Flint
Jan 14, 2012
Writing Feedback / 'My First Cruise Ship Contract' - a narrative essay [3]
My First Cruise Ship Contract
During the first month I worked on cruise ships, I had marvelous experiences. Life on-board the ship is very different from land based life. Cruise ships travel to many different places with different nationalities and cultures. Most land based job workers stay in only one place and work with the same people. Cruise ship workers work on different ships in different places with different people all the time. Indeed, working on a cruise ship is exciting, but it can be a very scary experience. My first route on-board the ship, we traveled from the Port of Singapore to Penang, Malaysia and Phucket, Thailand. I was on-board around 10:00 in the morning. I worked at the casino department as a cashier located mid ship on deck six. I was very nervous and confused because the layout of the ship is different compared land based buildings. After a couple of hours, I walked around the ship to familiarize myself with everything. I heard lots of noise down the stairs of crew-members; the main crew cabins are always located in the lower decks of the ship. It was still early and I wanted to continue exploring so I kept walking. I found the main galley, which is an enormous kitchen. I watched the crew-members work and it came in my mind they worked like a machine. I learned that the ship have more than two thousand crew-members of 80 different nationalities. I realized also that crew-member cabins are categorized by rank, from captain, officers, and managers, down to crew-members. The captain, officers, and managers cabins are located in the upper levels, while the main crew-members are below. After my shift, I was on the way to my cabin and saw crew-members walking toward the same area. I was curious what was inside, so I passed by and looked inside. It was a bar, but not a regular bar, because there were no cruise guests there, only crew-members. I sat down for a while and chatted with one crew-member, but it was a short chat. I felt exhausted so I decided to make it an early night and go to sleep.The next day, the ship arrived in Penang, Malaysia at 9:00 am. When the ship is in a port, the casino is closed because of international gambling regulations. Casino staff can get off in port or go to the cabin to catch up on sleep. I went outside to call my family back home and visit the shops. I had fun outside, but it went by fast and I had to return to the ship.The ship left from the Port of Penang, Malaysia at 6:00 pm and arrived in Pucket, Thailand at 10:30 am the following day. Again, I got off the ship with other passengers and crew-members to enjoy the sightseeing and shopping ashore. We left port on schedule and headed back to the Port of Singapore. It was a sea day, meaning the ship traveled a full day without stopping in a port. Sea days are very stressful on the crew-members because they have to entertain the passengers the whole day and night. I started to worked at 10:00 am it was a very busy day. Casino players kept coming with chips, cash, and tokens to exchange them at the cash desk. After the casino closed, while I was doing my cash balancing, the lights went off almost about 20 minutes then came back on. Shortly after, they went off again, this time permanently. All I could see was the low emergency lights around the corner inside the casino. I did not know what was happening, so I continued to balance the cash float using a flashlight. After an hour waiting if the light turns back, I heard the announcement from captain, "All passengers and crew-members must proceed to their designated emergency station. While I walked through the darkness, I was fearful and worried, but I kept saying in my mind that I had to stay calm. People around me were crying, shaking and panicking. Finally, I got to the emergency station assignment located mid ship portside of deck 7. I was happy to get away from the darkness. Each emergency station has passenger and crew-member names to be checked. When my name was called, I knew I was in the right place. The officers kept saying that everything was under control, but after about an hour, the captain announced the ship was on fire in the engine room and we were to proceed to master station. People were frightened and screaming. I put on my life jacket and went to master station located on pool deck on top of the ship. I was shocked to see the enormous flames coming from the smoke stack of the ship. I got in a lifeboat at 2:00 pm and we safely got away from the sinking ship. We floated in the sea for hours waiting to see if anyone would rescue us. Finally, at 11:00 pm, a German cargo ship saved us. Thankfully, all passengers and crew-members arrived safely in Malaysia at 5:00 am.
It was a frightening experience, but I learned that I should remain calm when it comes to any tough trial. One of the most important things is stay focused and be present of mind. Despite that bad first cruise, I worked in the cruise industry for 7 years. My experiences working on board a ship were wonderful. I was able to travel and see places and people and cultures most people never experience and got paid to do it.
My First Cruise Ship Contract
During the first month I worked on cruise ships, I had marvelous experiences. Life on-board the ship is very different from land based life. Cruise ships travel to many different places with different nationalities and cultures. Most land based job workers stay in only one place and work with the same people. Cruise ship workers work on different ships in different places with different people all the time. Indeed, working on a cruise ship is exciting, but it can be a very scary experience. My first route on-board the ship, we traveled from the Port of Singapore to Penang, Malaysia and Phucket, Thailand. I was on-board around 10:00 in the morning. I worked at the casino department as a cashier located mid ship on deck six. I was very nervous and confused because the layout of the ship is different compared land based buildings. After a couple of hours, I walked around the ship to familiarize myself with everything. I heard lots of noise down the stairs of crew-members; the main crew cabins are always located in the lower decks of the ship. It was still early and I wanted to continue exploring so I kept walking. I found the main galley, which is an enormous kitchen. I watched the crew-members work and it came in my mind they worked like a machine. I learned that the ship have more than two thousand crew-members of 80 different nationalities. I realized also that crew-member cabins are categorized by rank, from captain, officers, and managers, down to crew-members. The captain, officers, and managers cabins are located in the upper levels, while the main crew-members are below. After my shift, I was on the way to my cabin and saw crew-members walking toward the same area. I was curious what was inside, so I passed by and looked inside. It was a bar, but not a regular bar, because there were no cruise guests there, only crew-members. I sat down for a while and chatted with one crew-member, but it was a short chat. I felt exhausted so I decided to make it an early night and go to sleep.The next day, the ship arrived in Penang, Malaysia at 9:00 am. When the ship is in a port, the casino is closed because of international gambling regulations. Casino staff can get off in port or go to the cabin to catch up on sleep. I went outside to call my family back home and visit the shops. I had fun outside, but it went by fast and I had to return to the ship.The ship left from the Port of Penang, Malaysia at 6:00 pm and arrived in Pucket, Thailand at 10:30 am the following day. Again, I got off the ship with other passengers and crew-members to enjoy the sightseeing and shopping ashore. We left port on schedule and headed back to the Port of Singapore. It was a sea day, meaning the ship traveled a full day without stopping in a port. Sea days are very stressful on the crew-members because they have to entertain the passengers the whole day and night. I started to worked at 10:00 am it was a very busy day. Casino players kept coming with chips, cash, and tokens to exchange them at the cash desk. After the casino closed, while I was doing my cash balancing, the lights went off almost about 20 minutes then came back on. Shortly after, they went off again, this time permanently. All I could see was the low emergency lights around the corner inside the casino. I did not know what was happening, so I continued to balance the cash float using a flashlight. After an hour waiting if the light turns back, I heard the announcement from captain, "All passengers and crew-members must proceed to their designated emergency station. While I walked through the darkness, I was fearful and worried, but I kept saying in my mind that I had to stay calm. People around me were crying, shaking and panicking. Finally, I got to the emergency station assignment located mid ship portside of deck 7. I was happy to get away from the darkness. Each emergency station has passenger and crew-member names to be checked. When my name was called, I knew I was in the right place. The officers kept saying that everything was under control, but after about an hour, the captain announced the ship was on fire in the engine room and we were to proceed to master station. People were frightened and screaming. I put on my life jacket and went to master station located on pool deck on top of the ship. I was shocked to see the enormous flames coming from the smoke stack of the ship. I got in a lifeboat at 2:00 pm and we safely got away from the sinking ship. We floated in the sea for hours waiting to see if anyone would rescue us. Finally, at 11:00 pm, a German cargo ship saved us. Thankfully, all passengers and crew-members arrived safely in Malaysia at 5:00 am.
It was a frightening experience, but I learned that I should remain calm when it comes to any tough trial. One of the most important things is stay focused and be present of mind. Despite that bad first cruise, I worked in the cruise industry for 7 years. My experiences working on board a ship were wonderful. I was able to travel and see places and people and cultures most people never experience and got paid to do it.