You've gotta read this!
Door: Linda
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Linda
13 Oktober 2014 | Frankrijk, Conflans-Sainte-Honorine
October 5th 2014
Well, Andrea is leaving! Because her arm hurts and Regina doesn’t want to be a Cabinstewardess, it would be better for her to go home. That’s the rumor anyway. It says she’s leaving this Tuesday and someone else is coming to take her place. So after only two weeks of being a Cabinstewardess, she’s given up. I don’t know if she’s going to come back as a Housekeeper or hairdresser next year, but we’ll see!
And…she and her boyfriend got engaged!! I already knew about it, because Jayson told me. The plan was to go to the Eiffeltower and propose there, while Jayson filmed the whole thing. That’s how I knew about it. But since she’s a cabinstewardess who work a lot more than a hairdresser, she was too tired to go to the Eiffeltower, so the proposal had to be done somewhere else… So he ended up asking the big question in their cabin….how romantic!!! Seems like he doesn’t have a very big imagination if all he could think about was the Eiffeltower or their cabin! Regina and I agreed that if this were to ever happen to us, we would make it clear that we want to be asked anywhere but on the ship!!! Can you imagine the story you tell your grandkids?? Yes we met at the ship and he proposed in the cabin!! But anyway, it is their life and I’m happy for them. Not by the way, that it made them look any happier!! We’ve already found out that they have a rather negative look on things and like I said I haven’t seen them look any happier knowing they’ll be married soon!
I think the only reason is, is that they think being married means they will not be separated like they were this year when I needed a cabin. I hope their right! Like I said it’s their life.
Today we had the inspection of French Authorities on the ship! In France you have to have at least one day off per week. But of course that doesn’t happen at all. So we have our half days of, which may vary per week and we have a so called “French day off” which we all have to memorize and never happens of course…until today! As soon as we knew who all these official looking people were I had to run back to my cabin and change into regular clothes. I was sure they had seen me already, but no one came to check. They were asking all kinds of questions, making copies of passports and we all had to fill out a form. It took them about 2 hours before they left!
By the time I was back at the desk, it was almost noon, the official time for my break. So I took my break and now I’m back at the desk until about 9pm tonight, because of course Jayson has to have his break as well…On the one hand it is fair, we share everything equally, on the other hand it feels like just because I had an “extra break” he has to have one too and that’s where you see he is a “young” Senior. It’s not like I asked for this extra time or that I spend that time leisurely. I was pretty nervous, because I had no idea what was going on! But it’s okay, I’ve brought some extra food, my book and my tablet and I’m writing this right now.
Someone replied on my Dutch blog that it looked like I had something going on every week and that is true. I was going to say that there was never a dull moment, but that is not true! Mondays and Tuesdays are our busiest days, but the rest of the week can be pretty dull. Especially when all the guests are gone on an excursion or after they’ve come back and gone to lunch. When all our work is done, there’s nothing much to do, so we try to keep ourselves busy! Not that I always bring my tablet, this is the first time. But it is better than reading a book at the desk, makes me feel like I’m not working. At least with the tablet I look pretty busy!! Haha
So next week 4 more cruises to go! Counting down and can’t wait to go home! The last straws can be pretty difficult at times!
Remember my friend who asked me so nicely to get him some more toiletpaper? Well, he asked me for some on Tuesday night, then Wednesday afternoon he asked for more. This morning at breakfast the Housekeeper told me that when she went to see him, he had 6 rolls of toiletpaper and every morning their asking for extra soap! Guess what?? I wasn’t at the desk for half an hour when I got a call from my friend asking for two more rolls of toiletpaper!!! Haha Kind of makes you wonder what the hell he is doing with all that paper!!! Hahah
October 11th 2014
So toiletpaper guy left last Tuesday, his suitcase felt pretty heavy, we thought of opening it up!! As if you don’t have any toiletpaper in the US!! Haha
The new group came last Tuesday, with Tony for Cruisedirector. That will at least give us something to do, because he always wants us to make copies of things for him!
And we have sighted the first idiot too on the first day!! God, came in asking us if we knew his cabin number, than before even checking in he demanded to know the password for the wifi and he lost his camera at the Bizy castle. We were able to get it for him, then have it brought to the ship by taxi and he still has to pay us the money back for that! But we’ll catch him before he leaves!!
So far no one has asked me for extra toiletpaper yet though!
Tuesday I also heard a bit of good news! Our HM and Maitre want to work on the ships in the south next season. In the new season they’re both going to be HM, so they can’t work on the same ship anymore, but if they work on the ships in the south they will be able to meet at least once a week. Otherwise they won’t see eachother at all. Then she said that she had requested the company that Jayson and I come with them. Since we’re both going to be Seniors we can’t work on one ship either, so one of us will go with her and one of us will go to him. Yvette, one of our cruisedirectors said she would help give a little push with the company, because she can also make things happen. So if all goes well, we’ll be in a warmer climate, with new cities to explore!
And then yesterday the Maitre asked me which ship I wanted to go to next year, so I asked him why, do you want me to go with you? He said it would be nice, so I told him to make it happen! I talked to him again the next day and told him it would be nice to have Geanina as Second and then Monica as nighty and we would be all set! When they come to the ship with our contracts for next year, we can still tell them where we would like to work, so I’ll tell them what I want!
Autumn has arrived here! We still have some sun, but the weather is chilly. Eventhough the colder weather is here, our last cruises are fully booked.
On this cruise with Tony we have a very keen WWII veteran, named John Katsaros. He was an aerial gunner, who got shot down over Frankfurt, was held captive twice by the Gestapo and managed to escape both times with the help of the French Resistance. He walked through France and the Pyrenees, had a Jewish Doctor perform surgery on his arm, which was broken and eventually got back home. After having had to keep this all a secret for 60 years, he has written a book called “Code Burgundy, The Long Escape” and as I’m writing this he’s having a Q and A session in the Lounge!! Tony had invited him to talk about his WWII experience last Wednesday, but once he started talking he wouldn’t stop! So Tony gave him this session to answer people’s questions and talk about it some more!! The man is 91 and still going strong!! He has a hearing aid and walks with a cane, but other than that he keeps going! He has done all kinds of sports during his life and worked and still works as a volunteer helping other war veterans by talking about what had happened to them. He is a great speaker, he doesn’t make it any more glorious or bad as it was, he just tells you what happened, how he felt. He doesn’t want a pat on the back either, he just did his job. Eventhough the French government gave him the Chevalier in the Legion of Honor in 2011… He’s had some people visit him here at the ship in Paris, no idea who they were, but they all spoke French, I imagine they were people who had helped him escape!
Really great, that’s what I love about this job, meeting all of these interesting people!!!
A couple of more days and this cruise is over, then there’s only 3 more to go!
On one hand it seems like a lot and time seems to crawl, but on the other hand it is Tuesday before you know it and you’re welcoming a new group on board!
Love
Linda
Well, Andrea is leaving! Because her arm hurts and Regina doesn’t want to be a Cabinstewardess, it would be better for her to go home. That’s the rumor anyway. It says she’s leaving this Tuesday and someone else is coming to take her place. So after only two weeks of being a Cabinstewardess, she’s given up. I don’t know if she’s going to come back as a Housekeeper or hairdresser next year, but we’ll see!
And…she and her boyfriend got engaged!! I already knew about it, because Jayson told me. The plan was to go to the Eiffeltower and propose there, while Jayson filmed the whole thing. That’s how I knew about it. But since she’s a cabinstewardess who work a lot more than a hairdresser, she was too tired to go to the Eiffeltower, so the proposal had to be done somewhere else… So he ended up asking the big question in their cabin….how romantic!!! Seems like he doesn’t have a very big imagination if all he could think about was the Eiffeltower or their cabin! Regina and I agreed that if this were to ever happen to us, we would make it clear that we want to be asked anywhere but on the ship!!! Can you imagine the story you tell your grandkids?? Yes we met at the ship and he proposed in the cabin!! But anyway, it is their life and I’m happy for them. Not by the way, that it made them look any happier!! We’ve already found out that they have a rather negative look on things and like I said I haven’t seen them look any happier knowing they’ll be married soon!
I think the only reason is, is that they think being married means they will not be separated like they were this year when I needed a cabin. I hope their right! Like I said it’s their life.
Today we had the inspection of French Authorities on the ship! In France you have to have at least one day off per week. But of course that doesn’t happen at all. So we have our half days of, which may vary per week and we have a so called “French day off” which we all have to memorize and never happens of course…until today! As soon as we knew who all these official looking people were I had to run back to my cabin and change into regular clothes. I was sure they had seen me already, but no one came to check. They were asking all kinds of questions, making copies of passports and we all had to fill out a form. It took them about 2 hours before they left!
By the time I was back at the desk, it was almost noon, the official time for my break. So I took my break and now I’m back at the desk until about 9pm tonight, because of course Jayson has to have his break as well…On the one hand it is fair, we share everything equally, on the other hand it feels like just because I had an “extra break” he has to have one too and that’s where you see he is a “young” Senior. It’s not like I asked for this extra time or that I spend that time leisurely. I was pretty nervous, because I had no idea what was going on! But it’s okay, I’ve brought some extra food, my book and my tablet and I’m writing this right now.
Someone replied on my Dutch blog that it looked like I had something going on every week and that is true. I was going to say that there was never a dull moment, but that is not true! Mondays and Tuesdays are our busiest days, but the rest of the week can be pretty dull. Especially when all the guests are gone on an excursion or after they’ve come back and gone to lunch. When all our work is done, there’s nothing much to do, so we try to keep ourselves busy! Not that I always bring my tablet, this is the first time. But it is better than reading a book at the desk, makes me feel like I’m not working. At least with the tablet I look pretty busy!! Haha
So next week 4 more cruises to go! Counting down and can’t wait to go home! The last straws can be pretty difficult at times!
Remember my friend who asked me so nicely to get him some more toiletpaper? Well, he asked me for some on Tuesday night, then Wednesday afternoon he asked for more. This morning at breakfast the Housekeeper told me that when she went to see him, he had 6 rolls of toiletpaper and every morning their asking for extra soap! Guess what?? I wasn’t at the desk for half an hour when I got a call from my friend asking for two more rolls of toiletpaper!!! Haha Kind of makes you wonder what the hell he is doing with all that paper!!! Hahah
October 11th 2014
So toiletpaper guy left last Tuesday, his suitcase felt pretty heavy, we thought of opening it up!! As if you don’t have any toiletpaper in the US!! Haha
The new group came last Tuesday, with Tony for Cruisedirector. That will at least give us something to do, because he always wants us to make copies of things for him!
And we have sighted the first idiot too on the first day!! God, came in asking us if we knew his cabin number, than before even checking in he demanded to know the password for the wifi and he lost his camera at the Bizy castle. We were able to get it for him, then have it brought to the ship by taxi and he still has to pay us the money back for that! But we’ll catch him before he leaves!!
So far no one has asked me for extra toiletpaper yet though!
Tuesday I also heard a bit of good news! Our HM and Maitre want to work on the ships in the south next season. In the new season they’re both going to be HM, so they can’t work on the same ship anymore, but if they work on the ships in the south they will be able to meet at least once a week. Otherwise they won’t see eachother at all. Then she said that she had requested the company that Jayson and I come with them. Since we’re both going to be Seniors we can’t work on one ship either, so one of us will go with her and one of us will go to him. Yvette, one of our cruisedirectors said she would help give a little push with the company, because she can also make things happen. So if all goes well, we’ll be in a warmer climate, with new cities to explore!
And then yesterday the Maitre asked me which ship I wanted to go to next year, so I asked him why, do you want me to go with you? He said it would be nice, so I told him to make it happen! I talked to him again the next day and told him it would be nice to have Geanina as Second and then Monica as nighty and we would be all set! When they come to the ship with our contracts for next year, we can still tell them where we would like to work, so I’ll tell them what I want!
Autumn has arrived here! We still have some sun, but the weather is chilly. Eventhough the colder weather is here, our last cruises are fully booked.
On this cruise with Tony we have a very keen WWII veteran, named John Katsaros. He was an aerial gunner, who got shot down over Frankfurt, was held captive twice by the Gestapo and managed to escape both times with the help of the French Resistance. He walked through France and the Pyrenees, had a Jewish Doctor perform surgery on his arm, which was broken and eventually got back home. After having had to keep this all a secret for 60 years, he has written a book called “Code Burgundy, The Long Escape” and as I’m writing this he’s having a Q and A session in the Lounge!! Tony had invited him to talk about his WWII experience last Wednesday, but once he started talking he wouldn’t stop! So Tony gave him this session to answer people’s questions and talk about it some more!! The man is 91 and still going strong!! He has a hearing aid and walks with a cane, but other than that he keeps going! He has done all kinds of sports during his life and worked and still works as a volunteer helping other war veterans by talking about what had happened to them. He is a great speaker, he doesn’t make it any more glorious or bad as it was, he just tells you what happened, how he felt. He doesn’t want a pat on the back either, he just did his job. Eventhough the French government gave him the Chevalier in the Legion of Honor in 2011… He’s had some people visit him here at the ship in Paris, no idea who they were, but they all spoke French, I imagine they were people who had helped him escape!
Really great, that’s what I love about this job, meeting all of these interesting people!!!
A couple of more days and this cruise is over, then there’s only 3 more to go!
On one hand it seems like a lot and time seems to crawl, but on the other hand it is Tuesday before you know it and you’re welcoming a new group on board!
Love
Linda
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
