Vinko!

Tonight I continue my series introducing you to Carnival Fantasy crew members. Meet Vinko. Vinko is a bartender at a very small bar at the back of the ship. He is from Croatia and has been working on cruise ships for a long, long time. On the first day of the cruise I decided to strike up a conversation by asking him if Croatia is part of the former Yugoslavia. I knew it was, but it was a good ice breaker, so I pretended to ask a question when I already knew the answer. He said it was and asked how I knew. I told him I was a teacher of geography and had a pretty good idea where most of the countries of the world are. He asked if I could name the other countries that were formed when Yugoslavia broke apart. He was duly impressed when I spouted off Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia, and Kosovo. In fact he jokingly called me a nerd for knowing such things. He then said if I thought I was so smart, I should be able to identify the location of Macedonia relative to Croatia. I smiled because I knew the answer immediately. I told him Macedonia was in the south of the region. He then bellowed, "Wow! You really ARE a nerd!". We laughed and laughed... and that's how I first got to know Vinko.

Further conversations revealed he is married to a woman from Thailand and she works on the ship too. They have a three year old son named Daniel. Vinko's mother-in-law keeps Daniel while his parents are at sea. Vinko and his wife have a house in Croatia and a house in Thailand. They seemed to be more financially stable than most other crew members we encountered. Vinko was a fascinating guy and was a talker. He even apologized and asked us to tell him if he was talking our heads off. He was, but we were enjoying it.

The highlight of our time with Vinko was the day the ship was in Freeport, Bahamas. Most people were off the ship and only us stragglers remained. We basically had the bar (and Vinko) to ourselves. Vinko's bar was immediately adjacent to the buffet and the ice cream machine. The restrooms weren't far away either. We essentially had everything we needed. We sat at that bar from about 9 in the morning until 5 in the evening. Before you start getting pictures of us getting intoxicated, I should tell you we spent most of our time talking and eating. We had a few drinks, but not as many as you'd think in an eight hour time period. We had neither the money for, nor the interest in getting inebriated. We were sitting at the bar, but we may as well have been at a table in the buffet area. This bar was also next to the deli and pizza stations. In fact there were only 4 stools and a small counter, so it was not really like a bar at all. More like a luncheonette.

That was a really fun day. We learned some Croatian phrases and learned a lot about the cruise industry from Vinko. He was more forthcoming with information than any other crew member we'd spoken to. He told us they made $300 a month (not a week, but a month). The only other money they made was when people tipped them directly. When asked how often people tipped them, he said not very often. We were disappointed to hear that. We also learned that back in Croatia he has neighbors (he called them idiots) who have incessantly barking dogs that drive him crazy. We howled with laughter because Tami and I have always had neighbors with dogs that drive us crazy too. It really drove home the idea that people are the same wherever you go. The Croatians have the same tribulations in life that Americans do.

Vinko was an intelligent, well read and well spoken guy. We really enjoyed talking and joking with him. In the end, he thanked us for taking time with him and for taking an interest in him as a human being and not treating him like a servant. He said it doesn't happen very often, but he does appreciate when passengers make an effort to learn about the crew rather being wrapped up in their own pleasure and enjoyment of vacation.

Just like Danilo and Kadek, I will never forget my friend Vinko.

Here's Vinko and me. Notice the windows in the background. That is the very, very back of the ship. You can also see the deli and the pizza station in the background.