Just My Imagination …

…running' away with me.

It's a good song - don't lie you know you love it. 

Well I've been on board the Carnival Imagination now for 20 days and so far so good. I honestly came into this contract expecting the worst. Even my first day after hearing about some of the rules I just kind of put my head down and said 'this contract is going to SUCK!' You probably saw a complaining status on Facebook about it as I do. 

I'm happy to report that I'm actually having an incredible time on here. Not going to lie, it doesn't live up to my last contract on the Carnival Spirit but I don't think anything ever will. The crew here are all seriously one big family. It's like that on many ships but because this is a smaller class of ship, in fact the smallest that Carnival has, everybody knows everybody, and if you don't you will. People are in crew bar every night. I think my family will be happy to know that I've been beating some crew members in pool most nights in the crew bar, so thank you auntie Sandra and uncle Peter for having pool tables my whole life so I can kick some international butt. My foosball skills could use some work but I've won a few games thanks to some Indians or Serbians (depends who is playing that night). 

I came onto the ship expecting to get almost an entirely new team come November 30th. Three of the 5 hosts that were here were meant to leave on that day - now 2 of 3 have already left and we've gotten 3 new hosts (one has only here for a week and the other 2 are staying until after I leave). They're all first contract hosts but getting on really well. In fact i'm still learning the ropes around here, figuring out where everything is and what not. This ship is set up very much like a Conquest class ship, but just in smaller form - so basically the way the ship was laid out when i was on my contract on the Valor - just a mini version. 

Since I've been here, I've been able to experience a Carnival Live cruise which was so much fun. It wasn't much a cruise as it was a DAY but it was still a great time. Jewel was featured on that cruise. She got on the ship about 6 o'clock the day we were in Catalina. All of her stuff was loaded on, she did a 75-min set, which honestly she spent most of it talking, then she left that same night and we didn't set sail to go down to Ensenada until 1 am that night. She was the most adorable down to earth person EVERRRR. I don't want to be a name dropper or anything but I've met and worked with quite a few people and she is top notch. Love her. Talented. Sweet. Funny. She's my new girl crush I think. 

The same cruise, there were some guests on board that told me I was hilarious at bingo and that they think I'm as funny if not funnier than Jewel. WHAT?! She said that's a pretty high pedestal because they loved Jewel at her show. Such a huge compliment. And obviously these two were Canadians ;) There are actually quite a few Canadians then end up coming to cruise on here. Those 2 were from Montreal, there's been a few from Toronto, there are some on board from Edmonton at the moment, there's some from Vancouver. It's pretty crazy that they'd come down here for a 3 or 4 day cruise but maybe they're staying a little longer, who knows. 

I really haven't had THAT many problems with people. I used to say how much I enjoyed Australian guests much more than American ones, and honestly still do, but I haven't had any major issues so far with anyone. Everyone has been pretty pleasant. There's always one or 2 during our debarks because everyone's tired, it's early and they just want to get to their final destination. I get it. But I'm happy to say that I'm very much enjoying these guests.

Unfortunately the past 2 weeks I've been stuck on karaoke. It hasn't been ALLLLL that bad. But theres one group thats been coming in every single night this cruise that sing the exact same songs. They just come in, write down all the songs they've sung before and want to get up and sing. And they're awful at that. Buuuuut I can't exactly say no. And hey, they're having fun. I suppose as long as they're having fun, I should just put up with it. The only issue I have with people in karaoke is when they want to sing a song and they look over at me saying 'oh the beat's off!' … No, no it's not. You are off. If you don't know the song, don't sing it. I spend half the time on the mic trying to be a backing vocal to get people back on track. 

Alright well there's a novel and a half. I'm sad that one of the people that enjoys my blog the most won't be able to see this one as she passed away but don't worry, I'm still writing them for you Pattie. RIP - Miss you. I'll miss your 'like' and your comment on it like I know you would. Sending it up to you. 

wish you were hereeeee <3 xoxo 

Keep Calm, It's almost my Birthday :)

One month and a bit left until I board my next ship, the Carnival Imagination out of Long Beach, California. But more importantly, ONE MONTH UNTIL MY BIRTHDAY! October 25th! Woop whoop! You could say I like birthdays. It means another whole year I've been able to live. Another whole year that I've been able to experience new and exciting things. Another whole year where I've been able to be my own person and enjoy, and smile, and to dream another dream. Another year to fail, and then succeed. It's a year that I've seen, and lived and will never see or live again, except through the wonder of photos. 

I may not take the most beautiful photos, but I take photos to remember. Some people say that instead of always taking a camera to something instantly why not just look at it, or watch it, why do I have to do it through a camera lens or a camera phone? But I enjoy being able to look back fondly on my years passed, my birthdays that have passed and see what people and things that have come and gone in my life. I also greatly enjoy being able to see the photos that show off the people and the things that I still have in my life! 

I can't wait to be able to celebrate my special day with family and friends here at home for the first time in 2 years and take some new photos and make some new memories. I realize 2 years doesn't seem that long, but when you go 21 years celebrating your birthday with your family every single year, 2 years away from your family is a long time. Although I was able to celebrate with my new 'family' and my friends it was different and difficult. I'm so very lucky that I've been able to make friends and family with people around the world, it's something that I most definitely do not take for granted. 

If anyone would like to help me celebrate my birthday, feel free to send me a message, send me a card, send me a little something that reminds you of me, or me of you! Last year, I had made a post approximately a month before my birthday asking to send cards to help me feel a little more at home on board the Carnival Valor for my 23rd birthday. I received quite a few cards, and loved every single one of them - I decorated my cabin with them. I can't wait to celebrate again this year, but thankfully I'm at home and hopefully I can find some nice surprise snail mails in my mailbox this year. 

127 Santiago Street

Carleton Place, ON

K7C 1E3

Canada

I'll try and write another blog soon - but first, let me take a selfie. ;) 

Wait, What?

I seem to take longer and longer to write in this thing! I hope you haven't missed me too much! 

48 days left - not that I'm counting ;) And definitely not that I would like to leave Australia. I could stay here forever. I loooooove it here. I love the atmosphere. I love the people. I love what I get to see and do here. 

PAUSE

Okay so I obviously started writing a blog at 48 days left and here I am now with 14 days left! 2 WEEKS! What happened!? I have no idea where the time went, what I've done, who I've met and now I'm seriously regretting not writing in this thing more often. I feel as though I'm going to have to go through all of my pictures to see what I've done over the past whatever days … basically since Easter really since I haven't put in an entry since Easter! Ridiculous! 

Anyway, I'm on my second last cruise here on the Spirit. This cruise being the longest itinerary that we've done since I've been here and of COURSE I'm host on duty. And it's the only time we're visiting Fiji. But thanks to our incredible ACD Giggles she let me get off in one of our Fiji ports in Suva. In Suva today myself, Cari (my roommate), Kris (entertainment staff with me) and Guy (production singer) took a 4 hour taxi ride around the island - we ended up at a beautiful resort with beach access and a pool so I got to go into the Fiji waters which was wonderful - cold but amazing!We didn't stay there very long because we knew we all still wanted to go to the rainforest so we could go to the waterfalls. Unfortunately for everybody else in our group, I still had to be back on board at 3pm so I could DJ up on Lido deck (which I'm actually doing as we speak - My Kinda Party by Jason Aldean is playing and the Aussies have no idea what it is) so everything was a little rushed and I feel awful for that but I'm glad we got to do it altogether anyway. What we saw of the waterfalls was beautiful, so peaceful and there was a rope swing to swing out onto and fall into a little lagoon. There will be pictures don't worry. 

Some of you may have also seen on the news or on my Facebook for those of you on my Facebook anyway, that we had one of our crew members, one of our family members, go missing this cruise. There were all kinds of pages made for him to report to Guest Services or his work station and all that stuff and no answer. We did a ship wide search for him and unfortunately still no luck. We ended up turning around once we realized he was not on board so we could go back and search the waters for him. We had to change our itinerary due to this only visiting one port of Fiji rather than 2, Denarau and Suva. After quite a long time of searching in the waters and going in circles in the area where we thought he may be, we were released from the search and rescue mission by whichever of the coast guards was in charge of the area we were in. Unfortunately we had to keep going on with our itinerary as planned and we now have a crew member missing at sea which is extremely sad. I have no idea what I would have done if it was one of my blood family members, or someone from my own department. With over 900 crew members on board its hard to know everyone and to be 100% honest, I never came in contact with this crew member but its still like missing a family member and him and his family are in our thoughts. 

The past month and a bit we've been going through a cast change in our entertainment department. All of the dancers and singers that are here at the moment are in the process of teaching a whole new cast of 12 dancers and 4 singers 5 production shows which is a lot of handwork. The cast that's here at the moment are all leaving on July 15th which honestly is going to be hard for me to say good bye to because they've been here since I got here and they're leaving only one cruise ahead of me so none of them will be around for last hurrahs for me next cruise. Guess all of the last hurrahs will happen this week for them. 

Speaking of last hurrah's, one of our hosts Drew who just arrived at the end of April is actually heading off to work in the office in Miami - he got here LONG after me and leaving a cruise before me - how does that work? Guess that's ship life. Last night we all went to the Nouveau Restaurant which is our onboard steakhouse which I'm sure I've raved about before … but if I haven't here I go again - while I'm drooling on the DJ mixer haha. I pretty much get the same thing every time which is normal for me if you've ever been out to dinner with me before - If i like something, I stick with it. So here we go, this is what I order every time I go to the steakhouse (which is the same on every ship if you're wondering): 

Starters: 2 orders of beef carpaccio (or if I'm feeling crazy a beef carpaccio and a baked onion soup)

Entre: filet mignon medium with three peppercorn sauce on the side

sides: wasabe yukon mash potato and Mac&Cheese

Dessert: tiramisu <3

You are so full after a meal at the steakhouse you don't want to eat for days after and it's SO satisfying. I feel like I've eaten there every cruise for the past like 4 cruises… I don't think I have but I'm probably still just full from the last time I ate there. What sucks is that my next ship, the Carnival Imagination, doesn't have a steakhouse! Gah :( No idea what I'm going to do… starve obviously. 

There have been quite a few parties since then, all kinds of crazy nights which I'm sure my Mum and the rest of my family don't want to read on here so I'll keep those to myself - for now. 

Anyway - I'll see if I have enough stuff to write one more before I head back to Canada but here's one for now. When I get home from Oz, I'll try and put up a whole post JUST of pictures for those of you not on my Facebook or instagram :) 

See you soon everyone! 

xox

Oh and I got another tattoo :) It's the coordinates of my house in Canada. The two things that people keep saying to me about it: 'What is it so you if you're drunk they can gps you home?' and 2: 'What if you move?' my answers to those are 'haha you're so original' and 2: 'that's home. living there for almost 20 years, it's home and my parents plan on dying in that house sooooo it's home' So now I've gotten at tattoo on each contract and not yet to get one in Canada. Maybe that'll be my next spot? lol Sorry Mum.

Bingo with no B's?

It's been quite a while since I wrote anything in here so here's some updates. 

Last cruise and half of the cruise before that I got to dabble into some bingo hosting. AND I DIDN'T ROYALLY SCREW IT UP! Okay, well maybe one day but it wasn't that bad ;) Bingo is HUGE out here.. like HUGE. And like I said before they do it differently than North American Bingo, there's no letters, just numbers - 90 of them. We play 5 games in about 40 mins. It goes by super fast. It's all done on a tablet so it's pretty simple that way! I ended up having a lot of fun with it. The only way I screwed it up one day is when the tablet died in the middle of one of the games. Tablet died, projector shut off. It was good times. Not. Thankfully the dancers all helped keep me under control and we got it finished and everybody was super understanding. Gotta love Aussies ;) 

Before every bingo session, we also have a Melbourne Mug Race which I got to do as well. There are 6 horses that we auction off at the beginning of the cruise and then each sea day we have a race or 2 for them. People place bets on which horse they  think is going to win just like they would at a real horse race. We roll 3 die and whichever numbers they land on, those are what horses move. I honestly have SO much fun with it - I get really into it as do the guests. They name their horses, they dress them up, the bring them with them everywhere around the ship, it's kind of funny. 

Oh, last I wrote in here I was about to do another whole cruise of Karaoke. Yeah, that group was pretty good. Not as good as my first group but I was proud of them none the less. Again feeling like such a proud mum watching them all go onstage and such. They all seemed to have a great time. 

A few weeks ago (maybe it was just last week I don't even know with these cruises) I bought an underwater camera so I could take lots of pictures while I go snorkel in the islands. It's come in handy quite a bit. I used it in Lifou last cruise as well as Isle of Pines. It takes some pretty great pictures and I can't wait to have good enough internet to share them all with you. 

This past Saturday I got to do something that has been on my bucket list for quite some time. Honestly, since I saw the Mary-Kate and Ashley movie 'Our Lips Are Sealed'. (yes I'm a dork if you weren't already aware). I got to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge! It was incredible! It was a great experience. You spend the first 45 minutes getting into your gear, going over safety things, you do a bridge climb simulator so you can practice going up and down the ladders with your sliders on to keep you from falling off. After all that's done, you get radioed up so you can hear your climb leader and off we go! It was quite an overcast day and rained on and off all morning before the climb. We started the climb and it wasn't raining. Lo and behold, as soon as we reached the summit. DOWNPOUR. Kind of a bummer but it was still amazing - the sights you can see from up there! Gave me more ideas of what I want to do after Gavin (our climb leader) was pointing out everything from there! Hopefully I'll be able to post some of those pictures on there as well. After we did the climb, our group, which consisted of myself, Joel, Kris, Cari and Claudia (a girl from Camp Carnival) went to the Glenmore, which is this really cool rooftop patio pub where we could chill and have some after climb snack and drinks. After lunch, I brought Joel back to the ship so he could have a tour cause he hadn't been on a spirit class ship before and he was also able to catch up with one of his buddies from his past ship as well which was nice. 

I still have yet to get off the ship in the port of Mare yet because you have to pay $20 to go to the beach and I really don't feel like doing that so tomorrow while we're there, it's probably going to be a tan on open deck day as long as the weather holds out. It was pretty over cast today and tomorrow is supposed to shower in the afternoon. It was much better than the rough seas we had coming out of Sydney though. Man that was pretty brutal. Not as bad as hurricane sandy still but man the south pacific can get angry! 

Well, off to deck party now. And then to our Easter EGG-stravaganza!! Should be a great night all in all. I'll try and add some pictures to this post at a later date but for now enjoy this! 

OH and one last thing, just for my Poppa: No poppa, I have not yet played backyard cricket. I've seen it done and I'm scared of how hard they hit the tennis balls so I stay out of the sports court whenever they play. I just watch from the outside. Looks interesting though ;) 

Miss youuuuu 

Karaoke Bootcamp

KARAOKE AND BOOTCAMP .. but not in the same cruise!

Last cruise I got to host karaoke for the first time ever. For entire week. Well, more than a week - a 9 day cruise. Surprisingly it was a lot of fun! There were quite a few regulars who would come in and sing the same song night after night, and some randoms who would always surprise you. They would come over all hesitant about the song they wanted or if they really wanted to sing or not, I would talk them into it and then boom - we've got Idina Menzel over there. What!? 

As part of karaoke,  I also had to do some recruiting for the Carnival Legends show. Some of you may remember when I started with Carnival that I had to be part of the Legends show as Sonny singing 'I Got You Babe' with another host or ACD. Guess what - still get to do it. This show still has them in it, it's not the new legends show on this ship yet. However, in this show instead of having Madonna and Britney Spears, we've got some Aussie artists like Jimmy Barnes (still have no idea who this is) and Kylie Minogue. I was able to recruit all 10 of my Legends (James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Elton John, Garth Brooks, Jimmy and Kylie) and all of them were actually very good singers! I was quite impressed with myself :P Unfortunately the day of rehearsal, my Jimmy Barnes and Ricky Martin didn't show up so we had to cut those 2 out of the show which was a shame but it is what it is I suppose. It was very strange - I felt like a proud Mum after each of them came off stage after doing their thing! I was so excited for them all! I hope they all had fun and get to watch their DVD's over and over again and remember how much fun it was for them and myself. Most people cringe about doing Legends and karaoke but I actually had such a great time doing it!

We also got to celebrate St. Patty's day on the ship this year! We did a lounge hop around the ship… and did shots at every stop obviously. Ended in the nightclub and didn't end up leaving there till close to 3 am! I danced to the wee hours of the morning pretty much every night last cruise and and its safe to say I won't be doing that again for a while. I was SO tired everyday! 

of course the italians get a little crazy

This past cruise was a 3 day cruise which NEVER happens on this ship. Not sure why we had it but am I ever glad I was switched to the Sprit doing long cruises rather than being on the Imagination ALWAYS doing 3 and 4 day cruises. This was just a booze cruise. The guests were crazy. It was ridiculous - a totally different crowd than we're used to. 

As much as it was a booze cruise, it was also a fitness cruise surprisingly enough. Carnival Cruise Lines Australia has hired Shannan Ponton to be a brand ambassador for the company. If you don't know who Shannan is, he is actually one of the personal trainers for the tv show The Biggest Loser Australia. We did a biggest bootcamp at sea which was a lot of fun! Over 500 people on open deck doing a half hour cardio bootcamp. If you know me at all, you'll know that working out is probably at the absolute bottom of my fun things to do list - but this was SO much fun! If I had Shannan as my trainer every time I worked out, maybe I actually would work out. Not to mention he's pretty darn easy on the eyes ;) We got some pictures with him and I'll try and a post a few with this post. We're also on a first name basis now/nickname basis. I'm Joads, he's Shan, you know, 2 peas in a pod ;) haha But seriously, him and his family are super nice and we loved having him on board. 

I took a break from squatting to snap this picture haha 

My ACD Brian DJ'ing the event.

Me and Shannan

The dancers and me :) 

We've also been settling in our new hosts Kris and Cari. Both of them are great and really excited about being here and I like having them here much better than I did having the other 2 hosts. I'm going to miss Srki when he leaves in a month but that just means my friend Drew is closer to coming and the whole team will be awesome! Not that it isn't now but it will continue to be. Speaking of which we took a new host team picture, hopefully will be able to add that picture into here as well! 

Well, back to another 9 day cruise and 9 days of karaoke and Legends. Let's hope I have just as amazing singers this coming cruise as I did last week! 

Miss you all! xo 

I've Got Spirit!

This has been an incredible week. Incredibly tiring -but incredible. Most hosts do nothing but complain about doing host on duty for a cruise but I couldn't have had a better group of people sailing this week to come join me at all of my trivias and sports activities. 

Most port days, I had all kinds of teens and pre-teens running up to me asking me when the next basketball or mini-golf or bean bag toss was. There was a whole slew of them following me around for 3 days while we were in our ports. Surprisingly I learned all of their names - and could even tell the ginger twins apart! Then there were the ones that were ever so faithful at coming my trivias - and not going to lie, I do enjoy hearing that I do a much better job than some of the other hosts - puts a little kick in my step. I actually had a group of people that were always the trivias saying that I need to spread my enthusiasm for the job to the other trivia callers. Humble brag I know, but it feels good knowing I'm doing something right here. My trivia people this week have been so much fun. Some of them got roped half way through the cruise by others - others were there right from the very start. One couple that was at EVERY SINGLE ONE of my trivia's this week gave me $50 tip at the end of the cruise. I couldn't believe it! So very nice of them and definitely not expected - I'm glad I could help make their trip a memorable one! 

I also received some news that I'm not sure I'm supposed to know as of yet or whether it's all confirmed but when I know, you'll know - don't worry. Just keeping you on your toes! 

Well tomorrow is going to be a day of exploring Sydney I think! I'm supposed to be going to Bondi Beach with my friend Melissa (who I met on the Valor) and my new friend Ian who is the Club 02 director on board who is also Canadian - grew up outside of Toronto and went to school in Ottawa, and was in my sister's program at Algonquin AT THE SAME TIME! Small freakin' world. It boggles my mind every time I come across something like that. If Bondi Beach doesn't happen then Melissa and I will probably get on the Hop On/Hop Off bus that goes around Sydney so we can see some of the sights! It'll be a week day too so it probably won't be as busy. 

This next cruise may be a bit of a challenge. With Jacob signing off tomorrow (woo) we'll be down someone at debark - which is totally manageable on this ship - but it also means that I may be thrown into comedy because Srki (our comedy club manager) is on his HOD rotation this cruise so he can't do both at once. So all depending on the new guy, Chris whether he knows comedy or karaoke or either at all we'll be doing some jumping around. I've also just started learning to call Bingo on the 'Bingo in a Box' kit that Carnival is now doing which is a heck of a lot easier than the other ships I've been on. Also, Bingo is totally different here - it has 90 numbers … and no letters. What? How is that even bingo? haha Ahh well, silly Aussies ;) 

Well, I'm off to the CTC (Crew Training Center) to see about booking my bridge climb adventure! A month today and I'll get to see Sydney from the top of the Harbour Bridge! Too crazy! Almost everyday this week (even though I was stuck on board) I would walk along deck 10, see the ridiculous views of the islands that we're docked at and just shake my head and say 'this is my job' in total disbelief. After being hired with Carnival for 2 years now and on ships for ALMOST 2 years, it never stops amazing me. Can't wait to see what the next cruise has in store!

Miss you all!! xo 

No Land in Sight

What the heck has happened since I last wrote on here? It really wasn't that long ago, but feels like a lifetime! 

For one, Tasmania was a hell of an experience. From petting wombats and koalas to getting attacked by kangaroos and being FROZEN cause believe it or not it gets cold in Tasmania, it was an incredible time. I spent most of my second day of Hobart sitting at the waterfront catching up with people back home but it was a nice place to sit in, even though it was very cold! 

Back to this whole kangaroo thing. I signed up for a tour to go check out the Bonorong Wildlife Sancturary which houses all sorts of wildlife that people call in about to get rescued. Much like animal control back home - you see an injured animal on the road, you call, they come and rescue them, rehabilitate them and send them back out if they're not severely injured or sick. This place houses wombats, tasmanian devils, koalas (which aren't native to Tasmania) and HUNDREDS of kangaroos. It was such a fun experience and I love that within my first 3 days of being in Australia I was able to encounter them! Feeding some, some of them feeding on me lol. I was feeding one giant one from the palm of my hand when he realized that the bag in my other hand was FULL of food. He latched on to my arm and started chomping at my bag of food … so my left arm is now home to fun little reminder - a kangaroo scar. Pretty sweet story to tell the grandchildren I'd say. 

I've survived 2 cruises so far and this week I'm starting my first HOD run. If you've been following my blog since the start you'll know that HOD is Host On Duty week. If you haven't, now you know :) Basically means, that I run the activities during the day when people are off in port and I'm the go-to person for the week if things need to be done with in the entertainment department. It also means no land for the next 9 days until we arrive back in Sydney on the 12th. I've basically exhausted the rest of my team with question after question after question but hey, I'd rather do something right the first time then do it wrong and have them ask ME 'well why didn't you ask how to do it?' 

This cruise is the last cruise for one of the hosts, and honestly I can't wait for him to go. I know that's an awful thing to say, but him and another one of the hosts were already in 'going home mode' since the day I got here. I get it. We all get to that point in our contract when we're a cruise or two away and we just stop caring. I'll admit 100% that I've been there. But it's just not a very nice environment to come into. Yeah, they answer my questions and they help when I ask, but they just weren't very welcoming. I know I said they were in my first entry from Oz, but things changed very quickly. I already know (from an incredibly reliable source) that they didn't want to get to know me from the day I got here, so that's a nice thing to find out. So sayonara folks. Arrivederci. GTFO. 

Besides all of that, I'm in love with Australian guests. Nothing against American or Canadian guests, but these guys are pretty top notch. I haven't run into anybody who has been disgruntled about anything, complained about the most useless stuff. I mean I'm sure it happens a lot more to say a Guest Services Associate but for me, none. Everyone is so laid back and happy to be on vacation. When they come down for tenders, they don't complain about the wait time. They don't complain about procedures, they just do it because that's what they're told to do and they're not in a hurry to do so. If I could sail out Australia for the rest of my contracts (who knows how many I'll do) that would be a dream come true honestly. 

Well I suppose I should be off to some good old bean bag toss, which apparently is a new thing to Aussies and I always have to explain the game. It's all good. They have a ball doing it and of course who doesn't want to win they're very own ship on a stick? 

Ta for now! 

FIFTY!

Since this is my 50TH POST!!! I decided to compile another list of top 10 questions. The last time I did a top 10 questions post it was about questions that guests would ask me on a daily basis. This time, because I'm new to this ship, I thought I would make a top list of questions that other crew members ask the newbie. 

So here we go: 

1. What do you do on the ship?

2. How many contracts have you done?

3. What ships have you been on?

4. Oh, you've been on that ship! Do you know so and so? 

5. Who's your roommate? 

6. Where are you from?

7. What did you go to school for?

8. Have you ever been to any of these ports?

9. How do you like it so far?

and rounding it out is not question that is just of newbies but is asked on a port daily basis.

10. Did you get off today? 

So there it is. Those questions have been on repeat since I got here every time I've encountered somebody new - and that's pretty much everyday. 

Oh, also, I thought I would add in the ship's address just in case anybody feels like sending me a lovely little piece of home whether it be a card or some good old Canadian goodies. 

Regular Mail: 

Jodi Samler, 454120

Carnival Spirit

Carnival Australia

P.O. Box 2006

North Sydney

NSW 2059

Australia 

Registered Mail (packages):

Jodi Samler 454120

Carnival Spirit

℅  Carnival Australia

15 Mount Street

North Sydney

NSW 2060

Australia 

Sending love from Tasmania! 

Also, for those that don't have access to my Facebook to see pictures, that I would share a few on here. Enjoy! 

The Sydney Opera House my first night in Sydney 

The Harbour Bridge in Sydney 

Hanging with some Roos in at the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary in Tasmania! Roo selfie anyone? 

Right out of a Movie :)

It's been quite a whirlwind these past few days! 

After finally getting settled in my hotel room and getting a quick shower and nap in got ready to go out with Joel. We went for some mediterranean food and gelato in Newtown. Then we drove into the city to see the harbour at night. He couldn't stop laughing at my face and my reaction to seeing the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge coming around the bend into the city. I basically just kept repeating 'I can't believe I'm here!'. We went and parked and walked over to the harbour. Everything down there is sand stone and it looks amazing. Seeing the Opera House at night is a whole other sight than seeing it during the day. It's absolutely incredible. Then we walked over to walk under the bridge and I could see Luna Park across the water which was also a highlight. For those of you who don't know, I'm obsessed with Mary-Kate and Ashley and I watched Our Lips Are Sealed (one of their movies) before coming over here and walking around that area I was pointing out everything out from the movie. Yeah, I'm a dork. 

After a quick drink at a pub called Hero of Waterloo I went back to the hotel and craaaashed. Such a long day - amazing day - but loooong. 

The next morning I had to be in the lobby by 6:30am with the rest of the crew that was signing on that day and we got to the ship at about 7:45am. We handed in our passports and went through our orientation. I met my roommate, who is a dancer on the ship, while I was at breakfast that morning. I didn't really do a big tour of the ship or anything cause I've already been on this class of ship so I pretty much know where everything is, it's just a matter of learning what lounge is what. 

I've quickly learned that activities are SO much different on here than they are on an american ship. There are so many things that entertainment staff don't do on this ship that they would do on a ship out of the states. We don't do Groove for St. Jude which is a deck party where we raise money for the St. Jude's Children's Hospital (which makes sense because Australians wouldn't know what it is). We don't have a sail-away from Sydney party like we do on other ships. The entertainment staff isn't involved in Bingo! What?! The dancers take care of it all which is CRAZY to me. I've found all kinds of new sports that I've never heard of it and have been shadowing one of the other hosts all day following him to all the stuff such as the Fair Dinkum Golf Open, Bean Bag Bocce, Golf Chipping and theres some other ones that I haven't done before which is Backyard Cricket? No idea what that is but I guess I'll find out eventually. Something that I haven't done by myself before is also Karaoke which we do on a rotation which means we have to arrange the Carnival Legends show as well which makes me a little nervous but I guess I'll have to jump right in and do it! 

I'm about to host my first activity by myself. I still get nervous since it's always new equipment and who knows how to work the stuff. But the hosts have been SO great giving me all of the information that I need. The team is great - unfortunately 2 of them are leaving in the next few cruises but that's ship life. Everyone has been incredibly welcoming which is nice. I thought I knew a few people on here but turns out I know a lot more than I thought. Some of them I don't know KNOW but they are faces that I've seen on previous ships so it's nice going to the other side of the world and running into people you know. How many people can say that? That they just ran into somebody in Australia - right out of the movie stuff. 

This cruise is also kind of all over the place. The Spirit doesn't normally do such short itineraries - this is a 5 day, normally its 10-12 day cruises - and already we've had to cancel one of the ports because of weather down in Tasmania. We were supposed to have a sea day, then visit Hobart and Port Arthur but because Port Arthur is a tender port (meaning guests have to use a smaller boat to get to the island because we don't dock directly at it) it wouldn't be safe for us to use the tenders. So, insteaaadddd we're over-nighting in Hobart! We're going to be doing 2 full days in Hobart. Getting there at 7am on Wednesday and leaving at 4pm on Thursday and then a sea day back up to Sydney! that should be an exciting few days. 

Well, tonight is formal night, so I best be getting ready for that because I'm not going to have time between my trivia and the captain's celebration. Time to get pretty! 

Hope all is well back at home and I'm missing you! 

Wish you were here xo 

G'day mate?

Iiiiiiii'm off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz!

Not quite … but I did make it to Australia and I'm not quite sure where the wizard lives. The journey did have its ups and downs - and I'm not just talking about the 3 different planes I went on that went up and down ;) See what I did there … I'm the next headliner at The Punchliner comedy clubs on Carnival - everybody come check out a show or nahhhh. 

Let's start with the downs so things will look up at the end of this entry.

1. The United airlines desk at the Ottawa airport are pretty ace at avoiding eye contact. My family and I stood in line for almost an hour waiting to be checked in. In that time 4 different people were at the desk, none of whom were in any rush to help me - they were concerned about the girl that was at the desk already. Should they not have moved her aside and process the others through while someone else sorted out her stuff? 

2. On my first flight I was sat at the very LAST spot on the plane. Like, if I went any further I would have been in the toilet (along with the guy who got stuck in there haha) 

3. We ended up leaving Ottawa a little late so I was afraid I was going to miss my connection in Chicago. Why is it that if you EVER have to make a connecting flight, you always have to go from one end of the airport all the way to narnia to catch your next flight? We landed at 5:15pm (ottawa time) and my flight was supposed to start boarding at 5:25pm… Chicago time. After I RAN to make my connection and was a sweaty mess I looked up at the board at my gate and realized it was only 4:40pm and I had a good 45 mins before I was to board my flight to San Francisco. 

4. I discovered before leaving Ottawa that I had recorded to different passport numbers in places - one from my old passport that the US Customs agents ripped and the one that was on my now valid passport. I didn't have any trouble getting out of the country - but getting into Australia was another story. Mark (the very cute customs agent) asked if I had another passport and I explained to him what happened. Thankfully the immigration lady was able to figure it out in less than 5 mins and I was through! 

THE UPS:

1. I got to share a laugh with the flight attendant on the way to Chicago about the guy who got stuck in the bathroom. 

2. I also got a giggle out of the fact that my seat partner from Chicago to San Francisco looked like Vladimir Putin - he didn't just look like him though, he was also Russian. Weeeird. 

3. By the time I got to San Francisco I figured out the whole time change thing and didn't have to rush at all to my next gate. Thank god I learn from my mistakes. 

4. The guy I sat next to on the way to Australia was SUPER nice - we talked for a good chunk of the way before we both dozed off a bit. Him thanks to his sleeping pills and me just because I was ridiculously tired. After 2 'airline delicious' meals and countless movies and tv episodes later, we finally landed in Sydney - to an overcast rainy day. 

5. When I got to my shuttle bus area, a nice gentlemen from Hawaii helped me pile my suitcases into the back of the bus so that was a nice gesture helping out this lost Canadian. 

6. I had lunch at the restaurant in the hotel and watched an encore presentation of the US vs Slovenia hockey game … with another Canadian which was nice. Its just too bad we couldn't have watched a Canadian game. Next time I guess. 

7. I'm now just waiting for my friend Joel to come get me so we can go out for dinner! :) (and currently watching So You Think You Can Dance Australia and just gotta say that the US dancers have gotta step it up .. oh and why is Paula Abdul one of the judges?) 

Well, that was pretty much my day. Or 2 days. Or whatever. I don't know what's going on - it is 3:30pm on Feb 17 so most of you could be sleeping or not because its family day tomorrow at home for you lot. 

Not sure when the next time I'll be updating is but just know that I'm safe and sound in Oz and will be joining the ship tomorrow morning at the Sydney Harbour! 

AUSSIE! AUSSIE! AUSSIE!

OY! OY! OY!

Turns out, I am no longer getting to venture to one of the cities I've been longing to go for what feels like forever. No more Los Angeles, California for me. However, I will be making my way through California by way of San Francisco on my way to ...

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA!!!!

That's right!! I was transferred before I even got to the ship the Carnival Imagination - I will now be joining the Carnival Spirit out of Sydney! I am unbelievably excited. I can't even find words to describe how excited I am. Elated. Delighted. Thrilled. I feel like those words don't even come close but they'll have to do for now! (thank you online thesaurus for trying to help out) 

When I told the head office approximately when I wanted to come back from vacation, the Carnival Spirit wasn't on the list as ships available at that time so I figured it was a waste of time to ask and take the next best thing: west coast ship out of Long Beach (Los Angeles) which is where I have been wanting to go for the majority of my life. I'd be able to go LA and still get to be doing what I love. When I got the email last week asking me to join the Carnival Spirit, well I jumped, I just kept saying 'wait what?' to my iPhone - poor Siri thought something was wrong with me. I ran downstairs, told my Dad, he said do it. I called my Mum, she said do it. I emailed them back - I'll take it! 

SYDNEY FREAKIN' AUSTRALIA. Never in a million years had I honestly thought I would be able to venture to the other side of the world - let alone do it with a bunch of friends that I know are already on board! I know quite a few of my friends call Australia home, but to me right now it's honestly this incredible place on earth that so many people desire to go to but never get the chance and I'm getting paid to go there to entertain people, do what I love to do! 

I'm now leaving 2 weeks earlier than originally planned. I was supposed to join the Imagination March 2 and stay until July 31. Now, I'll be joining the Spirit Feb 18th and staying until July 23rd. I'm so fortunate that they are letting me arrange my contract around my cousins wedding which will be taking place in August. 

I say I'm joining the Spirit on Feb 18, but that's before some very long travel days. I'm leaving Ottawa February 15, flying to Chicago. Flying from Chicago to San Francisco. And then my last 14.5 hour flight from San Francisco to Sydney. Some of you have probably done a flight like this before, so any tips for me would be greatly appreciated ;) I'll arrive to Sydney on the morning of Feb 17th and probably immediately go to bed. I say that now, but honestly, I'll be in Sydney. I'll want to venture a little bit. 

To Do List While in Sydney:

Climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Visit the Sydney Opera House

(try to) Surf at Bondi Beach 

Find P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney 

If there's anything else that you've seen or done in the Sydney area that you think I should try, let me know! 

Some of the places I'll get to see and explore on this ship is Port Villa, Noumea, Mare, Isle of Pines, Lifou Isle, Santo, Mystery Island, Wala, Suva, and Port Denarau. I really know nothing about any of these ports so I'm really excited to check them out. 

Can't wait to share my experiences with you from Down Under. Hope you'll keep following along! 

xo

The First Step .. Again.

I just made the first step to my returning to the cruise ship .. again. I made my appointment for my medical.

$600 later .. I've got it. Doing the medical is probably the BIGGEST downfall of working on a cruise ship. Everybody has to get one done and most people will pay between $300-$700 to get it done. Of course mine just happens to be at the higher end of the spectrum. :(

Besides that, I've had a pretty great month of vacation so far and more great things to come in the next 2 months.

I've been working at Hallmark since I've been home which means the first month has FLOWN by because I worked over the Christmas holidays and now I'm sticking around until I leave to go to the Imagination on March 1st.

I've been able to go to a few Ottawa Senators games which was great - once to a Toronto Maple Leafs game (our biggest rival ... and we lost:( ) and the other was with my family for a Christmas Party for my Mum's work.

Made a quick trip to Kingston with my friend Jordan (@jordanmcintosh - check out his music he's great) to visit my friend Steph! That was a good time .. did some Christmas shopping and just had a time.

Thanks to my aunt for Christmas, my mum, sister, aunt and myself went to see 'The Sound of Music' at the National Arts Centre here in Ottawa. I have loved the musical since, well forever, and it was the first time I had seen it on stage and it was great. So great in fact, I went a second time thanks to a nice invite from my friend Alison. Dinner and a show = great date night.

Oh, and what can I say there is NO place I'd rather be than home for Christmas. Such an incredible feeling to be surrounded by them at the holidays - quite a change from last year. And this year I definitely plan on being home for Christmas again! Might go back on a ship for the new year though!

My family and I also took a quick trip to Peterborough after Christmas for a day to visit my Nanny. Hadn't seen her in a very long time ... I think she's shrinking :P

Coming up for me is a quick trip to Toronto to visit one of my amazing friends Emilie. She's leaving on a trip to Thailand so I'm giving her a quick visit before she goes and before I leave again! Also get to meet up with 2 Canadian ship friends, Bailey and Melissa. We're going to make a night of it and all have an great time!

Another trip in the works is to Vegas with one of my besties Laura - main mission: to see Britney Spears at Planet Hollywood. Cannot wait for that!

This contract for me is only going to be 5 months because I've got some things coming up in August. One, is my cousin Josh is getting married which is super exciting!! And I'm also going to the One Direction concert in Toronto with my friend Emma! We have a strange love of boy bands and basically anything One Direction.

Once I get back from all of this excitement I'm sure I'll share pictures and stories don't worry! Not that you were ;)