The Day Has Arrived

The Day Has Arrived

26^th October 2011

All times are GMT +2

At 06.30 the phone started ringing, it was security to make sure I was okay. Trying to sleep was almost impossible and at 07.00 I decided to get the ball rolling in preparation to sign off. One thing is for sure, I’ve never had a hangover quite like this one and boy, do I feel rough!!

By the look of the queue outside HR (Human Resources) I wasn’t the only one who wanted to get things done and dusted with. Half way to the desk I started waddling and going dizzy. Leaving the queue I went and sat on the stairs. Kieron, the Cruise Director, took one look at me and asked if I was okay, before adding “you were on the lash last night weren’t you?” I’ve never nearly fainted from having a hangover before! Once back on my feet and in the line, I was lucky enough to skip the queue for being a concessionary. 

By 08.00 I was in the staff mess trying to stomach some food. Complete fail. Even the orange juice was too much me to handle even though I felt completely dehydrated. That’ll teach me to drink too much!

09.00 - time was slowly ticking by and soon the other photographers would have to start work. Their schedules are absolutely unbelievable. Normally one person signs off and we all have to club in together and do the extra work. Today though, three of us were signing off and the remaining six (D the new hire has training all day) would have to cover for four people! They start work at 09.30 and don’t get a break until

16.00-16.30. The team is going to be completely shattered by the end of embarkation and they still have two sessions of ressi to shoot.

I rang Reuben, I still hadn’t heard from him as promised. He wasn’t in the gallery this morning either. Reuben was supposed to meet Hernan, David and I in the morning with our wages. No show. He said he’d call me back as he was in the middle of something. No call back.

09.15 – Hernan was getting impatient. I was getting worried I’d have to leave without my wages. David was getting more and more aggravated. Svenja, Ashleigh, Eve and Whitney came into the corridor to say goodbye to us all before having to start work. Whitney was in floods of tears. Eve managed to just about hold it together while saying bye to Hernan.

The hardest part of the morning was saying bye to Sandra. I couldn’t say bye to her. I had to tell her I’d see her later. Within no time we were both in floods of tears. It’s been a great 3 months living with Sandra in our little cubby hole of a cabin. There was never a single argument or ill feeling between us. We shared everything and worked well together. Sandra even made our cabin a homemade sofa-chair!!! It’s quite hard to explain but even though I only lived with Sandra for such a short period of time, it felt like I’d been living with her for over six months. You get to know the person inside out and she became more like a sister than cabin mate/colleague. Whoever was moving into my cabin is going to be one lucky girl!

It was time for me to go. I was leaving at 10.00, before Hernan and David who were leaving at 14.00. It didn’t seem right leaving without Hernan, the person I came to see and nicknamed my “hermanastro”. With a bear hug, kiss on the head he told me we’ll see each other soon, in Uruguay or Argentina.

09:30 – Reuben still hadn’t sorted out the wages or how much I was owed. Why? I have no idea but this was getting ridiculous. I needed to be in the Conference Centre in 15 minutes to get my passport and disembark.

Finally he found out I was owed $381. $20 needed to be removed for the team activity to the Dead Sea. A further $10  had to be discounted for Hernan and David’s leaving presents. Reuben then informed me that he didn’t actually have any cash on him to pay me. This was becoming a joke. Reuben headed out the gallery office and down to his cabin. He was going to pay my wages out of his own money. He'd be repaid once Finance had released the money for the rest of the team.

09:55 – OK, I’m finally in the Conference Centre with my wages safely in my pocket. Five minutes later and my passport in hand, I was ready to go. Anna (Spa) who’s resigned and Darren (Housekeeping Manager) were leaving at the same time as me.

Soon we were on our way down to the gangway to disembark and quickly saying bye to security. I’m going to miss the security lot. You get to know them quite well when gangways are slow and we all have a little chant and a bit of banter.

I could see the photographers setting up for embarkation. Sandra had sunglasses on to cover her eyes. I quickly ran ahead of the others to get to the photographers. There were more hugs going around – and more tears.

Inside the terminal we all grabbed our suitcases and headed towards the two buses waiting outside. By 10:30 we were on our way to Rome’s Fiumicino Airport. Darren, Anna and I were on the same bus together and flying out of the same terminal. It was good to be traveling with friends.

11:35 – We’ve arrived at the airport. Anna’s leaving first so the three of us are going in search for her check-in desk. After waiting nearly an hour she finally got to the front of the queue only to be told that she wasn’t on the system. Typical of Anna, she hadn’t printed off her flight details and the HR staff hadn’t either, like they were supposed to.The only solution was to buy another ticket! None of us had ever heard something so ridiculous!

13:00 – We’ve had lunch at McDonald’s and Darren bought us all a chocolate bar for “dessert”. Anna’s finally got another flight ticket after being told to come back to the travel agency in 10 minutes as the lady behind the desk was too busy to attend her. Darren and I are off to check our luggage in.

13:30 – Darren’s luggage is checked in. Mine cannot be checked in until 16.05 as my flight isn’t due to depart until 18.45. We’ve just bumped into four other crew members – all from Brazil. One has two over weight suitcases. How she over packed to such an extent I’ll never know. Their baggage allowance: two suitcases of up to 25 kilos each, plus one hand luggage. The total weight of her suitcase was 15kilos over the allowed weight!! Opening her suitcase and she had so much inside – mainly booze!

Four 750ml bottles of Absolut vodka weren’t going to make it to their destination.

We’re now sitting outside McDonald’s on the airport floor. There are eight of us in total but Anna’s leaving soon to catch her flight. A round of soft drinks have been bought from McD’s and they’re all topping them up with 50% vodka. Hair off the dog’s back – Good luck to them! I’m sticking with the soft drinks minus vodka. I don’t think my alcohol abused body can take anymore. My hangover is ebbing  away but will no doubt come back with a vengeance if I have another drop!! 

16:00 – Anna’s left. Darren and I are going to check my luggage in. Afterwards, Darren will be heading off towards his gate. On the way down to the gate we bumped into David who got the 14.00 bus to the airport. He was going to McDonald’s so I said I’m meet him there once I’d checked my luggage in.

My luggage is finally checked in. My boarding time is 18.25. Said goodbye to Darren – hopefully I’ll see him again soon on another ship.

16:15 – Back with David and we’re strolling around the airport aimlessly. It’s not long until we have to make a move.

16:40 – We’re off! We’re giving ourselves plenty of time to get through security. Walking through the tinted doors towards security we were grateful we’d given ourselves time. The security operation was an utter shambles. The  queues were enormous! This may take a while...

35 minutes later and we’re finally through security. Not as bad as I thought it would be. David and I had to go separate ways after security. Saying bye knowing I will probably not see him again was hard. He’s resigning so there’s no chance I’ll be seeing him on a cruise ship again. Maybe one day I’ll have to go to South Africa to visit Stu, Whitney and David. Unless David goes to Brazil.

Just sitting outside my gate, typing. I’ve had a wander around and even found a smoking room. Both Italy and Germany have smoking areas… so why did England, Spain and France abolish them?

18:00 – Only another 25 minutes until boarding. I’ve been at Fiumicino Airport for 6.5 hours now. Most have already departed and flying home. The odd few of us left have split and are waiting at our gates.

If everything went to plan, Anna should have arrived in Barcelona.

21.00 – My flight from Rome to Munich was slightly delayed which gave me 20 minutes to get to my gate. I pegged it to the gate! How I made it on time, I don’t know. Luckily boarding is delayed by 10 minutes. Phew!! So, I made it but the big question is… did my luggage? Oh and what ever happened to free internet hotspots in airports? 

Darren should have landed in Germany by now.

Time to board. Next stop: Sao Paulo, Brazil.

22:00 - we’re on the plane and up in the air. There was a slight delay due to the fog in Munich.

From Madrid to La Palma we had terrible turbulence and a couple of air pockets where the plane felt like it was going to drop out the sky all together. Sod Image for not extending me to do the Transatlantic… I hate flying!!

23:30 – Just had a good giggle! You know when you’re on your way home when the flight attendant asks you the famous question:

Chicken or Beef?