Ending Cruise

So, my first cruise is over, and I AM SO GLAD!!!! My kids were good to begin with, but the later the week went on, they really began to push my buttons. They didn't listen to anything I said after about Wednesday. It was frustrating, but they are 12-14 year olds. That is to be expected.

Anyway, I have so far gotten hit on by two teenagers, two staff members, and a teenager's dad. It is really quite embarrassing. Oh well..

Overall the cruise went pretty well. The highlight was definitely tonight when two of my kids dressed up in dresses and pranced around the playroom. It was quite amusing. I have noticed the pattern with tween boys, they all act gay. It is kinda disturbing.

So my next ship that I will start working on March 8 will be starting out of Fort Lauderdale and then moving to New York in April. The cruises will go to Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, Bermuda, US Virgin Islands, Rhode Island, Netherlands Antilles, West Indies, and a few more. I think it will be a good move for me. I will have my own lounge on the new ship, whereas now I am having to move my kids all around the ship to different places, which doesn't always work out so well.

I am glad to be going on the next cruise, because I will be going to some pretty cool places. Two of them, I believe I can use my cell phone and that will be really nice.

Anyway, I am enjoying this job, but I miss home alot. Anyway, I must run on to bed because I have immigration tomorrow early morning. Goodnight
The Vagabond.

More photos

Cruise Number 1

Grand Cayman

My Cabin

Transfer

I just found out they are transferring me to a new ship!!! Carnival Miracle....I can't decide how I feel about it. I will have the rest of this cruise and the next on Freedom and then moving to Miracle. I will give more details later

My address

Short post, but here's my address in case you'd like to write me letters!!!

M/V Carnival Freedom
Carli McClure, Crew #423952
Circle C Director, Youth Department
P O Box 025472
Miami, FL 33102-5351

He wants to rub cream on me!!!

Ok, so this deserves it's own post. First of all, I will say that this journey has thus far proven to be nothing short of an adventure. That being said, you should know that I just got offered a topless massage by a coworker. He even gave me his phone number and said he'd give me a massage at 4 AM, 4 PM, or whenever my heart desired. Smooth talking European boys. Geez. Enough said.

Overwhelmed and Tired

So today was not quite what I was expecting. I don't really know what I was expecting, but geez. I am exhausted. I had to learn so much today, all the while trying to adapt to understanding 50 different accents (and the strongest one of all, that I can't understand a lick of what she says just so happens to be my roommate, ugh, wouldn't ya know), all the while trying to find my way around a ship that is longer than 3 football fields when I can't even find my way to my belly button half the time. Ok, so maybe I am exaggerating a little bit, but it was a crazy crazy day.

Bad news, they gave me a uniform that is just too sexy for words. Mwahahaha, and the other bad news is that they blocked skype on the ship, so i can't talk to anyone unless I am in port. UGH, that irks my taters.

On lighter note, I got to work with the youth tonight so that made it so much better. The kids are great. There are 57 kids on the cruise that fall in the age group that I am working with. So far, about 25 have registered for the program and we had an average of about 10 at the activities tonight. They are really sweet and really fun. One offers his phone number to me about every other minute, to which I nod my head and act like I care, but I really don't. Anyway, no seasickness so far, only lost as a goose-ness. Maybe it will get better. It should after that half a pizza I just ate at midnight. Eek, that'll hurt my figure. Oh well, with all this walking, I should be thin as a rail in the blink of an eye. Well maybe two. Anyway, the vagabond must check in for the night because she is TIRED.

Hasta La Vista

So today was the day!!!! The day I left home, my normal life to start my new vagabond life.....It seemed to take forever to get here on one hand, but on the other, it just flew by. Thanks to my send off crew at the airport - Mom, Sara, JD, Mamaw, Papaw, Mark, and Lynnee (hope I spelled that right). So it was pretty sad leaving. I definitely cried a bit.

Here are some pictures.
Me and JD on the way to Airport

My send off crew

So here I am, in Miami, at the hotel. Tomorrow morning at 8 I catch the shuttle to my ship. Will be there by around 9. We sail out sometime tomorrow afternoon and I start to work tomorrow night. Holy butterbean!!! I'll let you faithful readers know tomorrow night how the first day went, if they don't kill me first. EEK

I'm leavin on a cruise ship, don't know when I'll be back again!!!

Finally, after 4 weeks of wondering, waiting, anticipating, I received the email which contains the details of my future vagabondish adventure.
I will be flying out of Jackson at 12:50 pm on Saturday, February 21. Will spend the night in Miami and head out to Fort Lauderdale the next day, where I will aboard my new home, Carnival Freedom.


From what I can see according to the Carnival website, there will be 3 different adventures I will swap between: two 8 day cruises, and one 6 day. The first one will be to Key West, Grand Caymen, and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. The second will be to San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands; Antigua; Tortola, British Virgin Islands; and Nassau, Bahamas. The third will be to Cozumel, Mexico; Limon, Costa Rica; and Colon, Panama.

I have no doubt that this will be a glorious adventure. Not only the places I will see, but also with the people I will meet, the skills I will gain, and the incredible amount of homesick I am sure I will endure. Either way, in 12 days, my life will completely change.

If you would like to talk to me while I am gone, I will continue to use Facebook, email, and Skype. My email is carlimcclure@yahoo.com . If you would like to hear my voice, you should think about downloading Skype at http://www.skype.com . This is a really cool messaging/phone program that is free. I already use this program with a few friends and it is really neato.

Anyway, I can't wait for this adventure to begin. I hope my readers will enjoy this adventure too.

Peace, Love, and Cruisin!!!
The Vagabond

Job Placement

So I still do not know where I will be placed, however, I do know that I should be leaving soon. I got an email today saying I was cleared for everything and that she would find me a ship as soon as I am ready. I told her I was ready ASAP and that I could begin immediately. She should give me a date soon and I will book my ticket. I can't wait for this new adventure to begin.