A Little Piece Of Paradise

2.

The flight to Miami went really well. She had to stay in Miami over night and have a medical and the next morning she took her flight to San Juan, Porto Rico.When she arrived, she took a taxi to the port. Seeing the ship for the first time, she couldn't believe how big it was". Getting out of the taxi she grabbed hold of her luggage and started moving towards the ship. Not knowing where she needed to go, she stopped a man in uniform.

 "Excuse me, could you tell me where I need to go to embark on the ship"? "Sure, see the man in the security uniform; you need to enter the ship there". "Oh thanks" she said, picking up her luggage and moving towards where the man had indicated. "Do you need some help with your luggage he asked? "No thanks", "I don't want to put you out of your way" she replied. "You're not putting me out of my way". "I'm heading back to the ship myself". "Okay thanks". "Is this your first time working on a ship? "Yes", "I start in the gift shops as a sales assistant". "Your English, aren't you?" "Yes, I am and you?" "I'm Italian". "What's your name?" "My name is Rebecca and yours"? "Mine is Sandro, pleased to meet you Rebecca": "I hope you enjoy working on the ship". With that he put down her luggage near the security guard and entered the ship. Speaking to the security guard she explained that she was starting in the gift shops and he told her to wait while he contacted the gift shop manager. After about five minutes a tall blonde girl arrived. 

"Are you Rebecca she asked"? "Yes, I am". "Hi my name is Jenny and I'm the shop manager"."Here give me one of those she said indicating her luggage, I'll give you a hand with them". Jenny grabbed hold of one of Rebecca's suitcases and she grabbed hold of the other one. "Follow me" said Jenny. "Where in England are you from" she asked? "I'm from a small village in the north." "Where are you from"? "I'm from Toronto, Ontario, Canada." responded Jenny. "Oh"! said Rebecca. "I lived in Canada for thirteen years before moving back to Britain". "Where"? "A town called Campbell River on Vancouver Island". "Really" said Jenny "I've been to British Columbia only once, when I was on the Golden Sea". "We went out of Vancouver, when we were doing the Alaska run". While they were talking, Jenny was taking Rebecca to her cabin. "Well we've arrived" she said indicating the cabin in front of them. Opening the door Rebecca stepped in and to her surprise it wasn't as small as she imagined it to be.

 There was a bunk bed and a wardrobe, a table with a TV and stereo on it and a small bathroom with a shower. "You are sharing your cabin with another English girl, her name is Sadie". "I think she's gone to do some shopping, but she'll be back soon". "Do you want to come with me and I'll show you around the ship"? "That sounds great" said Rebecca. She thought the ship was big on the outside, but inside it was completely different, there were two big shops and one little one. 

They sold everything from shampoo to cigarettes from perfume to souvenir cups from dresses to diamond rings. Rebecca was really surprised, then Jenny showed her the beauty salon, the gym, the restaurants, the disco, the casino, and all the other show rooms on board, there were also the crew areas, the staff mess and also a crew bar where the staff and crew could meet and relax after work. Jenny showed her the decks with the pools on them and told her all about the rules of the ship. When they had finished looking around Jenny said. "Are you hungry"? "Yes, I'm starving. "Let's go down to the staff mess"! "That's where we eat all are meals." "Will I ever remember how to get around the ship"? "It's so big"! "Oh you'll get used to it, everyone does." "Here we are." Walking into the staff mess they went and sat down with two guys. "This is Dave and Mark, they also work in the shop, and those two girls over there are Sara and Donna and they work in the beauty salon. "Hello everyone" said Rebecca greeting each person separately. While they were eating, in walked Rebecca's cabin mate Sadie with another two girls, who worked in the shop, Susan and Debbie.

 Sadie was a tall girl with short curly red hair, Jenny introduced her to the girls and they immediately began talking, Rebecca liked Sadie immediately, she seemed a really nice person. When they had finished eating Sadie said "I need to go to the phone station, do you want to come with me"? "That sounds great" replied Rebecca. "How long have you been on this ship"? I've been here for about four months, but this is my second contract". "Working on board the ship is great fun, but it is also a lot of hard work". 

While they were talking they left the ship to go to the phone station. Rebecca then bought a phone card and called her mum. "Hi mum it's me" "Finally! I've been so worried". "I thought you were going to phone me from Miami?" I'm sorry! I was so tired that I fell asleep immediately and this morning, I didn't have time to phone you": "That's okay, so tell what's it like"? "It's fantastic"! "I've already met my roommate and a couple of the shop staff and they seem really nice". "The shop manager Jenny made me feel really welcome". "You should see the ship". 

"It is so big; it'll probably take me weeks to learn my way around it". "Don't worry I'm sure you'll find your way around in no time": "Listen mum, I'd better go my roommate is waiting for me". "I'll phone you next week". "Okay I'll speak to you then". "Have fun and be careful"! "I will". "Bye". Rebecca and Sadie then returned to the ship, Rebecca unpacked all her luggage and put everything in order, by the time she had finished it was time to get ready for work. 

The ship was about to set sail. She was really nervous going up to the shops, Sadie told her to relax; they were a good group of people working in the shop. When they arrived everyone was all ready there, there were eight shop assistants, five girls and three guys, the majority of the staff in the shop were English, Irish and Canadian. Jenny introduced Rebecca to everyone and then took her around the shops to show her where everything was. Some customers came in to have a look around and she sold two or three things to some people who had lost their luggage. Before she knew it, it was time to close. Jenny came up to her. "How did it go, did you find it difficult"? "Not at all, the only thing is getting used to where everything is kept". "It will take you a little bit of time, but I think you will get on great". "Listen, we are all going to the crew bar after work, do you want to come"? "Yes, I would love to".

After they had finished in the shop Rebecca and Sadie went down to their cabin to change, when they were ready they went down to the bar, it was crowded and the girls had to push their way through before they saw the rest of the gift shop staff. Jenny and Debbie were already there and they were talking to a group of guys, "See the guy in the suit" said Sadie indicating a really good looking guy talking to Jenny "that's Jenny's boyfriend he works in the casino and the other guy beside him is Michael, he's Debbie's boyfriend and he works in the restaurant as the head waiter." "Do you have a boyfriend"? "No, I had a boyfriend on the last ship, but they sent him to another one, so we decided we'd just be friends. 

"We write to each other and every now and then we meet up for lunch in St Thomas". "It isn't easy having a relationship on board, but you'll find that out for yourself soon enough". Rebecca then started talking to Karen one of the girls who worked in the beauty salon, it was her first time on board too and she was as nervous as Rebecca. By the end of the night she had met lots of new people and had made loads of new friends.