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.