O cruzeiro para as pessoas que não fazem cruzeiros -- The cruise for people who don't do cruises (*)

MY CABIN ON THE OCEAN VILLAGE

Eu já pensei diferentes maneiras de relatar meu contrato no Ocean Village. Foi uma experiência intensa e que vivenciei algumas situações que eu só acreditava existir na ficção. Nesse blog eu sempre relato o melhor das minhas experiências e as dificuldades eu tento contar de uma forma leve e descontraída. Mas, dessa vez acho que isso não será possível. Afinal como eu era o chefe a responsabilidade por todas as conseqüências é minha: as boas e ruins. Além de não ser ético trazer certas situações para este espaço pessoal. Eu pensava que seria um contrato fácil, mas não foi.

I've already thought many different ways to report my contract at Ocean Village. It was an intense period and I experienced a few situations that I believed would exist only in the fiction. In this blog I always reported the best of my experiences and the difficult moments I tried to tell in a light and relaxed way. But this time I think it will not be possible. After all as I was the chief and the responsibility for any consequences were mine: the good and the bad ones. Besides would not be ethical to report certain situations on this personal space. I thought it would be an easier contract but it was not.

GRENADA

Trabalhar a bordo em meio a diversas culturas é sempre um desafio para a sociabilidade e sempre havia sido bem sucedido nos navios anteriores. A experiência no Ocean Village foi contrária e o resultado é que depois do meu contrato eu tenho menos de cinco pessoas que conheci nesse navio na minha lista no Facebook. Claro que eu já sabia da política hierárquica e não esperava viver um conto de fadas, mas, eu nunca imaginei tanta intriga “por pouca coisa”.

Working on board in the middle of different cultures is always a challenge for sociability and I had always been successful in the previous ships. The experience at Ocean Village is opposite and the result is that after my contract I have less than five people that I met on this ship as friend on my Facebook's list. Of course I already knew the hierarchical political and I was not expecting to live a fairy tale but I never imagined to live so much intrigue "for so little things."

BARBADOS

Fui chamado pra embarcar no Ocean Village na metade do meu período de férias desejado e sem conseguir descansar o quanto eu gostaria, afinal a gerente de lá havia sido demitida repentinamente. Além, da dificuldade de só me comunicar com o Mark pela internet ainda tive um falecimento na família (que drama, né?!) o que não era parte das férias dos meus sonhos. Mas achei uma boa proposta profissional e me foi garantido que o Mark poderia embarcar naquele navio no futuro.

I was called to join the Ocean Village in the middle of my desired vacation time and I was not able to relax as much as I would, it as a emergency situation for the company: the manager there was suddenly fired. In this short vacation I had to deal with the difficulty to communicate with Mark by the Internet and I had a death in the family (such a drama time). That was not the vacation of my dreams. But I believed it was a good professional proposal and I had been confirmed that Mark would embark on that ship in the future.

BARBADOS: 1st TIME WITH MARK

Foram mais de 24 horas de vôos até chegar a Grenada no Caribe, sendo que o último avião que peguei em San Juan era de um modelo bem antigo e confesso um pouco assustador. A tripulação do Ocean Village não tinha tantas nacionalidades se comparado com outros navios: no hotel a predominância era de filipinos, indianos e indonésios; entre os staffs a maioria era de britânicos e entre os oficiais havia italianos, britânicos e búlgaros. Latinos eram os acrobatas colombianos com quem eu tinha pouco contato e assim como na Saga Rose eu era o único brasileiro do navio. Depois de algum tempo descobri o Paulo de Portugal, que trabalhava no Departamento de Engenharia e eu encontrava esporadicamente pelo navio e conseguia conversar por alguns minutos em português.


It was more than 24 hours flight to get to Grenada in the Caribbean, and the last flight that I took in San Juan it was in a very old airplane model and I confess I was a little scary. The crew of the Ocean Village did not have so many nationalities compared to other ships: the hotel was the predominance of Filipinos, Indians and Indonesians, between the staffs mostly British and among the officers were Italian, British and Bulgarian. Latinos were only the acrobats from Colombia, with whom I used to have very few contact and as on the Saga Rose I was the only Brazilian onboard. After some time I discovered Paulo from Portugal, who worked in the Engineer Department and occasionally we meet around the ship and talk Portuguese for a few minutes.

BARBADOS: 2nd TIME WITH MARK

Minha rotina passou a ser da loja pra cabine e saindo apenas algumas vezes nos diferentes portos caribenhos. Eu passava pelo crew bar quase todas as noites pra comprar Coca- Cola, mas estava quase sempre vazio. Vale ressaltar que a minha cabine no Ocean Village foi a melhor que tive em todos os meus contratos até hoje: grande, no deck 12 e com uma janela enorme. Era um excelente privilégio e só seria melhor se tivesse internet na cabine, mas era tão boa que eu me sentia nas nuvens.

My routine has become going to from the store to my cabin and I went out only a few times in the Caribbean ports. I went to the crew bar almost every night to buy some Coke but was always very quiet. It is worth mentioning that my cabin on Ocean Village was the best I had in all my contracts: large, on the deck 12 and with a huge window. It was a great privilege and would only be better if it had internet in the cabin, but it was so good that I was feeling "in the clouds".

ST. MARTEEN

Os negócios fluíram muito bem durante a temporada caribenha e foi um período bacana. Confesso que foi muito ruim não ter uma passagem de gerencia por outra pessoa, e havia sempre algo pra fazer que eu acabava descobrindo perto dos prazos. Assim tive de me virar e apreender os procedimentos específicos do navio e quem eram as pessoas por conta própria. Mas, eu puxava o time e cheguei até a manter as lojas abertas por 2 horas além do tempo normal, mas atingimos nossa meta.

The business flowed very well during the Caribbean season and was a very cool period. I confess that it was very hard not having a manager handover, so there was always something to do that I had just discovered near teh deadline. So I had to learn by my own most of the specific ship's procedures and also who were the people and their positions. But I pulled the team and once I keep the stores open for two hours beyond the normal time, but we achieved our target.

TOBAGO

Tive alguns dias legais em Barbados, no famoso entre tripulantes, bar The Boatyard a beira do mar caribenho. A água é clara como de piscina e é sempre muito quente por lá. Outro lugar que adorei foi a “praia dos aviões” em St Marteen. As aeronaves passam praticamente “nas nossas cabeças” antes de aterrissarem no aeroporto que fica a metros do mar. O navio ia também para outras ilhas que o Equinox não visitava, mas não me lembro de nada ter chamado muito a minha atenção. Muitas vezes saia também para comer no Subway ou no KFC.

I had some cool days in Barbados in the famous among the crew: The Boatyard Bar just on the edge of the Caribbean Sea. The water is as clear as a pool and is always very hot down there. Another place I loved was the "The Aircraft Beach" in St Maarten. The aircraft are pretty much "in our heads" before landing at the airport which is meters from the sea. The ship docked also to other islands not visited by the Equinox but honestly I do not remember something else that called my attention. Often also I went out to eat at Subway or KFC.

ST KITTS

Foi em Barbados também que por duas vezes atracamos juntos com o Equinox e pude rever o Mark; foram momentos bem legais, mas além da hora da despedida foi chato também ter de aturar o que apenas chamarei aqui de “ALMA PEQUENA DE OUTRAS PESSOAS”. E ponto final. Foi ainda nesse porto que encontrei amigos da Island Cruises: o James e o Nick (foto), depois de alguns contratos torna-se comum encontrar amigos nos portos.

In Barbados also we docked twice docked together with the Equinox and I meet Mark, were really nice moments but apart from the departure time was also annoying to have to put up with "something" than I will just call here "THE LITTLE SOUL OF OTHER PEOPLE." And that is all I will mention. I also meet in there some friends from Island Cruises: James and Nick (picture), after some contracts it is very common to find friends in ports.

ISLA MARGHERITA, VENEZUELA

A travessia para a Europa foi boa para os negócios e novamente organizei um esquema legal e todos puderam aproveitar uma boa escala de trabalho nas lojas. Antes de chegarmos a Heraklion, na Grécia, que seria o porto de embarque; paramos em Madeira (que eu não pude descer), Pallermo (Itália) e Almeria (Espanha). Nesses dois últimos tive momentos divertidos com algumas das pessoas que eu sempre saia de vez em quando.

The crossing to Europe was good for business again and I arranged a nice schedule and all the shoppies could enjoy a good time off. Before arriving in Heraklion, Greece, which would be the embarkation port, we stopped at Madeira (I could not go out), Pallermo (Italy) and Almeria (Spain). These last two ports I had some fun times with the people that I always get off once in a while.

ALMERIA, SPAIN

Em Almeria, um novo porto espanhol na minha lista de visitados fomos a um restaurante italiano com 2 tripulantes nativos do país, eles disseram que a comida era boa, mas ressaltaram que seria melhor na Itália. Em Pallermo fomos comer novamente e tendo um italiano como companhia tudo ficou mais fácil e tivemos direito a tudo no capricho. Ainda nesse porto encontrei rapidamente o Neco (foto) do Island Star que estava num dos navios da Costa; foi muito bom rever um rosto amigo e pode conversar um pouco em português.

In Almeria, a new Spanish port on my "visited list" we went to an Italian restaurant with two crew members native from the "country of the boot," they said the food was good but it would be better in Italy. In Pallermo we eat again, and having an Italian company was easier and we had "the right to everything at whim". Although quickly I meet with Neco (photo) from Island Star who was onboard one of the Costa's ships, it was great to see a friendly face and can talk a little in Portuguese.

ALMERIA, SPAIN

No próximo post eu conto sobre a temporada na Europa e o meu desembarque do Ocean Village.

In the next post I'll tell you about the season in Europe until my departure from the Ocean Village.



Beijossss!!!
Kisses!!!

PALLERMO, ITALY

* “O cruzeiro para as pessoas que não fazem cruzeiros” era o lema da Cia que oferecia serviço informal para os seus passageiros. Em alguns aspectos lembrava a Island Cruises, só não tinha a mesma galera.

* 'The cruise for people who don't do cruises’ was the company slogan; that provided informal service for its passengers. In some ways reminiscent of Island Cruises, she just did not have the same people.

na cabine video: Island Star, 2008 (Amy Winehouse)