Last of Hawaii

22 April 2008

So these past few days I’ve been playing a tourist. Went on an island tour and saw various beaches including the famous Northshore. It was very windy but nice beach. I was surprised it is still undeveloped and country. Diamond head was next up and whew! What a climb but the view was spectacular.

Ordinarily, I’m a chicken but I thought this would be interesting or at least be a good story to tell. I saw a brochure on swimming with sharks… then a friend of mine mentioned it and wanted to go. Since then, the though has been ruminating in my brain and well… I went. I was so nervous I didn’t sleep – the thought of swimming with sharks and flashes of the movie 'Jaws' kept coming to mind. It wasn’t as scary as my dreams since we snorkeled in a cage… when the sharks heard the boat motor and of course, the smell of breakfast they came swimming as fast as they could.

Dole plantation wasn’t as heart stomping but it was a good way to relax and see lots of pineapples. My roommate and I had a bet going on where pineapples grow – she said in the ground, I had said in trees. We were both wrong but we’d been debating about it for a good two months – since we met. I didn’t realize there were more than one kind of pineapple but there were some from Vietnam and Paraguay – there are 3,000 species and hundreds of hybrid of the bromeliad family. More interesting is that Dole, first started out as a fruit stand and became famous by canning pineapple for further distribution.

19 April 2008

I’ve been living on the ship for 2 months now. I signed off today – no more ship life. It’s a strange feeling from going from one extreme to the other. Living in small quarters and always being around people versus now, I have a hotel room all to myself. I think people have grown on me. I’m kinda lonesome. It’s a bit difficult to describe but I have always hungout with at least one person on board. On ship, I had two roommates so I was never alone in the room. In my free time, there was always someone that also wanted to go sight-seeing with me. Granted, it was different people but the fact that there were always people around just grew on me. Never was there a time of being alone since there was always something to see and someone to go with. Again, as in all my seasonal work I have met some really interesting people and glad I had the chance to know them.

Before, when I lived at the South Pole, the population was small at 265 and I felt a bit overwhelmed at times because of the lack of privacy – you were constantly around people (except for my day off where I became a hermit and remained in my jamesway.) Working 6 days a week at Pole was tough because I was not used to being around constant people. I am very fond of the Pole and would like to return someday – perhaps winter over but was concerned about the lack of being alone – strange as that may seem in an area that is secluded from civilization. I mean, if you wanted to not be around people there was no where to escape except your own room.

Now that I’ve worked 7 days a week for 2 months on ship, had total lack of space and privacy I feel that it has forced me to be more social and probably equip me better for another Pole experience or a place where there are always people present. While in training, my roommate was the social one and I was quite the introvert. I did get frustrated with all the people about and yearned for my own space. I have realized without any extroverts present, I tend to become quite the recluse. At Pole, I realized I have to force myself to talk to people just so I didn’t seclude myself. On ship, it was quite different. I didn’t have for force myself to talk to people – everyone was friendly enough for the most part. Ship life is good… I like most of the people. Granted there are 1,000 workers onboard but I only had contact with few whom have become friends.

The part I did not like about ship life is the actual job. It’s more like 85% cleaning and 15% making sushi, when I actually made it to the sushi bar. In the beginning, I was working in the bakery and these past two weeks I somehow turned into a prep cook pealing potatoes, carrots and whatever else that was not prepared or sent to a different restaurant to help out. The mentality on-ship is teamwork… teamwork is great only if everyone is working together. But a majority of the time, 20% of the crew would work while the remaining 80% did not, which grew extremely frustrating when the supervisor would get upset with the 20% working and not say anything to the 80%.

After I signed off the ship, two buddies came with me to hangout. We ended up going to Hanauma bay for snorkeling. The water current was a bit strong so I was a little nervous but with the reef so close, we were swimming in about 3-4 feet of water. There wasn’t as much fish as I thought there would be but I was still quite close to shore. Looking at the bay from above, we should have gone out farther. My mask kept fogging up so I couldn’t see and I think the fish knew I couldn’t swim so well since they would dart out of nowhere and swim right up to us then take off. I’m really glad my friends joined me even though it was only a few hours before they had to return to the ship.

Hanauma bay would be more of an all day trip but living and working on ship, crew only get a glance at the island and not even the touristy glance… for the most part, many crew only have time to go ashore for a quick trip to the mall for a bite of lunch, a quick trip for souvenirs, or a quick walk around – things that are only a few minutes away from port unless you get special permission to arrive at work late or leave early.

It didn’t occur to me until now, but I think there will be many things I will miss. Not only the friends I have made but also the ship motion – sea sickness finally went away but it’s nice to be lulled to sleep with the rocking motion of the boat… kinda like falling asleep in a hammock except more comfortable. It took some getting used to but I will miss working in a huge chunk of floating metal, living and working in a tight-knit community – the friends you make while onboard are quite close and even seeing the guests come in, chatting with them and finding out where they are from.

I doubt I will work for another cruise line but the opportunity to do so is an experience to remember. Furthermore, I can mark it off of ‘things to do in my lifetime’ checklist. So far, plans are to return to southern California. I have made some good friends there and I miss them.









Hanauma bay

















some friends joined me snorkeling at Hanauma bay.

Josie (on the left) works in the bakery - amazingly, she's trying out to summer at the South Pole.

Takita (right) works in the same restaurant as me - East meets West. Surprisingly, we went to the same culinary school in San Francisco... at the same time! We only lived a few blocks from each other but have never met before working on this ship.




getting ready to swim with sharks - at least we were in a cage.
















to attract the sharks, they had couple of buckets of fish












yikes, how scary! there was a great white in the area last month but these sharks are mostly silky, galapagos and a few tiger sharks... small for a shark but very big to me - all were bigger than 5 feet long.








tiki carver at the international market
















view of Waikiki from Diamond head













waikiki sunset










state flower - the yellow hibiscus









Dole plantation - lots of pineapples there












polynesian cultural center









rainbows were all over the place - this was in honolulu






old sugar mill


































north shore








nuuapali lookout
















chinaman's cap





halona blowhole







NCL: pride of america

fun stuff

7 Apr 08

First kiteboarding lesson was today. Didn’t get in the water but just learned how to fly the kite… stayed on the beach and still had fun. Forgot to use sun block on other areas besides my face and got burned abit – bright red is not a good color for me.

6 Apr 08

My first sea day… something happened to the ship engine and we were out of power for a bit. Luckily, we were still in the Honolulu port. We usually leave at 6PM but for some reason just noticed that the ship wasn’t moving at midnight and found out the engine had to get fixed before we could leave.

Anyway, instead of spending Sunday in Hilo, we’re skipping it altogether and going straight to Maui, spending all day traveling there. Apparently, engine failure occurs quite frequently and we were lucky we were in port.

4 Apr 08

Had the chance to go on an excursion this morning. It was great. I had a friend to go with me which made it even more fun. It was called mudbugs and waterfall tour which was basically going mudding in little dune buggies then washing off in a waterfall. It was such a nice day out but we finished right in time since it started raining about a ½ hour after we completed our trip although that would have been even more fun.

sushi work

The other sushi cook I've been working with is going on his 5 week vacation this Saturday. This means, I am taking his position ordering all the fish, supplies and running around the ship trying to "borrow" items/ food that we need. Or haggling with the butcher downstairs insisting the ahi tuna is for the sushi bar and the executive chef told us to just go and get it without a requisition.

In the meantime, we got 2 new sushi people in last Saturday. One guy is the sushi bar supervisor who has worked on the other 2 NCL ships but never this one. (The other two ships make sushi in the back with the rest of the restaurant and the waitstaff deliver the food to the table - there is no sushi bar). So this open sushi bar with all-you-can-eat is really different for him. So the supervisor is implementing new procedures from the other ships so it's more familiar and convenient for him. The other guy worked on this ship before but doesn't like the sushi bar and wants to transfer to one of the other restaurants.

I guess working 55-57 hour weeks is too much. The supervisor got rid of one of the sushi cooks saying he couldn't make the rice correctly and now I'm only working 4 hours a day. The really frustrating part is the cruise passengers really enjoy sushi and the whole restaurant East meets West will be open for lunch - sushi bar, teppanyaki, shabu shabu and Asian fusion starting this Friday. The waitstaff has already been informed of this change and will be working more hours. Us sushi cooks found out about this information by looking at the calendar and eavsedropping on the waitstaff pre-dinner meeting and when asking about who will be working lunch have been informed that the restaurant opening is only a rumor. It's not set in stone just yet... so we have no idea who will be working the lunch schedule. But with one guy out of the sushi bar and the other leaving, there will only be 2 sushi chefs (me included) and the supervisor.

On the other hand, Disney cruiseline just bought this ship itinerary. It will be a few months to a year before they will take over and no longer be Norweigian Cruise Line. Guess we'll see what happens. I'm counting down the weeks... 6 more to go before returning to California. Whew!

Luau - Kauai, Japanese garden, liliuokalani park - hilo

31 March 08

Went to Kihei today on the bus. I didn’t really know where to get off and it was not as big of a tourist area like Lahaina. This place had a lot of beaches and places to snorkel or fish. Got off the bus to look around for a bit but the ride was long and had to get back to work so I didn’t have much time to sight-see.

30 March 08

Walked a little around Hilo and saw Banyan Drive – it’s a street lined with banyan trees all planted in the 1930’s by famous people like Baby Ruth, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, Cecil DeMille, etc. These trees are about 70 years old… the one in Lahaina was from 1830’s and was huge. It took up a whole block – the trees dangle out their branches which act like roots and grow where ever the branch goes.

Today’s work was quite funny. We’ve been ordering unagi sauce the past few days but it hasn’t show up (it is sauce we put on the eel – it’s kind of like teriyaki sauce). We figured the executive chef looked over our requisition and cancelled the order. Since there are 10 restaurants on the ship and everyone’s orders get cut, there has been a lot of stealing. Other cooks from other restaurants will come to our restaurant and take whatever they need and vice versa. One night we actually ran out of soy sauce – there were just none to give to the customers… yes, it a sushi bar where soy sauce it a bit mandatory. We ended up going to the buffet upstairs and “borrowing” theirs.

But anyway, on with the story… so we haven’t been receiving our unagi sauce. Again, we ran out of soy sauce and one of the wait staff went upstairs to the buffet to find more. In addition to the soy sauce, he also found 3 gallons of unagi sauce. Ok, so the upstairs buffet doesn’t use this sauce for anything but the hilarious part was that it was found in the tea cupboard where the ice tea concentrate is kept. Apparently, people have been taking our restaurant unagi sauce thinking it as the ice tea concentrate for iced tea. They do look exactly alike even the label except one says tea concentrate and the other unagi sauce.

Our restaurant manager was debating whether to pass on the message of unagi used as tea. Perhaps that’s why the guests have been complaining the ice tea doesn’t taste very good. Anyway, he called to inform the chef who then had to taste all the ice tea and dump them.

28 March 08

Worked the breakfast omelet station in the morning then had the rest of the day off. I had the chance to attend the luau in Kauai. There was dinner, dessert and a show – all sorts of hula dancing. The best part, I thought was the dancing with fire. I got a few pictures and a short video.

My roommate decided to get a tattoo. She had set up an appointment for today. I was trying to scare her and say she was going to cry it would hurt really bad since she wanted it located on the back of her neck on the spine. So much for that since she giggled… guess it didn’t hurt but rather tickled. Perhaps she’s a bit of a masochist.





banyan trees



























hilo was hit in the early 1920's by tsunami and lava - this area kept getting destroyed.























Japanese garden






























Luau





















fire dancing movie

Lahaina and Ocean Center - Maui

25 March 08

Went to the Ocean Center aquarium in Maui today. I finally got to see some hammerhead sharks up-close. Thought it was way cool. Yesterday, I went to explore a beach town called Lahaina. On the bus ride there, I saw some whales in the distance. The bus was going too fast to take pictures.


23 March 08

We went by the coast of Hawaii. The captain hadn’t gone this way in a few months but the past few months there was not any lava flowing. Last week, a volcano erupted so there’s lava and steam all over. It was dark out being 930PM but I got to see the lava. I wished we were closer to shore. I took a few pics with my phone but all it looks like are red dots in a black background. I was so excited about it, I called my roommate. I thought for sure she would grab her camera and run upstairs but she was busy sleeping and a bit terse answering the phone, not interested at all.

We’ll go by the coast next Sunday too. Perhaps then I can get some better pictures.

21 March 08

Today was a long day… late night last night from work and an early morning. It was my turn to make omelets in the restaurant buffet. Things are going alright, I guess. I’m making plans on what to do after this seasonal position is complete. With those plans, I’ve decided on moving back to Southern California… and this time, move my bike down as soon as I get settled in. Yes, another road trip. I can’t wait!

19 March 08

The executive chef is slowly growing on me. He worked as a sushi chef for 9 years, so he has sushi knowledge. Today was the second time, he has come over to see how the sushi is doing. The first time, I got a little class on an appetizer. The French term is called amuse bouche… he had called it something but I forget but it’s the same thing but in Japanese. He showed us – the other sushi chef and I – a different way of making the spicy sauce for spicy tuna. It actually tastes a lot better but then again, I prefer the Japanese mayonnaise called Kewpie which is the main ingredient.

Course, this being the second time he’s come over to teach something – this is the second time he’s volunteered me for the Home Away From Home. Yes, and this time it was for the 8PM showing – which is filmed and broadcasted on the ship television network.





at work...













ocean center in maui... saw lots of sea creatures.














moray eel




















sting ray with fish





hammerhead and lots of other sharks and fish
















in the underwatter tunnel with a school of fish












green sea turtle



jelly fish



















Lahaina, Maui




















banyan tree that was planted in the 1830's - it takes up about a city block





boat wreck off the shore of Lahaina.

pics

in maui


































tender to get from the ship to kona
































kona beach



























at sea
























looking at the ship from land - kona




















up close













my room - i'm on the top right bunk. share the room with 2 other girls.
















haven't really taken too many photos. guess i have to get out more.

update

16 March 08

Today was a very crazy busy day. Mix that with a touch of seasickness and whew. Glad the night is over! We have a bunch of new guests that came aboard yesterday. I think it will be a busy week. I make the sushi for the buffet upstairs and it’s been crazy just trying to keep up with that plus the orders for the sushi bar and other 3 Asian restaurants. I work at the sushi bar but the overall restaurant is called East meets West. In it, there are a total of 4 outlets – the sushi bar, Shabu Shabu, Teppanyaki and Asian fusion, which sits about 100 people.

Every Sunday, the sushi chefs teach a class on how to make sushi and have a sake tasting. The class was packed with 22 people. Last week there were only 4. We were behind from the moment I started work. There were only a handful of people that signed up for the class – everyone else was a walk-in. There were so many orders today – these groups of passengers really enjoy sushi. Plus, the sushi bar is only $15 for all you can eat sushi – made to order. Our third sushi chef, who usually makes the rice, was so busy helping us, he forgot to make more rice – we ran out twice. All three of us skipped our breaks and dinner in order to keep up.

It’s really bad when you have to borrow cooked rice from the crew mess hall. It wasn’t even sushi rice but there were orders coming in and it was the only rice we had until more was made. How horrid! So we’re talking kinda like using Uncle Ben’s - it doesn’t stick so you have to squish the rice in the rolls but then when you cut the rolls, all the rice fell out. If it weren’t so busy, it would have been really funny although frustrating at the time.

Then the waves tonight – we’re traveling from Hilo, Hawaii to Kahului, Maui, - are really rough. I figured out I’m okay when I’m on deck and can see the water or have some fresh air but most of the time I get seasick is when I’m at work or in my room. When it gets dark, the restaurant staff close the window blinds so it’s just really dark in the restaurant. The combination of rough waves, someone’s perfume was a touch too strong and starving made me really queasy. Even the guest sitting in front of me eating dinner was having a difficult time with seasickness. We kept giving him green tea and dramamine hoping that would help alittle.


12 March 08

Tonight was an interesting night. We didn’t have any customers until 8PM, then it was just a few regular crew members. My sushi chef partner and I thought we had it easy and started our bi-weekly deep cleaning of all the equipment, storage bins, etc. Then a call came through – I’m suppose to sing? Uh uh.

Once a week about 50 crew are chosen to go onstage in front of the guests and sing “Home Away From Home.” I’d never heard of the song before and didn’t know the words. A classmate of mine has been chosen twice already but I had been lucky enough until today. There are two showings, one at 8 and the other at 10… glad those crew customers came in when they did since the 8PM show is recorded and broadcasted on the ship television network.

Got off the ship today and explored Kona for a bit. It’s kinda cool since the ship stays away from shore so guests and crew take a tender (which is one of the lifeboats to ferry back and forth to the island). It’s only a 5 minute ride but it’s nice – the water is a really beautiful blue. Even got to see a few dolphins far off.

Finally quit being stubborn and went to medical for my cold. After a week and a half, my roommates highly recommend I go. Whew! I haven’t been this sick in about 3 years! (The South Pole altitude sickness doesn’t count.) I guess there are a lot of colds going around and everyone is getting the same 5 different kinds of drugs. They sure do make me happy and I feel so much better than yesterday – at least today I can breathe. Fortunately, I just have a cold, there are some cases of GI going around. The crew that have it are totally quarantined from everyone… my roommate is one of the “lucky” ones to wear a respirator and suit-up to clean up after them. I guess it can get pretty nasty funky.

Oh, by the way… I guess it just took about a week to adjust but I don’t get sea sickness anymore. Yahoo! Glad for that.


10 March 08

I just looked at my calendar and it surprised me that I’ve only moved rooms one week ago today. It seems so long ago. And that I’ve been in Hawaii for exactly one month. Again, it feels like I’ve been here for such a long time.

Yesterday was daylight savings. I forgot all about it but it’s a good thing my cell phone automatically adjusts the time… and thankfully, that is my alarm clock or I would have been late for work! I guess once a week all the cooks take turns at the omelet station. Yesterday was my day flipping omelets for all the guests from 630-11AM. Whew! That was a lot of omelets. It was fun seeing so many different people – there really are people from all over the world on the ship.


9 March 08

These past few days I’ve been really thinking about whether to remain on board or pack up and go home. Plane tickets are inexpensive and there’s a job waiting for me when I get back. Seems like everyone I speak to really dislikes their job and had very different expectations on their position. Even with working 7 hours a day, there are other folks who only work 5 and are miserable. There are just too many personnel for the amount of jobs so instead of gradually letting people go, everyone is working as close to 40 hours per corporate management. As far as kitchen work, the food isn’t that great – all the outlets and main restaurant are trying to serve 5 star food but working with a 2 star budget. I am constantly amazed when guests compliment the food and say it’s “the best they’ve ever eaten.” I guess that’s what makes a good chef – working with what you have in order to make a great meal and presentation.

With some thought and a lot of ‘highly persuasive’ friends on ship and back home, I’ve made up my mind. I’ve decided to stay since it’s only 8 more weeks. I’ve lived in worse situations and much worse conditions so enough about the sushi job. With this decision, I’ve made plans of getting off the ship as much as possible and make the best of this situation.

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.

1 March

1 Mar 08

Well, I’ve been on the ship since last Tuesday. Since then, it’s been quite interesting. We left the hotel in Honolulu and the company flew us (38 of us – some who were from my class training) to Maui. We left at 530 that evening and even though the flight was only 20 minutes, by 2AM, we were assigned our new rooms, met new roommates and settled in for the sea life. It was very confusing since all of us just showed up at the ship entrance and somehow the word of our arrival was unknown. So we were a huge surprise to everyone – human resource, safety, security, etc.

Strange since just a few days before, the ship was in Honolulu where the company has us staying at a hotel and there was not any space for new employees. Then just 3 days later, there were almost 40 positions open. Magic… well, not quite. The turn-over rate is really high… some people get off the ship and don’t return. On average, between people just walking off the ship while in port or being fired, there are about 5-7 people that leave daily.

The morale is quite low since a vast majority of us will be laid off in May. My classmates and I question why were hired for only 3 months of work but somehow, there must be a genius someplace making all these command decisions. Originally, there were 3 ships in Hawaii but due to the loss of sales, NCL decided to transfer and re-flag the ship Pride of Hawaii to the Caribbean which means the 1,000 employees on that ship no longer have jobs. Then come May, another ship – Pride of Aloha (another 1,000 workers will be laid off) will re-flag in Europe so there will only be one remaining ship here in Hawaii – the Pride of America. That means, roughly 3,000 employees for 1,000 positions. Everyone is stressed out and quitting. Furthermore, even though I was hired on as a sushi chef, all two positions are filled (and there are 10 sushi chefs onboard) so we are all working in other departments waiting for a spot to open and hoping those two chefs will quit. There are other people who were hired on for a specific position as well and are working in different departments, so even though the contract states which job you are hired for, you are actually hired for which ever position is open and the needs of the company. There is some special list being passed that states if your name is on it, you are one of the chosen employees to stay on the ship come May. But the list is based on seniority. A few of my classmates have already quit due to working in a different department than they were hired for or just not liking the job.

My hotel roommate was hired on as Utility Galley (dishwasher)… of course, that is the least wanted position and there are always openings for it. Her supervisor told her they were so short personnel that she could work as much overtime as she wants each day… 15-18 hour days.
It’s good for her since she wants to save up as much as possible.

As for me, the bakery does not have a chief baker so there is no one officially in charge of the department. A sous chef has taken that position but hasn’t done baking in 10 years. So that means we are making the minimum requirements and nothing special for the guests. I work 5am-2pm… 8 hour days, 7 days a week. If I get lucky, I work one hour overtime a day, which is really disappointing. I was really looking forward to working 12 hours a day. But I did have to choose between working in the bakery or garde manger (making cold dishes – mostly salad). There’s a lot of standing around with nothing to do. According to budget, the bakery department is short 2 personnel but according to work load they do not need anyone. Even with me there, the other bakers are upset since I’m taking away their overtime hours.

Regardless, new guests board every Saturday afternoon and we sail every night so the guests that come onboard can wake up to a new island each morning and do their tourist stuff. Our weekly schedule:

Saturday – Honolulu, Oahu
Sunday – Hilo, Hawaii
Monday – Kahului, Maui (port overnight)
Tuesday – leave in the afternoon
Wednesday – Kona, Hawaii
Thursday – Nawiliwili, Kauai (port overnight)
Friday – leave in the afternoon

Once we port, employees are able to leave the ship once they are off of work. I took a little stroll off the ship in Nawiliwili, Kauai. There’s a beach nearby as with little shops. I’ve heard the graveyard shift is the best to get since you work all night and can go sightsee during the day. At that time, you can sign up along with the guests for the day excursions.

Life at sea is a bit different. I hadn’t been feeling too well all day that Tuesday – butterflies in the stomach for flying and stepping on board ship made it worse. I, along with a lot of my classmates didn’t know if they got seasick or not. I’ve been on boats and ferries before and have had no problems. I’d only gotten sea sick once before but thought it was from lack of sleep… anyway, a friend of mine suggested Dramamine and I felt better for a little bit. So I guess that means I do get seasick. Hmm, lucky me. When I’m outside on deck, there’s no problem but when I’m in my room or at work – I’m a bit light-headed. Kinda like the feeling when you donate blood then go on an elevator.

There are 13 decks on ship. Most employee work places and rooms are decks 1-3. I work on deck 3 in the front of the ship and live on deck 2 at the back of the ship… that first night in Maui, I couldn’t sleep at all – the ship was scraping up against the dock all night. I finally put earplugs in but woke up every hour since I was paranoid I would not hear my alarm clock in the morning. These past nights have been good since we port at sea in Kona and the ship docks on the portside (left) in Nawiliwili. Going to sleep is a bit different too – bunk beds and being rocked to sleep by the waves. I think I’m getting used to the ship movement – it’s a little different trying to walk when the ship is moving – it’s similar to trying to walk on an airplane with turbulence. Kinda fun but you do not walk in a straight line.

As far as roommates, I was hoping to keep the same one from the hotel but we got separate rooms. I have two roommates, whom I rarely see since we work different schedules. Quarters are really tight – and I thought Army barracks were tight sharing a room with someone! Whew! That was nothing. The three of us each have a closet but share a desk and the bathroom (which is also quite small – kinda like the bathrooms in Europe where you can almost shower and brush your teeth at the sink at the same time. Since we live below the water line, we do not have cell phone coverage in the room and no windows. So to make phone calls, we can go to the crew mess hall (where we eat meals) on deck 4 or deck 13, where crew is allowed.

all aboard?

After switching to a new room, my roomate was the one to get more bed bug bites. After rummaging through all the bedding, we found only one - and it was not the culprit that bit her face. So with that all in mind, we finally got our orders for the ship this afternoon. With much relief... we'll be leaving in a few hours.