But I'm sure someone said change is always good.
I was doing some serious traveling and some really exciting things, Shore Excursions 100% is a job to be jealous of but last contract I cross trained so I could become Entertainment Administrator.
And the reasons I wanted to be Admin are exactly the things that I loved about the last 6 months but it doesn't mean I have lots of traveling photos to show you but instead pictures of people, a lot of challenges mastered and skills gained!
So the number 1 thing I do as Admin is update the 'Freestyle Daily' which is the ship's schedule of the day. I'm sat at a desk a big chunk of each day hence the picture! However by big chunk on average I would say 3 hours a day, I really don't want to return to 8 hours staring at a screen as I did before ships!
Updating means all departments contact you to make their changes and then you take those changes to the Cruise Director, who is ultimately responsible for the daily schedule, to make their changes. As my understanding grew I was able to make suggestions to departments who I could help. I was always expected to spell correct and adjust those changes submitted as per the Freestyle rules. And what I really loved was, as trust grew, I could work with the Cruise Director to suggest changes and carry the knowledge to assist in the decision making.
My second most important responsibility as Admin is Deal Or No Deal (DOND), as in the game show, as in a money making opportunity for our department. We make money through Bingo, Instant Wins (like lottery scratch tickets) and DOND. I personally do not make money from Bingo or instant wins and the Assistant Cruise Director handles the paperwork. But DOND is my responsibility, I sell, manage the inventory, deal with guest quires and complaints and do all the financial paperwork. I share commission with the Cruise Director, who hosts the gameshow, and a cruise staff on rotation who helps me sell.
The photo shows me and lovely William at the DOND sales table on formal night. Over the months I did make some good money from this!
And the number 3 most important thing I would say I did as Admin was be available for the Entertainment Department, who I loved and who made me feel loved! By this I mean I could be called upon to do anything from show around a new member of staff, collect drinks for a party, or cover an hour of karaoke. Over time I really got to care for so many staff and it absolutely was my job to help in anyway I could, so different to the sales positions in Photo and ShoreX where I absolutely cared for my teams and people outside of my teams but it never seemed to be to my advantage!
This was my team!
And these were some great times...
80's party!
When Flogging Molly took over the ship (this charter cruise was an incredible time, I had to work extra hard but was tipped and offered a job for my efforts by the Flying Dutchmen team who organised the event!)...
On my birthday...
On 4th July celebrations... another amazing day where I was able to help in an unexpected way as Jeimy really want to go out on stilts for the celebration but no staff member was free to be her spotter, but I was! And she looked great!
And I didn't feel like my efforts went unthanked after I was nominated for the vacation hero awards!
It's nice to show off all these photo highs, I cannot lie about how tough some times were and most importantly I want to say the Sky is not the ship for me. 3 and 4 day cruises attract a crazy crowd but more importantly you really feel like you are going round in circles, 2 embarkation days every week, 2 white hot parties... I nearly, completely lost my mind! Miami, Bahamas and back again. I stopped going out and really lost my drive.
It is incredibly important to get off ship and spend time away from the job. Right at the beginning I went on a couple of tours in Freeport as it was the only new port in this run for me.
Doing a trip like this REALLY helps clear your head. For any Cruise Directors reading this... let your Admin out! Only with my first CD was I able to do an 8am tour, possible by preparing the Freestyle the previous night and sending it before I left (and being excused from drill!)
Anyway I did a good job, it's a great position for me because you're helping people who really appreciate what you do for them because the last thing they want is to be stuck at a desk! I'm the only one doing it, I like to feel special! And because I did well I'm off to the newest ship in the fleet next which is a huge compliment so with only 5 weeks to rest I'll be on NCL Getaway in September!
But first, let's have a bit of a break!!
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