Beginning My First Contract

I had survived my flight and layover in Florida. I had made it to the ship and started work. I did not know how I was going to make it through the day. My first night on the Summit had been a big one. We drank a few beers during our shift, and quite a few more after work. Now it was 9 in the morning and I had training.

My roommate was sleeping (as always), so I got ready for my day as best I could in total darkness. Trying to find my way around the small room, I think I stubbed my toe 3 times. Had a quick shower, got dressed, and left for my meeting. I'm sure I was still a little drunk.

My training was long and boring. When you go to work on a cruise ship, generally your first 2 weeks are filled with training classes. You will take classes on everything that you would expect from any large company, like sexual harassment, substance abuse, safety and CPR. These training classes drag on and on, and take precedence over going to work. Luckily we were at sea anyway so there wasn't much to miss. One guy fell asleep during class. He got yelled at by the Greek Safety Officer, and probably got in trouble with his manager. Somehow I managed to avoid being noticed.

Class Finished at around noon, so it was time to go for lunch. Not much really worth talking about. Salad, rice and some cold pasta. There were other choices, but they were not appealing, especially given my physical state. After that, it was strait to my cabin for 2 hours sleep. I had to work in the casino from 4 to 7pm. When I got to work no one seemed to bothered about my staying up drinking until 6 in the morning. They even had a laugh about it!

I finished the first part of my shift at 7, and had to be back at work for 9:40pm. I went strait to my cabin for more sleep. I could have gone to eat, but decided against it. I felt I needed sleep more. When I got back to work I found out that there was a place on deck 11, where I could get pizza. Just what the doctor ordered. I ate a lot of pizza for 6 months. I think it's probably what kept me going on my first contract.

Somehow my new friend Jason talked me into going for a beer at 1am. I still hadn't finished work, but there were other people from the casino there and I wanted to be social so I went. Needless to say we stayed up very late again that night. In the morning I had more training and another sea day. It was going to be a long 6 months.