veendam log - 10 oct 2007

it's 10 minutes to 1:00AM (clocks moved 1 our forward) and my first shift starts at 7AM so this will be a roundup of the week since i last posted.

• I must be doing something right because I’ve been assigned a cash float. Normally, a GRA is given a cash float after at least one month of service. I was tense the entire time because at the end of my shift, I had to prepare a Cash Position, which is basically a balance sheet to show that I had the exact same amount that the Purser had given me.
• I’ve served my first full cruise. There were no major incidents. Any potential crises were quickly averted. I was even given a good review by one of the passengers helped. :) Tomorrow’s the start of a brand new cruise and there will be a lot of shuffling of positions. Our supervisor is being trained to be a manager and one of the telephone concierges is being groomed to be a supervisor. the front desk people naman will be taking turns covering the telephone concierge (tc) chair. good luck to us.
• I was watching a German variety show on one of the in-house channels the other night. They had various artists perform songs from different musicals. One of the songs performed was Fame. When the female artist went up on stage, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d seen her somewhere before. When the camera pulled in for a close-up I realized where I’d seen her: That’s Entertainment. It was Caselyn Francisco! She’s HUGE in Germany. But so is David Hasselhoff so…
• I have a… I wouldn’t call him a stalker because he’s not. Makulit lang talaga. Aakyat daw ng ligaw pag balik nya sa Manila. Ang lagi kong sagot: I’m going to be late for my shift. Ingat po.
• I’ve started watching “The Office” on DVD. Finished the first season as well as a few episodes of the 2nd season. It’s really, really funny. Carlo, I think you’ll enjoy it.
• We have a TV in our cabin. Network and cable channels that we get are CNN, TNT, ESPN and the Discovery Channel. Looks like I’ll be able to catch the NBA after all. ☺ Plus, the movies they show on the in-house channels are not bad: Ocean’s 13, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Reign Over Me. So I won’t really get bored in the cabin.
• I had chocolate-covered strawberries today. YUMMY ☺

i'm on tc duty when i go to work tomorrow. the main difference between a guest relations attendant and a tc is that the tc doesn't have to face the guests. they're mostly on phone duty answering queries by the suite guests. i had a go at it for 3 hours today and it was pretty interesting. i'm guessing tomorrow will be pretty quiet since the guests will probably be sleeping still or having breakfast.

it's a sea day tomorrow, which means we won't have a moment's peace. i honestly think guests think of questions on purpose just so they can come to the front desk. there was one couple that was walking past the front desk. i swear, they looked our way, stopped, whispered to each other, came up to the desk and asked, "is this the front desk?" oh. my. god.