It seems like it was just yesterday that I was getting ready to finish my contract and come home... And it seems like it was just .. (also) yesterday ( :)) hahah ) that I did get home and meet my friends and family...and now, it's suddenly Christmas... and New Year's just around the corner - boy, time flies fast!
And what was that contract about? I work on a cruise ship as a shoppie - the shortest replacement term for "retail sales associate". I must tell you the truth: although I used to say it all the time " boy, would I love to work on a cruise ship!" I never actually believed that I would end up actually working there.
A lot of friends ask me how did I actually get there?
I've been hearing a lot about ship life from my cousin and his wife - who have been working on cruise ships for 9 years maybe? - have been seeing a lot of pictures and hearing a lot of stories... Then a few other acquaintances started working on cruise ships... then another friend, later on - a friend of a friend..and so on.
I decided to apply - first for Spa - as a manicurist, nail technician, nail designer - whatever my Diploma could cover. I got the call, everything was "waiting" for me: the job, the interview day was close, the departure was supposed to be immediately - everything you could wish for if you wanted to leave, still I hesitated.
Being a hopeless (idiot) romantic, I was respecting too much the relationship I was in, at that time, to which I added the "gut" feeling and many other imaginary reasons for not to go - so I said NO.
That year's end came with a lot of surprises, including the end of my so much respected relationship - wow, that was a bust! :)) and I entered that "dead" time of the year, when everybody is gone, the ones that are not gone, are either with their significant others, or enjoying vacations, or enjoying beer after beer in a cheap local pub .
Professionally it wasn't too peachy either: I was becoming frustrated, not too many appointments, not too much of a big income.
Sentimentally - devastated! (now I realize I was just adding drama to the whole picture :)) hahah, but then, I was too busy mourning to notice it).
So when I finally saw that my ex-boyfriend had no problem with redoing his life (amazingly fast) and that my "career" was a bit stuck, I entered my "kamikaze" mode: not caring about anything, not being afraid of anything and pretty much up for anything! I realized there was nothing holding me here and if there was a time in my life to try my chances, this was it!
So I sent again an e-mail to the recruiting company: "This is what I can do, these are the languages I speak, send me wherever, whenever and for as much as you like". Surprisingly, I got an answer in only a few days.
Everything happened unexpectedly fast - events just poured one after the other and before I even realized it, I was already on a mini floating city - it took me one month to realize what have I gotten myself into :)) But I will detail all those little stories in future posts.
Long story short (for now) ... It was a decision that I'm happy I made. It was an experience that gave me the opportunity to evolve a lot professionally (regular shoppie -> promotional ambassador -> jewelry specialist ...all in just one contract!), to learn a lot from different people, different nationalities and mentalities and also, the opportunity to visit a lot!
In the end of this post, I'll show you a bit of what I visited this contract! :D ( lucky me got the interval when the ship was repositioning, so I also got the Baltic run, as well as the Carribbean run Yay yay! :D )
- St. Petersburg - Russia
- Tallinn - Estonia
- Harwich - U.K.
- Helsinki - Finland
- Gothenburg - Sweden
- Stockholm - Sweden
- Copenhagen - Denmark
- Oslo - Norway
- Bergen - Norway
- Geiranger - Norway
- Reykjavik - Iceland
- Klaksvik - Faroe Islands
- Dublin - Ireland
- Cobh - Ireland
- Le Havre - France
- Paris - France
- St. John's - Newfoundland and Labrador
- Bar Harbor - Maine
- Boston - Massachusetts
- Portland - Maine
- Tampa - Florida
- Geroge Town - Grand Cayman (here, I must admit, I never got off the ship)
- Cozumel - Mexico
- Oranjestad - Aruba
- Bridgetown - Barbados
- Basseterre - St. Kitts
- Castries -St. Lucia
- Roatan - Honduras
- Puerto Costa Maya - Mexico
- ...and probably a few more that I don't remember - I know in Scotland I've been, for sure, I just didn't get off the ship. boo- hoo :(
Let me know in which of these places have you been! :D I'm more than curious!
Until my next post,
Hugs and kisses! Alexandra
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