Pam's heading for her 5th cruise contract! Are YOU ready!? |
Never in a million years would I have imagined that I'd work and live on a cruise ship, until I met Andrea!!!
I always knew there was something more out there (and I promise you there is!). It hit me one day while pushing papers as an accountant, so hard in fact that I quit and took an advanced course in Travel and Tourism.
Part of this course offered Flight Attendant training which interested me for 2 reasons:
- It was a free ticket out of here!
- My Mom had always said, “You should be a stewardess when you grow up!”
I gained fantastic knowledge of Travel & Tourism throughout the course and really wanted to travel. Than maybe down the road I would start my own Travel Agent business and I would have my own personal experiences to share with my clients. But for now...
Pam's a Head Above The Clouds
In case you're wondering, I don’t speak another language. Yeah, people told me that would stop me from getting a job as a Flight Attendant, but I ignored them. People telling I couldn't, motivated me to press on. In fact, I was accepted and starting a whole new adventure, a new experience, a new life! I couldn’t wait!
Training was rigorous but I was happy as could be, traveling all over, and loving my life! The drawback was that my wonderful job was part time. Fly like crazy for the winter months, and layed off until the next season. So during my layoff, I worked as an airline Ground Agent - loved it! We did everything! Great perspective of the operation from being a Flight Attendant.
After one more winter of flying, I asked, "Do I continue to be employed for only half the year and struggle the other half? Or do I end a wonderful experience, hold onto the wonderful memories and move on?"
Decision time! That's when I started picking Andrea's brain until I had no more excuses NOT to make the leap from flying to jobs on cruise ships. I was hired by Norwegian Cruise lines immediately and began my cruise career.
Pam gets her Sea Legs
Not knowing at all what to expect, I packed my bags 6 months and flew to Miami to meet the ship. There were about 50 of us from all over the world: Philippines, Thailand, Australia, USA, Italy … wow! We were dropped off in front of this MASSIVE vessel! The idea of living in this thing was crazy!!!
Was I daring … maybe! Was I nervous, excited and scared … YUP! You bet.
We were boarded, signed in as new crew members, issued a key and identifying pass, and an account number. I was shown to my room...good thing because I was so lost! Hilarious...lost in my new home! I dropped off my things, collected a uniform and went straight to inductions - Safety Trainings, NOT taken lightly at all I spent hours in this small room learning all about codes, fire equipment, even how to abandon the ship if necessary - only sounds scary - it was actually very interesting and I enjoyed the challenge! 
Mandatory stuff out of the way, I started to enjoy the new lifestyle. I worked day and night, 7 days/week with a great group of women from all over the world - we worked, partied and lived together - my first roomies were wonderful! One of the girls from Vancouver turned out to be my best friend and confident on the ship - we are still in touch today and see each other when we can. We were each others shoulder to lean on in rough times and the 'designated driver' when the other had too much to drink at the crew discos! Lots of fun!
The most wonderful thing of all had to be meeting so many different people, learning their cultures and religions - everyone got along all the same. Yeah, even fell in love! All wonderful relationships to last a life time!
Ok, so Cruise #1 is done! Cake walk!I sailed the Caribbean for 7 months and loved it, took a month off, and packed up for another round at sea. Contract #2 had me start in the Caribbean and cross the Atlantic to the Mediterranean - a dream come true! All that and a promotion, too!
Pam's Nature Call
It's not always blue skies and warm breezes at sea. At one point, our ship was hit by 60’ waves. Our safety training was put to use and THANK GOD we didn't have to abandon ship! The worse was dealing with irate passengers (to say the least!), what a mess. The ship was diverted and docked for a day to repair some damage and disembark passengers that wanted to end their journey there, understandably. Aside from some snippy publicity for the company, it was all good! Unshaken, I was packing again for Europe, this time - YAY!
Pam boards a new adventure
Arriving in Papenburg, Germany to board my next ship, I was stunned, yet again, at the sight of another massive vessel that I would be working on, not even fully built!
Just AMAZING to see how all this metal is transformed into the beautiful ships they become! With the ship not quite ready for passengers, there was still plenty to keep us busy to prepare for our first embarkation.
The ship left Germany for Holland where we loaded massive amounts of food, equipment and necessities to prepare for our journey. But first ... we departed Eemshaven, Holland day and night - there were sea trials where the ship sometimes listed to 60+ degrees…on PURPOSE! - hours of endless fire alarms being tested day and night - blackouts … crazy memories, tons of fun!
Our maiden voyage departed Dover, England and continued to wonderful places like Spain, Italy, France, Gibraltar, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Iceland…and more! I can still see myself walking down the street in Cannes, France enjoying the chic cafes and beautiful beaches! It's been a wonderful life! 
And although I felt I needed a break after this contract, I decided to hitch on to another new adventure, this time to Alaska with Princess Cruises because a friend did the same and loved it! I landed a position that had me working directly with passengers, one-on-one. I had the luxury of making my own schedule and had more free time to enjoy the ship and the ports of call. I explored Alaska for 5 months ... beautiful scenery, like nothing I imagined! Even met up with some old NCL friends while in port! Great fun!
Pam's Final Thoughts
My next contract, after a much needed break, started in Mexico! No need to go into that journey, too...you get the idea - it's fabulous!
I would like to close by saying, don't let anything stop you from going after your dreams, whatever they are! Mine was to see the world. There's still tons to see and do, I know my journey doesn't end here. It's in my blood now! It truly is a lifestyle. I was told once that it could even become addictive - well, it has!
I still have hopes of buying my own home, but for now ... I'll be off again on another fabulous adventure soon. Who knows, next time I may be teaching English in Asia or South America - I've always wanted to try that. Maybe I'll just backpack around and volunteer along the way. Whatever I choose, I'll have pictures to prove it and the stories to share with all of you!
Pam Cornelio
"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do, than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbour.
Catch the trade winds in your sails."
-- Mark Twain --
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