Celebrity Mercury at Sea

It takes us 3 days to sail from Baltimore down to the Caribbean to our first Destination, the beautiful Island of St. Thomas. You might think that 3 days is  along time but it passes so quickly as there is much to do on board the beautiful Mercury.

This time I want to elaborate a bit more on what is happening on the second day of the cruise, still everybody is new on the ship and many guest walk around a little bit like lost sheep. That is when any of the crew members jump in and help the guest, usually with a "How may I assist you?" and then we guide everybody to their final destination.

That morning we have as well the galley tour, or heart beat of the operation as we like to call it. Usually we have around 250 to 300 guests joining us, first for a glass of Champagne and then for the tour. The galley is stainless steel from top to bottom, so it is really nice and shiny, imagine, even the walls and ceiling are polished stainless steel. Of course it is not just for prettiness, but a USPH (United States Public health) requirement as it is easy to clean. So we get all the guest happy through the galley and they can see where we actually prepare all the 9000 meals every day. And it is heart beat as there are many chefs in the galley working away and producing all the dishes for the day. Usually the guest are really impressed with what they see.

Then there is one event after the other, Bingo, Life Music up at the Pool, there is the buffet for lunch on deck 11, or the possibility to have a small a la carte in the dining room, Pizza station, Pool grill and, and, and.....the eating frenzy begins

In the evening we have Captains Toast in the Theatre, so all the top officers have to go on stage.....yes me too and we get introduced to our guest, we do that twice this evening, one time for each seating in the restaurant, so usually the day ends around 2300. So yes, they are long days, but of course I still have my break to relax a little, usually the day starts for me around 730 in the morning, then it is still nice and quiet in the galley and then slowly the noise level rises for breakfast, then goes down a bit, goes up high during lunch, gets very quiet during the afternoon (my break time) and then culminates in the evening service when we push out all the meals, cooking, the waiters getting the plates and of course the dish wash getting everything clean again, a total mad house, but for me the best time of the day

Anyway, next time I tell you more about one of the ports we go to!

I am off to bed as it is late....as usual, but I had just another good day in Paradise, so there is no complaints