Happy Easter!

I hope you are having a nice weekend:)
This time of the year is a dangerous one for a chocoholic like me!! Chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs wherever I look, Karin can not resist hehe! Oh well, there is always a tomorrow and I can always start being good "tomorrow".
In fact, I had completely forgotten that it is Easter this weekend. On the ship you loose track of the days and the time sometimes.
Anyways, things all good with me, except have just caught yet another cold! Over the last 2 weeks we have done a China cruise, from Hong Kong to Shanghai with stops in Xiamen, Wuxi and Nanjing, 2 overnights ine Shanghai. We are now on our way back down to Hong Kong, currently in Nanjing. The sun is shining and it is a gorgeous day out there, yet a little chilly. Reminds me a lot of a Swedish spring day and it makes me feel very good:)
Unfortunately my brand new laptop broke a little while ago, that is why I haven't been online much. Apparently it is the graphics card playing up, and I have been given the advice to take it back next Bangkok. Which will be another....3 weeks or so:( Also I very clumsily managed to block my cell phone the other week, had one too many drinks one night and happened to enter the wrong PIN 3times in a row as I got back to cabin....clumsy clumsy me, was a mission trying to get hold of the PUK code to unblock it!! hehe.
Work is going pretty good, I have been repositioned to deck 6, a little bit different but I have found my new routines pretty quickly and I like it up there. I also have a cpl of suites on deck 5, which is very annoying as it is difficult to monitor the guests coming and going on both decks at the same time, so it makes it harder with the timing. But it is ok.
My request for extension of contract was not approved, so I am to sign off in Dubai on 28 April. Planning on staying for a day or 2 before flying home, just to chill and relax. 7 weeks vacation, then I am to rejoin the ship in Athens on 21 June for another contract. Ship will then be cruising the Med, mainly Italy, Greece, Turkey and Croatia. The only thing bugging me with signing off on the 28th, is that I only just miss the Red Sea cruise, with stops in Egypt. Would have loved to do that, and apparently they arrange a really good crew tour there, but...whatever, guess there will be other times when I can explore Egypt.
Enjoying my time here, but also looking forward to some vacation. Be good to "recover" a little, I am very often sick here. Think one reason might be the airconditioned air, but also the fact that the body doesn't get much time to rest.
Actually I should go and have a little bit of a rest now, finished late this afternoon and have to bne back early this evening, as we are making easter baskets for our guests this afternoon. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and plz be in touch:)

Lots of love,

Karin xoxoxoxoxox

Long time no speak....

Hello people:)

I know!!!!! I have been so soo bad at keeping you updated on here. BUT, life has been very busy lately and I have struggled to find time and energy for emails and updates. The last cruise was intense, as we had a lot of extra training after we finished late in the evenings or in the afternoons, which meant missing out on my much anticipated afternoon nap= no good lol! Lately I have been in a state of serious lack of sleep, just never had a chance to catch up on myself, much due to a terrible cough that has kept me awake at nights. That is now a little bit better, the only thing that seemed to work for it was Tiger Balm. Rubbed it on my chest before I went to bed, and actually slept through a whole night, which felt amazing! All the other medicine I'd been given did nothing good, but gave me an allergic reaction one night. Was a little bit scarey as I have never been allergic to anything before, suddenly my face and neck and arms went all red and blotchy, I looked horrible! Ended up in the ship hospital in the middle of the night for an injection of Benadryl.....But, I am feeling a lot better now and this afternoon I got a good nap and I finished early this evening, so this should all help to catch up a little now.

Since I last wrote we have cruised up to Hong Kong, turned around and cruised back down to Singapore via Thailand and Vietnam and now just finished a cruise in Malaysia. Been off in Bangkok a couple of times and gone for nice massages, bought myself a laptop and gone on crazy "tuk tuk" rides and motorbike rides (with laptop and shopping bags lol!) Also got to see some nice places in Malaysia, went shopping in Kelang (Kuala Lumpur) at this huuuuuge 3 month old shopping center, I was in heaven, it was so amazing! I had the nicest taxi driver, taking me all the way there, going shopping with me and carrying my bags then buying me a shake at Starbucks and taking me all the way back to the ship. For free!!! That day I bought an Ipod. So FINALLY I am an owner of an Ipod as well, now the only question is how to work it etc, but I will get to that eventually.
Langkawi was another gorgeous place in Malaysia!

Have had some really lovely guests these last 2 cruises, some good feedback is great for the motivation and tips always appreciated as well of course.
I am really enjoying my life on board ( well except of the times when you are just tired and not in the mood of course, but that happens everywhere at some point) and I am already considering coming back for a second contract or possibly joining one of the sisterships. Guess I will wait and see how I feel by the end of this contract. My current contract finishes on the 28 April, when we are in Dubai, so I will possibly stay there for a few days holiday before going home:) Have tried to have my contract extended with a cpl of weeks, but I don't think it is going to go through.

Today we have been cruising the South China Sea and it has been really quite rocky. A lot of people seasick today, I have been lucky so far and haven't felt a thing:) As wen enter the Gulf of Thailand it should calm down a little though.
Well, I am planning on an early night tonight to catcht up on sleep, so I am gonna love you and leave you. At least a quick hello so you know I am still alive:) Hope you are all well, please feel free to drop me a line, I love hearing from you:)

Lots of love,

Karin xoxoxox

Stugeron 15 mg

Stugeron- the onboard drug for surviving hehe. We are having another sea day and the sea is pretty rough, so many seasick today. Luckily we have this seasickness pill though, works wonders, I took one straight away this morning and have felt nothing ever since, despite the ship listing and rocking it's way through the swirls. We are cruising the South China Sea and will get to Da Nang tomorrow, the place where I joined! Feels like a life time ago, although it is just 4 weeks!

A lot of things have happened since I last wrote. I just haven't really had the time or the energy to update yet. We got back at sea and started cruising again on 17th Jan, although I personally have to say the ship wasn't quite ready, which a lot of guests have actually also commented on.
The day before embarkation (i e 16th Jan) we had an e.t.r.e.m.e.l.y. long day- think about 16 hrs straight work. It was very intense and quite stressy, of course we were all pretty neckered after that and after the 2 weeks of drydock. Have decided that if I ever do another contract on a ship, I'm gonna make sure that ship has got no drydock or equivalent scheduled for the next 6 months. For sure!
So, embarkation day itself didn't really go that well either, I find. This cruise I have my own 10 suites and so my own guests. It is fun but also tiring sometimes, especially when complaints come up (which they do-these ppl are not late to moan if smth is not as they want it!)
I got really sick during the last cpl of days of drydock, a sort of stubborn flu which made work a lot harder of course, so as embarkation came I wasn't feeling too well already. I started the day off by accidently breaking a load of glasses, ah ah no good, as I started to stress already. The rest of the day was a complete mess. I had never done embarkation before and hardly knew what I was doing, had just had a 2 min very short and very quick demonstration just before. So there I was, supposed to go into all my suites and greet my guests with champagne and salmon canapees and designer soaps and show them around the suite and answer their questions. Started off all right, although I made a few minor mistakes, forgot to say some things etc, which made me start panic a little bit, just a little. Then I started to stress a little more, as some guests had load of questions I couldn't answer etc, felt so incompetent and then somehow, I totally flipped, think it was all the stress and pressure from the previous weeks all getting at me at once (very bad timing though) and I burst out in tears and could not do a thing, which only made me panic more as I was already falling behind. Next thing I was sitting in the pantry with a terrible nose bleed. Everybody else probably thought it was from the stress as they had seen how I'd panicked a little, but I think it was just from the flu I had had, I always get nosebleeds then. Anyway, they day was a very stressy and messy one, but it came to an end too, which I am thankful for.
So, now we are more than halfway through the cruise and it has gone ok so far. It IS a difficult cruise, as many guests are a bit unhappy about the state the ship was in at the beginning of the cruise, but we do what we can to please them. I have got some wonderful guests, so so sweet. One couple, from Canada, even brought me a present yesterday, so sweet of them!

There has been a bit of a turnover in the Stewardess crew, and we have also got a new Housekeeper. She is way stricter than the previous one, I find myself constantly remarked on, no matter what I do. Guess it is a good thing though, as it keeps the environment here up to standard.

This cruise is going back up to Hong Kong, the same way as we came down before. So we first stopped in Bangkok, then Ko Kood (that lovely island I told you about! got some new pics!) Then Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) from where we departed yesterday.
I am actually gonna go and have a little nap soon, I feel soo sleepy sitting here. The days are very long and physically tiring, and crew bar 2 nights in a row now have left me in a state of serious lack of sleep.

I have to say though, that I love life on the ship. Of course it ISN'T always that fun to clean, but as long as I can turn up the music and get going I don't mind (actually quite enjoy it), although I get a little sick of scrubbing toilets sometimes. Also there are so many cool ppl in the crew, essential I guess as we all work and live close together.
I sleep like the dead every night, being rocked to bed to the sound of the waves on the other side of my bedroom wall is very relaxing. Nah, my vision is all blurry now, I'd better get going before I actually do fall asleep right here by the computer.
Hope you are all well, please be in touch!

Lots of love from a sleepy Karin xoxox

Dreaming of brass window frames

Hey there,

Thought it'd be time for another update. I am not feeling too good at the moment, coming down with a cold or a flu or smth, throat is sore etc, but hopefully wont get too bad.
Now just a few days left of drydock, thank god. I beleive I am over this now, although I am now so used to being totally soaked in and dripping of my own sweat (disgusting I know) that I no longer care, after all we are all as stinky.
The last couple of days we have spent starting to recover some of the suites where the work is all finished. So....we have...been washing all walls, scrubbing, heavy dusting, wiped mirrors and windows, washed sinks and plugs and everything else and and just basically washed all the rooms down from top to toe. Takes longer than it might seem. And then we have the dear old.....ta dam B.R.A.S.S to polish! Fucking never ending....brass door steps, brass table legs and brass window frames (covered in black and green sort of rust from leaks etc.) Takes forever, you do it, you polish and polish and polish and you hardly even notice the difference! Well actually, I am getting better at it now, but my techinque still needs to be worked on though. So yesterday I did about 10 of those windows, all at least twice! When I got home in the evening and closed my eyes, all I could see was those window frames!! hehe. I think tonight that vision will be replaced with in-suite walls, as I have washed a number of those down today.
Haven't actually been up to very much else here in Singapore, often when you get back in the evening you are so tired you basically just drop dead on your bed. Been out for dinner a cpl of times and done some shopping down at the mall etc. I am considering going for another massage (possibly at a different place) before we leave Singapore, as my right shoulder has been so sore lately. Have always had problems with that muscle and with the type of work we have been doing lately I have felt a really sharp pain in it, no good. So will see what I can do about it.
Have also had some strange rash happening, some sort of heat rash i should think, I hope it will go away as things get back to normal.

The ship has been repainted all over and looks nice. On the inside it is still a complete mess, complete!! With only a few days to go, I reckon the last few ones are gonna be really quite stressy!
The other good thing about getting back at sea is that access to supermarkets and shops etc will be limited! Unlimited access=no good for me and my wallet! I have especially been into the chocolate lately.(what a surprise) hehe, yeah if you know me well enough you are probably aware already that I am a true chocoholic! Not only has it been the big sized Cadburys, Kinder Buenos and Lindts, but have also managed to finsih off a whole tub of BJ's New York Super Fudge Chunk (delicious!, hey N Conway flashback hehe) in one go, as well as some Haegen-Dazs Belgian Chocolate, the Pringles are a true danger too. No, better get back to the old me once we are back at sea (I would consider myself a v health concious person except when I get on a chocolate roll lol), all this stuff makes me feel crappy. But in some way it's nice with a treat when you have worked so hard all day, and honestly I do think we burn off those extra calories easily during the days.

Today on the way home from the shipyard, I also experienced some serious rainy weather. Don't think I have ever seen rain like that, raindrops the size of a plum! We ended up in the middle of some thunderstorm and it totally poured down, I couldn't see a thing through the bus windows, as the bus splashed it's way back to the hotel. Luckily it stopped before we went out for dinner.

Nah think I'm gonna stop there, feels like I am just dragging on while bed is waiting upstairs...hehe.
Hope you are all well:)
Nightey xoxoxoxox

Melt down detox

Good evening people:)

Yet another day in Singapore has nearly come to it's end. Another sweaty one I can tell you. It gets u.n.b.e.l.i.e.v.a.b.l.y hot working on the ship during the days now during drydock. I don't think I have ever, ever! in my life sweated so much as I did today. Literally floods just pouring off me. GROCE!! I would estimate that the average temp on the ship is about 35-40 C, then of course certain areas get hotter, i e the sunny side, suites with no air flow from balconys etc. On top of that, that bloody overall, soaked in 2 mins! I keep telling myself it is probably a healthy thing though, sweating prob good for weight loss and body detox! Hehe, no need for saunas here! No, seriously, I can't wait to have the AC back! Btw have taken some pics with my sexy boiler suit outfit (lol), complete with helmet hehe will try and upload it another time. In fact I don't know how to put pics up here, but have put a cpl from Ko Kood on my facebook if you wanna have a peak.

On the Saturday I had my day off, very enjoyable! Started off with a good sleep in and some shopping with Lichen in the morning, then a trip to the Bugis Market. Pretty crowded as it was a Saturday, so we soon decided to head out to Sentosa Island instead, which we had heard should be a nice place. It was indeed, very very beautiful and with amazing beaches, unfortunately it started raining though, just as we got there. way too soon it was in fact pouring down. But we decided to watch the dolphin show though and also had some pics taken with one of them. We had wanted to go swimming with them, but that had to be booked in advance, so guess we will save that for next time. They were pink dolphins, I had never in my life seen such before and didn't even know they existed!

In the evening we went for dinner and then for a massage. That was eeh an experience to say the least! I am not sure I had ever been for a real massage before, and at some points during the session I was actually wondering whether I was gonna walk out of there alive. Goodness me, my muscles were pushed and bent in all possible angles and ways and very hard, I was sure I was going to be all bruised the following day! Luckily I wasn't, although muscles still pretty sore from the session. Hahaha, next time I think I will ask them to be a little lighter on the hand.

Now back in normal routine, with long days at drydock. A lot of the work on the ship is falling behind schedule, as all the contractors equipment, tools etc is held by Customs in Hong Kong, so they couldn't start working as early as planned. Which might be a bit critical, as the ship HAS to be ready on the 17th, when the guests embark for the next cruise. i bet the last cpl of days of drydock are gonna be pretty stressy. Today and yesterday have been pretty boring days for us stewardesses, we have just been assigned to watch the contractors while they work, i e make sure they don't pee anywhere in the suites, steal smth or get up to some monkey business in there.
Actually, maybe I should tell you what drydock itself is, as many have asked about this. Drydock means the ship is out of the water for 2 weeks and during this time a lot of refurbishment and work is done to the ship. I e windows, carpets, sinks and other interior is replaced or repaired, rust removed, some furniture replaced and such stuff. So no guests during these weeks. And no AC and no water or toilets onboard. No crew is living on the ship at this time, but we are staying at a hotel here in Singapore and travel to the ship and back every day for work.

I am actually in one of the malls writing this, another place where they offer fre internet! Such a brilliant idea! I should get going soon though, so will love you and leave you. Btw it is great hearing from you!:)
Be in touch:)
xoxoxox

Seasickness and drydock in Singapore

Hello there!

Hope you had a good start of the new year! Mine started off by experiencing some really quite bad seasickness. We left Bangkok on NYE and had a cpl of days at sea, really quite rocky at times. I don't know whether one too many glasses of champagne the evening before had it's effects too, but on the 1st of Jan I was so so sick. Was horrible as I kept having to run down to my cabin and sometimes only made it just in time. YUK! Took seasickness pills in the afternoon and felt much better, goodness me at that point i couldn't wait to get my feet on solid ground. The boat kept rocking it's way down to Singapore though, and even after having been docked for a whole day I still kept bumping into things and feeling like the whole world was moving. Guess the body sort of adopts to the constant motion, was a very weird feeling. Think it is called "Sealegs"
So yesterday morning we reached Singapore and all the guests disembarked. We then had a very long and stressy 15hr shift day starting to pack all of the suites and the rest of the ship up, as she is going into drydock here for 2 weeks. It was the longest and hottest day ever, as AC was turned off and we had to wear heavy boiler suits and helmets (yeah, very sexy....) working in like 30C!!! When we finally got to the hotel in the evening I basically dropped dead on my bead, getting a few hrs sleep before starting off at 6 again the next morning. Today been another day of covering and packing down, the ship looks completely different. The hrs are better though, as we work all through and then we are off in the evenings, instead och having a break in the middle of the day. Also nice to get a break from the guests.
Got back to the hotel at 7 tonight, went for dinner and then had a little look around, then chilled at the pool. Singapore is fantastic, so clean!! Did you know you can even be fined hundreds of dollars for throwing a chewing gum on the ground??!!!
The hotel is very central and we have huge shopping malls around the corner. To our very suprise we are even getting a day off during drydock, this came very unexpectedly, but is like a bonus for all the extra hrs and long shifts we have done and will be doing. So, I'm off tomorrow and if the weather stays nice a trip to the beach is planned, as well as shopping and a massage appointment (which I am very much looking forward too, my body is aching so badly) Also a good sleep in, feels like I haven't slept for ages!
Actually I am gonna head off soon, got a cpl of things to do before bed and it is already late. I'm SORRY I haven't had time to answer all emails and facebook msgs, will try and work on it but want you to know I love hearing from you!

Lots of love,

Karin xoxoxox

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year! All the best for 2008!
Now been here for a week, but it feels like a lot longer. Moved into my new cabin yesterday and it is so much nicer and so much bigger, so that feels good. Can't unpack yet though, as we are going into drydock in a cpl of days time in Singapore, and we will then be staying at a hotel for those 10 days.
At the moment we are in Bangkok, arrived here yesterday morning. I went ashore for a little bit during the day, just had a little look around and checked out the market etc.
Still working my ass off during the days, it is stressy and very tiring and a lot of things to remember, but I do actually quite enjoy it! I mean the whole thing, being on a ship and that, I love it so far!
Have got an infection in one of my fingers, which has been pretty annoying. It sounds ridiculous, but it does actually affect me as I work with my hands constantly. The medical facilities onboard are really good though, the nurse gave me antibiotics and special creams straight away, so it is already a lot better.
New Years party here tonight I guess, the ship will have departed by then so we'll be at sea. I hope you all have fun whatever you get up to:))

Karin xoxoxoxox