Troubles Simmering

Troubles Simmering

6^th August 2011

Sitting out on gangway at 7, there was no one about. As you can guess, we are back in Corsica, France. Jomar hadn’t noticed that no one leaves the ship until around 08.00. We weren't going to tell him, especially as we tend to sleep for an extra 30-45 minutes on the steps. Security tend to give us a call when guests start appearing.

About 08.30 and people started to spill out of the ship. Fabio, who was still intoxicated, was shooting me. Camila was on the rail and finally Zoran was free shooting with an impossibly high 700 image target. Camila had an image target of 250 while Fabio and I had 600.

It wasn’t long until we had a stream of people having their pictures taken one after the other and in groups. I tried putting my bandaged arm around an old lady to get her in for a photo. She grabbed my hand and I was desperately trying to get it away from her. She was roaring with laughter, slapping my hand as if giving it numerous high fives and shaking my sprained wrist. The pain!! I was nearly rolling around in pain. The silly bitch!! Fabio was half shocked, half laughing. He couldn’t believe it. 

Taking a couple of minutes to compose myself, it was back to work, smiling at the camera and smudging the guests in. An hour before our gangway session came to an end, Fabio and I went in for a break. 

After our fifteen minute break ended, Camila was dragging the rail into the corridor. She’d hit her target and was done. Fabio and I told her there were 45 minutes to go and although she’d hit her target, the other photographer's needed help. Fabio and I hadn't reached out target yet but that wasn't a problem. We were sure we could do it. Poor Zoran wasn't going to get near his target so we all needed stay out as long as possible and get the overall gangway image count up. Everyone on the gangway needed to work as a team and club together.

Camila refused to go back onto the gangway, telling us, if Zoran didn’t hit his target it wasn’t her problem. This girl doesn’t understand the meaning of team work and once she’s done her part, will refuse to help anyone else out. If the tables turn, she’ll expect the help and get pissed off or cry if she doesn’t get her way. 

Annoyed Fabio and I returned to the gangway. We needed 80 images and we had 30 minutes to do it in. No problem. Smudge, smudge smudge. We stayed out for a bit longer to help Zoran out who was still shooting and gone over his time. 

Leaving the gangway, Zoran had over 300 images. He could’ve got more but he’d taken his time to make sure there weren’t people in the backgrounds of his shots. Showing my his images they looked brilliant!! Fabio and I had over 650 images so we’d done a good job too. Once Ritesh had had a look through them, I don’t know how many images we’d have as Fabio was the Master at getting triple and double shots!

Problems were starting to simmer within the team. Troubles were fairly one sided and coming from Camila. The girl is refusing to play ball. When she’d heard about my wrist, she wanted to go to Jomar and tell him she had a bad wrist and couldn’t work.  Before gangway she came out of her cabin crying that she didn’t feel well and had a sore throat. 

As I said previously, she’ll do her work but won’t help anyone else if they are behind. It’s not how we work. We work as a team… if not, the whole thing falls apart. Something had to change or else the simmering would soon reach boiling point and shit really would hit the proverbial fan.

With a couple of hours off I headed out into Corsica for something to eat and to use the internet. I wanted to speak to the parents but the time difference meant they’d still be fast asleep. Camila came along with me and if I’m honest, I really wanted a break from the girl. As much as I liked her, she was getting on my nerves and I wasn’t the only one saying so.

We stopped for something to eat and use the internet. I got a connection straight away while Camila couldn’t. She asked the owner of the bar for help her. Neither of us speak French and the owner spoke minimal English so she was in for a tough ride. She got quite aggressive insisting to the guy there was no internet. The French guy looked frustrated before biting back “okay, you say no internet so… no internet” before shrugging his shoulders and walking off. We ordered the bill and every time the guy walked past Camila felt the need to swear at him in Portuguese. Whether he understood or not I don’t know but the bill was slammed onto the table with a few murmurs under his breath.

Walking around we managed to find a supermarket for Camila. Once we were done in the supermarket we were making our way back to the ship, passing the bar we’d previously had lunch in. Hernan called me from inside. He was there with Sandra using the internet and having a drink. I joined them for an hour or so while Camila sulked off because she was the only one who couldn’t get a connection. When she’d gone Hernan commented that she’s “going mad”.

Back on the ship a few hours later, Hernan, Ashleigh (Spa) and I were standing in the corridor having a quick cigarette. We were talking and having a joke when all of a sudden Camila’s cabin door flew open. Appearing in the corridor, crying  her eyes out she whimpered “I want my mom” and walked back into the cabin leaving the door open a bit. We just looked at each other not knowing what to do or say and carried on with what we were doing. 

As no one went in to check with her, Camila came outside again, crying louder this time saying she wanted her mom as she didn’t feel well. Ashleigh soon left to go back to work. Hernan made his excuse that he was going to sleep for a bit. Sandra called me so I walked into my cabin while Camila followed me in. She just stood in the door way so we told her to go to the medical. “It’s closed”. “Go when it’s open” we told her, both Sandra and I were getting ready for a snooze. Camila got the hump with us. Why? I have no idea but she stormed out the cabin and back into her own. There was nothing we could do for her. If she felt ill, she needed to go to the medical or stay in bed rather than walking around with bare feet and damp hair.

Maybe Hernan was right? Maybe she was really going mad?

M&R, Lady Corsica & Jomar (BM)

Sleeping on the Job!!

Sleeping on the Job

31^st July 2011

Another day, another gangway. Unlike last week I wasn’t in costume, Lady Corsica wasn’t making an appearance. Instead I was shooting Camila who was dancing around in the dolphin costume. Sandra was on the rail while Fabio was once again free shooting… drunk. 

We all headed out just after 07.00 and as predicted no one was around. The tours weren’t leaving the ship until 08.00 and the Captain didn’t give the all clear until around that time either. In the hour I managed to take 2 photos from the only two people that left the ship. In the end Camila, Sandra and I just sat on the steps outside the ship and fell asleep. Sleeping on the job… I bet Brand Quality would have loved that one!!

Gangway went relatively smoothly, the only small problem was Camila had her music blaring in her ears and couldn’t hear a thing anyone was saying. Security were telling her to move away from them, I was calling her when people wanted their photo taken and she was looking the other way. She couldn’t hear a thing! I told her to turn the music down, she needed to be able to hear what we were saying to her but she refused saying she could hear just fine. Once again we’d only had a couple of hours sleep so by 11.00 we were all completely shattered. 

We’d all done a great job on the gangway even if we didn’t reach our targets. Camila and I got 500 images (Camila thought she’d get 600 images in two hours - wrong) while Sandra had nearly 200 on the rail. Fabio had a whopping amount of free shooting images but we were doubting how many were single shots as opposed to doubles and triples. When Camila and I were inside taking a break, Sandra said Fabio laid down in front of the gangway exit and security and started randomly shooting people from the floor!! I think security noticed he was drunk. They didn’t say anything but it’s only a matter of time, especially now. Previously Fabio had spent 5 days without drinking but now he looks like he’s hit the bottle with a vengeance.

Once the cards were in the lab, Camila and I headed out. We were meeting Luci at the bar we found on our previous visit. Unfortunately it was closed. In fact, everything was closed. It must have been a Sunday… we later found out it was a Tuesday. 

In the end we found a place with wifi and reasonably priced food. After ordering we realized we had to pay 3 euros for the internet. What a load of cack! We paid as we hadn’t found anywhere else open with an internet access. The food came in monstrous, American size proportions and the calzone I had was absolutely excellent. I’ve never had a calzone with so much stuffed inside: tomato, cheese, egg, ham, bacon. All that was missing was the kitchen sink! Camila wasn’t too impressed as she said her egg wasn’t cooked properly.

All of a sudden, I had a message come through on Facebook from Hernan. He was nearby. Looking around I realized that not only was he nearby, he was in the bar next door to the one we were in. According to Hernan the internet was quick and completely free. 

Camila and I later found out the internet access was 3 euros per hour!!! Camila was fuming when her connection cut off half way through one of her competency tests. Next time she’s online she’ll have to start the test from the beginning. Pain in the arse!

Back on the ship and it was time for a snooze. Looking at the way things are panning out there seems to be a steady ritual. We work, go out for a couple of hours, sleep and work again and in that order.

The first couple of ports of call are quite slow with very little to do. We are all looking forward to Cannes (tomorrow), Barcelona and Palma. By far the best place to visit is Barcelona!

As I mentioned before Brand Quality is on board. They are basically here to make sure we are keeping the brand’s quality up (keeping Royal Caribbean at 5 stars) so many things have to change while the mystery shopper is here. Apparently BQ has come in two forms – a male and female and no one knows who it is. 

While working in the gallery, I had a pen in my jacket breast pocket. I was told to take it out as it’s not part of Royal Caribbean’s brand quality. Are you serious? I honestly thought Jomar was taking the Michael but he wasn’t. I have my pen in my pocket, like everyone else for a reason. The guests needed to sign all receipts and the pen in the jacket pocket is the most convenient place to have it.

Jomar went through a few things that we can and can’t do with Brand Quality on board and most of them were petty!! Jomar even told Zoran he needed to wear black pants for formal nights. The reason why Zoran wears his grey pants for formal night is because Image STILL haven’t sent his uniform (Zoran’s been here 2 months now). When Zoran pointed this out Jomar’s pig headed reply was “I don’t care. They don’t care. Brand Quality will fail us on it and our priviledges will be taken away for a year. If you don’t have black pants, you need to buy some”. A few mouths dropped open. 
We all pay for our uniform… so Zoran’s paying for a uniform he doesn’t have because it originally got “lost in the post” and is now being told he needs to pay/buy more because mystery shoppers are here for 3-5 days!! It didn’t make sense but hey! Welcome to the Royal Caribbean and Image ways!

Lady Corsica

Lady Corisca

25th July 2011

Lady Corsica… who is she? What’s the traditional attire? According to Image, it’s the Crete Girl dress! As for who is Lady Corsica… it's me! 

I was once again on gangway, this time in Corsica, rocking my favourite costume minus the hat/head piece. I was a bit worried people would notice that this was the traditional attire Corsica, especially as we had plenty of French guests on board. I was over the moon about being able to wear my favourite gangway costume though. I always get good counts and it’s a brilliant outfit to skip around in, having a laugh.

Feeling tried after very little sleep I was ready for gangway. Fede was shooting me. Sandra was sitting in the corridor in the dolphin costume. Hernan would be shooting her. 

We had to pull Fabio out of bed. We wanted to switch him with someone else. He was too drunk to speak. None of us were happy with him, to say the least. He’d kept us up last night banging on the walls trying to cause arguments. We almost called security. We are all reaching the end of our tethers! 

Fede popped out to see if the gangway was ready. It was, but the Captain wasn’t giving the all clear until later and none of the tours were leaving until 8. We waited around for 15 minutes and no one exited the ship. Taking the opportunity we ran up to the mess for a bit of breakfast. While walking around the ship in costume I got a few smiles, laughs and confused looks. Climbing the stairs dressed up as a dolphin or wearing a huge, long dress, wasn't exactly an easy task!

We were back on gangway at 08.00 and people were starting to trickle out of the Mariner. It wasn’t long until the tours came bringing along a mad rush of guests. We couldn’t grab them quick enough! The Italians were as difficult as they come, but we managed to get quite a few shots. 

Sandra was trying to smudge in Italian from inside the dolphin. It even freaked a couple of people out… they didn’t expect the dolphin to talk. Every so often the gangway would go dead and sooner or later another mad rush would come. It was pretty temperamental. 

During the breaks in between rushes, we took the chance to take a few photos of ourselves. This was mainly for Fede’s benefit as he’d be leaving after this cruise. What’s worse is he’s port manning and of course Jomar didn’t let him know. I offered to take his place so he could go out but you needed more than 24hours notice to do that.

Towards the end of gangway Fede’s batteries had completely ran out. Hernan was nearly out too. Fabio was the only one with some life in his, so he took over shooting me for a bit. Later, looking through the photos he’d taken, they were all over exposed or blurred. One things for sure, he really was too pissed to work!

Once gangway was over Luci, Sandra, Hernan and I headed out into Corsica. Just outside the port was a small market selling local produce from cheeses to pates to honey. Popping into a few of the shops, the prices were incredibly expensive. The stuff however was nice though so maybe next payday? 

We were all starving and looking for somewhere reasonably priced to have lunch. A pizza would set you back anything from 15 euros plus. We wanted to go somewhere with wifi which wasn't as easy to find as usual. 

In the end we stumbled across a small bar/café type place. The food was excellent and the guy working in the place was brilliant. He spoke a tiny bit of English and Spanish and we could manage a few words in French so there was a bit of a mix  of languages going on. He couldn’t believe we were all from different places and switching between English and Spanish (1 Brazilian, 1 Colombian, 1 Argentinian and 1 English).

After having something to eat we decided we’d better head back to the ship. 

Hernan had set up and the rest of us wanted to sleep for an hour. Hernan photographs pretty much anything. He saw a stray dog walking towards him so he bent down and took a couple of photos. All of a sudden a guy came out of nowhere, screaming at him in French and tried to knock the camera out of his hand. Jumping up, the French guy was telling Hernan he wanted to see the photos, telling him to delete them. Telling the nutcase to bugger off, we carried on walking back towards the ship, completely gobsmacked. Why would someone be so bothered about taking a photo of a stray dog?

The rest of the evening was a bit of a blur, even though there wasn’t much to do. The new charging system is still giving us problems. There are eight cash registers but only five can be used and there’s one tax refund machine. 

As we aren’t going outside the European Union and we are using Italy as our home port, we have to charge tax on top of our original prices. All the other ships in Europe are charging 18% tax (most are using Spain as their home port) but in Italy, the tax is 20%! All the receipts have to be kept in numerical order and if any get lost, we’ll face a hefty fine which will no doubt come out of our wages. 

Trying to keep receipts in order is impossible, especially when there are four of us on the tills. Before we just used a plain till roll, saved the receipts and stacked them up at the end of the day. We can’t do that anymore in case any get lost. It’s a bit of a mess for everyone involved. It’s a relief that we’ll only be doing this for seven weeks… but those seven weeks can’t go quick enough when it comes down to charging the guests for their photos!

Shark or Dolphin?

M&R, Lady Corisca, Jomar (BM) and Marching Band!

Marie (M&R), Lady Corsica and Jomar (BM)

Dancing to the Band

Bored During the Quiet Moments

Playing Around (Hernan & Lou)

Dolphin (Sandra), Fede (Shooter) and Lady Corsica (Me)

Sandra and Fede

A New Chapter

A New Chapter

22^nd July 2011

Off with the old and on with the new! That’s right, it’s embarkation time again. 

We are back in Civitavecchia, Italy. The two week cruises have finally come to a close and we are at the beginning of a new chapter. 

For the next 7 weeks we’ll be doing seven day cruises and inter-porting. Inter-porting, is basically having two cruises merged into one. We’ll be having two embarkation days, one in Civitavecchia and the other in Genoa, Italy.

The countries we’ll be visiting this time are: Civitavecchia (Italy), Genoa (Italy), Cannes (Monte Carlo) (Italy), Barcelona (Spain), Palma de Mallora (Spain) and Corsica (France). 

Although I lived in Spain for 14 years I’ve only ever driven through Barcelona and never had a chance to look around. I’m incredibly excited about some of the new ports but there’s one in particular: Cannes (Monte Carlo). I’m desperate to go to Monte Carlo, it’s a place I’ve wanted to go to for years. I’ll literally be running around the F1 race track snapping away.

Approximately 2,200 guests would be embarking today and roughly 1,200 would be Italians. Italian season is in full swing! Italians are notorious for not trying to speak another language other than their own, a little like the England and Americans! 

Instead of setting up three backdrops, we set up two inside the terminal. Another bonus was we were allowed to wear our white shirts. Wearing the black GTP shirts in the sun last cruise was an utter nightmare. We were roasting! 

During my five hour stint on embarkation I picked up a few Italian phrases from Fabio and Sandra. Nothing special but useful things like, “let’s get your photo” and “have a nice day”. Every time I try to count one, two three in Italian, the two comes out in Portuguese. I guess you can’t have everything!

Things were slowing down and we were rapidly getting bored. An Italian family were walking towards our set up. Bouncing up to the guy I smiled and and laughed “Tutti Frutti… Let’s get your photo” in Italian. The guy didn’t look too impressed and abruptly replied “Italiano”. I really didn’t  know what to say, I was completely dumbfounded! 

Later on I told Sandra what had happened and she couldn’t stop laughing and called Fabio. Telling him what happened, he did the same but told me to be careful. “Frutti” sounds very similar to a slang word meaning “gay” in Italian, so the guest could have misunderstood me and thought I’d told them all they were gay. Oops!! Trying to look the least bit concerned failed as I creased up alongside Sandra.

Luckily enough there wasn’t a pax dril today, that’d be tomorrow once all the guests were on board. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to get off the ship to have a look around in the port. 

Towards the end of the shift, as things were going quite, Jomar left to get us a burger from McDonald’s. We were all joking he’s trying to sway our votes as he’s not the most popular at the moment.

Once embarkation was over it wasn’t long until I was due to shoot LSP. My knee’s been playing up recently and not getting any better. It keeps blowing up like a balloon but I’m refusing to go to the medical facility. I’ll see if it sorts itself out. Sitting on the posing boxes, the ship was almost deserted. 

Smudging was impossible, I was either ignored or told no. During the entire one and a half hour stint I managed to take two photos – both were for a crew members passport. Sanela did the middle shift on LSP and came back with similar results. So much for hitting the 100 image target. We didn’t even scratch the surface.

Jomar has now come up with the bright idea of us working until midnight. Everyone was sitting around for the last hour with nothing to do. People were slowly drifting by earlier on in the evening but from 11 onwards, there was no one to be seen. Just us photographers. 

By the time we broke the studios down and closed the gallery it was 01.15. The printer in the office has broken down so we all had to head down to the lab to get our schedules for the next day.

By 02.00 I was wrapped up in bed. The alarm was on and I was dreading waking up at 06.30 for gangway!

Genoa, here comes the Mariner of the Seas!

Oh, and House Keeping left us all a present...

 ... which Hernan wanted to test his karate skills on...

... unfortunately, my camera battery died just as Hernan took his second attempted and kicked the toilet roll off the door handle!!