so crazy and busy. So I have more HR training for 8 until 4 tomorrow and then I start GS (Guest Services) training from 6:00 to 8:00. The scheduler took pity on me and only gave me a short shift.

So things are going very well so far and I am really enjoying my time here so far!

More stories and adventures to come tomorrow, so stay tuned!

First day on board – 12/18/11

So I am sitting in my new cabin on the Disney Wonder!!! And it is bloody hot in here!! I wonder if it is always this hot in the cabins. So today started with an early wake up time; I woke up at 4:00am but didn’t need to be up until 5:30. At 5:00 I talked to my mom before I had to sign off to go with Cheyenne down stairs for breakfast. I was so tired and sore from the previous days I thought I would fall asleep before getting to the ship. So once we finished our breakfast and checked out of the hotel, we bored our vans and were on our way to the Port of L.A. to join the Disney Wonder!

We got to the ship around 8:00am and it was already in port and passengers were leaving the ship. It was good to see the Wonder again. We got our bags x-rayed and then we made our way on board. We had training all morning and then had a ship tour and were showed our cabins and then went for lunch. I have a VERY nice cabin on the first deck, while most people have their cabins below. I share with a girl named Jusmary, who I have only met briefly on two different locations. She also works in Guest Services and is fairly new, only having been here a month. There are just two of us in this cabin and it is much larger than other cabins I have seen my friends in. The shower and bathroom in general is much larger and the main cabin is larger and even has a chair/sofa type thing in it. I will try to post some pictures with this post.

So after lunch we met with Minnie Mouse and had our picture taken as a group. We then watched the Sail Away party and then met with our departments. Colin came and took me to costuming were I was measured (I will pick up my costume tomorrow) and then got my DCL ID. All in all it was a very exciting, long, and tiring day. So far so good with everything here. I have some paper work to study tonight in regards to guest services.

Tomorrow I have training all day again from 8:00am until 4:00 and then I will pick up my costume and venture over to guest services and have a little more training there!

Toodles!

Survival Training (aka the worst day of my life) and Traditions

So I will start with yesterday's survival training. We started at 8:30 with a little more basic knowledge about what is included in the lifeboat survival kit and then had the test. You have to pass this test in order to do the afternoon wet drill (I wish I had failed). I got 100% on mine (yay!) and then we had a lunch of turkey and strawberries. There were some other things too, but they were all sort of on the same tray so I could not eat anything.

So then we were shipped off to the pool with was in Costa Mesa. Luckily it was about 20 degrees, so a lot warmer than it was suppose to be, and it didn't rain at all. The water was nice and warm but the problem was we had to stand out of the water in really strong wind for upwards of 30 minutes waiting to do the next portion of the test. It was SO cold!!!! My legs were blue due to the cold and my extreme fear of water.

I have hated water as long as I can remember. I did a tumble in the pond by my cottage when I was very small and nearly drowned, then my second cousin stood on my shoulders to keep me underwater when I was about 12. Those 2 incidents were enough to make me hate water with a burning passion.

The first part of the test was jumping into the water, treading water for a minute, then swimming to the other side of the pool. Sounds simple, no? Well, I have never in my life jumped in water. The pool with 12 feet deep and we were suppose to just jump in. I asked Captain Ron to tie the rope around my waist so he could pull me up when I drowned. He was more than happy to do that, but I still could not bring myself to jump in the water. So I asked Ron if I could try jumping in the shallow end (6 feet deep) for practice and he was more than accommodating. So I did 2 jumps in the shallow end, probably drank about 2 liters of water, and then said I was ready for the deep end. So he walked me like a dog on a leash to the deep end to jump in. It took me a few minutes to be ready, but eventually I did jump in the water. I managed to come to the surface (thank goodness!!) and treaded water for a minute and then leisurely swam to the other side of the pool.

Once I am in the water I am fine, it is getting into the water that scares the crap out of me. So once that test was finished I had to stand out in the freezing wind and wait for the next test. The next one was jumping into the water with a life jacket on and then swimming the length of the pool. I was more okay with this task and it took less convincing to get me to jump in the pool. While you did go underwater when you jumped in, you came up to the surface fairly quickly. So that test was no problem. The next thing you had to do in the life jacket was jump in from the diving board....one metre above the water... This test I was no so alright with. You went further underwater with this one, but, I was wearing a life jacket so it wasn't so bad. So that was the life jacket test, not so bad.

The next test involved donning a neoprene survival suit, that was too big everywhere EXCEPT on your head and face.

1. I am allergic to neoprene

and

2. I am severely claustrophobic.

This by far was the worst test. I got into my suit and put the flap over my mouth and almost fainted. While you could still breathe, it felt like someone was slowly smothering you. So we did all these tests in groups, and there was 4 of us in this last group. All of us were not comfortable swimming. The one tiny man was from Indonesia and it seemed like he had never been in water before. I felt very badly for him. One girl was from Poland, Monika, and while she could swim, it took her some time to jump into the water. The other girl was my roommate, Cheyenne, and she is not a strong swimmer either. All of us had ropes tied around our wastes when we did the first test. So already this group was not the best to be going together.

The brave Indonesian was the first to jump in, then Cheyenne, then Monika. Ron was trying to convince me that it would be alright, but my brain was in full panic mode between jumping into the water and having a tight suit smother me, I thought I was going to have to book my flight home to Canada. Ron looked at me and told me that when my eyes returned to a normal size I would be allowed to jump into the pool. Apparently my eyes were so wide they were almost popping out of my head. There was also a very nice lady named Debbie who was in the water the whole time and she and Ron were so supportive saying I was doing great and that I could take my time jumping in. So after what felt like ages (maybe a couple of minutes) I was finally ready to take the plunge. And actually, I "liked" jumping into the water in the suit the best. I put liked in quotations because I definitely did not like it, but out of all the options it was the best. So once you jumped into the water you were suppose to roll to your back and then try to stand up in the survival suit to get all the air out. This was easier said than done. It was very hard to stand up because there was so much air in the feet of your suit to get your feet under you, but once you did this the suit became more manageable.

So we had to swim a length of the pool in the suit, and then jump from the diving board (which I did successfully without any prompting) and then had to jump into the life raft from the diving board. This one was my favourite because it didn't involve the water under you rolled out onto your back. Then came the really physically demanding test.

The first one was everyone had to get into the life raft and then seal the canopy. So we all swam over to the raft and we pushed Cheyenne into the raft. After that I was already tired. It took a long time because the suits were too big so the crotch of the suit was down by our knees. Once you stood up in it, it became skin tight. So it was like our knees were tied together. Trying to get into the life raft was hard because you could not throw your knees over to help you get in, you had to bring your legs up together and just use upper body strength. So when Cheyenne was in and started to help pull me up. I struggled for a bit, but eventually made it in the life raft. By this point I was so physically exhausted I didn't think I could do anything else. We managed to get the other 2 in (including the 90 pound Indonesian man) and then we had to seal it. You had to tuck elastic pieces over the edge of the raft. Cheyenne had one side and the Indonesian had the other. Cheyenne got her side in fairly quickly, but the Indonesian struggled. Finally after a few minutes Monika was able to tuck it in (I was stuck in the back of the raft not able to help). Then we had to sit in this tiny raft, in our claustrophobic suits, for a few minutes and then get out. Neither Cheyenne nor the Indonesian man could get there corners up!!! I thought we were going to be living in the raft for the rest of our lives! By this point I was getting so freaked out I thought I was going to scream and rip the canopy open. Finally, I think the Indonesian got his corner and we were free!!! But not finished the test.

The final test before we were able to get out of the pool was to right the life raft after it had been flipped over. The life raft weighs about 200 or so pounds so it is very hard to flip over. It is also a rectangle and we had to flip it length wise so that made it even harder. There are handles on the bottom of the raft for this specific purpose; one on the side and one a quarter of the way up. So what you had to do (while still in the survival suit) was to somehow get your knees up on this mess of cables, hoist yourself up so both hands are on the farthest handle and then lean back so the raft falls on top of you...

I was the first in the group to go and after the whole "getting into the raft" debacle I was so tired. So I swam up to the raft and tried to get my feet up on the mess of cables and it was so difficult. I managed to get a hold of the second handle and lean back and this massively heavy raft started to fall on top of me. Ron yelled out "hand up" because we were suppose to stop the raft with our hand...yeah right. So the raft came crashing down on top of me, pushing me under water and I was panicking trying to find a way out from under this rafter, all while breathing in water because I forgot to take a breath. I drank/breathed so much water in a short period of time that Debbie looked like she was ready to haul the raft off of me. I eventually managed to find my way out from underneath it, coughing a lot, and went to the edge of the pool to get out. Rom helped me out of the pool and said he was very proud that I was able to make it through and that I had done such a great job. I was just SO happy to be alive and out of the water. So a few guys helped me out of my wet, skin tight suit (very difficult to do) and I was able to go take a hot shower and get into dry clothes!

I had never been so happy to have dry underwear on! So I made it through the wet drill, with only a few liters of water in my stomach/lungs. I am really feeling the affects of it today. I pulled a muscle in my chest and my arms and legs are killing!!

So today was a little more easy with Traditions. I have done Traditions before in Disney World and this was generally the same thing. A little more aimed at Disneyland and a little at the cruise line, but all the same principles so it was a little boring, but Lisa the Hotel Director on the Wonder was in one of the videos!!

So we got a tour of Disneyland after lunch and then came back for another hour of lecture and then we were set free. They asked if we were enjoying our free tickets to Disneyland that we gout our first day in our packets and all of us looked blankly back at him. We had no packets on the first day, there was no DCL representative, our times were all screwed up for our classes and it just seemed like nothing was organized. So after traditions we came back to the hotel and then Monika, Cheyenne and I went to Disneyland!!! We walked through California Adventure for a few minutes, but everything was under construction and there was no much to look at. So we then ventured over to Disneyland and rode the Haunted Mansion!!! I was so happy because it has the Nightmare Before Christmas decorations on, and it was SO good!! We then ate and left the park. It was crazy busy there because it is almost Christmas and a weekend so we just decided to leave. That was the only ride I really wanted to do.

So now I am blogging and really should be packing all my bags to join the ship tomorrow! We are being picked up at 7:00 to join the ship around 8:00 when it pulls into port! Tomorrow is going to be a very long day so I need to get as much sleep as possible!!

TTFN!!

Early Morning

So today was a very early start when I woke up at 3:30am. I meant to wake up at 4:00, but my body always wakes up before my alarm.

I woke up so early because today was my first day of safety training. We were being picked up at 6:15am to be on the road by 6:30. My roommate Cheyenne and I went down stairs around 6:00 and then headed outside (into the cold) around 6:10. We were outside until 7:15 when I decided to go to Guest Services and ask if they knew why DCL was so late. They phoned around a little and then told me that training wasn't until noon!! So I went around and told all the other crew members who were waiting that it wasn't until noon. So Cheyenne and I headed to Target (thank god she is from Anaheim and knows all the store locations!) to buy me a cell phone and some other things. I got a T-mobile pay-as-you-go phone which should suit all my needs. I also bought some little things, like a lint roller, some sanitizer wipes (you were right mom) and a purse! I forgot to pack a purse with me and of course the first day we have to bring a passport and wallet to the safety training, so I bought cute little satchel bag.

So at noon we headed for the lobby AGAIN and this time there were 2 vans waiting for us. There are 16 of us in total for this training group from all different parts of the world and working different positions. There are people from Spain, Dominican Republic, France, Italy, Romania, Poland, South Africa, and Indonesia. So far I have heard about people working for the Spa (France and Romania) and servers (Poland and Italy) and I haven't found out the rest of the positions yet. They all seem very nice. Cheyenne and I had dinner with the two servers and they are both very nice and very funny.

So after a 20 minute ride to Orange County College we started safety training, and it was more of a "scare-the-crap-out-of-you" thing. I never want to touch water again with everything that can go wrong. If I have to watch one more video of people drowning I am going to cry. The teacher is a Captain and is very knowledgeable but there is no sugar coating how many ways we can die on the cruise ship. Tomorrow we have a "wet training" where we jump in the pool in many different situations. Once without a life jacket, once with, and once in a survival suit. A survival suit is this crazy neoprene suit that is a few inches thick that covers yours shoes, body and face. Only your eyes are visible, and if you know me you know I hate 2 things. 1.Enclosed spaces, like the survival suit. 2.Water. I hate everything about tomorrow and the Captain didn't help with all his scary stories of people almost drowning in these tests.

It has been an extremely long day so I think I am going to bed now.

I will update my blog tomorrow if I survive the wet training!!!

Toodles!

Arrived!

I have made it to the Paradise Pier Hotel in Disneyland!!

I had a long day of travel starting with waking up at 7:00am (4am California time) then had a flight at 12:10, but didn't leave until 12:50. So for the five hour flight the man in front of me decided to lay in my lap the whole time. He had his seat so reclined that my knees were hitting the seat the whole time, and if you know me, you know that I have tiny short legs for my height.

I landed in L.A. around 3:00 and then proceeded to get lost on the way to baggage claim. There were 2 escalators, one that went to the bottom floor (baggage) and one that just went down one floor (not baggage). I took the latter escalator and then proceeded to walk around until I found an elevator and went down to baggage. Just as I got there I saw my bag come down the shoot, so I grabbed it and ran.

Now at the Orlando airport you can't help but find the Disney Magical Express. There is a desk and Disney cast members walking around telling you where to go. Not so at LAX. It took me a good half hour (and asking 20 people) where the Disneyland Express picked up. I got many different answers from people who were unsure, and then one man seemed fairly competent so I listened to him. I ended up on a concrete median (which I knew is where I had to go) under a sign that said "Skytransit". Of course!!! Why didn't I think about looking for the Disneyland Express at the Skytransit median! (Sarcasm)

So once I was standing there for about 5 minutes a Disneyland bus came up, so I started to gather all my belongings. The bus driver then proceeded to honk extremely loudly at me, as if to ask if I were boarding the bus. I nodded to him and he stopped the bus and threw my suitcase under the bus. I was the only person on the bus, but the bus driver then honked at every median we passed. It was very un-Disney-like.

We were then stuck in MASSIVE traffic. He had the radio playing (not the Disney video) and it said that a huge gas tanker truck had exploded under a bridge so the freeway was closed, so I think the traffic was particularly bad, even for L.A.

I finally arrived at the Paradise Pier Hotel which is extremely nice! I checked in and the Guest Services Host said that he was jealous I was going to be Guest Services on the ship because he had applied for that job but did not get it...oops. I then went up to my room and found my roommate there! Her name is Cheyenne and she is literally from down the street. She had 2 friends with her (I can't remember their names) and they all went out for karaoke tonight. Which I am fine with because I am exhausted.

I then chatted with my family (HI GUYS!!!) on the computer and then hunger got the better of me. I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday so I was pretty hungry. I looked up quick service locations and found one at the Grand Californian. I went down to the front desk to ask if there was a shuttle there and they said it was literally across the street. So I walked across to the quick service food location and got a hamburger and french fries (neither were great) and walked back and ate it in my room.

On the walk back I saw, what I can only assume, where people from California walking by me. They had toques, scarves, mittens, and huge puffy winter coats on. It really is not that cold here, it is 10 degrees Celsius. It made me giggle because I came from pretty cold weather and it seems so balmy and nice here.

I have training at 6:30am tomorrow so I am going to sleep soon (even though it is only 7:00pm here). I am really tired after my big day of travel and the time change will benefit me tomorrow when I have to wake up at 5:30am.

Ta Ta For Now!!!

We're Off to See the Wizard!

Alright, it has been awhile since I updated and it seems like the perfect time to write.

As of 15 minutes ago I completed my University education. I am having mixed feelings about the whole ordeal. I am SO glad to be finished because that means no more essays, no more time crunches, and more free time to read books I choose to read, rather than books that are assigned to me. Conversely, I am going to miss seeing some really great people every day and continuously learning new and amazing things. My one great fear is that my brain will atrophy from not being challenged on a daily basis. I know the cruise line will challenge me in new ways, but hopefully my brain can maintain its current state of well-being.

So with University completed I now have the cruise line to look forward to!! It has been a constant source of excitement/anxiety on my brain, but now I can devote time and effort to fully prepare for this amazing adventure.

I have been slowly gathering things I will need for the cruise ship and so far it seems to be going well. It feels like everyday I remember something new I am going to need on the cruise ship, while trying to think of creative ways to stave off homesickness. Since the very first cruise will be the Christmas cruise, I am getting Christmas music and movies that I can listen to and watch on the ship. Hopefully, this will make being away from home on Christmas more manageable. Christmas is the only time I am afraid I will be homesick; while I will miss my family and friends a lot, I think I can manage the rest of the time. So the rest of today will be devoted to writing lists and going out shopping for ship necessities.

I am starting to get more excited about leaving because it is only 9 MORE DAYS!!! Holy Smokes! My parents return from a cruise in 6 days and will get 3 days to bask in the glory that is me. I am sad that I will only get to spend 3 days with them before I leave, but they will be coming on my cruise ship at the end of April so it wont be too long until I see them again.

Now here is a special little entry for the people reading my blog that are waiting to hear back from DCL. A couple of weeks ago I received all my flight/hotel information for my arrival. I get a direct flight to LAX (which is very nice, I hate layovers) and I am staying in the Disneyland resort at the Paradise Pier hotel. It looks very nice and is right by Down Town Disney. I haven't been to Disneyland since I was nine (I don't want to think how many years ago that was) so I am very excited to go back.

I have two days of personal safety training, including an in-water test. Apparently, you have to jump into a pool, fully clothed, and flip over a lifeboat and get into it. From what I have heard you are in the pool pretty much the whole day so there must be some other tests too. Bring old clothes and shoes you don't mind getting wet.
Then there is a day of Disney Traditions, which is a course on the Disney standards. I have taken this course before so it will be nice to just sit back and relax the second time.
After Traditions (which is on Saturday) I will join the ship at the Port of Los Angeles on the Sunday and start my first cruise. As I said this will be the Christmas cruise so it has a bit of a different itinerary. Rather than going to Cabo for two days then Puerto Vallarta, it goes to Manzanillo for a day, then Puerto Vallarta, then Cabo for two days. I am very excited to join the ship at Christmas because apparently the decorations are just beautiful.

Well, I should get going on my list making and shopping. Hopefully the next time I update I will be in sunny Anaheim at Disneyland!!!

Toodles!

Time Flies By

Well, well, well. It has been awhile since I posted and some events have happened since. The first one is: I am officially a Disney Cruise Line crew member!!! I passed all the medical, police check, and all the other things and today I just signed my contract and faxed it in.

So after I faxed in the medical forms, I had to wait awhile until the next step. On Friday I received a whack of paperwork to fill out and fax back in. It was the actual employment contract, from December 15-June 25, and all sorts of other details, like internet agreement and such. I am not sure if this is the last round of paperwork to be filled out, or if there will be more.

In other news, I leave exactly ONE MONTH TODAY!!! This time next month I will be flying to LA to start traditions and safety training. I have a lot to do before then: graduate University, pack for moving away for 6 months, and get my whole life in order. It is very exciting, but also stressful. I am sure when you go back for your second contract things go a lot more smoothly, but at this moment my life is a mess!

Everyone keeps asking me if I am excited yet, and the answer is . . . not really. There are so many things I have to do beforehand and have to focus on before I can even begin to get excited to leave. I think once all my school work is done (2 essays and a presentation) I will be a little more excited. Or maybe it will just hit me on the plane, who knows.

So I think that is it so far. Things are moving along very well and I am sure they are going to be moving very quickly now. My parents are also leaving for a month long Celebrity Cruise tomorrow (I know, blasphemy that they are not going on DCL) so they will miss my last month here. While I will miss them, it is probably for the best because I think I am going to be screaming around trying to get ready. Maybe they are doing it out of self-defense. :P

That is about it. I will update when something exciting happens!

Toodles!

Shoes!

I have finally bought some shoes for the ship! I bought two pairs: one a mary-jane style and the others just plan flats. They are both super cute!

I also finished my physical on November 1. I faxed the documents today but my doctor forgot to fill out one of the forms so I need to pick up the form tomorrow and fax it back. So after I fax that back I should be on the next step, which I feel like I have been saying for months.






I will update again when I hear what the next steps are!!

Toodles!

Quick Post!

I just got my police check in the mail and faxed it to Cast-a-way!! I am one step closer to being finished will all the pre-employment paperwork! Now to finish my physical on November 1!!

Zip-a-dee-do-da

Alright, there has been some progress since the last update. I have just returned from the blood clinic and had all the blood work done that I need for my physical. I am doing my physical in a sort of two step process. I had the blood work done today (they took a lot of blood) and I brought the urine test home because I was not able to produce. The two large glasses of water I just drank will surely help me with that though. The second part of the physical will be the actual physical on November 1. This will be height, weight, blood pressure etc. so this will be the easier of the two.

I am still waiting for my background checked to be mailed to me, but once that is done I am pretty much ready to move onto the next step.

I am not really sure what the next step is though. I assume it will be an outline of the job, the Disney look-book and some other details about life on the ship.

TTFN

Carousel of Progress

So things are going along pretty well now. I went to the police station and requested my police record. They say it can take up to 4 weeks to get it, but the last time I requested one it came within 3 days and that was a vulnerable sector check which takes longer. So when I get that in the mail I fax that to Cast-a-way and then I am finished with that.

I am going to be starting some of my physical soon too. Because I am using my own doctor, and my appointment is November 1 and that is getting a little late, I am getting some of the blood tests done early. They have to check that you have vaccines for chicken pox, mumps etc. so I want to get that check done early so I can get the inoculations if I need them. They are also doing a more general blood test to make sure that everything is alright, like hemoglobin etc. Once that is complete I think I get the rest of the paper work about the Disney look, what my position entails etc.

Also!!! I received my luggage from L.L. Bean! It is beautiful. I have never had any matching luggage or anything like that so this is pretty exciting!





These are the three pieces I bought. One is an extra-large rolling duffle bag, a laptop backpack for my carry on, and a bathroom caddy.













This is the duffle bag. It folds down fairly flat but it holds a tonne of stuff!! I am a little worried that I wont be able to fit it anywhere in the cabin, but I guess I can always put it in the closet. I hope it will be thin enough to slide beside the desk or in a corner somewhere.










So this is the bathroom caddy. My parents have had an L.L.Bean bathroom caddy for years and years for camping. I thought this was a great idea because I can keep all my bathroom supplies in it and hang it up in the bathroom when I am using it (it has a hook at the top and a little removable shampoo/soap caddy for in the shower that also has a hook). I can hang it from the shower head or the curtain rod and I think it will be a real space saver. I got the medium size and I think it will be great for my day to day supplies.










I am going to be using this backpack as my carry-on. I am using it for school right now and I love it! It has a padded spot for my laptop and tonnes of room inside. I think this will also be useful in ports for shopping and wifi stops. Crew on the ships tend to get off at the ports when they can and use the free wifi in the area to catch up with their loved ones. I can bring my computer ashore with this back pack, but I can also take it shopping at walmarts and pack all my stuff in it. So when I get off the ship to go buy shampoo or whatever else I need, I can just shove it in here and go. I think overall these three purchases will be worth their weigh in gold when I am on the ship.

It is only 61 days until I leave and I feel like I have to accomplish so much before I go!! I have to get all my medications in order and be able to get a 6 month supply of them before I leave, I have to order a 6 month supply of contacts and perhaps a pair of spare glasses in case the ones I have break. I am trying to think of things I might possibly need as far in advance as I can so I am not scrambling the week between when I graduate and when I leave! eek!!!