Team Work
23rd July 2011
As predicted, getting up after 4.5 hours sleep was a nightmare. I nearly fell back to sleep.
Dragging my clothes on I had to make sure Zoran was out of bed and I was hoping he was in a relatively sober state. He was. Fabio was far from it.
As promised I went down to the Crew Laundry to pick up the Gladiator costume for Zoran. The Indonesian guys from Laundry asked if I was going to be wearing the costume on gangway. When I said no, it was for a guy, they looked shocked before laughing. They thought I was joking as the Gladiator outfit is a burgundy velvet looking mini-dress. The lads rolled up laughing when I assured them a guy was wearing it as a girl couldn’t be a gladiator.
Dragging my clothes on I had to make sure Zoran was out of bed and I was hoping he was in a relatively sober state. He was. Fabio was far from it.
As promised I went down to the Crew Laundry to pick up the Gladiator costume for Zoran. The Indonesian guys from Laundry asked if I was going to be wearing the costume on gangway. When I said no, it was for a guy, they looked shocked before laughing. They thought I was joking as the Gladiator outfit is a burgundy velvet looking mini-dress. The lads rolled up laughing when I assured them a guy was wearing it as a girl couldn’t be a gladiator.
Heading back upstairs I passed the costume onto Zoran. Fabio was rolling around in bed talking crap. Fabio called me in to explain where my new emergency point is. Yesterday I had to change emergency cards with him because I didn’t speak Italian. There go my hopes of driving the life boat haha!
Next Fabio started telling us about going to find his son. His son!? He said he had a son in Genoa, because about four years ago he was in dry dock and met a girl there. I told him it didn’t necessarily mean he had a son and to go back to sleep. His slurred reply was “No, I know I have a son because me and this girl did a lot of things together… a lot. Yeah man. I don’t know if I have a son, but I know I have a son. I’m going to be a great Dad and show my son how to smoke marijuana but only the good stuff”. This had us rolling up laughing at his drunken blabber. He didn’t know what the hell he was on about and to be quite honest, neither did we! Zoran and I went along with it and started winding him up. If and when he finally sobered up without topping himself up on drink, we’d remind him of everything and use it to our advantage… another good laugh at his expense!
Camila was fuming, sitting on the floor, shouting at Fabio to shut up! I don't know if she was jealous or had simply lost her patience with Fabio, but her reaction just made Zoran and I, play up more and contiune to wind Fabio up!
Next Fabio started telling us about going to find his son. His son!? He said he had a son in Genoa, because about four years ago he was in dry dock and met a girl there. I told him it didn’t necessarily mean he had a son and to go back to sleep. His slurred reply was “No, I know I have a son because me and this girl did a lot of things together… a lot. Yeah man. I don’t know if I have a son, but I know I have a son. I’m going to be a great Dad and show my son how to smoke marijuana but only the good stuff”. This had us rolling up laughing at his drunken blabber. He didn’t know what the hell he was on about and to be quite honest, neither did we! Zoran and I went along with it and started winding him up. If and when he finally sobered up without topping himself up on drink, we’d remind him of everything and use it to our advantage… another good laugh at his expense!
Camila was fuming, sitting on the floor, shouting at Fabio to shut up! I don't know if she was jealous or had simply lost her patience with Fabio, but her reaction just made Zoran and I, play up more and contiune to wind Fabio up!
Come 07.00 we were heading onto the gangway. Hernan was in costume with Camila shooting. Zoran was also a Gladiator and teamed up with me. I always have a laugh with Zoran on gangway so I was pleased we were teamed up together. As Camila is slow at shooting, Zoran and I took the tours gangway. We each had a target of 500 images.
Sanela, who was late as usual and shooting the rail, had a 250 target. Would she get it? Probably not. Would we hit our target? Maybe not… but we were going to have a bloody good go at it!
Sanela, who was late as usual and shooting the rail, had a 250 target. Would she get it? Probably not. Would we hit our target? Maybe not… but we were going to have a bloody good go at it!
Soon Zoran and I were clocking up our image count. Hernan and Camila came over to the tours gangway complaining there was no one coming out on their side. We told them to stand back a little and work the tour side too. There’s very little point having two of the same costumes standing right next to each other. So during the rush they were catching the people we missed or slipped passed us.
Guests from a one day cruise were disembarking from Deck 4. We were wondering why the hell the gangway on Deck 1 was so deserted. It was unusual. We took it in turns to have a 15 minute break before Zoran and I had a walk around the ship.
Coming out onto the deck, there was a terrace area leading off the exit from Deck 4. We headed up and started smudging. Security had told us that the passengers getting off the ship were disembarking… that wasn’t entirely true. Guests going out for the day were also using the Deck 4 gangway. Hernan and Camila came back from their break and took over from us. Again Zoran and I went for a walk around the ship. In the end we positioned ourselves out on the deck where two lines on guests were merging into one before heading down to the terrace where Hernan and Camila were.
Coming out onto the deck, there was a terrace area leading off the exit from Deck 4. We headed up and started smudging. Security had told us that the passengers getting off the ship were disembarking… that wasn’t entirely true. Guests going out for the day were also using the Deck 4 gangway. Hernan and Camila came back from their break and took over from us. Again Zoran and I went for a walk around the ship. In the end we positioned ourselves out on the deck where two lines on guests were merging into one before heading down to the terrace where Hernan and Camila were.
One of the great things about working with Zoran is that we both want to have a laugh and have each other running around like blue arse flies. All wasn’t plain sailing though. Hernan and Camila got annoyed with us being on Deck 4 complaining we were taking all the counts even though there were two queues of people going down to them. We were only working one side where they had both sets of traffic.
Zoran and I finally reached our target with 45 minutes to go. Checking how the others were doing, we did a few calculations. Each of us needed to get 40 images more to hit the overall 1,000 target. Zoran and I, rather than going in, started running around like crazy, grabbing people, pulling them in for a photo.
Zoran and I finally reached our target with 45 minutes to go. Checking how the others were doing, we did a few calculations. Each of us needed to get 40 images more to hit the overall 1,000 target. Zoran and I, rather than going in, started running around like crazy, grabbing people, pulling them in for a photo.
Hernan was still pissed and stormed back onto the ship 10 minutes early saying he was done. We were nearly at the 1,000 target and only needed 30 images more. Camila was complaining that we were being unfair for not “sharing” the guests with them. This wasn’t a playground! I tried to tell her that if she wanted to speak to me, then to do it later, not while I’m working, taking photos and smudging guests in. She wouldn’t have it.
Stopping we told her that we hit our target and therefore could have left the gangway but, we didn’t. We carried on working so both costumes would have a total of 1,000 images. How was that unfair? We also told her that Zoran and I hit the target because we were working together as a team. Gangway is about team work. Zoran, who was in costume, was doing the most smudging. Costumes are the main smudgers. Having said that, the shooter still needs to help smudging the guests in.
Camila had the audacity to tell us we were wrong and only the costumes smudge. The shooters just take the photos. This wasn’t the first time we’d been told how to do our jobs by Camila, a new hire. Turning to her, I pointed out that she was a new hire and although Zoran and I had only been on the Mariner for 2.5-3.5 months, we were P2 and in our short stints on the ships knew more about working as a ship’s photographer than she did. Camila was only in her 3rd week!! We weren’t having a go, we’re trying to help and explain the way things are to her as she’s new. The last thing we expected was for her to storm off crying her eyes out!!
Stopping we told her that we hit our target and therefore could have left the gangway but, we didn’t. We carried on working so both costumes would have a total of 1,000 images. How was that unfair? We also told her that Zoran and I hit the target because we were working together as a team. Gangway is about team work. Zoran, who was in costume, was doing the most smudging. Costumes are the main smudgers. Having said that, the shooter still needs to help smudging the guests in.
Camila had the audacity to tell us we were wrong and only the costumes smudge. The shooters just take the photos. This wasn’t the first time we’d been told how to do our jobs by Camila, a new hire. Turning to her, I pointed out that she was a new hire and although Zoran and I had only been on the Mariner for 2.5-3.5 months, we were P2 and in our short stints on the ships knew more about working as a ship’s photographer than she did. Camila was only in her 3rd week!! We weren’t having a go, we’re trying to help and explain the way things are to her as she’s new. The last thing we expected was for her to storm off crying her eyes out!!
Zoran and I were determined to get the target and stayed on. Everyone else had gone inside. Within 12 minutes we had hit the overall target and surpassed it with 677 images! Leaving the gangway in good spirits and a huge smack of a high five we headed to the staff mess with about 1,080 images between us. We’d smashed the target!!!
Going back to the cabins, I heard Hernan’s music. The thought of going in to talk to him crossed my mind but I left it. I knew the real reason why he was upset and annoyed and it had very little to do with gangway. The previous night he’d broken up with his girlfriend, Eve and was still upset about it. I won’t say why it happened but as they say… ship happens!
Jumping in the shower, I stuffed my laptop and camera into my bag. Luci was shouting at me to hurry up and get ready! Yelling back, she laughed saying “Lou, you are so cute. You are like my daughter!” It is a bit of a mother-daughter relationship with me and Luci now. She yells at me for not being ready to go out when I’ve just come back from work, even though she’s been off all morning. She yells, I yell back, often reminding her the more she yells at me, the longer I’ll take to get ready.
Finally, Camila arrived at the cabin. None of us had been to Genoa before so we had no idea what to expect. Walking around, we found a cheap supermarket so we all popped in for juice, coca-cola and a few snacks.
Genoa is a nice city, don’t get me wrong, but it’s at the bottom of the list. If we’d just gone straight to Genoa, we’d have loved it but after all the places we’ve seen while working on the ship, we didn’t find anything special about it.
Taking photos as we went along, we were trying to find a place to use the internet. I wanted to call the parents and Becks.
Time was ticking and it wasn’t long until Luci and Camila had to go back to the ship. I carried on walking around and within another 5 minutes found a pizzeria where there was free wifi. The internet was fast and there wasn’t a single crew member around. Bliss!
There was another message from Stu, he was still doing good and going back into the wilderness again. He hadn’t uploaded any photos from his previous trip. The parents weren’t online because of the time difference. This is something I tend to forget about! About five minutes before I left I was getting attacked by bees and I’m not kidding! The buggers were all after my can of coke. Quickly sending a message to my Dad, it was time for me to leave…. Quickly!
Genoa is a nice city, don’t get me wrong, but it’s at the bottom of the list. If we’d just gone straight to Genoa, we’d have loved it but after all the places we’ve seen while working on the ship, we didn’t find anything special about it.
Taking photos as we went along, we were trying to find a place to use the internet. I wanted to call the parents and Becks.
Time was ticking and it wasn’t long until Luci and Camila had to go back to the ship. I carried on walking around and within another 5 minutes found a pizzeria where there was free wifi. The internet was fast and there wasn’t a single crew member around. Bliss!
There was another message from Stu, he was still doing good and going back into the wilderness again. He hadn’t uploaded any photos from his previous trip. The parents weren’t online because of the time difference. This is something I tend to forget about! About five minutes before I left I was getting attacked by bees and I’m not kidding! The buggers were all after my can of coke. Quickly sending a message to my Dad, it was time for me to leave…. Quickly!
Walking around for a little while longer, I spotted the Bio-sphere on the docks. I remembered seeing it while looking through photos on Flickr.com. It looked a lot more impressive in the photos though. Situated near the aquarium is an enormous pirate’s ship which wouldn’t have looked out of place in a Pirates of the Caribbean film!
Back on the ship, I had an hour to sleep before shooting casual Ressi. After casual ressi I was in the gallery for a while before shooting on LSP.
LSP wasn’t as dead as it was the previous night but it was far from busy. Either way, I got some good shots which, for me, was the most important factor. By the time we finished up it was 1am. We all had to pop down to the lab to collect the schedule.
LSP wasn’t as dead as it was the previous night but it was far from busy. Either way, I got some good shots which, for me, was the most important factor. By the time we finished up it was 1am. We all had to pop down to the lab to collect the schedule.
In true tradition with Jomar’s schedules, there was a problem. Zoran and Hernan were due to be on gangway in costume… only problem was, we didn’t have the costume for the occasion! Ritesh changed the costumes to sailors. Zoran was too tall to wear the sailor’s outfit so I had to swap with him. Instead of shooting, I was now the sailor. Last time I was sailor there was a complaint so I’d better watch myself this time…
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