All the Madness the World Has To Give – At Sea – [12/22/2013]

Posted on December 24, 2013 by GypsyShaughnessy

all the madnessDay after day, I must face a world of strangers where I don’t belong
And I’m not that strong
[…]
When there’s no getting over that rainbow
When my smallest of dreams won’t come true
I can face all the madness the World has to give

And it does look like the World is going to hold its share of madness this year. As it always does. I suspect I’ll be getting a lot more sewing done, as anything that makes me Zen out? Is going to be an absolute must this contract because doing double duty is seriously draining me. Once I find the rhythm – which I am slowly but surely starting to do (today was so much smoother than the last two have been) – it’ll be fine, I’ll scramble back up to the top of my game.

But I also tell you this: I’m SO glad I took that break over the summer. So glad I recharged in Italy with good food and good wine and bloody amazing friends. So glad I got a chance to work with Family. Because if I’d been coming into this straight off the Grand Voyage? I honestly question whether or not I would be here at all. I’m good, I’m seriously damn good, but what’s basically a whole new job on top of my old one straight off a Grand contract? No way, no can do. So yes, I’m exceptionally glad that didn’t happen.

Of course, most people don’t even realize that this holiday voyage was also sold as part of the World Cruise. It wasn’t precisely widely advertised, but it was on the company website, so we do have world cruisers on board with us. Thankfully, they’re the nice ones! So when people ask me “are you staying for the world” I’m tempted to shrug and say “well, I’m technically already on the World” but it’s not worth trying to explain. It is, however, easier for me to think of it all as one contract.

It’s interesting for me to think that not too long ago comparatively I was terrified of this job, I questioned everything and everyone. Now? I run the flagship library, from the bottom up… from the collection ordering to (these days) the internet system. Suddenly I’ve become all grown up, with a big person career and stuff…

Seriously…someone tell me how exactly that happened???

Posted in Below the waterline, Grand World Voyage 2014, Holiday Cruises 2013 | Leave a comment

Remember How To Listen – At Sea – [12/21/2013]

Posted on December 21, 2013 by GypsyShaughnessy

ice_queen_by_juli_snowwhite-d2nuhn2When I’m deep inside of me
Don’t be too concerned
I won’t ask for nothin’ while I’m gone… ~ ‘Honesty’, Billy Joel

Those who know me well – those who have seen me in an off-duty context – know that I truly am an introvert. I’m shy. I’m self-conscious, and I am, in truth, pretty terribly insecure. I depend on my acting background a heavy amount to get by in the hospitality industry. It’s one of the things that makes so darn good at my job.

Of course, there are also rather a lot of exceptionally bright spots of colour in my day to day life. More than most people can ever lay claim to. Spiced rum and butterflies in Puerto Rico, flying off buildings in New Zealand, getting a hug from Melissa Manchester in the middle of my work day. Despite it’s ups and downs, I wouldn’t trade my job – wouldn’t go back to the day to day grind of shore-side – for all the tea in china (and honestly, there really IS a lot of tea in china! Random things I have learned here) or all the saffron in India (that may be a more accurate metaphor actually). There is so much music in my life that it puts most symphonies to shame. I have never, and never will, deny that. Then again, I really believe that there is music in everyone’s life, if they only remember how to Listen…

But that said, this isn’t shaping up to be an easy contract. My workload has doubled, but my hours haven’t changed. Until the World Cruise starts I’m the only one in the library, the front lines, with no back-up. My trainer says I’m actually doing an exceptionally good job, and that I have absolutely nothing to worry about. And I suppose worth ethic wise I don’t, but goddess it’s taking a lot out of me. I don’t even have the energy to unpack my sewing yet. Which is very unusual for me on a contract where I haven’t yet established close friends, but as far as that goes – going out at night? Not going to happen. I come home from work at 10, stumble through perhaps a half a movie, then give up and crawl into bed.

I’m being honest when I say it’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m smart, and I’m damn capable, and I do surprisingly well under pressure. But this is the kind of pressure it takes some time some time for me to adjust to – as the biggest thing about being the one on the front lines is that it’s a lot of people talking to you all at once, and often none of them particularly pleased with what you have to tell them.

Yeah, I can feel those of you who know me well wincing in sympathy.

But don’t worry! Really don’t! It’s not as bad as I might be making it out to be…I just wanted to put all this out there, so that any of you who wondered why I may go quiet for a while…at least until things on the World Cruise really get going (read: when I get a partner again) – knew that I was alright, and at least a little bit of what was going on behind the scenes.

If I happen to be away for a while, just remember to listen to the music in your own life until I get back.

Posted in Below the waterline, Holiday Cruises 2013, Reflections | Leave a comment

Escape – At Sea – [12/21/2013]

Posted on December 21, 2013 by GypsyShaughnessy

Pirate Witch Reading book with LightstickAnd I don’t understand why I sleep all day
And I start to complain that there’s no rain
And all I can do is read a book to stay awake
And it rips my life away but it’s a great escape… ~ Blind Melon ‘No Rain’

Getting reacquainted takes time. It always does. This time more than most, for reasons that I don’t even quite understand myself. The changes that dry-dock have brought that make the entire ship feel physically different are likely not the least of the reasons…the others are…I don’t know, I haven’t totally figured them out yet. Perhaps I’m not meant to yet. Perhaps I just don’t want to. Who knows.

Whatever the reasons, I’m off kilter. Way off my rails. And these days that’s not really like me.

So it’s times like this I hold fast to my personal traditions. I’m a geek girl, I have made no secrets of this. I’m a recluse, and a hermit and I’m exceptionally good at it, though I have…recently made some small forays into the world of being social. On the flagship though? On this contract where my workload has doubled and it suddenly seems like a bit…too much…well, the recluse comes out more than a little.

I was born an only child. The fact that I’ve been fortunate enough to collect two siblings whom I love probably more dearly than actual blood relatives, along the course of my adult life doesn’t change that. At heart? Deep down? I will always be an only child. The little girl who grew up on a block with no other kids, who learned early that she was smart and that life could be a lonely, messy business if you let it? She found her friends elsewhere.

She found her books.

The fact that I work in a library is not a coincidence. It’s my strength. Those titles whisper to me, comfort me, wrap their words around me and remind me that as long as I can read…I can escape. As long as I can read, I’m not alone. Not ever.

And there are many, many times, when I cannot express how grateful I am for that…

Because sometimes…out here? Being alone in the crowd is simply an accepted reality.

(this isn’t directed at anyone, or a rebuke to anyone by the way, it’s important that all of you know that…which I’m sure you all do…but y’know…just in case 🙂 )

Posted in Below the waterline, Holiday Cruises 2013, Reflections | Leave a comment

I’m Dreaming Of A…. – At Sea – [12/20/2013]

Posted on December 21, 2013 by GypsyShaughnessy

Christmas Faery TalesIt’s no secret that I wanted to be home for Christmas, I don’t actually know many people who wouldn’t prefer that. But ship-side Christmas does have its high points…sometimes I forget that.

This evening, the atrium of the flagship was crowded with people waiting for the annual tree lighting ceremony. It’s a simple thing really, but we do the best we can. Our florists on board are exceptional, and they really do a fantastic job of turning the flagship’s atrium into a holiday fairy land (I think there are about 8 trees down there). For two days now those trees have sat there decked in unlit lights…waiting.

The beverage staff wondered throughout the crowd with Christmas cookies and complimentary hot chocolate and hot apple cider, and the singers from the cast sang carols, and the cruise director proceeded to make his normal touching speech. After this one child from the kids on board was selected to come forward with a handful of ‘magic’ snow, which he was invited to scatter on the trees…causing them to come all aglow…

Of course, I’ve never seen this from ground level, because we’re always up on deck 5, looking down on the milling people below, waiting patiently for the cruise director’s cue:

Now, I know we’re heading into warm, wonderful sunny weather…but here on this ship? We *can* make it snow…

And a great gasp goes up from all the little kids ringing the atrium railings as low and behold it does snow.

It’s not really snow of course, its dollhouse snow, tiny shimmering plastic flakes that are easily tossed about. Way up on deck 5, high above where the majority of the people are, we dig our fingers into buckets of the white flakes and scatter them over the edges of the railing, by the time they pass the eyes of those children – yes, those flakes look like snow.

How did you DO that? How did you make it snow????

And we shrug, and we smile, and we hide the empty champagne buckets behind our backs.

Magic…

Posted in Holiday Cruises 2013, Theme Events | Leave a comment

Flyin’ Blind – At Sea – [12/19/2013]

Posted on December 19, 2013 by GypsyShaughnessy

FlyingBLindIt’s hard enough learning new job responsibilities. But when you’re learning those new responsibilities and the system you’re supposed to be learning on *isn’t working properly* it makes it a little more difficult. It’s true that I’ve always been a sink or swim person, if you throw me in at the deep end I’ll usually manage to thrash my way to the surface, and I have good people behind me on this one – but that doesn’t make it any easier per say.

Fortunately the guests are (mostly) understanding, and the IT Department is working like crazy to get the problem resolved, and I have two trainers on call helping me out,  but in the meantime I’m still the front lines…and that’s all that the pax really sees. I *want* to be able to help more, but so much of what is needed is beyond even my newly assigned authority that my hands are pretty much tied. I can do much more than I used to, but not everything I ideally would need to be able to do.

On top of that, I’m still trying to find time to free up space for nearly 200 books that are coming in with the new quarterly order for the world cruise in oh…just under a week and a half…I have nowhere to store the books that are being pulled (well, I will once IT gets all the computer monitors out of my storage locker but they haven’t had any more time to tackle things than I have), I’m working with the HRM to try and find somewhere to donate said books too (I’m hoping for the Philippines as I’d like to be able to do even a little bit to help the situation there). It’s a longer cruise for the holidays so we have bridge instructors, though they – thankfully – are quite lovely.

The other positive thing is that I have an incredible event manager, who has pulled me off of all my usual ‘extra’ duties; no more bingo, no more trivia, I don’t even have a book club this cruise. “You have enough on your plate” he says.

So…flying blind…and attempting not to accidently…I dunno, crash headlong into a cliff or something!

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So She’s a Bit of A Fixer-Upper – San Francisco, California – [12/18/2013]

Posted on December 19, 2013 by GypsyShaughnessy

the_message_by_enchantedwhispers-d58y3ya It feels like I never left. It feels like home. And yet…and yet it doesn’t.

It should. It really should. I mean for three years the flagship has been more home for me than home itself, and I’m honestly happy to be back. It just…feels like something’s missing this time, and I’m not quite sure what that is.  It’s not necessarily a bad feeling, and I’m sure it will pass as the days go by, but it’s definitely there – sort of nibbling at the back of my mind. Something doesn’t…feel …quite the same.

Or maybe it’s me who’s not the same?

Hard to say, and too many deep thoughts for my sleepy mind I’m afraid…

For the most part though, it’s good to be ‘home’. The place is basically exactly how I left it, but the flagship just came out of dry-dock so she’s looking all pretty and shiny. The carpets are still springy (enough so that my chair doesn’t roll back as easily as it once did), and every so often a room still has that ‘new’ scent to it. Of course, bringing a ship out of dry-dock comes with its own set of issues, which I was warned about beforehand but wasn’t necessarily ready for. Y’see, when a ship goes out of the water, everything that isn’t nailed down gets locked up. This means that things aren’t always where you left them, you know they’re around here somewhere but you can’t for the life of you figure out where. Also, simply navigating the ship is a learning experience – because they’ve changed everything. Everything from the crew office to the (newly expanded) Officer’s Bar is in a different place. Your feet still want to walk the same worn paths they’re used to, but those paths don’t lead to the same place anymore!

Embark day was the usual organized chaos, although perhaps more chaotic because of dry-dock. There are people being moved about, offices being changed, rooms being reassigned, which means that A-Deck is in constant transit with people shifting belongings and office supplies back and forth. Right now I think the Crew Office is in two –possibly three – different places! That makes figuring out where exactly to get your crew ID rather interesting! And also, there’s nothing quite like going to drop your stuff off in your cabin and finding that someone is already living there. Turns out they just hadn’t moved yet…ah embark day.

There’s other work related stuff going on of course, there always is, nothing bad (though it is rather substantial as far as the impact it has on my day to day working life) but I can’t really go into the details just yet, partially because the details are still working themselves out!

But as usual, life goes on, pictures go up on walls, hooks go up on cupboard doors, and here we go again…

Posted in Below the waterline, Holiday Cruises 2013 | 2 Comments

Cell Block Tango – San Francisco – [12/17/2013]

Posted on December 17, 2013 by GypsyShaughnessy

Brooke-Shaden-photography-22If you break the rules you go to prison. If you break the prison rules? You go to Alcatraz.

It’s very rare that I fly out in the morning, usually they fly me out in the middle of the night and I end up getting to the hotel just in time to fall into a dead sleep.  But today they flew me out exceptionally early, which landed me in San Francisco in time to actually see some of San Francisco.

I haven’t seen Munchkin or her mother in nearly three years, I met them on my very first world cruise what seems like a lifetime ago. But they live in San Francisco, so when I found out I had a day here it seemed the natural thing to do to call. They’ve never been able to come on another cruise after all (at least not yet). Munchkin is of course three years older now than she was when she threw her arms around my waist at the crew farewell, but she’s still Munchkin, and always will be.

Of course, when you have only one day in town, there’s always the question of what to do.

When I was just a kid we drove down to California to go to Disneyland, and on the way back we stopped in San Francisco. My father desperately wanted to visit Alcatraz – why I am not quite sure, but he wanted to – so there it was. I, however, did not want to.  I was not a fit throwing child, but something was telling me that I didn’t want to go to this place, so I sat down in the middle of the hotel room floor and announced that I wasn’t.  It took dad several years to forgive me but that’s another story.

I didn’t actually think I’d ever set foot on that cursed island. But the friends I was having lunch with today managed to get us tickets – which is really something because they’re not easy to come by (sometimes you have to book six months in advance!). And once I got there, I wasn’t really certain what to expect – but there was one thing: I was afraid. Perhaps afraid isn’t the right word, uneasy might be better.

The energy in that place is…well, it’s not quite as bad as Vietnam. But it…it’s something I can’t quite describe. Like someone – or something – was sitting on my chest. Oppressive. Thick. Like there was an underlying sense of panic oozing from the walls, I could feel it just on the edges of my perception, like something hovering there in the shadows. I think what would have been the worst in that place, if you were confined there, would be that the life you threw away would be so close – less than a mile away, and you couldn’t get there. Time, tides, the frigid waters of the San Francisco Bay, conspired against everyone who even attempted to break free of its grip.

And the cells…they are…so small. So very small. I could stand in the middle of one and touch both walls. Or at least I could have if they hadn’t been all shut of course. Except…for ‘The Hole’…we could walk into one of the solitary confinement cells in D-block.  Standing in that little dark room, looking out through the barred door, listening to the voices of the audio tour saying that if you closed your eyes and concentrated you could project kind of a movie screen in your head to keep you sane while you were in there…I got, a little bit dizzy.

It felt good to get out into the clear air again; the San Francisco skyline is slightly obscured at the moment, but the summer fogs are far behind us so at least you can see your hand in front of your face!

Once back in the ‘free’ world, we needed food. So I have now acquired another Hard Rock Café martini glass (what can I say, I’m a sucker for their pomegranate martinis!).

There are certainly worse ways to spend the day before you start work…

Posted in Below the waterline, Historical Sites, Travel | 2 Comments

Upcoming Events

Posted on December 16, 2013 by GypsyShaughnessy

As a rather dull administrative aside, for those who are interested here is the iterinary for the large part of my upcoming contract. This doesn’t include the holiday cruise which I will be picking up in San Francisco day after tomorrow.

Sat Jan 4 Fort Lauderdale, FL 11:00pm
Sun Jan 5 At Sea
Mon Jan 6 At Sea
Tue Jan 7 At Sea
Wed Jan 8 Puerto Limon, Costa Rica 7:00am 4:00pm
Thu Jan 9 Panama Canal (Full Transit) (Cruising)
Fri Jan 10 At Sea
Sat Jan 11 Manta, Ecuador 8:00am 11:00pm
Sun Jan 12 At Sea
Mon Jan 13 At Sea
Tue Jan 14 Lima (Callao), Peru 7:00am
Wed Jan 15 Lima (Callao), Peru
Thu Jan 16 Lima (Callao), Peru Noon
Fri Jan 17 At Sea
Sat Jan 18 At Sea
Sun Jan 19 At Sea
Mon Jan 20 At Sea
Tue Jan 21 Easter Island, Chilean dependency 8:00am 5:00pm
Wed Jan 22 At Sea
Thu Jan 23 At Sea
Fri Jan 24 Pitcairn Island, UK Territory 8:00am Noon
Sat Jan 25 At Sea
Sun Jan 26 At Sea
Mon Jan 27 Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands 8:00am
Tue Jan 28 Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands 5:00am
Tue Jan 28 Moorea, Society Islands 8:00am 5:00pm
Wed Jan 29 Bora Bora, Society Islands 8:00am 5:00pm
Thu Jan 30 At Sea
Fri Jan 31 At Sea

Sat Feb 1 Pago Pago, American Samoa 8:00am 5:00pm
Sun Feb 2 At Sea
Mon Feb 3 Crossing the International Dateline
Wed Feb 5 Lautoka, Fiji 8:00am 5:00pm
Thu Feb 6 At Sea
Fri Feb 7 Noumea, New Caledonia 10:00am 7:00pm
Sat Feb 8 Ile des Pins, New Caledonia 8:00am 3:00pm
Sun Feb 9 At Sea
Mon Feb 10 At Sea
Tue Feb 11 Sydney, Australia 8:00am
Wed Feb 12 Sydney, Australia 6:00pm
Thu Feb 13 At Sea
Fri Feb 14 Brisbane, Australia 8:00am 6:00pm
Sat Feb 15 At Sea
Sun Feb 16 At Sea
Mon Feb 17 Yorkeys Knob, Australia 8:00am 6:00pm
Tue Feb 18 At Sea
Wed Feb 19 At Sea
Thu Feb 20 Papua New Guinea 7:00am 4:00pm
Fri Feb 21 Madang, Papua New Guinea 8:00am 5:00pm
Sat Feb 22 At Sea
Sun Feb 23 At Sea
Mon Feb 24 Yap Island, Micronesia 8:00am 5:00pm
Tue Feb 25 At Sea
Wed Feb 26 At Sea
Thu Feb 27 Cebu, Philippines 8:00am 5:00pm
Fri Feb 28 At Sea

Sat Mar 1 Manila, Philippines 8:00am 5:00pm
Sun Mar 2 At Sea
Mon Mar 3 Hong Kong 8:00am
Tue Mar 4 Hong Kong 5:00pm
Wed Mar 5 At Sea
Thu Mar 6 At Sea
Fri Mar 7 At Sea
Sat Mar 8 Singapore 8:00am
Sun Mar 9 Singapore 5:00pm
Mon Mar 10 At Sea
Tue Mar 11 Phuket, Thailand 8:00am 6:00pm
Wed Mar 12 At Sea
Thu Mar 13 At Sea
Fri Mar 14 At Sea
Sat Mar 15 Colombo, Sri Lanka 8:00am 6:00pm
Sun Mar 16 At Sea
Mon Mar 17 At Sea
Tue Mar 18 At Sea
Wed Mar 19 Victoria, Seychelles 4:00pm
Thu Mar 20 Victoria, Seychelles 5:00pm
Fri Mar 21 At Sea
Sat Mar 22 At Sea
Sun Mar 23 Mauritius (Port Louis) 8:00am 5:00pm
Mon Mar 24 La Possession, Reunion Island 8:00am 5:00pm
Tue Mar 25 At Sea
Wed Mar 26 At Sea
Thu Mar 27 At Sea
Fri Mar 28 Durban, South Africa 7:00am 6:00pm
Sat Mar 29 At Sea
Sun Mar 30 At Sea
Mon Mar 31 At Sea

Tue Apr 1 Cape Town, South Africa 8:00am
Wed Apr 2 Cape Town, South Africa 2:00pm
Thu Apr 3 At Sea
Fri Apr 4 Walvis Bay, Namibia 8:00am 5:00pm
Sat Apr 5 At Sea
Sun Apr 6 At Sea
Mon Apr 7 At Sea
Tue Apr 8 St. Helena, UK Territory 8:00am 5:00pm
Wed Apr 9 At Sea
Thu Apr 10 At Sea
Fri Apr 11 Georgetown, Guyana 8:00am 5:00pm
Sat Apr 12 At Sea
Sun Apr 13 At Sea
Mon Apr 14 At Sea
Tue Apr 15 Banjul, Gambia 8:00am 5:00pm
Wed Apr 16 Dakar, Senegal 8:00am 5:00pm
Thu Apr 17 At Sea
Fri Apr 18 Mindelo, Cape Verde 8:00am 5:00pm
Sat Apr 19 At Sea
Sun Apr 20 At Sea
Mon Apr 21 At Sea
Tue Apr 22 At Sea
Wed Apr 23 Barbados 8:00am 5:00pm
Thu Apr 24 Roseau, Dominica 8:00am 5:00pm
Fri Apr 25 St. Maarten 8:00am 5:00pm
Sat Apr 26 At Sea
Sun Apr 27 At Sea
Mon Apr 28 Fort Lauderdale, FL 7:00am

Posted in Grand World Voyage 2014 | Leave a comment

Finding the Wor(l)ds – Victoria – [12/15/2013]

Posted on December 15, 2013 by GypsyShaughnessy

fantasy_book_by_patrizianofi-d4luv0lI’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember. I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing something, although my earlier efforts are of…dubious quality. The thing is, all those years writing leads to a lot of half finished projects that have either fizzled out partway through or have – and this is the most annoying – hit stalls. Blockades that I simply can’t seem to get my characters over under or around.

I am currently finding this particularly frustrating as I have not one, not two, but three exceptionally promising manuscripts that are completely stalled. I have a clockwork woman hesitating at the doors of  gothic mansion and no idea whatsoever what she may or may not find on the other side, I have a concubine about to plunge into a death-like sleep within the closed walls of a funerary temple with absolutely no idea of what’s going to happen to her when she does wake up (I managed to keep her alive this far, which was no easy task, and now that she’s alive, she’s…stuck in the temple and I don’t know how to get her out), and one Fairy Princess who’s betrothed was just slaughtered by her bodyguard…that one at least is finished, in that it has a beginning a middle and an end,…but it needs major fleshing out (there’s a war in there somewhere, which needs strategic planning out and the kind of writing I simply don’t do because I am so far from an expert or an enthusiast on tactical or military history, I may be doing some recruiting for research help on that one)…

Too many ideas in my head…and utterly no idea what to do with any of them.

It’s a good thing that I’m not planning on getting off the ship a whole lot on this upcoming contract, because one of these walls is going to shatter and then maybe finally I’ll get a few more pages worth reading…

Writer’s block…ugh…

Posted in Vacations/Shore-Side, Writing | Leave a comment

Tail-lights Through the Windowpane – Victoria – [12/14/2013]

Posted on December 14, 2013 by GypsyShaughnessy

girl_looking_out_of_window_by_elle124-d4ftv3iReady to leave, not ready to leave…it’s a tough call at this point. There are so many changes coming in on the flagship, that I’ll admit a part of me is terrified. Not the least change is that we’re working with a new cruise director, not brand new of course, I’ve worked with him before for the Grand Voyages, but he’s new to doing the World Cruise. This wouldn’t seem like such a big deal until you realize the World Cruise has been run by the same cruise director for at least a decade…shifting to someone else’s management system will be…interesting.

This holiday has gone so fast, I feel like I’ve barely unpacked before I’m packing again. In fact one of my bags I didn’t even bother unpacking because all it had in it was my cabin décor, the only thing in there that needed laundering was my sheets, which – once they’d been zipped through the washing machine – went right back into their allotted spot in said luggage.

There is something about the last few days before starting out on a ship-side contract that normal shore-based people will never really understand. You don’t sleep, you’re restless, you’re jumpy, you’re even slightly paranoid – the constant wonder of “did I forget something etc etc”….it’s as though, even though you’re still wherever it is you might be home-based, you’re only half in your own life. The rest of you is already slipping into work-mode, mentally adjusting to the upcoming long hours and short sleeps, setting yourself back into the routine…

But whether I like it or not, whether I’m sure of it or not, in approximately 72 hours it’s gear up three greens and I’ll be on my way to San Francisco…

Riding the tailwind…always….

Posted in Below the waterline, Vacations/Shore-Side | Leave a comment