four days, forty dollars

Last summer, I vowed I would never work on cruise ships again. Boring. Had lost the appeal. Didn't get the same perks we used to. Lot of work for very little money. Just not worth it, ultimately. I decided to quit while I was still ahead, somewhat.

So of course, when Princess emailed in March and asked if I could work a weekend "repositioning" cruise in May, I said YES!

BECAUSE-- Only four days, one to embark, two at sea, and then fly home... Los Angeles to Vancouver... earn a little extra cash for summer... be at sea, which I LOVE... earn some frequent flyer miles and fly for free... get to buy Canadian Wunderbars in the Vancouver airport... keep myself on the Princess books (in the books?) just in case I decided I DID want to work more cruises in the future... and get to wear my sweet navy-pants-and-turquoise-polo uniform, again. AGAIN.

Guess what, though? I was right the first time. NOT WORTH IT. 11-hour days, $40 per day and a buffet in the Crew Mess just isn't enough to compensate for puking 3-year-olds and being at the beck and call of teenagers needing to check out a new Playstation game. Working in the kids and teens program is better than a lot of jobs on the ship, but... yeah no.

There WERE, however, some bonus perks nonetheless. There was the excitement when I first got on... it IS a pretty cool and unusual thing to do... the fact that I got an officer's cabin this time with portholes! PORTHOLES!... a great cabinmate, and a lot of great views and things that make me happy. Here are some of them:

cabin porthole view of the cruise ship terminal in San Pedro.

Which is a dump, but through a porthole? ...AWESOME.
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porthole view mid-day, going north up the Pacific Coast.

Somewhat rough seas, fun for me and great to sleep during,

but not when it means we have to deal with kid-puke in the Fun Zone.
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double-porthole view at dusk. I really, really love portholes.

I don't mind cabins without them, since I prefer complete and

utter darkness when sleeping, but to get to watch the sea

go by anytime I want--? Special Treat, for sure.
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hanging out in my window-seat (I decided), wearing my uniform. Startled my

cabinmate when she realized I was behind the curtain. What.
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crew stairways. Markedly different than passenger stairways, but cool.

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crew main thoroughfare, nicknamed the M-1 (which won't make any

sense unless you're from England, or also crew, of course)
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This was the first thing I saw when I walked into the Teen Center, where I

would end up spending half my working time... and therefore happily. Sigh. Daniel...
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crew deck. I love to be out there, whether sun or rain or, in this case, fog
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crew pool. Covered. Sad. :(
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Canadian teens at the Mocktail competition. Ohhh, teenagers. Most

fun I had all cruise, though. Well, "working"-fun.
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Indoor Lotus Spa pool and hot tubs, site of the Farewell (after 2 1/2 whole days)

Teen Hot Tub party. Fortunately, these were marching band kids.
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very cold windy deck on my way 'home' from work. There's another cruise

ship off in the distance there, which is always comforting as potential rescue

in the chance we hit an iceberg. Which has happened to me. Albeit in Alaska,

but it happened. (another story for another time)
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best for last...

I love love love flying. Where else do you get to see clouds like this?

Oh and by the way, I am done with working on ships. Again.