The first wave

Time: 1:15pm

Location: in the middle of the East China Sea on the way from Shanghai to Kagoshima, Japan

Weather: cloudy 8C

 

You'll have to read to the bottom to see why there's a cute owl here!

With the huge amount of information I have learned it feels way more than just over a week since I've been on the ship, but time doesn't lie and it is already my third cruise after all, pretty soon I will be completely on my own. Or maybe time does operate differently out at sea? 🤔 There are constant changes between China and Japan/Korea time every few days and I'm still paranoid about being late every time it happens.

My position onboard is the Captain's Circle Hostess/Onboard Sales Manager, Captain's Circle being Princess Cruise's loyalty program. Usually there are two people for these two positions and back on a "normal" ship I would be just the Captain's Circle Hostess, but everything about the Chinese (and later Taiwanese) market operates a little differently. In some ways it's a good thing because it's less busy in this market so I get to ease into it and learn about both positions. Every day is a little different with different start times which definitely keeps me on my toes. Often I start by helping with tour dispatch or disembarkation at one of the lounges if it's a port or turnaround day, which for these short itineraries is almost every day. Funnily enough I had a very similar ground services job back in Canada Place last summer, and at the time I was thinking how awesome it would be if I could go on the cruise. After all the passengers get off I might have some time to go onshore, providing that there are no drills or trainings to attend (of which there are many on a ship). If it's a turnaround day, which means the ship returns to home port to drop off and pick up a different batch of passengers, I also perform passport collection during embarkation. Later on, I open office hours to assist guests with their loyalty membership needs and future cruise bookings. On sea days it's a little easier as I only have longer office hours and sometimes presentations. Overall days are long and I was exhausted the first few days but I'm getting used to the hang of things. Working on a cruiseship you learn to let no time go to waste (another reason why it's good I don't have Internet access) and the work hard play hard motto is truly lived here.

A few days ago I actually got a few hours to explore Fukuoka with some new friends and we found ourselves at a shrine and an owl cafe!