Last night we shot the performance of "Gotta Dance" (the dance that some passengers were taught at a class yesterday and then held a surprise performance in the Centrum). After that we went the the guest version of Quest. It was a little less raunchy than the crew version, but still a lot of fun. They make sure there aren't any kids in the Safari Lounge while the game is happening so it gets pretty wild! After that was over around 2315, we ran up to the pool deck for "Dancing Under the Stars." Basically the crew staff leads a bunch of line dance type dances. It was really fun and awesome to be outside on the ship at night. I really like being surround by complete darkness. As the event was winding down I walked to the bow of the ship and just soaked in the surrounding darkness.
This morning I had survival training. We learned about the different types of life rafts, survival techniques, etc. I found it interesting that they spent a fair amount of time educating us about sharks. Hopefully that knowledge doesn't need to be used! They also talked a lot about the different emergency transponders that can be activated, both for land and air rescues. It's amazing how many redundant systems are on both the ship and rescue crafts. Of course I'm soaking up all the technical things like what frequency is needed to broadcast to airplanes vs. ships, while I'm sure the other few people were like "who cares!." Another thing I found interesting was this device on the lifeboats that you assemble to make that boat easier to pick on radar from other ships. Because the lifeboats are small and plastic, they won't pick up on nearby radar. However, constructing this big metal frame thing helps bounce the waves back to passing ships. At least that's the idea…
I think the First Safety Officer is starting to like me because today he found out that I knew a thing or two about boats. I got to explain the use of a sea anchor (which is basically a parachute type anchor that drags in the water to slow the craft down and help stabilize it). It's used especially when an anchor cannot reach the sea floor. It's good that he likes me because he'll give you a hard time if he feels you're not up to par. If you're 1 minute late for training he won't let you in the room and you have to attend another session the following week.
Speaking of time, I love how every single thing on the ship starts precisely when it is suppose to. If an event is to start at 1900, it starts at 1900, not a minute earlier or later. The ship leaves and arrives in port at exact specified times and the mess halls open and close on the dot. It's really great because I can literally show up to an event I need to shoot 2 minutes before hand and know that it will begin in exactly 2 minutes. There is no wasted time.
In the afternoon I shot some activities on the sports deck as we departed St. Lucia. They have things such as rock climbing, water slides, mini golf, volleyball, shuffleboard, etc. During the volleyball game someone hit the ball over the nets and into the ocean! What do you do when that happens? Well nothing really, expect we are required to report it to the environmental officer on board who files a report to some agency that keep track of things like that. When I finished I went back up to the broadcast room and edited a short piece with the sports footage.
After dinner (Asian food night!) I did a little more editing and then went to this 70s disco night in the Centrum. It was really well attended and a lot of fun. Durning the middle of the event they drop a bunch of balloons from the ceiling and they float down the 10 stories to the dance floor. It looked really cool!
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