Time to say Goodbye!

It's been a hectic week.

Last weekend I had the most amazing Goodbye party with my girlfriends :) Yeah.... we ate, we drank, we danced, then we drank some more, we sang, we hugged, we kissed.... we remembered the good old times and it was rly rly great. I went back home at like 9 AM... Thank you guys YOU ROCK! I AM SOOOOO GONNA MISS U. Everyone please e-mail me their home address so that I can send you postcards from whereever I am.

Monday morning I had to go for the c1D visa interview, which wasn't even an interview. I went to the American embassy, handed in all the docs required, qued to get my fingerprints taken and then waited some more and I was called and said "Everything is OK, you will receive your visa in a few days". And in fact in my mind I was going through all the smart answers I was gonna give them, and show off my understanding of the job and the position, so when they didn't ask anything at all I was like "Oh...um...OK". Yeah, big dissapointment. :) I had one tricky moment though - it turned out on my way to the first que I had lost my photos, and I started rly panicing, but then a security guy came and gave them back. So all went smoothly and I received my visa on Tuesday. The STCW95 cert also arrived on Monday, so I was all set.
Send all the docs to the UK office, just to discover I had completely forgotten about the medical insurance. Yeah.... here we go again - another 150 leva down the drain.

This week I tried to meet up with all of my friends and say goodbye and hug and kiss. So Wednesday was the day with another very good friend. It was also a public holiday in Bulgaria and all the main streets were closed so it was a very nice time chatting and walking around downtown Sofia where there were no cars and absolutely no traffic. Nice weather, nice company. Slav, take good care of my two children and do not abuse them :) Gonna miss talking to u, buddy :) And working out with u too :)

Yesterday and today - lastminute shopping. I ended up buying 15 pairs of socks and 10 pairs of stockings....yep, coz if u are wearing a skirt its compulsory to wear thights. I also had dinner with my family and my mom's collegue, who is a good friend of ours (more like a part of our family). We ended up drinking cheap wine until midnight, so today I had quite a rough start.

Funny enough all the time I was thinking 26th Sept was Saturday, while in fact it is Sunday and I only came to realise this yesterday. So I guess it would have been a very "Atilova" thing to go to the airport on Sat morning, thinking it was the 26th :) Yeah that would have been just plain stupid. Bigtime :)

I guess next time when I post It will be from the ship, so just wanted to say Goodbye to all of u whom I did not see personally or have not spoken to over the phone. Keep your fingers crossed and wish me good weather, coz lately I have been freaking out over seasickness.

O BTW I met this girl from Manchester who will be joining the ship on 26th too. She seems pretty cool, so I might have found a buddy there. We'll see.

So, everyone, eat, love, and CROSSFIT :) Love ya loads :) Miss ya even more.

Getting ready, my schedule and some other thoughts

Hey everyone,

It's pretty hectic around me lately, as th news I will be travelling on 26th came quite unexpected.
I will be joining my ship in Venice - as I said, and here is my complete ship itinerary for the next 6 monts:

26.9.2010	In Port	VENICE
27.9.2010	In Port	DUBROVNIK
28.9.2010	At Sea	SEA
29.9.2010	In Port	PALERMO
30.9.2010	At Sea	SEA
01.10.2010	In Port	MALAGA
02.10.2010	At Sea	SEA
03.10.2010	At Sea	SEA
04.10.2010	Turnaround Day	SOUTHAMPTON
05.10.2010	At Sea	SEA
06.10.2010	At Sea	SEA
07.10.2010	In Port	CADIZ
08.10.2010	At Sea	SEA
09.10.2010	In Port	CAGLIARI
10.10.2010	At Sea	SEA
11.10.2010	In Port	SPLIT
12.10.2010	In Port	VENICE
13.10.2010	In Port	DUBROVNIK
14.10.2010	At Sea	SEA
15.10.2010	In Port	PALERMO
16.10.2010	At Sea	SEA
17.10.2010	In Port	MALAGA
18.10.2010	At Sea	SEA
19.10.2010	At Sea	SEA
20.10.2010	Turnaround Day	SOUTHAMPTON
21.10.2010	At Sea	SEA
22.10.2010	At Sea	SEA
23.10.2010	In Port	FUNCHAL
24.10.2010	In Port	TENERIFE
25.10.2010	In Port	GRAN CANARIA
26.10.2010	In Port	LANZAROTE
27.10.2010	At Sea	SEA
28.10.2010	In Port	LISBON
29.10.2010	In Port	VIGO
30.10.2010	At Sea	SEA
31.10.2010	Turnaround Day	SOUTHAMPTON
01.11.2010	In Port	LE HAVRE
02.11.2010	In Port	CHERBOURG
03.11.2010	At Sea	SEA
04.11.2010	In Port	VIGO
05.11.2010	At Sea	SEA
06.11.2010	In Port	PONTA DELGADA
07.11.2010	At Sea	SEA
08.11.2010	At Sea	SEA
09.11.2010	At Sea	SEA
10.11.2010	At Sea	SEA
11.11.2010	At Sea	SEA
12.11.2010	At Sea	SEA
13.11.2010	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
14.11.2010	In Port	MIAMI
15.11.2010	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
16.11.2010	At Sea	SEA
17.11.2010	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
18.11.2010	At Sea	SEA
19.11.2010	In Port	NASSAU
20.11.2010	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
21.11.2010	At Sea	SEA
22.11.2010	In Port	SAN JUAN
23.11.2010	In Port	PHILIPSBURG
24.11.2010	In Port	BASSETERRE
25.11.2010	At Sea	SEA
26.11.2010	At Sea	SEA
27.11.2010	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
28.11.2010	At Sea	SEA
29.11.2010	In Port	GEORGETOWN CAY
30.11.2010	In Port	COZUMEL
01.12.2010	In Port	COSTA MAYA
02.12.2010	In Port	ROATAN BAY ISLAND
03.12.2010	At Sea	SEA
04.12.2010	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
05.12.2010	At Sea	SEA
06.12.2010	In Port	SAN JUAN
07.12.2010	In Port	PHILIPSBURG
08.12.2010	In Port	BASSETERRE
09.12.2010	At Sea	SEA
10.12.2010	At Sea	SEA
11.12.2010	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
12.12.2010	At Sea	SEA
13.12.2010	In Port	GEORGETOWN CAY
14.12.2010	In Port	COZUMEL
15.12.2010	In Port	COSTA MAYA
16.12.2010	In Port	ROATAN BAY ISLAND
17.12.2010	At Sea	SEA
18.12.2010	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
19.12.2010	At Sea	SEA
20.12.2010	In Port	SAN JUAN
21.12.2010	In Port	CHARLOTTE AMALIE
22.12.2010	In Port	PHILIPSBURG
23.12.2010	At Sea	SEA
24.12.2010	In Port	LABADEE
25.12.2010	At Sea	SEA
26.12.2010	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
27.12.2010	At Sea	SEA
28.12.2010	In Port	GEORGETOWN CAY
29.12.2010	In Port	COZUMEL
30.12.2010	In Port	ROATAN BAY ISLAND
31.12.2010	In Port	COSTA MAYA
01.1.2011	At Sea	SEA
02.1.2011	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
03.1.2011	At Sea	SEA
04.1.2011	In Port	FALMOUTH JAM
05.1.2011	In Port	GEORGETOWN CAY
06.1.2011	In Port	COZUMEL
07.1.2011	At Sea	SEA
08.1.2011	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
09.1.2011	At Sea	SEA
10.1.2011	In Port	GEORGETOWN CAY
11.1.2011	In Port	COZUMEL
12.1.2011	In Port	COSTA MAYA
13.1.2011	In Port	ROATAN BAY ISLAND
14.1.2011	At Sea	SEA
15.1.2011	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
16.1.2011	At Sea	SEA
17.1.2011	In Port	SAN JUAN
18.1.2011	In Port	PHILIPSBURG
19.1.2011	In Port	BASSETERRE
20.1.2011	At Sea	SEA
21.1.2011	At Sea	SEA
22.1.2011	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
23.1.2011	At Sea	SEA
24.1.2011	In Port	GEORGETOWN CAY
25.1.2011	In Port	COZUMEL
26.1.2011	In Port	COSTA MAYA
27.1.2011	In Port	ROATAN BAY ISLAND
28.1.2011	At Sea	SEA
29.1.2011	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
30.1.2011	At Sea	SEA
31.1.2011	In Port	SAN JUAN
01.2.2011	In Port	PHILIPSBURG
02.2.2011	In Port	BASSETERRE
03.2.2011	At Sea	SEA
04.2.2011	At Sea	SEA
05.2.2011	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
06.2.2011	At Sea	SEA
07.2.2011	In Port	GEORGETOWN CAY
08.2.2011	In Port	COZUMEL
09.2.2011	In Port	COSTA MAYA
10.2.2011	In Port	ROATAN BAY ISLAND
11.2.2011	At Sea	SEA
12.2.2011	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
13.2.2011	At Sea	SEA
14.2.2011	In Port	SAN JUAN
15.2.2011	In Port	PHILIPSBURG
16.2.2011	In Port	BASSETERRE
17.2.2011	At Sea	SEA
18.2.2011	At Sea	SEA
19.2.2011	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
20.2.2011	At Sea	SEA
21.2.2011	In Port	GEORGETOWN CAY
22.2.2011	In Port	COZUMEL
23.2.2011	In Port	COSTA MAYA
24.2.2011	In Port	ROATAN BAY ISLAND
25.2.2011	At Sea	SEA
26.2.2011	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
27.2.2011	At Sea	SEA
28.2.2011	In Port	SAN JUAN
01.3.2011	In Port	PHILIPSBURG
02.3.2011	In Port	BASSETERRE
03.3.2011	At Sea	SEA
04.3.2011	At Sea	SEA
05.3.2011	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
06.3.2011	At Sea	SEA
07.3.2011	In Port	GEORGETOWN CAY
08.3.2011	In Port	COZUMEL
09.3.2011	In Port	COSTA MAYA
10.3.2011	In Port	ROATAN BAY ISLAND
11.3.2011	At Sea	SEA
12.3.2011	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
13.3.2011	At Sea	SEA
14.3.2011	In Port	SAN JUAN
15.3.2011	In Port	PHILIPSBURG
16.3.2011	In Port	BASSETERRE
17.3.2011	At Sea	SEA
18.3.2011	At Sea	SEA
19.3.2011	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
20.3.2011	At Sea	SEA
21.3.2011	In Port	GEORGETOWN CAY
22.3.2011	In Port	COZUMEL
23.3.2011	In Port	COSTA MAYA
24.3.2011	In Port	ROATAN BAY ISLAND
25.3.2011	At Sea	SEA
26.3.2011	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
27.3.2011	At Sea	SEA
28.3.2011	In Port	SAN JUAN
29.3.2011	In Port	PHILIPSBURG
30.3.2011	In Port	BASSETERRE
31.3.2011	At Sea	SEA
01.4.2011	At Sea	SEA
02.4.2011	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
03.4.2011	At Sea	SEA
04.4.2011	In Port	GEORGETOWN CAY
05.4.2011	In Port	COZUMEL
06.4.2011	In Port	COSTA MAYA
07.4.2011	In Port	ROATAN BAY ISLAND
08.4.2011	At Sea	SEA
09.4.2011	Turnaround Day	MIAMI
10.4.2011	At Sea	SEA
11.4.2011	In Port	SAN JUAN
12.4.2011	In Port	PHILIPSBURG
13.4.2011	In Port	BASSETERRE
14.4.2011	At Sea	SEA
15.4.2011	At Sea	SEA
16.4.2011	In Port	MIAMI

I still have to get my Visa and the STCW95. The story of the STCW95 is one worth tellling. The courses are only held in Varna (500 km away from home for all those who have never been in BG) and you can either go to the Naval academy or the Technical university for them. No other option. So, after I received my offer leter (that was on 3rd sept), I called the Naval academy to discover that the courses would be starting on the 7th and that it takes a week. Ok, so far so good. I caught the bus at 5 AM on 7th and arrived in Varna ar 13:30 PM. And I knew the lectures start at 14:00, so literary I had to run to the Academy with all my luggage and stuff. I arrive there, a good friend of my mothers was waiting for me at the gate and guess what! - the courses were rescheduled for 13th! Well... yep... that was nice. Thanks for telling me guys.... but being a Bulgarian - I'm kinda used to it anyways. And what I did was - went to get the Norwegian martime cert ( which you can only do in Varna too) on the next day and then took the bus home. And on Sun evening - once againg took the 6 hr ride to Varna. Jesus - 1500 km in less than a week.
So , I am still in Varna, the stupid courses will be finished tomorrow and I am still trying to convice the stupid secretairy that it is OK for my mothers friend to collect the certificates on Mon and not me personally, so that I can go home tomo and start packing and not waste another 2 days here. Today I woke up at like 7 o'clock to go and give blood and urine to be tested for the last set of tests rquired by Celebrity. This is the 3rd time I give blood to be teested for the last couple of weeks. Once - for the Norwegian cert, once for siphylis, Hepatitis and Aids and now - drugs, full blood count, electrolytes, lipides and God knows what else. I also discovered that the Yellow Fever shot is done is Sofia (what a relief) and costs a whopping 75 leva (40 eur).... 75 leva for a vaccine.... I mean c'mon u guys this is rediculous - vaccins should be covered by the government... I think... oh well, Bulgaria. It's not like I have a choise, so - Mon morning after the inteview, i'll go to get shot :)

I only have 1 week to prepare - I still have to buy stuff like safety shoes and some black trousers and shirts for work (Harding brothers is providing my uniforms, however since I am leaving in such short notice the uniforms might not be ready), black shoes, loads and loads on thights - our "evening" uniform consists of skirt, blouse and jacket and thights are compulsory whenever you are wearing skirt. Yes - "evening uniform" means that I have a "daytime uniform" as well. The daytime uniform is shirt with trousers which have to be replaced by skirt, blouse and jacket at 6PM.
I am thinking of organizing all of my friend for something like a "goodbye party", but still I have to think abt that. I would definately want to go and have my last workout with my fellow crossfitters on Sun, but as I said - that depends on the SS (stupid secretairy).

I have the c1d visa interview at 9:15 on Mon, and once I am finished with that, it would mean that all the docs are ready and I am good to go :)

ENough said, see ya round

Sat next week

Hi everyone,

so some of you might know, some might not but as of 10th Sept 2010, I am a proud member of Harding Brothers shopping team, i.e. I'm a shoppie :)
Harding brothers is a concession company operating Duty Free shops on more than 50 cruise ships, around the world.
Yes people, I get to work on a cruise ship. Hip hip Horray.
The reason I am writing all that stuff in English is, because as of 26th I will be living in English-only community, so I'd better start switching back to my English-speaking mode (did it once I was in Malta for 3 yrs)
Anyways, after losing my much loved job at Carpe Dieam and after having lots and lots of trouble with my famil, I decided that it is time for a change. I really have no idea how it came to looking for a job on a cruise ship, but it so happened, and I applied, had 2 telephone interviews, got the "Congratulations, you have been approved" e-mail 2 hours after the interview, went to Varna to get STCW95 and crowd management cert, Norvegian Maritime medical cert, chest x-rays, yellow fever shot, MCV Australian visa, Bahamas and British Seaman's Booklets, C1/D American Visa (still have to have my interview on mon 20th), just to receive an email two days ago that as I will be joining Celebrity Cruises Eclipse, I would need another round of medical examinations including:
1. Drug test
2. Hepatitis A,B,C
3. Syphilis test
4. Full Blood Count
5. Urine pregnancy test
6. Urine sediment test
7. Biochemistry
8. Total cholesterol, HDL and LDL
9. Electrlolytes

Want some more?
Hearing and eyesight test
and on and on and on

Literary, every single part and particle of my entire body will be checked and rechecked over the next couple of days.
Now, If you want to work on cruise ships there are couple of ways you can apply.

1. Via local agent - usually this takes a lot of money, is very very inconvenient and also timely. However some cruise line companies would only employ through local agents so you'll have to suck it up. You will be absolutely always charged with "agency fee" which might be up to 500 EUR. For example - Harding Brother's biggest competitor - Starboards Services, which is also a concession company and also tuns duty-free shops, would only employ through their local agent for Bulgaria, which happens to be Invermore shipping and is located in Slovenia. Once a year Invermore would do a pre-interview in Sofia (this year it was on 10.09) and if you are approved you would have to travel to Budapest on 26.09 for an interview with Starboards representative. If you pass the second interview, you would have to pay Invermore a fee of 350 EUR. And then you get to start preparing you docs - which costs at least another 300 EUR, and buy your own ticket to the States to meet the ship. For other positions onboards there are other local agencies, however I am telling you - It's a waste of money and time.
2. You can apply directly to the concessionary. If you are interested in casino/spa/duty free vacancies, apply dirctly to the cocessionary. Harding Brothers would employ vie telephone interview, so it's rather convenient (don't fool yourselves, the interview is really hard and you really have to prepare for it). Steiner is your deal for spa staff, I think Harding have spa staff as well. Casino - you would have to look on your own.
3. For all other positions onboard - you can apply directly to the cruise line, by sending them a cover letter, CV and photos. The easiest way to "get in" is through the so called "Food and Beverage Division" or as a waiter, bartender, cook or ay of the relative. Believe me, there are so many positions onboard that sometimes I have no idea what do pople of certain positions do.

Blah, that was a big one. Anyways you send your CV, wait, get an interview, wait, get 2nd interview, wait, get confirmation letter, wait, prepare and send in all docs and required cert, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait juuust a little bit more, and receive your ship assignment.

That is the usual procedure. But not for me. Nope - I get to always be the exception. First of all I received an invitation of my interview just 2 days after sending my CV, then had the 1st interview and was offered 2nd interview on THE NEXT DAY. Then 2 hours after the 2nd interview I receive the "congrats" mail.
Then, still not having send ANY docs (althogh I already have the Nowegian medical, but no c1/d ot stcw95), I receive the letter that I join Celebrity Eclipse ASAP. ASAP. YEP.
AND ASAP MEANS SEPTEMBER 26. Lord. When you gotta go, you gotta go :)
The Eclipse is the newest ship in the Celebrity fleet - it carries 2850 passengers and 1200 crew - which means "THIS MAMA IS HUGE" and ooooo me likie, me likie.

It has 17 Decs, 10 restaurants, 16 shops, 10 bars, 4 pools, library, internet cafe, movie theater, spa, gym (with c2 rowers yupeeeeeeeee yuppppeeeeeeee), golf course, sports course (basketball and voleyball) and one of the decs is completely covered with green grass.
Crew fascilities include 2 crew bars, crew mess, crew deck and pool, gym, library and internet cafe.
I get to share a tiny tiny cabin with one more mate and have "limited passenger priviliges" - I am Staff which means - I get to eat in the passenger buffet restaurant 30 mins before it closes, can use their gym (oh THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU), go to their bars and discos (but never ever sit on a barstool...serioulsly...WTF?), and literary go everywhere I want to.

So, Today I received my ticket and I will be flying to Venice though Rome, where I meet the ship. On sept 26th. Sat next week. Still it has not sunk into my brain....
The ship's itinerary ROCKS. hehe - month and a half in the Mediterranean, and then the rest in the Carribean. So for all of you who will be freezing in ungly, cloudy, windy Sofia - just think that at this time I will be in th sunny Carribean and you will instantly feel better... no? NO? Seriously? Oh, whatever.

Longest.Post.Ever.

Goodnight everyone.