We Can't Stop ..

Well I can't stop.

I don't feel like I've stopped since I've been home and it's only been all of 3 days!

I got home at 1 am Monday morning, woke up at 11:30am and Mum and I started decorating the Christmas Village. Here is the end results:

Adorable right?! Anyway, we did that, then I had to work at 4 till 8. I'm working at my old job, at Hallmark Gold Crown, over Christmas and into the New Year until I go to the Imagination in March. Then yesterday, I unpacked (most of it) and hung everything up and such in my new 'closet' that my Mum built while I was away. I wrote all of my Christmas cards for all my friends on the ship, bought the presents AND sent them off to the Valor.

Today I worked 8-3 at Hallmark and on my lunch break I went over to McDonalds in the Walmart because I hadn't had McDonalds in 3 months, gimme a break! Anyway, I was sitting there eating and instagramming (obviously) and a lady and her daughter came over to me from the other side of the restaurant to say 'You're beautiful. People don't say it often enough to each other and we just had to tell you.' That has put me in a good mood for the entire day. I don't think anything can bring me down from that one today. There are still really great people in this world and I hope they know even the smallest words can make a BIIIIG difference! Plus, everyone that I run into keeps telling me they're jealous of my tan, or ask if I've just been back from a holiday and such aaaand nope, just been living on a cruise ship for 6 months. And honestly people, I'm glad to be back in snow! I have a hunch that feeling won't last long but for right now, I'm totally okay with it.

Well those are my first few days back and I've already got lots planned for December. Tonight, I'm decorating my Christmas tree with the family. Friday, I'm getting together with some girlfriends for a Christmas gift exchange/drinks - cause who does gift exchanges without alcohol?! Especially since I'm assuming one or 2 of the ladies will be GIVING alcohol lol. I'm going to the play that my Mum is involved with on Saturday afternoon. I'm going to the Sens vs. Leafs game on Saturday night. Sunday is work again with a work Christmas party at night. Both my mum and sister aren't impressed with the fact that I've been back at that job for all of 3 days and I'm already going to their party. Next week is Kingston with my friend Jordan to see my friend Stephanie. I've got an ugly christmas sweater party next Friday and by the way I have the BEST sweater for it! Well maybe not the best, but it's pretty damn good!

We shall see what the new year brings, but if I don't write another post until then, I hope everyone has an incredible holiday season with your loved ones whether it be ship families, or families at home, on land or at sea, or heck in the air if you're a flight attendant. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Feliz Navidad, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night. <3

My Bags Are Packed ...

it's been almost 3 months since I've written a blog which seems pretty crazy but its true! hope you're all still around! most of you have probably seen my going on's on Facebook via the pictures anyway but for those of you that aren't on my Facebook here's what's been happening. 

I went on a shore excursion which was loads of fun! It was a turtle snorkel tour. I had never snorkelled before so I was a little nervous about whether I was going to be able to master the whole breathing through a tube thing but apparently its quite easy. I saw lots of turtles and lots of fish - it was great! They were so cute! The group that we went with was just crew again which was even better! I mean guests, we love you, but we need time to ourselves too! 

I did a jeep tour around St. Maarten with some friend as well - Bailey, Josh (both canadian whoop whoop) and Leilah. There's pretty much only one road in St. Maarten so it's pretty tough to get lost. We made a few stops around the island - one at Orient Beach (on the French side), Marigot Bay, and Airport beach before we had to head back because Bailey had her sign-off orientation. 

We also had a crew fashion show the following week which was pretty darn entertaining - long as could be - but entertaining. Crew members from all the different departments took part - they did a natural look and then an elegant look (which is why it took so long). It was nice to see people really get into it and so many crew members showed up for support which was really nice to see! 

I got to celebrate my 23rd birthday on board. The entertainment team surprised me with a party in the crew bar. I thought it was just going to be a small gathering for drinks and whatever but there was decorations, food, drinks, dessert - I was really spoiled. The team got me a new Pandora charm for my bracelet - a little birthday cupcake :) 

We've had so many crew parties these past few months mostly due to our new FUN team that we have on board which is basically just a bunch of crew members who come up with ideas of fun things for the crew to do whether its parties, sports nights, wine and cheese nights that kind of stuff. We've had a zoobilee party, a superhero party (which we had the second week i was on board so i didn't dress up for this one) of course a Halloween party and the other night we had a White Sensation party. I think it's safe to say I'm partied out - except for tonight. Tonight is my last formal night this contract so I've got to go all out for this one. 

Also, at the beginning of the month the Philippines unfortunately suffered from that tragic typhoon and the majority of our crew members are from the Philippines. I'm lucky enough to call some of them my friends and I'm going to miss them dearly. It was heartbreaking to stand on the gangway and hear that some people had to go home for family emergencies because their families were in the middle of some of the wreckage. The crew has been working hard to raise money in all sorts of ways for the Typhoon Relief Fund. We had a teddy bear sale (kind of like build a bear) from Camp Carnival, we held a crew bingo where the winner would split half the winnings with the fund. The winnings that night was over $4000 which means just from that over $2000 went to the Philippines. The entertainment department put on one of their shows, 'Far From Over' and everybody that came just had to make a donation upon entry and with that we raised $2700. I'm so proud of being part of such a huge family that everybody comes together like this to raise money for fellow family members and friends. 

I'm sad to see this contract go because I have made even more life long friends and one of the things that I'm honestly most sad about is the fact that Sam and I won't be together on our next ship like we have been these past 2 contracts. I'm going to miss her SO much, I don't think she realizes how much. As sad as I am to see this contract end, I'm very excited for my next one to start in March on the Imagination in Los Angeles. It'll be different and a challenge because this ship is a 2.0 ship which means it's got all kinds of the new features on it so it'll be a nice change. I'm glad to say too that if I find that the ship isn't exactly what I was hoping for, my cruise director and hotel director on this ship said he would gladly take me back on the Valor which is nice to know. I think these 3 months of vacation are going to fly by with all the things I've got planned as well as working over the 3 months, for a bit anyway. 

Well, I guess I will see you all on the next Fun Ship! Adios Amigos. 

PS. My spanish is impeccable now. ;) not. 

SURRPRIIIIISSEEEEE!

I'm currently sitting in the airport on my way home to surprise my parents for their surprise 25th anniversary party that's happening on September 7 and there are SO many guests from the cruise here. Can't get away from them lol. Luckily it's mostly people I like that have been saying hi to me and telling me to enjoy my vacation. Took some pictures with another family here which was fun … then some other people questioned why they were getting their picture taken with me - also funny! 

So I hid out in my hometown for most of the week before the party on Saturday night. Do you know how hard it is to go around a town that you've lived in for 16 years trying to run errands and NOT run into someone you know? It's pretty damn hard! I had some success though as not a single person that I ran into spoiled the surprise - so for that THANK YOUUUUUU! The party was a monstrous success! Between, the surprise of me being there (their faces were absolutely priceless) to the family and friends that were there. We ended up with their wedding party there as well which was great and some Toronto friends for my Dad that we hadn't seen in probably 12 years! Huge thanks to my family that helped Jenny and I out with everything. I hope everyone had as great a time as I did! 

The week before I left for the surprise party, I was HOD and one of my readers Jeremy came cruising which was so exciting!! He found my blog, then my twitter and all that jazz and myself, his partner Price and friends Francesca and Chris and their parents had a great time and they even invited me to have dinner in the dining room with them which was great. A first for me - I had eaten in a carnival dining room since I cruised when I was 16, and even then I didn't really appreciate it that much, I just wanted the 24 hour pizza and ice cream ;). Hopefully we will all stay in touch for quite a while and we'll be able to run into each other on another fun ship. And Jeremy, I'm still working on getting that platinum ship on a stick for yuh ;) 

I got to go on my first crew excursion so far this contract the other week in St. Kitts. We did a zip-lining tour with Sky Safari! For those of you on my Facebook you may have seen some of the photos already but for those of you who aren't, I'll post a few with this entry. I had never been zip-lining before I was a little more than nervous you could say. Hurling myself off a platform to go fly across a ravine wasn't exactly how I wanted to die lol. And luckily, since I'm currently sitting here writing this, the odds worked in my favour aaaaand I didn't die ;) WOO HOO! There was quite a large group of people that went - some being crew and come being crew family - Kelsie's family was on board. We got there, go the low down and then we did a practice one so we could practice how to stop and what position we should be in when we stop and all that fun stuff. Then we all piled into a pick up truck and took a trek up the mountain to start. There were 4 big zip lines - some single, some double we could race. For the record Sweeney, I won ;) Mostly just cause I'm bigger haha but whatever! All in all it was such a great day and I would do it all again in a heart beat! I loved it! 

Last week when I was HOD, I fell in love with so many of the trivia families that came to my stuff during the day - especially a family from the Bronx, who now live in Arizona. Peter, Aurora, Reno and Corrina - if you're reading this, I hope I get to see you on another fun ship soon! Don't forget I'll be on the Imagination in March and Phoenix isn't too far from LA! See you at LAX. That week was also a great week doing sports trivia. When you're HOD on this ship, you do the sports trivia everyday at 5:30 in the sports bar and you start to get a following by the second or third day. One gentleman, Larry (or Mr. Mets as most of the people at trivia called him) wrote me a little note and gave me a $10 tip because he enjoyed it so much! Another lady, Wilma, said that she would love to see me as a cruise director one day which is a HUGE compliment - especially since she was a platinum guest and has done her fair share of cruises. That meant a lot for sure. 

I ended up going on another crew excursion this past week in St. Lucia - another zip lining one. I'm turning into quite the adventurous person - just kidding. But it was a lot of fun. We took a 20 minute bus ride to the rainforest where we got to do 9 different zip lines (not as high or as long as the ones in St. Kitts but there were more of them) and we did one Tarzan kind of swing and a repel which was kind of scary but great none the less. 

The day I came back, on September 8, Sam also came back from her stint on the Pride and we got another host Hugo to replace Fernando. We're also getting a new host right out of the college tomorrow. His name is Matt and he's Canadian! Yay for another Canadian! Have heard good things about him already so we shall see and we'll make him feel right at home! Stephanie, my ACD, also leaves tomorrow and we'll be getting a new ACD, Eric who I've actually had the chance to work with before as my Cruise Director so it should be a great way to finish off my contract although I'm gonna miss Estephanie! ;) 

I started writing this blog on September 1 so everything has been totally jumbled together but hopefully you followed and are still enjoying the blog! By the way, 70 days till I'm home -  which translates to 10 cruises. Probably 2 or 3 more HOD weeks and probably 7 or 8 debarks! Woop Woop!

One Year Anniversary

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I've joined Carnival.

Last year on August 19th, my sister's 23rd birthday (sorry again Jenn), I set out for one of my biggest adventures yet. I still remember the morning quite vividly - lots of tears out of sadness and anger. Sad because, well, I was leaving my family for 6 months. Angry because my sister was no where to be found. Thanks Jenn - I take back my apology ;) Just kidding LOOOOVE you.

There is so much that I've learned over this past year that I probably wouldn't even try to remember everything but I can honestly say, as cliche as this is going to sound, I have grown quite a lot as a person, as a host, as a friend all thanks to the people I've met and the places i've seen

I really thought I was going to be able to write this profound entry here, and quite frankly I've got nothing. Anything that I've learned or done or seen or anything like that, has pretty much been written about in previous blog entries and you already know about it.

There really isn't much that stays secret on ships but what is being kept a secret clearly will not be written on my blog. Duhhhh! I have to keep SOME mystery in my life with all of the social media junk that I do!

Here's a few pictures though that may intrigue you if you haven't already seen them on my Facebook, or Twitter, or Instagram, or ... well you get the picture. Get it .. picture. I'm witty. I should probably be the comedy club manager or something ... NOT!

St. Lucia Resort - Auberge Seraphine (best internet in St. Lucia - that I've found so far) 

Jealous of my khakis and polo? You should be. 

This is St. Lucia too .. 

The team - Kevin, Sam, Ben, Me and Fernando 

 Was lounging on Serenity in Barbados - didn't feel like venturing off the ship that day. 

So I really thought if I added pictures to this it would make it a bit more interesting - but I found that it really didn't. I hope YOU found it interesting or at least a little above the lowest level on the boring scale. 

Love you and miss you all. It's a little early for this BUT the countdown is..... (I'm sure Mum's already got it written down somewhere - and if you don't, I'll be quite disappointed)..... 105 days!

Yup - just 105 days till I'm home for another 3 month stint! Can't wait!

Where It Began ...

I do get this question quite a lot, and a reader just asked if I could make a post about my application process and how I got to work for Carnival ... so here it is!

I first applied for cruise ships basically as soon as I got home from living in Toronto and I applied through their websites. Never heard a thing - so gave up on that pretty quick. A few months passed and I was getting bored sitting at home and working in shops so I decided that I would try again. This time, I went looking for agencies. I had heard about how cruise lines will take employees from agencies. I found one that was free (which is always good) and I decided to apply. Lucky for me, it was also based out of Montreal which isn't far from where I live.

The agency was called Cast-a-way. I actually found them on Facebook believe it or not. Facebook - being the creepy thing that it is these days - I guess found out I was searching for cruise jobs on google and decided to put a sponsored link in my sidebar so I clicked on it. On there you can apply through an application (which I did) or send your resume to the email provided (which I also did) - I thought it couldn't hurt to do so.

I actually highlighted all of my retail stuff in my application and then ended up sending in 2 different resumes - one with all my retail experience, and one with all my theatre and television experience. Cast-a-way hires for a lot of different positions on the ship most of which include cruise staff (my job) youth staff, gift shop and spa and I had sent in my resume hoping to get a gift shop position. After I sent in my resume, I got an email about a week later asking me if I'd like to do a phone interview for cruise staff and gave me all of the time slots. I guess they liked my theatre and tv experience more than my retail! That email said that if my phone interview went well I would be invited to the one-on-one/group interview in Toronto. Lo and behold, it went well because I was invited to Toronto.

When I got to the interviews in Toronto there was probably about 25-30 people in the room for this 'group interview'. They said that they were basically in the position to hire a lll of us in the group so we all kind of had the job and unless you did something during the interview that they gave them a sour taste in their mouth we would basically be in. Instead of it being a group interview, it was more like 2 people from the Miami corporate office telling you about the job, what to expect, the guidelines so and so forth. We also did a few little improv things where they would give us a random object and we had to sell it like an informercial. Then we had our one on one interviews with the 2 gentlemen. They told us at the end of the interview that by the following Monday we should get an email about how the interview went and that we would get an email either way.

Well I got the email - and it was a success! They told me all of the stuff about my contract, what I needed to do to prepare. The kind of passport I would need (which don't worry if you're American or Canadian you don't need anything special), when I should get my medical done, how much I should expect for it to cost, what I should pack, all that kind of stuff. When I went to the interview they said they were interviewing to place people on ships around the end of August. I didn't get my ships date until my medical had been done and approved. For my job I had to go through the e-staff college (which you may have seen before in previous posts) so I had to get placed for that first before I was given my full out contract to finish out my 6 months.

That turned out to be a lot lengthier than I had thought but hopefully it answered most or any of your questions. If anybody has any other questions, feel free to post a comment and I'll try and answer them as best I can. :)

xo

Bits & Bobs

I've been HOD this week, hence why I've been quiet on Facebook and every other social media website there is. 

I don't have much to update about but just little did bits here and there.

First things first, SAM MOVED IN!!!! Yay! Back to amazing-ness. We even took a new picture last night to put up on our door so everyone knows where we live! Everything is pretty much the same as before except our room is a little smaller and we have less space for ALLLLLLL of her damn clothes and shoes but we're making it work lol. 

Some more rambling for you - a lady from last cruise came up to me on our last night of bingo to tell me that she bought the Voyage Video because I was on it. She said that she was watching it in her stateroom and thought I was adorable and had to buy it - I didn't even interview her at the elegant evening (which is why I was on the DVD in the first place). So I thought that was pretty sweet :) 

I've managed to learn some spanish since I've been here which is great because pretty much all the guests speak spanish because they're all from Puerto Rico - most are anyway. I've learned to count to 100 pretty much - I seem to get all of my decades mixed up like cuarenta (40) cinquenta (50) sesenta (60) and setenta (70) but ochenta (80) and novena (90) I'm okay with. I can also say 'no lo entiendo, no hablo espanol. lo siento.' which means 'I don't understand, I don't speak spanish. I'm sorry.'  One of the guest services associates who is spanish even said that pronunciation is fantastic! I was so excited :) I can do the hola, gracias, denada, como estas that kind of stuff though. Might have to get on to the rosetta stone and really get it. :) 

Incredibly random thing that I discovered on a spanish channel that we get on the ship was Heartland. My Mum watches it every Sunday and I've never seen it on anything other than CBC (the canadian broadcasting company) so I thought that was kind of funny.

OH and just so you know, if you're been looking at the weather and seeing Tropical Storm Dorian heading our way - don't fret! we may be changing itineraries this week so that we don't get hit by it! It's not official yet and we'll still be doing the same islands just in a different order to avoid the storm! 

Hope all is well back home! Missing you all<3 

Next Stop ...

So the other day I emailed my supervisor at the head office in Miami to see which ships would be available come the time I would want to return from vacation in March. As it turns out there were 9 ships available at different times through out March that I could go to. I originally said that if I couldn't get a ship out of Australia or LA, that this could possibly be my last contract. 

The ships available were Fantasy (out of Charleston), Paradise (out of Tampa - already been on there) Victory (out of Miami), Glory (Miami), Freedom (Fort Lauderdale) Dream (Port Canaveral), Valor (the one I'm on at the moment duhhhh) the Magic (Galveston) and…

Imagination - OUT OF LOS ANGELES!!!! 

It either does 3 and 4 day cruises or 4 and 5 day cruises I can't remember the moment but it goes to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. So basically everyone who comes on these ships is going on there for a booze cruise and they're there to party!! I could really only pin point 2 downfalls on this one as of right now: the turn around with 4 and 5 day cruises means a lot of debarks, and having to do tender boats at Catalina Island and I can definitely learn to work around those. 

Needless to say, I emailed him back saying that I would LOVE to do the Imagination so I've currently signed up for that. I'm just waiting for a confirmation email to say that I would sign on there on March 2nd. As of right now I'm super excited about it, but I also kind of want to see how I feel when I get home. Some of you may remember that quite a few entries ago I was arranging my vacation around the Olympics so it works out perfectly that I would sign on March 2nd, right after the Olympics end on February 23. 

The adventure isn't quite over yet, folks. Buckle up!

OH speaking of buckling up - actually not sure how I'm segueing into this BUT I'm quite angry about something at the moment. I tried to wire money from my JP Morgan account where all of my pay goes. As a non-american working on the ship I can't have direct deposit so you're given one of these accounts and you can use your card worldwide, it acts as a Mastercard. I've been checking everyday and the money that I tried to wire to my bank account is still not there, so at the moment there is quite a chunk of money just floating around cyberspace somewhere that needs to make it back to my bank account in Canada. If it's not there by Sunday, I'll definitely be giving somebody a piece of my mind. /rant. 

xoxo

Don't Forget to Write!

I would love to get cards or letters or anything to make my room prettier with your love :)

Feel free to send me stuff!

Mail:

Jodi Samler, 454120
Entertainment
M/S Carnival Valor
Old San Juan Port 00901
San Juan, PR
USA

Registered Mail (packages)

Jodi Samler, 454120
Entertainment
M/S Carnival Valor
3655 N.W. 87th Avenue
Miami, FL
33178-2428

This is my Prince Harry/Justin Timberlake/Ryan Seacrest last week on board. I'm going to miss him dearly but I know he's going to be loving his vacation with his boyfriend!

Then finally my SAMMMMMMMM is going to be here! Woo!! Can't wait.

Hope everyone back home is still loving life and enjoying their summer vacations - or just their summer. Enjoy cottage life. As much as I love the ocean and the beach, wouldn't mind just boating around right now going for a 'toodle' like at Aly's cottage :)

Miss you all! Don't forget to write!

PS: a nice surprise this past cruise: 2 guests that sailed with me on the Pride in December were on the Valor this week so that was exciting :) can't wait to see their pictures from the week - I always like to see the cruise from a guests perspective!

Survival of the HOD

Haven't posted in a while so i thought i'd give a little update. So last week as most know was my first week as HOD (host on duty) on this ship. super easy host on duty on this ship. We're always in port and host on duty is done by 6 everyday no night time activities which is a great little break. 

The best part about being HOD is getting to meet all the amazing families that come on board. There are usually a few that I would complain about, but honestly last cruise didn't have a bad thing to say about anyone. 

There were certain families that were prominent at all my activities and I loved it. A family from Ohio, (Tim, Jonathan, Matt and Nick) were at every sports trivia through out the week, bean bag tosses, random trivias, mini putt, all kinds and loved seeing them everywhere! There was also Morgan and Grandma (never found out Grandmas real name lol) But they only missed maybe 2 of my trivias. A young couple named June and Martinez from Alabama. They were so sweet and stayed on the ship in most ports and always came to visit! Anthony and Elizabeth from Puerto Rico who were at all of my mini putt events - Anthony even brought his own mini putt club. he was pretty hardcore. There was also 2 little boys Raoul and Carlos from Puerto Rico who came to all of my stuff on the last day pretty much so they could win a trophy they tried so hard and Raoul ended up coming in second place to Tim at my final mini putt tournament of the week. I loved these guests and hopefully there are even more cruises where I get to know people the way I did last week! 

So i posted before about how this is the Love Boat. Well, turns out that this ship is also full of celebrity look a likes. Harry (host) looks like Justin Timberlake - on a good day, on a bad day he's Ryan Seacrest. There is a girl in the spa who looks exactly like Jennifer Lawrence lucky bitch. Mike, Club 02 looks like Drake, according to some guests last week people think Ben looks like Chris Kattan and there is a guy from mexico in guest services who looks like a mexican Patrick Dempsey. Its very bizarre. Wonder what else I'm going to discover about this ship! 

Side note - Ive been here almost a month and have yet to wear the same outfit twice in guest areas. I'm quite proud of myself. Or embarrassed not sure - perhaps means i brought way too many clothes. But i'm okay with that. I like options. 

Until next time!! xo 

Ohana Means Family.

Yes I know I'm not vacationing in Hawaii anytime soon but everyone seems to have their family on board right now.

One of the dancers had her sister. The production singer has her mum. One of the dancers family's is coming on Sunday. Kevin, one of the other hosts, his Mum and brother from Canada are here this week. But where's mine? Really guys, step it up. I want to see you. I want you to cruise with me!! Or have you at least started counting down yet? ;) 2 weeks in, I would think you are... well at least you Mum.

there are going to be a lot of random rambles in this one so bare with me.

1) The other day at sail-away party leaving st. thomas we were doing some of the infamous line dances and a black lady came up to me and said 'can i hire you for parties?! you have more rhythm than a sista!' ... yes its true. i am 1/8th black ;) don't you worry!

2) i thought that there was some kind of unwritten rule where if your roommate barely sleeps in your room because they are always sleeping at their partners room, i can move said roommates stuff to the top bunk so I can have the bottom bunk where i can sleep comfortably. just sayin'

so i guess there wasn't a LOT of random ramblings but whatever. hope you enjoyed anyway.

Deck Parties, Islands ... and Deck Parties and Islands

My first week is close to complete and I'm loving life on the Valor. There is a huge amount of people on this ship:

Crew: 1142
Guests: Approx. 3500

A lot of faces to know, a lot of names that I'm NEVER going to learn, but I'm going to do my best.

On my first few days of the adventure, I ended up meeting 2 girls that were going to be on the ship with me, both working in Camp Carnival. One is from Serbia, the other Melissa from CANADA! Woo! Found a Canadian and not even on the ship yet! (I also found a Canadian from Kingston at the restaurant I ate at on the Saturday before I boarded the ship).

Once we landed in San Juan and I was to get my luggage, I found that Jet Blue had ripped my luggage. -_- great start. Thank you SO much Jet Blue. Douche. Not only did they lose my luggage, but part of my bathing suit, so again thank you. Trying to drag my luggage everywhere was not working very well for me, 2 duffle bags, a purse and a great big suitcase with only 2 wheels makes for a very interesting trek to the shuttle. I was a hot mess by the time I actually got to the ship, sweaty, trying to carry everything, just plain gross.

I eventually signed on, dropped off my luggage, in a room that looked like 2 people already lived in it lol. (ps a guy who looks like Snoop Dogg (Lion) just walked by me .. weird) I had to go to the mandatory Vessel Familiarization training then I got to relax a little bit which wasn't really relaxing cause I unpacked everything. Then I took myself on a little tour of the ship - only got lost a few times. The ship itself is beautiful - although its very American. Nothing wrong with that - just the theme is Valor of course so there's American icons everywhere from Eagles, to Presidents, to Yankees. To give you an idea some of the lounges and such Ivanhoe Theatre, Eagles Lounge, Bronx (sports bar), Washington and Lincoln dining rooms, Paris Hot, Lindy Hop - that kind of stuff. After unpacking was boat drill, and then sail away party on Lido deck. Deck party is crazy on this ship, people get so involved and its nice to see. A good change from the Pride where sometimes it was like pulling teeth trying to get people to hang out with us.

I wasn't able to get off in St. Thomas because I had training most of the day, and then Kelsie gave me a more in depth tour of the ship. Something different about this ship too is that the Welcome Aboard show is on the Monday night instead of Sunday Night when we actually leave the port and everyone gets on. I'm lucky that my first week is pretty laid back and I just kind of shadow everybody.

Everybody being my team which consists of Harry, from Georgia, USA, Ben from London, UK, Kevin from Toronto (ANOTHER CANADIAN WOO!) and my ACD Steph, from Orlando. There's another one, but we've barely spoken so far. Everyone on my team is so great, super laid back and chill. And I've already ran into people I've known from other ships like our shopping experts (who actually left us yesterday in Barbados and a new one came on) as well as some comedians, like Happy Cole.

Tuesdays here are sea days which happen to be elegant night as well. The puerto ricans get quite dressed up, especially when there are a few girls on board celebrating their quincinera's. Not going to lie, they end up dressing up a bit like gypsies... but the dresses are pretty for the most part ...

Yesterday, Ben, Harry and I went to a place called the Boatyard which is awesome. It's 5 bucks from the ship to the boatyard, and 5 bux to get in which covers a drink, your shuttle back, access to inflatable toys for the water and a rope swing - oh and of course the beach. Laying out for the day caused quite the burn on me but I aloe-d myself up and I'm good to go! After Barbados was a HUGE deck party. On here it consists of mostly just dancing which is great because sometimes the games are a little outdated, entertaining but outdated, and everyone loves a good line dance ;)

The Love Boat

I have come to the conclusion that the Carnival Valor is also known as 'The Love Boat' in terms of crew. 

Pretty much everybody here is in a relationship of sorts. Dancers with dancers. Entertainment staff with dancers. E-staff with E-staff.  Dancers with officers. Techies with Techies. Band members with band members. Campies with waiters. Spa girls with officers. Guest services with other guest services. 

Then there's Jodi. 

Should. Be. Fun. :) That's all. Shortest blog yet. 

London Calling

Well, not just London. But that is where I spent most of my time when I got to travel across the pond with one of my best friends Laura. 

Laura, a friend that I met on the ship who works in the spa who is from Liverpool, came over to Canada to do some visiting on my side of the world for a week. While she was here we hit a few places so she could get a feel for what Canada is like. She stayed here in my hometown most of the time, where she got to see my musical - twice! (Lucky her ;) ) We also took a road trip to Toronto where I took her up the famous CN Tower as well as to Real Sports bar where we got to watch the Sens beat the Canadiens (woooo!) Then the next day we hit up the Eaton Centre so she could get her shop on and then back on the road off to Niagara Falls. NF ended up being a bit of a bust because it was POURING but I suppose we were going to get wet anyway. Either way she said she had a good time which was good but then back to CP we went. We did a bit of Ottawa tourism in the Byward Market and we did Parliament and that kind of stuff. The final night she was here we got to go to one of my best friends weddings which was so much fun and I'm glad she got to join me in that. She got along so well with my other friends there too! 

The day after the wedding it was time to pack for England - another week long adventure together on the other side of the pond. As soon as we landed there, Sam, another one of my friends that I met on the ship, met as at Heathrow and took us straight to his flat where we got to stay while in London. We dropped off our stuff, got changed and off we went on a fun filled day around London. First stop, Trafalgar Square. 

Next stop, Big Ben and Parliament. 

After that, walked through St. James Park to get to Buckingham Palace!

And of course the Mall 

After Buckingham Palace, Sam left us as our tour guide and we were off on our own and we made our way to Madame Tussaud's where we got to meet some pretty some people. Like One Direction. ;) 

And of course my husband, Prince Harry <3 

After Madame Tussaud's we got on the tube to go down to Oxford Circus to see if we can get tickets for a show for that night. We originally planned on seeing 'A Chorus Line' that night but the tickets were cheaper for the following night and we ended up with great seats for the show 'Viva Forever' which features all Spice Girls music! It was such a high energy, fun show and I loved every second of it. I'm glad we saw it when we did because it closes in a few weeks :( After buying our tickets, we walked up and down Oxford Street just to see what kinds of shops were there for when we wanted to go back to shop on Wednesday. We ended up walking down to Picadilly Circus from Oxford Circus to go see the show - probably could've taken the tube but hey, we walked all day, what's another mile or 2 more -_- Needless to say by the end of the first day we were 'knackered' but it was all well worth it. 

On to day 2 :) There wasn't much on our itinerary for Day 2 because we knew that what we really wanted to do was north of London in Watford - and that was the Harry Potter Studios Tour <3 That was such an incredible experience. Seeing every little detail of what was in the movie. All the sets, all the props, all the hair and make-up, the CG and even flying our own broom sticks and having a wand duel! (I won the wand duel just so you know - it was because I had a Weasley wand) 

In the great hall

                                                                  Our wand duel

4 Privet Drive - no one was home :( 

the entirety of Hogwarts 

All of the wands from Olivanders! 

After Harry Potter, we went back to the flat so we could get changed and ready for the next show we were going to: 'A Chorus Line'. After having watched the movie of this show I don't know how many times since I was probably about 5 or 6, seeing it on stage was amazing and even better than I expected. Plus our seats were upgraded - always a plus! After a busy 2nd day, it was time for a bed.

The next morning, we got up quite early to start our adventures for the day. First stop: Abbey Road! You can't go to England and not visit Abbey Road. 

After Abbey Road, we worked our way over to the London Eye so we could see all of London from high above. The view was incredible and you could pretty much see EVERYTHING. 

After the London Eye, we thought we could walk to the London Bridge and the Tower Bridge, but after 2 full days of walking, and a little bit of jet lag we were a little tired so we got on a the tube and went to London Bridge, where we took pictures with the Tower Bridge in the background :p

After the London Bridge we walked over to the Globe Theatre. We didn't go in it, but it was cool to go and see Shakespeare's theatre. It wasn't as big as I thought it was but I suppose it was still a good size! 

After the Globe Theatre we decided it was finally time for some shopping so we headed over to Oxford Circus and did all sorts of shopping on Oxford Street, especially at Primark. I wish we had a Primark here! Loved everything in the store - probably could've come home with 1 of everything!! This was our last night in London, so we went to a Wetherspoons that was around the corner from the flat and dined there. Another girl that worked on the ship with us ended up meeting us there which was a nice surprise! And that night, was well, one to remember ;) Oh dear Laura. The next day we had to venture up to Watford again so Laura could finalize some things for her next contract and then had to race back to London to catch our coach bus to go up to Liverpool that night. We ended up in Liverpool just before midnight I guess and then the next day we started some touristy stuff again. Of course, if you're in Liverpool, you have to go to the Beatles Museum.

We also did the Liverpool wheel outside the museum so we could look over the Mersey :) 

and Laura took me past her fave football teams stadium, Everton. 

We went out that night to their local pub called The Crofters and then went downtown Liverpool for a night out with some of her friends. We went to a place called PopWorld which was by far one of my favourite clubs I've ever been to and then to another bar that was 'up and to the right' ... -_- lol it wasn't. The next day we slept in a bit and then took a trip over to Manchester to check out the Trafford Centre which was enormous! As well as checking out the Manchester United stadium. 

We thought we'd take a stroll down Penny Lane too ;) 

And make our way to Sgt. Peppers :) 

It was time for our last night and last meal together so we decided to get fancy. 

We went to a restaurant called Circo that was on the Albert Docks. It's a circus themed restaurant so we got dinner and a show with some acrobats in there. 

Most of my British family is from Cheltenham so I thought this sign was appropriate! 

By the Liverpool Wheel at Night 

On our way to London to catch my flight back to Canada, Laura and her Mum were nice enough to detour to Windsor so I could visit the in-laws at Windsor Castle. 

 All in all, this was one incredible trip and I'm glad I got to do it with one of my best friends. I'll miss her as she goes on her next ship for the next 9 months (in 5 days) and myself on mine for 6 months, but another trip will be in the works in no time! My next adventure starts in 11 days, flying to Miami and then Puerto Rico to join the Carnival Valor.

Hope you made it through all that and entries will be a bit more frequent now that I'm starting ship life again!

Jodi xo

What am I doing? :)

Hey guys!

For those of you that are reading this: welcome! welcome back! or au revoir! just kidding, don't go ;)

I just thought I'd post a little update to keep this blog alive in between my next ship, the Carnival Valor! For those of you that don't know the Carnival itinerary's, the Valor is based out of San Juan, Puerto Rico! This means, I get to miss out on the first few months of winter completely. No going back and forth from Baltimore to the Bahamas, which will definitely be nice. This ship travels to Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. I've never been to ANY of these places so it'll be quite different and I can't wait for the adventure. Even though I'm going to an entirely new ship, my roommate Sam (from my last ship) will be joining me on the next one as well. She'll be stuck with me for another 5 months ;) (she joins the ship a month after I do).

Well what am I doing right now? A whole lot of nothing. Not 100% true, but it certainly feels like it some days. I ended up actually painting both bathrooms in my house which took up all of 3 days of my 3 months back here. I've also been rehearsing for the musical, Nunsense II: The Second Coming. It's been a lot of fun, and I definitely missed being up on that stage singing and dancing with my fellow MUDDs! Can't wait for opening night. For those of you in the area, would love to see you in the audience! Check out http://www.mississippimudds.ca/perform.html for more information on tickets!

I'm also planning a few trips before I'm done my 'vacation'. I'll be making a road trip to Kingston with some friends next week. Then off to Toronto at the end of the week to see some best friends/former co-workers. Then a few weeks after that will be opening night, and the following week my British Bestie will be joining me in Ottawa for a week before we make the across the pond for London town! I'll be visiting London and Liverpool and I can't wait! I've never been overseas before! I've been IN the sea, just not over it :P That trip cannot come soon enough!

Two weeks after I get back from England, I'll be having to get my bags packed and ready to go for another 6 months of adventures starting June 1st! June 1st-December 2nd. I'll be home for Christmas next year which will be a HUGE plus. And what's probably super weird and crazy, is that I'm planning on not going back to the ship until AFTER the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics! Is that sad? I'm just a little patriotic and need to cheer on my Team Canada!

Well, there's a little light reading for you, hope you enjoyed it. I'll probably update this with some of my  stories and adventures from England before I get back on the ship!

Hope everyone had a fabulous Easter with their loved ones!

Until then, arrivederci! <3

Some pictures with my fam from this Easter weekend! Mitch (cousin) Jenn (sister) and me

 Me, Sean (cousin) Jenn (sister)