Step by step...

The last trip to snowy Norway is behind us and the new trips of the Scandinavia route have begun. The first of these 4 tours is already coming to an end, as Sunday is changeover day in Kiel again, which means that the current guests will disembark and new guests will board. Consequently, it becomes clear that the one-week cruises go by damn fast. Despite everything, I found the past few days to be very enriching and got to know several new tasks. Starting with the development of new destinations for our Baltic Sea route to the preparation and presentation of the first excursion presentation on stage at the theater on the first sea day of this trip. Luckily, I worked on this together with my colleague and presented it as a team, so as not to be thrown into the deep end. In our nearly 30-minute presentation, we informed the guests about the city of Bergen in beautiful Norway. For me, this meant introducing a familiar travel destination, as I had been there three times before, and, on the other hand, of course, pure excitement before my new challenge. Despite all concerns, my first "performance" on stage went smoothly and was not as much of a challenge for the otherwise somewhat reserved Scoutine as expected. I received positive feedback from both colleagues and guests. We will continue to do this for the next 3 weeks every Monday, until I take the stage alone on the Baltic Sea route and get to present two destinations - Stockholm and Riga. But this should also be manageable. Overall, it was unfamiliar, but still fun to apply the acquired knowledge. Working on board is becoming more familiar to me and I am getting along better and better.

We have also visited three new ports, of which two have already been visited - Oslo and Gothenburg. Both are beautiful cities that have more to offer than expected. The excursion to the archipelago off Gothenburg today was an experience. It was the first time for sunshine and pleasant temperatures after the last few days were pretty gray and rainy. But the excursion on foot through Oslo yesterday with a visit to the ice bar was also a highlight. There is definitely always a lot to see and if I have the time, I sometimes use my free time in the afternoon to explore the cities on my own. In Oslo, this was no problem, as we were docked directly at a pier in the city center, while in Gothenburg and Copenhagen, we are a bit outside. Nevertheless, you can of course also have the flexibility to manage your own time and use public transportation. That's really exciting. In Oslo, the ship stayed overnight, so I and a few colleagues plunged into the Norwegian nightlife, which had a rather moderate offer on a Wednesday evening... In one bar, we had a cider plus a shot for about 15€ per person. Really expensive, but typical Norwegian... The Baileys on Ice was particularly delicious though! :-D

Here on board, we also like to spend time together after work and spend our free time in the crew bar with fun games like Taboo or Uno evenings, or we go to the Anytime Bar for the daily parties or various live music in one of the bars. Most of the time, we experience so much together in a short time that this exchange in the evening is really good and necessary to relax, as the entire life on board takes place here. Tonight, for example, the next event is coming up - "Shark Bar". Hosts lead a colorful program where our officers sing and provide atmosphere as a shanty choir. We Scouts help a bit, all crew members on board have to be dressed up and take on a special role. Last time we were there as sailors. Stay tuned to find out what we will be this time. Stay tuned and see you soon ;-)