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| RAY AND I ENJOYING A DAY OFF IN THE CARIBBEAN |
Before I wrote Cruise Quarters I wondered would people find
my story interesting, after all it was just a story about two average people
traveling around the world on a very big ship. But since the publication I have
received so many e-mails from readers who obviously love to cruise or in some
cases are just looking for love and what most of them say is, “I wish that I could
do something like you did - just run away to sea.” So, in this article I will
give you my top ten reasons for working on a cruise ship.
Just before I decided to join cruise ships I was working as
a systems analyst in Boston, commuting on Route 128 America’s technology highway
Through rain, fog and snow, constantly in fear of crashing
my compact into the rear of a tractor trailer, every day felt like a suicide
mission. The rest of the time I was stuck in an office with the same twenty
people, claustrophobia slowly settling in. I dated a lot, some of the
candidates hailed from the finest institutions our country has to offer. I was
dating more but enjoying it less, dates seemed more like job interviews.
But I always felt like I was missing out on something, the
Germans have a word for it torschlusskpanik, literally the feeling that you are
missing the boat. One day, a friend who was working on a cruise ship came through
town and while she was joining a ship in New
Zealand, I had a four-hour drive to Albany
on my itinerary. Four months later I had cajoled and pleaded my way into a job
on the Star Princess. My first port was beautiful Saint Martin
where the sea glistened a deep shade of aquamarine. I always say that was the
day my life went from black and white to Technicolor.
The point of my digression is this I was in my thirties when
I changed my life but it is never too late to go for it. On the ships I worked
as a blackjack dealer but there are many other jobs on a cruise ship. Are you a
nurse or a doctor? All ships need one of those. Do you work with children? There
is always a need for someone to coordinate children’s activities, are you good
with accounting? The purser’s staff keeps track of passenger’s accounts and
shipboard expenditures. Retail experiences on your resume? All cruise ships
have shops. There are so many opportunities to work on a cruise ship and with a
little research you just might find your niche.
- You will completely change your life. Living on a cruise ship is like moving to a new country where the captain is the king. You will make new friends, travel to new places and most of all your life will be filled with new adventures. During my five years on ships I made friendships that still last to this day, and I visited every continent on the globe except Antarctica.
- You live on a waterfront mansion and the best part is - it moves. Wherever you live on a ship you are only a few minutes away from a gorgeous ocean view. I never got tired of sitting on deck and watching the world go by. Sail-away from Venice is one of the most beautiful sights in the world and I had a front row seat every ten days.
- Every day the ship goes to beautiful ports because, ships don’t travel to ugly places. This means every day you get to wake up in a beautiful European city or a tropical island.
- Not only do you visit beautiful places, you get to come back every seven to ten days. If you spend a season in the Mediterranean your cruise might start in Barcelona and go to Venice with lots of great ports in between. Then it starts in Venice and returns to Barcelona, by the end of the season you feel like you know these ports and start feeling more like a local than a tourist.
- You don’t have to pay any rent; your room and board are taken care of by the cruise lines. As a dealer we had a great gig on the ships we were allowed to eat at any of the buffets, so every day I feasted. Imagine not having to write that rent check every month.
- There is no commute, that was the icing on the cake for me. For five years I would wake up each day and decide do I want to take the elevator to work or walk up the stairs. Now who wouldn’t like a commute like that?
- It is a great place to save money for all the reasons I have mentioned, free room and board. And I didn’t have to buy a car which meant no car payments. I know you are thinking that sight-seeing can be expensive but if you work on a ship you can always volunteer to help the tour guide by joining the tours and keeping an eye on the passengers. I left ships with the money to start a new life in Palm Springs.
- Another perk of ship life is meeting people from all over the world. The crew of a cruise ship is like a mini United Nations with crew members from across the globe all working together to meet the passengers every need. In my casino alone we had staff from Australia, Scotland, America and Canada, and since that time many Eastern Europeans have joined the casino staffs on many ships.
- Crew life is fun, although many of the crew work very hard, imagine being a waiter and you are expected to serve three meals, two buffets and a tea-time. So to let off a little steam there is a crew bar where all the crew meets for camaraderie and fun. We have so many crew activities; we danced under the stars, had a pizza party for Venice sail-away and played trivia. There was also crew talent show which just gave the Brits an excuse to dress in drag.
- You just might fall in love. For me that was the highlight of my time at sea. I left with a very special souvenir my husband Ray. He was from Scotland and I would have never met him if I hadn’t run away to sea. We met when we both worked on the Star Princess, my lucky ship, and were married four months later. In fact, I know so many couples that met on cruise ships and many ended up married. The majority I am happy to report are very happy. Though there are no guarantees it just might happen to you and there is no better way to change your life than to fall in love.
So for all of you that have that feeling of torschlusskpanik,
I just want you to know that you can change your life. Now hiring practices
vary but there are big cruise lines like Carnival, to small lines like the
exclusive Silver Seas.
There are European lines, there are ships all over the world and in the last
ten years river cruises like AMA have become popular, but I am sure that with a
little work you can find out if cruise ships are a fit for you. Happy sails to you!
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Casino Queen by Cara Bertoia | NOOK Book (eBook) | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
Cara Bertoia is the author of Casino Queen a new mystery novel that will be published by the Wild Rose Press on March 16th. It is based on the many true stories she lived through in her many years in the casino industry although the names have been changed to protect the guilty. Read the blurb here.
Caroline Popov, alone, heartbroken, and deeply in debt ends up in glamorous Palm Springs, California where Native casinos have just opened, offering employment to thousands. She lands a job at the Palm Oasis Casino and is mentored by the charismatic tribal chairman, John Tovar.
Embraced by casino culture, Caroline works her way up to casino manager of the Night Hawk, in the High Desert town of Joshua Tree. There, she is responsible for managing multicultural team members, satisfying the demands of challenging guests, growing revenue while rooting out corruption.
In the process of rediscovering her inner strength, she learns, you have to gamble like your life depends on it. Because it often does.
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