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