Crazy’s Adventures

Time Not Wasted

Even though I feel like the laundry and trash queen, and have miserable working conditions, my time here does help my goal. For every day I work onboard I get a day and a half of sea time to keep my hours current for my future license.

This is the LEAST Deckhand Job I’ve ever had

The job advertisement for this boat should have read janitor and laundry personnel, who can aid in docking boat occasionally. Because we run crew 24/7 sometimes I’m on duty when we dock and undock and sometimes I’m sleeping. So in the 11 days I’ve been onboard, I’ve handled lines twice. Some of the servers and other deckhands have said, “they should have been honest about the role, we were applying to”. I said, “if they were, you’d never take the job”

Aaaaand we lost another one

There were 5 of us that came from my class. 3 deckhands and 2 servers. I am the only surviving deckhand. One walked off the second day and this one left this morning.

Today, part of my job was being at the bridge helping navigate. They like a second set of eyes on the river and equipment while captain is navigating.

He’s a very nice man. He like the rest of the crew isn’t all that keen on how ACL runs things. We had a wonderful 2 hour chat.

My 19 yr old side kick Trevor and my 30 year old partner in crime Lexi and I had the Eff it attitude today. We were goofy silly kids. It really made the day go by faster. Trevor is leaving for vacation day after tomorrow, so I’ll never see him again. Lexi is very interested in other options from this sweatshop.

We had to go through a lock (miniature Panama Canal). Since this ship does the same loop week after week, they tell newbies that their initiation is to lick the lock as we rise up. This is Lexi showing me how it’s done.

This is not for me

Yesterday I was headed to have more morning coffee on the top deck like I did the day before. I passed my boss in the hallway. He said where are you headed? I said to get a morning coffee. He said you cannot be above deck one in your off duty clothes. That means I have to basically stay in my room unless I am working.

One girl in my class simply packed her clothes and walked off the boat yesterday

First Day was Torture

The travel was hell as expected. I can’t sleep on trains, planes and automobiles so by the time we reached the bus stop in Poe-dunk Paducah KY, I was done. At this point I’d been up almost 24 hours no sleep. It’s 3am, the bus driver drops us off in the normal sketchy part of town with sketchy people all around. It’s 3am and ACL had arranged for a taxi to meet us. Our email indicated that if you have problems ANY where along your travels call and we’ll help.

Deck crew Class American Cruiseline Sept 2023

Class was supposed to go through Thursday, but 3 of us deckhands and 2 servers got called to a boat ASAP. So we left class at 11am today. Took a shuttle to Salt Lake City Airport, 2 1/2 hour flight to Houston, 3 hour layover, 2 hour flight to Nashville, 30 minute Uber ride to Greyhound bus station, 2 hour layover, 2 hour bus ride to somewhere in Kentucky, finally taxi ride at 3am to the dock, and begin work!

Training Day

So the facility they train us at is pretty darn cool. They’ve made the inside look like the inside of one of their ships. Replica’s of staterooms, galley, dining, etc.

My class mates are all totally cool. Just like the last time I trained, I made such good friends at school, then we all go our separate ways.

Packing For Next Adventure

I’m at the Port of Miami, getting my security clearance for the river boat job. It is super weird, being at this port, and not getting on THAT boat!

I can’t afford to store my Jeep in Miami. (When I stored blue Jeeper it was $350 a month). So I’m driving my current Jeep Beastie to Tennessee to park it at a friends house. Stopping in South Carolina to see some other friends.

Know your worth

Although I have the river boat job lined up, I’ve still been looking for private, yacht jobs. Working for corporate at the end, in California, left me saying, I would never work corporate again. But we do what we have to. The river boat job is doing what I have to. Sad to see so many yacht owners looking for 3 positions in one. You own a f@#$^&^ yacht, it costs money to run it. Don’t try and get one person to maintain the outside (deckhand) inside (stew) and cook 3 meals a day for you (chef).