Flo's Blog

All good things come to an end

2008-07-31T04:50:00.000-07:00

hey guys,

46 hours until my seabourn expierence is over! i know i sort of slacked off with the pictures in the end, but there were (besides the horrible internet connection which takes ages for a single picture upload) why i did not spend so much time on the web!
However, I will post everything once i am back home! It was quite a nice experience that showed me a lot...happy days and tough times!

Stay tuned for more in 2 days!

Scandinavia, crew bar, visiting Elsa in Oslo

2008-07-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

Some more pictures of the latest activities... well actually of the past month, as I sort of struggled to update this fantastic blog.. but eh, soon enough I'll have more time anyways!:)

!!!!

2008-07-05T06:39:00.000-07:00

My laptop is finally working again, so over the next days I will add new posts and pictures. Collected quite some stories to tell and pictures to go along!

just a lil patience :)

Scandinavia

2008-06-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

I am currently cruising the Fjordes of Norway and the weather is so-so.... had to skip Kim's hometown Aalesund due to horrible weather and went straight on to Bergen...

fair enough, Kim is in Brig anyways;)

Unfortunatley, internet reception is horrible, so i'm rather lucky to have a signal right now!

some pics attached from Kopenhagen and Flaam

Moooore

2008-06-06T06:11:00.000-07:00

And a few more pics from Stockholm and Warnemünde

2008-06-06T05:59:00.000-07:00

Big news!

Team Katanga had its first game yesterday against the crew from the Holland-America lines which was docked next to us at the port in Warnemünde. They organised a shuttle to a sportscenter where a football pitch was rented for us! At the end of a 60 minute game, we managed to score the winning goal in the last minute for a close 8:7 end result!

Put your hands up for the Pride!

I'm not dead...

2008-06-04T07:34:00.001-07:00

Time for news!

Have not really managed to keep up with the blog lately. It is rather hard when u prefer to sleep or quickly check the mails and then hunt some food around the ship instead of producing some quality text here:)

However, I'll take a few minutes now! I have been struggling to upload new pictures, as the uploading system is kind of challenging for my browser...

This cruise has been quite easy in terms of guests. Mostly americans, and they are easy to entertain. Scandinavia is really nice to look at and we were quite blessed with the weather. Stockholm was actually my favorite destination so far. Tomorrow we will dock in Warnemünde, Germany, and have a football match against the crew of another ship docking there. It has been organised via our Purser's office. Can't wait to kick some a$$ :)

St. Petersburg was warmer and prettier than expected, but unfortunatly I was unable to get off the ship for all three days. According to russian immigration laws, it is only allowed to disembark the vessel holding a seaman's book from your own country. Since our ship is registered in the Bahamas, we all hold books from the Bahamas:(

I have also managed to obtain a promotion at the beginning of this cruise, which caused a lot more stress than expected. The new job and responsibilites were quite challenging and took until now to get used to. It feels like the routine just kicked in yesterday.... we'll see what tonight brings!

I hope this info helps and I will really try hard to post more... maybe I need some "hate mails" to keep me on track for that ;)

so long...

More pics

2008-05-24T15:45:00.000-07:00

Several pics from Oostende, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Cork :)

all steady..

2008-05-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

haven't published anything lately, however its been plain routine over the past week. Work is the same, except that people show up in the outlets very late and shorten our breaks that way...

the current cruise is halfway through.. we will be disembarking the passengers next monday in Copenhagen.. before that an overnight in Amsterdam (including a drug test the next morning *harhar*) I will try to take some pictures there.

The last destinations were not particularly interesting, so no pictures, besides Cork (Northern Ireland) where we docked yesterday. Nice little town but not so much to see, besides the bottom of a pint of Guiness ;)

that's it so far, I'll try to write more over the next week!

so long

It's official!

2008-05-07T15:37:00.000-07:00

I finally got my IP grades! I am now officially a Bachelor in Hospitality and Tourism Management!

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Thanks to all the people sharing the time at UCCR! Was a great time!

2008-05-03T14:48:00.000-07:00

My evening-service-uniform, LaCoruna Governor's keep on the harbor, my cabin mate Jasha, and some pics from Santander

2008-05-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

Here we have my room-service boss Romana, sundown in Malaga, Lisbon, and the harbor in LaCoruna

2008-05-03T14:35:00.001-07:00

these are some impressions from the Sagrada Familia (Barcelona) and the crew party. Last picture is from the deck BBQ where we have to wear our funky hawaiian shirts...:/

2008-05-03T14:20:00.000-07:00

since the last time i tried hosting, it crashed, i will now post in multiple posts =)

Motion in the Ocean

2008-04-30T04:18:00.000-07:00

hey guys,

time for another post. I was trying to write more a few days ago, but never had the time. Barcelona and Nice were great cities to explore even though the time was too limited to have a look at everything on my list! It really frees up your mind and reliefs the stress you build up while working almost all day, 7 days a week. Even if its only an hour sitting in a café with ur friends.

Since monday we have been starting a new cruise, going from lisbon to london. Right now I am in LaCoruna and have Lunch service off, which gives me a chance to catch up some sleep, write this post and extract a few pictures which I will post here tonight or tomorrow. Depending on how the sea is.,..forecast says rough sea. Last night it was so rough, that 2/3 of the restaurant were empty and room service broke the record in orders. Half of the restaurant staff worked room service. Tonight might be the same... also a sommelier managed to throw up in a closeby icebucket. For me it was fun, as sea-sickness did luckily not affect me!:)

Let's see how tonight goes... Work is fine, the routine now really kicks in. I might get to join room service, which is usually calm and better to get extra tips. Only during rough sea its busy and basically a b***h to work in, as the motion in the ocean makes it hard to walk up and down the stairs with the huge trays.

That is about it for now, more will follow the next days. Including the pictures!

so long

Shiplife

2008-04-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

Now that I have been aboard Seabourn Pride for 15 days, I am finally starting to get the hang of it. I moved the cabin a third time now (and hopefully for the last time) and live together with a German colleague from Hamburg. It's quite allright:)

What I have learned over the past two weeks is that one should not ask any questions or try to think more than the supervisor. It is not appreciated;)

Furthermore, as in almost any F&B operation it is vital to become friends with the chefs or room service. Tonight the room service guys left us a pizza in the room and the chefs gave us ice cream. So quite a nice after-work meal.

The last days were rather unspectacular in terms of shore-leave. Messina was dirty, Corfu I had to man the ship while in port. Today we were in Sorrent which was beautiful, but the time was too limited to see all the nice things, such as Pompeij. After a day at sea tomorrow, we will advance to Genoa, Nice and Barcelona. Can't wait to see these places!!

That's it so far, pictures will be up within the next days! :)

Kopar, Dubrovnik, Corinthian Channel, Venice

2008-04-14T14:44:00.000-07:00

hey, got some more pics to show. had them earlier, however I accidentally deleted the post and I was too annoyed so it took me til today. This is a selection from Koper, the shiplife and Dubrovnik. Venice I actually got to check out today for a longer time:)
stay tuned for more! Next stop: Korfu

Pics

2008-04-10T15:42:00.000-07:00

Beno, the cabin mate

Julian, asst. maitre d'

Gigi, preparing for "Hobo-party"

me and manie at the hobo-party

Malta, Valletta

more pics (e.g. from greece) will follow tomorrow.. the internet is too slow atm;-)

so long

Flo

The Ship

2008-04-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

i am now aboard the Seabourn Pride and on my way to Greece. I have a lot of trainings, basically one a day during my spare time in the afternoon. That prevents on from goin onshore for a bit, but that will change soon!
My colleagues are really nice and help me picking it up as quick as possible. All around my age, and mostly austrian and german... the guests are nice as well.

I work all 3 meals, breakfast& lunch in Veranda Cafe, then dinner I work in the main dining room. Its quite allright, and not really hard work. Just annoying sometimes to run after others. And it is not really up to the standards of my intraining, only a LOT quicker.
Thats it so far, I will post pictures soon!

so long

Flo

Another pic

2008-04-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

Great picture I came across (at least for football-fans like me;-) )

Itinerary

2008-03-31T16:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this is the cruise itinerary for the first month! Startin to get pretty excited now:)

5.4. Valletta, Malta

6.4. Mgarr, Gozo Island, Malta

7.4. Cruising the Mediterranean Sea

8.4. Aghios Nikolaos, Crete, Greek Isles

9.4. Navplion (Mycenae), Greece

10.4. Transiting the Corinth Canal

11+ 12.4. Dubrovnik, Croatia

13.4. Koper, Slovenia

14.4. Venice, Italy

15.4. Cruising the Adriatic Sea

16.4. Corfu, Greek Isles

17.4. Cruising the Ionian Sea

18.4. Taormina, Sicily, Italy

19.4. Sorrento, Italy

20.4. Cruising the Tyrrhenian Sea

21.4. Genoa, Italy, Italy

22.4. Nice, France

23.4. Cruising the Mediterranean Sea

24.4. Barcelona, Spain

25.4. Cruising the Mediterranean Sea

26.4. Malaga (Granada), Spain

27.4. Cruising the Atlantic Ocean

28.4. Lisbon, Portugal

29.4. Cruising the Atlantic Ocean

30.4. La Coruna (Santiago de compostela), Spain

1.5. Santander, Spain

2.5. Cruising the Atlantic Ocean

3.5. Bordeaux, France

4.5. La Pallice/La Rochelle, France

5.5. Cruising the Brittany Coast

6.5. St. Malo (Mont-St.-Michel), France

7.5. St. Peter Port, Guernsey, England

8.5. Rouen (Paris), France

9.5. Rouen (Paris), France

10.5. Oostende (Bruges), Belgium

11.5. Oostende (Bruges), Belgium

12.5. London, England

the rest will follow soon :)

so long...

My kind of humour...

2008-03-31T15:38:00.000-07:00

Came across a fantastic picture. Tought this oughta be shared!

The Seabourn Experience

2008-03-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

This is the Seabourn Pride, where I will start my job as Chef-de-rang on the 5th of April. I will fly to Valletta, Malta on the 4th, so I can board the next day. The job will last 4 months without a day off....Hoooooraaaahhh...I'm pretty sure though it will be a great time, as Kim and Ingerline already provided me with some inside-knowledge:)
The route will go around the Mediterranean first, then change to the Baltic sea. I actually get to St. Petersburg which I would have never travelled to out of bare personal motivation.
So yea, pictures of the actual trip will follow once I'm on it :)

so long,

Flo

First steps

2008-03-30T04:20:00.000-07:00

Ok guys,

as I assume the people reading this know me anyways, I'll get right to the point! We all had a nice and long farewell from Brig. So this all won't go to waste, I decided to host a blog to let u see whats going on in my life after Brig. Certainly facebook is an option, yet I also gotta think of the people not using facebook:)

I will start my Job on Saturday and then hardly be on MSN for the next 4 months, so this is where I leave my shouts to all you land-based people!
Additionally, I will try to link this to some other of us, going to China, Sand Diego or wherever.

That's it for the first post.

See ya soon guys!