Well we just left Tampa yesterday and now the madness begins. The energy on the ship is very high, everyone is so excited for this amazing adventure we have ahead of us!! There is so much to learn here. So many things change when we are sailing in Europe. Do we get Euros in our floats? How does debarkation change in Barcelona from a US debark? What happens to luggage the airlines lose? Do we get new stamps? What do we do with our old Caribbean stamps? What kind of snacks do I need to stock up on for the next 15 days? AHHHHHH!!!! I have several side duties that I’ve never done before and a few that require a lot of work. We have to directly translate a lot of information into our respective languages because there isn’t much pre-translated information for this run. The team is super fabulous, experienced and really know what they are doing, which makes me feel like I have to work really extra hard all the time to catch up because all of my colleagues have completed many more contracts than I have, or have already done several crossings. However, I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t earned it, so I just have to keep working hard and I’m sure it’ll all come together.

So I know I’ve spoken before about how time is very strange when you live on a cruise ship. Well I’m just beginning to discover that when crossing the Atlantic ocean it’s even stranger. Obviously we’re crossing a bunch of time zones, and the task of getting the entire ship over to the final time is a bit of a process. We move the time forward a little bit the whole way there. First of all here’s a breakdown of the crossing, taking 15 days in total, from Tampa, Florida to Barcelona, Spain:

As you can see, it’s a gradual time change. Currently we are at the end of the first of four fun days at sea. Now the changing time is tricky enough on its own, but when you’re trying to sync an entire ship full of computers and clocks and phones and navigational systems, it’s a bit of a different thing. Our I/S department changed the computers yesterday to our end time zone, as they only really like changing those systems once because it’s a giant process. So for the first two time changes our computers were behind us. Currently my watch says 8:30pm, my computer says 12:29am (the time in Spain) and one computer in the corner says 6:30pm (not sure why that one is so slow). The phones and ship clocks are the current time…which I think is 8:30pm…but I really feel like I could be entirely wrong. I spend a large majority of my phone shifts telling guests what time it is. Thank goodness we’re at sea so no one can miss the ship due to time confusion. Although some people have missed bingo and that has been a bit of an outrage.

We are all very busy in the office. There is SO much work to do for the crossing, lots of fun too, but lots of work. I do really enjoy being in the office, everyone here is amazing and wonderful. My roommate and I are like two peas in a  pod that were separated at birth. We spend a lot of time laughing hysterically. The guests are great too, everyone is very excited to be here and with guests on board for 15 days minimum, you really get to know them. We even have some guests who are going to be with us for far longer. One couple boarded the same day I did (march 31^st) and is staying for another cruise after we get to Barcelona. That’s a 7 day cruise plus a 15 day cruise plus a 12 day cruise for a grand total of 34 days on board with us. How cool is that!?

I continue to be so excited and amazed by the magical journey I’m on and am learning so much as well. In Portugal we’re going to try to do a tour that goes all around the island and then to a pineapple orchard!! Do pineapples grow in orchards?? Vineyards?? Gardens? Factories? I’m not entirely sure, but I’m sure going to find out.