The fog is hanging over Denali National Park as lay in my extremely cozy bed here at the McKinley Village Lodge - no complaints from this girl :) I have a "hold over day" which means there is nothing planned on my itinerary. This won't be normal (as my other co's are in the lobby sending off excursions all day), but my entire group went on the 9 hr tour of the park. I sent them off at 8am and have been in PJ's ever since. I'll be leaving for a hike here soon. (maybe a jeep ride or an ATV mud ride...not sure which yet)
Week 2 of being on my own is great. I have an entire group (25 people) that met on a previous cruise and had a HORRIBLE time, but they all bonded because of it. So, the pressure was high (on having a great and organized time) when I received them, but I think I've proven myself. I loved sending them off in smiles and giggles on the bus this morning. It's really been an easy tour so far, so I'm thankful. Already, the commentary I'm suppose to give everyday is coming really easy, so I'm thankful for that. It's amazing how much I know about Alaska already. So crazy!
Although it's weird not going to church on Sundays, I'm SO thankful for podcasts. I got to lay in bed and listen to one this am (listening to preacher pillow actually happened this am).
I have to say, I really feel like this job uses my abilities in a great way. It's been extremely rewarding to see it all come into play.
let's see..stories:
- all my Aussie's, Kiwi's and South Africans have been teaching me fun sayings and "profanities" in a way my fellow American's wouldn't know. They LOVE it went I use their accents as well.
- My new friend Katie and I went hiking right before we left for this trip. We hiked up a mountain called Flat Top, which has 4 spread out peaks. We were only going to hike one until we saw peak 2 with what looked like sled marks down the face. We met a few guys at the bottom who were carrying trashbags and offered us 2. We climbed up this peak (with about a 70% incline and about 700 ft), sat down on the trash bags and slide on our butts all the way down. My butt cheeks were icicles but the outcome was AMAZING! I videoed the entire thing.. I may try and post it in the next few days.
- we have all 7 roommates in the house - and it's not too crowded, so that's great. We all have different schedules, so we've only been home all together once for about 2 hours.
- I've already gained a few new grandmas and parents on this journey. Your guest really come off the ship loving you before they even know you.
OK, that's just a quick summary. The outdoors is calling me. :)
Monday, June 11, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Exhausted, but pressing on
Well, RCT (Royal Celebrity Tours) hasn’t wasted anytime in
getting our feet wet. We put 40hrs of work in in the first 3 days! Needless to
say, it’s been a bit exhausting. I am constantly bombarded with facts, papers,
tours and info. Wed night I literally felt my brain hurt because there was no
more room for anything to be crammed into my brain. I don’t think it’s the lack
of working for a year (although I’m sure that doesn’t help), it’s just mainly
that there is SO much information and I have to be an expert on every subject
(and the perfectionist in me hates not having it perfect), so it’s daunting.
Although…
Today my alarm went off at 2:30am for my 3am show time –
yea, that’s right, I had to be at worked, dressed make-up on and cheery at 3am
(which, surprisingly wasn’t too bad…it hit about 11am). I put in a 10 ½ hr day
and I was done at 1pm ;) so nuts! Anyways, today was my first experience on a
real tour as I shadowed a girl. We picked up our guests from the Cruise Ship
and headed back to Anchorage. While on the bus, I had the total peaceful
feeling of, “I can do this”. It’s more relational and logistics above the
commentary I’m to memorize, so seeing it in action made me feel better. The
average cliental is about 55ish…and I have NO problem connecting and “Smooshing”
with them, so I’m hoping that’ll get me through, if my commentary doesn’t’.
I have an awesome new team (there are 3 new people and 4 who
have been switched over to Tour Directing) so that makes the days easier when
you enjoy your co-workers! We also all feel totally blessed as there were over
120 applicants and only 3 of us are new! No Pressure J
To give you an idea and location: I am located in Anchorage
(with my AWESOME apartment!) but we drive to Seward to pick up our guests off
the ship, then there are 22 different tours, so depending on your tour will
depend where you go, but you are either in Seward, Girdwood (at an AMAZING
resort called Alyeska – look it up!), Anchorage, Telketna, Denali or Fairbanks.
We spend one night in each place (unless they have chosen a short tour and you
cover a couple places a day). I am learning so many facts already and I can
orient myself by the different mountain ranges. Speaking of, the Alaskan Mtn
range that hold Mt. McKinley/Denail is 100’s of miles away from Anchorage and
yet today, you can see the mountain range over the ocean – GORGEOUS!!! I’ve
seen so many moose already. Highlight was the one running down the main road (Fred
Meyers parking lot) in a small town called Palmer. The beauty is majestic and
continues to point to a CREATOR!!
My roommates are great too. There is 6 of us so far, the 7th
is arriving June 3. We all had dinner and hung out last night, so that’s super
fun. I am truly blessed with a place that feels like home.
Once we get internet, I’ll post some pics so you can see the
beauty as well ;) I leave tomorrow for the 2nd half of our intro
tour (I’ll be heading to Fairbanks and all the stops inbetween). There’s talk
of a helicopter tour over Denali (possibly landing on a glacier), so I’ll keep
you updated with on that.
This journey is NEVER dull!
Awake with the Midnight Sun
Well, the lack of my posts should give you a small hint of the crazy schedule I've been leading for the past few weeks. When they said we'd get a day off, they meant about 12 hrs (and that's including sleep time). It has been a whirlwind of a beginning from training to shadow tours to memorizing my commentary and then as of last week doing my first tour - and it's been AMAZING! This job truly uses my giftings and went I walked into the office to hand in my final paperwork, I was on cloud 9 (or 10 :).
So, here's a small overview:
we pick up guests from Seward and travel all the way up to Fairbanks by Coach (bus) or the Rail (train). Groups numbers can range from 6-55 (mine was 20) and age varies, with a heavy percentage on the baby boomers generation. I am with them from start to finish everyday: collecting thier luggage from their rooms, seeing them off on excursions, all the coach time is me doing commentary and entertainment and then hotel prep and making sure EVERY one of their needs is met. No day is the same, so it makes it fun and challenging.
Highlights of this last week:
an INCREDIBLE family from Toronto, who showered me with love and praise and were the easiest people to be around (felt like I was hanging with friends.... and I think I got adopted by them :)
a group of 8 precious old women from Lynchburg VA (my hometown for 4 years) who instantly connected with me when they found out were I was from. Their Southern accents and sweet demeanor really made me happy. (even if they asked the same question about 8 times each and were slow as molasses). At the end, one of the came up to me with tears in her eyes and said, "Deb, I just don't know how I'm gonna say goodbye to you" (SC Southern accent added).
Everything went smoothly (which was huge when my other "newbie" friends had complaining guests, a fire at their hotel, forgotten luggage and medications etc) so I feel completely blessed (and not naive to the fact that it could happen to me at anytime).
I've already made an incredible friend, Katie, and what a doll she is. We are on the same tour next week together, which means: sharing meals, my cooler :), all hotel rooms and also pumping up and prepping each other each day.
All in all, it's been incredible (I'd write more, but I"m exhausted). Extremely fast pace but worth it. I'm up EARLY and go to bed late, but it's a good thing because I'm awake with the Midnight Sun.
More Later....
So, here's a small overview:
we pick up guests from Seward and travel all the way up to Fairbanks by Coach (bus) or the Rail (train). Groups numbers can range from 6-55 (mine was 20) and age varies, with a heavy percentage on the baby boomers generation. I am with them from start to finish everyday: collecting thier luggage from their rooms, seeing them off on excursions, all the coach time is me doing commentary and entertainment and then hotel prep and making sure EVERY one of their needs is met. No day is the same, so it makes it fun and challenging.
Highlights of this last week:
an INCREDIBLE family from Toronto, who showered me with love and praise and were the easiest people to be around (felt like I was hanging with friends.... and I think I got adopted by them :)
a group of 8 precious old women from Lynchburg VA (my hometown for 4 years) who instantly connected with me when they found out were I was from. Their Southern accents and sweet demeanor really made me happy. (even if they asked the same question about 8 times each and were slow as molasses). At the end, one of the came up to me with tears in her eyes and said, "Deb, I just don't know how I'm gonna say goodbye to you" (SC Southern accent added).
Everything went smoothly (which was huge when my other "newbie" friends had complaining guests, a fire at their hotel, forgotten luggage and medications etc) so I feel completely blessed (and not naive to the fact that it could happen to me at anytime).
I've already made an incredible friend, Katie, and what a doll she is. We are on the same tour next week together, which means: sharing meals, my cooler :), all hotel rooms and also pumping up and prepping each other each day.
All in all, it's been incredible (I'd write more, but I"m exhausted). Extremely fast pace but worth it. I'm up EARLY and go to bed late, but it's a good thing because I'm awake with the Midnight Sun.
More Later....
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