Tinkerblue

A Day in the Life - 2. First Sea Day

We have a 7 day itinerary.  

1. embarkation, Galveston. Texas
2. sea day
3. sea day
4. port day (Honduras or Jamaica)
5. port day (Belize or Grand Cayman)
6. port day (Cozumel or Cozumel)
7. sea day

And then repeat

Today (this is actually from March!) I slept through breakfast yet again.  I'm going to give up even trying to make the mess in time.  

9:00am:

Report to the crew lounge for the first day of SCC training. Class is two hours long.  Today the First Officer just goes over the course outline, when our practical classes will be, what to expect from the exam and he gives us all the paperwork.

 

11:00am-12noon

The shop has been open since 930am, and my team is scheduled for first break. So I go straight from the SCC class to lunch and then back to my cabin for a nap.

 

 

12noon-500pm

Work in the shop. There are several events happening in the fun shops today that the table team is responsible for.  We have the Citizen watch event and inch of gold and inch of silver and the $10.00 madness sale (called all sorts of names $10.00 sale or bijou or promo fashion accessories). The $10.00 madness sale is exactly that.  Madness.  

 

Anybody need a penguin watch? Only $10.00!

 

We have 6 tables set up with beach bags, beach hats, shawls, cover ups, bracelets, necklaces, watches, belts, ties, cufflinks, evening bags etc. You name it, we have it. All for $10 each.  Nobody, nobody puts anything back where they found it. We reset the bijoux tables almost every hour.  

 

5:00-6:30pm

My team is on early dinner break. The staff mess doesn't open until 6:00pm. I am not a fan of the early dinner break, I prefer to eat then relax.  So I grab a milkshake and a banana.  Yep a healthy dinner.  My plan it to watch TV but I'm asleep within seconds of laying down on my bed.  I sleep for an hour or so, wake up, eat my banana, have a shower and then head back to the shop.

 

Clasps and clasps and more clasps.  
 

6:30pm - 9:30pm

Continue selling watches and bijoux, start and finish making all the inch orders that we took this morning. Start promoting the events for tomorrow. By 9:30pm all the teams have finished their dinner breaks and everyone is back in the shop.

 

 

9:30pm-11:30pm

The shops are open until 11:30pm so we continue assisting the guest who come into the shops and we continue promoting for tomorrows events.  We also start setting up for tomorrows events.  We have our Invicta watch sale tomorrow and it's in the atrium.  We get all the banners, microphone, shopping bags, raffle tickets etc ready.  We also set 4 tables full of watches.

 

11:30pm-12:30am

We close the doors and then help the other departments to clean up and getting ready for the morning.

12:30am

Grab a bite to eat from the crew mess, and head to bed.

 

Hours worked today? Too many!

• 0900-1100 = 2 hours
• 1200 - 1700 = 5 hours
• 1830 - 1230 = 6 hours
• Total hours = 13 hours

 

A Day in the Life - 1. Embarkation

Our work week starts with the end of a cruise. On this ship out cruises are 7 days leaving Galveston on Saturday afternoon and returning on Saturday morning.

So this is the life of a shoppie on Saturdays:

5am - the ship arrives into the Galveston area and maneuvers into dock. The maneuvering shakes our cabin, knocks stuff off the sink in bathroom, the noise wakes us up. We grumble about the noise and the go back to sleep.

930am
On a good day management phones us at 9am to tell us the pallets are on board. On a bad day they phone at 1130am. Today it's about 930am. Oops Trudy and I despite 4 alarms slept through breakfast. The phone call wakes us up. We scramble out of our bunks, good thing Trudy as the top bunk, she scrambles more elegantly than I! I would pitch head first down ladder. We dress into loading clothes topped of with our lovely bright orange safety vests, and head down to marshaling area.

 

I am port manning so I to run up to the shop and get the locker keys and the cutters first.

We have 15 pallets. Full size pallets. Today there's a diesel thingy test, I'm not entirely sure what that really means but it affects us because the elevators will stop working. So we need to get all 15 pallets unpacked, loaded onto trolleys and delivered to the 4 lockers and the shop floor before the test starts at 1030am. We've got an hour.

Two shoppies cut the packing crap off and load the boxes onto trolleys. The rest of us run the trolleys from the marshaling area on deck 0 to one of four lockers.

The Bijoux locker, the hard logo locker and the shops are on deck 5 so we try to load up everything for those areas first.

Then the boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes (you get the idea) of merchandise for the soft logo locker on deck A. We hate the deck A locker. The elevator doesn't go from 0 to A. So we have to carry everything down the stairs. Including 80+ boxes of the promo watch sets. Which bright spark ordered over 1000 units?

Umm yeah so apparently everything for the hard logo and bijoux lockers didn't get taken up first, there's another four trolleys. Jin and I take them up to deck 5 and as soon as we get off the elevator the announcement is made that they are now out of service. Well we're stuck on deck 5. Yes there are stairs, but I'm not carrying the trolley down them. Jin and I stay in the lockers and unpack the boxes onto the shelves instead of just leaving them on the floor in the middle of the locker.

When the diesel test is done we take all the rubbish down to the garbage room. Do you know how much rubbish we create in two lockers in one hour? A lot. More rubbish than I used to put out in a month. Working on a cruise ship is definitely not environmentally friendly.

The liquor locker is on deck 0 and doesn't require using the elevator so a couple of the guys unpacked the liquor while the elevators were out of operation. Everyone else was in the shops unpacking boxes, counting the merchandise, checking it against the manifest, putting the back stock away, restocking the shelves and dusting and vacuuming etc.

Around 1245pm
We are finally done and we make it to the staff mess for lunch before it closes. None of the hot food appeals to me. Today none of the food appeals to me at all. In fact it doesn't appeal to anyone much. I just have a cheese and tomato sandwich. Should have brought some Vegemite down with me.

There's two hours before all aboard so a few people get off in Galveston. Most of the team take a nap. I take a nap. I'm port manning so I can't get off anyway.

330pm
This is the funnest part of the day. NOT.
It time for the safety drill. An announcement is made for all crew to please head to their positions. The announcement wakes me up. Luckily I was napping in my clothes so I jam my feet in a pair of shoes and throw on my safety vest, grab my emergency card and go stand in position.

I'm get to stand on deck 2 near the lobby staircase and elevators. My job is tell guests how to get to Sesame Street. Well their muster station. Basically I just repeat over and over, "please take the stairs to deck 4. All the muster stations are on deck 4."

 

 

I also get to repeat the following phrases for the next 45 minutes:

• Yes, you have to go
• The captain said so (okay so I don't actually use those exact words, more like as the captain just announced it is required by maritime law for all guests to attend, but the captain said so sounds better).
• You don't need your life jacket 
• The elevators are reserved for those with special needs, not lazy asses. If you won't have a special need in an emergency then you don't have one now.
• You can't take your beer to the briefing
• deck 4 is decks up.
• how do you get there? you take the stairs.

420pm
Safety briefing is done. Back to the cabin, shower and get ready for work.

500pm
As I keep saying I'm port manning this week. The port manning team starts an hour before the shop opens for liquor pre-sales. There are three of us and we sell a decent amount in the hour.

6pm
Shop opens and my team gets set up for and promote the tasting and continues selling liquor.

630-700pm
Dinner break

700-800pm
Sell more liquor and promote liquor tasting

800-900pm
My team run the liquor tasting. Two free shots per guest. Those over 21 anyway. Sucks if the guest is from Canada or Australia where they can drink at 18 or 19, but now they can't!

900pm
Pack up liquor tasting, add up sales, keep selling for another hour or so.

1000pm
Start breaking down the liquor tables and start setting up the promotions for tomorrow. Bijoux, $10 madness, $10 at 10am, promo fashion accessories, whatever we are calling it today, we have to set up 6 tables.

1130pm
Shop closes. Then we finish setting up for tomorrow

1230am
Finish. Oh and as I'm walking out the door, the boss tells me I start SCC training tomorrow. Wonderful.  NOT.
Two drinks in the crew bar and then bed!

Hours worked today - 11

From Vancouver to The Caribbean

Well that happened a lot faster than expected.

Way back last year sometime I applied to work on cruise ships as either guest services or retail sales. In May I was "hired". But then I waited. And waited. And waited. I was told I had to wait for a position to open up on a ship. In May their best guesstimate was I would probably get a contract for September or October 2013 or possibly January 2014.

Umm yeah. On Wednesday July 10th I received and email that said,

"Hi Rachael,

I have just received an emergency Starboard opening. I am not sure the ship, but I believe it is Carnival. It leaves from Miami on July 13. Let me know what you think (as soon as possible please!)

Best Regards,

XXXXX"

See those dates? I received the email Wednesday July 10th. The ship was leaving Miami Saturday July 13th. That was three days!!!!!!!!!!

There was a bit of a panic. Firstly, could I even say yes. I had a job, if I said yes to the cruise ship job it meant leaving the B&B immediately. Not even a days notice. I needed to start packing up and cleaning my room in Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast. I spent most of that afternoon and evening in a panic. There was paperwork to deal with, flights to book, stuff to pack - what was going with me, what was going to storage and what was going to the thrift store.

I took a break Wednesday night to go kayaking to Pasley Island with my regular Wednesday Evening Paddle Group. I'm glad I went. I got to say goodbye to a few people - Naomi, Pat, Ian, Bill, Cam, Shannon and Jennifer. I missed Rose, Lauri, Judith, Sonja and Virginia and the rest of the group. Then there was the matter of my kayak, where was I going to store that?

Thursday morning I ran errands in Sechelt before getting the ferry to Vancouver. It was about lunch time on Thursday that I realized no way I was going to be ready to fly to Miami on Friday and meet the ship the next day.

I just couldn't make those dates work. Luckily for me they were able to change the start date. Instead of flying to Miami to join the ship on day 1 of a 7 night cruise I flew to Belize and signed on there on day 3.

I spent the extra few days in Vancouver with my friends Paul and Erin. They kept me sane while I dealt with packing, finding storage for my car, adding my gear from Sechelt to my storage locker, renewing my locker, insurance, getting vaccinations, shopping for black or navy shoes and a navy skirt etc etc etc

By the time Paul drove me to the airport on Sunday evening for my red eye flight from Vancouver to Belize City I was exhausted and ready to cry.

The flight was uneventful, although I was on the mail route - Vancouver to Salt Lake City to Atlanta to Belize City. All the flights were on time, my luggage made it to Belize on the same flight as me etc etc.

I spent Monday night in a dodgy hotel in a dodgy area of Belize City, not a hotel I would use again or recommend to anyone else. Finally on Tuesday morning I got a taxi to the port in Belize City and then the tender out to the ship, and I have been here ever since.

I am on the Carnival Liberty
I am a sales associate in the retail shops
I'm here for 6 months - July '13 to Jan '14

The ship departs from Miami every Saturday afternoon and docks back in Miami the following Saturday morning.

We cruise for 7 nights each time.

Either the Eastern Caribbean - Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, St Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk.

Or the Western Caribbean - Cozumel, Belize City, Isla Roatan and Grand Cayman.

Pre-Employment Medical

So either of my new jobs is dependant on passing the preemployment medical. So what does that involve? Basically a lot of money! Yes I have to pay for the medical, no it is not reimbursed. 

Prior to going for the medical I was sent a bunch of paperwork that had to be completed before going to the clinic. They wanted to know my medical history:

 

 

If I have any allergies, haveI ever been hospitalized, doI smoke or drink, what medication I take, my menstrual history:

 

Have I ever been refused a job or lost a job due to a medical condition:

 

Monday May 6th I had an appointment at a clinic in downtown Vancouver with a Doctor to ensure all the paper work was completed and to get requisitons for all the tests that needed to be done. 

That same afternoon I went for a chest x-ray. 

The next morning May 7th I went to the medical lab in Sechelt to have a lot of blood drawn. Seriously. A lot.  They took 7 vials of blood. It could possibly have been more, but I started to feel dizzy at the point and lost count. I had to fast from 10pm the night before, and of course they were running late so it was 12:30pm by the time I had went it.  No wonder I felt faint. I also had to give a urine sample. So why all the blood?  Because of all the tests they had to perform. I wasn't even sure what half of them were, so I had to ask. Some of the tests seem to duplicate each other, but they asked for them all so they got them all:

• HbA1C - indicates level of blood sugar (gluscose), shows if you have diabetes.
• CBC (complete blood count) - checks for level of red and white blood cells and hemoglobin. 
• Comprehensive Metabolic Panel - shows how your kidneys and liver are working
• Lipid Panel -  levels of good and bad cholesterol
• BUN (blood urea nitrogen) - checks kidney function
• Creatinine - sees how well your kidneys work
• VDRL or RPR or FTA - testing for syphilis
• SGOT/AST and SGPT/ALT - checks liver function
• Bilirubin - high bilirubin levels indicate jaundice, gallstones, gallbladder disease etc
• Pregnancy test 
• Hepatitis A lgM, HBsAg and Anti HCV - check for Hepatitis A, B and Hepatitis C 
• HIV 
• Routine Urinalysis - check for signs of diabetes or kidney disease
• Drug test - Benzodiazepines, Amphetamines, THC, Opiates, Cocaine, Barbiturates
• Proof of immunity against measles, mumps and rubella

 

May 21st I went back to clinic for the Doctor to check my height, weight and BMI, my blood pressure, my pulse , the rhythm of my heart, my physical appearance, my sight and my hearing:

 

He went over all the lab tests and the chest x-rays and to check for abnormalities. He then had to declare me fit or unfit for duty. 

 

It was time consuming and expensive but not as hard on the bank account as I had originally expected.

My part of the paperwork took about an hour

The first appointment at the clinic - 30 minutes. Plus about the same time waiting for my appointment.

The chest x-rays - 30 minutes including wait time.

The bloodwork - about an hour including wait time.

The second appointment at the clinic - 45 minutes.

The medical exam at the clinic was $175.00.  I was lucky - they've now increased the cost to $250.00

The chest x-ray was $76.00

The blood work didn't cost anything because it's been a long time since I had a full check up to it was covered under our health care system (that I pay for monthly).

Running the Gamut of Job Hunting

I'm working two part time jobs right now, have been since October. I'm working at the B&B and I'm collecting data for various traffic surveys. Both are temporary jobs.  I am looking to return to full time work, but I'm being picky. I have, or more accurately had, some savings socked away for emergencies which is giving me a bit of a safety cushion. I don't want to take a job just to have a job. Although I may have to do that eventually. I want a job where I enjoy the work, like the company, and my day to day varies. 

 

First step was to update my resume.  I had a resume or CV that had everything on it.  It was 3 pages long. That's too long.  Most career counsellors, employers etc will tell you to keep your resume to 2 pages at most. Anything else is too long and won't be read.  I had been applying for positions but getting no response. I sent my resume to a friend to give me some feedback, which she did - thanks Steph.  Now I have 3 resumes! One that is hospitality/tourism focused, one that is retail focused and one that is customer service/administration related.  I also have about 6 pages of paragraphs that I use to create cover letters.  

 

Did changing my resume help? Yes. Now when I submitted my resume I was getting responses.  That's when it became daunting. Interviews vary so much.  

Position A:

• Mon - Initial phone interview with HR-asking a few general questions about the position I was applying for and to set up a phone interview for the next morning.  
• Tues AM - Phone interview lasted about 20 minutes - questions about my experience and my goals
• Tues PM- An online personality quiz to ensure that my personality fit the job. It did.
• Wed - A behavioural interview by phone. You know the questions... tell me about a time when you had to deal with an angry customer, how did you resolve it? Has there ever been a time when you didn't agree with your boss, how did you handle it? There were about 20+ questions. The interview lasted around an hour.
• Tues - In person interview with Direct Manager - lasted about 30 minutes
• Tues - In person interview with Manager of Direct Manager - lasted about 30 minutes.
• I didn't get the position.  

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Position B:

• Phone interview with General Manager
• Fri - 30  minute in person interview with General Manager
• Wed - 30 minute in person inteview with General Manager, President and CEO
• I was unsuccessful

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Position C:

• Mon in October - Workshop (industry familiarisation and interview skills) with hiring agency 
• Thurs 21st Feb - 5 minute Skype interview with hiring agency for Guest Services position
• Fri 22nd Feb - online English language test! Took about 30 minutes, was surprisingly difficult.
• Tues 26th Feb - received notification that I passed English language test
• Tues 26th Feb - invited to attend interview on April 3rd at 9:30am
• Spent a week getting all the paperwork in order for the interview - copy of photo page of passport, updated resume, criminal record check, copies of diplomas (this required a trip to storage locker and help from a friend to dig out the box with the diplomas in it), have passport size photos taken, get two written reference letters from people who have known me for more than 2 years, complete the two application forms emailed with the invitation.
• Wed 3rd April - Interview.  This was a group interview. 30+ applicants and 1 interviewer. The day started at 9:30am and ended for me just after 12:00 noon.  The first 1 1/2 hours was a presentation by the interviewer about the company, the position and what is expected of the guest services team. He also encouraged everyone to ask questions throughtout the morning.  At 11:00am he started individual interviews. On average they lasted about 5 minutes each, mine lasted 20 minutes.  He checked all the paperwork and then asked a few questions about my previous jobs - which I enjoyed most, which I liked least and then he talked more about the actual job and then I was done.
• Mon 8th April - received the following email, "We are happy to tell you that you have been successful and xxxxxxxx would love to have you on board as a Guest Services Associate!  CONGRATULATIONS!

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Position D:

• Mon in October - Workshop (industry familiarisation and interview skills) with hiring agency
• Thurs 28th March - 15 minute Skype interview with hiring agency for Retail Sales position
• Thurs 28th March - invited to attend interview on April 24th at 9:00am
• Spent a week getting all the paperwork in order for the interview - updated resume, complete the two application forms emailed with the invitation, copy of criminal record check, complete premedical form, complete uniform order form, get two written reference letters, get copy of passport and prepare 2 minute presentation.
• Wed 24th April - Interview.

The day started at 9:00am and finished at 6:00pm. Longest interview I have ever been involved in! It was long enough we had two coffee breaks and a lunch break.  Again there were about 30 applicants there and 1 interviewer (Mr X).  He started with a presentation on the company, the position and the expectations. Mr X was very open at the beginning of the morning, encouraging questions and participation, letting everyone know that by the end of the day before he began the individual interviews he would already have made is decision do don't be a wallflower.

Throughout the morning there were interactive 4 activities

1. Introducing yourself to the group. You had to say your name, where you are from, your retail experience and one thing about yourself that was unusual.
2. A group activitiy where in groups of 4 you had to come up with something you all had in common. The trick was it had to be detailed. You couldn't just say you all liked to travel.  It had to be we all liked to travel, we had all been to Germany, in December, to the Christmas market, and we had all bought a straw christmas decoration and drank a mug of gluhwein
3. A role play between 2 of us, one as customer and the other as the retail sales associate to sell the item given to us and overcome the objections of the customer
4. Finally a 1-2 minute presentation promoting an item to the group.  The idea was to show you were comfortable speaking in front of a large group,  that you could introduce the product (in my case a day tour), mention the features and the benefits, mention the price and special deal, interact with the audience, get them involved and use creativity to attract attention to the product.

At the very end Mr X met with everyone indiviually for 5 minutes or less. Basically he collected all your forms, and asked when you could start.  

• Mon 29th April - received the following email, "CONGRATULATIONS, xxxxxxxxx would love to offer you a position on board as a sales associate!"

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So now I have a decision to make. Both positions are dependant on passing a pre employment medical exam, which I tell you more about later. Neither position will start until much later this year, possibly even early next year.   I'd love to do either job, both have their own set of pros and cons and I am no closer to making a decision. I think it will come down to a) passing the medical and b) the start date.

 

 

 

 

 

Hopscotch at 5am

 

 

Carlea took this video of me back when we were counting transit.  That's her and her husband Andreas you can hear in the background. We were so cold, we were coming up with stupid things to keep us amused and warm between skytrains.

 

I Never Did Like 20 Questions.

As I move forward in the new version of my life I am constantly plagued by indecision.

When DQ left I started questioning everything that was the life I thought I knew. What did I do wrong? What could I have done differently? What's wrong with me? So it goes on.

I may be shy but I'm usually a fairly confident person. However a byproduct of suddenly finding myself single is that my self confidence has been shattered.

That means I either can't make a decision or if I do actually make a decision I have no confidence in it. I question everything, a thousand times over. It is a good decision? Or is it just the easy way out? Is it the decision I want to make? Or is it the decision that I think others are expecting me to make? Is it a decision based on common sense? Or emotionally fraught? Is it based on opportunity and challenge? Or running away? Is it okay for right now, but the wrong one for 6 months from now?

All that to decide if I want an apple or a banana? No wonder I constantly feel exhausted.

Nah, I'm talking more life altering decisions. Do I want a job that I'll like or a job that pays well? Are money and benefits the deciding factor? Do I want full time work? Do I want seasonal work? Do I want a desk job? Or retail? Or back on a hotel front desk? What about a resort somewhere that offers staff accommodation? Then I don't need to find somewhere to live. Here? Australia? Somewhere else? Do I take a short term opportunity that pays little, would be fun, but could end in a month, might last 6 months?

I need a magic eight ball and two Tylenol.

So dinner. Meatballs? Chimichanga? Chicken and veggies? Chocolate? That's an easy choice.

30 Sleeps to Christmas

After a week of set up and training the Vancouver Christmas Market opened yesterday. I was counting passengers on the skytrain yesterday so today ward my first day with customers. The 10 hours flew by.

I'm working in the Kaethe Wohlfahrt store, selling all number of Christmas decorations. Certain friends of mine, Jo, would think their life was about to end if they had to spend 10 hours a day listening to Christmas Carols and selling Christmas ornaments. But I'm enjoying it.

During my break I took a quick wander around the other stalls. Lots of food and drink I want to consume - baked potatoes, baked apples, gingerbread, Glühwein, Schupfnudeln, and Feuerzangenbowle (google it). That'll have to wait until my day off.

I Can Sleep Anywhere

I've been working a lot of "peak hour" shifts while counting cars.

That means exactly what it says. We count during the peak hours. Which is 530am-900am, 1045am-100pm and 245pm-700pm. Yep that's 10 hours a day. With 2 breaks. And the day starts awful early. We have to be insure by 530am. So depending on the location I leave home between 400am and 430am. I thought the train was early!

I have become very adept at power napping in the car between sessions. For 45 mins I am out cold. Don't even try to wake me up. I like my sleep.

Interviews Are Not My Forte

Seriously, I have no idea how I am ever the successful applicant for a job.

I get really nervous before hand. Like sick to my stomach. I never really feel like I have done well in an interview.

This morning I had a 2 hour interview with World Vision. They are interviewing 24 people for 8 positions.

It'll could be up to a week before I hear anything back.