Tuesday, 30 January 2007

29/01/07

Clocks moved forward one hour last night cos we are moving into the Eastern Caribbean so crossing a time zone, i missed 1 hour sleep..which is needed the way we work.
Did 5 classes today including spin, aerobics,yoga,stretch and Abs!!My feet are sore and I am very stiff. There is such a great vibe around the ship, the gay's bring a lot of energy.
Finished work at 10pm went to do laundry for the 2nd time in my life, it's actually not that bad. My roommate and I get on so well, she is a lot like me, very organized and neat, we both enjoy watching DVD till we fall asleep and the room is always clean. We do most things together so it makes laundry duty a lot better. Still haven't been able to find a cleaner for our room. It is very tiny but it is nice to have someone to chnge the sheets and towels, vacum and clean the bathroom.
Started to get ready for our Mardi Gras party. The Atlantis crowd organize the best parties. went to the Royal Promanade to see the parade..i have to post pictures i have never seen such a party, drag queens with the most spectacular outfits, clowns, guys on stilts.....we then moved up to the pool area on deck 11, we stood on deck 12, to see 3500 men dancing. They brought lazers,DJ,sound and costumes like I have never seen before! It is too hard to explain I will show you pics.

END Of Cruise 1- Start of the GAY cruise

Woke up late only had to be in at 11am for work. That was good cos we had a late night last night at a club called the Crypt. The Atlantis Gay Cruise started to Embark at 1pm..they started floodin the gym, 3500 of them and 100 lesbians, they have hired out the cruise for the whole week $4 mil later. Worked till 10:30pm the gym is packed and the spa is fully booked! They have loads of money so i hope i can make some this week.

Sunday, 28 January 2007

YMCA and Training





Some of my friends gathering in the room at the YMCA before going to dinner. Next pic is the Sports academy that we had training in each day. Then a pic of the girls, we were all out at Lloyds a cute little nightclub in Watford- from the left Emily (USA-hairdresser), Amy (UK-Hairdresser), Maura (Irish-fitness) and Sinead (Irish-fitness). The last pic is of the Pilates/Yoga studio during training.

Friday, 26 January 2007

Some Pics of the Journey




This is my room in the YMCA, very small as you can see

Thursday, 25 January 2007

JAMAICA

The week has been really hectic although yesterday I made my first sale! Made me feel a bit better about myself. Last night was an Aussie outback party in the Crew bar, we have an Activities team and manager what make sure we have something planned for each night.

Today I had the day off and we were in Jamaica. 5 of us decided to go around the island a bit. Hopped into a shuttle and off we were to Jamaica town. It is exactly how I pictured it in the movies, Everyone has dreadlocks, Reggae music plays everywhere.
Bob Marley "Don't worry bout a thing, cos every little things gonna be alright" was playing in the shuttle.
They dropped us off at the beach, we had lunch at a typical Jamaican restaurant, then off to the beach. WOW!! The sand is white and the sea is transparent, the water is clear and about 10 degrees warmer than Durban. I just sat in the water for about 2hours, there are no waves so you can just sit and waddle around.
Went shopping a bit, bought some souvenirs.
Shuttle took us back to the Ship at 3pm.

Jamaica sayings:
"ya man"
"no problem"

I think most of them are completely stoned and they drive far worse than a Joburg taxi any day!

I figured out how to use the ships phone in my room so was able to phone home. I have met many people, I spend most of my time with the South African girls, my roommate (Maran) and a girl who works as a youth staff (Amy from Calafornia)
I think there are far more South Africn staff than anything else. It is great though, we want to have a South African party in March, Braai, Biltong and Boerie!!!

Watched a spectacular Sunset form the top deck whilst we left Jamaica. Tomorrow is Labadee Haiti, until then..........

First day on the job

Up for breakfast at 6am, need to get to a meeting at the spa at 7:45. Work started at 8am. I had no idea what i was meant to do whare i should be, where anything was so I was a bit rattled, completely out of my conmfort zone. The first day was a sea day so the gym was packed! Eventually at 8pm my day was finished after completing a spinning class and a stratch class I could go eat and sleep.
Dinner was great, my roommate and I went and rented DVD and bought pringles, she is from Germany, very nice girl. Fell asleep watching DVD, feels weird not having cell phone reception, can't just pick up the phone when you want to.

FREEDOM OF THE SEAS

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
The shuttle dropped me off in front of a montrosity! I had to strain my neck to see the top of the ship. Sat outside waiting until about 10:30am when they started letting crew board. I was so nervous and so excited, i knew that once I was over the gangway there was a whole new world waiting for me. I was right! They search you when you get on, our bags were dumped and we were shuttled off into a room known as the Crew day room. There were about 40 of us starting new. Filled in paperwork listened to the training speech and had pphotos taken for our ID cards.
One of my fitnes team was sent down from the spa to show me around, he is a South African! Fantastic!
A quick brief tour of the ship left me speechless, It was even bigger inside, it has everything that you can imagine on it! Running track, Wave rider, Climbing wall, about 5 pools, a few Jaccuzi, H2O world to name a few. The gym is huge, top notch equipment, Spinning bikes like Cyclelab.
We eat in the Staff mes as apposed to crew mes so we have nicely layed tables and cutlery, floweres and a full buffet. You have a choice of about 5 different salads,main meals, desserts, cheeses, coldmeats, soups and there are machines for juice, coffee, tea etc. It is just like a hotel.
Started work at about 3pm showing people around.

The ship set sail at 5pm, went to statnd on the balcony to watch it leave. It was a fantaastic site, all the cruise liners leave together, passing each other, hooting, waving, I had goose bumps all over.

Got into bed at about 9pm when i got a phone call in my room asking me to do the parade at 11:30 down the promanade. I left a bit to late and It took me half an hour to make my way there, landed up being late!
Finally got back to the cabin, which is very tiny, the upside being that we have our own TV and DVD in our cabin, all I wanted was to sleep, it had been a very hectic day!

Thursday, 18 January 2007

18th January

Today is a special day..it's my Dad's birthday HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD, wish i was there to spend it with him.

This week has been slow, but exciting, 1 girl left to go to her ship this morning. 2 others from fitnss got thier details , one is leaving on Saturday, it starts to fel real when people around you are leaving, it just makes you wonder 'when is it my turn?'

The family that we are staying with are really fantastic, our washing gets done, food is dished up for us each evening..so much better than the YMCA, the only thing i miss from there is having all those people around all the time, always someone to talk to.

Last night we went to a pub called Revolution, really nice, the pubs here in Watford are all over the place but each and every one of them is different, my favorite so far is a little place called O'Niells, little Irish pub, all Irish finishes, Irish food and Irish music, fantastic!

Weather is getting worse, can't remember what the sun looks like. it rains through parts of the day- usually when need to walk to or from training! I can't wait to go off and feel the warm sun of the Carrabean!!!

We are training Indoor cycling today, my favorite and it feels so good to be back on a bike! I miss my cycling and i promise to train more when i get home. After Sun our bootcamp is complete and we have learned everything they can teach us before we go to our ships. Hopefully I am gone by then, our one roommate, is a massage thearapist and has been here 6weeks. i'll die if that had to happen to me, I want to go now see what this whole experience is!

Monday, 15 January 2007

MY NEW FAMILY

We only needed to be at training at 10am on Sun morning, so we went through to meet our new family and drop our bags off before we went to the academy. Kim, one of the girls I am staying with and who is doing fitness had her boyfriend down from Leeds for a couple of days so he quite kindly offered to take us to the family and then to college.

Finished off at college around 5:30pm after our lecturer made us 'practise' a port clean (vacuming, dusting, washing windows..) i really think at 25 years old I know how to clean? Surely we can leave that till we are on the ship? I think he just gets a kick out of telling us what to do!

Back to the host family and them I got a fantastic visit....my Aunt and Uncle drove down from Milton Keynes to vist!!!! YAY I didn't know weather i would see them before i went on my ship. Anyway they took me out for a drink and then back to my family.. Dinner was ready when i got home, roast chicken and chips- my new mommy then washed my cothes for me while i had a shower..(they also got a juccuzi) we have DVD player and tv in our room so i am in Heaven right now.
And I found a Cat...his name is Casper...I miss my Tashka and it is so nice to have a cat around.

I hope I get my details for my ship this week..I really want to be gone by Sat..fingers crossed

The weekend

Friday night was a blast went to a club/pub called LLOYDS. Fantastic- although one glass of wine cost me £3.50.. The whole of Steiner was there- from managers to Massage and Beauty, hair and a couple of us fitness guys. It was so nice to feel normal again, hear music and be aound other human beings that were not all dressed in white or fitness tracksuits. Our curfew is 12 midnight so at around 11:50pm they announced over microphone that all Steiner must make thier way back to the YMCA. Good evening, haven't had a good dance in a while.

Sat was a long day..our lecturer faffed around all day and eventually let us off around 4:30pm...very happy about that until we had to wait for a bus for another hour. anyway got home went down to shops and had my very first Burger King since i got here..it was so worth it..with a full belly we went back to the YMCA where my roommate had bought a DVD for us to watch. We took the mattress off one of the bunkbeds and rested the laptop on a chair, the 3 of us cuddled on the mattress to watch "head over heels" and then "Dirty Dancing"

Recieved word on our new families at around 9pm Sat night..we are off to a host family tomorrow.

Friday, 12 January 2007

Friday 12th Jan

Well another interesting day.. we had to present our De-tox seminar today.. It went very well, but it was a long day we had to sit and listen to everybody present for an hour each.

Recieved some interesting news today...i'm being moved out of my room on Sunday to go to a host family as there are so moany girls arriving for training on Sunday. 80% of the girls are moving out so hopefully they pair us up in the host houses. All i'm hoping for is a washing machine and a t.v..I am craving to watch a DVD cos I can't find a Cinema anywhere here.

Got back to YMCA only at 6:30pm...didn't feel like eating dinner so gave it a skip.

I am beginning to miss Highveld Stereo, Woolworths food, News Cafe and Afrikaans. This is such a completly different culture..it's great but I can't see myself every living here..I am a true South African through and through.

The weather is getting colder however the sun is rising earlier which is great, it has started getting light now at 7:30am...it's still dark at 4:00pm though, they are very short days.

It's Friday so everyone is going out tonight only around 10pm..there are the most beautiful little pubs around Watford..i'll let you know how it went tomorrow.

Thursday, 11 January 2007

Pilates

Wed was start of Pilates.. we did a nice 2hr class to start with- NEVER UNDERESTIMATE PILATES, i thought it was all stretching and the mind...i was greatly mistaken. By theend of the day we could basically teach a class although all of us were so stiff from the day she let us off early.. Got back ate dinner and back to the homework.. not so much tonight.

The girls in my room are great and we all get along very well, the one girl is a hairdresser and she is leaving on the 23rd Jan for her ship. 9 people left today to go to thier ships. It starts to get exciting when you hear everyone is leaving.. It reminds me of the movie "the Island" where all the people live together and wait everyday for thier number to roll up on the Lottery so they can get shipped off to "the Island"

Today being Thursday we are completing our Pilates course.. It is late night shopping in the centre that backs the YMCA so we gong shopping, I am then training my South African roomate in the gym cos she is a massage therapist and so we trade off one onother..perfect!!

I haven't attempted the whole washing thing yet cos i really don't want to iron so i'm just handwashing the essentials... :)

The weather is still grotty and seems to be getting worse, the wind blows you off balance and the rain stings your face..

All in all I'm having a blast and taking in all that I can, all I can hope for is my ship to come in soon!

...And so it starts

please ignore the last 2 posts that only have headings i couldn't find a computer so attempted to post from my cell phone..

anyway the first real day of training Tuesday 9th Jan... Fitness got to wake up later that the others cos we just walk 2min down the road and we are at the gym. training starts at 9am each morning. There are now 10 people in our group (think they were a bit desperate)

the day started with all of us instructing a class so they could see what level we were at...Our trainer is from New Zealand and is the carbon copy of an Aussie comedian that Shaun and I watched (yes I know the accents are slightly different)..so you can imagine I was in hysterics the entire day!

Finished at around 5:30pm and walked back to have dinner. Met in the lounge after dinner to do our "homework" i feel like I'm back at Uni! homework only finished at 11:30pm

Monday, 8 January 2007

1ST Day at the Training Academy

Day started very early..in fact 1 whole hour earlier than needed as one of my roommates had the watch set wrong...so up at 04:45 and got dressed for the big day..As there are 2 others still sleeping everything gets done in the dark..i did learn that clothes should be packed out the night before- it saves you picking out a bright red bra to wear with black top..
After realizing that breakfast was closed because it was 05:30 not 06:30 we went back up to the rooms to waste some time.
Bus came at 07:05am right on time and all of us clambered in- 20min ride to the academy
After little intro we were taken up for the medical..Doctor was so sweet and didn't even feel the needle, next it was back down for a 2hr talk on how there will be no drinking of alcahol..ladies have to wear make up at all times, rooms are inspected for neatness and there is a curfew in the passengers areas- feel like it is school all over..anyway enough of the negatives, they also told us about the beaches we visit. how our days are planned, the tips we make, the people we meet and the fun time in the crew area.
After the talk it was into a taxi with Adam who scooted us off the the hospital for our chest x-rays then back to the bus stop to catch the 258 back to Watford. The 4 of us got off early and walked the rest of the way up high street. The shops are incredible and everything is on sale.
Personally I think the fitness instructors have the best of all worlds. We get get tracksuits and trainers as apposed to white tunics and nurses shoes.. we also don't have to travel into the academy for the rest of this week all our training is next door to the YMCA so that means an hour extra sleep compared to the others.
Another full day meeting many different people from all different countries...let's see what tomorrow holds.......

Sunday, 7 January 2007

ARRIVING AT THE YMCA

Well i'm here. It is really fantastic.
Took us 1 hour to get here from Milton Keynes.
Staying in a room with 3 others, 1 South african and 2 girls from the USA in my room. Got no space to unpack so all my stuff is neatly packed under my bed. I have 2 hangers for about 10 items..i think i'm doing pretty well.
The YMCA backs on a huge shopping centre, going to need loads of time to wander through, no buying though, only allowed 20kg travelling to the ship...as is i'm already 7kg over. It is very weird hearing all the different accents.
Dinner was good, very much like varsity canteen style. Breakfast starts at 06:30 and our bus leaves at 7am to get to the academy..then the hard work starts- lucky i love studying!
Looks like this is going to be Fantastic!!!!!

Saturday, 6 January 2007





This is the biggest indoor Ski slop in Europe, it is fantastic, you can ski, Taboggen, and it is real snow! Inside this centre is a little like Monte casino, I found a Bicycle shop-i feel far more at home now. We had a drink at a pub, R140 for 2 beers, a coke and a glass of wine, absolute madness. went to Nandos for dnner, very different to our Take away Nandos, it is a full resturant, however eating out in England is not cheap, 1 chicken and chips and half chicken and chips cost in the region of R300!!!

Life with the Brits



This is what some of the houses look like over Christmas, they really go to town. Small roads, Small houses, no space to park your car so they all line up along the street. What can you notice different to S.A, no high walls or huge security gates. I go for a run each morning feeling quite safe.

Wednesday, 3 January 2007

Monday 1st January 2007- And I'm Off

Flight was at 10pm, Virgin Atlantic.. very comfortable and the staff look after you well. Dinner was served at about 11pm-i was starving by then, watched a movie and hen got ready to sleep. I was fortunate to have an open seat next to me so after i managed to curl my whole body up onto 2 seats, i made my way to dreamland.
Woke up just in time for breakfast...was very confused as to why we were running 2 hours behind schedule until i realized it's time to set my watch back, we were in the U.K
Felt the freezing winter air as we made our way into the terminal building. Waited just over an hour to get through customs, fetched my bags and finally was able to step out onto British soil..