HAPPY BIRTHDAY STU!!

Happy Birthday Stu!!!

The title of the blog entry says it all but either way: HAPPY BIRTHDAY STU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I woke up this morning talking to myself! I’d been having the most random dream possible. I was on the ship, running after my brother. People kept stopping me to ask questions while I was desperately trying to tell them I had to go. Getting woken up by talking to yourself is strange enough but I was completely lost and confused… It took a couple of minutes to click where I was. The men in white jackets will soon be coming to take me away, locking the door and throw away the key!

Getting dressed and heading up to the gallery I had to meet Luci and Reuben to get some presents. My crew card is the only one working. Everyone else has had theirs blocked due to lack of funds. Mine, however, no matter how much in the red I am, has never been blocked. I saw Stu in the gallery but he was helping a guest so I didn’t want to interrupt to wish him a happy birthday. 

Heading upstairs Reuben pointed out a Puma jacket he wanted. Talking to Luci she didn’t think getting Stu the shield was a good idea.  Giving Stu a call she told him to get his backside up to the Royal Promenade. In the end he chose a pair of sunglasses. It seemed a bit of a cold, thoughtless present.

Luci also wanted to call Jeni up to the shop to get her something. We’d already decided to get Jeni a scrapbook and fill it with photos. Luci thought the idea was “a shit”, too heavy and big to take home. She also asked if I’d spoken to Jeni about what to get her and if she wanted the scrapbook. What ever happened to surprises? Anyway, getting bit irritated and just left it up to Luci, she can do what she wants with the presents… I was just there to pay for it all.

Back in the gallery I started my first stint. It’s formal night so it was going to be a long one. Plus tonight we’re doing a team photo for Jeni and Reuben. Rather than take it on LSP it was suggested we use Fede’s centrum studio.

Set up was a complete nightmare. We took so long to set up the studios, I think there were about 9 in total. Someone was supposed to sort out the studio signs and only did half so at the last minute a couple of us had to run around finishing up the job. 

Running down to the lab we gathered our camera equipment and pentabs before heading upstairs. 

The ice staking show was on while we were taking the bags through Studio B. Stu and I stood watching for about 30 minutes before I had to head back to the cabin and get changed into my tuxedo. What we saw of the ice show was absolutely amazing!! I’d love to see the show in full rather than snippets here and there. It’s like watching the trailer of the shows.

Once changed into my tux I was back in the gallery for an hour. At 17.00 we had the usual meeting before the studios opened. Overall the night went relatively fast.

Normally Stu is the last to finish shooting but tonight he was so tired he closed his studio almost on time. Breaking down as quickly as possible, we wanted to get our team photo before going out to celebrate. Just as we were putting the studio bags into the store room David looked up to Deck 4 and saw that Fede’s centrum studio had been broken down. Fabio had broken down the studio… we didn’t have a studio for the group shot. 

Rather than setting up to break down we simply grabbed one of the cameras, put Fede’s flash on and rested the camera onto of a bench from LSP. Getting a group shot was funny, we took quite a lot to say the least!! 

After we had an all girl’s photo, then the guys had their turn. Next we put Reuben in the middle and all the girls surrounding him. As it was Stu’s birthday, we did the same. To make the photo unique from Reuben’s, all the girls hid their bodies behind Stu, only revealing their face of upper part of the body. There wasn’t that much space and being the smallest I kneeled in between Stu’s legs. The photo was excellent!!

Spa were hosting a themed party out on Back Deck – Black, White, Short and Tight. Typical Spa! Luci and I didn’t have anything black and white. None of my clothes were short or particularly tight so I had to settle for jeans and a navy top.

Newman had arranged to get a cake for Stu saying “HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHREK”. We were all rushing around the find Stu. In the end we found him at the bar. We managed to get a confused Stuart to sit down. I covered his eyes so he couldn’t see Newman getting the cake out the bag and box. 

Unfortunately we didn’t have any candles which, obviously, was a bit of a shame. Either way, the chocolate cake looked fantastic! Stu’s face was a classic when he opened his eyes and everyone started singing happy birthday.

The rest of the night we just spent sitting around, having a few drinks and laughs, chatting etc. Stu by the end of the night was completely smashed and by the time he reached the cabin at 5am, had to be up and out on the gangway at 8am for another private tour. That should be a sight to see…

Top left to right: Sanela, Reuben, CJ
Bottom left to right: David, Regina, Lou (moi) and Stu

Happy Birthday Shrek!

Zoran & Raissa

Stu and his Dirty Martinis

Hernan & Eve

Typical Stu!

Celebrating Stu's 22nd Birthday

Zoran

Newman

Top left to right: Reuben (India), Newman (Brazil), Luciana (Brazil), Zoran (Croatia), Hernan (Argentina)
Middle left to right: Sanela (Serbia), Jeni (Chile), Sandra (Colombia), CJ (South Africa), Eve (New Zealand)
Bottom left to right: David (South Africa), Regina (Brazil), Stu (South Africa)

Mad Rush

Mad Rush

22^nd June 2011

Usually we have a sea day, the second formal night, in between Haifa and Ashdod. However, on this cruise, we are heading straight to Ashdod, arriving tomorrow morning. The distance between Haifa and Ashdod is unbelievably short, more than I'd realized: 45 minute flight or an hour and a half by car. Rather than cruising slowly to make a sea day we steamed on towards our next port of call.

All the photographers were up between 06.00 and 06.30. Those who weren’t on tour were working on gangway. Again, Stu had a private tour lined up with the same family. Zoran therefore took Stu’s place as the Crusader. Jeni was shooting the ring at one gangway and I was on the rail at the opposite end of the ship.

Yesterday's events on the gangway went well, today things were the opposite, especially for me. As usual Ashdod was a royal mad house! People were running here, there and everywhere trying to find their bus or trying to get to their tour bus first to grab a window seat. It's like going back to your school days! It’s crazy, they turn into little kids! Some people had got their tour bus stickers and headed straight out to find the bus rather than waiting for the tour guide to take the group. Some of them even got lost looking for their bus!

Smudging was near impossible. Ritesh came out on the gangway to see what was happening. Picking up the rail he told me to help him carry it to another spot. He plonked the rail in the centre of the gangway rather than on an entrance/exit. It was insane! I had to constantly keep heaving the rail out the way for the tour buses to get passed. So not only did a get a crap image count I’d buggered my back and shoulder again!

Once the tour gangway was closed Jeni came up to join me at the gangway exit. Fabio was shooting Zoran and Jeni and I were shooting pretty much the same thing. Obviously people didn’t want a photo with the ring when they’d had one on the rail and vice versa. It made sense to only use one or the other but we were told to stay outside and keep smudging.

Towards the end of our stint Jorge from Explorations! came out from the ship dragging his suitcases behind him. He was disembarking to be transferred to a smaller ship in the Baltics. It was actually quite sad seeing him go. I’ve always got along well with him, he’s absolutely lovely. 

Everyone seems to be leaving or preparing to leave. Saying goodbye seemed strange, almost unreal but he’s happy to be going so good luck to him. Jeni and I got our photo taken with him behind the ring. One last Mariner of the Seas photo which we said we’d email to him. It still didn’t seem real when his taxi drove off. Even now I still expect him to pass by or call out “Hola Chiquita”.

The rest of the day I spent catching up on sleep, searching for cans of Coca-Cola and blogging before going to work in the gallery. I really need to catch up on my blog entries but been too knackered and favouring sleep each time!

There's even a shortage of fizzy drinks on board. Well, for crew anyway. The guests have run out of pretty much everything. As we can't possibly have the guests going without, our crew area got raided. All our vending machines have been emptied and so have the majority of the crew bars! Once we run out, we're dry and caffeine-free until Embarkation Day!

Tomorrow is Stuart's 22nd birthday and we are all at a loose end. We honestly don't know what we can buy him. Well, we did have a few ideas. Originally, we were all going to chip in and buy the Knight's shield he wanted in Rhodes, but that isn't for another three days. Unfortunately, we are going to be at sea for his birthday and as it's a sea day, it's formal night! We also have to get a leaving present for Reuben tomorrow as he disembarks early in Kuasdasi.

Zoran as the Crusader

Jorge Disembarking - Jeni, Jorge and Me

Costume & Shooter
Zoran the Crusader & Fabio

 

Smudge! Smudge! Smudge!

Smudge, Smudge, Smudge

21^st June 2011

Today we all had an early start. Mariner of the Seas is docked in Haifa, Israel and we needed to get a good image count. 

Haifa gangway is like a zoo, a madhouse! After Israel, things go to pot, our image counts, gallery purchases and profits go down the pan. The guests either tighten the grip on their wallets or run out of money from buying too much holy water, or both. 

This was the final push so we doubled up. Jeni was shooting the ring, I was on the rail and Stu was smudging for us both. David is the “new age” camel. Stu can no longer dress up as the camel because, according to Mike, he’s naturally too tall and wearing the camel’s head takes him up to something loopy like 7 foot. There’s too much of a gap between the guests and camel’s head. Shooting the camel was Fede.

Stu started smudging for me until I had a reasonable count while Jeni was struggling. He switched to Jeni to give her a hand. Reuben soon came over and started helping me smudge. During a quiet moment on the gangway he checked my images for faithful exposures and cropping. A mad rush came with everyone running around like headless chickens looking for their tour buses. Reuben started shooting and between us we smudged as much as possible. 

I’m far more comfortable smudging in Spanish. For some reason, I find it so hard in English. When speaking in Spanish I have no shame, naturally wave my hands around and speak louder (or shout) than I do in English. At one point Stu got a bit pissed at me for not smudging enough. Someone's always got to complain.

Towards the end of our four hour stint on gangway, Mike came out from the ship and told me to follow him. Reuben picked up the ring Jeni was using and carried it down to the opposite end of the ship. 

The ring was set up so the guests were close up foreground and the entire length (or 95%) of the Mariner of the Seas in the background. Some port agents apparently don’t allow you to go that far away from the ship if you’re working so Mike had to clear it with Israeli security first.

For the next hour and 15 minutes I was roasting in the Israeli sun like a chicken!! None of us bother slapping on suncream in Haifa as the ship always provides us with shade for the entire gangway stint. Big mistake! There was a small area of shade, provided by the terminal's roof ledge, that I was running to for refuge during breaks from guests getting off the ship. 

Stu came down with a bottle of water and to see how I was getting on. There was about 45 minutes left so he stood around keeping me company and doing the odd bit of smudging. Most of the time he took the pee out of my accent and how I say “photo”. He’s South African though… he isn’t one to talk!! Nowadays if I tell him to repeat “yes” or “off” in his thick South African accent, he tells me to fuck off!! Charming. I guess it does contain the word "off"...

The images I was getting were bloody good though so I took a couple of stock shot like images to put on the blog and send to the parents. Slowly but surely I was back to racking up more images.

Once gangway was over we all headed back onto the ship. Stu and I went upstairs for munch while the others went back to bed for a few hours. 

I had until 17.30 off so it was a chance for me to get my washing done. Borrowing Stu’s detergent I managed to get it all done relatively quickly! Sara (Mexico) the singer from Boleros said there’s a cheap supermarket nearby the port. Chucking my lights into the dryer and darks into a bag, I ran off towards my cabin to drop everything off. 

While charging down the I-95 I bumped into Jorge from Explorations! He was being transferred tomorrow to work in the Baltics and needed to bue a suitcase. We arranged to meet on the gangway in five minutes to find a suitcase and get some shopping in. 

Finding the suitcase was much easier than finding a supermarket. There are plenty of clothes, leather and delicatessen shops. Finally we found a supermarket that looked more like a garage from the outside. Everything was so much cheaper than in Europe so I made the most out of it, keeping in mind that I had to carry it all back to the ship. I finally managed to find washing detergent, a 3litre bottle of Persil for $6. In Europe it’d cost you an arm and a leg! Next time we need shopping, we’ll save it until we’re in Haifa.

Back on the ship I had a couple of hours to spare but didn’t quite know what to do with myself. Stu was now on his private tour with the large, Honeymoon family. Jeni was catching up on her beauty sleep. Hernan, Fede, Sandra and Eve were at the beach. I’d had enough sun for the day and decided against going to the beach. The last thing I needed was a lobster red body followed by shedding my skin like a snake!!

Making the most out of the time I jumped into bed for what was supposed to be an two hours and turned into three and a half. Gathering my stuff up I headed to Back Deck for a while. I’ve been a bit behind with my blog updates due to our hectic schedules.

When we are in port we can’t sell a lot of our products due to tax reasons. So today I was surprised when Reuben put me on table sale to sell cameras. Once everything was on the trolley to take up to Deck 11 we said we couldn’t sell anything until we were out of the port and asked what we were supposed to do. Reuben hadn’t realized that sail away was 22.00 and it was now 17.30. Either way, I had to set up and just promote what we had to offer. I had to turn a couple of people away as I couldn’t sell them a camera. 

During the evening, a guest came back to purchase a camera and mentioned my name so the commission would go to me. Someone else came back to the gallery and bought one from Stu. It’s kind of frustrating when you’ve pretty much sold a camera but can’t close and charge because you’re in port. It’s worse when they buy from someone else and you loose your minimal commission of $4

Reuben has also confirmed that he has a definite date as to when he’ll be leaving the ship. Our previous manager Jomar will be returning to the Mariner of the Seas from vacation. Reuben is being transferred to the Oasis of the Seas. Although Rueben likes the small team - Oasis of the Seas has 27 photographers while Mariner of the Seas has a team of 10 photogs - he’s pleased to be going to Oasis. Fantastic money, or so I'm told. Not many people can say they’ve been the manager to a team of photographers on the second biggest cruise ship in the world. Reuben will be disembarking in Kusadasi in three days. 

Good luck to him.

Smudger: Stu on the Rail (with half the Ring)

And there's the other half of the ring

David The Camel, Haifa (Israel)

Character & Shooter - David & Fede

Our BM Reuben

Reuben & Mariner of the Seas, Haifa (Israel)

Mike & Reuben - Sample Shot

The Set Up

Message from Miami

Message from Miami

20^th June 2011

Yesterday was a bit of a blur really. The only thing that I remember is the meeting we had, lasting a good couple of hours and finishing after 01.00. Mike, from Image, was talking about how our ship was doing, our performance statistics, how we can improve etc. 

While working in the gallery he was pointing out photos telling me what we should and shouldn’t be shooting. For example, at the Acropolis (Athens) there’s a certain area where we should stay and just get the same shot. “It has to be a consistent shot” he informed us. If we didn’t get the same consistent shot we wouldn’t sell anything. Rather than people looking for something unique they are looking for the same shot as everyone else? To me it didn’t ring true, but he's the one with the experience and knowledge under his belt.

During the meeting Mike said while we are dressed in costumes on gangway we have to act like the character we are portraying. If you’re a dolphin, we cannot speak to guests. One guy from another ship used to dress up as a bear and walk around talking to guests telling kids he was a talking bear etc. That’s no longer allowed as it’s unrealistic as bears can’t speak… well I never! We also have to exclude any modern poses if we are ancient characters, such as a Greek God giving the thumbs up! Some sounded a bit over the top but, oh well, rules are rules.

Now we are to have a Gallery Host who is there to welcome people to the gallery and help them find their prints etc. On some ships they are even dressed up in a costume. Mike is going to try and get us dressed up in the gallery depending on the event. So during 70’s night, the Gallery Host, should be dressed up in the relevant costume/clothing. Sounds like a good laugh! I’m up for that one!!

In short, the message from Miami was “do better”.

White Tent

White Tent

19^th June 2011

Some people were saying we wouldn’t and shouldn’t be stopping in Athens due to the demonstrations and riots going on. Against what has been voiced, we still arrived in Athens as planned. More demonstrations are planned for today and people were expecting violent protests like there have been for the past few days.

While working on the gangway, Jorge from Explorations! (the tours department), told us to be careful if we go out into the city, just in case we get caught up in any of the riots/demonstrations. Previously, according to Lee (remember we are stuck in a bubble where we don’t always know what’s going on in the real world) the ports had been closed off. Jorge said it was something to keep in mind in case the same thing happens again. Although he doubted it would happen today, you never know.

Getting kicked out off bed at 06.30 I had to wear the new Greek Goddess costume provided by Image. I’d tried it on the previous night and Stu did a bit of handy work pinning it in certain places. The costume was like a white tent on me!! Stu even had me bending down, lifting my arms up and out to make absolutely sure that nothing could pop out. The others girls here are smaller built than me so if I had room to spare than they’d bw sporting great big gaping holes. Once Stu had pinned the costume it didn’t look so bad but I still preferred the dress I’d been wearing for the last two visits. 

Going into Luci, I asked for her opinion. She liked the dress but agreed with me, my outfit was better. As Image wanted sample shots of the dress I had to wear it. One of Luci’s criticisms was that the dress was far too long and added that maybe I should take it to the tailor to be pinned up… bit late for that. Going into Stu he pinned the costume up again.

Stu in many senses had struck gold. During formal night he’d got talking to a large (and I mean large as in numerous) American family. They were going on a private tour in Athens. As they were talking Stu suggested they take a ship photographer with them. They’d have a private photographer for the day. They thought it was a great idea and wanted Stu to do the job. Spending most of his breaks from the stuido in the gallery or manager's office, Stuart was desperately trying to arrange something. At the last hour, something was planned by the looks of things. Every time I saw him, he had a phone stuck to his ear.

Later on, speaking to Stu, I found out that they are a family of twelve on Honeymoon. For a private photographer for the day, it'd cost them a staggering $700. Money wasn't an issue to the family. I nearly fell over when Stu told me, but I couldn't help smiling. He'd done a great job to get a private tour (it's not something I've seen or heard of before). No doubt he’s got some extra kudos from the BM to go along with his endless list of good comments.

Things in Athens were a little different this time. Normally, when I’m the Greek Goddess, Luci shoots me but as she’s been promoted to AMS, it’s out of the question – she has to be in the gallery. David was the one shooting me. Stu is usually the God but he was going on tour to the job got passed onto Hernan who has played the part a couple of times before. Sandra was shooting the rail but ended up coming back from the lab with the ring.   

Heading out to gangway, Hernan wasn’t around and guests were starting to come out. Stu and Fabio usually go up to the tour exit of the ship where it’s a lot more fast paced before joining Luci and I at the slower end. 

We normally get around the same shots but use different techniques. Stu has the personality and charisma to get people to stop, people are automatically drawn and love him. I’m not that way, so Luci taught me to just grab people, slinging my arm around their back or shoulder to pull them in for a photo. It works for me. 

Today as Hernan wasn’t out on the gangway and we didn’t know where the hell he was. David and I had to take his spot at the tour exit. We couldn't afford to let the tour guests go. Hernan finally got onto the gangway 20 minutes late. He’d been staying over at Eve’s and no one knew her cabin number to kick him out of bed or hurry the bugger up.

Smudging the guests going on tour was a lot harder than I’d previously imagined. I couldn’t really put my arm around them as they were all rushing to their tour bus as if it was going to leave without them – which it wasn’t! You try telling that to guests though! David and I were smudging like crazy but our image count wasn’t really going up. 

Finally, someone had their photo taken with me and a steady stream of guests followed suit. It’s strange, when one person has their photo taken, others follow. If the pattern breaks, someone refuses, the next will. It’s a domino effect. Once that happens, you have to smudge like crazy again to get someone in for a picture.

Later on, when the tour exit was closed we headed over to join Hernan and Fabio at the forward gangway. The sun was up and the temperature rising. Obviously the people dressed in costumes can’t wear sunglasses if it’s not part of the outfit. Hernan and I had been standing outside for about two hours without sunglasses. It’s incredibly bright outside anyway but the sun was also bouncing off the white ship making it even harder to keep our eyes open. There came a point where we were seriously struggling to keep our eyes open and not squint. Finally it became unbearable. Both teams were soon working together to trying and get people in for a photo. 

Being able to speak so many languages helps so much during gangway. Between the four of us were four languages, mostly provided by Fabio. Hernan and I speak English and Spanish, Fabio speaks English, Spanish, Italian and Brazilian Portugese while David only speaks English… unless you include Afrikaans. We were taking it in turns go back onto the ship for drinks and to get out of the sun.

At about 10.30 Fabio, Hernan and Sandra had to go in for a drill. David and I were the only ones excused from the drill. YES! Rather than the usual “Bravo Bravo Bravo” fire/ship’s sinking announcement the ship was doing a Charlie drill. It doesn’t happen very often but if you hear “Charlie Charlie Charlie” it’s because there’s a bomb on board or terrorist threat! 

Apparently a fake bomb/package had been hidden on board and each department had to search their area to find it. If your area has the hidden package and you miss it, you’re going to get a little more than just a slap on the wrists! 

For the next hour and a bit David and I were left on our own on gangway. The guests stopped trickling out and the heat was becoming unbearable. It wasn’t so much the heat but the humidity. At every chance I had I was hoisting my dress up to cool down! 

The Image costume was awful to wear. At least with my cotton dress it’s much cooler than the huge white polyester tent I’d been given. As I was smudging one of the pins on my dress came undone. I carried on, a little worried that something might get a lot more exposure than intended. One eye was on the guests coming out and the other was on my boob!! The costume has a banana neck line and the lower part was a way too low!! David came over, made a joke about putting my bits and bobs away while pinning the dress behind my back again. It was the third time they’d had to pin the dress back… not good, especially if there's a rush on.

Just as the sun was becoming unbearable Ritesh came out to see how we were getting on. He checked how many passengers were on board and called it quits ten minutes before we were due to go in. I don’t think we’ve ever been so happy to see Ritesh!

Popping up to the mess for something to eat I bumped into Regina. She asked if I was going out, which I was, so she said we'd meet in the photographer’s corridor. 

Waking Luci up as I walked into my cabin, she also asked if I was going out. When I said I was going shopping she jumped out of bed and scurried around getting her clothes on. She’s been complaining for weeks that she needs shampoo etc. By shopping I meant supermarket shopping… we aren’t lucky enough to go clothes shopping… we didn’t have long. That’s one for Rhodes and maybe Istanbul. 

It was a Sunday too so we weren’t sure what would be open. Walking around for an hour we soon realized that not even the superstores would be open. Making out way back to the ship there was only one thing on  our minds – sleep! I was desperate for washing powder as I had a stack of laundry to do but that would obviously have to wait. 

After Greece is Israel and no doubt I’ll be on tour so God knows where I’m going to get detergent and the time to do my laundry! Soon I’ll be going commando!!

Waking up from a well-deserved nap I headed over to the lab to fetch the prints. We were all on display. I needed more sleep and was desperately trying to keep my eyes open. After two hours of display I ran upstairs to the staff mess to get something for dinner before rushing downstairs to change into my evening uniform. I was shooting LSP and working the gallery for the night.

While getting ready I popped into Stu to see how the tour had gone. He had so many images it was untrue. It’s easy getting the image count when you have people who want their photo taken. The trouble we have is that most people either don’t want their photo taken or have to be enticed. Looking through some of the shots, he’d done a cracking job. I told Stu I was on LSP (his studio), his reply “have fun” (remember Stu’s South African so there’s no sarcasm involved whatsoever).

We have someone representing Image from Miami on the ship. None of the ships in Europe are doing particularly well and Mike (England) was here to find out why. While shooting LSP he came over to ask me a few questions. I was a bit nervous to say the least. He started playing around with my studio lights while I was trying to shoot a couple. Kind of annoying.

At the end of the night, I jumped in to the shower and pyjamas before grabbing my laptop to start blogging. It wasn’t long before Luci came into the cabin in a foul mood. She was having a rant and rave, her voice getting louder and louder. She was tired and fed up. Paco had left her a lot of shit to sort out and she was cracking up, to put it nicely. 

It wasn’t long before she had a go at me for making too much noise earlier on. I was in the corridor with Stu and Zoran and just having a giggle. It had woken her up. She told me we had no respect for her as she was trying to sleep etc etc. As hard as it was, I gathered my stuff up, told her to just get into bed and buggered off out the cabin. 

Going into Stu’s, which is turning into my refuge cabin, I explained what had happened and asked if I could sit in his typing for a while. I’d return to my cabin once it was safe to go in… basically when Luci had gone to sleep. Even my typing wakes her up and I couldn’t be bothered with getting my head bitten off or arguing at some ridiculous time in the morning. It wasn’t long before sleep got the better of both of us and I ended up drifting to sleep at Stu’s. 

Tomorrow was another sea day (casual) before the ship arrived in Haifa, Israel.

New Vs. Classic

New Vs. Classic.

16^th June 2011

Mariner of the Seas itinerary has changed slightly. Same ports of call, different order. Today we are in Naples and you know what that means – pizza!

Pizza chef was amongst the new costumes that were sent in from Image. So we had two pizza chefs on the gangway. Stu, the classic pizza chef, was dressed up in his "chef" pyjama pants and Italian flag chef’s hat again. Hernan was dolled up in the new costume. He didn’t have a pizza platter like Stu did but Hernan did have a moustache penned to his face!

Each pizza chef was working a gangway exit. Fabio and Stu were teamed up again while David was shooting Hernan. I was in between the pairs shooting the rail.  David was having a field day asking how many photos I’d taken “15 or 20?” he was shocked when I’d only been shooting an hour and got 30 images. The rail and ring are always recieved poorly, especially when there are costumes about.

I tried to smudge off the guests the costumes pulled in for a photo. Sometimes it worked and others it didn’t. Most were happy to have their photo taken as it was all new to them. Some looked at the rail with the Italian flag as if it was one of the most ridiculous things they’d ever seen. Who can blame them though? After having your photo taken with a pizza chef acting a prat, who would want their photo taken with a rail featuring a life ring and Italian flag?

We all finished work at different times. Stu and Fabio left at 10.30, Hernan and David at 11.00 and I was there until 11.30. Running onboard I jumped into the shower and got ready to go out. 

Meeting on the gangway a couple of us had decided to go out for pizza. Fabio knows a great place for pizza around the corner from the port. Antonio, the owner, used to work on cruise ships before opening a pizzeria in Naples. The prices are slightly more expensive than other places but the food and ambiance is great. Fabio left the ship earlier as he was dying of hunger and said he’d meet us there.

Stu and David had some fun getting their shore passes – South Africans need shore passes for pretty much every country. It’s just a piece of paper with a stamp on it but without it they can’t get off the ship. Finally sorted, shore passes in hand, Regina, David, Hernan, Stu and I headed out into the city of Naples.

While in Naples I managed to get two new sets of head phones – one with a microphone and the other to listen to music in my cabin.

The new girl has finally arrived. She seems sweet and friendly enough. Of course, in true style we took her up to SOB for a drink to welcome her to the team. Zoran already knows her from their training session in Croatia. At the moment Sanela is in the same boat as Sandra and Zoran -no pun intended. Sandra doesn't have all her uniform, while Zoran and Sanela have none whatsoever. Their uniform, apparently, got lost in the post – great excuse when they are paying $200 for it. There was a whip around within the team to get some form of uniform sorted out for her.

Heading back to the ship I managed to get 45 minutes sleep before going up to deck 3 for set up. Throughout the rest of the night we were rotating between studios and gallery work. To be honest, it was a bit of a blur. Sense was knocked into me when I found out we weren’t in Athens tomorrow… instead it was the night I love to hate… formal night!

Hernan (New Pizza Chef) and David (Shooter) on the Rail, Naples (Italy)

Classic Pizza Chef Stu, Naples (Italy)

New Pizza Chef Not Looking Too Impressed!

Photog 2

Photog2

15^th June 2011

Yep… that’s right, I’ve finally been promoted to Photog2! 

David pointed out that I was Photog2 on the schedule and I thought it was a mistake – it wouldn’t have been the first time. During the evening meeting after a day of working our backsides off, Reuben announced I was P2. I wasn’t the only one to be promoted either. Fede, the lab bitch (lab assistant) was also promoted from P2 to P3! He bloody deserves it too, more than anyone!

Let’s rewind to the start of the day. It’s Civitavecchia again and another embarkation has arrived.

This time Reuben is trying to come up with new ideas and improvements to get more photos, sell more and ultimately earn more revenue. Usually we get the new arrivals to stand next to “Welcome Aboard” signs. The only problem is that most of the European ports aren’t exactly the most picturesque. In fact, some are pretty darn ugly! So this embarkation we were going to take a leaf out of someone else’s (or should that be ship?) book: we were using backdrops. We’ve never used backdrops before but Reuben believed it’d be a better way of getting people to stop and have their photo taken. 

Civitavecchia is usually very windy and embarkation is obviously very busy so a few of us were sceptical as to whether using backdrops would actually work and how safe the set up would be. The last thing anyone wants is someone to trip over the autopoles holding the backdrop up or the whole thing blowing over! It could cost us our jobs, ruin someone’s holiday, cost the company money in lawsuits etc. It would be a nightmare from start to finish. While setthing up we were all dubious and extremely worried. The wind was  blowing the backdrops around and there was no chance of moving into the tent/terminal – security weren’t going to allow it.

Set up took a lot longer than normal as we were busy trying to get backdrops to stop blowing about and make sure there was no way anyone could trip over. 11.00 soon rolled around and the guests started arriving. We ran around like headless chickens connecting the cameras and pentabs. People just seemed to drop into position, shooters had their cameras around their necks, smudgers were in place and getting people to the studios.

I took a go in both smudging and shooting. Fede told me to speak up and if needs be, shout. A few people were getting past so we took the security approach. We stopped trying to persuade people to have their photo taken and just started shouting “okay guys, everyone have your sea pass out please”. It wasn’t long until we had a queue of people with their sea pass cards in their hands. It was then like sending lambs to the slaughter house.

Here’s the set up. Two backdrops – both featuring an image of the Mariner of the Seas. Each studio had a photographer (obviously) and a smudger. The smudger’s job was to get the guests sea pass cards and swipe them so the details are logged onto the pentabs. 

There is a main smudger who stands before the studios. They basically stop the crowd, have the guests stand in line and wait for their photo to be taken. The main smudger also gets the guests sea pass cards, passes it on to the studio’s smudger and says something along the lines of “if you’d just like to follow (smudger’s name) down the second back drop”.

It wasn’t long before we were racking up image counts. People were quite happy to have their photo taken on the backdrops. Obviously you do get people who just want to get onto the ship. They are groggy after travelling for endless hours. As annoying as it is, it can’t be helped; slowly but surely I’m learning what to say to them and more importantly feeling less embarrassed/agitated about it. 

Before, I’d feel almost ashamed to keep on at people to have their photo taken when they say "no". You’re effectively hounding people like paparazzi. Now, it’s becoming easier. I’m getting immune to it all. I still get my days where I can’t stand doing it though. I'm too used to working with people who actually want their photo taken.

A new hire was due to arrive today. She’s just finished her training in Croatia and is from Serbia. Having said that, Image normally get arrival times wrong (Hernan and I were supposed to arrive to our ship the day we flew out for Miami training). 

During the day we did, however, get confirmation that Sanela was due to arrive today... but she missed her flight! Only one flight and she missed it! That provided a few laughs and raising of eyebrows in disbelief. How can you miss a flight? If you miss a connection flight because of a delay, it’s understandable, but one direct flight, from your home airport? Come on!

Most of our day was spent on embarkation. Later on some of us were in the gallery displaying the prints from embarkation. Two studios were set up – LSP and a backdrop from embarkation. The backdrop from embarkation was for those who either missed the photo opportunity (mostly through personal choice) or didn’t like the outcome of their original print. 

The ship was almost dead. There'd be spells of 15-20 minutes without seeing a single guest. It's incredibly unusual for a ship with such a large capacity. Everyone was knackered from travelling and having an early night. 

Once the guests came out of the dining room they were either off to the Welcome Aboard show at the Savoy Theatre or to bed. Rather than taking photos I spent most of my time in the studio pointing out to lost guests where the ladies’ toilets and Savoy Theatre are located. I even got people asking me for dining room table reservations. How many waiters/dining room attendants have cameras dangling from their necks?

Looking through the embarkation prints I could see what Reuben meant about using the backdrops. More people would buy these prints, they were far better than the type we were previously shooting.

During the meeting Reuben told us about some of the changes that were going to be made during this cruise. We’d finally had a delivery of cameras. Hernan and I have been here two months and never seen a delivery! This is mainly due to the earthquake in Japan. 

We'd also had a delivery of gangway costumes. Cor blimey… some are bloody ugly! I now have a new Greek Goddess dress - it's a tent! Mine, which I purchased in Rhodes, is far better but Image want sample shots so I’ll have to wear it on gangway. There’s a Crete girl outfit which doesn’t look too bad. Hernan has got his sights on the Matador outfit for when we dock in Barcelona during the 7 day cruises (Italian Season). The Flamenco dress would bring a tear to any Spaniard’s eye – it’s awful and sparkly.

As it was the beginning of a new cruise it was also payday and guess how much I earned? A staggering $1. Reuben sent the remainder of the wages to pay off my Image account: $500 security deposit, $200 uniform and $700 Nikon D90. The way Reuben's been paying into my account I should be almost finished. It’s something I’ll have to check though, see how much needs to be deducted.

High fives to Fede for getting to Photog 3!!! It’s just a shame he’s due to sign off soon.

Gangway Costumes (New and old)

Zoran as the Crusader - Ashdod, Israel

New Greek Goddess Costume & Greek God, Athens (Greece)

Matador David & Fede, Barcelona (Spain)

Matador - Hernan, Barcelona (Spain)

Sailor, Cannes (France)

Crete Girl, Chania, Cete (Greece)

Crete Girl & Sailor Sandra

Lady Corsica & Sandra (Shooter), Corsica (France)

David as The Camel - Haifa (Israel)

Belly Dancer (Sanela) & Camel (Me), Istanbul (Turkey)

Turkish Prince & Luci, Kusadasi (Turkey)

Sandra as Cleopatra, Kusadasi (Turkey)

Pizza Chef David - Naples, Italy

Flamenco Dancer, Palma de Mallorca (Spain)

Sandra - Flamenco Dancer, Palma de Mallorca (Spain)

Pizza Chef Stu, Naples (Italy)

Stuart - Knight, Rhodes (Greece)

Last but not least...

Ring - Fabio, Jeni & Zoran

Rail - Hernan, Italian Translator, David (Camel) & Sandra

Pirates in Naples?

Pirate in Naples?

 16th June 2011

By the time I closed my eyes last night, it was time to get up. We had to be on gangway for 07.00. I’d completely forgotten I was shooting the rail and had to run down to the lab with ten minutes to spare, change the flag on the ring and lug it upstairs.

We are in Naples today, so Stu was decked out in his chef pyjama pants (although he swears they aren’t pyjama pants), Italian flag chef’s hat, and a silver platter with a photograph of a pizza selotaped to his hand. While on the gangway, Stu told me to go with him as Fede was helping Luci sort out the cruise DVDs. For the next twenty minutes or so, I was shooting the Pizza Chef, until Fede took over.

On the other exit of the ship Fabio was shooting Sandra, who was dressed up as a pirate. A pirate in Naples? We’ve used all our relevant costumes this cruise so they had to pull something out the bag to get the image count. It’s especially hard on the last day of the cruise. By the end of the cruise, people are sick to death of seeing us and our cameras, so in a way, we are trying to go out with a bang in a final chance to get as many photos as possible.

Zoran replaced me on the rail at 09.00h. I was scheduled to have 3.5 hours off but that went down the drain when Reuben told us last night that there was a red drill. Until a few weeks ago I held a green card (emergency cards) and we literally had a drill every cruise. Now that I’d been changed to red, there’d been a drill scheduled… just my luck!

The drill was at 09.30. There’s a new strategy for the drills; a group of crew members go around asking crew security and drill/evacuation questions. If you get some wrong, you’ll be sent for extra training. Luckily I didn’t get asked any questions… I was simply told to take my hands out my pockets.

Due to the questionnaires it was nearly an hour and a half before we second alarm went off to summon us to our muster station. In total the drill took two hours – much longer than normally.

Running back to my cabin afterwards I threw on some jogging bottoms before heading out with Fabio. David and Regina were going to meet us a little later.

Fabio and I headed to Antonio’s pizza place. It’s a place that Fabio goes to every time he’s in Naples and the owner, Antonio, is so friendly it’s untrue. It’s a bit more expensive than most places but the food is excellent!! I only had an hour and a quarter before having to return to work. David and Regina soon came along and we finally ordered. Regina and I were being “good girls” and sharing a pizza.

Running back to the ship with 15 minutes to spare I ran past Katie, one of the guests, who called me back. She wanted a photo with me and a cuddle. Not a problem! It’s guests like her that make you smile and the shit worthwhile.

Shooting off again and rushing through security, I dragged my uniform on and leaped up the stairs to deck 3. As soon as I got into the gallery Luci told me I needed to rearrange the photos from the second formal night, especially Ressi. Urgh!