An Ode to Boat Drills Past

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Twas the night before Christmas and all through the ship;
not a sound was heard from the stern to the tip.

F&B & Housekeeping had all gone below,
the crew bar was closed, there was nowhere to go.

The crew were all quiet in the beds where they lay,
hoping Christmas was a Panamanian Holiday.

The Dancers had washed all their stockings with care,
and three drunk Steiners were passed out on the Stairs.

Not a creature was stirring throughout the Ecstasy Nation,
except for two Italians trying to screw this Croation.

The waste had been separated into bins, Red, Yellow & Blue,
to be recycled later and served to the Crew.

The Dancers were all sleeping…we must assume,
sleeping in a bed, but not in their room.

The good Corporate Training girls were in their rooms just the same,
having already finished their midnight walk of shame.

The Pursers were getting their much deserved rest,
some slept in their rooms, some slept at the Information desk.

The band had finished the Musicians prayer they all say…
Oh Lord, don’t let us be drug tested today.

Our Carnival careers we know will go far,
as long as they don’t make us pee in a jar.

On such a holy night when Jesus was born,
Even the Casino staff had stopped watching porn

. But all at once we heard such a clatter,
We sprang out of our bunks to see what was the matter.

We all ran like crazy, but not to our muster station,
saying, screw the cones, were going to our final destinations.

He appeared like magic on Verandah Deck,
clear in a ghostly life raft, pulled by four reindeer.

On Dancer, on Prancer, On Cupid & Blitzen,
named after 3 vegas strippers and a Romanian Vixen.

His face was pale, his skin an eerie hue,
he wore an orange lifejacket and a green hat that said Crew.

Our blood ran cold as he spoke to us at last,
“I am the Ghost of Boat Drills Past”.

The place I come from let no man mock,
where contracts don’t end and there is no Dry Dock.

Every day is a sea day in the place that I dwell,
and there is no early window in this cruise from hell.

Doomed forever to repeat the ancient mariners rhyme,
“There will be a boat drill in about 5 minutes time”.

And doomed forever to carry with me,
These heavy chains in my shoes through Security.

Now there is one way in which this faith can be way layed,
If on this Christmas night a sacrifice is made.

If you don’t want to do Boat Drill forever until you are sick,
you must bring me a virgin Camp Carnival Chick.

Each Christmas I must report with regret,
After 10 years of looking we aint found one yet.

Then a brave shop girl stepped out from the Crew,
“I’m kind of a Virgin, will I do?”

Her butt was small, her breasts big and floppy,
The guy’s all thought she was one hot looking shoppie.

Her breasts were real and they shook like a bowl full of jelly,
too young for the some poeple, too old for R Kelly.

What do you mean kind of a virgin asked the ghost from the raft,
“I’m not a virgin forward, but I am a virgin aft”.

Said the spirit, “This curse is lifted, she will do just fine,
so I will leave you all, but not her behind”.

As we heard them say as they rode out of site,
Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night.

But the last words he said filled us with horror,
Ha ha, you suckers all have port manning tomorrow.

A Poem by the talented Tony Stone

My Christmas Card 2004

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December 2004
Email: cathellis@gmail.com

Hi,

I am really rubbish at writing Christmas Cards, usually I just don’t do it and pretend they got lost in the mail, but this year I decided to give it a try. As you can see there’s no money inside…I give you permission to shut the card now if you are feeling really disappointed!

Last year was pretty busy…I was on the Paradise over last Christmas and New Year. My most exciting moment on Christmas Day was making a wonderful salad and then having it cleared by a waitress before even starting it when I went to answer the phone. That bloody thing took me 30 minutes to make! You can imagine, I quickly lost my appetite!

After the Paradise I was sent to the Destiny, which had a wonderful 7 day run from San Juan to St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados & Aruba…it was bliss! It was a shame the Captain was the oldest in the fleet and was hated by every Crewmember with a passion. Well, that’s not true, the German Housekeeping Manager was really really mean…they had her fired!

After the Destiny I went on vacation. I rented a car and drove from Miami to Los Angeles, stopping in Orlando, Pensacola, New Orleans, Dallas, Oklahoma, Santa Fe, Flagstaff, Las Vegas, Santa Barbara, San Francisco and flew home from Los Angeles. It was great! Then I had three weeks back home which was lots of fun.

I came back to the Holiday in New Orleans in September and the ship was re-located to Mobile in November. I have since been sent to the Ecstasy in Galveston where I should be based over Christmas & New Year.

I like the idea of our Management Christmas Party. We are going to have a “Ruthless Santa Party”, where we all buy a present for $40. When someone picks a present and opens it, if they like someone else’s present, they can steal it, but each present can only be stolen 3 times…I bet we are all up all night!!

What I hate about Christmas is I never know what to buy for people. You have to take into consideration what would make a good present for someone. You have to consider what the person likes, what they already have, what they care about, what they need; basically you have to invest a lot of your time. And since time is the only thing none of us have anymore, we end up giving a box-set of Bailey’s Irish Cream with shot glasses with “Luck o’ the Irish” stamped on the front of them. It looks like a gift, it seems like a gift, but no one ever uses, drinks, or looks at if after December 26th.

Since we can’t, as adults, get away with throwing bad presents against the wall and bursting into tears (Sorry, with the exception of my sister Steph), Christmas is the time of the year when we all become really good at lying. Lying is just another form of acting, so in a way we are all actors in a forty-eight hour play that runs from the 24th through the 25th of December. I hate people who say “Where did you get it?” The nerve! Why don’t they just say, “Does the store give cash refunds so that I can return this and finally get something I actually want?” Quick fix: Buy all your gifts in Japan. That way, nobody wins.

Anyway, why was I writing again?…Oh yeah! Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Think of me on Christmas Day lying on a beach in Mexico drinking Strawberry Daiquiris in a hammock.

Lots of Love,

Cath Ellis x

Copyright © Cath Ellis. All rights reserved 2004-2008 "On Wednesdays we wear pink!"
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