"life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,
so love the people who treat you right,
forget about the ones who dont,
and believe that everything happens for a reason.
if you get the chance, take it.
if it changes your life, let it.
nobody said life would be easy,
they just promised it would be worth it."
--- Harvey Mackay
"there are some things that are nothing than what they are. they are not meant to last. they just take a special place in your heart and make you smarter the next time." - alex & emma
"i still believe in paradise. but it's not a place you can look for. it's how you feel for a moment in your life. and when you find that moment, it will last forever." - the beach
Let me tell you about the fire situation we had last April 26. My cabinmate Joanne and I were directly affected. I was about to take a nap during my 1-hour break when I could smell smoke in our cabin. Joanne, my roommate, was on the phone and she smelled it as well. We looked around the cabin to see where it was coming from and we saw smoke coming out of our A/C vent. Joanne told whoever she was talking to – I think it was her mom in the Philippines … very good – and promptly started to panic. I told her to go outside and call the Bridge. She just kept saying, “Pia, our cabin is filling up with smoke!” over and over again. I, on the other hand, was putting on my uniform and telling her to dial 97 to call the Bridge. She did and got a busy signal. We kept trying until we got through.
Meanwhile, the smoke started spilling out of all the cabins and into the hallways. I was able to get through and informed the officer that there was an unusual amount of smoke in the ladies quarters on C-Deck and he told me, “Yeah, we know about the situation in the incinerator. That’s normal.” About 3 minutes after I put down the phone, the smoke detector in our cabin started beeping. Two minutes after that the fire alarm went off. Normal… sure. So much for my break.
Joanne and I went up to the Front Office, which is our point of assembly during emergencies. Apparently, things had gotten a bit out of hand in the incinerator and smoke started escaping through the A/C ducts. Even the guests in Decks 4 & 5 aft had smoke coming into their rooms.
Suffice it to say that our weekly fire drills paid off. We posted signs in our designated areas and proceeded to the affected passenger areas to keep guests calm and away from the affected fire zones. I was stationed on Deck 6 aft and I couldn’t help but observe our guests’ behavior. It was interesting to see how self-absorbed and stubborn people can be, especially those who, in my personal opinion, have such a sense of entitlement. Let me give you a few examples:
- I ran into two guests on my way up to check on my guests. They were on their way down to I don’t know where so I informed them to just stay as far back from the ship as possible as our fire and safety teams were trying to control the smoke situation on Decks 4 & 5. The wife said that she just wanted to pick up a jacket in their stateroom. I asked them what their room number was and I noted that it was located towards the back of ship on Deck 6, which was closed off as well. I told the guests about this and advised them to proceed to any of the public areas. The woman started acting up about how cold she was and that I’m preventing her from being comfortable. Ay, I wanted to shove her into her smoke-filled room, I swear. It took every ounce of willpower to not answer back with a sarcastic remark. Instead, I told her that the fire screen doors had already sealed off their section as a precaution so they wouldn’t have access to their room.
- One of my guests had a dinner reservation for 7:00pm in the main dining room, which had to be sealed off as well because of the fire. When I saw him on Deck 10 – this was around 6:15pm – he came up to me and said, “Patricia, we have a dinner reservation at 7pm. Do you think the dining room will be open in time for that or should we move our reservation to a later time?” I was stunned. What I wanted to say was, “Seriously? The ship could have burned down, people could have gotten hurt, and all you can think about it your *$(%$(#@ dinner?” But what I said was, “I would hold off on moving your reservation, sir, and wait for further updates from the Bridge. You may, however, want to consider the other dining options such as the Lido Buffet or in-room dining. I would recommend the Pinnacle Grill, however it is also in the affected fire zone.
- One of the Front Office girls told me this one: A guest from one of the staterooms in the affected area came to the Front Office very upset that their room smelled of smoke. My colleague reminded her that there was a fire that got a little bit out of hand that caused smoke to into a number of the staterooms, including hers. The guest said that she expected compensation for the inconvenience of the smoke smell. This, after all the affected rooms were issued complimentary laundry service and a thorough cleaning of their cabin. Very nice.
- This one’s not related to the fire, but it’s a good story of how cheap people can be: One of the guests from the lower staterooms had some of her medication refrigerated in the Infirmary. Apparently, the fridge in the infirmary was a little too cold because her medication froze, which rendered it useless. Since it was the ship’s fault, the guests were informed that they would be reimbursed for the medication that they’d purchase ashore. The husband was fine with the arrangement. The wife, however, would have none of it. She said that because the ship ruined her medication, we should, as a gesture of goodwill, pay for a piece of jewelry she was eyeing in the shop upstairs. Talaga naman.
I actually have a LOT of stories about how cheap the guests onboard can get. You have no idea how many times we hear the word “compensation” in just one day. I swear, I’m beginning to develop an aversion to the word.
the ipod shuffle, that is. i saw this on a website and thought i'd do it to, just for fun. shuffle your songs and list down the first five songs that play.
i've never had that feeling of dread about getting older. not when i turned 30 two years ago, not last year, and definitely not this year, when i've finally fallen off the calendar. this is the age most people start counting backwards.
i have to admit, though, that this birthday came and went with a sense of melancholy because, although i've celebrated my birthday out of the country 5 times in the past 6 years (or is it 4 times in the past 5 years? oh well, you guys get the idea), this is the first time i celebrated it with people who are practically strangers.
yes, i've spent every day of the past 7 months with them and i've developed a strong bond with a number of them. but they're still not family. they're not friends that i've known for years. they're not people who know all about me and my past.
so all the greetings from old friends and family was extra special that day. it made being away and (essentially) alone more bearable.
besides, a lot of good things happened that day that balanced out the bad:
the bad:
i'd gotten locked out of my cabin early in the morning because my key had gotten demagnetized. i ended up arriving 10 minutes late for work.
the good:
the pinnacle grill waiter assigned to the neptune lounge that morning opened the lounge for me. he turned on the lights and the tv, opened the blinds and greeted the guests who came in for breakfast and coffee.
the bad:
the food my colleagues requested for the party they were throwing for me was not approved by the hotel manager.
the good:
benjie and mike, the sous chef and apprentice cook, surprised us with a whole tray of goodies - quesadillas, hot beef wraps and steak - for which they had to work overtime to prepare. i never realized na malakas pala ako sa kitchen staff. even now, benjie tells me to just holler if i get hungry and there's no more food in the crew mess.
the bad:
i had two guests almost get into a scuffle in front of me at the neptune lounge. i literally jumped up from my seat and told them that their behavior was unacceptable in the neptune lounge and i would have to ask them to leave if they insisted on fighting.
the good:
one of my other guests put in a good word for me to my manager without me knowing it. apparently she saw me get up and scold the two grown men who were acting like boys.
the other good:
peter, the cabin inspector assigned to the navigation deck, brought me flowers. technically, that's not allowed because the flowers onboard are part of the inventory. the florist could actually get into trouble for making the arrangement. so, although i'm not really a flower kind of girl, i truly appreciated the gesture.
a week has passed since my very eventful birthday and there are a number of things i'm looking forward to in the next couple of weeks:
tomorrow, the veendam is going to pass through the panama canal. i am definitely going up to the lido deck and try to get pictures.
on april 23, we will be in huatulco, mexico. peter is going to take me jet-skiing. i hope my schedule will allow me to go ashore that day.
we'll be doing the alaskan itinerary in a couple of weeks. home ports will be vancouver one way and seward for the other.
after this panama canal cruise, which ends on may 2, i have 10 7-day cruises left before going home. i can't wait for the countdown to begin!
