I love my job - working on a cruise ship

For some time now, there are photos jumping out of my Facebook page from all different parts of the World - deserts, beaches, castles and mountains. In this past year, I have experienced so many beautiful places and cities, more than I ever believed I would see in my life.

I love my job, I love the people I work with - not always, but enough to never spoil the feeling of the world on a palm of a hand. Thats why I decided to share my story.. where else than on my blog.

Although a part of this story is always why I decided to look for a job outside my own country, I am leaving this part deliberately out. I think there are enough stories being told about young, smart and capable people that decided to look for a job elsewhere, so I feel there is no need to re-tell the story.

I must admit though right in the beginning that I had never worked on a job that did not, in its own special way, fulfill or make me happy. Maybe it`s just because I find joy in things many people find unimportant, so I never underestimate any job. Since I work on a cruise ship and daily watch hundreds of young people in a search for a better life, I value everybodys effort and work so much more.. even my own too. 

As I`ve already mentioned, I work on a cruise ship of a german company AIDA on a position of a Scout, a part of a Shore Excursions team. If you ever googled for the cruise ship jobs, most openings are on positions such as a waiter, chef, galley or housekeeping, because these are obviously the most needed. The position I applied for a year and a half ago was the first time ever offered in Croatia, therefore that made me also the first Scout from Croatia sent to AIDA.

My position, I still claim, is the best job I can imagine at this very moment. But than again, it`s me.. and my wishes and dreams don`t have to be equal to everybody elses. As a Scout, I learn a lot about the destinations we sail to, I present them to the guests, I sell excursions, which are a part of the AIDA program on board.. and the probably most exciting - I accompany the guests on their excursions, controlling the quality of it. So here we come back to all those castles, parks, mountains and beaches from the beginning of the story.
My job is to get to know all the sides of each destinations, know where things may go wrong and try to fix those, but at the same time, trying to find the most exciting, beautiful sides of each city, mountain or a square. In that way I can share my genuine excitement about the places with the guests while they choose their excursions for certain ports.

NP Caldera de Taburiente - La Palma, Canary Islands

A food market in the center of  Praia, Cap Verde, Africa

Caipirinha on the beach with my colleagues, Tarrafal, Cap Verde, Africa

Through the beaches and volcanos with a buggy, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

Hiking in the volcanos, La Palma, Canary Islands

Free time = go to the beach! Mindelo, Cap Verde, Africa

Still one of my favorite places visited - Sevilla, Spain

To leave you speechless - NP Canadas del Teide

Everything shines brighter in Russia.. Nevsky Prospekt and the sight of the "Blood church", St. Petersburg

In attack of the beasts - Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

My and the Swedish granny in front of the traditional wooden houses 

I love my job. But yea, I`ve already mentioned that. I love to explore, learn and try out, I love to listen and I love to share everything I have gathered with the guests equally as eager for adventure and new discoveries as I am. I love to adjust the information to different kinds of people, because not everyone seeks the same things. I love to learn about people as much as about the places I am visiting. I have found my second home on the ship and I am excited for all the possibilities AIDA has opened for me. It is an awesome feeling when I know I will see so much of the world doing the job I love.

Many people ask me how come I don`t get tired of working on board, far away from home, my family and all the life stability that people seek for. I am not gonna fool anybody, live on board is not your everyday life. You get to learn and use hundreds of things and rules that simply don`t exist on any other workplace. But once you get a hang of it, your life on an ever-moving hotel also has its perks. And as for working each and every day, with no days or weekends off, on which most people are used to, I can answer only with this famous quote, much appropriate in this case.


When you find a job you love, you will never work a day of your life.

So far so good.

Smokvenjak - dried fig cake with the Gligora cheese

The summer has finally began.. at least on the coast. The sun is getting hotter, but it is still too early to be picking our first fresh figs. Wherever I go, I watch them on the branches, not nearly ripe enough to eat.

Figs and cheese are a combination I love, so the  Žigljen Sirane Gligora cheese, which I had been enjoying the past few days, gave me an idea how to fulfill it with a true, traditional dalmatian taste of the Adriatic.

A dried fig cake is a simple, healthy and a very traditional sweet for which, apart from figs and a bit of schnapps, you dont really need to use any other ingredient.

Onion Bhaji and coriander indian chicken

Do I even have to mention that my family is gastronomically pretty unadventurous?! My spice shelve freaks them out, my mom supervises my cooking whenever she sees me using something she has never heard of before.
But this time, I was home alone.. And need I say that the chicken, which was supposed to be just regularly fried, got a completely new outfit - the indian one.

Refreshing flavored water

The first summer days arrived with way too many clouds in the sky.. as if the weather cannot decide on either being hot or cold. Still, our garden and back yard always have some job to be done.. I love this time of year when the fruit season is so rich, and the fruit just keeps on switching turns - a few weeks ago we were picking strawberries, than were the cherries, at the moment the last of the raspberries are showing up in their bushes, the apricots are coming up, the red currants are all ready to get picked, and the blackberry, pear, apple and plum time is only coming up.

 

Maltese puppy birthday

Last weekend I was making desserts for yet another theme birthday. The birthday girl Agata loves puppies and has a maltese puppy herself, so for her birthday, she wished for some maltese themed birthday desserts on her table.
As always, I googled the idea and found many maltese shaped cakes. I actually really dislike the whole cake being cut into a doggy shape, so I decided to put a little edible cake pop maltese on top of the actual, but just as cute girly cake. And hey, I think it turned out really well.

Snickers cupcakes

What to tell you about these cupcakes that isn`t already described by their 3 main ingredients?
Chocolate.. Caramel.. Peanut..

There is nothing diet about this recipe and oh, how do I even dare to post something of this kind just before summer, when everybody seems to be counting calories.
Well, if you are one of them - do close your eyes!