First and foremost let me say that nothing rejuvenates me like spending time with my family. On Sunday, when I got to the mall, it was like a scene out of a movie. I started out by walking through the main hall and then the closer I got to Macy’s the faster I went. By the time I came around the corner and saw Memommie, Meredith, and Aunt Pam I broke into a run. Had there been inspirational music, it could’ve turned into a lifetime movie. I grabbed a hold of Memommie with everything I had in me, and as I predicted last time, burst into tears of relief. You don’t know how much you can miss being hugged by your grandmother until you don’t get it for two months. Lords knows what will happen when I see my parents and sister. I might pass out. Anyhow - we had a wonderful day. We got to go shopping and eat real food (ie, not white rice and fish) and just spend time together. Exactly what the doctor ordered.
The Crew Christmas party was on Monday and I had a blast. It was the first time I’ve actually gotten to dress up and go out for real. I mean, there’s a Crew Bar but most of us go in uniform or jeans and t-shirts. Everyone’s worked a 12+ hour day and no one feels like getting pretty. But the Christmas Party... I wore a dress, jewelry, heels. It was fantastic. I even had to close down the Club and rush to make it to the party, but I still had a great time. After they kicked us out of the D-Lounge, we all went up to Deck 14 (the crew deck) and continued on into the wee hours of the morning. Sometimes, you just need to relax and have some fun with your friends.
The next day we were at Castaway Cay and I was scheduled to Pull Beach later in the afternoon. Pulling beach is essentially walking up and down the beach helping the lifeguards straighten things up, grab all the floats, and take all the umbrellas down. Pretty simple, but it can be a pain in the butt to do. Anyhow, the other YA Counselor scheduled with me was Brittany from the Lab side. She’s a really cool person and she grew up in Hawaii. Keep this in mind. The head lifeguard during our Pull Beach session was a guy named Mariusz. He challenged Brittany to a swim race and offered her $100 cash on the spot. He also told her that if she won, he would let both of us go an hour early. It was at this point Brittany and I started talking this through. She grew up in Hawaii, is an excellent swimmer, and is used to swimming in the ocean. This guy is from Poland. As we’re discussing this, my Traditions friend Sam comes over. Sam is also a lifeguard on the island. Our big issue with wether or not Brittany should race is we don’t know how fast a swimmer Mariusz is. Sam just chuckles and says, “You won’t beat him. Don’t even try.” At this point Mariusz lifted the sleeve of his polo to reveal a very familiar symbol tattooed on his upper arm. Mariusz is Mariusz Siembida, an Olympic swimmer and European Champion. He competed in the 1996 and 2000 summer Olympics for Poland. Yeah... Brittany wasn’t going to win that race. So we continued to pull beach and listened to Mariusz’s stories of his competing days.
In other news, I got my Christmas Boxes!!! My family is absolutely amazing. They found a limited edition of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” as a book that you could record. They recorded the whole thing, used a label maker to customize it to me and our inside jokes, and covered all the Peanuts characters with pictures of themselves, me, and our dog Heston (as Snoopy, of course). I think it needs new batteries though, because there’s a section of about four pages that doesn’t play. I get the beginning third, and the last two pages. I’ll figure it out though, don’t worry. They also sent me my stocking(filled with goodies) and our traditional Christmas pjs, which I will be wearing on Christmas Eve! This year I got red and green flannel bottoms and, courtesy of Haley, a Louisville Cardinals t-shirt. I’ll take a picture in my pjs. Don’t worry.
In addition to this box of wonderfulness I got an early present from my Aunt Charlene! She got me some really cute tops and to my complete dismay they were too big! Apparently living off of white rice and fish has shrunk my person. (I mean, on one hand I’m ok with this because that means I’m down to a smaller size, but on the other hand - the clothes she sent were cute!) One shirt fits ok, so I’m making that work. The other two are gonna need some sewing. I know people in the costuming department. I’ll see if I can’t borrow some supplies and fix them up. (Thank you, Memommie and Costume Construction class. Your wisdom has come in very handy.)
We started our Christmas Cruise today and I found out that I’ll be taking the kids caroling on Christmas day. Not gonna lie, I’m super excited to do this. Like, it’s ridiculous how excited I got when I saw it on my schedule. There will be a blog update. Don’t even worry.
Merry, merry Christmas to all! And to all a good night!
Muwah!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Trapped Like A Rat...
Oh, sweet Lord! I was about to jump off the side of the ship and swim to Port Canaveral. Three weeks without setting foot on American soil is not okay with me. I need to talk to my family and friends, I need to make Walmart runs, and I NEED TO GET OFF THIS FLIPPIN BOAT. I felt trapped and frustrated. When you put those feelings on top of the constant exhaustion and ever present homesickness, you get a very upset Allyson. I almost cried with relief when I stepped off the gangway today.
Of course, this was not the first time I almost cried today. That blessed event occurred during the US Coast Guard Drill when some of my fellow crewmen decided it was cool to sleep through the general alarm and put us thirty minutes behind schedule. The level of rage that built up inside me as I watched my window of opportunity for leaving the ship grow smaller and smaller was so great that I began to tear up. I wasn’t crying, I just had no other way for my anger to get out. There was no sadness in these tears. In fact, they were so fueled by rage that they probably could’ve burned a hole into the side of the ship.
In case you couldn’t tell, I was going a little stir crazy.
The only bright spots of my past three weeks trapped on board have been a couple of surprise packages from my loves at good ole’ Cinemark Fayette Mall. Christmas came early and was filled with cookies, candy, presents, and some amazing pictures all stuffed inside a Twizzler box. They even sent me some popcorn (which I kept, but will not eat.)! The next day we got the rest of our mail and I had a card signed by all my former co-workers. It made my day. I miss you guys a lot. I even miss dealing with all the craziness at 374. I don’t miss Twilight premiers, though. I don’t think I could ever miss Twilight premiers.
My roomie leaves on Sunday. She goes home for vacation and then she goes to the Fantasy. She’ll be bringing the Fantasy over of the inaugural transatlantic voyage from Germany. This means I get a new roomie on Sunday. I hope she is as cool as Shannon. I’m letting her have the bottom bunk, mainly because the top one has grown on me and I don’t feel like moving all my stuff, but still, it counts as a kindness. :)
Other than this, there are umpteen Holiday parties going on and YA is invited to all of them. I have one nice dress. It will be seen at all the parties. Lol... maybe I will find something nice in Target on Thursday when I escape for a couple hours. Otherwise people are just gonna have to deal with my one nice outfit.
I miss my family, a lot. This is why I’ve pretty much decided to only do one more contract. I don’t think I can deal with another Christmas away from home. I’m not entirely sure I’m going to be able to deal with this one. Alexis, one of the girls I work with, and I have decided to take shifts on Christmas day covering for each other while the other is hiding in a corner crying. Yup. Gonna happen. Merry Christmas to me.
But the most exciting thing ever is happening on Sunday, December 18!! I get to see some of my family!!! Yay!!!!! I warn them in advance, I will probably burst into tears when I see you because I’m so happy. (I’ve discovered you cry a lot more than normal when you’re working on a ship. It’s not just me. Everyone cries. It just sort of happens.)
Love to you all, and a very Merry Christmas from the Disney Dream!
Of course, this was not the first time I almost cried today. That blessed event occurred during the US Coast Guard Drill when some of my fellow crewmen decided it was cool to sleep through the general alarm and put us thirty minutes behind schedule. The level of rage that built up inside me as I watched my window of opportunity for leaving the ship grow smaller and smaller was so great that I began to tear up. I wasn’t crying, I just had no other way for my anger to get out. There was no sadness in these tears. In fact, they were so fueled by rage that they probably could’ve burned a hole into the side of the ship.
In case you couldn’t tell, I was going a little stir crazy.
The only bright spots of my past three weeks trapped on board have been a couple of surprise packages from my loves at good ole’ Cinemark Fayette Mall. Christmas came early and was filled with cookies, candy, presents, and some amazing pictures all stuffed inside a Twizzler box. They even sent me some popcorn (which I kept, but will not eat.)! The next day we got the rest of our mail and I had a card signed by all my former co-workers. It made my day. I miss you guys a lot. I even miss dealing with all the craziness at 374. I don’t miss Twilight premiers, though. I don’t think I could ever miss Twilight premiers.
My roomie leaves on Sunday. She goes home for vacation and then she goes to the Fantasy. She’ll be bringing the Fantasy over of the inaugural transatlantic voyage from Germany. This means I get a new roomie on Sunday. I hope she is as cool as Shannon. I’m letting her have the bottom bunk, mainly because the top one has grown on me and I don’t feel like moving all my stuff, but still, it counts as a kindness. :)
Other than this, there are umpteen Holiday parties going on and YA is invited to all of them. I have one nice dress. It will be seen at all the parties. Lol... maybe I will find something nice in Target on Thursday when I escape for a couple hours. Otherwise people are just gonna have to deal with my one nice outfit.
I miss my family, a lot. This is why I’ve pretty much decided to only do one more contract. I don’t think I can deal with another Christmas away from home. I’m not entirely sure I’m going to be able to deal with this one. Alexis, one of the girls I work with, and I have decided to take shifts on Christmas day covering for each other while the other is hiding in a corner crying. Yup. Gonna happen. Merry Christmas to me.
But the most exciting thing ever is happening on Sunday, December 18!! I get to see some of my family!!! Yay!!!!! I warn them in advance, I will probably burst into tears when I see you because I’m so happy. (I’ve discovered you cry a lot more than normal when you’re working on a ship. It’s not just me. Everyone cries. It just sort of happens.)
Love to you all, and a very Merry Christmas from the Disney Dream!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Sins of the Past...
My parents have often joked that one day all the nasty I put them through while I was a baby would be revisited upon me later in life. That time has come...
Last night, I was thrown up on. It was in my hair, on my neck, and down my left arm. How did it get all these places? Because the sweet, little four year old I was trying to comfort was in my arms when all the contents of his stomach spewed onto my person. It was red. It was chunky. It was IN MY HAIR. Time stopped as the warmth of it hit me. For a brief moment I thought I was having a vivid hallucination. Then the smell hit me, and it took all of my self control not to throw the sick child in my arms to the floor in a raging storm of curse words. I kept it together long enough to get him to the bathroom and set him down. I did not finish my shift. I looked at the GA, said “I have to go now,” and promptly left.
I made it back to my room and realized the nasty was not over. To get out of my shirt, some of the sick was going to have to brush against my face. I did my best to keep it away, but it got me in the cheek. So the dry heaving began... and continued through my shower. My hour long shower where the scalding, hot water served to rinse away the half bottle of body wash I used to scrub my body. Of course, “scrub” is a rather tame word for what I did. If I could’ve shed my skin like a snake things would’ve gone much faster. I briefly considered using steel wool or rocks... anything, really, to remove a layer of skin.
I don’t think I will ever feel clean again.
The only other exciting thing to happen to me this week has been getting a new Safety Card and Drill Duty. Mind you, I didn’t realize I had gotten this duty until about twenty minutes before drill occurred. Why? Because the magical list that is supposed to be up every night by 6:00pm wasn’t up in time and no one said anything to me. What did this mean? It meant I was running up to the Safety Office on Deck 10 in a panic, only to be met by a very stern Safety Officer who demanded to know why I hadn’t shown up at the meeting that morning. I got my new card and duty after apologizing profusely. My new duty? Traffic Controller on Deck 10.
As a Traffic Controller it is now my job to direct guests to their Assembly Stations during the mandatory guest drill every cruise and in the event of an actual emergency. I stand on Deck 10, starboard side, next to the midship stairs and direct everyone to go down to Deck 4 where the lifeboats are. Pretty simple really. Of course, to get to my station I have to take the stairs, from Deck 4 (our meeting/check in point). Six flights of double stairs in a life jacket, safety vest, and hat are not fun. For the record.
Looks like I’m going to be on “Wave Goodbye” this Thursday, which means I’ll be up in Dress Whites at 7:00am with a Mickey Glove on waving to all the guests as they debark. The only thing that makes me accept this state of life is that I will get off work at 5:30pm, which is UNHEARD of in YA. I’m so going to see The Golden Mickeys. It’s the only show on board I haven’t seen yet.
Oh, and one more thing... March is a long way off and I’m gonna need some more things to decorate my walls. Photos, letters, cards, etc are greatly appreciated and will be hung up upon their arrival. :)
Love to you all!
Last night, I was thrown up on. It was in my hair, on my neck, and down my left arm. How did it get all these places? Because the sweet, little four year old I was trying to comfort was in my arms when all the contents of his stomach spewed onto my person. It was red. It was chunky. It was IN MY HAIR. Time stopped as the warmth of it hit me. For a brief moment I thought I was having a vivid hallucination. Then the smell hit me, and it took all of my self control not to throw the sick child in my arms to the floor in a raging storm of curse words. I kept it together long enough to get him to the bathroom and set him down. I did not finish my shift. I looked at the GA, said “I have to go now,” and promptly left.
I made it back to my room and realized the nasty was not over. To get out of my shirt, some of the sick was going to have to brush against my face. I did my best to keep it away, but it got me in the cheek. So the dry heaving began... and continued through my shower. My hour long shower where the scalding, hot water served to rinse away the half bottle of body wash I used to scrub my body. Of course, “scrub” is a rather tame word for what I did. If I could’ve shed my skin like a snake things would’ve gone much faster. I briefly considered using steel wool or rocks... anything, really, to remove a layer of skin.
I don’t think I will ever feel clean again.
The only other exciting thing to happen to me this week has been getting a new Safety Card and Drill Duty. Mind you, I didn’t realize I had gotten this duty until about twenty minutes before drill occurred. Why? Because the magical list that is supposed to be up every night by 6:00pm wasn’t up in time and no one said anything to me. What did this mean? It meant I was running up to the Safety Office on Deck 10 in a panic, only to be met by a very stern Safety Officer who demanded to know why I hadn’t shown up at the meeting that morning. I got my new card and duty after apologizing profusely. My new duty? Traffic Controller on Deck 10.
As a Traffic Controller it is now my job to direct guests to their Assembly Stations during the mandatory guest drill every cruise and in the event of an actual emergency. I stand on Deck 10, starboard side, next to the midship stairs and direct everyone to go down to Deck 4 where the lifeboats are. Pretty simple really. Of course, to get to my station I have to take the stairs, from Deck 4 (our meeting/check in point). Six flights of double stairs in a life jacket, safety vest, and hat are not fun. For the record.
Looks like I’m going to be on “Wave Goodbye” this Thursday, which means I’ll be up in Dress Whites at 7:00am with a Mickey Glove on waving to all the guests as they debark. The only thing that makes me accept this state of life is that I will get off work at 5:30pm, which is UNHEARD of in YA. I’m so going to see The Golden Mickeys. It’s the only show on board I haven’t seen yet.
Oh, and one more thing... March is a long way off and I’m gonna need some more things to decorate my walls. Photos, letters, cards, etc are greatly appreciated and will be hung up upon their arrival. :)
Love to you all!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
The Lucky Nugget...
You know, our free time comes few and far between on board. This week I finally had a morning off until 1:00PM without a meeting or a safety drill I had to get up early for. I was so ridiculously excited to sleep in and relax it was unreal. But no. There is no sleep. Why? Because it is on this morning - MY morning off - that they choose to test the in-cabin speakers by playing “Welcome to the Lucky Nugget” on repeat for an hour and half. At full volume. If you haven’t heard this song, let me give you an idea. It’s Minnie Mouse, as a saloon girl, welcoming her friends Goofy and Mickey to the Lucky Nugget Saloon. It’s full of honky tonk pianos, snare drums, and a very loud brass section. Oh, and there’s a can-can portion at the end of the song. I know this so well, because I listened to it for AN HOUR AND A HALF. It’s fine though. I wasn’t beginning to think murderous thoughts about the officers responsible for this or anything. No. I was perfectly sane, in my cabin, listening to the Lucky Nugget over and over and over and over. Blarg!
Moving on, I have a new goal! I want to be an Entertainment Host. They are the people who actually put on the programs for the kids and interact with our special guest characters whenever they stop by. It looks like so much fun and I know I could do it. The next time they have auditions, I’m going for it. Especially after working on all the programs and getting a feel for what the Ent Hosts actually do. It’s right up my ally.
There is one program in particular which the Ent Hosts use to pick on the Counselors, though. Toy Story Boot Camp. You see, Corporal Green - the leader of the Green Army Soldiers - arrives in the club looking for recruits and assigns Counselors as platoon leaders for the kids. Now, you have to do whatever Corporal Green tells you to do. No matter what. So when he goes over the different toy poses and decides to go back and forth between “Snake In The Grass” (laying flat on the floor with your arms out in front of you like a sniper) and “Attention” (standing up and saluting) for five minutes you have to do it. If you don’t, you get to do pushups/jumping jacks/whatever else Corp Green comes up with. Let’s just say, after the last time I was on Toy Story Boot Camp, Corporal Green is on my list. That is all.
And now, for some ship vocabulary!
Today we will learn about Ship Goggles and the elusive SS.
Ship Goggles are metaphorical goggles worn by single crew members. Choices are limited in the dating world and these goggles turn someone you wouldn’t look twice at on land into Ryan Reynolds on board. I have not put these goggles on yet, but I know they exist and have seen their effects on some of my friends. Apparently, their use is inevitable. We shall see. I have also seen the ravenous effect a single, straight male has on the ladies of Youth Activities. One of our new hires is a confirmed SS (single and straight). You would’ve thought someone threw fresh meat into a pool of piranhas. Everyone is trying to get a look at him and suddenly we’re all doing our hair and putting a little more effort into our makeup. Poor guy doesn’t stand a chance...
In other news, I have taken over Pixie Hollow. I plan to do so for the entire month of December. How am I doing this, you may ask? Well, after thieving a giant box of coffee filters from the Oceaneer Lab, I have taken it upon myself to make snowflakes with the kids. We are decorating the tree in Pixie Hollow. I will try to get some pictures of it before housekeeping takes it down. Again. See, on the last night of every cruise my creations disappear. So - in true passive aggressive fashion, I make more. It’s become a little game. For every snowflake they take down, I make two more. The kids absolutely LOVE making them, and when parents come in they comment about how festive it looks. And we all know when the customers are happy, we do whatever we can to keep them that way. Therefore snowflake making continues! Victory! Along with this, one of the other counselors had made some foam die-cuts of ornaments. You better believe we will be bedazzling those suckers and hanging them up with our snowflakes. And of course, while we are doing these crafts, we’re singing Holiday Songs. (I say Holiday because technically we aren’t allowed to sing any ‘religious’ Christmas songs since it alienates those that don’t celebrate Christmas. But if some little kids starts Hark the Herald, we’re singing it. So there.) One little girl sang Jingle Bell Rock four times in a row. I joined her, of course. :)
This week was a special cruise since we ended up doing a double dip at Castaway due to inclement weather the first time around. What does this mean? This means that those disgusting TEVA sandals we have to wear rubbed my feet raw with blisters and now it hurts just to wear socks. I’m thinking about amputating my feet and getting rollerblades installed instead. Or possibly investing in a Segway. Thoughts?
It’s December 1st! Oh my Lord... this means only 100 days till I come home!!! Yay!!
Over and out!
Moving on, I have a new goal! I want to be an Entertainment Host. They are the people who actually put on the programs for the kids and interact with our special guest characters whenever they stop by. It looks like so much fun and I know I could do it. The next time they have auditions, I’m going for it. Especially after working on all the programs and getting a feel for what the Ent Hosts actually do. It’s right up my ally.
There is one program in particular which the Ent Hosts use to pick on the Counselors, though. Toy Story Boot Camp. You see, Corporal Green - the leader of the Green Army Soldiers - arrives in the club looking for recruits and assigns Counselors as platoon leaders for the kids. Now, you have to do whatever Corporal Green tells you to do. No matter what. So when he goes over the different toy poses and decides to go back and forth between “Snake In The Grass” (laying flat on the floor with your arms out in front of you like a sniper) and “Attention” (standing up and saluting) for five minutes you have to do it. If you don’t, you get to do pushups/jumping jacks/whatever else Corp Green comes up with. Let’s just say, after the last time I was on Toy Story Boot Camp, Corporal Green is on my list. That is all.
And now, for some ship vocabulary!
Today we will learn about Ship Goggles and the elusive SS.
Ship Goggles are metaphorical goggles worn by single crew members. Choices are limited in the dating world and these goggles turn someone you wouldn’t look twice at on land into Ryan Reynolds on board. I have not put these goggles on yet, but I know they exist and have seen their effects on some of my friends. Apparently, their use is inevitable. We shall see. I have also seen the ravenous effect a single, straight male has on the ladies of Youth Activities. One of our new hires is a confirmed SS (single and straight). You would’ve thought someone threw fresh meat into a pool of piranhas. Everyone is trying to get a look at him and suddenly we’re all doing our hair and putting a little more effort into our makeup. Poor guy doesn’t stand a chance...
In other news, I have taken over Pixie Hollow. I plan to do so for the entire month of December. How am I doing this, you may ask? Well, after thieving a giant box of coffee filters from the Oceaneer Lab, I have taken it upon myself to make snowflakes with the kids. We are decorating the tree in Pixie Hollow. I will try to get some pictures of it before housekeeping takes it down. Again. See, on the last night of every cruise my creations disappear. So - in true passive aggressive fashion, I make more. It’s become a little game. For every snowflake they take down, I make two more. The kids absolutely LOVE making them, and when parents come in they comment about how festive it looks. And we all know when the customers are happy, we do whatever we can to keep them that way. Therefore snowflake making continues! Victory! Along with this, one of the other counselors had made some foam die-cuts of ornaments. You better believe we will be bedazzling those suckers and hanging them up with our snowflakes. And of course, while we are doing these crafts, we’re singing Holiday Songs. (I say Holiday because technically we aren’t allowed to sing any ‘religious’ Christmas songs since it alienates those that don’t celebrate Christmas. But if some little kids starts Hark the Herald, we’re singing it. So there.) One little girl sang Jingle Bell Rock four times in a row. I joined her, of course. :)
This week was a special cruise since we ended up doing a double dip at Castaway due to inclement weather the first time around. What does this mean? This means that those disgusting TEVA sandals we have to wear rubbed my feet raw with blisters and now it hurts just to wear socks. I’m thinking about amputating my feet and getting rollerblades installed instead. Or possibly investing in a Segway. Thoughts?
It’s December 1st! Oh my Lord... this means only 100 days till I come home!!! Yay!!
Over and out!
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