First Cruise... Done and done!

Well, where to even begin? First off I have officially finished my first cruise and turnover around on a Grand Class ship and that was easier than I thought it would be. Yeaaahhh! With 3000 passengers onboard, I thought it would be a nightmare compared to the 2000 passengers I was used to but it was a breeze! I did have to work at the ungodly hour at 5am this morning but it meant I had 6 hours off in Southampton to explore which I would never have in a embarkation/disembarkation port on my last ship.

Fourteen days ago, I left home once again to start my adventures and what a wind whirl cruise it was. With a twelve day cruise, we had 10 ports which is insane for passengers, I would think they would need a vacation after that much travelling around! Port after port can get tiring for not only them but for the staff as well especially after working 7 days a week and going out in every port we had three or more hours break. I can’t even believe I have been in various places in Ireland, Scotland, and England in such a short time!

My adventure began after a long day of travelling and waiting in airports and planes to arrive for my next contract. I had one day in a Heathrow airport hotel before joining the ship but after not sleeping for 24 hours, I need a nap more than anything before starting work so I didn’t see much before joining the Crown. I was picked up at the hotel at 6:30am and driven to my new ‘home’ for the next 6 months with only 1.5 hours to unpack and get organized before starting my first shift.

I am working on the Passenger Services Desk again and that’s fine by me, the other departments for the pursers are working insane hours here so I think I’m okay if I stay here a while. The team is good on the desk and helpful and mostly JAPs that have a few contracts behind them which is good. There is two other Ontario residents that work there as well, one girl from Lindsey and a guy from Toronto so it’s nice to have a bit of a Canadian Mafia!

Our first port of call that I was able to go explore was Cobh (Cork), Ireland and this was the last port that the Titanic went to before its sinking. The city was full of memorials and museums set up for this. I only had an hour to go out here so me and Roger (Cdn) headed out for a quick walk around the city taking in the scenery.

The next port I was able to explore was Liverpool, England. The city which made the Beatles famous so of course I hit up the Beatles Museum. It was neat to see the history that made them. I also realised I was in the heart of football (soccer) fever because everywhere I turned there was Liverpool jerseys.

Belfast in Northern Ireland was especially special for me since Northren Ireland is where my heritage is from. I had time to explore Belfast, a busy city rich with historic buildings and stone work. I wandered around the city only to feel safe and comfortable in such a busy atmosphere. My break wasn’t complete without of course stopping and having a Guinness at a local pub which the city was full of. I now understand why my sister spent over two weeks in Ireland exploring because my little taste was definitely not enough.

Scotland (Greenock, Invergordon, South Queensferry and Edinburgh) was also everything I expected full of castles, bagpipes, historic stonework, shortbread (yum!) and plaid, plaid and more plaid. Although I was dying to see where the famous lockness monster supposedly was once seen, time did not permit and the day that I had a long break, I took a local bus into the heart of Edinburgh to explore the Edinburgh Castle which was beautiful. After stopping at quite a few historic sites, I settled at a local pub for some fish and chips and a pint of local beer before rushing back to the ship.

Finally, the last port of call, FRANCE… I wished so much to be able to go to Paris but it was a three hour drive from where we were docked and I only had a three hour break so that wasn’t going to work. I feel like I would need at least three days to take in Paris properly so it worked out fine that I just went out in Le Havre where we docked. It was neat to walk the streets that were filled with the sweet smells of bake goods and listen to the residents speak French. I could resist having a real espresso and purchasing a sandwich made on real banquette and enjoying it as I watched the busy streets. It definitely made me smile when I saw people actually walking down the street with freshly made banquette, it was what I had pictured.

I think I have done pretty good for my first cruise, I have had the chance to see quite a bit due to my great supervisor who has given me some longer breaks. I’ve learnt from my last contract, it’s nice to experience how people live, eat and drink in the countries you visit. It’s the best way to understand the ports you visit. I’m getting excited for the next cruise where we will be doing the Trans-Atlantic cruise which means 4 (yes 4!) hour backs which means more sleep for me... Everyone that knows me knows that this is an important detail in my life… Also, this means I’m heading home… well at least to the East side of my own country which I have never seen before. My moving home at sea in my home country, I think I like it~