Any Past or Former Crew on Board these Boards?

[dwillis43]

Just wondering if we have any current or former crew member that would give us some of their insights to cruising.

[workandplay]

I was a guest(with wife) on the Majesty the week before the drydock back in January 07, and I worked on the Splendour as the drummer in the main 42nd st. theater from Aug 18-Dec 18th of 2007. Had a great time and enjoyed most of the trip. Ports were nice and have tons of pics and stories. This is my first post and I just got back a few weeks ago so maybe I will post some things later on.

[dwillis43]

Thanks for your response. We here so many comments on these boards thought it might be nice to hear from someone on the inside. I would love to see your pics and any advice you might have for those of us who are not seasoned cruisers.

[standby 06.30]

My wife, started as a Maitre d with Celeb in 1991 I think, ended when I met her and carried her off in 1999 when she was a mall shop manager. regards

[workandplay]

I liked working for RCCL but ave no other experiences on other lines for a comparison. Yes, workers talk about their conditions and other lines but I learned nothing that would be of any help here about that.

The descriptions that I read here are mostly accurate concerning the ship and its good condition. The ports in the Med were terrific and yes some of you know you can sometimes find your own way once you are on land. I did however do many of the tours and several of them more then once just to hear from the trained guides about their hometowns. Not always perfect but often well worth the money(even though mine were free lol). The food in our mess was fine, as was our accomodations...considering we were on a ship. We typically are two in a room, inside on deck 0,1, or 2. We have our own space and many of "us" never see the guests up close. Out of ~750 crew, there were only about ten Americans. The splendour was adding Brazillian crew as was required by the Brazillian authorities/Government to come to their country for the summer(December-??).

I uploaded 460 shots to Kodak last night and will do another 1000 in a few days. I had a canon XTi 10.1 DSLR with a 4.0 and a 2.0 card. The water in the Med seems more blue then the Caribbean. I will list some observations about the ports:

The scooters/motorcycles that drive between traffic are crazy. Almost every car we saw in Croatia/Greece/Turkey, was dirty(except Athens). Many cities had more trash in the streets, then I see in rual small town USA. Although English and Spanish are the two "Universal languages", communication was sometimes difficult. We did however spend a good deal of time off the beatin' path.

As a 43 year old x-school teacher, 4 months on a cruise ship seemed like a great way to unwind, destress and see the world. Who knows, maybe I will do another tour before I return to teaching. The weak US dollar made purchases difficult and the lack of plentiful clean water was also evident in almost every port. For those americans reading this....you have much to be thankful for. Thats not intended to be a slam on those countries, but it was sure nice to come back to the states and have access to what I was used to. There are of course some things we dont do as well as those in Greece/Turkey/Italy etc. The most obvious is the portion size of our meals and drinks, and the size of our bodies. Americans seem to eat TOO MUCH FOOD! Sorry, seems like I am off on a soapbox.

[Tjukka]

Their are lots of former crew members and present crew members reading these boards .I really don't think they would post them . I have lots of stories to tell but for friends and family. Some are the most amazing stories the best way to find them out is sit at the Captains table.

 

Tj

[standby 06.30]

My wife taught herself English, Greek, Italian, German, Swedish, Spanish, her native language is Croatian, so she could speak with crew and pax.Kalo Taxidi