7.31

I woke up this morning around 620, showered and shaved so I didn't look like a mountain man and then proceeded to grab some breakfast and wait for the shuttle to the pier. There were probably about 15 or 20 people who were waiting to join Serenade that were staying at my hotel. Most were speaking other languages and I looked to be the only American. It was pretty clear that most had done this routine before and maybe 2 or 3 were new hires like me. The shuttle arrived and took us on a short 5 minute ride to the pier. As we neared the pier I could see 2 cruise ships and instantly recognized the Serenade from pictures I have seen.

We drove along the pier and I got my first look of my home for 7 months. She's a huge ship. I've never been up close to a cruise ship before and they are very impressive looking! As I ogled at the ship the vans stopped and we all got out and grabbed our luggage. We were met by two officers who checked our passports and employment documents. Then this massive garage door opened and we went inside this warehouse type of building.

We put our bags on X-ray machines and had them scanned. They found my Letherman and other tools (which I'm allowed to have), but I had to check them in through security and will pick them up later. We then lined all of our lugged up in a long single file line and stood shoulder to shoulder against a wall facing the line of luggage. Three officers each with a dog walked up and down the line as the dogs sniffed each and every bag multiple times. It was a pretty intense process but they didn't find anything. We then went to another section of this massive building to go through metal detectors.

After all of the security we finally boarded the ship through the crew gangway on deck 2. We went up to a conference room on deck 5 where we received some paper work and had our medical records double checked. I was given my room key and an emergency card the tells me my position and duty on the ship if there is an emergency. I was then met by Paula, who works in the entertainment division (it has some name but I forget what it is). She told me she was going to show me around because the other 2 broadcast techs were busy at that moment. It turns out there are only two broadcast techs on the ship and I am replacing one of them. There will be three of us for about two weeks and then the person I am replacing will leave.

Paula gave me a quick tour of a few guest areas and then we descended into the crew areas. There is a main passage called "I-95" that runs the length of the ship on deck two. This is the main artery where the crew can move laterally in the ship without going into guest areas. Paula showed me to my room which is forward on deck four. I'll be staying in an ECC (extra crew cabin) for about two weeks until the broadcast tech leaves and then I will take her cabin.

The ECC cabin is very small. It's probably a little smaller than Allison's bathroom and has bunk beds, but I'm told I'll be the only one staying in it. I have a TV and small fridge as well as bathroom with shower. The bathroom sort of feels like something you'd use in an RV.

I'm currently just hanging out in my cabin waiting for Kurtis (the head broadcast tech) to give me a call so we can meet up. This afternoon I will pick up my luggage and attend safety meetings. I'm told my training schedule will be a little different than they normally are this week because RCI executives from Miami are onboard for a few days until we drop them off in Barbados. They are holding meetings that the higher ups who typically train new hires have to attend, so my schedule will be a little screwy.

I met up with Kurt and he showed me the broadcast room as well as the cinema and other areas of the ship where screens are located that we manage. Kurt's a nice guy and has been working with RCI for twelve years. He's friendly and pretty much carries the attitude of "I've been doing this on various ships around the world for twelve years so I'll do whatever I what."

That afternoon I met Val, the other broadcast tech. She's really nice and is actually from PENNSYLVANIA (a small town near Pittsburgh)! She was super pumped to actually meet someone not only from the United States but Pennsylvania. She's worked for RCI for about 2 years. I'll be shooting and editing events with her this week and next. Unfortunately both Kurt and Val will be leaving in two weeks, so I'll be working with some broadcast tech from Romania.

We left San Juan last night and our first port was suppose to be Barbados, but there is a tropical storm forming so the captain made the decision to not go down to Barbados but stop in St. Croix instead. It is unclear where we will be going next as they are still monitoring the storm system. I believe tomorrow may be a sea day until a decision can be made about the next port.

This evening I sat in the broadcast room for the Welcome Aboard show, which takes place in the main theatre. We record the show's using remote cameras and then broadcast it again later though out the ship. Shorty after the ship got underway, I sat in my rolley chair and realized that I could actually feel the ship moving. When you move throughout the crew area's you never have to see outside so I had no idea we had left San Juan. As the show was going on we got an e-mail with the subject line "Secure for Seas." Apparently this e-mail gets sent when the ship may encounter some movement that could cause unsecured items to shift. It seemed that the tropical storm was starting to stir up with waters. The broadcast room is high up on deck 11 so the movement is sometime amplified.

After the show I went back down to my cabin around 00:15 and headed to bed. I actually really enjoyed lying in bed feeling the ship rock and listening to everything creak and moan.