Ahoy ⚓️

After over a month here on board of AIDAmar, I thought it was time for a new blogpost. On the one hand, time on board flies and I feel like I just arrived, on the other hand – since I experience and learn so much every day – it sometimes feels like a year. 

As many of you might already know, we could not start the guest operations as planned on November 1st. So, what do we do all day long on an empty cruise ship?

We expect the first guests to board on December 6th and that’s what we are getting ready for. Since most of the hosts are “first-timers“ on board, we use every chance to learn the proceedures and practice moderating events like Fit4Drums and Bingo, but also shows such as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and the Travel Quiz.  

We also offer a program for the crew every night where we play Darts and Shuffleboard or Werewolf and Exit Games. That program not only helps us practice and prepare for the guests, it also gives our fellow crewmembers a chance to connect and have fun. 

Additionally, we get to listen to live music from our band Dancing Waves or to the guitarist or DJs every night on the Pool Deck. 

In our freetime we are allowed to go to the gym or even participate in workout classes, go swimming in the pool or tan. The Bars and Restaurants in the guest area are available for us as well and if we pay we even get to try out our fancy a la carte restaurants.

I spoiled myself a little this past month and I tried every single restaurant. I ate a 6 course dinner at the Rossini, the best steak ever at the Buffalo Steakhouse and all you can eat sushi at the Sushi Bar in the East Restaurant. I also had one or two burgers in the Best Burger at Sea Restaurant and a few glasses of AIDA Zwickel beer in our Brauhaus.🍻

I know, it sounds like all I do is eat. But of course, we also have to work here on board. Apart from the aforementioned host activities and games, we have to sanitize the theater up to three times a day. We do that using the so-called three bucket system, where we clean all surfaces with soap, then rinse it with water and after that we apply a desinfectant called Oxivir. Additionally, we have a duty called seating, where we make sure that the crewmembers (and later on the guests) keep a physical distance of at least 1.5 meters to each other in the theater during shows or concerts. 

In order to still offer our guests a fun and colorful program even though we have to follow all these new Covid-regulations, every one of us hosts had to create a quiz on a random, self-chosen topic that they would like to play with the guests. I decided to do a crime-quiz, which lead us to a whole new idea: 

A crime-night and a crime-ralley on bord. Two of my collegues and I sat down together daily for the past few weeks and we made up a crime case about a murder on board. By solving different riddles, the guests have to find out who the murderer is and why he did it. We showed our idea to our supervisor today and he liked it a lot. We even translated the whole thing to English, so that we can play it with the crew next week.  

I’m not only a host, cleaning lady, Restaurant-tester and criminal detective, but also an actress. I already had to film two infomercials, demonstrating how to go to a photoshoot on board and how to use the self service counters at the reception. People who know me know that I am the worst at acting. Ever. But the videos turned out alright and filming them was a lot of fun. I should have starred in another one of those hollywood-worthy movies, but I was sick that day and had to stay in bed. 

Which brings me to my next topic: Being sick on board as a crewmember. Spoiler alert: Didn’t like it.

When I woke up on Tuesday morning my stomach was hurting and I felt sick. At first I thought that my liver just didn’t get along with the drink I invented the night before: The ginny bitch (basically just a skinny bitch with gin instead of vodka). But it wouldn’t get better so I decided to go to the hospital. Fun fact about me: I am terrified of doctors so if you ever see me going to one, it must be serious 😂.

Luckily, what I had wasn’t contagious. I got an infusion for an hour and after that I was sent back to my cabin. You won’t believe how long a day can seem on a crew cabin. Even though I was allowed to go to the restaurant for dinner, I still went right back to my cabin after, watched the Captain’s Prime Time on the tv instead of live in the theatre and after that I went back to bed. When I woke up the next morning, I felt like I missed 7 years on board.

But it also felt kinda good to have some time for myself. On a cruiseship, you’re surrounded by others 24/7 and sometimes I just miss my beloved me-time. I try to get a couple of minutes alone daily, but even when I lay in the sun, listen to music and read my book, there’s still a couple of others next to me doing the same thing. Even at night there’s someone in the same room. I can’t complain about that too much though, because I like my cabinmate a lot and it feels good to wake up and have someone to talk to and laugh with. 

I think everyone here feels like they need some space at times, but what counts at the end of the day is that we all get along quite well and I know that I can count on every one of my teammates. There’s so many different and unique characters here on board, but for some reason, we’re also all kinda alike. And that’s why I’m grateful that I get to spend almost three more months with all of them.

One more positive note at the end: On December first, my friend Päddy will join the AIDAmar crew!! I met her in February at the Basic Safety Training in Hamburg and we have been friends ever since. I even visited her for a week this summer and now I can’t wait to welcome her on board and spend Christmas and New Years with her. ♡

Sea you soon, 

Saskia⚓️