graphicguy

Cagney’s it is! Meet at hostess desk! @debenson0723…meet at Maltings…9!

I’ve got Cagney’s at 7. Open before, after, or during given I’ve got a dinner for one other on my Latitudes. Heck, i’ll use my FAS coupon and cover you, your travel companion SM and me of y’all want! Heck, meet at Cavern Club outside right now!

Y’all get to be the first guinea pigs to my first video with my first action cam. You’ve been warned! 740431374401.mp4

Maybe regret jumping into this, but have been to many parts of Europe..Spain, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Greece. In all honesty, the goal of saving time by taking food to eat on the go misses the whole point of experiencing Europe. Savor food from a local hole in the wall eatery. Between visits to one place or another, linger at a restaurant. They expect it and you’ll be glad you did. Rushing from place to place to see how many different things you can see without really experiencing them is cheating yourself! Slow down. Look around. Have a cappuccino and a pastry at a local cafe and people watch. My bet is you’ll love it!

Shhhhhh! She needed some lovin’!

@mking8288…Henry, not nearly as impressive as your command central, but this is what I’m working with!

WiFi has been good the last few cruises I’ve taken…Epic, Prima and now Joy. All have had Starlink, though! The bar was pretty low compared to what we used to cruise with though!

I think Cruise Next personnel duties are more than selling CN certs. I know they do the tours, book new cruises, do the future ship presos, port background presos, probably other behind the scenes stuff. But, does it take a degree for any of that? Ummmm…dunno? Only NCL can answer that. It’s not like the cruise industry is at the top of the pay heap. It’s not like the work hours per day is an easy gig. Once a contract is complete, they do get extended time off. Just like the army, it seems a degree puts them further up the ladder immediately. I used to think it’s a great career for a young single person. But every cruise ai talk to more and more crew who are married and both spouses are working in the industry but on different ships. So, not sure that’s a valid assumption either! It does seem like it’s a lifestyle career. Most of the crew I talk to have quite a bit of tenure and none of them talk as if they have a back up career in mind. Maybe ascension through the ranks is the thing that keeps them motivated.

I can live with that! Or, maybe…. https://www.crayola.com/explore-colors/periwinkle.aspx#:~:text=periwinkle | crayola.com

Think I’ll forego pool time today and hang out here this afternoon for a while….

Yeah…I’m not really sure how the ranks work on a ship. I’m an old Army man, but cruise ship ranks don’t seem to follow any system I’ve ever known. The Cruise Next lady helping on the tour this a.m. graduated from Penn State with a dual degree in marketing and international business. Impressive! She had to take some maritime courses (assuming non-degree related). Don’t know how that is parlayed into an Officer’s Position. Maybe the same as becoming a 2nd Lieutenant with a degree. Still don’t know how it works on a private tourist vessel, though! Part of it looks like a military operation the way they run the ships. Then, you have the sales/marketing aspect. Wouldn’t seem like a sales person or a bartender would be an officer! Then again, I’m not the sharpest crayon in the Crayola box, either!

Well…Hell!

Henry…the more we cruise, the more we see and SODH! For good or ill, I’m becoming desensitized the way some behave on a cruise ship! Always interesting, though!

Have thought the same!

I saw her get on, press her button, and immediately try to “climb on” the railing before the elevator doors even closed. Before I could get the words “that’s probably not a good idea”, I heard the poor railing give a “oh no” sound and then crash under her ummmm…posterior! An embarrassing demise, to be certain! I tried to help her up. She swatted me away and got, ran out (OK, waddled out) when the elevator doors opened again! I went to Customer Service to tell them what happened! The Service person made me repeat myself. Not sure if they didn’t believe me or misunderstood. I showed them the picture. Pointed to the elevator bank and felt I did my civic duty. Will have to check on it later! There are some colorful guests on this sailing! 🙃

And…let there be lunch….

File this under…”do you act like this at home”? An….ummmmm….”ample” person thought it would be a good idea to sit on the railing in the elevator. I mean….REALLY? Her butt, fortunately, padded her against injury. Good thing I was the only person who saw this, as someone would have already posted the scene on TikToc!

Ship is hitting a little chop now. Nothing bad, though!

Didn’t know this, but Cruise Next employees are college grads and are actually Officers on the ship! They have 4 months on and two months off the ship! The Chef de Cuisine works 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, 4 months on, 2 off!

Fire and flood door down the hall!!!

A lot of the Entertainment tour could not be photographed since they consider their shows and costumes proprietary. Wish I could remember her name but I didn’t take notes and am working from memory. But, she’s been with NCL for 17 years…with a multitude of jobs, including Cruise Director. She loves being the Theater Director as they asked of she’d be willing to do so on the Joy. Allegedly, she might be doing a Tina Turner review some night this week. Have to find her! More info on entertainment changes. Old shows like Donna Summer, Kinky Boots and one other I don’t recall were not renewed for the same reasons mentioned earlier by the Cruise Director…their licensing fees for renewal were astronomical. Plus, she said they weren’t nearly as popular. She expanded, they are internally developing shows (like the Aerialist, which I saw last night) as well as signing new Broadway Shows. She specifically mentioned Wicked! There were a couple of other popular ones I don’t recall. The goal is still to have two big main entertainment shows on each ship going forward. Game shows ARE NOT replacements for the main Broadway type shows!

Another aside…guest laundry is done in a totally separate area from crew laundry, bedding and restaurant wash!

Sheets pressed and folded by machine…

Used towel and wash cloth sorting area