A LESSON IN SHIP LIFE!!

I get asked every crazy question that one could possibly imagine about ship life. Here are a couple of examples:
Is your life a vacation? NO...I work 10-12 hour shifts everyday for 4 1/2 months without a day off.
Do you get sea sick? NO. 
Is the food delicious? NO. Far from it for crew.
Did you date all the boys with accents? ummm NO. Although after a couple of months of ship life some boys seem like prince charming. (This is called ship goggles)
Do you make a ton of money? Not really, but considering the living situation it seems like a million dollars while you are on the ship but does not last on vacation.
Why would you ever quit a job like that? Mostly because you don't have a real life living on a ship, you are exhausted, tired of living with so many rules, or other opportunities come up.
......so in short: Ship life is not a fairytale. It's a very hard job. It has it's perks and its downfalls.
 It's an indescribable lifestyle that is not like any other. I mean we literally LIVE and WORK on a ship, dress up as pirates once a week and work every single day with a smile on our face (sometimes forced). We worry about GI (stomach flu) levels, guest comments (positive and negative), food, parties and most of all WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE WE DOING WITH OUR LIVES?!?!? It is unreal. In our free time (when we aren't sleeping), we find the most intimate relationships with our co-workers and fellow shipmates (get your mind out of the gutter). I have found my best friends here. People I have spent holidays with, people I will go on vacations with and people who help me redefine the world and the meaning of life. It's a funny thing about those months you spend with these people. You can't figure out how you ever lived a day without them and when its their turn to go on vacation, you learn the true meaning of a broken heart. (Lots of my friends went on vacation and weren't coming back)

When my roommate left for vacation an entire month before me I was CRUSHED!!!!!! Like normal, ship life moves on. Time on the ship is warped. A week feels like a month and a month like a year.  You learn to handle stress with a smile and how to rely on others to make life fun even when you are exhausted!!!!!!! 

CRAZY BOYS SOMETIMES CREATE FUN WHEN WE ARE ALL DISAPPOINTED WHEN THINGS DON'T GO OUR WAY!! (Like when overnight Barcelona was cancelled!!!)  The point is, ship life is not for the faint of heart. Its hard work, disappointment, exhaustion, too much fun, chaos, and MAGIC all in one.