Cruise slang

To live on a ship means to get used to a lot of new things. For one, the language. I've tried to collect a few of the words that thrive around here.

Taka taka - to talk/chat. "No more taka taka, get to work".

Banana - to get banana means to get in trouble. "You'll get big banana if you get caught"

Da - yes. My manager and assistant manager are from Romania, so obviously we use the romanian yes.

Kaput - to be done/finished/broken. "My legs are kaput".

Structure - a foreign word that doesn't exist on the ship. It's an alien concept and people will look at you weirdly.

Good Days, Bad days and Portuguese

It's now the 1^st of July, which means I've been aboard for 5 days. I'm glad to discover that I'm surprised by the fact that it's already been five days! Everyone on board keeps telling me how they hated the first month, and how they used to cry almost every day. So far, my count is 1/5. Two days ago, when we docked in Stockholm. It was right after the day at sea – which mean the hardest day work wise. And I was not happy. To be honest, I was miserable.

I woke up in the morning, and was thrilled by the opportunity to go out. Only, since that is apparently the Italian way on board, I hadn't been told how it worked if I wanted to go to the city. So after some time I spent sitting in the only chair in my cabin, staring at my sleeping roommate (who'd promised me she would go with me), getting more and more annoyed with her because she wasn't ready, I decided that I didn't like it on board anymore. I started to miss my home and my friends and family, and I hated that we have to buy (very expensive) internet to get in contact with anyone. I felt so completely alone and on very rocky ground. So I took a note from a tiny jar my best friend gave me, in case of a bad day. It said “Home is not the same without you”, and then I started crying. I hated everything and was sure I wouldn't stand a week. After my shower-cover-up, I took a deep breath and became determined to go outside. I felt as if my mom was standing on the dock and I would get to her no matter what!

And so I jumped my roommate, forced her awake and to go with me. We had about two hours before we had to head back, but I'm telling you, never have I ever been so happy to see and stand on concrete.

I never though I would say this, but Sweden felt like home. Blonde people everywhere, Swedish language and everything – it was the closest to home I had come in a few days and I was ecstatic!

When we went to work in the afternoon, I was in the best mood I've been in a long time. Walking on solid ground, breathing fresh air and talking to my mom did wonders! I loved the ship, the guests, the work – everything! I'm proud that I was able to turn my mood around and not give up, even though it was hard. It was a precious experience for me, that even though my day started off bad, it didn't mean it had to end the same way.

I guess this is just the life on board. I have been warned that the first month will be hard, and now I've felt it as well. And you know what? I can do this!

And why the Portuguese, you may ask? Well, I'm working with at least 3 Brazilians, and they are very bad at remembering that I don't speak their language. Portuguese is a big language on this ship, aside form Italian.

Note to self: learn Portuguese!

The First day

27/6-2015
I'm finally lying down in my bed after a very hectic day.

First of all I flew in the tiniest airplane I've ever set foot in. When I arrived to Hamburg, I expected to see the agent happily waiting for me. Instead I was greeted by... no one. I walked around the arrival area for one hour, before I heard an announcement over the speakers – in German, mind you – and all I understood was the name of my ship and information in terminal 2. I am convinced I looked like a lost kid when I arrived  at the information desk, asking about the previous announcement. The lady behind the counter pointed me in the direction of a  group of 12 young Indian men, saying they were the one making the announcement for the agent supposed to pick them up. I joined them and after yet another 20 minutes, our agent finally arrived. We were then escorted to a mini bus, where 4 men were already waiting for us. I spent the next 1½-2 hours in said bus, as the only female, surrounded by 15 Indian men, one dutch man and our very German driver.
   I slept as much as possible.

When we arrived to the port, I suddenly became very awake. This was it! I could see my ship waiting for me.
   The entire embarkation process is something I can describe in one work: chaotic! Though somehow they all knew what they were doing. There were a lot of instructions; put your luggage here, stand there, come in here, give me your documentation, go wait there, talk to that guy, talk to this guy, wait for that guy, sign here, here and here. It took about 2 hours. And then back to get the luggage, bring it to the cabin, go get sheets, blanket and towels, say hi to this person and that and phew!
   Luckily everyone seem very nice. My buddy (the one taking care of me and showing me how things work), is a very eccentric Bulgarian woman. My roommate is a young Brazilian woman. And they are both very nice to me, talking and joking and guiding me through the do's and don'ts. At 4 pm I had to attend a safety training meeting. It's a thing I have to do for the next week or so. Then I was left to myself for a few hours, which I spent unpacking and showering. I had to meet at work at 7 pm – no sweet mama here. The hour before I met was stressful. I hadn't gotten my uniform yet, because of a misunderstanding between my buddy and me, so we ended up running from one end to the other to get it done before meeting in. We had to skip dinner because of this and I could tell my buddy was annoyed at me. We made it in time to work though, and I got to meet my colleagues along with my boss. My boss is a very sweet Romanian woman, who send me (and my buddy) to go get dinner and take our time. I then got a tour of the shops they have on board and we're talking expensive stuff here! Swarovski, DKNY, Ray Ban, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana – you name it!

   My boss then took me to the Crew Bar, got me a pepsi and sat me down to talk. She wanted to know more about me and why I had taken the job. After some time, she got me two bottles of water and  send me to my cabin to relax with the words “I will see you tomorrow morning”.

And here I am, lying in my bed after a long long long day, trying to get used to the sounds of the ship. My cabin is in middle on the 5th floor, so I can barely feel the waves rocking the ship as we sail. I have so many new impressions that I need to process. It seems like people have very different opinions of the life on board. My buddy is now on her 7th contract (one contract is 7 months), and has been doing this for five years. She loves it and couldn't imagine herself doing anything else.
My roommate on the other hand is at the end of her first contract, and is just anxious to get home. I have a feeling that she won't be back. She appreciates the experience, but is not too happy about this entire thing.
   Many of the people embarking today were old crew, which means they're either desperate, struggling for money or really like this life.

I think I will just have to make my own impression. Tomorrow will be yet another long day. We're at sea, so working hours are from 9am 'till midnight. I have the safety training at 8am and then on to the job.

No rest for the wicked.