Starting the goodbyes

 To Ring of Fire....oh lordy!!

It all got just a little bit silly hahaha

So, with only 8 more days to go the goodbyes have begun...of course pretty much 90% of any goodbye style evenings include alcohol, this particular one included a drinking game called Ring of Fire. Needless to say me and my friends Kat, Lisa & Rebecca were a little merry and went very giddy within the walls of my house ha!! Ahh well only live once and I plan to enjoy it!!

Initialy the girls were just going to come over we would watch some films and have some snacks...it all went downhill when we had a snack disaster and totaly burnt what you would think was an easy think to make, Nachos!! They were completely and utterly ruined and so we ended up getting a dominoes instead!!

Nacho disaster....

Seeing as we were all of work we decided to have a sleepover and a few drinks, of course this didnt end up in just a few drinks we all ended up very giddy indeed!! haha I had so much fun though, they always make me belly laugh so was a really funny night!!

Iv got my proper leaving do with all my friends this saturday, its going to be very bitter sweet for me because yes it will be lovely that everyone its getting together but im going to be very sad because I know thats the last I will see of them for 6 months :(

We are going to a Piano Bar and have a booth booked so im going to treat myself to a few cocktails, my favourite cocktail is probably a cosmo but I also really like daquiris and rasberry mojitos. I lived in Italy last year and tried my first ever Margarita (a rasberry one) which I also loved!! I only really like fruity cocktails, nothing creamy...bleugh!! 

Iv got a family leaving lunch too on Sunday so lets hope im not too hungover after Saturday evening so I dont ruin it for myself!! haha 

Organised Chaos

The Bombsite

Im only 2 weeks off my flight date now eeeeeeekk!! Still no itinery or flight details have been emailed to me...hmph, this makes it difficult to start packing properly because I still have no clue what I will need to take!! Plus I need to know my flight details so I can work out how on earth I'll be getting to the airport on the day.

My sisters bedroom has now become my personal dumping ground for all things 'Cruisey'. In a bid to start packing I have started to throw all my summery bits that I have unearthed from last year...I didnt realise how much stuff I have so now Im worrying that I wont fit everything in my case!! I have an allowance of 40 Kilos within 2 cases but I have to bear in mind that my cases have to be stored in my teeny tiny cabin once I arrive so I've opted for a large case and then a smaller one so I can store the little case in the big one.

I am being very good and trying to limit myself as much as possible with things im taking because im sure I will buy things while im away so I dont want to be faced with paying extra charges to get all my worldy belongings back home afterwards!!

Im not going to actualy pack my case until maybe a day or two before I leave, Im a bugger for getting too premature with packing etc because I just get too excited about my holiday that I always want to pack weeks before and then everything gets horrendously creased and I often end up taking it all out and re-packing again a day before...not clever as thats how I usualy end up forgetting something.

One year (unfortuntely for my friend) I forgot my jim jams so she had to play the roulette game of waking up to me in god knows what (if anything) after a night of drinking haha, other items I tend to forget are the small (but immensly important) items such as..beach bag, night time bag, toothpaste(even though I have my toothbrush)...you get the picture.

Lets hope this time I forget nothing seeing as it wont just be a 2 week holiday that I'll be without it.

Love Laura xXx

Run Forest Ruuuuuun!!

In a bid to shed some last minute pounds I have been hitting the gym...I have had such a lazy week this week though and hardly been, today I only did a measley 2 miles on the treadmill and I didnt even run it all. Im going to try and go everyday next week. I just dont have any motivation this week at all. Good thing about this gym is the treadmills have little air vents on them so they blow a lovely cool breeze on your face when your running, but I still manage to come out looking like a little Tomatoe! 

Its officially only 3weeks left today until I fly out to Barbados, still not had my full itinery through yet or my flight details so im just bobbing around at the moment waiting. Hopefully that will come sooner rather than later so I know exactly where I'll be going and what crew facilities my ship has to offer. The important thing is iv found out theres definately a crew bar, I've been told the bar gets a little wild at times which im sure will provide me with endless entertainment allthough im a bit of a granny sometimes so may not be able to keep up!!

When I first got this job it seemed like it was so far away and now its just popped out of no where and I suddenly feel like Its to soon, cant win!! Iv worked away before and I know how much I miss my friends and family so I hate to leave them :( just going to cram in as much time with them as I possibly can from now until I leave and hopefully I can find out how much discount I get off cruises so they can come out and have a cruise at some point so they can visit me!!

Love Laura xXx

I hate Injections :(

LOOK my huge war wounds!! hahaha Above Hep A & Below Tetnis (hence the pathetic frown)

I was up very bright and early this morning so that I could go and get a further 2 injections...Hep A & Tetnis. Lovely. Im a bit of a wuss when It comes to injections, the nurse would never know I act all calm and collected on the surface but in my head I always manage to work myself up just a little and secretly I would like a little hug afterwards haha.

In the grand scale of things they really wernt that bad, but they did hurt more than the Yellow Fever which I found to be completely pain free!! If I were to put them in order of pain then I would say The Tetnis was the most painful (bearing in mind this is my pain threshold which is puny) then Hep A & finally Yellow Fever. The nurse also advised me I may need a Malaria Jab so I need to double check about that.

The nurse had a student in the room with her so thank god I didnt have to have the tetnis in my backside like I feared haha..no one wants to see that before 9am!! Im now sporting 2 'severe' injuries in each arm and the Tetnis Jab has left me with a bit of a dead arm but im a trooper and the day must go on pah haha...next stop, the gym. My day get increasingly more fun.....NAAART.

I just have this horrible image of all these slim girls on my ship hitting the beach and then me..a rather pale distant relative of the hippopotumus trumpeting along. The Christmas Diet was far to good to me and Santa left me with a lovely Christmas Gift...a brand spanking new tyre for my stomach ha so Im trying my hardest to go the gym 5 times a week and hitting the treadmill. I used to run alot and even took part in a 13 mile half marathon for Charity, I need to get back into my running and I find the weight just drops off when your running a few times a week. Im not into diets at all, in fact eating food is one of my most favourite hobbies so I prefer to enjoy myself eat what I like and just exercise to shed any excess pounds. Im not a fan of girls who slim down to the point of looking like little girls...why anybody would want to look like that I dont understand?? Surely thats not attractive to men??

Iv started off at the gym doing 5 miles on the bike and then 3 miles on the treadmill...my running is poor right now so need to build it up!! The bike is a bit of a waste of time for me because I get lazy on it and dont like to turn up the resistance so im probably not burning any calories, im a little cheat. ha. I much prefer classes to the gym itself they are lots of fun and the instructers really push you which I like, it makes me go that little bit harder and that little bit longer. I have a bit of a gammy knee which sometimes goes funny when Iv been running alot..so far so good and its not showed yet so hopefully it will be ok...

Love Laura xXx

Starting to prepare...

So I guess with this being my first ever blog It probably wont be very good to start off with haha plus you guys wont have a clue what Im on about just yet..dont worry though you'll catch up with me im sure :).

After being successfull in my interview and attending 2 traning courses...one in Bristol and a rather entertaining Personal Survival course in Southampton consisting of me and about 10 others trying our hardest to swim in full clothes and a very large lifejacket to get into a life raft while theyve got a wave machine going full pelt..not an easy task!! haha Clearly I need some more muscles if im to survive any kind of abandon ship emergency!!

I am now only waiting on one document to come through so that I am 100% ready to set sail and start living the life....my Seamans Log. It has been something of a nightmare making sure I have everything, who knew there was so much to do before you could go work on a dingy boat ha! Medical certs, injections, visas, training certs, uniforms, ahhhhhhh shoot me now! It better be worth all this hassle!!

On an up note I was given my ship, I'll be joining the huuuuuge P&O Ventura on the 25th February. Starting in Barbados I'll be sailing around a total of 10 destinations in the Gorgeous Carribbean before heading back across to the med to sail all around there!! WAHHHOOOOOOO!! I'll give you a full Itinery soon for my amazing destinations.

Iv never been on a cruise before, in fact I dont think I've even seen one in real life haha so I have no idea what on earth to expect! Spoke to a few guys that were on my training who are already on board their vessels and they all had the same things to say....HARD HARD WORK!! ohh maaan. Seems I'll be working very hard therefore I'll have to make sure I play very hard too :) Best thing about being a shoppee as apposed to any other member of staff is that the shops all close when the ship docks so that means we can always get off the boat and see all these beautiful countries!! I feel so very lucky!!

Anyway still a while to go yet before my adventure really begins but thought id start the updates now on my stresses and mental break downs in the run up to my leaving...

Love Laura xXx