TGI... PORT DAY!

January 24, 2012

Our ships and guests visit exotic ports of call. The crew rarely does. We follow the first rule of the hospitality industry; we work so you can play. On port days, the different service teams work together so that at each stop a couple people from each department can generally get off for a substantial block of time. But for most of us a quick walk on the dock in the sunshine is the best we can hope to squeeze in to busy schedules. For officers, it can almost be worse. We have a never ending list of administrative tasks that beckon us back to our desks. It is easy to ignore the siren song of the ports as it can be some of the quietest times in our offices, and so much work can be done.

It may have been a conspiracy, or it may just have been a happy quirk of the schedule that led me to my first ‘real’ time in port. Since we returned to St. Maarten the same day as the Eclipse, Laura suggested that I try to have lunch with Audra, again, who I met the last time here. She is the T&D Manager on our sister ship and Laura thought it would be good to debrief with her over lunch about my experiences so far. My plan was for a quick lunch with Audra, her husband, and their bambino, as her family has been sailing with her this month.

To truly be ‘off work,’ one needs to change out of uniform and get as far away from their ship as possible. For one of the few times since I’ve been in uniform, I put on my own cargo shorts, polo, and tennis shoes and headed down the gangway and across the dock to Eclipse. The sun felt amazing, and the comfort of one’s own clothes belies description. After only a short wait, Audra, Marcos, and little Karolis disembarked from the Eclipse. Since I had never left the dock in St. Maarten before, I put myself at their mercy for restaurant choice. Audra and I walked ahead, catching up on all things T&D, while Marcos shepherded his 20 month old son behind us. As we talked I realized that we were queuing up for a water taxi (nothing gets by me!), and started to realize this might be more than an hour lunchtime. We took the short boat ride across the harbor enjoying the Caribbean music blaring from the speakers, the light spray of the warm water, and the brilliance of the sky, the ships, and the vibrant colors of the buildings onshore.

Once we landed, we began to wander through the narrow, cobbled streets of this Dutch outpost. For what were we searching? The type of food that everyone craves in the Caribbean, of course . . . . Chinese!  Apparently, Audra has a thing for Chinese food, and Marcos knows the way to every decent Chinese restaurant at the ports of call. With little Karolis along for the journey, this resulted in a much longer trek than any of us imagined. We had been off the ship for an hour by the time we entered the restaurant! Along the way, though, Audra, who has served the company as both a T&D and HR Manager started to counsel me about finding more balance . . . not to be a workaholic, but to schedule time to enjoy a port or two on each cruise. She cautioned me that as the T&D I will continually try to serve the endless needs of such a large crew, not only training, but emotionally and spiritually. Yes, in many ways this is exactly like running a parish.

Audra and Marcos were a tag team while we ate, caring for their son who, typical of that age, could not sit still. This was wonderful for me, as I got to know each of the two of them very quickly through one-on-one conversations about background, experiences, hopes and dreams. They are a very interesting couple. Audra is from Lithuania, and Marcos from Honduras. They met, of course, on ship. (We currently have crew members from 62 nations!!) Karolis is concurrently learning Lithuanian, Spanish, and English. It’s fun to be part of those family conversations!

When I next looked at my watch we had been off ship for 2 ½ hours! Since the other crew members from both ships had mostly already left the restaurant, we decided that heading back to the dock would be wise. The trip back was far quicker than the one out (I think Marcos was making it up as he tried to find the route to the restaurant and actually could now find his way back! ). We then said our goodbyes before heading to our respective ships.

The difficult truth of our industry is that you are constantly saying goodbye. I hoped to see Audra again, soon, as we share a port with Eclipse one more time next month. But before that date, Audra will be transferring. She has been assigned to be the HR Manager on Infinity, which is currently on our South America run before heading to Alaska for the summer. Marcos and Karolis will return to Honduras during that period, until Audra’s contract ends, and then they will relocate their family to Lithuania.

So my new friends are soon to be at a great distance . . . But the needed joy of those three hours was so beneficial, and I returned to Silhouette recharged and invigorated. Was it a coincidence that Audra and Laura both shared the same message with me? Did Laura set this up to be a longer break than I intended? Was that all Audra’s doing? No matter, it made me appreciate the life-giving power of a good Port Day. And I would need that energy before the day was out.

For at 10:29pm I was drafted at the last minute into . . . Dancing With the Stripes!!! But that’s a story for tomorrow . . .

The adventure continues . . .