Red @ Sea

Scuba is a MUST!

Red — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:31:47 +0000

Ok, that was incredible! I just got back aboard from a crew Scuba Dive (no certification required) and it was so awesome! This just renews my desire to finish getting certified so I can go deeper, longer and more often!

Today started with an All Crew Drill, which was fine, no real troubles. I even found $20 just sitting on the floor, so that made me happy! Afterwards, I grabbed some food and my bathing suit, then met up with a few other crew members. A short walk later, we were filling out forms, getting the basic training (which I already knew from my first pool dive) and getting our equipment.

So the instructor took our group out into waist deep water where we put on fins, then practiced a few basic skills in case of trouble. After that, we started swimming out amongst some coral and lots of fish. The sights, even that close to shore, are pretty awesome! So many types of fish and a fair bit of coral and plant life!

We were out for about 35-40 minutes and only went 20ft deep at any point, but there was so much to see! It’s a shame, cause I was often distracted by making sure I was following along, floating level, etc. that I was only looking around half the time… The time also flew by, I could’ve been out there for twice as long (almost) and been plenty happy! On the plus side, with the $20 I found earlier, it only cost me an extra $5!

So anyway, I definitely want to get fully certified so I can go diving more often. I actually asked about it this morning and there’s still a good chance I can get certified for free, but even if not, I’ll probably pay for the rest of the course. The feeling of floating along out there and the views you normally only see on video are just breathtaking! (Of course you HAVE to keep breathing or you’re in trouble, but still…)

If the crew offers this particular tour again, it’s probably worth it. The more comfortable I am with the equipment and the feelings of being under water, the more I’ll be able to enjoy it! I guess that’s all I’ll write about for now since everything else pales in comparison. Tonight is Superstar, tomorrow should be easy, then we’ll see what happens Saturday. I may not write a separate blog for Sat. and just roll it into the next one!

Rollercoaster of the Seas

Red — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:30:08 +0000

This week has been full of ups and downs, figuratively and literally. So not in any particular order, here are some of the things that have been throwing my life around. It started when I got back from Florida on Saturday and we set sail…

I got the new Karaoke songs into a usable format and the Karaoke Kickoff was pretty awesome! In fact, Karaoke has been pretty awesome all week so far (headed there again soon)! In fact, I even have the updated books ready to go as soon as I get the approval to print about 1000 pages of paper… However, they will only be semi useful till the repaired Karaoke machine gets back (ours is temporary).

I also got the news that we may be able to fix the lighting controller onboard, but as the week went on, I found out that there’s more wrong with it than first thought, so that might take awhile. I kept working with the Light Techs, but there was a point where it seemed I couldn’t proceed the way I thought I should (I may have also made a minor goof that wasted a little time), but now I find there may still be a way to proceed.

I’ve been eating well and trying to get to the gym, but I still feel tired sometimes. Not sure if that’s transitional or not, we’ll see… However, I have also found a few fellow board/card game geeks (I may want some cards mailed to me, lol). This could result in some fun evenings…

I went through some prep to make sure I still remembered the tracks for someone who is leaving Saturday, which I do, only to find out that their replacement will be delayed a week (at least) and I’ll have to step into Studio B in the meantime. Take this as an up or down, or both…

I have been doing pretty good at saving money so far, but this also means a lack of getting off the ship (so as not to spend more). However, I just recently decided to spend some on a crew sponsored excursion (which leads into the next point). While I can’t resume scuba training for at LEAST a month, the excursion is a Scuba Dive that you don’t need to be certified for! w00t!

So things are going back and forth, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten one or two, but I need to get going for now. On average, things are still pretty good here, aside from missing Amy, so I’ll make due. More updates as I feel like writing them, till then, I’m hoping for some better times ahead…

Nothing to report…?

Red — Sat, 12 May 2012 14:28:54 +0000

It’s a shame, but I rally can’t think of anything interesting to write this whole week. Had troubles with my lighting panel project, working on that… All the Light Techs were busy this week, so not that much progress there, shows were nothing special, not a lot to do some of the time…

Karaoke was pretty decent all week, but again, nothing spectacular… On the bright side, I might finally be able to use the new songs this week, but there’s not even that many good ones… I’m off the ship today, gonna make some calls, get some food, get online for a bit here and there, the usual… This coming week, I kinda expect more of the same… I’m at a strange point where I’m just plugging along, trying to make progress, but everything is slower than expected… Sigh…

Back online for a day…

Red — Sat, 05 May 2012 16:58:09 +0000

So today is the first time off the ship since I got back. I’ve been using the chance to get some online stuff done, as well as a few small shopping trips. I’ll be making a few phone calls in a bit, but for now I’m relaxing at Tropical Smoothie.

Since I wrote last, we had Karaoke Superstar, which was decent, but not the best. I actually got to see Throw Me A Line for a change, I also watched CFWM from the house. The more relevant thing was All Crew Immigration this morning, which meant getting less than 4 hrs of sleep, waking up to stand in a long line, then having the CBP official look once at my passport and wave me on… *sigh* It then took another 2hrs or so before they’d let us off the ship…

This week, I plan to work on the lighting control system for On Air, hopefully continue Light Tech Training, and basically make lots of progress on projects. I took it a little easy the first week, but now it’s time to get going for real. More updates soon, but they really will be rarer this trip unless something major comes up…

Feels Like Home Again…

Red — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:47:53 +0000

Being back aboard ship feels like I barely left. There’s very few differences and I’ve pretty much jumped right back into things. I took the first day to do paperwork, unpack, get my phone, keys and such back in order, etc. I’m back to my old role, so Karaoke, shows, parades and such.

A few faces are different, the casts are mostly new, but there’s still the usual stuff to deal with. Karaoke has been pretty good all week, decent singers, decent crowds. I’ve been running the usual shows for my position (Ice Show and Splish Splash) and only missed one parade due to training.

I already jumped back into helping with lights whenever possible and even have a new project. There’s a new control panel for the lights in the On Air Lounge where Karaoke is that I was asked to set up. It requires some basic programming and should be a fun project that has tangible results.

Today marks my last major training (mostly stuff I’ve done before) so I should just be off to shows, Karaoke and the usual. I’ve had some free time, I’m making an effort to go to the gym more often and eat better, as well as save more money this trip. Hopefully I’ll end this contract in decent shape and with some significant savings, but who knows…

Once again, I’ll ask anyone who has specific questions or things they would like more details about to leave a comment or contact me directly so I have interesting topics to write about. You can find any pictures I might take on Facebook, so if I have things to show, they’ll be there in a new album. To contact me in the meantime, I’ll be available by Cell on Saturdays from about 9-2 depending on the week, or by Facebook every so often. E-mails and voice mail will be checked when possible.

Vacation Summary

Red — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:16:04 +0000

The one fact that kept coming up is that I was taking a vacation FROM the Caribbean TO New Jersey… Not the normal direction of vacationing, but hey, it worked for me. I got home and immediately started with the more important things that I couldn’t get a lot of on the ship, home cooked food, internet and TV shows.

I probably spent the first week just sitting on the couch, catching up on my favorite shows, surfing the web and just chilling. I had a few specific plans, most of which were achieved, but I really did take up residence on that couch for a good chunk of time. It was a great way to relax and enjoy the time off without spending a lot of money.

I still went Geocaching with the family and on other little adventures and excursions, but my real plans didn’t start for awhile. I went to visit Amy (my Girlfriend) for St. Patty’s Day in NYC, had a decent time of catching up and a bit of partying with friends. Also took the chance to see Newsies on Broadway. I’ve always loved the movie and the musical didn’t disappoint! Phenomenal in all regards!

I also went back to visit Amy later that month for her birthday weekend, where we also had dinner and dessert with friends and just some time to catch up. She’s very busy at this stage in her life, so time was limited, but worth every second. I took a bit of that time to do some Geocaching on my own in the city, and discovered what staying at a Hostel is like (pretty good).

Geocaching was probably the second biggest theme to my vacation behind TV and ahead of Travel (barely) and besides going out with my family on Wine Tasting/Geocaching weekends, I managed to get out a few times on my own, mostly by bike to local parks. I probably found close to 100 Geocaches over the whole vacation!

My last major travel trip involved going back to Penn State to visit with the DDR Club, Hillel and just friends in general. I ended up seeing quite a few more folks than I thought, discovering another fellow Geocacher and we made some night time caching runs that brought my total up by a lot.

Going back to school felt both weird and normal at the same time. I know I’m mostly older than the folks I walked past, but traveling with one bag and seeing all the sights I knew so well felt like home. Being amongst a few of my friends from the club didn’t hurt, since geeks tend to flock together. Hillel was just like I remembered it too, with services followed by an amazing home cooked meal.

I rounded out that trip with a visit to some friends who lived towards home and were having a double birthday party. The party wasn’t wild, just fun and friendly with lots of food. It was also a great chance to catch up with people I hadn’t seen in awhile.

Speaking of which, I was also able to grab breakfast with another college friend who passed by my house on his way somewhere one day. I also got to hang out with a Hebrew School friend, possibly my longest friend, for dinner and some chill time.

I did take some of my vacation time to work on little things, but I tried my best to make it a vacation instead of a working vacation. I did manage to update my resume, set up a budgeting system and a few other minor goals, but really just took the time to relax and have fun.

I’m sure there are other parts to my vacation that I didn’t mention here, as well as smaller events, like dinner with extended family a few times throughout, but the majority of the things were recapped here.

Now I sit in the Philly airport waiting for my flight back to Florida. I’ll get there around 9ish tonight, later than I thought, but not bad. Royal Caribbean has my hotel booked for tonight, then I board the ship again tomorrow morning. While I’ve done all this before, it still will seem odd for a few days till I re-adjust.

There will also be differences. The people are always changing, I don’t know which theatre I’ll be working in, I’ll be continuing my training as Light Tech… I also have a goal to get in better shape by the end of this contract, which involves eating a lot better and going to the gym more often, even just the treadmill.

I’m sure I’ll slip right back into the swing of things, I still remember most of the shows pretty well, so there won’t be nearly as much to blog about this trip. To all those crew who read these blogs, you can stop bugging me about it, I just won’t write a blog unless there’s something interesting that I want to remember or let people know about. More of the same isn’t blog worthy, so this time I’ll just drop it.

If I remember more from my vacation, I might slip a small update into future blogs, but for now, this is all I have to write, so I’ll post it and just wait for my flight. Hope you all continue to enjoy these posts and I’ll try to start another album on FB for my new pictures.

Finally homeward bound!

Red — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 02:03:21 +0000

The last couple days have been at once repetitive and thrilling! I finished the usual ship work, packed all my stuff, had my last shows, my last ship meals (actually kinda decent), handed in my phone and keys and ID and got off the ship around 10:40am this morning.

The only potentially exciting news is that I may have gotten a positive guest comment in a guest survey. This is rare enough for blackshirts that it would make the last couple of months totally worth the effort. I put a lot into Karaoke nights and to see someone recognize that would be amazing!

So I basically spent the morning in one line after another to get everything squared away, now I’m at the airport, just waiting… I got here by 11:30am and checked in, then went through security and I’ve been sitting around watching movies on my tiny netbook all afternoon. Airport food is expensive, but I did feed myself… I also discovered just how cheap beer is for crew on a ship… Even counting the airport “tax” it’s about 5.5x more expensive here for a bottle of beer…

I guess the movies are a preview of my time off, so I’m gonna make the most of it and relax while I can. I’m just taking some time to type this, then I still have another hour till my flight boards. That is, if they get the delay before mine cleared up… Sigh…

There’s been a little bit of excitement here while I’ve been waiting, I think I saw a proposal, but I didn’t hear it cause I had my headphones in. Could’ve just been any old friends reuniting for all I know… I did see security called, probably due to an unhappy group of passengers from a delayed flight…

Anyway, for now, I’ll upload this, then probably play some games till I get on the flight. I should have just enough time in the air to watch one more movie, then land around 1:00am tomorrow if all goes according to plan. Home to sleep for about 12hrs, then I hear Mom and Dad have WineCaching plans for tomorrow, so I’ll probably go along with them for that.

I’ll probably update now and then throughout vacation, then restart my blog in full when I get back aboard in about 7 weeks. In the meantime, I’ll be on Facebook way more often and I should be available by cell, text or FB chat any time I’m awake since my cell has full service again. Keep in touch folks and I’ll post more as I have news…

Last Week, Last Shows, Last Ports, etc…

Red — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 02:00:27 +0000

As my time on the Oasis winds down for now, I don’t have nearly as much to say… Running Hairspray went fairly well considering I didn’t really know the track (glad I knew the show)… Karaoke has been mixed all week, starting out slow, but the past two nights were excellent including the competition.

Not much progress on my goals, but assurances that when I come back, I’ll be able to keep going on Light Tech. Scuba will have to wait till a few months in to my contract (probably), so who really knows about that *sigh*… I finally did get my “90 day” evaluation and it’s fine, nothing spectacular, but nothing to get fired over either… Room to improve for next time of course, so we’ll see…

I went through the past two weeks without getting off except for Florida. I don’t know why, but I haven’t felt the need to get off in any ports. I’d just spend money or get sunburned or both… So for now, I’ll make it through the next few days, then make the most of my vacation and see what happens when I come back…

I did have a random training session earlier this week, but it wasn’t anything special, just part of the new marketing initiative… I haven’t started packing yet, but I will soon… Possibly have to get rid of some stuff I don’t need anymore, but I’ll make it all fit somehow and pack smarter for next contract…

I did leave a piece of my legacy on Oasis today, I wrote up some instruction guides for the Karaoke system and the video cameras in On Air. Basically step by step instructions on how to get started with the gear based on my own experience. It also includes some troubleshooting and tips, so it will hopefully help the next guy…

The last two work days will be mostly CFWM, Splish Splash, packing and Karaoke… Apparently it’ll take a long time to sign off, but I’ll be hanging out with the outgoing Dreamworks cast, most of whom I’m friends with, so that’ll be a plus. It’ll be a long day no matter what, since my flight isn’t till 10pm or so, but I’ll be on land with cell service and internet, so I’ll manage.

The next update will probably be from the airport and they may be scattered throughout vacation, but right now I plan to keep this blog going. Vacation and my next contract should both be in here eventually, so keep reading folks! My life for the world to see!

Never as planned… again…

Red — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 15:50:59 +0000

Why do plans always change when everything seems to be going so well? I’m still coming home next week, that hasn’t changed (yet?) but this next week won’t be as simple as I thought… The big change is that one of the Stage Staff had a family emergency back home and got leave to sign off, so we’re one guy short this week. Not a problem, just means I’ll be running Hairspray and CFWM with very little training on either track.

So aside from that, the week will be filled with thoughts of home, planning to pack, packing, then finally getting a decent break. Hopefully Scuba diving at some point this week to get a better start on my training, but I don’t think I can finish it all in one week… sigh… Light Tech paperwork is finally in progress, but I need a few people onboard to meet up and review it for me…

The only other exciting thing from the past two days was last night’s “movie night” that only half was. I ran into Jack, Jo, Pie and his GF Rachael chilling in the Blue Room and we ended up watching about half of Super Troopers before everyone went to bed. Quite amusing, but now I’m left waiting to finish it… I may have to go in on my own and just watch the rest…

So I’m off the ship today, I’m just chilling, I’ll probably make some phone calls now that my phone has a better battery. In a few hours, I head off for one last week (for now) aboard the Oasis. It will be a busy week, but hopefully I’ll make a lot of progress too.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel…

Red — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:47:33 +0000

… is finally vacation! I’m not even gonna go into the week cause you’ve heard it all before. Probably the only different thing is today I’m helping with the Splish Splash Cast Install, but even that’s not much special. Karaoke has been mixed all week, Superstar is tonight instead of earlier, I haven’t gotten off the ship cause I don’t care about half the ports right now (I’d just spend money…). I did do some more maintenance on Monday, but I’m just ready to be done with this ship for awhile…

I don’t expect anything out of the ordinary the rest of the week either, but I could be surprised. I might be getting some stuff tweaked in On Air later, then hopefully I’ll get some programming time this week or next week… The goal is to at least turn in my Light Tech Paperwork before I leave, but I don’t know how likely that is either, it’s so confusing… I do expect to go scuba diving once more next week, but things have come up with that before, so who knows…

I’ll have 7 weeks or so for vacation and during that time I plan to visit NYC as often as possible, but at least St. Patty’s and Amy’s Birthday. I also wanna make a trip to State College and surrounding area if possible, and maybe Delaware if I can to visit a friend from the ship who lives there. Anyone who has ideas for plans, let me know. I’ll have plenty of things to do, but I’m sure I’ll have plenty of “bored” time as well…

In the meantime, I’m just plugging away at the last week or so here, then I’ll fly home and probably just zone out for a few days… Spend my time online, watching TV shows and other things its hard to do on a ship. I’ll make plans, hopefully see lots of friends, get some things done, then come right back here as of now and see how that all goes…