She’s sparkling clean this new-born ship
But one old thing is clear
The orders they propose above
We execute down here
We’ll watch from here as up above they catch a whiff of glory
This wonderous ship may be brand new
But it’s the same old story
or
My dear Mr. Latimer prepare to greet our clientele
Our meeting is imminent, our having just rung the dinner bell
It won’t be a novelty, we mostly have seen them all before
Prepare for the usual, you should be aware of what’s in store!
And ready or not, here we go. Three ports under our belt and I’m still adjusting to the fact that somehow Amras and I got ourselves signed up for a Grand Voyage. By accident. How did we manage that? We took this contract because it was the only one available that would allow us to be on the same ship together (we’ve been married 7 months, and I think we’ve physically been in the same place for about…two of those until this point! We definitely wanted a ship together!).
The department meetings are a lot smaller these days what with all the changes that have shifted down. There’s very few of us left (the other positions still exist, but they’ve been moved to half-guest status and as a result no longer have to attend team meetings…it’s rather strange), but we had a lot of new joiners at the beginning of this contract. The conversation from our supervisor went something like this:
So, how many of you have ever done a Grand?
My hand, and perhaps three others rose slowly into the air. As I looked around, I realized that all these new people? They are in for a heck of a ride…Grands are a different beast, you can have been with the company for a decade, and if you’ve never done a grand? You’ll feel like you’re fresh you’re your first contract…in some ways, in some other ways of course, they’re exactly the same. Not surprised, our boss continued on (and I paraphrase here, the meeting was a few days ago):
So, let me tell you about these guests. At the mariner’s welcome aboard party this morning we had over 600 people, and that’s just the mariners. These are people that have been cruising for years and know everything inside and out. And they want to know you. They will ask you to dinner, they will ask about every corner of your life…make sure you put up a wall and hold it when you need to. Because they want to know everything.
And she’s right. The guests do want to know everything about everyone. And in some cases, they already do. There are people on the ship right now who know Amras and I from several previous contracts, who greeted us like old friends. We couldn’t walk more than a few feet on embark day without someone stopping one of us. This one cruise where I always had someone to talk to at the sail way. Some people are here that I never expected to leave the flagship (and just to clarify, this isn’t the flagship!).
It’s strange, I never really think about how many long cruises I’ve done until it actually comes up. Somewhat like the movie A League of Their Own “I was never really part of it, it was just something I did that’s all….”
Sometimes you don’t want to admit you’ve done a Grand, sometimes you don’t want to draw that kind of attention to yourself. You don’t want to be “that” girl (and trust me, I’ve had teammates who are ‘that’ girl). And yet…
And yet…
Well…
I did have one team member actually ask me afterwards just how many World Cruises I have done, her jaw dropped a little when mutely held up five fingers and added “and four Grand Voyages”…sometimes it feels weird to actually say it out loud.
How did you get so lucky?
And I paused in my steps as we wandered around the sail away party…
I wasn’t lucky…not really. I was requested back. I was …very good at my job.
And that’s it really. I don’t want to be the one who brags endlessly about how much she has done. I don’t want to be ‘that’ girl, but I am good at these cruises. I know what these people want, I know how to walk the very fine balance between letting them in and keeping them safely away. I know what they expect. And why do I know that? Because I’ve been doing these cruises for almost ten years. And because I am damn good at my job. Because I put up for years with them making me cry over trivia and standing up to them over the internet, I’ve run their book clubs and literally held their hands through family disasters. I know these guests. Or at least I know enough of them to know how to handle them. They don’t scare me, not anymore.
Walking onto a Grand Cruise for me is like putting on an old comfortable cardigan; it’s possibly shrunk a bit in the wash, it maybe doesn’t fit as well as it used to, but once you wear it a few times you find it stretches out and sits comfortably across your shoulders like the day you first put it on.
We’re in an area of the world where I’m perhaps not always the most at ease (I’m not a big fan of South America…too hot), our cabin is tiny (don’t get me started) and the A/C only works sporadically, in the last few days we’ve put in four separate work orders and had at least two visits to the HRM (because he agrees that having a working shower in this part of the world is…kind of important!) but hey, we’re together, and we know what we’re doing…
What can I say? We’re on an adventure…
And we have totally got this…
And no guests, no matter how foolish or demanding are going to ruin that for us.