Rough Seas

On By D. EndoIn Science, Ship LifeLeave a comment

When I saw the itinerary for Explorer of the Seas, I expected smooth sailing all the way through. Ok, maybe not all the time, but I expected to have smooth seas when there wasn’t a storm. When I was on Majesty of the Seas, the water was pretty smooth pretty much the whole time. Every now and then a storm would kick up and we would get tossed around, but that usually only lasted a day or two if it was really strong. The New Year’s cruise from Dec. 29th to January 6th was the rockiest cruises I’ve been on. I took seasickness pills as a precautionary measure to make sure I didn’t throw up during the shows. I don’t think I would have, but it’s best not to take chances when other people are involved.

Motion sickness can be a real problem on the ship. Anytime a cruise ship hits rough seas, the medical facilities see a spike in patients checking in. The biggest problem with seasickness pills is the fact that, while effective, they don’t work right away. They take time to get into your system and start working. If you can take them the night before you need them and then at regular times after that, you should be able to stave off throwing up. Mind you, you may still feel nauseous even if the pills are working.

If you don’t know how motion sickness works, it is caused when your body gets mixed signals as to whether you are moving or not. Your body has two ways of telling if you are in motion. The first is your eyes, and the second is your inner ear. While on a boat, your eyes may say you are standing still inside a room, but your inner ear says that you are moving due to the rocking of the boat. The opposite is true when people get simulation sick playing video games, especially those first-person games where the camera bobs up and down as you move.

Australian Holidays

On By D. EndoIn Cultural, Ports, Ship LifeLeave a comment

In case anyone was wondering, Christmas in Sydney doesn’t actually look all that different than Christmas in Southern California. They have evergreen trees with ornaments and lights. There are festive decorations. The ship is even doing things like having a holiday ice skating show and a tree lighting ceremony. Even the fact that it’s summer didn’t feel all that different than a warm winter day in Anaheim.

I often get asked by people when my next day off will be. Right now, I’m sticking to the line, “In July.” This actually isn’t that far from the truth. Granted, some days are lighter than others and I often get time while we are docked in port to enjoy time off the ship, but still, I get no days off while I’m on contract. Not even holidays are breaks. In fact, cruises that have a major holiday are often more busy that regular cruises. As a part of the stage crew, I have to work on something every day. There is almost always some sort of show in the evening that I have to help out with. Some times it’s our own production cast performing and others, it’s a guest act. Guest acts can include singing, dancing, juggling, magic, or comedy.

Taking Longer Than Expected

On By D. EndoIn Dogs, FlightsLeave a comment

So last time I wrote on this blog was a while ago. I ended up not doing the trans-Pacific crossing and instead joined up some time later in Australia. That has got to have been the longest flight I have ever taken. According to my airline app, I spent over fifteen hours flying from Los Angeles to Sydney. I slept a lot and watched a few movies that I had never seen before. It turns out that the passengers who were right behind me are also going to the Explorer of the Seas. I might see them on board at some point, even though I’m going to be hidden for a good portion of the voyage.

At the moment, the thing I am most concerned about is the jet lag. While you may look up the time difference between San Jose and Sydney as being nineteen hours due to time zones, it is easier to say that as far as daylight is concerned, Sydney is five hours behind. I got a similar effect when flying from Tampa to San Francisco at the end of my last contract.

Oh, and because I wasn’t sure if there would be food on the plane, I went and bought snacks that I never ate. Just like California, Australia has some pretty strict laws regarding agricultural products and even mud that cannot enter the country. One of the products not allowed is pork which I had on me in a sandwich that I bought in the airport which I never got around to eating. I wasn’t in trouble because I was honest and up front about having it on me, but they did take my sandwich. To be fair, I was going to throw it out anyway as it had been outside refrigeration for about eighteen hours. Restraunts shouldn’t serve food if it has been sitting out for more than four hours, buffets included. As it turns out, they had a new dog for sniffing out contraband and my sandwich was perfect for practice. Having helped raise puppies for Canine Companions for Independence, I was more than happy to help. They did a few quick tests where I had the sandwich in my hand so the dog would understand better the scent of pork. Then they practiced group searching by having the dog look for the sandwich that I placed in my jacket pocket. That dog really made my day.

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.