Another Sea Day

12/3/08

So, I'm posting two entries in the same day since the internet here wasn't letting me post my entry from a couple days ago. It's another Sea Day, so by nature we're running around like chickens with our heads cut off. I was almost excited yesterday when I saw my schedule for today and I didn't have an event until 9:30... I've opened the library at 8 am for 6 of the past 9 days. Needless to say, sleep has been hard to come by recently. Today was almost a bit of a break except that last night the ship's clocks went forward an hour (for the third time since I've been here,) so we lost an hour of sleep. I'm hoping tonight is the night to catch up!

Right now we're scenic cruising in Costa Rica... we'll be in Panama tomorrow from 8 am- 10:30 pm. It's a tendering port, which means that there is not a dock big enough for the ship, so we anchor and use the life boats to tender everyone ashore. I'm hoping I get to get off the ship, maybe in the evening so Danny and I can attempt to go out to dinner or something fun. The Youth Program Coordinator has had her hands full having to stay onboard during most ports to take care of a little boy who will be here for 4 more weeks! It really is horrible for her cause she never gets to get off the ship. I haven't gotten off the ship really yet (except for an hour in Guatemala) but hopefully that'll change soon. Anyways, the Youth Program Coordinator has to get off the ship in Panama tomorrow to go to a doctor, soooo that means I'll probably have to work for a bit in the morning with the kids. Good times, good times. As long as I get to get off the ship for a while in the afternoon or evening, I'll be a happy camper. Sometimes its nice to just step off the ship and feel like you're not working. When we're onboard, we're pretty much "working" anytime we're in passenger areas.

The rest of the day should be kinda fun... I have to do pool games in a little less than 2 hours, then golf chipping at the pool right after that. Those are always fun cause you get to watch all the little old ladies swimming their hearts out across the pool just to earn some dam dollars. For those of you who don't know, dam dollars are our onboard "currency." They're given as prizes for any of our sports activities. At the end of the cruise, passengers use the dollars to buy prizes like luggage tags, keychains, t-shirts, sweatshirts, water bottles, etc. The people on this cruise are particularly active, so we've had tons of people showing up for our sports... and not enough people at bingo to actually hold the bingo session. It's really absurd. Normally, people get really intense about bingo, but this cruise we've had less than 10 people showing up. We have to have at least 25 to run it because otherwise the payouts are not enough to make it worth anyone's time. No one wants to pay $20 for a card and only win $25. We've tried to have bingo about 12 times so far and have only been able to hold 2 sessions. It's insane.

Tonight is 50's night, so I found a poodle skirt in one of the equipment closets and I'm going to wear it with a cardigan tonight while I'm working... and obviously I'll have my hair in a pony tail with ribbons, but that's no big surprise. One thing I really do like about this contract is that I don't have to socialize in the night club every night. When I'm finished with the library or night activity, I'm finished for the night. Tonight, I have to be in a game show that will take place between show times in the main lounge. It's called "Celebrity Heads" and is just where there is a panel of 3 people and we all sit down and there is a stand behind us. On the stand, there are sheets of paper that show who we're supposed to be. For instance, if the category is "Music icons," I may be Britney Spears or Michael Jackson. We have to ask the audience yes or no questions in order to figure out who we are supposed to be. It's pretty funny sometimes. After that, I have to close the library then play crew bingo. They have pretty sweet prizes if you win... like a laptop, play station 3, or ipods. I have pretty bad luck, so we'll see. Alright, it's off to pool games! Talk to you all later!