Countdown
1st October 2011
The countdown has started! Well, I say started, it hit me on 26th September that I’d be leaving in a month but I wasn’t really counting. If guests asked how long I had left until my vacation I’d simply reply “one month”.
Now that I have my flight booked and a definite sign off date, I’m starting to look forward to going home. Beforehand, I was more than happy to extend and do the transatlantic.
It’s been great sharing a cabin with Sandra and having Zoran next door. We’ve become closer to Zoran since Fabio left. Having him leaning against the door frame or sitting on our cabin floor during the evening has become a bit of a habit. Sandra, Zoran and I sit about in the cabin, nattering and having a laugh before calling it a night.
Nowadays, with SOB closed, there’s only Back Deck to go to during the evening. It's dark, the music is loud and normally it's so busy you can't get a sea. SOB was quiter, more comfortable with a pool table and board games. It was the place to go to have a drink and unwind.
It’s been great sharing a cabin with Sandra and having Zoran next door. We’ve become closer to Zoran since Fabio left. Having him leaning against the door frame or sitting on our cabin floor during the evening has become a bit of a habit. Sandra, Zoran and I sit about in the cabin, nattering and having a laugh before calling it a night.
Nowadays, with SOB closed, there’s only Back Deck to go to during the evening. It's dark, the music is loud and normally it's so busy you can't get a sea. SOB was quiter, more comfortable with a pool table and board games. It was the place to go to have a drink and unwind.
A couple of people have told me that you don’t away count the days. Instead you count the events, which is true. I have 26 days left to go… to us, that means two embarkation days, two pax drills and 6 more formal nights!
It’s going to be so sad saying bye to the team – especially Zoran, Hernan and Sandra. No doubt there’ll be tears but I’m looking forward to seeing my parents, sleeping in a proper bed you can stretch out in, relaxing and not having to wake up to the alarm clock every morning!! No doubt I’ll soon miss the hustle and bustle, always-on-the-go lifestyle of the ship but it’s better to miss it and want to go back than feeling like you’ve spent too much time on board.
It’s going to be so sad saying bye to the team – especially Zoran, Hernan and Sandra. No doubt there’ll be tears but I’m looking forward to seeing my parents, sleeping in a proper bed you can stretch out in, relaxing and not having to wake up to the alarm clock every morning!! No doubt I’ll soon miss the hustle and bustle, always-on-the-go lifestyle of the ship but it’s better to miss it and want to go back than feeling like you’ve spent too much time on board.
I think most of all, I’m going to miss Sandra, as I said before, living with her has been great fun. In many ways we’re very similar while completely different. Sandra’s a great photographer who wants to follow a path down the commercial side of photography, like I do.
With a bit of luck she’ll put in a request to come to Disney Wonder. If she doesn’t, or Image don’t send her to the ship, she’s always more than welcome to jump on a flight down to Uruguay for a couple of weeks.
With a bit of luck she’ll put in a request to come to Disney Wonder. If she doesn’t, or Image don’t send her to the ship, she’s always more than welcome to jump on a flight down to Uruguay for a couple of weeks.
Back to reality. Today we’re back in Sicily. Usually we dock in Messina, Sicily. Palermo is a bit of a dump, if I’m honest!
This morning, I was on gangway with Hernan who was dressed up as an Italian pizza chef. We only had a two hour stint as we’re doing an all-day gangway so the costume is getting split between three people – Hernan the Argentinian chef, Leandro the Japanese-Brazilian-Portuguese-Indonesian (the possibilities of his nationality are endless!) and Alex the Belarusian chef.
Hernan and I managed to get 100 photos in the first hour which wasn’t that bad considering how crap this cruise has been. The second hour things went unbelievably slow with endless “no”, “oh that’s okay”, “no thank you” and a couple of rude remarks to which they got some back. The more we think about the cruise, the more you realize that it’s been an utter disaster. The guests have been appalling and not just in the photo department.
Hernan and I managed to get 100 photos in the first hour which wasn’t that bad considering how crap this cruise has been. The second hour things went unbelievably slow with endless “no”, “oh that’s okay”, “no thank you” and a couple of rude remarks to which they got some back. The more we think about the cruise, the more you realize that it’s been an utter disaster. The guests have been appalling and not just in the photo department.
Hernan’s been down in the dumps because he can’t book a flight home. A couple of days ago he’d found a flight from Paris to Buenos Aires for around $600. Hernan wanted me to book his flight on my credit card and pay me in cash. That month I’d booked my flight so I was near my credit limit. I gave it a go but wasn't too optermistic. At first we thought it’d gone through but it was later rejected.
For days he’s been bugging me about booking his flight. We’re not sure if the credit card was rejected because I didn’t have an Argentinian documentation number or because the amount surpassed my monthly limit. I didn’t particular want to try my card again in case the bank blocked it.
Sandra and I were asking him how he was going to pay to get from Rome to Belgium, where his cousin lives, to Paris, where some girl he met on the cruise lives. His reply “my credit card”. Why didn’t he use his own credit card? Because he’d max out his own credit card straight away paying for the flight to Argentina and he’s already in debt from over spending.
As selfish as it may sound, I didn’t want to go over my limit (if I could), get charged huge fines and bugger my credit history, especially as I’m looking to buy a house soon where I’ll no doubt need a mortgage. On the other side of things, booking multiple flights from different countries was a sure way of getting my credit card blocked for "security reasons".
For days he’s been bugging me about booking his flight. We’re not sure if the credit card was rejected because I didn’t have an Argentinian documentation number or because the amount surpassed my monthly limit. I didn’t particular want to try my card again in case the bank blocked it.
Sandra and I were asking him how he was going to pay to get from Rome to Belgium, where his cousin lives, to Paris, where some girl he met on the cruise lives. His reply “my credit card”. Why didn’t he use his own credit card? Because he’d max out his own credit card straight away paying for the flight to Argentina and he’s already in debt from over spending.
As selfish as it may sound, I didn’t want to go over my limit (if I could), get charged huge fines and bugger my credit history, especially as I’m looking to buy a house soon where I’ll no doubt need a mortgage. On the other side of things, booking multiple flights from different countries was a sure way of getting my credit card blocked for "security reasons".
Checking the flights yesterday, Hernan was nearly in tears. The flight had doubled. $1,200 from Paris to Buenos Aires. He’s paid me $600 and that was pretty much all he had. Hernan still owed Image $300 and an extra $600 was needed for the flight. With these two week cruises (especially with the one we’re currently on) there’s no way on this Earth that he can make $900 in 26 days.
Although I feel sorry for Hernan, he’s always known he would have to pay for his flight home. It wasn’t sprung on us at the last minute. He’s literally splashed the cash, not been careful and now has nothing to show for it… not even a flight ticket home. Image won’t refund his deposit of $500 to help him pay for his flight. I don’t know what he can do next but either way, he’s got to book a flight soon, if not, he’s going to be paying a heck of a lot more than $1,200!
Although I feel sorry for Hernan, he’s always known he would have to pay for his flight home. It wasn’t sprung on us at the last minute. He’s literally splashed the cash, not been careful and now has nothing to show for it… not even a flight ticket home. Image won’t refund his deposit of $500 to help him pay for his flight. I don’t know what he can do next but either way, he’s got to book a flight soon, if not, he’s going to be paying a heck of a lot more than $1,200!
Speaking to Sandra last night, we were trying to come up with ideas as to what Hernan could do. The only suggestion was that Hernan comes down to planet Earth and forgets about going to France and Belgium. He doesn’t have the money, so the best thing was to scrape whatever he can together to fly home rather than attempting to travel to Belgium and Paris before Argentina. If you can’t pay for the travel, how are you going to have money to spend, even if it’s on the everyday bits and bobs? Let’s face it, Europe isn’t the cheapest place to be, especially if you’re in tourist destinations and/or capital cities. Trying to tell Hernan this is like talking to a brick wall!
After gangway I jumped in the shower and went looking for Hernan to try and sort out his flight (new month, my credit card bill paid and with a clean credit slate) but he was nowhere to be seen. Going outside David and Leandro hasn’t seen him on gangway. David gave me the cabin key in case Hernan was in unconscious state of sleep – which for once, he wasn’t. Giving up, I headed out. I needed some fresh air and to walk around on solid ground for a bit (ground that wasn’t rocking in time with the rough waves).
Leaving the port I bumped into Edi and two other guys from Laundry (I still feel bad about not being able to pronounce their names). They’re like sniffer dogs when it comes down to finding tattoo magazines and cheap Chinese restaurants. Once again, Edi had a tattoo magazine under his arm. What story is behind his next tattoo, I don't know. When I asked, he smiled and said it was a surprise. He’s leaving soon so when I’ll get to see this surprise, I really don’t know either.
Leaving the port I bumped into Edi and two other guys from Laundry (I still feel bad about not being able to pronounce their names). They’re like sniffer dogs when it comes down to finding tattoo magazines and cheap Chinese restaurants. Once again, Edi had a tattoo magazine under his arm. What story is behind his next tattoo, I don't know. When I asked, he smiled and said it was a surprise. He’s leaving soon so when I’ll get to see this surprise, I really don’t know either.
Following the crowd of crew I walked up the busy streets. Of course I had to make a pit stop to grab a magnet or two for Sicily and Palermo. Strolling back I saw a café with a few people sitting outside using their laptops. Bingo! Going inside I ordered a drink and sat down. After a couple of failed attempts to get online, I gave my best attempt in Italian to ask about the internet. It wasn’t working today – wonderful! Oh well, I was still out and about, not enclosed on the ship and could take the time to type up my blog updates and, here I am!
Unfortunately for me, Sandra is on tour and our schedules collide all day so there’s no way of us going out together as we’d originally planned. She’s back from tour at 15:00 while I’m on display at 16:00. When it comes down to work I have a night in the gallery and after formal night it’s always a good thing. We’ll see how it goes though as no one is holding out much hope for this cruise.
We’re dreading seeing how little money we’ll be paid this cruise especially when it’s compared to how hard we’ve worked. Most of us say the same “we don’t mind working like dogs as long as it’s reflected in our wage packets”. It’s incredibly disheartening opening your wage packet to see there’s next to nothing in there, especially when you know you’ve tried your best and worked like bitch. It feels like it’s all for nothing.
We’re dreading seeing how little money we’ll be paid this cruise especially when it’s compared to how hard we’ve worked. Most of us say the same “we don’t mind working like dogs as long as it’s reflected in our wage packets”. It’s incredibly disheartening opening your wage packet to see there’s next to nothing in there, especially when you know you’ve tried your best and worked like bitch. It feels like it’s all for nothing.
There’s not much time before I have to go back to work. I’m going to love and leave you all and have an hours snooze before the night shift. Depending on what time it is in Uruguay I may sacrifice my hours kip to speak to the parents…
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