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!