Last story this season!
Door: Linda
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Linda
12 November 2014 | Frankrijk, Conflans-Sainte-Honorine
November 11th 2014
Last story of this season!!
Our last cruise was a weird one, since they had changed the itinerary. To which they had to add one more difference, due to a strike in the locks. No one could tell us when the strike was supposed to start, but to make sure we wouldn’t get stuck somewhere, we left Rouen earlier on Sunday night.
On Monday we stopped in Conflans, around 12 noon. I was soo glad we were there. When everyone is on board they all stop in the lobby, the noise they were making, was driving me nuts!! We were only there for a couple of hours, but it was lunchtime and in all small towns the shops close for lunch, so there wasn’t a lot to do at that point. At 3 pm we went on our way to Paris, where we arrived around 8pm. So all went well.
Then on Tuesday was our very last disembarkation!! Only thing was that we were docked next to another ship, so we had to drag all the suitcases through that ship…it was easier then it looked, but still I prefer to have no other shipped docked between me and the qaui!!
Anyway, at around 10:30 the last guests were on their way to the airport and it was time for us to clean and pack everything that belongs to the ship! Jayson and I had already started with our Onboard shop items, such as t-shirts, fleece vests and sweaters and so on. We still had a lot to do, but it did safe us some time!
The HM was driving us nuts though! With everything we did she had some comment on how we were supposed to do it, while we already knew or she had at least 10 thousand questions! Almost like she was running around without knowing what to do!
That Tuesday evening we were done around a quarter to 6, then we had to hurry up and change, because we were going out for dinner! The HM had wanted to make reservations in a restaurant in Rouen, but she had started making preparations too late and never got to speak to the manager…who was the only one who spoke English. So in the end she called the restaurant where they had their final dinner last year and they still remembered her, so that’s where we went. It wasn’t too far from the ship, so that was good. The dinner was good, we all had a good time. Our sous chef had made diploma’s for us all, for making it to the end of the season. And one of our crewmembers from housekeeping had drawn all of us on each separate diploma. He is very good!! He never had us sit down to do a portrait, he probably did it from memory, but he was really very good, the resemblances were remarkable!! And on all the diploma’s she had written something like Best Dancer for Jayson and Most Kind Person for me, very sweet!
After dinner we went on a tour through Paris. We all hopped on a coach and 2 of the local guides we normally use for the guests, now showed us all of Paris’s sights! They were really good, they brought wine to celebrate the end of the season, one of them sang La vie en rose for us and we all got a little Eiffeltower keyring.
Then on Wednesday morning at 6 am we left Paris to cruise back to Rouen, where the ship is going to be docked for it’s winter repairs. While we were sailing we were all again busy packing and cleaning everything. Geanina didn’t have to do her nightly rounds anymore, so she was there to help us pack up. To store all our stuff they had assigned different staterooms, so we could put our Avalon stuff in the Cruise director’s cabin, all our IT stuff in 302 and all our office supplies went into 301. This was the same for the restaurant, housekeeping and kitchen stuff.
We had posted signs on all the doors saying what was to be found in them, so when the next season starts, it will all be easier to find. Wednesday evening we had to hand in our uniforms. Since our HM is very precise, this took several hours!!!
On Wednesday we also finally heard about our arrangements to go home. Everyone went home by plane, I was the only one who wanted a trainticket. For some reason they were unable to get me a trainticket…which was fine, but it would have been nice to know about this a week earlier. I didn’t mind having to pay for them myself, because I would get the money back. But getting a ticket only a few days before I’m due to leave, might mean there’s no ticket to be had. Okay it was November, but I left on a Friday and Friday’s can be pretty busy.
Anyway, I tried to get a ticket online myself, but for some reason I couldn’t pay for it with the card I had. So I asked them at HQ to buy one for me. But that didn’t work, because in France the one that pays for the ticket is the one that can pick it up. You have to show the bankcard that you have used to pay for the ticket and if they match, it’s yours. If she were to pay for it, she would have been the one to pick it up, since she was in Cyprus, that wasn’t a good idea.
So on Thursday our agent in Rouen was stopping by to get our last dollars and exchange them for euro’s. He gave me a ride into the city, because we weren’t docked at our usual spot when there were guests on board. Of course the sncf office didn’t open until 10 in the morning and I was there at 9:15…so I decided to look for a postoffice first to get rid of our last postcards and then I asked for directions to the train station. Which turned out not all that hard to find! Only thing was that the road was going up, it was build on a hill. I had never gone out that far into Rouen, so I had no idea!! Now I was sure I was going to take a taxi to get to the train station with my luggage!
The guy at the station didn’t speak English, but we understood eachother. I had seen a ticket online starting at 9 am, but for the Thalys from Paris to Schiphol airport there were no seats available. I didn’t feel like standing on a train for 3 hours, so I took a train earlier. Eventually I got a ticket from Rouen to Arnhem, I was really relieved!!!
Then it took a while for the agent to come and take me back to the ship, because he had all kinds of things to do. I would have been back earlier if I had walked back.
When I got back to the ship, all the crewmembers were in the Lounge, I was just in time for the Thank you- speech from some HOB from the HQ. HE gave us all a file with all our papers and a handshake and that was it. Which was kind of disappointing, because I thought we got a couple of minutes to sit down with him and tell him what our plans were for next season.
Then I saw the file, it contained a reference in English and German and a contract for next season. But it said receptionist, where I thought it would be for a 1st Receptionist, like they had suggested.
So I asked the HM about it and she asked the HOB, who said that I got this contract, because they are not sure yet wether or not they will need a 1st Receptionist next season. They were going to have a meeting in November and if they knew they were going to need one, they would send me the new contract. If not I might get the promotion next year, when the season had started. After all it was only a suggestion….
Bit of a let down to be honest. I had thought about things I would do as a senior. I only wanted to do one more season, rather as senior than as receptionist again…o well, I didn’t have to sign it right away anyway.
And then of course there was the very last cabin check!!! We all had until 4pm to clean our cabins. And of course again they found things that had to be clean, which they hadn’t thought of before!!! Felt like we were in the army!!!
After that there was another meeting in the lounge where the HM and the captain thanked us for our hard work this season. We got our last tip and our passports and that was it! As soon as we were done, most people went out to get something to eat! I didn’t stay up too long, had a nice shower and packed my last stuff.
On Friday morning most of the crewmembers left at 5 am on a coach that would take them to the different airports in Paris. There were a couple of crewmembers that had arranged their own transfer, because their flights weren’t until 10pm, why would you go to the airport at 5am when your flight is at 10 pm?? That’s what you get when they book the flights a week before departure, but there you have it.
I had booked a taxi for 7 am and my train to Paris left at 8 am. That wasn’t too early, although I didn’t sleep at all and I heard them leave at 5am! Anyway, taking a taxi to the trainstation didn’t take me that long, but I’d rather be on time than just missing the train.
The train to Paris arrives in a station called St.Lazare and the Thalys to Schiphol airport leaves from Paris Nord, so I had to take the RER to get there. No problem, it was only one stop, so it wouldn’t be hard to find….and it wasn’t hard to find, it was just that it was hard to get to with one big, heavy suitcase and one smaller suitcase!!
There were some escalators, which was nice, but scary as hell, since I couldn’t hold on to anything…but they weren’t everywhere! Mostly there were stairs I had to drag my suitcases up on!!! God, those French people really don’t know anything!!!
I had a little over an hour to get from one station to the next and I made it!! I had about 25 minutes before the Thalys would leave, so I did good. But I was sooo tired!!! I had a nice seat in the Thalys and there were some people who were standing. When there are empty seats people can sit down, but the first stop is Brussels, where of course more people get on the train and then they have to give up the seats to people who’ve bought tickets for them. Everything went smoothly from there, I had to change trains at Schiphol and it takes about a little over an hour to get to Arnhem. Where my dad was waiting for me at the train station!
That first night I went to bed early and I slept like a baby. Only to wake up during the night not knowing where I was! That was weird. And the first few days I really had a muscle ache in my arms and shoulders from dragging the heavy suitcase with me.
Right now I’m planning to hibernate and basically not come out until next March. I have booked a week in a cottage in one of our bungalow parks to just get away for a while. I have 8 books waiting for me to read them, Christmas cards to make and a life’s story to finish for my grandma. So I have plenty to do. And what happens next? We’ll see, I have no idea. I guess I’ll do another season on a ship unless something better comes along!
Love Linda
Last story of this season!!
Our last cruise was a weird one, since they had changed the itinerary. To which they had to add one more difference, due to a strike in the locks. No one could tell us when the strike was supposed to start, but to make sure we wouldn’t get stuck somewhere, we left Rouen earlier on Sunday night.
On Monday we stopped in Conflans, around 12 noon. I was soo glad we were there. When everyone is on board they all stop in the lobby, the noise they were making, was driving me nuts!! We were only there for a couple of hours, but it was lunchtime and in all small towns the shops close for lunch, so there wasn’t a lot to do at that point. At 3 pm we went on our way to Paris, where we arrived around 8pm. So all went well.
Then on Tuesday was our very last disembarkation!! Only thing was that we were docked next to another ship, so we had to drag all the suitcases through that ship…it was easier then it looked, but still I prefer to have no other shipped docked between me and the qaui!!
Anyway, at around 10:30 the last guests were on their way to the airport and it was time for us to clean and pack everything that belongs to the ship! Jayson and I had already started with our Onboard shop items, such as t-shirts, fleece vests and sweaters and so on. We still had a lot to do, but it did safe us some time!
The HM was driving us nuts though! With everything we did she had some comment on how we were supposed to do it, while we already knew or she had at least 10 thousand questions! Almost like she was running around without knowing what to do!
That Tuesday evening we were done around a quarter to 6, then we had to hurry up and change, because we were going out for dinner! The HM had wanted to make reservations in a restaurant in Rouen, but she had started making preparations too late and never got to speak to the manager…who was the only one who spoke English. So in the end she called the restaurant where they had their final dinner last year and they still remembered her, so that’s where we went. It wasn’t too far from the ship, so that was good. The dinner was good, we all had a good time. Our sous chef had made diploma’s for us all, for making it to the end of the season. And one of our crewmembers from housekeeping had drawn all of us on each separate diploma. He is very good!! He never had us sit down to do a portrait, he probably did it from memory, but he was really very good, the resemblances were remarkable!! And on all the diploma’s she had written something like Best Dancer for Jayson and Most Kind Person for me, very sweet!
After dinner we went on a tour through Paris. We all hopped on a coach and 2 of the local guides we normally use for the guests, now showed us all of Paris’s sights! They were really good, they brought wine to celebrate the end of the season, one of them sang La vie en rose for us and we all got a little Eiffeltower keyring.
Then on Wednesday morning at 6 am we left Paris to cruise back to Rouen, where the ship is going to be docked for it’s winter repairs. While we were sailing we were all again busy packing and cleaning everything. Geanina didn’t have to do her nightly rounds anymore, so she was there to help us pack up. To store all our stuff they had assigned different staterooms, so we could put our Avalon stuff in the Cruise director’s cabin, all our IT stuff in 302 and all our office supplies went into 301. This was the same for the restaurant, housekeeping and kitchen stuff.
We had posted signs on all the doors saying what was to be found in them, so when the next season starts, it will all be easier to find. Wednesday evening we had to hand in our uniforms. Since our HM is very precise, this took several hours!!!
On Wednesday we also finally heard about our arrangements to go home. Everyone went home by plane, I was the only one who wanted a trainticket. For some reason they were unable to get me a trainticket…which was fine, but it would have been nice to know about this a week earlier. I didn’t mind having to pay for them myself, because I would get the money back. But getting a ticket only a few days before I’m due to leave, might mean there’s no ticket to be had. Okay it was November, but I left on a Friday and Friday’s can be pretty busy.
Anyway, I tried to get a ticket online myself, but for some reason I couldn’t pay for it with the card I had. So I asked them at HQ to buy one for me. But that didn’t work, because in France the one that pays for the ticket is the one that can pick it up. You have to show the bankcard that you have used to pay for the ticket and if they match, it’s yours. If she were to pay for it, she would have been the one to pick it up, since she was in Cyprus, that wasn’t a good idea.
So on Thursday our agent in Rouen was stopping by to get our last dollars and exchange them for euro’s. He gave me a ride into the city, because we weren’t docked at our usual spot when there were guests on board. Of course the sncf office didn’t open until 10 in the morning and I was there at 9:15…so I decided to look for a postoffice first to get rid of our last postcards and then I asked for directions to the train station. Which turned out not all that hard to find! Only thing was that the road was going up, it was build on a hill. I had never gone out that far into Rouen, so I had no idea!! Now I was sure I was going to take a taxi to get to the train station with my luggage!
The guy at the station didn’t speak English, but we understood eachother. I had seen a ticket online starting at 9 am, but for the Thalys from Paris to Schiphol airport there were no seats available. I didn’t feel like standing on a train for 3 hours, so I took a train earlier. Eventually I got a ticket from Rouen to Arnhem, I was really relieved!!!
Then it took a while for the agent to come and take me back to the ship, because he had all kinds of things to do. I would have been back earlier if I had walked back.
When I got back to the ship, all the crewmembers were in the Lounge, I was just in time for the Thank you- speech from some HOB from the HQ. HE gave us all a file with all our papers and a handshake and that was it. Which was kind of disappointing, because I thought we got a couple of minutes to sit down with him and tell him what our plans were for next season.
Then I saw the file, it contained a reference in English and German and a contract for next season. But it said receptionist, where I thought it would be for a 1st Receptionist, like they had suggested.
So I asked the HM about it and she asked the HOB, who said that I got this contract, because they are not sure yet wether or not they will need a 1st Receptionist next season. They were going to have a meeting in November and if they knew they were going to need one, they would send me the new contract. If not I might get the promotion next year, when the season had started. After all it was only a suggestion….
Bit of a let down to be honest. I had thought about things I would do as a senior. I only wanted to do one more season, rather as senior than as receptionist again…o well, I didn’t have to sign it right away anyway.
And then of course there was the very last cabin check!!! We all had until 4pm to clean our cabins. And of course again they found things that had to be clean, which they hadn’t thought of before!!! Felt like we were in the army!!!
After that there was another meeting in the lounge where the HM and the captain thanked us for our hard work this season. We got our last tip and our passports and that was it! As soon as we were done, most people went out to get something to eat! I didn’t stay up too long, had a nice shower and packed my last stuff.
On Friday morning most of the crewmembers left at 5 am on a coach that would take them to the different airports in Paris. There were a couple of crewmembers that had arranged their own transfer, because their flights weren’t until 10pm, why would you go to the airport at 5am when your flight is at 10 pm?? That’s what you get when they book the flights a week before departure, but there you have it.
I had booked a taxi for 7 am and my train to Paris left at 8 am. That wasn’t too early, although I didn’t sleep at all and I heard them leave at 5am! Anyway, taking a taxi to the trainstation didn’t take me that long, but I’d rather be on time than just missing the train.
The train to Paris arrives in a station called St.Lazare and the Thalys to Schiphol airport leaves from Paris Nord, so I had to take the RER to get there. No problem, it was only one stop, so it wouldn’t be hard to find….and it wasn’t hard to find, it was just that it was hard to get to with one big, heavy suitcase and one smaller suitcase!!
There were some escalators, which was nice, but scary as hell, since I couldn’t hold on to anything…but they weren’t everywhere! Mostly there were stairs I had to drag my suitcases up on!!! God, those French people really don’t know anything!!!
I had a little over an hour to get from one station to the next and I made it!! I had about 25 minutes before the Thalys would leave, so I did good. But I was sooo tired!!! I had a nice seat in the Thalys and there were some people who were standing. When there are empty seats people can sit down, but the first stop is Brussels, where of course more people get on the train and then they have to give up the seats to people who’ve bought tickets for them. Everything went smoothly from there, I had to change trains at Schiphol and it takes about a little over an hour to get to Arnhem. Where my dad was waiting for me at the train station!
That first night I went to bed early and I slept like a baby. Only to wake up during the night not knowing where I was! That was weird. And the first few days I really had a muscle ache in my arms and shoulders from dragging the heavy suitcase with me.
Right now I’m planning to hibernate and basically not come out until next March. I have booked a week in a cottage in one of our bungalow parks to just get away for a while. I have 8 books waiting for me to read them, Christmas cards to make and a life’s story to finish for my grandma. So I have plenty to do. And what happens next? We’ll see, I have no idea. I guess I’ll do another season on a ship unless something better comes along!
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
