See You Soon!

See You Soon!

11th December 2011

Well, that’s one contract down! 

Living on a cruise ship is a strange way of life. Back in the real world, it’s a much slower, relaxed environment. This is hammered home when you’re spending your vacations in a country such as Uruguay. Life here moves at a snail’s pace. On ship you’re going at a cheetah’s. When you’ve finished a contract, you see it more as an achievement rather than your usual run-of-the-mill 9-17hrs job.

Looking back on my 1^st contract while sitting in the parent’s garden, not really know what to do with this seemingly absurd amount of spare time that I have, you start to reflect on things.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget waking to the first morning of my vacation. I use the word morning very loosely as it was in fact, nearly midday! Looking around the room with a muddled mind, I had no idea where I was. Checking the time I sprang up in bed. “Shit! I’m late! Where’s my schedule?” It took a couple of seconds for my brain to come back to reality and realisation that I was no longer on ship. The proper size, comfortable bed, the window allowing morning light to stream through into my room. It was enough to confirm that I was no longer in my small tin cabin.

I miss Mariner of the Seas. More than that, I miss the people that I’ve worked with. They are very much irreplaceable in many aspects. Everything on ship is so much for extreme and intense compared to land. Those people go from team mates, to friends to almost family members within Nano-seconds. To anyone on land, this would seem almost loopy!

During the journey you learn things about people, yourself, living and working on board ships. People gave you great advice, even if it seemed perfectly obvious.

Every time I see Lee, he’ll tell me and those with us, “enjoy yourself”. "The money will come". Work hard, party harder was his motto to keep in mind. Unfortunately, Lee signed off not long after I’d join, however he's someone who you can’t help but great respect for. He helped me out no end when I was a new hire. Tips, advise, someone to look up to. A friend, I’ll no doubt keep in contact with for years to come. Another diamond from Lee was, it’s all about the contacts. True, so true!

Jeni was the mistress of tours. I’ll never forget her showing me how to get people to stand together for their photo when on tours. My efforts were abysmal compared to hers. It’s a shame Jeni resigned as she’s someone I’d love to work with again. The memories of us jogging on the running track, all red and puffed out before stuffing ourselves with cereal in the mess will always be the fondest memory I have of Jeni.

Stu, the big babaloo. Big friendly giant who had a wicked sense of humour. Dirty Martinis, necking Smirnoff Ices quicker than anyone I’ve ever met before and toast in the mess at silly o’clock in the morning. Stuart was the person I went to if I needed cheering up, advise or just a chat. The best bit of advice he gave me was “think outside the box that the box is in”. I will, NEVER, EVER agree with one of the last things he said to me “You may be two years older than me, but I am two years wiser than you” – I can’t agree with that. It’s against my nature! Stuart was in many ways my Image teacher/trainer who a lot of the time didn’t get the credit he deserved or even a thank you. So, thank you.

Luci – the maddest Brazilian you’ll ever come across with the loudest laugh. You can’t wear red lipstick without thinking of Luci who became a bit of a mother figure to me. She’d nag me, grab my face and shout “Lou, I love you, you’re like a daughter to me, babalou!” before bursting out laughing. Babaloo was her favourite word! Not only that, she even taught me my first words in Portuguese, even if those words did consist of “porra” and “caralho”! No doubt I’ll be seeing you again soon! Until then, ciao querida. Un beijo. 

Fede was one of the best wedding photographer’s I’ve seen. The best ship wedding photographer. We were all jealous of his baby (his beloved camera). Although we were all upset to see him leave, you couldn’t help but be happy for him. Over 8 months on board is enough to drive anyone mad!!! Not far from me in Uruguay, I can’t wait to see Fede again. Or his camera…!

Sandra who I didn’t particularly take to in the beginning, soon became my best friend on board. Best friend, sister like and cabin mate for my last 3 months on board. Living with Sandra was perfect – no ups and downs, shared everything, endless chats and laughs. Without a doubt I was lucky to have such a great friend on board. I’ve got my fingers crossed that she’ll be sent to Disney Wonder with me. It’d be great to see and work with Sandra again. If not, she’s always more than welcome to stay with me while on vacation – no matter where I am. A "best memory" would be too hard… there are too many to list! Even though she probably won’t admit it, I bet both Sandra and Zoran miss my constant manly burps hahaha! Te extraño muuuuuchisimo y te quiero como una Hermana. Espero que no vemos pronto xxxxxxx

The award for the biggest mother fucker would go to the ugly Croatian, Zoran. Yes, I may be a “bloody English buuurrrr” but at least it kept you entertained for months on end! To anyone else, you’d think we were having a slanging match, instead, it was just the way Zoran and I spoke to each other. All good hearted meaningless crap and insults… most of the time! Although Zoran came joined ships after me, he was still someone you could learn from. He had a knack with people and smudging… not to mention his ridiculous poses on the gangway! Gangway with Zoran provided you with an endless amount of laughs and running around. Chania gangway springs to mind. Bare bums, nipple “licking” and having someone wake me up to go “free shooting turtles” will always haunt me! For that, FUCK YOU!!!!!! Haha.

My hermanastro of the group was Hernan. Training in Miami, signing on and off the Mariner together. It’s been a long, long journey with plenty of ups and downs. Hernan of course did become something of a brother to me. There were arguments, driving each other nuts, heart to hearts and great memories. Hernan will always be remembered as the one who was constantly knocking on the door for a cigarette, dodgy dancing and the infamous Backstreet Boy poses he’d pull. Without that, the Photographer’s corridor would have been a very, very boring empty space! Along with Zoran, Hernan bared his bum once too often… usually at historical points of interest or Barcelona football stadium. The photographic evidence has been preserved safely kept in my scrap book!

Another great person in the team, David, the token South African amongst a few other things. You can’t help but like David, he’s just that sort of person, from his endless jokes to contagiously loud and comical laugh. He made gangways enjoyable as well as indirectly giving us tips on how to smudge. Some of the things he’d come out with on gangway had us all laughing “you’ve been selected in a raffle… your prize is to have your photo taken with me. The Dave”. During a meeting, his tip for us all was to “enjoy yourself, because you’re not going anywhere”. There is a lot of truth in that. Fingers crossed David gets his videography job on a Royal Caribbean and I hope to see him again soon, somewhere.

Unfortunately Fabio got fired for being drunk on the job. How he got away with it for so long, we’ll never know. Having said that, you couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. He loved his job just as much as he loved the booze. If we were on gangway I’d call the cabin to make sure him and Zoran were awake. Sometimes there was no need for me to call. I’d know Fabio was alive and kicking with the sudden thud of him leaping out the top bunk followed by shouting “YEAH! Let's do this!” It was absolutely crazy. Although he drove us mad at times, he was a good person and great laugh. Bob bob bob bob booooob was pretty much Fabio’s soundtrack – every time Fabio’s name was mentioned someone had to start singing Fabio’s little tune and it was always followed by laughter.

Leandro, Sato, Paquito or whatever you’re getting called nowadays! Have a great time on Splendour of the Seas! You were by far the most energetic Brazilian-Japanese-Italian-Filipino Pizza Chef we’ve ever had on gangway. You’d better be practising your Spanish because next time I see you, I’ll be testing you!

It was a shame I didn’t get to spend more time working with Camilo. I can’t remember if I he joined the team one or two cruises before I left. The only piece of advice I can give: enjoy yourself, have fun and make as much money as you can! The same goes for D! I have no doubt in my mind that both our new recuits will fit in nicely, especially D!

Strangely enough, one person who taught me a lot about selling was my last BM, Reuben. Some of the things he taught me were perfectly obvious, once they’d be pointed out. Simply slotting a guest’s photo into a $27 photo frame and asking them if they’d like to purchase it. You’d be surprised by the amount of frames I actually sold like that. Or learn whatever you can about one camera and sell, sell sell. That was the Olympus for me… shame three got refunded just before I left the ship! Maybe I should have chosen another camera? Another thing Reuben spoke to me about was detachment. It’s not something I’ve mastered yet and doubt I’ll be able to for a very, very long time. Having said that, after leaving the ship, I can see exactly what you mean when you say it’s important to detach yourself from people. Good luck for your next ship.

Sanela the Texan/Serbian professional tennis player/poet/novelist/political science graduate/political science journalist/cruise ship photographer. Is there anything you can’t do? I want to read one of your books, but have no idea where to find one! Help! I hope your ankles aren’t hurting from those impossibly high heels you wear all the time at work. Enjoy the remainder of your time and get involved more with the other photogs. Remember what I told you about selling cameras too.

So maybe they weren’t part of the photog team. However, Whitney and Ashleigh were part of our little team/family. I’ll never forget Whitney coming down to see Sandra and I in the cabin, dressed in her pyjamas and crazy hair all over the place. I’m missing the accent and banter between Whitney and Zoran. Even when Whitney hid in my bed from Zoran for about 20 minutes. Ashleigh was a bit like my coffee and cigarette partner out on Deck 5 Aft. I remember sitting out on the Deck with Ashleigh as we sailed out of Naples for the last time. It was getting dark, her parents had visited the ship and I was due to be leaving in a couple of days. It was a surreal feeling and always great to chat to Ashleigh. I’m expecting my Christmas phone call from you!

One of my regrets was not going into the lab to learn more from Dione. I have no idea how to print, Ritesh never bothered to show me, even when I was scheduled for lab training. Having had a master in the lab like Dione, maybe I should have taken more advantage of that fact. Dione really is a machine, the master of printing!

When Paco came back to the ship, he told me just how fat I’d become. Thanks! Not that, he’d done much better, he’d been home and come back to the ship looking over fed! He took me through almost everything there was to know about working in the gallery. It’s helped me no end in my P3 competencies so thank you. The big question is, has Paco managed to find any of the XXS Filipino condoms Lee was telling me to ask Paco about?

Overall, it was a great first contract, not one that I’m going to forget in a long time. If I’ve forgotten anyone, it’s because you’re unimportant… just kidding. I’m sorry if I have! I’d love the chance to be able to work with the Mainer of the Seas team again. Especially Lee, Hernan, Sandra and Zoran (out of those who still remain). And of course I can’t wait to see Ashleigh and Fabey Baby again! I miss you guys loads and wish you were here or on my next ship! Maybe one day.

Until then, see you soon. Take care x