Dolphin Tuna

Dolphin Tuna

9^th May 2011

Chania, Crete

My complaining has finally paid off! Hernan has been dressed up on the gangway at least once every cruise. While talking to Reuben I joked that it wasn’t fair he got to dress up and I didn’t. I think he was shocked that I wanted to dress up as most people don’t. So today my wish was granted… I was going to be dressing up as a dolphin for gangway in Chania, Crete. To make things even better, Stu was shooting me on gangway. If Stu’s around on gangway, you instantly know it’s going to be a laugh. The first time I did gangway in Crete, Stu and I were shooting the wheel. It was my first cruise so he was trying to give me as much information and help as possible. The big question was, did it pay off?

After our little photographer’s corridor party I crawled out of bed at 06.30. Gangway was in 30 minutes. Luckily I didn’t have to look presentable so I climbed into the dolphin costume wearing my pyjamas and hair scrunched up into a ponytail. My ipod cable was threaded through the arm of my costume so I could dance to my music on the gangway.

At 6.50 I had no idea where Hernan was so I crept into his cabin and like usual, he was still asleep. This time he had someone wrapped around him. Waking him up wasn’t easy. That boy can sleep the sleep of the dead!! Accidently I managed to wake the both up. Luckily I didn’t wake Fede. Hernan finally flopped out of bed but while getting ready for gangway, laid on the floor and fell asleep... again.

Stu was supposed to be in the photographer’s corridor but was a no-show. While kicking Hernan to wake up I was calling Stuart. He  sounded anything but wide awake when he finally picked up. Security were late opening the gangway so things were going our way. To get in the mood I was blasting Paramore into my ears. A little while later I got a kick from Hernan… I’d fallen asleep! Once Stu arrived it was time for the show to begin.

With the dolphin head on it’s quite hard to see where you are going or what you’re doing. It’s great fun though. Dancing around the gangway, shaking your booty and the more ridiculous you look, the better: the more the guests laugh. Some people tried running away from me… so I ran after them, as you do. A couple of people dodged me and while walking away thinking they’d missed us, I’d creep up behind them and simply place my flippers on their shoulders. Stu and I were rolling up when a few people let out a shriek. The American’s were happy to pose with a dolphin. English just don’t like the cheese of it all. They are more reluctant to have their photo taken anyway, so you just have to put your arm around their shoulders and make them. That way they have no choice in the matter. One person barged past me and nearly knocked me over! Now that would have been funny!

Stu was shouting out to people “give the dolphin a hug… we all love dolphins – we all eat tuna don’t we?” He was also asking guests if they thought I was a dolphin or porpoise and whether they knew the difference. Everyone knows Stu is the camel on gangway so they asked why he wasn’t dressed up. Next came the “what’s the difference between a camel and a dolphin”… I would post the answer here but it’s a little rude and very crude.

Inside the costume was sweltering and sticky. In addition, the Velcro holding the costume together at my shoulders, kept coming undone exposing my pyjamas. Stu was forever doing it up whilst playing silly buggers with me. After an hour and a half on gangway we got 185 images, our target was 200. We didn’t do badly, next time we will do better but it could have been much worse. Natasha didn’t get close to her target shooting the rail.

After gangway it was time to have a snooze. There was no point heading into Chania (or Xania). The port is a bit of a way from Chania town centre and I didn’t want to rush around trying to contact everyone.

Tonight was formal night too so sleep was needed as it was going to be a long night. At 14.00 we were all setting up the studios – eight in total. My first two stints were in the gallery. There were two ressi sessions in between shooting Bars and Lounges. To finish off I was shooting on the Titanic backdrop.

Everything was going well until I went into the dining room. I was running late as I had to wait for Paco to get back from shooting Captain’s Table. The first table I approached, a couple, told me someone had already been around to take their photos. Scanning the room I spotted Fabio. I rushed over to find out what had and hadn’t been done. He told me Natasha had finished my side and her own. As she wasn’t the fasted at shooting Ressi I thought something was wrong. So I headed to the opposite end of my section in the dining room and went over to a table. I asked if they’d had their photo taken, they replied no, so I took their portraits. I did the same with the next two tables and both denied having their photos taken. It became obvious that my section hadn’t been done so I started working my way through the tables. Halfway through my section I had a look around and there was no one to be seen. Once I finished my section I left to find everyone was back in their studios. This annoyed me as the rule is you don’t leave anyone behind in Ressi. If you’ve finished your section, you go and help somebody in theirs and we all leave together.