BOARD DATE - LUGGAGE

After board date and all documents what else shoul I wait for?

The airfares! The agency, send us it by e-mail. Plus, the contract, wich is very important!
Its good to bring it with you in your hand luggage.

For this we have a list:

HAND LUGGAGE

Documents

ID/CPF
STCW

Passport

Airfares

Company contract
Environmental certificate

Medical certificate

Corporate management system
Visa (If you need)

OTHER THINGS

A change of clothes

A hundred euros at list
Personal things

For the normal luggage, don't carry to many things. Just bring the essential. The cabins are very small and you''ll don't need too many clothes. Remember that you will buy things at the trip. There is a community in orkut that you'll answer some doubts:

http://www.orkut.com.br/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=46676637&tid=5218332024226960893

WHAT NOW?

Ok! Now you have been approved in all interviews, made all the trainings, what happens now?

It's pretty simple. You wait for the documents (STCW, Environmental certificate and medical exams). The agency will send it by Mail, it can take about a month to arrive at your home. Then, you wait for the agency phone call, telling you what day you are going to go on board. It can be whenever...

Your family and friens will going to start asking you, if you're crazy, this trip is fruit of your imagination...

Don't panic! read a book, work out, criate a blog...

One tip: I'm not sure if it is always like that, but I started to pay attention that my agency has an order to follow, for the phone calls.

First, they call the housekeeping area, them front desk, restaurant, bar and buffet area crews. I must to remember you that this information is subjective, is just an analysis I made (I believe that management functions don't follow that order, because they aren't many).

And please, as soon you receive your board date, tell your friends, it helps a lot with their anxiety.

Friendship 2

MC Carioca

Mc Carioca

Pedro Tortelly, known as Carioca, you can call him many names, but he will always be our Mc!! He plays gaita and criated a very peculiar song, wich letter will stay inside your imagination...

Poliglotas do Arrocha

dancer singer guitar

As I told you before there is a group of guys that self denominated "Poliglotas do Arrocha". They are so criative, and so talented that when we put them together it couldn't be different. Robinho Delícia (Robinho Delight), Tito Baiano (Tito from Bahia) and Compacto (Compact) translate songs to english, italian, spanish and when they get extra help from D'Mennol (a girl that speaks Filand language), they translate songs to Finland language too. I'm pretty sure that inside the ship, they will do a huge success!!

Friendship

This is Vítor Reuter, but you can call him Tito Baiano. Tito and theree other guys criated a group called "Poliglotas do arrocha"; Its a peculiar rhythm that exist in Bahia Brazil. another rhythm is the pagode, and at this song, Tito uses his criativity to show how he cares about Jim.

Jim is a very nice guy, who has a special way flashing his eyes. He is so charming doing that, that it deserve its own song.

PAGODE DO JIM

(POLIGLOTAS)!!!

CONHECI NA ENTREVISTA PARA A EMBARCAÇÃO

(I met at the embarcation interview)

O NOME DELE É JIM

(his name is Jim)

É A TREMENDA SENSAÇÃO
(It's a huge sensation)

PARECE PSICOPATA MAS NÃO UM ANIMAL

(looks psycho, but not an animal)

É O TIPO QUE AGRADA E A GALERA PAGA PAU

(Is the type who everybody likes)

SÓ TEM UM DETALHE

(Just one detail)

SUA CONSTANTE AZARAÇÃO

(his constat fooling around)

QUANDO XEGA A MULHERADA E ROLA A PISCAÇÃO

(When the girls arrive he starts to flash his eyes)

Refrão:

DAH UMA PISCADINHA, JIM

(Flash your eyes, Jim)

DAH UMA PISCADINHA

(flash your eyes)

DAH UMA PISCADINHA, JIM

(flash your eyes, Jim)

MEXENDO ESSA BUNDINHA (BIS)

(flash your eyes)

Poliglotas do Arrocha eh SOH SUCEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

After this, you can see how friendly you can be with your colleagues. I'm sure that from now on, we will be friends forever. I love you guys!!!!!

STCW

Here you'll find some answers that normally you'll will not find in other places. The information about documentes, investment or other details you will find at the site below:

http://www.zoromar.com.br/seguranca_navios.htm

For five days you will stay in Santos. There you will have to spend with stay, food and transportation. So, there are some tips to follow:

• 
  
  Stay: There are some apartments close to Zorovich & Maranhão area that you can rent together with your friends that will do the same course as you. Its cheaper if you join with five more people and stay at the same apartment. Santos is a city of summer, so it's common to rent furnished apartments for young people in vacation or the students. But if you go by your own, it's better to rent a room (people rent rooms at home for the students) or going to a hostel.
  
• 
  
  Food: The Zorovich & Maranhão offers you two coffebreaks a day, and it is well served, so you can eat twice a day for free and organize yourself and your stomach, doing some economy, or you can eat at the baker place that they have a chicken bakery. You can also prepare your spaghetty at home in your free time, wich is too little, but is a good option too. There is a supermarket that you you will find all ingredients you need.
  
• 
  
  Transportation: If you stay close to the Zorovich & Maranhão area, you will not need transportation, you will walk there everyday. You'll find the address at the site up. The expences with air plane and the bus from São Paulo to santos are up to you.
• Leisure: There are some interesting places that you can visit while you are at Santos:
• 1.The aquarium;
• 2.Vila Belmiro;
• 3.Guarujá;
• 4.Bonde;
• 5.Bars.
  

http://www.vivasantos.com.br/

The STCW is a document and you only can go on board if you have this original paper. It is valid for five years, and is a great investment. You will learn a lot, make new friens and have fun.

Tips with expences for Costa Trainning

As You know, the Costa Trainning is in Santos-SP. If you are not from Santos, the hotel is paid by the company, but the expences with food and transportation are all yours.

Here some tips for you to expend the less as possible at this trip.

• 
  
  Air plane transport: Buy the plane tickets some days before your trip. Look for some promotion, some air companies offer very cheap tickets at dawn. Or you can buy your tickets at some tourism agency, they have more power to find the better offers. You can go by bus either, but the prices are almost close and the trip is not so comfortable.

• 
  
  City transport: To go from the hotel to The Unimonte College, you can go by cab or bus, but the better option is by cab. You can get a four people group, and share a cab. Before you get into the car, ask to the cab driver to fix a price. Take the bus price and multiplicate by four and that would be the fair price for the tip, fix a round number to make it easyer for you and the cab driver.

• 
  
  Food: At the hotel, the coffebreak is included and it's well served. So you can have an ample breakfest, and you'll not need to eat so soon. By the way, the company (Costa) offers you two comfort breaks a day during the trainning. One is served by 10:30 am, the other is served by 4 :30 pm, so if you organize yourself and your stomack, you'll not need to buy food. But if you still hungry or you can't stand eat one more piece of bread, you'll find some other options close to the universit Unimonte http://www.unimonte.br/home.asp, where the trainning usually happens. The trainning are very hard and are ten hours a day, so the comfortbreak moments are memorable.

• 
  
  Leisure: The daily journy are heavy, but still there are some time left to have fun. Inside the hotel, there are some relaxing options as well, like the pool, jakuzzy, gym, depending on the hotel you'll stay, there is a mall where you can go for a walk. Usually, the hotel offer internet, but they are paid and expensive, so if you want some free internet, bring your laptop with you, they normally have wireless internet, or you can go to some lanhouse close to the hotel and use it for small prices. Make sure that if you go out at night, never stay longer tham 11:00 pm, 'coz the front desk hotel employes will notice the company your behavior.

• 
  
  Clothes: The company gives you two t-shirts for the five days of trainning. So, take care of your t-shirt and be carefull to not dirty. One or two jeans pants are enought and a pair of snickers. You'll not need too many clothes, but at night you will not use the uniform, so bring some clothes for the nights, Santos is not a very cold city, so, only one coat you'll need.

• 
  
  Teaching Material: The company gives you the teaching material, but you must bring your own notebook and pen.

And last thing: Good luck on your trainning!!!

About me

Who's that girl?

As you know, I'm Barbara Costa. I'm from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. I'm 29 and graduated in Tourism in 2007. I chose this area because of this huge love that I have for my country and city. Also because I had learned some languages.

My native language is portuguese, but I speak english and a little spanish. So, this way wasn't hard for me to be selected by the govermment to be an exchange student in Us, where I lived for six months and studied at Gadsden State Community College in Alabama.

I used to be an english teacher in a small city close to salvador, but I went out from there to finish my studies. I worket in a front desk of a big hotel in Salvador too.

I've decide to work as a crew ship because I would like to keep working in my area and to get more money. Also I love to travel, and after you go out from your country once, you can't stay longer without travelling. So, here I am...

Sorry about my english. If you see some mistakes, please, don't be shy to correct me, ok? I'm opened to recieve opinion and some new information.

This blog is a way to registrate my itinerary at the cruise ship. this will be my first travel as a crew member. later I tell you my experience abroad, as exchange student, or whatever...lol.

I finish here for the moment, but I'll be back.

Cara de Crew

Costa Crew selection, interview

and trainnings

This blog aims to tell the aspirants how is the process to prepare to be a cruise ship crew and everything that happens before the embarcation, during and after desembarcation.

This group was selected in Salvador- Ba, and they did all the enterviews at Salvador.

The firt step to be a crew is to fill up the formulary to some cruise agency. Our agency is the Infinity Brazil, that is situated in Santos São Paulo.

They have a site, where you can see what you can do to candidate yourself: http://www.infinitybrazil.com/ .

The agency does two enterviews and they choose your occupation inside the ship. They select all hotel area employes. Them, they prepare you to be interviewed by the Human soucer of the Ship company. Normaly all that process is at Santos, but our interviews were at Salvador, because the great number we were.

Our company is the Costa Corciere. It´s a italyan Company, theyr site is: http://www.costacruzeiros.com/ . After this last interview, they sent us to do some courses. At first we did the Costa trainning, where we learn about all the company polices. This course has the duration of five days, ten hours a day.

The other course we have is the STCW http://www.stcw.org/ , without that certification we can't apply to be a crew ship. There we learn about first aid, fire and water survival.

Is important to know that during the costa course, the expences with the hotel are paid by the company, but at the STCW trainning, you'll have to pay all the expences.

Transport, food and any other expences are all yours.

Even you having all those expences, and doing all that trainning, all that experiency can be fun, also you will find some friends for life. The STCW is paid, and that is another expence you will have.

If you have the orkut profile, here are some links that will help you to get some informations:

http://www.orkut.com.br/Community.aspx?cmm=46676637

http://www.orkut.com.br/Community.aspx?cmm=55117245