Who knows where a Dream might lead?

So, following on from my last post - one day I got called into the office to be faced with the Manager of Guest Services, the new Manager of Guest Services who was taking over imminently and the Assistant Manager of Guest Services.

With all three management people in a tiny office with me, my mind was racing - what did I do?!

Then the words "The role of Clearance Officer has become available and we think you'd be great in the job.... if you want to accept the role you will start in.... one minute's time."

I was pretty gobsmacked. I understand that this won't have much effect on anyone who hasn't been in a Guest Services department on a Disney ship but basically, it was my FIRST contract in GS, I was only 3.5 months in, and this was the biggest responsibility role without actually being a proper manager. I had to sign documents for the CAPTAIN!

I should explain what the Clearance Officer does... basically, you're in charge of the knowledge of who is coming, who is going, what cargo is coming onboard and leaving, anything being offloaded and any special circumstances surrounding docking and ports of call. You have to do the paperwork that will enable the ship to dock successfully and pass Customs. If you mess up the paperwork you could render the ship susceptible to fines and you'll definitely be in big trouble. This was a BIG challenge!

My first thought when I was offered the job was would I be capable of doing it? But with my managers support behind me, I took a deep breath and accepted! It was the best decision I made in my whole contract! I did the Clearance Officer position for the rest of the time onboard - approximately 8 or 9 weeks I think. During that time I had to deal with guests passing away, midnight docking at Castaway, NO docking at Castaway (too windy!), isolated crew and guests (I had to fill in medical forms every Bahamian dock), lots and lots of paperwork and finally, training my replacement when I'd only been in the job 6 weeks myself! All of that, along with the usual guest challenges, answering the phone and assisting in the Cabanas on Castaway Cay and with a couple of weddings in there too. What a fantastically busy way to end my contract!

This role did involve getting up early every single day - on Port Canaveral it was a 4.30am alarm clock, Nassau was 6.30am and Castaway was 6am. Sea Day I got a lie-in and got to wake up at 7.30am ;) To be honest, once I got used to the early mornings it was fine.

Passing on the role to my successor was actually quite sad. I felt I hadn't done it for long enough. Of course, I'm about to embark on my 4th contract on the Dream and 2nd in Guest Services which means there is opportunity to take on Clearance again - I'd happily do it. I enjoyed being in the terminal building on Port Canaveral days and getting to meet the Cast Members that meet our guests before they come onboard. Hopefully I will get to say hi again to all of them when I get back to the ship.

One of the best things which happened during the remainder of my 3rd contract was that my parents got to come and visit! They arrived in late February, stayed for a week, doing a back-to-back cruise. Because I was Clearance at the time, I couldn't see them in the mornings because I was working - but I got to see them every afternoon and even went to Serenity Bay with them on Castaway Cay. I was lucky enough to be approved to have Palo brunch AND Palo dinner with them which I was very appreciative for, as well as eating in the main dining rotation for the first cruise (3 night) as I finished at 8.15pm each night. That was an awesome advantage I was lucky to have, made easier by being an officer! Really, the only day I didn't see them much was the sea day as I had to work most of it.

Overall, I was very blessed with my 3rd contract  - I appreciated all the opportunity I got given and moving to Guest Services was the best decision I made whilst being on DCL. I will embark the ship again on 14th May for my next contract in the department and whilst I will be starting again as a Host working on the phones and the desk, I hope some more opportunity to step up will show itself and we we will see "where a Dream might lead".