not helping me at all!!

September 13th 2014
Hello again!!
Last Tuesday we had something crazy happening!!! Usually when we order a taxi for people on Disembarkation day, the taxi comes here to pick up the guests and brings them to the address they give to the driver. But this time a taxi driver actually brought a couple back to the ship!!!!
I wasn’t there when it happened, but Jayson told me that the lady had a certain amount of money for the drive in her head and she saw the amount get closer to what she thought it would cost, but the hotel they were going to was nowhere in sight. Of course this gave a reason for a discussion with the driver, who then got so fed up, that he ended up bringing them back to the ship!!! To be honest I couldn’t blame him, because the lady was a real idiot when she was with us, but this certainly never happened before!!! Eventually they were picked up by another taxi, I don’t know if they ever got to the hotel, but we never saw them again, so I think all was well!
In the end we got the new group that afternoon, with some pretty funny people!! We had two couples coming in and one of the guys asks me if he can have the other guy as his roommate, so the wives can go in the other room. I told him that for me it wasn’t problem, but of course his wife didn’t agree. So I told him that we also have comfortable lounge chairs on the Sky deck if things got really bad….he was laughing really hard!!!! He thought I was pretty quick!! After that we had a connection of course!
He’s been telling me he loves history and so do I. We had the lecturer again on Thursday and they had a really good talk after the lecture, about things the other didn’t know about. He’s brought a book called Lee’s last Campaign, so I asked him if it was any good. He said it was, so I wrote down the titel and author. He was surprised when I told him about a book I had read here in the library about Grant’s victory at Vicksburg..and even more surprised when I told him I had read the book about Lincoln, the one the movie was based upon, he told me he had only seen the movie.
He said I should come to the US, a couple of times actually, so I told him that if he could help me find a job there, I would be more than happy to come over there! He said I was doing a great job and that I would be great in Hospitality…than he said that I would miss the rivercruising, so I told him about the paddleboats on the Mississippi. This evening I told him he should write a recommendation letter for me!! He was laughing, but he said he would do it, can’t wait to read it!!haha
This is what I like best about this job, the interaction and joking with the guests!! We have two older lades on board and this morning in Les Andelys they bought a painting, which they had shipped to their homes. But they came back telling me that after buying that, they wouldn’t have the money to pay for the onboard account…so I told them that Chef wouldn’t mind have a couple of extra hands in the kitchen to wash the dishes for the rest of the week…they thought that was very funny, but they didn’t know how to do that, so I told them Chef would take the time to teach them! Haha
The good news is that Monica, my roommate, is able to take the training to become a receptionist after all! Don’t ask me why, but she came to tell me a couple of days ago that the Housekeeper told her that she had spoken to the HM and that it would be alright if she started the training. So she has spoken to Jayson and she’s already had a training, which made her really happy!! She works really hard in Housekeeping, but she said after having the training she wasn’t even tired, because she was doing something she loves to do. I’m very happy for her!! In this company we all have a trainingpassport, which contains all the things we have learned while we are on this ship. Normally this would mean that you have actually learned all the stuff it contains, but we have seen some weird things. Anyway, Monica’s passport will show that she has had some training here, so I hope they will help her at the ship she is going back to, because so far they haven’t been all that helpful.
And then there’s more good news…I had my last evaluation talk with Jayson and the HM yesterday, which was really good!!! First she told me that of all the things they had to give credit to, they gave me one good and the rest very good, which she said she would have to explain to headquarters, because that didn’t happen very often! Then they asked me if I wanted to come back next year and where, which ship. So I told them I wanted to come back here in France on this ship or the new suite ship that is coming to the Seine next year. She wrote it down, it is not a guarantee that I will actually come back here, but at least they know what my preference is. Plus it is also good for the HM to know who she will be working with next year, if she comes back to this ship of course.
And…she has recommended that I come back as a Senior next year!!!!! She said that normally she would suggest that I come back as a second for another year, but she saw what I have done this year, how I am eager to learn and that the first time you do something things tend to go wrong and that your nervous, but that happens to everyone who starts something new. And she said I would be capable. Both she and Jayson said I just needed more confidence in doing it, which I would get if I were to do it longer!
So that made me very happy!!!!! I would be nervous, but I’m sure I will be alright! It would mean I would no longer be working with Jayson though, there can’t be two Seniors on one ship. But that’s okay too, because I would be able to do things my way.
So if I’m not going to end up on a paddleboat in the US next year, you will find me as a Senior on the Seine!! Which means I will have to brush up on my French this winter!! Haha
Tonight I found out that we have a retired pediatrician or gyneacologist on board, who has delivered about 5000 babies over the time of his career! I don’t remember how long he has been working, but it seemed like a lot to me!
The cruisedirector we have now is also from the Netherlands, Nynke. Didn’t quite know what to think about her at first, but she turned out to be pretty nice. She’s straight to the point, no talking, but doing! She also has a good connection with the HOB we have on board right now. Not exactly sure what his position is within Avalon, but at first I thought he was kind of annoying, watching us all the time. But he also looks at the amount of money we earn. He has come across some information that there’s some difference in what Avalon pays the company that hires us and what the company pays us. I was at the desk when he was talking to Nynke about it, so they asked me what I make in a month. Then it became apparent that there is a difference in salary between people from Europe or the Phillipines and between Phillipines and Indonesia for instance. Later I had a conversation with Monica and she was telling me they wished to buy a house, so I asked her how much money she made here and it was not all that much. And here she is from Romania….So he’s still investigating this, he wants to put all the pieces of the puzzle together before he starts accusing people. But this may mean we are all going to earn more money, or at least all get a fair share.
So now I have not only helped getting things changed on the new ships, if of course that guy has listen to anything I said, but also in the changing of the salaries!!! I’m definitely what you call an All-rounder!
Our Chef has decided that he is going to retire this year, when this season is over. He’s turning 50 in October and he has had enough. I have no idea what he will do when he is at home, but he has a baby who will need his attention. Meanwhile he is kind of depressing everyone by repeatedly telling everyone that there’s only so many more cruises to go…when he comes and tells me again, I’ll tell him to stop it, because we know already! We can all count!! haha

(sorry accidentally put in the 7th twice...)