7 March

March 7, 2008

I’ve been debating whether to stay aboard or jump ship as well. Being here on ship is fine but I’m not too happy about the job. I did get transferred to the sushi counter… for a lot of them, their vacation time has arrived and they have left the ship. I think there are 3 of us sushi chefs onboard. For some reason, I thought the sushi would be better – I mean, we’re in Hawaii with lots of great fresh fish but instead we get fresh frozen sent in from various places around the globe – really disappointing. And the fact that we use canned tuna (like in canned tuna fish) for spicy tuna rolls.

My typical work day is very short 3-1030PM. I’ve worked at the sushi bar for 3 nights – the first night we had a whopping 2 customers, the second night 4 customers and last night was 10 customers. All the meals for the guests are inclusive with their ship package if they eat at the main galley. For the restaurant I work in East meets West, the guest is charged – so we do not have too many customers.

My roommate from training and I were able to roommate up here onboard so that was really nice. For awhile there we had to hunt each other down all over the ship or leave voicemail on our phones. We had plans of taking in the sights and while I was in the bakery, we had the almost the same hours so we hung out a lot and made plans of being gym partners. Now that my schedule has changed we hardly see each other since she works day shift and I work nights. She did stay up way late last night so we could go to the beach.

In the meantime, I was able to go snorkeling in Kona. I actually got to see a puffer fish up close – no worries though, I didn’t see it all poofy although that would have been really cool. It was amazing to see so many fish just swimming about. Everything was good until I inhaled some water and panicked a bit. After that it was just sun tanning for me.

Ship life is going good. I don’t see very many of my classmates unless it’s at lunch or dinner – but then it’s only for a few minutes. We’ve had a few classmates jump ship already – they just were not happy with their job duties. There are a few others that are already burned out and grumpy. I think this is a really good way to see Hawaii, so I’m just hanging in for that alone.

It’s taken me about a week to adjust. For awhile there I was getting mildly seasick. While on deck outside or looking through the windows in the messhall, I wouldn’t get seasick. It was only when I went below to deck 3 (our main hallway to get from the front to the back of the ship) or to my room on deck 2. It was suggested to eat lots of apples and drink lots of soda… I don’t what the significance of it is but I guess it worked of a few of my classmates, not for me. I’m not really a soda fan anyway. Then I was told exercise is good – which my roommate and I started going to the gym. That helps but the gym is on deck 4 and I am able to look out the windows. It’s nice but I just get seasick when below where everything looks alike.

If you like mazes, you might really enjoy living on the ship. For me, it’s confusing and I get lost a lot. Matter of fact, I just lost my laundry earlier today – I had two loads and put them in different washer locations. Most of the washers and dryers are broken so if have to hunt them down – it took me 45 minutes to locate one and that was after several attempts. One is easy to find since it’s down the hall from me but the other… I was walking in circles for the longest time until a buddy of mine asked what I was doing.

Everything looks alike – the walls and stairways are painted white and except for the room numbers. Every Thursday, we are docked in Nawiliwili overnight and the guests have to walk through the crew main corridor on deck 3. We really are not suppose to have contact with guests so we are re-routed to deck 2 to get from the forward (front) to the aft (back) of the ship. I get lost all the time. You would think that I would know my routes by now but I guess I don’t pay that much attention. I still get lost just going to work! Especially when we are at sea en route to a new location – the water tight doors are closed and you have to find alternate routes.

Every Thursday we had a crew emergency drill. We have these assigned areas to go to in case of emergency – fire, abandon ship, etc. Luckily, my emergency and muster location is the same spot. Some people have 2 different locations so you really have to listen to which signal is transmitted throughout the ship so you don’t go to the wrong one.

Every Friday, we have cabin inspections by the captain and several other officers. They check all crew rooms for cleanliness – take out the trash, vacuum and clean the bathroom. This makes it nice since it ensures a clean room. If the room fails, you are red flagged and prohibited from leaving the ship on your time off. This means everyone in the room is red flagged not just the one or two particular roommates.