We are boarding a new group of passengers tomorrow at the Portland Maine cruise terminal (Ocean Gateway) for a 7 day cruise along the coast of Maine.
Ever wonder what goes on when your cruise ship is waiting for you to board for your fabulous cruise vacation?
The answer is simple; work.
In our case, our 15 person crew departed Warren Rhode Island at 1045 on July 29 bound for Portland, Maine. Before we left our homeport we had loaded fuel, food, liquor, cash, laundry, linens, spare parts, cleaning supplies, and the numerous other necessities required to keep a 50 room floating hotel in shape for you to join us for a fabulous vacation. This process occurred over 2 days prior to our departure for Maine.
What do you do when steaming from port to port with no passengers?
Well, more work.
During the 22 hour passage to Maine our crew cleaned, painted, scrubbed, prepared, washed, dried, did inventory, prepared orders for more, made and completed uncountable items on checklists, to do lists, reports, forms etc...
What did we do when we arrived in Portland at 0630 July 30th?
More work. We set up gangways, painted some more, completed maintenance on equipment and machinery, scrubbed the boat inside & out, vacuumed, wiped down all surfaces, put towels in cabins, fluffed the pillows, and many other tasks just to be sure your cabin will be fresh & inviting for your cruise with us and the ship will operate safely and dependably during your cruise vacation.
Did I mention, loaded MORE FOOD too? Loading food on a small cruise ship is a sight to see. It's not like your average restaurant or store where items are brought in on pallets and unloaded to the shelves as time allows. No, we have to set up a HUMAN CHAIN to hand off each box and container of food from the pier, down 3 decks and store it in various tight spaces and holds to be brought out to grace your dinner table. It is quite a sight to see all hands lined up and moving product!
With all that work going on don't you get to have any fun?
Yes, we do. When its all nearly done, we get to get out on the town and visit some of the sights and atmosphere that Portland and our other port calls have to offer and of course, Portland Maine is a great place for our younger (younger than the Captain) crewmembers to get out and see and experience all the culture and nightlife this small city has to offer...
