Eyes On Screens

Eyes on Screens

22^nd February2012

Once again we’re in Cozumel, Mexico. I love this place, there’s so much to do and things happening at every turn. Today, after lab set up with Carolee, Kate and Aniko, we all met up on the gangway for a team activity/lunch.

Every month Image gives us $20 each, for a team activity. Most of the time the activity tends to be a meal but sometimes, if you get in there quick enough with a suggestion, you have an activity like jet skiing or renting cars and driving around the area you’re in. The team activity came as a surprise to some.

Roughly a ten minute walk from where the ship was docked was a quaint Mexican restaurant. I think Dave and Rama had been there before and the place seemed relatively popular with other crew members. For the life of me, I can’t remember the full name of the restaurant, Abuela something. Quite annoying as I made a point of trying to find the name of the place. My grey cells are obviously going to mush!

As usual I had people asking me if I was Spanish. I love it! I’m the only one who can speak Spanish in the group, a bit of an advantage for me, really. Obviously I was talking to the waiters in Spanish which causes plenty of questions, are you from Spain? Where did you learn Spanish? Where are you from? Telling people I was born in England and therefore English, feels about as abnormal as witnessing an Eskimo, wrapped up in fur, strolling around Barbados! England is still, for me, just the place I was born and where my passport was issued. Other than that, it’s Spain, Spain, Spain! Home.

The food in the restaurant was as cheap as chips and gorgeous! Kate discovered what (shrimp) quesadillas are. It felt great to sink your teeth into a proper meal rather than the school dinner slosh they slap up in the mess. The quesadillas were about $5 and it was more than enough. Needless to say, both of us walked out with food babies! Most of the others were sipping massive cocktails which looked like frothy milk.

To my surprise, Dave, Clarita, Diva and Rama went to check out the fish. I didn’t quite know what they meant when they said that. The waiter took them to a large cool box near our table. The cool box contained fresh fish, stored on ice and you simply chose which you wanted and it was cooked for you. It took a few people back. I remember a few places in Spain where you just chose the fish you wanted and they prepared it. A few people were a little grossed out by the whole fish appearing on their plates. Diva’s even ate the teeth! A little later Diva and Dave, both had Kate, Aniko and I squirming in our seats; both ate the fish’s eyes! I thought Spanish sucking the juices/brains out of a prawn’s head was bad enough, but eating the eyes takes the biscuit!

Carolee had been to the dentist in Mexico. When she met up with us in the restaurant she told me the dentist was good and the prices were cheap/reasonable compared to where we are from. If my wisdom tooth is still playing up, I think I’ll have to consider paying the dentist a visit to get it pulled out. Daniel (Peru) from Bar went recently to have his wisdom tooth pulled and said it was fine, the dentist did a good job and gave him something to clear the infection.

Towards the end of the meal, I was going to get a team photograph but two of the team members had left early without me even realizing. Not much talking went on during the team activity. Almost as soon as we arrived people got their laptops out and their eyes were glued to the screens. Looking around I thought to myself, “sod it! If you can’t beat them, join them” and got my laptop out. What an unsocial bunch we were. Someone that I spoke to afterwards said it was normal. Not what I expected!

It was great talking to Becks and Dad again after such a long time. Beck’s has got a new addition to the family, a cute puppy named Chester. He’s brown with husky coloured blue eyes. Adorable.

Checking my OceanPay account I was horrified to see that I hadn’t been paid since joining the ship on 4^th February. Asking the BM why I hadn’t been paid, he informed me the money should be sent to my account in St. Thomas which is eight days away. Great! I’m pissed that I wasn’t told about this beforehand. I thought the money was paid into your account at the end of every cruise, once a week for us. When we reach St. Thomas I’ll have been on board for nearly a month. My fingers are crossed that my money is backdated and all payments are up to date. Somehow I doubt it though.

Another thing, I really do hope Image let me have some of my wages before discounting the money towards my flight. It’s strange and somewhat frustrating to not receive a statement from Image with how much I’ve earned and more importantly, how much my flights from Montevideo to Miami was. It’s hard to imagine that I’m now in my third week and have no idea as to how much I owe Image!!

Before getting back on board Kate, Aniko and I asked a guest to get our photograph for us. In return we took hers and her husband’s photo with the Disney Magic in the background. None of them realized we were photographers on the Disney Magic until Kate told them, making a joke about us being the right people to take their photo.

Apparently guests on Disney Cruise ships can take their own alcohol on board and consume it. I didn’t think that was possible. Usually it’s confiscated until the night before disembarkation. Crew however, cannot take liquor on board without it being confiscated. We are allowed a maximum of 24 beers a week and it has to be signed in and stamped by gangway security.

Walking back we stopped to enquire about the prices of scooter and car rentals, as well prices for different activities such as snorkelling, scuba diving, reef tours etc. As we are crew we get a big discount. We got the contact details and if we want to schedule an outing, no matter what it is, we just need to call 24 hours ahead, name the activity, let the guys know what time we were docking and when we’d be ready. They’d have everything prepared for our arrival. Sounds bloody great to me!

I’m going to try and round some people up and see what they want to do. I’m happy to drive the group around the island of Cozumel for the day, if everyone agrees to chip in for the car rental. Personally, I’d love to see the Mayan Ruins. The small map of the island we were given, points out a huge amount of things we can do, there are  several reefs, ruins, strip with numerous turtle sightings and my personal favourite, an even larger sea strip labelled “swim at your own risk”. What’s the risk? Sharks? Fire coral reefs? I’m thoroughly intrigued!

Leaving Kate, Aniko and I ran over to the supermarket to get some bits and bobs. I was desperate for tooth paste! As it was Pirate Night we got some water and juice to keep behind the backdrops. My voice was non-existent this morning so I was trying to drink as much fluid as I could.

Aniko and Kate are trying to learn Spanish. I taught Kate some words for the photo gallery like “mañana por la mañana” (tomorrow in the morning). Aniko, to learn some new words, bought herself Disney’s The Little Mermaid in Spanish. Checking through the pages, the words were simple, it is aimed at kids and perfect for someone wanting to learn the language. Obviously, I’d help out as much as I could.

Thirty minutes later everyone was up in the Atrium, setting up the studios for Pirate Night.

While setting up I was approached about my blog. I was asked if it was true that I wrote a blog, which of course, it is. I was told to exclude this person completely from the blog, not to mention her name or anything about her. When I told her my blog is harmless and about working as a cruise ship photographer, this was the reply I got: “I don’t know why anyone would want to write about the subject”. Why not? Saves having to write several emails to people, I love writing and last but not least, with over 3,000 blog views and counting, who wouldn’t keep updating?

Sorry, but my blog is going to continue the way it always has done. My aim isn’t to upset or offend people, but keep an online “diary” as to what it’s like working on board cruise ships. That will include the good, the bad and the ugly. If I exclude it, it’s a false account of ship life. At the time this kind of put me in a bad mood, the way that someone could be so judgemental. I wonder where she heard about the blog? More to the point, what exactly had she heard about the blog?

For the rest of the night, I wasn't really in tune to work. Personal things were on my mind and I was finding it hard to focus. I was concerntrating as much as I possibly could, determined to push the personal issues to one side. They can be sorted later. My heart just wasn’t in it though and the results, showed. In the lab Carolee pointed out my cropping was crap and asked what was the matter. Usually my cropping is excellent 97% of the time. Tonight it was more like 3% of my cropping was correct. I felt bad for Carolee and Diva having to correct and print it.

(L-R) Me, Aniko and Kate