Mariner of the Seas

Mariner of the Seas

13th April 2011

Hernan and I had a walk around Rhodes before getting breakfast. There wasn’t much open, we later found out that the other side of the island is the complete opposite to where we are. There’s plenty of life and everywhere is open.

We got a taxi to the ship, Mariner of the Seas. As we came around the corner towards the port we saw this massive cruise ship! We couldn’t believe it. Neither of us have ever seen anyting like it before.

The poor taxi driver must have thought we were nuts, jumping up and down in the back “ooooh my god, would you look at that! It’s huge!” etc. As we went around another corner we realized that the ship we had been so excited about wasn’t our ship. The Mariner of the Seas was docked behind and was three times bigger! Again, imagine what the taxi driver must have been thinking when we started whooping and hollering all over again!

To cut a long story short, we had loads of paper work to fill in. We couldn’t leave the ship as we didn’t have a Seaman’s Card/ID. It’s an ID card which allows us access to and from the ship.

I met my roommate. She’s a Brazilian girl called Luciana but everyone calls her Luci. There are only 9 photographers (there are supposed to be 10): Stuart (South Africa), Lee (Birmingham, UK), Federico (Argentina), Natasha (South Africa), Richard (South Africa), Jenni (Chile), Elvis (India) he’s the lab manager, Hernan (Argentina) and me. Richard and Lee are signing off after the next cruise. Stuart’s the one who has to teach me the ropes but to be fair, everyone’s been doing so.

The cabins here are so small it’s unreal. I remember from the hire session, Stephanie said you could easily fit 10 people inside a cabin. Fitting 10 people into a cabin this size would resemble Japanese squeezing themselves on trains during rush hour! I'd say, maximum four people can fit in here.

Later on we got changed into our evening uniform (grey trousers, white shirt, black shoes and blue blazer). I was in the gallery for a bit putting the photographs onto the display boards. Not only is it boring but it’s incredibly time consuming! We are talking about thousands of prints! A bit later I was shown how to use the register and served a couple of customers without any problems.

After dinner I was shown how to pose people in LSP (Lifestyle Portraits). LSP is basically a studio with no rules, although there are poses to allow us to get through a queue of guests quickly. 

I was later working on the free style portraits for a couple of hours before helping in the gallery again. The time really dragged. I guess it’s because I’m not even 50% sure of what I’m doing at the moment.

Someone told me it’d take roughly 3 weeks to get the hang of everything, from finding your way around to shooting. Until then, I was warned by South African Natasha that I’d be nagged, moaned at etc because we are slow new hires and the other photographers will lose patience with us. There’s nothing like a nice warm welcome!!!

Speaking to Lee later on, he told me Natasha was talking bullshit like usual. Good to know.

We finished work just after midnight. As Hernan and I are new, Lee took us up to the crew bar to celebrate. Most the of the photographers came up and bought us a few drinks. It's an Image tradition apparently. New hires/sign ons, will be bought a few drinks to welcome them into the team. Plus, we couldn't put money on to our crew ID cards as we need to change Euros to US Dollars.

Hernan and I were introduced to other crew members from different departments. Everyone was really friendly. A couple were surprised by my Spanish because I sound like a Spaniard. I’ll take that as a compliment although they didn’t quite mean it like that. Oh well, I guess that’s South Americans for you haha.

One thing that I can’t get my head around is how “gentlemen” like the men are around here. I noticed it in Miami but didn’t think it’d carry on while on the cruise ships. In Miami it was mainly the Eastern Europeans, but they’d hold open the doors for you or if they met you in a narrow hall, they’d stand aside and usher you through first. Last night, every time I got a cigarette out, a Chilean guy rushed to get a lighter out for me. It’s something Little Miss Independent here isn't used to. Don't think I'll be getting used to it any time soon either.

Funnily enough, I thought I’d get really bad sea sickness, but didn’t. Most of the time you only feel a slight movement. Having said that, there were times when I could see everything rocking side to side. That does makes you feel a little uneasy. 

At one point last night I thought I was going to sway off the bar stall…. And it had nothing to do with the amount of beer I’d consumed! 

When I got back to my cabin at 3am and laid in bed (I got the dreaded top bunk – I’m scared I’ll fall out haha) that’s when I noticed the movement of the ship. I guess it doesn’t help that we are on the ground/sea-line level. 

In short, did I enjoy my first day at work? No, not at all. It all seemed incredibly tedious. At one point I felt like I had “retard” tattooed across my forehead when Natasha showed me how to push a studio equipment bag on wheels. 

Tomorrow’s another day and I’m hoping things are better than yesterday! I need to get into the swing of things as soon as possible, if not, doing a 6 month contract is going to be ludicrously difficult.

Only three hours to sleep before heading out for my very first gangway in Kusadasi, Turkey... Welcome to ship life?

First Day on the Job - Evening Uniform

My Name Badge

Day "On Ship" Uniform

Our Cabin - Tiny!

Such a Spacious Bathroom!