Guess who’s back? *cue Eminem music* I’m bittersweet about being home because I miss my friends on the Elation way too much, but it’s mostly sweet because not only am I excited to see all of my family and friends at home, my fingers have also been itching to get back to the keyboard. It’s funny how I was under this delusion that I would be able to blog as much as I thought I would. I barely had time (or WiFi access) to check my email let alone write, edit, take photos for, edit photos for, etc. a blog post, but honestly I have no regrets. It actually felt really great to unplug as much as I did. And for those of you that were able to follow my journey on Snapchat and Instagram, kudos to you. There will be more stories from behind the photos comin’ atcha soon.
When I started my journey with Carnival, I had no idea what to expect. Even after my first cruise, I was still overwhelmed and hadn’t the slightest clue what I had gotten myself into. I can honestly say that taking a job with Carnival was easily one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I felt like my time on the ship opened my eyes to so many different things. I got to learn a lot about the lives of people all around the world. Learn about their cultures, their upbringings, their traditions. I spent most of the major holidays on the ship, and it was fascinating to hear how they celebrated differently around the world. It was also interesting to hear about the perspective that people had about the United States, especially around election time.
On the ship, I said ‘hello’ to several new friends and ‘good-bye’ to them as well. For my little emotional heart, it was hard to meet new people knowing that I’d have to say bye to them soon. There were some people I only knew for a month or two that were met with an emotional good-bye from me. I was a mess in more ways than one when I had to say bye to friends as I signed off as well. I can’t even describe to you how quickly and slowly time moves on the ship. The days are long, but the time is short. Spending a month with someone on a ship is like spending half a year with them. Things move more progressively, and you get attached quicker, and anyone who knows me knows that I hate and suck at good-byes, so this was a hard thing for me to accept after getting attached to all of the lovely people I met.
Beyond the people I met, the experiences I had were all bucket list-worthy. I went on many excursions, discovered new places to explore, went off the beaten path a time or two, and I can’t wait to share all of these stories with you. I feel like a Bahamian expert now (even though I’m very, very far from).
I’m on vacation for two months before I start my second contract with Carnival on the Sunshine in July. So in the meantime, you can look forward to posts about my time in the Bahamas and Key West as well as a look into what life is like working on a cruise ship. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I’m so happy to be back and sharing my journey with you.
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