Category: Home

The World Cruise and Visas

On By D. EndoIn Home, Ship LifeLeave a comment

I’m back to work after an odd schedule. With Royal Caribbean going on its first world cruise, I was asked to take part in the install process. They put in 5 new shows to replace the 2 that were originally there. After about a month, they were mostly finished, but I was all set to go home. Thank goodness I got to have the holidays at home. As I waited at home, the ship traveled south down the east coast of the Americas down to Antartica. After that, they went up the west coast to Los Angeles before heading across the ocean to Australia. I was originally going to join them in Tahiti but found out later that they wanted me to join 2 weeks earlier than I expected in Los Angeles. This sent me into panic mode to get the proper visas. I needed to get two visas to be allowed on the ship, an Australian visa and a Chinese visa. I was not too concerned about the Australian visa. I had gotten one years earlier and it was a painless process. All you need to do is fill out the form online and submit it. Hours later, they got back to me confirming my visa. The Chinese visa, on the other hand, was a lot more annoying. I had to fill out the form online which required a picture with a pure white background. That took many tries before I got one with a plain enough background to be accepted. Once everything was filled out, I had to submit an online copy as well as turn in a physical copy to the embassy in San Fransisco. I was fortunate enough for my dad to know someone who was a travel agent who exclusively does travel to China. I submitted the paperwork a week later, I got my visa. Unfortunately, I got the wrong visa. I got a tourist visa, and I needed a business visa. At this point, I’m panicking. One of things that is needed for a business visa which is not needed for a tourist visa is a letter of invitation. That’s right. Someone in China has to invite you to come over for business. This step adds to the amount of time needed to get your visa. So there I was, waiting at home for the visa. They decided to go with worst case scenario, and I began getting paperwork for a second Australian visa that would allow me to fly there and board my ship. Then I get the message. Turns out I didn’t need the Chinese visa. According to them, I won’t be allowed off in China so I don’t need a visa. I could have joined in Los Angeles. So they booked me on a flight to Hawaii to join the ship.

Once I got on the ship, they decided to change the itinerary for later on in the cruise. The original plan was to go from Dubai up through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean Sea. Due to wars and terrorism, the company cannot guarantee safety, so we are going to go the long way around. I don’t know if I need any new visas for this change. I guess I’m either going to get one on board like for India or I just get to look at land while stuck on the ship.

The only good thing to come of this whole debacle is I now have a Chinese tourist visa. Disneyland Shanghai is a possibility in the next ten years.

What Took Me So Long

On By D. EndoIn Goals, Home, Ship LifeLeave a comment

It took me a while, but I’m finally back to working on ships. One big thing that stopped me from going to sea was living an unhealthy lifestyle. Since I got sent back, I found I had low motivation to exercise. This led to me gaining a lot of weight. Now, I’ve never been especially healthy to begin with, but this caused more complications in my body. You see, in order to work on a cruise ship, you have to take a physical examination in order to be considered for employment. After all, if your ship is in the middle of the ocean and you have a medical emergency, where can you go? While the ship does have medical facilities on board, there is a limit to how many medical equipment, supplies, and team members you have access to. I’ve been on ships that had to make detours so guests could be helicoptered to land for one reason or another. Some medical problems aren’t too bad. You may just need a prescription to cover the issue. I found out that if your liver is working too hard, the only option for you is a lifestyle change as no medicine is available to solve this issue. For me, it meant I had to lose about 10% of my weight.

I really had to buckle down and focus on exercising and eating right. I probably could’ve been on my second contract since the pandemic if I did this from the beginning. Instead, I missed several chances until it became clear that I would have to let them know when I was healthy enough to return to service. After months of hard work and hundreds of miles of running, everthing was finally back in order, and now I’m writing this on the deck of the ship.

I probably should be careful, though. I’ve been too busy to go to the gym since I got here and the crew mess is all you care to eat. Here’s to hoping I can control my appetite and get to running again.

 

Stuck at Home

On By D. EndoIn HomeLeave a comment

It does feel odd to me to be at home for so long. I’ve usually had some idea of when I’m supposed to be back on the ship when I finished a contract before. As it stands, all I can do right now is keep checking my emails and look at the company website. When I first got home, I did see that the company was planning on trying to restart about mid-September for most ships. I recently checked again and saw that the soonest date for Serenade was pushed back to mid-October for now. I’m going to guess that this date will continue to be pushed back until the whole pandemic is put under control. I mentioned Serenade because the company mentioned that we would probably get sent back to whatever ship we left. On the bright side, the ship is currently set to be going out of Sydney to do New Zealand cruises which I’m really excited for. I enjoyed those Sydney sail outs and it looks like there should be some beautiful scenic cruising like I saw in Norway.

Normally, the time between contracts is the time when I need to get certain stuff done. I usually start a list while I’m on the ship about what I’ll need for next time. Shoes tend to be pretty high on the list. I will usually carry three pairs with me when I board the ship, and each of them is for a different purpose. This next contract should be slightly different as I will want to gather the tools needed for my recent promotion to light tech. In addition to those standard pliers and screwdrivers, I also need to find gadgets such as a cable tracker and multi-meter. These tools should help me identify where certain problems occur in the lighting system. This is also a chance for me to read up more on the console and fixtures I’m working with. I have many manuals in PDF format that I still need to go through. While this may not be absolutely essential to do what I need, it will certainly expand what I’m able to do with the programming and troubleshooting.

I really can’t wait to get back on the water.

Local Food

On By D. EndoIn Home, PortsLeave a comment

I’m back home now and am slowly adjusting to life on land. One of the things I started doing on the ship was make a list of all the foods I wanted to eat once I got back home. I hope I can get through the list before I get back on the waters (whenever that is).

I am in the habit of trying foods from the areas I go to. I have had key lime pie in Key West, a Cuban sandwich in Havanna, and stroganoff in St. Petersburg. I have been to Halifax and had donair and poutine. One of the best New England clam chowders was from a restaurant in Portland, ME along with a lobster roll. I have tried kangaroo, crocodile, buffalo, emu, rabbit, and moose. Sometimes I really enjoy the new foods and others, not so much. Every now and then, I discover later on that what I thought was a local food wasn’t really orginally a local food. The Cuban sandwich that I mentioned earlier is a good example of this. The Cuban part of the name more likely applies to the customer than the country of origin. It appeared in local communities in Miami and Tampa, Florida around the mid 1800’s where small communities of Cuban cigar factory workers lived. Traffic between Florida and Cuba was pretty common from then up until 1959 when a revolution took place. I’m sure the sandwich I had was there more for the appeal of having a “local” food while vacationing in Havana. Still, it was pretty tasty.

You never know what you will find when you go looking for food. Growing up, one of my favorite items to get from the hot lunch line was called a taco pocket. If you’ve never had one, its essentially a meat and gravy in a pot pie crust pastry pocket. I think that’s the best way to describe it. It was slightly spicy and full of flavor. When I left elementary school, I never thought I would be able to try that again. In Bridgetown, Barbados, there is a little stand just outside the terminal building. I had passed it a couple of times without giving it a second thought. One time, a couple of my coworkers asked if I wanted to join them for Jamaican beef panties. I went with them and was pleasantly surprised. I took a bite and my childhood memories came flowing back to me. It was the same taste or at least close enough to evoke the memories. I told my coworkers who shrugged it off, but I was ecstatic at being able to relive my childhood for a brief moment.

Goodbye Explorer

On By D. EndoIn HomeLeave a comment

Well, it’s been a long seven months, but I’m finally going back home. This contract has certainly been an experience. I couldn’t imagine when I started this job that I would se as much of the world as I have in such a short amount of time. On this contract, I ended up getting off at more than 40 ports in 18 countries. I got to experience feeding kangaroos and crocodiles (not at the same time) in Australia. I took a tour of the Acropolis in Athens. I watched some traditional folk dances in Russia. As I sit and wait for my flight, I’m wondering what I might discover on my next ship.

All I can say now is that I’m tired and ready for a vacation.

From Shore to Ship

On By D. EndoIn HomeLeave a comment

I’m excited to start working on my next ship. This will be my second contract with Royal Caribbean, and I will be placed on the Explorer of the Seas. My job will be as a technical stage staff again. This ship is bigger than my last one, so there will be some adjusting. Hopefully, I will learn the new layout of the ship quickly. If anyone is wondering, the first thing I really need to know is where the bathrooms are in the public areas of the ship. Guests don’t always take kindly to me not knowing the answer.

I am looking forward to my trans-Pacific crossing on board the Explorer. We will stop by Hawaii and several Pacific islands before making our new home port Sydney, Australia. There will be long bouts of nothing but the ship. Hopefully, that will give me time to learn how to navigate the ship. This will be a far cry from the short trips my last ship took me on. I’m not sure if I’m excited or nervous about that.

Well, I need to do some more things before I leave, so I will leave this here. Talk to you on the water.