Today is the first time we’ve done a final day of the cruise with no Crew Farwell to worry about. It’s a little less chaotic because we don’t have to run a thousand places at once, but it none the less feels strange. Three years of the same routine at the end of every cruise and there’s suddenly a big gap where a show used to be! I guess it’s bound to be a little unusual.
Obviously we won’t know how the new rating system has gone over until the next few weeks when the results start coming back in, guests now have a lot longer to fill the forms out so it’ll be interesting to see how many come back at all. I won’t say we’re exactly on pins and needles about it – we know we’re good at our jobs and as long as we’ve continued just doing what we do we have nothing to worry about – but we are definitely curious.
In the meantime the books keep trickling (or sometimes flooding) back in, and Shadow and I are bustling back and forth getting everything back on the shelves. Given the large number of CVGs (cross voyage guests) the library hours are staying at standard instead of the usual early closing for the last day of the cruise, so we’ve got our hands full making sure that people who are leaving us tomorrow don’t check anything out while also making sure that the people who aren’t leaving us tomorrow can check out whatever they want. I am once again reminded how lucky I am to have a secondary librarian for the next month (well month and two weeks) I’ll be dearly sorry when Shadow ‘graduates’ at the beginning of October and leaves me to head up her own ship. And not just because it’ll mean no more mornings off! Working with a partner if you have a good one, is like a well oiled machine. Everything just runs the way it’s supposed only quicker and smoother. And because you feel less frazzled, it makes the guests that much happier.
But whateves, her leaving is still in the future, so we’re both just kind of trucking along enjoying it while it lasts.
The countdown to the end of August is still officially driving me nuts. I mean COME ON calendar! Go faster! At least now we’re on the downward slope, time will fly once we get the 20th, and on the 23rd is the first crew party of the season (for me anyway) and on the 26th I’ve got a tour to Rome, so there’s a lot coming up to keep my mind occupied…
But still…