Upcoming trip:
Nov 2011: Avignon, Toulouse, Marseille (France) and Andorra

A book for all those who're considering a job on a cruise ship!

When I first came across WanderingEarl’s guide on How To Get A Job on Cruise Ships, I was delighted for 2 reasons: the first being my blogging nickname is the same like his except mine’s Wandering Ying and the second being, my friends could finally stop harassing me on how to get a job on a cruise ship and instead of me sending them long and detailed emails on the application and what to expect out of a cruise ship job contract, I can now get them to buy the book!

Having worked on cruise ships for about 4 years now, I could honestly say, that the guide’s extremely comprehensive and informative. I liked the fact that Derek (Earl) Baron and Liz Aceves had actually listed the cons first before the pros because it clearly outlined what one should expect before applying. Most people would expect it to be working vacation but it isn’t because as much as waking up in a different country may sound glamorous and the perfect job for anyone craving a jet set lifestyle but the constant work, small shoebox size cabins and claustrophobia may actually put one off.  However, if the potential applicant continues to read on despite the disadvantages then they are more likely to be a successful applicant who could actually finish their first contract without wanting to jump overboard after their first week. Cruise ship contracts usually fail to highlight the fine print that if should find the work unsuitable for you and would like to break the contract, you have to pay for your own flights home and may not return to working for the specific company again.

The book is written in a very legible way without cruise ship jargons and reader friendly sections. You can definitely get a lot of information about cruise ship positions including the approximate amount of salary depending on the positions, a summary of potential cruise ship companies to select from and the pre-requisite documents that new hires should provide prior to their embarkation.

However, it doesn’t quite explain what happens after you’re hired. The first day for a new hire may differ according to ships and companies but I think there are general situations to draw upon ie: meeting the Chief Crew Steward for the cabin keys, going to the Uniform Store to purchase compulsory costumes, etc which would help a New Hire from getting lost.

Other than that, I think the guide is well-written, useful and very practical. A cruise ship job definitely allows you to travel more and experience a whole new world of fun while working!

I only wished that it was written before I got my own cruise ship job!

Buy the book!

Ying was in Stockholm...

Ying was in Tromso, Norway

Voila-my favourite Italian students!

While I may complain incessantly about my job onboard, there are quite a few rewarding moments where I’ve missed touching on. Life onboard maybe claustrophobic, extremely challenging in terms of professional and personal relationships but nothing beats that moment where my students actually managed to adsorb what I’ve been blabbing on about for the past few weeks and they passed their tests with amazing results and they chat with you fondly whenever they bump into you along the corridors.

With pride and gratitude, I proudly present my students-The Deck Officers who actually made my job and my life a little better.

I miss you all!

It was a gray wintry November when I went to Paris. I stayed with a French friend at an old, quaint one studio apartment in Bastille-one that a winding wooden staircase up to the fifth floor of the apartment. That winter, I reveled in cheese, red wine and microwave dinners while watching Weeds (with French subtitles of course!) and Dexter episodes, back to back. I bought myself a pair of boots and trudged through the slush of snow with it. I was content and quite delightfully happy.

]]> http://www.whereisyingnow.com/2011/05/30/a-parisian-winter-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.whereisyingnow.com/2011/05/30/417/ http://www.whereisyingnow.com/2011/05/30/417/#comments Mon, 30 May 2011 10:51:00 +0000 kherying http://www.whereisyingnow.com/?p=417

Tea time in Montmarte, Paris

Boat vendors heading towards the cruise ship, selling their wares

]]> http://www.whereisyingnow.com/2011/05/30/nosy-be-madagascar-2008/feed/ 0 http://www.whereisyingnow.com/2011/05/23/the-launch-of-the-where-is-ying-now-series/ http://www.whereisyingnow.com/2011/05/23/the-launch-of-the-where-is-ying-now-series/#comments Mon, 23 May 2011 08:56:26 +0000 kherying http://www.whereisyingnow.com/?p=393 Wouldn’t it be nice to have a glimpse of all the ports of call that I’ve been to during my days as a seafarer? Now that I’m back from a contract, and am slowly waiting for my sea legs to stop being wobbly, I now finally have some time to peruse the free and unlimited wireless internet in my own home to upload the photos.

I shall categorize such posts into what I call: Where Is Ying Now Series

Enjoy!

Being on the ship, with all its rules and regulations and even more unfortunate when the bosses onboard are control freaks, could feel like very much prison. The usual technique to keep the crew disciplined is to scream at them so that once publicly humiliated, they’d never repeat the same mistake again or to give them a warning or an infraction for the slightest misdemeanor like forgetting to wear one’s nametag.

Of course living and working together within such small confines require some sort of order but with the recent Master and the Director of the Hotel Department, our lives have gone from bad to worse. They had banned us from bringing onboard any kind of food and beverage purchased ashore. We only allowed to go out after most passengers are out of the ship (in order to avoid lines and complaints) and we can’t have more than 3 people in a cabin lest we’re fined for having a ‘cabin party’. A fellow colleague got fined 20 Euros for being in a cabin where his friends were drinking beer-one bottle each. He wasn’t drinking but still he was guilty. Once, while I was having lunch with another friend in the buffet, my boss came by to yell at me because my friend’s a guy and he didn’t want to see ‘couples’ hanging around. I was mortified with his comment because if every male colleague that I was hanging out with was my partner than I’d pretty much be a slut! Unfortunately, I was rendered speechless with such an inane insult that I said nothing in my defense and left the buffet hungry. It was definitely not against company’s policies to lunch with a male colleague so I wasn’t sure what the problem was. However, ever since then, I felt like I was being watched all the time. So I’d bury myself in work and then when I’m done each day with work, I’d scurry back to my cabin hoping to avoid my boss. Whenever friends ask me to join them for some drinks in the evening, I’d refuse. I didn’t want my boss to think that I was hanging around the passenger area for no reason. I would only take a few hours off in the afternoon even if sometimes my day wasn’t too busy and I could have gone out in the morning whenever the ship’s docked. As a result, I became exhausted with fear and anxiety. I was living in a modern day panopticon. Taking away someone’s freedom could be as good as taking away everything else they have. To be able to do what one desire is a basic human right. What else is there to live for if you can’t even decide for yourself what you can or cannot do. Slowly then, I even lost my desire to go out and if I did, I’d indulge in some sort of shopping frenzy as if buying useless and expensive things would satiate the gnawing discontent within.

However, these days, I’ve learned not to ask for much. Just a little of triumph here and there, just a few full minutes of just drinking my coffee with the sun in my eyes without anyone breathing down my neck can just be as heavenly.

Recently, as I was rearranging my bookshelf, I chanced upon the thin book again and it evoked a torrent of vivid vignettes. I smiled. I recalled of the good times we had- be it in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand or France. Infact, the time that we had spent together was never awful. We never ran out of conversations and we certainly never ran out of things to laugh about. Even when we had to endure a horrendous 2 day journey by car-train-ferry-bus from Bali to Flores, we joked our way through. Despite the grimy, exhausting and monotonous ordeal, we never let the weather, nor the crappy public transportation dictate our daily relationship.

I turned to the last page where he had inscribed:

“I hope you will like this book as I liked to know you. A book about freedom and humanity just as you are….I hope we’ll stay the best in touch of course to see you again in Paris, London, KL…wherever there a place for a stupid parisian like me and a sweet smart and nice Malaysian like you….”

The words tugged my heartstrings again.

It was in November 2010, where I had packed up and flew over to visit him. It was an impulsive trip though not more than the other trips and adventures that I had undertaken in my life. He had grudgingly thought that perhaps we should give the relationship a try, to see if we could pick up from where we left since the time we said our goodbyes once our adventures around South East Asia were over. He, the grumpy and realistic Parisian, didn’t think it was feasible but his heart had ached for an alternative ending. So he paid for the tickets and invited me over.

He turned up with a smile at 7.30am at Charles de Gaulle airport. He had even bought me welcome roses, which was even more romantic since it was in Paris. It was barely daybreak and the skies were still bathed in intense indigo but despite my jet-lag and freezing hands, I thought, there was nowhere else that I’d rather be.

I spent a month with him in his quintessentially Parisian apartment in the bustling quarter of Bastille, understanding him and his life in Paris. It turned out that he was typically Parisian in many ways (grumpiness: check, coffee and cigarettes: check) and yet atypical in other ways. I had expected to spend my time in cozy cafes and stuff myself with home-cooked French food but instead, I found myself shopping with him for frozen meals, cheese and cheap wine-to be eaten and drunk in front of his LCD screen while watching Weeds with French subtitles. It was a perfect romantic European fantasy come true with enough down-to-earth twists to keep it real.

It was in that apartment where I saw snow flakes falling in muted silence for the first time. I also bought my first pair of high-heeled boots, and walked all over the quarters of Paris with them. He caught me each time or held my hand a little tighter whenever I slipped. We visited the museums and mocked the modern art on display.We took photographs in front of the Eiffel tower with a snowy backdrop. It was my first time in front of the Eiffel Tower with a lover. He introduced me to his enigmatic and rather eccentric neighbour and we sometimes have coffee all together at his neighbour’s flat. We attended a costume party together where he went as Shrek while I went as Tweety but plans changed and I became a Chun-li Minnie Mouse instead. We also set off on an impromptu trip to London together, to visit a good friend of his, Stephane and Stephane’s fiancé. In between the highlights, there were restaurants, movies, cheese and cheap wine. We finished watching all Weeds episodes and occasionally watched new episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Season 6 (or was it 7?).

But of course, the question of the future, of what we should do with ‘us’ loomed before us as the succession of amazing days went by. The future, heavy with expectations, yet daunting and unknowable, had to be eventually discussed. In the very end, it was inevitable. He was going to remain in Paris while I had to come back to the ship. A long distance relationship whether temporarily or for the long run seems too difficult and intense for a couple who were merely dipping their feet to test out the water.

And then, it was over. ‘So. I’ll see you soon. We’ll talk. We’ll stay in touch,’ he had said, as we embraced for one last time. And then I let go and walked through the departure gates and waved. He stood there, waving till I dissapeared from his sight. In the plane I cried. Perhaps I cried too much, fell asleep with weariness that overwhelmed me and woke up with an excruciating back pain. I couldn’t sleep for three days after that. I was tormented with the question, ‘Why not? Why not?’ He had mentioned that you don’t move to a place for a lover but you’d find your lover wherever you are. My reluctance to believe that didn’t help. He is a realist while I remain an idealist.

Ever since then, we’ve exchanged a few emails and skype conversations but I had tried not to read them as anything more than a friendly conversation between two ex-lovers who have a sturdy friendship as a base to fall back on even when a romantic relationship didn’t work out. We had tried, we had let our guards down and had let romance swept us of our feet and when eventually when we came crashing down onto reality, all is not lost. We have loved and lost but memories last for a lifetime. He is still the one that I sometimes call to rant or to gossip with and for better or worse, the thousands of miles that lie between the both of us helps. For some reason, if there is true connection between two people, their presence lingers on somehow. I know that he’ll always be a part of my life; it’s just a matter of time before I turn the page and land on the one where we will meet again.

But for now, I put the book back into its place and think of what to wear for this evening.

‘Live in the present. Savor friendships. And, at the right time, let go. For our days are few, and there are present bonds to strengthen, loves in the here and now to nurture. The void ahead is onrushing, and will spare not one of us.’ Jeffrey Taylor