April 20, 2011- First day aboard

I checked out of the hotel around 5 am, and J boy was working and took a little break  to take me to the airport.  My flight was at 7 but I was just a little worried about how long security would take and since I had two bags I wanted to be sure that they would get on the plane.  The flight to Charlotte was pretty uneventful. I tried to sleep but it was only an hour and there wasn’t much time for sleep either.  But the time that the plane was at cruising altitude it was time to come back down.  I had a pretty good layover in Charlotte, I think it was somewhere around an hour and a half.  Luckily the airport had free internet so I took advantage of that while I could.  I wanted to be absolutely sure that all my paperwork was set up and I didn’t get any other emails from Mayte (the person in charge of my itinerary).  When scanning the long thread of emails, I discovered that apparently I needed a copy of my physical forms in hand when I arrived on ship.  Apparently I wasn’t allowed to board without them.  I didn’t even see that part of the email considering that particular email was just old flight information.  I think I almost had a heart attack.  I instantly thought of ways on how to get the paperwork in my hands.  Email? Fax? Maybe there’s a Fedex Office in the airport.  Nope.  Maybe they can fax them to a Fedex in San Juan? Is there a Fedex in San Juan?? I called the medical clinic where I got my physical to see if they can maybe email them to me, but the receptionist said that the manager was the only one that had access to the scanner and she started work at 1.  I quickly sent an email off to Mayte from my Droid (That’s the third time this phone has saved my ass since I got it) and prayed that she answered her email.  By this time the plane was already boarding and I had to put my phone and computer down and board the plane.  I remember just sitting there holding my phone waiting to hear the mechanical “DROID” notification sound of a new email. Didn’t happen. The plane doors closed and we headed off to San Juan.  I eventually came up with a plan that consisted of taking a taxi to the nearest Fedex in San Juan (one did exist on the island) and calling up the medical people and literally sit on the phone with them as they faxed over the results then take a taxi back to the port to join the ship.  I noticed that we were sitting on the tarmac for a very long time so I decided I would turn my cell phone volume down and turn the phone back on and see if I got an email.  Sure enough, a couple of seconds after I turned on the phone I felt it vibrate in my hand with a new email almost imagining the “DROID” voice in my head. It was from Mayte! Thank God! I read it over really quick and she said that she sent me a digital copy of the paperwork and they would be able to print it once I got on board. Psshheeeww! Saved. I didn’t have to hunt for a Fedex Office on a small island that I have never been on in a tiny window of time. So I turned off my phone and listened to music for the majority of the flight.  Sometime after takeoff and the beverage service I fell asleep and missed my one little glass of coke.  Keep in mind that it’s about noon and I haven’t had anything to eat yet.  I thought about actually buying a drink but I couldn’t let myself spend eight bucks on a tiny bloody mary.  So I just listened to music for the remainder of the flight occasionally drifted off to sleep here and there.  I remember reaching Puerto Rico seeing the really flat island.  Honestly, I couldn’t tell you where it is in the location to the US but knew that it was still a US territory.  The island was kinda flat with some mountains in the middle from what I could see.  The strangest part of the flight was as soon as the pilot touched down on the tarmac some people started clapping.  Like there had been some near emergency and everyone was so glad to be back on the ground.  It was the weirdest thing.  I just kinda laughed it off to new flyers.  Once on the ground I did all the usual stuff, pick up my bags and headed straight for the taxi service.  The rate wasn’t so bad, about 20 to the port and $2 for luggage. Meh, Carnival said that they would reimburse me.  It was weird driving around San Juan because everything was in Spanish but we were still in the US.  We almost got into two accidents on the way there, I honestly don’t know which kinds of taxis are scarier NYC cabs or the cabs here.  At one point I saw a flatbed truck just hop the median right in the middle of the road! The highway was the equilivent of I-95 with a grassy median in the middle and the guy just hopped it!  I guess it’s normal in these kinds of instances because no one paid much attention to it.  Seeing the Liberty was just amazing, it takes me back to the days when I was on the Destiny.  She was just majestic seeing her white paint just sitting there in dock dwarfing everything in the harbor.  Not knowing where to go, I just followed the crowds and joined the line to head back onto ship.  I looked kinda weird because I was the only one with luggage.  I soon realized that the magic word to get wherever I needed to go was “crew” and “new hire” and everyone was able to tell me where to go.  Once onboard I checked in with the Crew Office and they got me a room key and finalized my paperwork.  Apparently, they don’t have cell service where I was on the ship (or at least not at a cheap rate) so the crew woman actually had to email Mayte again and get my physical paperwork sent.  After she accomplished that she called my trainer, Jayson, over and he helped me to my room.  After we dropped my many things in a tiny bunk bed cabin he whisked me away for a safety video that I simply MUST watch to learn about what the definition of starboard and port are, along with some basic safety codes and what to do if there is a fire or an abandon ship.  At this point, all I wanted to do was to get away and make a couple of phone calls so I could tell everyone that I got here safely but he brought me to the muster stations and explained all about the life rafts.  After he completed that lecture he let me go back to my room to unpack things.  Most of the crew quarters are in the front of the ship.  I am one of the lucky ones to be on level 3 and a little above the water line.  As I was unpacking I started to hear some rumblings from inside of the ship.  The ship was leaving port! I grabbed my phone and tried to call people to tell them that I had got there ok but there wasn’t adequate service where I was.  Luckily there was just enough cell phone reception so I could send txt messages and tell people that I was ok.  After about twenty minutes Jayson, my trainer, came back in and got me my uniforms- a lovely black polo with red “entertainment” logo on the left chest and also my name tags.  Of course, they put Lawrence on my name tag so now everyone will be calling me Lawrence until I correct them.  I met another one of the technicians whose name is David (I believe) who was in the booth running a Bingo game that was going down below for the guests.  The cruise director was dictating the game and as soon as she started speaking I knew who she was!  Her name was Jill and she was the cruise director for our tour on the Destiny!  I knew it was her because she did the same “English wave goodbye” gimmick when she was on the Destiny.  After the show I was introduced and told her all about the Destiny.  Yup! That was her!  She said that the Destiny definitely not her favorite ship and this one was much better.  I laughed.  Jayson and David filled up the remainder of the evening with general information about the ship, what kind of instruments we have on board, how to fix them, etc, etc, etc, until it was finally dinner.  We broke at 6 pm for the mess hall.  I was starving but I tried not to look like a pig in front of my new friends.  I met the musical director and some of the performers (which most of them were gay—naturally) and after stuffing myself Jayson gave me the basic run down of the ship.  The Liberty is bigger and newer than the Destiny but the basic layout was still the same: large theater on the 5^th level forward and a small bar like lounge on the 4^th level aft with the disco and casino on level 5 amidships (note the nautical terms XD).  After dinner I took the time to explore some of the ship while being visible to the guests.  It’s quite amazing on how far you can walk around and not be seen by guests.  I really love walking around the Lido deck just listening to the waves and the wind.  I’m still not used to the motion of the ship but I guess that will come eventually.  When walking down hallways I feel like I’m drunk stumbling down them because the crests of the waves.  Sitting in my cabin I’ve noticed that every so often there is a clang or audible thump and it’s the waves hitting the ship I’m really glad I’m above the water line.  Around 10 Diane (the automation guru) taught me how to turn on the lights on the Lido deck for the deck party.  I’ve noticed that everything done here so far has been so redundant in its application.   There is a program and file for everything and everything has certain paperwork to go with it but I guess if this thing has been running for 6 years (the Liberty was built in 2005) they should have it down to a science by now.  I just hope I can keep amused with it for 4 months.  I have a feeling I’m going to need to buy myself a kindle.  I was debating on buying one before I got on board but I know now that I will have a lot of free time.   My other clever observation is that there are no exact shifts.  Apparently Jayson makes the schedule and once you completed that one show for the day or event to do for that day you don’t have to work anymore which leads me to believe that I will have more free time than I thought.  For now, I have this journal thingy and DVDs to keep me amused.  It has been a really long day, and I’m just exhausted.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.  We are supposed to arrive at the Grand Turks at 7 am tomorrow but I don’t have any duties until 9.   Someone wise in the way of working cruise ships (Cyndi) told me not to go off ship and do everything at once.  That way you’ll be able to still get excited about your destinations once you visited them a hundred times.  Another thing I learned is that about every two weeks we shift our destinations.  So, we do an Eastern Caribbean cruise for two weeks then we reverse course and do a Western Caribbean cruise for two weeks.  Maybe this will help keep me occupied (can you tell I worry about boredom?)  I worry where my roommate is.  Apparently Jayson didn’t put me on the schedule this week (as to running events) so I’m basically following people around to learn the ropes.  Another thing! All of the entertainment technicians are pretty new to this ship.  My roommate just got on board three days ago, Denise has been here for a week, and David was brought on two days ago.  Hopefully we can all bond around the same time so we won’t end up hating each other.  Ok on that note, I REALLY need to get to sleep. Love to all.