Working on Cruise Ships

Actually, these are my last hours of freedom. I’m waiting in the hotel’s lobby for the bus that will take us to the ship. The flight was long as usually. Even though to go from Bucharest to Barcelona is a 2 hours flight, the company always sends us through London or some airport in Germany, probably because it’s cheaper. At least I didn’t pay for the flight, which is always good. We all like free stuff, don’t we?

So, instead of 2 hours, I flew 7 and finally got to the airport. All Royal Caribbean employees are sent to Best Western Alfa Hotel in Barcelona, a 4 star hotel near the airport. They have a shuttle that comes to the airport every 30 minutes, but this time, I just didn’t want to wait any longer and took a taxi. Cost me less than 20 euros, which I gladly paid just to see myself at the hotel.
The first one to greet me was a good friend of mine from Trinidad. He’s a executive sous chef on Voyager. He posed for me when I did the post about uniforms, you can see him here. Next one I see is a waiter I use to work with. It really feels like home seeing all this familiar faces. When I stepped into the restaurant, my manager was having his dinner with other crewmembers. Us joining together was great because it gave us some time together to know each other outside work. We had some after dinner drinks, play some pool and we went to bed as all of us were tired after the long flight.
Transportation to the pier in the morning is also provided by the company, so basically, if you’re an officer, you don’t spend any money at all. If you are a waiter, stateroom attendant, bar staff or have any other position that is paid based on tips, you have to pay for the return ticket, which can be a lot if you have to fly across the ocean.
So that’s it! The buss is here and the crew started to load their luggage. My last hours of freedom are rapidly turning into my last minutes of freedom. Boy! Here we go another 6 months……

Labels: ship life, travel