Just coming up to 2 months on board now. I still struggle to remember what all I've done so far. I finally got to get off for real and visit Labadee. Unfortunate because with over 1700 kids on board this week there was no way I was going to be able to get on the zip line. I now know why crew don't get off in Labadee very often. There really isn't a whole lot to do. If you want to do any of the activities (zip line, coaster, water slide) or go swimming and/or sunbathing, it's a decent port. But there's no where to really go shopping. All the shops are artisan market type booths, which I'm sure probably have some cool things, but I have no need or room for anything.
I had my first lesson this week. It went, ok, I guess. I'm still not very comfortable with it, especially not the boogie boarding part. I have one month to get better at it. Hopefully I can. Unfortunately didn't get any time to actually practice because we did have so many lessons and doors. Plus side to lessons is we get extra commission from them.
This week was the Christmas cruise, so as I already mentioned there was 1700 or so kids on board. We got to help wrap the presents for all the kids in the youth programs, which was kind of fun. It was weird because we thought everything was going to be super busy, but it turned out it was only the flow rider that was crazy. The rockwall got pretty busy on sea days, but the zip line was pretty dead for most of the cruise.
Last Saturday we got another new crew member, which was nice. The only thing he hasn't done is zip line, so at least he can still do flow rider lessons. But unfortunately we were still down 1. This Saturday we're losing another member, he's being transferred to another ship, which sucks for us but it's nice for him, he'll be closer to home and the same time zone. He also only joined us aa few weeks ago. In his place we're getting oone of the guys back who left 2 weeks into my contract. It's crazy that I've been here long enough for people to leave and come back from vacation
II didn't do too much outside of working this week. Mostly just chilled in our room.. We went out for dinner twice, to Sabor and Johnny Rockets. On Christmas Eve we did Christmas carolling on the promenade. That was kind of fun.
On Christmas Eve they also had our crew Christmas dinner. It was really good. I got roast beef, and I was super excited to eat strawberries and grapes. They also had ice cream and you could make sundaes and it was delicious. For Christmas from Royal we each got rolling backpacks that say Oasis of the Seas Crew on them. Super nice to do that for us, and they're pretty heavy duty bags as well. Apparently we're also supposed to be getting tablets in early 2015, which is also super cool.
On Christmas we had our Sports Staff gift exchange, as well as glow party. In addition to that I had late gangway and doors so I had a very busy Christmas night. The glow party wasn't as packed as they thought it was going to be. Could've been because it was on a different day and time than usual. Who knows. It was fun though. For our gift exchange we had to get a $25 general gift and then we picked numbers and got gifts in order. Some people put more effort in than others but that's to be expected. I gave and got candy, which isn't too bad for me. And Bry gave and got alcohol haha. Luckily I didn't end up with booze. Usually when people play that game they steal gifts but we didn't have enough time so we just kept what we picked. We also got a gift from our manager, good quality toilet paper. Apparently that's his thing, either toilet paper or toilet seat covers are his Christmas gifts. Since I knew this, and he's from England, I found Union Jack toilet paper at the Best of British store in Fort Lauderdale last week. He loved it.
Christmas in Mexico was weird. it was like 27 degrees. And there was no snow. I didn't like it. I haven't been super homesick or anything so far, but for whatever reason turning on facebook and seeing everyone's Christmas posts made me super upset.
I bought internet on Christmas so I got to facetime home, which was nice. Got to talk to my sister since she was visiting. We talked for close to 3 hours, probably would have ended up talking longer but I had to work. Also had to do laundry in the morning so I couldn't call until about 1. I finally got to open the presents my mom sent me, they've been sitting in my room for about a week and a half and I haven't been allowed to open them. I am now officially going to be known as "the Canadian", because I got a Canada tshirt and tank top, as well as a necklace, and I also just bought myself a pair of Canadian flag earrings that are super cool. Other Canadians love meeting me, it's awesome.
I'm supposed to be getting mail today, it was supposed to be 2 packages, one from my sister and one that I ordered, but my name is only on the list once. Which is slightly unfortunate. I'm hoping it's wrong. Last Saturday I got a little package and my name wasn't on the list, but it could have been classified as a letter, I'm not really sure. Since I wasn't expecting a package and it was from China, I took it to security to have it checked. They told us when we were in training that if we weren't expecting a package to have it checked by security. If it had been from Canada and I recognized the return name, I would have just opened it, but I was slightly concerned. Turns out it was glow in the dark stars. Found out they were from Heather, doing a test to make sure things got to me haha. So if anyone is sending me a package not from Canada, give me a heads up :) I know surprises are nice but just to save me from panicking haha.
I finally went to the gym last week. And by that I mean Bry dragged me to the gym and I almost died. It was good though. Haven't had time to go since, unfortunately. I did however finally go running on the track yesterday. I ran for almost half an hour, which I was quite impressed about. And then today my legs hurt. We haven't managed to go practice Spanish yet though. We signed up for Rosetta Stone but since it's only available in the training rooms we need to find time to do it. Myabe after the busy cruises are over.
I got to do the parade! My role is to ride a bike. There are 4 of us from sports staff assigned to bikes, however there are only ever 2 bikes that work. So the first week I actually rode the bike, almost crashed into a penguin and a guy on stilts, but it went alright. We're also supposed to help carry a dragon and dance at the end. This week I was just the dragon, and no one told me when I was supposed to go dance or whatever so I didn't really do anyting. I'm hoping I can do stilts or something, it's super lame to go just for 5 minutes. I want to do more! Haha.
I'm now officially trained on zip line launching, however I haven't managed to make it back up there since I finished my training.
I can't think of much more that happened over the last couple weeks. So I guess I'll leave it at that.
