Cruising The Seven Seas: Last Timers at Messina

Last Timers

29^th June 2011

Once again we are back in Messina, Sicily, but this time it’ll be our last.

Hernan thankfully woke me up this morning. The alarm did go off but I just couldn’t be bothered to get out of bed and fell back to sleep.

Hurrying to get ready, I grabbed my camera gear and then realized I’d borrowed my second memory card to Zoran. My main memory card was in the lab. Shit!

Hernan was running towards the lab with 10 minutes to spare because he didn’t have his costume for the gangway! What a nightmare!

For once I wasn’t dressing up. On this particular occasion I was shooting David who was dressed up as a Pizza Chef. This is the first time I’d seen anyone other than Stu and Hernan as the Pizza Chef. David certainly has the personality to pull it off though. It just didn’t seem right not having Stu around shouting out Italian phrases he’d learnt from Fabio.

Hernan was dressed up as a Sailor with Zoran shooting him. The Sailor and Zoran were first on pool decks before heading to the gangway. David and I were in the Lotus Lounge waiting for the tours to exit before joining Hernan and Zoran outside.

Each shooter had to reach a target of 400 images. If and when they got their target, they’d be able to finish up so David and I were on a mission. By the time we were due to head out to the gangway we already had 176 images. Problems arrived when David couldn’t find his shore pass! South Africans need shore passes for pretty much every country we travel to.

On Jomar’s orders Zoran ran back onto the ship to change into David’s outfit. If David found his shore pass then he’d return as a shooter. I was now teamed up with Hernan. Working on the gangway with Hernan can be frustrating if I’m honest. He’s very chilled and laid back. He’d quite happily walk around, talking to guests and crew while letting everyone walk past. I was smudging as best as I could while Hernan simply stood there, looking around. If guests were coming off the ship, he’s come and stand at my side to talk to me rather than standing in position in front of the camera to get a photo with the guests. I was losing patience and didn’t want to keep telling him to stand in the way of the gangway exit and smudge. He joined at the same time as me so it doesn’t seem right to tell him what to do. Usually when I’m a character I will just put my arm around people and almost pull them in for a photo. Hernan wouldn’t do that, he didn’t seem to want to smudge so it was left to me. I was determined, almost desperate to get 400 images so we could finish work early and go out. In the end, it wasn’t meant to be. Jomar came out to see how many images we had 45 minutes before we were due to finished. David and Zoran had about 280 while I had 332. We did however get to leave gangway 45 minutes early though!

After jumping in the shower and grabbing my things I headed out in search of something to eat and the internet. As it was the last time we’d be coming to Messina, I stuffed my Canon SLR in my bag.

Bumping into some of the Brazilian shoppies, I joined them at the bar on the plaza (Dolce Vita). The internet connection was diabolical so we packed up and moved to a place down the road. The internet was so much better there, unfortunately they didn’t do food.

An hour or so later, I got a message from Hernan, he was on Facebook, therefore off the ship. He and David were at the plaza. Packing up again I ran back over to the bar on the plaza to join them for pizza. Still the internet was slow even though there was hardly anyone in the bar. Taking a few photos and having a giggle, we decided to go for a walk around. David was determined to get to The Foot Locker.

I went for the bill, walking back to the table something didn’t seem right. All three of us went over the bill and then it clicked. Only half of what was on the bill was ours. We don’t know where the other half came from but there was no way we were paying €65 for 2 pizzas and 5 coca-colas.

Taking the bill back inside, I told the guy behind the counter that the bill wasn’t ours. He automatically pulled out another bill with 2 pizzas and 5 coca-colas for €32. The guy didn’t say a word, just handed me the new bill. With what’s been going on for the past couple of days I wasn’t in the mood to take any shite from a bunch of Italian waiters. Looking more than a little miffed the guy said “ok, so this is your bill”.

After paying, as I was walking out the guy had the audacity to call out “thank you, see you soon”… Was he having a tin bath?? Turning around, I just laughed at the waiter and shook my head before walking out. Would you go back to a place where the people working there try and charge you double?? I might be blonde but my grey cells do function!

We had our photos taken in the plaza before Hernan got it into his head that he wanted to do something a little different. Asking David to take his photo, Hernan stood in front of the church, with plenty of American guests around, he pulled his pants down, mooning at the camera. David was able to compose himself enough to take the shot before we were all rolling around laughing. An American guy was standing nearby, watching us with a disgusted look on his face. That just made us roll up more! That and David’s laugh!

Walking around a few places Hernan had more photos taken of his hairy arse. Just thinking about it while writing this is making me crack up. I’ve gotta get the photos from him and upload some to the blog.

We didn’t get time to go to Foot Locker as we couldn’t remember when we all had to work. We made it back to the ship with an hour to spare (we found this out when we got into the photographer’s corridor and checked the schedule on the wall). Rather than going out again, David went to sleep and I joined Hernan in his cabin. He was blasting his music and singing while I took the chance to update my blog.

Today, I was calmer about Stu leaving. Don’t get me wrong, I was still upset and angry about what had happened. Still, you can’t change the past so I tried focusing on the good times. Without a doubt I couldn’t have asked for a better person to train me, no matter how severely he kicked my arse over the smallest things. So yes, I was lucky enough to work with someone like Stu, even if it was for a short period of time. He was a great co-worker as well as trainer.

On a personal level, Stu was a fantastic friend who always gave us a laugh or something to smile about. No matter how bad things were, or how much I tried not to, I couldn’t ever resist laughing at the dancing eyebrows (if you know Stu, you’ll know what I’m on about). It’s better to have the experience than not have it at all. Without a doubt Stu will be successful in whatever he does, whether he goes back to working on ships or commercial diving, I don’t know. I’m guessing it’ll be commercial diving though.

Either way, I hope to see him again soon. Maybe it’ll be in England, maybe South Africa… or maybe another port on the opposite side of the globe. Until then, take care of yourself and good luck with everything that you do. Even though I’ve said it before, thank you for everything that you did for me while on the ship. I couldn’t have asked for a better trainer and friend… now, don’t let this go to your head Geez or I’ll have to knock you down a peg or two.

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