Early Departures

Early Departures

28^th June 2011

It’s only 10.15 and the tears are in full flow!! 

Jeni has just signed off but we were kind of prepared for her leaving. It’s still so hard to say goodbye to someone you might not see again, or won’t see for a long time. She’s been a great friend to have and it’s a shame she’s resigning from Image but Jeni’s going home and she’ll be getting to see her nephew for the first time. Jeni, if you ever read this: que tengas muchisma suerte y te queremos mucho. Cuidate guapa. Te quiero.

The biggest shock came this morning. I don’t even know what time it was. Stuart woke me up to tell me he’d been fired. He asked if I could help him pack his suitcase. I knew it was coming. Someone higher up the ladder had whispered something to me the night before informing me that Stu was a goner. It still didn’t soften the blow anymore. It still felt like getting walloped by a sledgehammer!!

The person who took it upon himself to train me has been fired. He was stupid for allowing a guest into the crew area to help him with the American family’s presentation but still, we were all clutching straws, hoping he wouldn’t go. All our hopes were officially dashed when Stu came in to confirm what we all knew deep down.

Helping Stu pack his suitcase seemed almost unreal. Knocking on David’s door, we asked for some more help. Jomar, the BM (replacing Reuben) was supervising Stuart. It was ludicrous that Stu had to be supervised by a manager at all times like a freaking criminal. What for? We're on a ship!

As the news began to sink in, so did the anger. Half upset and half angry, I couldn’t believe Stu could be so bloody stupid and let some guest into the crew area, our photographer's corridor. Ever since I got to the ship Stu has been training me, pointing out what you can and can’t do. If I did get something wrong, I’d have him on my case like a rash. Now he was the one who had not only done something wrong but gone against one of Royal Caribbean’s zero tolerance policies, allowing one of the Honeymoon guests in to our area, and got the sack.

I think the one thing that annoyed and upset me the most was that he put the guests first. Since those superficial, surgerically enhanced American, "Honeymooners"arrived on the ship, Stu has been putting them first. Now, because of them, he's packing his case and leaving us, leaving our photog team.

Stu popped into my cabin. I didn’t really know what to say. I did have plenty of questions though. The main question being “Why? Why be so stupid for guests?" When I asked he didn’t seem to have much to say which left me more confused than before. Guests are just that, guests. They come and go, they aren't your friends. Why put guests first when your team and friends are warning you against it?

Stu told me to finish my contract, save some money, get a flight to South Africa and stay with him. See South Africa and what the country has to offer. Although Stu was upset he was about being fired and leaving us, he wasn’t too bothered about leaving to a certain extent. He was going home, he could fly to Saudi to see his Dad and things on the ship hadn’t been going as he’d planned.

Sitting around in the photographer’s corridor waiting for 12.00 when Stu would disembark from the ship was painful. I was constantly checking my watch. The time was going slowly, which should’ve been a good thing, but this felt like Stu was on Death Row and we were waiting for him to get strapped in the chair!!

Luci, now supervising Stuart, was sitting on the photographer's corridor crying her eyes out. She can't believe how stupid he's been. He ran after the rich American, plastic family as if they were God's gift to Earth... now he was leaving with nothing, except an earful of false promises from them. Was Stu just following the scent of money and a better way of life?

The time came for Stu to leave. Picking up his bags, Luci and I walked Stu to the taxi. Saying goodbye was so hard it was untrue. None of us wanted Stu to go. He seemed fine with it though, he didn’t see going home as a bad thing. Luci and I were left hugging each other, crying our eyes out as we watched taxi drove off. Turning a corner and Stu was gone. He'd left us. Gone.

Getting back onto the ship, I had to gather my things and start shooting embarkation straight away. Walking into the photographer’s corridor knowing that Stu wouldn’t come back made us feel more and more like hell.   

All of a sudden we saw someone in Stu’s cabin. An Indian guy had moved in for the night. This was taking the biscuit… in fact, it took the whole packet! Stu had only disembarked 10 minutes ago and already someone had moved into his cabin. His bed probably wasn’t even cold and someone new was going to be sleeping there. It seemed unfair, even if that is the way the cookie crumbles.

Shooting embarkation was tedious. We had a different set up to the usual and it wasn’t working. Our backdrops were irrelevant to the ship and it seemed almost pointless. The guests this cruise are going to be difficult. Two guests had a go at me for not wanting their photo taken. “Why should we have our photo taken for facial recognition? We won’t buy any photos” “We’ll do it later” “We don’t need facial recognition”… I lost my temper, so holding back the urge to tell the lady where the hell to go, I smiled as much as I could and using as much sarcasm as I could muster told her “ok then, gooood luck finding your photos then” before turning my back to her. Fede seemed shocked and told me to calm down and not to take things so personally.

While smudging and shooting an Argentinian lady started shouting at me that she didn’t want her photo taken. I told her, if she doesn’t want a photo then go. Still she stood their shouting at me so I asked her to move out of my studio (yes, she was standing in front of my backdrop). The lady told me what I was doing was a farce as never before has she had a security photo taken on a backdrop. I explained it wasn’t for security but for our facial recognition programme but still she carried on running her mouth. Through gritted teeth I snarled “look, I’m only doing my job. If you don’t want a photo then get out of my studio. The ship is that way” and pointed to the ship’s gangway. She said she was going to complain about me… which she probably will.

Jomar came out to tell me he was changing my emergency card again. This is the third time I’ve changed card in one cruise! I was taking over Jeni’s place which means I now have to attend pax drills. 

Pax drills are emergency drills at the start of every cruise to show guests how to put on their life jackets, where the assemble and we also have to launch a life board. So Jeni, if you are reading… THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENT!!!!

Later on, I was working in the gallery. I spent an hour talking to a lady who had lost two Sony cameras in a day. One she left in the hotel’s safe and the second in a taxi, yet it was our fault that we didn’t sell Sony cameras or a camera like hers, or with the price tag that took her fancy. There’s no satisfying some people. In the end her husband called to say he had found one of the lost Sony cameras. Her reply, directed at me, was infuriating “Thank God I’ve had some good news for today because you’re selection of cameras is terrible”. My reply: you should’ve seen the camera selection we had two cruises a go (we had two cameras)!

In the end I sold another lady a Canon 100HS compact camera. It was quite tricky trying to sell someone something when you have another guests trying to influence her about our cameras… even though she admitted to being an amateur. She was however an expert on prices though! All our cameras are apparently overpriced etc. When I tried to explain that we don’t guarantee the price but do guarantee the quality as all our cameras come direct from the manufacturer, they both told me they didn’t care where the camera came from. All they cared about was the price! Fair point.

Once the owner of the Sony camera had finally gone I got on with what I was supposed to do. Gallery wipe down. Along with the new girl, Camila from Brazil, we had to remove all the photos from the previous cruise. 

Starting at opposite ends of the gallery, I opened a panel only to find photos of Stu and I, working on the gangway in Rhodes. Clearing away the photos is normally a straight forward job, mainly because you know they’ll be taken again on another cruise. Taking down Stu’s knight in shining amour was so upsetting. The photos were the last gangway he’ do with us and in many ways it seemed wrong taking them down. 

Taking a few of the best photos, I went into the office where Luci was working. She told me I had to bin the photos as she couldn’t look at “this big bubaloo”, I could however take a couple of the best for our cabin’s photo wall. If I said I managed to rip all the photos off the panels with dry eyes, I’d be lying through my teeth! 

Luci came out to see how I was getting on with wipe down. I came across America’s superficial, real life Barbie and Ken (the parents of the American family). Making a comment to Luci about them (which I won’t repeat) she had tears in her eyes and told me to tear up the photo as she couldn’t look at the manipulating plastic people who she felt were mainly responsible for Stu leaving. 

Ripping up their photos into tiny shreds actually gave me some sort of sick satisfaction. If only there was some kind of voodoo involved… could you imagine all the collagen, hair extensions and silicone flying all over the place!!??

Luci asked me to come up to SOB after work. We had to welcome the new girl but also have a drink for Stu and ourselves. “Come on Lou, we deserve a drink”. Deal! 

Finishing up, most of the photogs went up to SOB for a drink for Stu and Jeni. To make a joke out of Stu’s untimely exit, I cut up one of the Pizza Chef photos from Naples and taped it to a wooden stirrer I’d got from the staff mess. Stu was coming up to SOB for a drink!! 

Showing it to the rest of the team, they all started laughing along with a few cheers! A couple of the guys gave me a hug and kiss on the head before shaking their heads and laughing at me. At least it was getting a laugh! Getting the camera out and taking a few photos with Stu had people smiling and in some cases holding back tears. 

Knowing how close I was to Stu, the other photographers rallied around making sure both Luci and I were alright. They were all saying “you’ve still got us”. It makes you realize that even minus a huge part of the team, I’m lucky to have these guys as friends and team mates!!

When I got back to the photographer’s corridor I automatically checked Stu and Zoran’s door to see if it was unlocked. I nearly went in to say goodnight to someone who wasn’t even on the ship. It was just something I automatically did. 

Climbing into bed, it seemed unreal Stu wasn’t around. Some of the things Stu had said were floating through my mind. Thinking about the invite to go to South Africa at the end of my contract, it would be great… but I’ll see if they offer is still in place still stands in three months’ time. After all, time does change things.

At one point Stu had told me getting fired was just another part of his life story and a new experience was about to begin. Stu, maybe you’re right. Maybe this is a new experience, the start of something new and a continuation of your life story… in a way we are happy that you are going home, if it’s what you wanted. In a way we are being selfish as we didn’t want you to make an untimely departure, we wanted you to stick around for longer. So, yeah, maybe you are right… but you can’t expect us to like how this chapter of your life story ended…

Photographer's Corridor Party - 7th June - Jeni Getting a Hair Cut! Sandra, Jeni, Stu & Luci

Photographer's Corridor Party - Jeni

Stu Chopping Away at Jeni's Hair

Leaving the Mariner of the Seas Photog Team: Jeni & Stuart

"WHY? WHY DID YOU DO IT? WHAT THE FUCK MAN?!" (Zoran)