Cruising The Seven Seas: Tail End of Hurricanes

Tail End of Hurricanes

4^th February 2012

So much for me telling all the guests that for the next week, there’ll be nothing but sun, sun, sun. Most are Canadians and had snow at home. Some of the Americans come from hurricane hit or surrounding areas.

Arriving at Key West this morning, we were informed that we were experiencing the tail end of a hurricane. Cor blimey! The winds nearly took you off your feet, and the rain was coming down in sheets. So much for walking around taking photos today.

Ani and Kate

Meeting up with Ani, Kate and Carolee we braved the cold and headed out into the port. Carolee gave us all something to laugh about by running back on the ship to get a “rain coat”. In actual fact, she came out wearing a transparent bin liner from her cabin!!

Carolee and her "Rain Coat"

Kate knew a place where we could get a hot drink and use the internet. Sippin’, wasn’t far from the port and by the time we got there the rain was slowing down a bit, but not for long.

Carolee commented that next time we’re in Key West, we should go walkabouts, armed the our cameras. Deal. I’d love to just walk around taking photos and Carolee can be a laugh, so it’s a bonus. The town is very picturesque if you ignore the mass tourism effect. So, I’m thinking of doing a bit of both. Mass tourism meets history, Martin Parr style. I haven’t done any candid/street photography since leaving England almost a year ago. Shame on me!

Before getting back to the ship Ani, Carolee and I popped into the supermarket. Carolee was giving her best tour guide attempt at showing us where things were located. “And if you look to your left, you’ll see the snorkelling equipment and on your right…” Ani and I were buying snorkels and goggles for Cozumel.

We’re planning on renting a car and visiting some of the reefs and Mayan ruins. We’re not sure if we’ll need to spread everything out over two visits or cram it into one. The car rental is only $40 a day and split between 4 of us, it’ll be a cheap day out exploring Cozumel, Mexico. Like I keep telling myself, it’s all about making the most out of your time working on cruise ships.

At 14.00 we were back on the ship. Arriving at the lab at 15.30, Diva commented that it was already 15.30, to which I replied “I know, my watch says 3.30”. I didn’t mean for it to come out so sarcastically, but it did. I clocked in bang on 15.30 so I’m not sure why the AMP is pissed at me. I didn’t arrive late, but dead on time. I didn’t bother asking any questions, just grabbed my gear and started setting up my studio.

I was shooting LSP all night. As we’re leaving Key West late, at 01.00, Dave said the two in studios could close at 22.00 (instead of 23.00) and start breaking down. The two character shooters had to finish at 22.30, by which time, we should have broken down our two studios, packed away and be ready to help the others.

The night went relatively slowly for me, but the character shooters were rushed off their feet, snapping away like paparazzi. For some reason, we had nearly all the characters out tonight. Usually, the characters are spread out over the course of a few days. It didn’t make sense to a few of us.

I was a bit miffed when five minutes before closing, after being quiet since opening, someone came over wanting photos. Then she was followed by a large family. Quickly taking photos and rushing them out of my studio, it was 22.15. Great. If they hadn’t wanted so many different combinations, I probably would have had them out sooner - it was just my luck!

Kate and Aniko joined me in ripping down the studio. Kate was running around as if someone had lodge a rocket up her backside! Talk about desperation to get outside and party!

During one of my breaks I’d ran down to my cabin and put my make up on. All I needed to do was change my clothes. I was meeting Carolee and Aniko outside the ship in ten minutes.

Once outside, we were hopping from one leg to another, it was freezing! We were, once again, waiting for Rama. Ten minutes later, we’d decided to leave and heard calls coming from the distance. It was Rama with Inna in tow.

Disney Magic at Key West

Rama led the way to a place called Rick’s. Kate said she’d be going there too. Little did I know, it’d be like stepping into the crew bar. Everyone from the ship was there.

We’d all been warned about not drinking too much, but some of the crew members were absolutely blotto! One girl from Spa, could just about stand up and had to be hoisted up onto her feet every so often. It wasn’t long until Kate, Rama, Inna, Aniko, Carolee and myself hit the dance floor. About 1% of the people on the dance floor weren’t from Disney Magic.

Me and Aniko (Ani)

An hour or so later it was time for us to get back to the ship. Everyone had to be on board by 1am. We wanted to get there a tad earlier than 01.00, to avoid waiting in the long queue. That’ll be the time when security will start breathalysing crew members. Before leaving, I reminded Aideen to be on the ship at 1am, but she was completely smashed too. Hope she makes it back!

On the walk back, we stopped for a quick photo. The best was Inna asking two American police officers if she could scoot in between them for a photo. They looked very confused before obliging. When asked why, she proudly informed us all, with a massive smile, that she collects photos of herself with policemen from different countries.

I guess everyone has their little quirks but, really? Police!? Mind you, Hernan did have a photo at nearly every port with his arse hanging out his pants. And we do have numerous jumping shots of the Mariner of the Seas photog team, from so many ports – especially Valletta, Malta!

Inna's Fetish - Policemen!

Checking my schedule before going to bed, I realized that I was starting earlier than expected. Crap! Setting up the lab on my own for the first time. Fingers crossed I don’t cock it up!

Until then, from a cold, gale force wind swept Key West, good night!