Olé... Flamenco!

Olé… Flamenco

27^th July 2011

Today we’re in Palma de Mallorca, the last port of call of our current cruise. 

Palma de Mallorca port has got to be the worse we’ve ever seen! It’s literally a tiny concrete area that looks more like a car park. Everyone knows Civitavecchia is ugly and full of shipping containers but this place is something else. Straight in front of the port is a concrete wall with a dual carriageway passing over.

Sandra and Camila are both in costume on gangway as our Spanish Flamenco dancers. Sandra certainly looks the part. Zoran and I were shooting. I was paired up with Sandra while Camila and Zoran were teamed up. The schedule for the gangway was all wrong. 

Normally only one costume goes to the Savoy Theatre. Today, all of us were trying to shoot in the entrance of the theatre. It might have worked if the costumes were different rather than identical.

A few problems popped up too. Originally, Zoran was working on side and we were on the other. Zoran decided it wasn’t good enough for him and started coming over to our side. At one point, I smudged a family to have their photo taken with Sandra. Zoran came storming over, barged past me as I was taking a picture, telling the guests “Get a picture with this pretty lady (Camila)”. Both of them kept coming over to our side saying “you know what? It doesn’t matter as long as we get the counts.” Sandra and I were losing patience so we had a walk around the ship before heading outside where we started clocking up our counts.

Not long after Camila and Zoran came out and pretty much pushed us out the way to get the closest to the gangway exit. Things were starting to get nasty and finally Zoran and Camila started working the crowds that had gathered while waiting for the shuttle bus. It gave us a chance to get our counts up.

Gangway was finally over. Meeting Luci in the cabin, we got our stuff together and headed out. Camila and Sandra came along too. We were looking for somewhere to eat as well as finding our way around. Popping into a chemist I managed to get some more pills for my knee which is still swelling up like a balloon. Still, I’m avoiding the medical facility.

As we were walking around we came to a large square with a castle in the middle, surrounded by a moat. Spread out across the square were people dressed up as characters: Charlie Chaplain. Golden Cowboy (don’t ask!), Sponge Bob Square Pants and our favourites, Shrek and Donkey!! As soon as Luci saw it she burst out laughing while shouting “Lou, I need to get your picture with Shrek. It’s Stu”. Sandra and I cracked up. Camila didn’t know what we were on about.

We finally came across somewhere to eat that also had wifi. It was the most reasonably priced place and located in a tiny backstreet off the main road. The food was absolutely gorgeous!! Especially when compared to the food on the ship.

With a couple of hours left until we all had to start work, we headed back towards the shuttle bus. Stopping on the way we found a small Eroski supermarket. I was desperate to find somewhere I could buy PG Tips… I’ve been craving a cup of English tea in the mornings, especially with the early starts. Coca-cola just doesn’t have the same effects. Unfortunately, all they had was cheap tea which tastes foul and an unlimited selection of coffee.

There was a massive queue for the shuttle bus which wasn’t expected. All on board was at 22.30 so we didn’t expect many people to be coming back to the Mariner so early. It was a mix of guests and crew. 

When getting on the bus we had to flash our crew ID. One lady sneered “oh, these are all crew”. She started complaining to the woman she was with that the guests should be allowed on the bus first and there wasn’t enough space for all crew and guests on the same bus. Stuff it! We might be crew but we are still people! Sometimes we are treated as if we are animals and it’s something I have troubles getting used to and keeping my temper over.

Once on the ship, I had just over an hour to sleep before formal night began. For once I was on a centrum and my favourite was too. I was actually looking forward to shooting the Royal Promenade Centrum. 

After Ressi, I was heading back to my studio to find Simon from Production dismantling my studio. What the hell? He passed me and Fede the entire light still mounted on the auto pole. When I asked what the hell was going on, he seemed annoyed telling me there was a parade and they didn’t want our studio in the way. Fede and I quickly dismantled the lot before the place become too crowded. Plus the studio equipment was just dumped in the middle of the walk way. Anyone trips over that and no doubt there’ll be a law suit.

By the time I’d taken all the equipment to the lift the parade had ended. A whole five minutes of parade meant I’d lost 1.5 hours of shooting. My target was a long way off. The place was too crowded therefore too dangerous to put the studio back up. 

Packing everything away, I joined Luci in the gallery for the rest of the night. By the time we were finished it was 2am and we were all completely knackered. 

Looking at the schedule for the next day, I had my first lay in during this cruise and wasn’t working until 13.00. A lay in was not only well deserved but seriously needed too… and it was welcomed with open arms!

Sandra in her Flamenco costume

¡Olé! Sandra on the Savoy Theatre Stairs

Sandra and Edi (Laundry)

Sandra and Clint (Crew Culinary)

Flamenco Dancer (Sandra), Hernan and Fede

Fede and Sandra

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

Wardrobe Malfunctions

Wardrobe Malfunctions!

20^th July 2011

This cruise I’ve been on gangway quite a lot, mainly shooting and I’ve got to admit, I’m getting much, much quicker. The same goes for my cropping but there are times when it gets a little loose. Today however I’m in my favourite gangway costume as… the Crete Girl!

The costume was still in the lab so I had to get up at 06.00 and run down to pick it up. I was so tired that I ended up dragging my backside out of bed at 06.030 leaving me little time to get ready.

Getting the costume I decided to just get dressed in the lab. Putting the white under shirt on and something didn’t look right. It was all baggy and falling off me. Then it clicked. The elastic in the shoulder line had snapped. Chucking the dress over my head and there was nothing to lace it up with. The lace hadn’t made it out of the Crew Laundry. Putting my shirt back on, I run up the stairs to come down another flight on the opposite side of the water tight doors (you’ve got to love the water tight doors!) and popped into the laundry. 

The Indonesian lads in Laundry are always so nice and when I told them that the lace wasn’t with the dress a couple had a look around for me. They couldn’t find it but found something else that I could use as a substitute. Thanking them, I ran back up to Deck 1 and to the cabin.

While changing into the costume there was a knock at the door. It was Camila asking to borrow my white gangway trainers as hers were hurting her feet. No chance. I had 5 minutes to get ready in, it was pitch black because I couldn’t turn the light on without waking Luci and there was no way I could find anything under the mountain of shoes and bags on the floor. She hadn’t even got the rail from the lab yet.

Zoran was having a field day trying to find David’s gangway shorts to wear but thinks Fabio’s done something to them in one of his overly drunken moments.

Camila soon came back into the corridor with the rail. The only problem was it didn’t have the Greek flag inside. It was completely bare. When we told her she needed to have a flag inside the ring she went mental, shouting at us in Portuguese “you all expect me to know everything. None of you have told me it had to have a flag. You haven’t taught me anything”. She’s been here long enough to know that the ring and rail always have a flag with the name of the port on it. Storming off she went back to the lab. 

The rest of us headed onto the gangway where we found the rail in the open and no one watching it. Zoran and I picked up the rail and put it to one side. 

Coming back a little later Camila was carrying a tiny Greek flag. We told her that wasn’t the right one to which she said there wasn’t anymore. There are normally stacks of them in the lab but she was insisting there wasn’t any in the folders where we store the flags.

Zoran was shooting me and we always work well together. We were skipping around and literally chasing after guests who refused to have their photo taken. So many people were pegging it away from us thinking we wouldn’t chase and grab them. Most laughed at us running after them and stopped and had their photo taken. Others had to be grabbed and turned around towards the camera before they’d put their arm around me and smiled for the camera. It was all a great laugh. 

There were a couple of people getting pissed off at us for constantly being hounded by photographers. We were all doing it with a smile on our faces and having a laugh. Some didn’t quite take it like that. One person shouted at us to which I replied “Miss, you’re going to miss having us treating you like celebrities, running after and papping you”. She wasn’t amused. 

One guy shrugged me off saying he couldn’t have his photo taken with us because his wife was jealous… looking over at his wife, I suggested she should jump in too. She simply looked at me like dirt and walked off. So did her husband. Zoran and I looked at each other in amazement before cracking up and running towards someone else. A lot of people were recognising me and calling, “Hey Lou! We’ll get a picture with you”. It was great fun.

Taking a break quick break to have a drink, I went down to the lab to see if I could find some of the Crete/Greek signs for Camila. 

Walking through the Crew Laundry they all started whistling and cheering. One of the lads, Edi, simply held his hands out, pointing to my costume with a big smile on his face. Everyone, including myself was laughing. I shouted “Calm it you lot” which just made them laugh more. The Indonesian lads from laundry are always so cheerful and laughing!

Camila was right, the folders were where they should be but there was nothing in any the Crete folder. Where the hell had the signs gone? There were loads of them!

Going back to the cabin, I had a quick cigarette and drink before Zoran and I headed back onto the gangway. When we reached 250 images we’d come back in for another break. It wasn’t long until we reached our 250 images. 

Unfortunately, our time on the gangway was cut short by the sound of “Bravo, Bravo, Bravo…” It was time for the red drill. Zoran and I both held red emergency cards and therefore had to head back onto the ship. I had get out of my gangway costume and into my uniform before the alarm sounded. The alarm itself took longer than usual. I had time to sit down with Zoran and have a quick can of Fanta before it sounded. Grabbing my life jacket I headed up to Deck 5.

Once upstairs Becky ticked me off the list and someone came around and asked us security questions. Regina was there and explained to me what we were going to do. It was my first drill in this section and I had no idea about what was going on. The life rafts were ready to be lowered.

After an hour and a half of waiting around and endless calls for certain people to get to their emergency stations, we were all called to our life raft points. The drill couldn’t end until everyone holding a red card was ticked off the list. For that alone, the drill look an hour longer than usual. 

My life raft point was the same as my muster station. We all had our life jackets on and finding it hard to stay awake... More waiting around. After another 30 minutes the announcement came for all crew members participating in the life raft exercise to board their rafts.

There were six of us in our life boat. My job was to grab an oar when we hit the water and push the boat away from the ship. There were two of us doing the job. Two guys were at the back of the boat to release the clamp from the wires and one at the front. The final person was the “captain” of the life boat who was in charge of driving. 

Once a couple of metres away from the ship, the engine started and we were speeding off into the sea. Two minutes later the engine cut out. There were about eight other life boats around us, just floating. 

This is the procedure – we get away from the ship, group together as much as possible and just wait for help. The boats were rocking side to side and bobbing up and down! If you get sea sick easily, you’ll be turning green within no time at all!

The “Captain” of the life boat told two of the men to come over. He taught them how to work the life boat and steer. They both had a go of driving around in circles for five minutes or so. After we were just waiting around for the other boats to join us and the call to come back in. I was also told that next time there’s a drill and I was going to have a go at driving the life boat – I couldn’t wait!! 

Finally, after what seemed an age, a voice crackled over the walkie-talkie telling us to head back to the ship. The captain of our life boat said that when it’s windy the boat will slam against the side of the ship – oh joys. 

Once it was secured we climbed out and onto the deck. From there we had to climb up a ladder to the point where we all had a go at cranking up the life boat until it was suspended over the deck. It was like doing a work out at the gym!! The girls went first, the higher the boat got, the harder it became to crank up and that’s when the men took over.

Once we’d all climbed back down, we picked up our life jackets and were dismissed. The drill was finally over after 2 and a half hours. 

I had an hour left of my break before going back to work. I bumped into Zoran on back deck and we sat around talking for a bit before going up a couple of decks for something to eat.

It was formal night tonight and we were already shattered. We’d both missed our chance to get some sleep and it was now time for set up. For the fourth formal night in a row Zoran was shooting ship and boy, was he getting sick to death of it! I’m being alternated between two boring backdrops – Bow and Titanic. There’s really no point in even looking at my formal schedule anymore because I know what’s coming. Fabio is always on LSP. David’s reign on black is over and all the new members of the team are shooting centrums and stairs while the more experienced ones are on crap, "learner's" backdrops. 

The worst thing about it all was that Sanela was put on Stairs one formal night, didn’t take many photos and approximately 95% of her shots were out of focus. The same happened the following formal night when she was on Centrum 3. 95% of all her shots were completely out of focus while the background was as sharp as a pin!! It didn’t make sense to us.

Set up took longer than it should – as it always does. By the time we were finished we had a couple of hours until it was show time. I had an hour to sleep. 

The night was a bit of a drag, no one wanted their photos taken. We were smudging as much as we could until the middle of the second session. By then it was obvious we weren’t going to get anywhere. After the second Ressi, we were back in the studio for one last session. One hour to go and the studios were dead. 

The singers came onto the Royal Promenade bridge and 70’s Night began and it wasn’t long until the party was in full swing. The guests were all rushing over. David had to quickly dismantle his studio on the Promenade as the crowd grew bigger and bigger. People will even try to stand on the light’s power packs to get a bigger view of what’s going on!! 

There wasn’t long left and my side of Deck 5 was empty. The dining room was empty too. Not even the Italians were out… and that’s saying something. David started breaking down the studio where Fede had been before he started his long night of printing in the lab.  With nothing to do, I helped. With 10 minutes left, David told me to gather my stuff, download my images and bring the studio bag up. In the meantime he’d break my studio down.

Soon we’d all closed our studios and downloaded our images. We were all breaking down our studios. Those who had broken theirs down already were moving on to other studios to help out. 

Starting from Deck 5 we loaded all the equipment in and moved down to Deck 4 where we did the same. Three people had to run down to Deck 3 as there was no more space in the lift. From there, we all worked as quickly as possible to shift everything into the store and finish up for the night.

With break down done, all that was left was the pizza. Two of the lads had already gone for pizza but in recently weeks we’ve been having a lot of problems with getting food on formal nights. It was getting a bit playground-like and incredibly petty. The cooks simply didn't want to make us pizza!

Looking around at everyone… we were all completely shattered. Port days and formal nights really aren’t a good mix!!

Popular on the Gangway! :-o

Crete Girl and Shooter

BEST gangway photo EVER!

Smudge! Smudge! Smudge!

Smudge, Smudge, Smudge

21^st June 2011

Today we all had an early start. Mariner of the Seas is docked in Haifa, Israel and we needed to get a good image count. 

Haifa gangway is like a zoo, a madhouse! After Israel, things go to pot, our image counts, gallery purchases and profits go down the pan. The guests either tighten the grip on their wallets or run out of money from buying too much holy water, or both. 

This was the final push so we doubled up. Jeni was shooting the ring, I was on the rail and Stu was smudging for us both. David is the “new age” camel. Stu can no longer dress up as the camel because, according to Mike, he’s naturally too tall and wearing the camel’s head takes him up to something loopy like 7 foot. There’s too much of a gap between the guests and camel’s head. Shooting the camel was Fede.

Stu started smudging for me until I had a reasonable count while Jeni was struggling. He switched to Jeni to give her a hand. Reuben soon came over and started helping me smudge. During a quiet moment on the gangway he checked my images for faithful exposures and cropping. A mad rush came with everyone running around like headless chickens looking for their tour buses. Reuben started shooting and between us we smudged as much as possible. 

I’m far more comfortable smudging in Spanish. For some reason, I find it so hard in English. When speaking in Spanish I have no shame, naturally wave my hands around and speak louder (or shout) than I do in English. At one point Stu got a bit pissed at me for not smudging enough. Someone's always got to complain.

Towards the end of our four hour stint on gangway, Mike came out from the ship and told me to follow him. Reuben picked up the ring Jeni was using and carried it down to the opposite end of the ship. 

The ring was set up so the guests were close up foreground and the entire length (or 95%) of the Mariner of the Seas in the background. Some port agents apparently don’t allow you to go that far away from the ship if you’re working so Mike had to clear it with Israeli security first.

For the next hour and 15 minutes I was roasting in the Israeli sun like a chicken!! None of us bother slapping on suncream in Haifa as the ship always provides us with shade for the entire gangway stint. Big mistake! There was a small area of shade, provided by the terminal's roof ledge, that I was running to for refuge during breaks from guests getting off the ship. 

Stu came down with a bottle of water and to see how I was getting on. There was about 45 minutes left so he stood around keeping me company and doing the odd bit of smudging. Most of the time he took the pee out of my accent and how I say “photo”. He’s South African though… he isn’t one to talk!! Nowadays if I tell him to repeat “yes” or “off” in his thick South African accent, he tells me to fuck off!! Charming. I guess it does contain the word "off"...

The images I was getting were bloody good though so I took a couple of stock shot like images to put on the blog and send to the parents. Slowly but surely I was back to racking up more images.

Once gangway was over we all headed back onto the ship. Stu and I went upstairs for munch while the others went back to bed for a few hours. 

I had until 17.30 off so it was a chance for me to get my washing done. Borrowing Stu’s detergent I managed to get it all done relatively quickly! Sara (Mexico) the singer from Boleros said there’s a cheap supermarket nearby the port. Chucking my lights into the dryer and darks into a bag, I ran off towards my cabin to drop everything off. 

While charging down the I-95 I bumped into Jorge from Explorations! He was being transferred tomorrow to work in the Baltics and needed to bue a suitcase. We arranged to meet on the gangway in five minutes to find a suitcase and get some shopping in. 

Finding the suitcase was much easier than finding a supermarket. There are plenty of clothes, leather and delicatessen shops. Finally we found a supermarket that looked more like a garage from the outside. Everything was so much cheaper than in Europe so I made the most out of it, keeping in mind that I had to carry it all back to the ship. I finally managed to find washing detergent, a 3litre bottle of Persil for $6. In Europe it’d cost you an arm and a leg! Next time we need shopping, we’ll save it until we’re in Haifa.

Back on the ship I had a couple of hours to spare but didn’t quite know what to do with myself. Stu was now on his private tour with the large, Honeymoon family. Jeni was catching up on her beauty sleep. Hernan, Fede, Sandra and Eve were at the beach. I’d had enough sun for the day and decided against going to the beach. The last thing I needed was a lobster red body followed by shedding my skin like a snake!!

Making the most out of the time I jumped into bed for what was supposed to be an two hours and turned into three and a half. Gathering my stuff up I headed to Back Deck for a while. I’ve been a bit behind with my blog updates due to our hectic schedules.

When we are in port we can’t sell a lot of our products due to tax reasons. So today I was surprised when Reuben put me on table sale to sell cameras. Once everything was on the trolley to take up to Deck 11 we said we couldn’t sell anything until we were out of the port and asked what we were supposed to do. Reuben hadn’t realized that sail away was 22.00 and it was now 17.30. Either way, I had to set up and just promote what we had to offer. I had to turn a couple of people away as I couldn’t sell them a camera. 

During the evening, a guest came back to purchase a camera and mentioned my name so the commission would go to me. Someone else came back to the gallery and bought one from Stu. It’s kind of frustrating when you’ve pretty much sold a camera but can’t close and charge because you’re in port. It’s worse when they buy from someone else and you loose your minimal commission of $4

Reuben has also confirmed that he has a definite date as to when he’ll be leaving the ship. Our previous manager Jomar will be returning to the Mariner of the Seas from vacation. Reuben is being transferred to the Oasis of the Seas. Although Rueben likes the small team - Oasis of the Seas has 27 photographers while Mariner of the Seas has a team of 10 photogs - he’s pleased to be going to Oasis. Fantastic money, or so I'm told. Not many people can say they’ve been the manager to a team of photographers on the second biggest cruise ship in the world. Reuben will be disembarking in Kusadasi in three days. 

Good luck to him.

Smudger: Stu on the Rail (with half the Ring)

And there's the other half of the ring

David The Camel, Haifa (Israel)

Character & Shooter - David & Fede

Our BM Reuben

Reuben & Mariner of the Seas, Haifa (Israel)

Mike & Reuben - Sample Shot

The Set Up

Pirates in Naples?

Pirate in Naples?

 16th June 2011

By the time I closed my eyes last night, it was time to get up. We had to be on gangway for 07.00. I’d completely forgotten I was shooting the rail and had to run down to the lab with ten minutes to spare, change the flag on the ring and lug it upstairs.

We are in Naples today, so Stu was decked out in his chef pyjama pants (although he swears they aren’t pyjama pants), Italian flag chef’s hat, and a silver platter with a photograph of a pizza selotaped to his hand. While on the gangway, Stu told me to go with him as Fede was helping Luci sort out the cruise DVDs. For the next twenty minutes or so, I was shooting the Pizza Chef, until Fede took over.

On the other exit of the ship Fabio was shooting Sandra, who was dressed up as a pirate. A pirate in Naples? We’ve used all our relevant costumes this cruise so they had to pull something out the bag to get the image count. It’s especially hard on the last day of the cruise. By the end of the cruise, people are sick to death of seeing us and our cameras, so in a way, we are trying to go out with a bang in a final chance to get as many photos as possible.

Zoran replaced me on the rail at 09.00h. I was scheduled to have 3.5 hours off but that went down the drain when Reuben told us last night that there was a red drill. Until a few weeks ago I held a green card (emergency cards) and we literally had a drill every cruise. Now that I’d been changed to red, there’d been a drill scheduled… just my luck!

The drill was at 09.30. There’s a new strategy for the drills; a group of crew members go around asking crew security and drill/evacuation questions. If you get some wrong, you’ll be sent for extra training. Luckily I didn’t get asked any questions… I was simply told to take my hands out my pockets.

Due to the questionnaires it was nearly an hour and a half before we second alarm went off to summon us to our muster station. In total the drill took two hours – much longer than normally.

Running back to my cabin afterwards I threw on some jogging bottoms before heading out with Fabio. David and Regina were going to meet us a little later.

Fabio and I headed to Antonio’s pizza place. It’s a place that Fabio goes to every time he’s in Naples and the owner, Antonio, is so friendly it’s untrue. It’s a bit more expensive than most places but the food is excellent!! I only had an hour and a quarter before having to return to work. David and Regina soon came along and we finally ordered. Regina and I were being “good girls” and sharing a pizza.

Running back to the ship with 15 minutes to spare I ran past Katie, one of the guests, who called me back. She wanted a photo with me and a cuddle. Not a problem! It’s guests like her that make you smile and the shit worthwhile.

Shooting off again and rushing through security, I dragged my uniform on and leaped up the stairs to deck 3. As soon as I got into the gallery Luci told me I needed to rearrange the photos from the second formal night, especially Ressi. Urgh!

Knight on Trial

Knight on Trial

9^th June 2011

Here we are again in Rhodes.

Stu was on the gangway first thing in the morning dressed as a knight in shining armour. This was the first time he’d dressed up as a knight (Crusader in Israel, with a different outfit) so it’d be interesting to see the image count he got.

I was free shooting the ring which along with the rail (which Jeni was shooting) didn’t get a huge count. To add fuel to the fire, I had completely lost my voice so smudging was almost impossible!! Everyone’s been joking I sound like El Padrino (the Godfather) and that soon got changed to La Madrina (the Godmother). To be honest, I don’t blame them… if I had a voice, I’d be taking the piss too!

After gangway Fede and Stu headed up to the mess for something to eat while I jumped in the shower. It was sunny out so I could finally give my new dress a whirl… I’m turning into a girly girl! Once they were back we headed out into Rhodes. Stu went into a bar to use the internet. I’d promised Fede I’d help him find presents for his numerous female family members and friends. He had no idea what to buy and he knows them! What chance did I have of being any help? We got some bits and of course I found another magnet. This magnet had nothing to do with Rhodes. It was a cow with dangly legs – I loved it!

Alright, so I know I promised myself that I wouldn’t but the picture I wanted from the armour shop until I was Photog2. Walking past the shop, my competencies and checklist completed, the urge got the better of me. After spending 20 minutes talking to the lady in the store, I walked out with the picture for 6euros less and a message for Stu: pop in next time you’re in Rhodes to say hi. The girl is lovely, it’s a real pleasure talking to her. There’s another picture that I want… that one will either have to wait until I’m promoted to Photog2… or maybe even Photog 3!

With just over an hour and a half to go before we had to board the ship, Fede and I went to join Stu. Fede hated my picture! As soon as I walked into the bar where Stu was, and he saw the carrier bag I was carrying, he smiled. Jokingly, I slipped the bag behind my back and put on a sheepish face. He knew I’d bought the picture and laughed when he pulled it out the bag. Like me, Stu thinks the picture is awesome. It’s two against one… therefore, the picture is awesome! I’ll get a photo and post it on here as soon as I can.

Heading back to the ship it was time for a quick snooze before set up. During set up we had LSP set up training from Stu. He’s fed up of people not setting the studio up properly so Ritesh the AMP gave him permission to show us how it’s done properly. Originally my studio was supposed to be set up on Deck 3 along with LSP. Halfway through set up Ritesh decided he wanted it up on Deck 5. So Zoran and Hernan (I was helping the new girl Sandra) set up her studio.

Tonight I was shooting on the black backdrop. It wasn’t the usual poses, Reuben wanted close ups which wasn’t a problem. Rather than having people simply standing I was swapping between a dining room chair and a prestigious looking, purple arm chair. Following Stu’s previous advice and training I was tipping the arm chair in all directions. Some turned out brilliant where others didn’t work so well. It wasn’t really a problem, it would give me more of an insight as to what to avoid for next time or a night where it’s busy such as formal night.

The biggest challenge was trying to pose guests with a fading voice or none whatsoever. Some people were quite easy going and understood the hand gestures while others didn’t. Just as I was closing down the studio, a Scottish guest I’d previously photographed popped in. He handed me four Strepsils for my throat and wished me well. Grateful wasn’t even the word. It wasn’t long before my pain in my throat ebbed a way a little. My voice didn’t quite return though but I could live with being silent for a few days. No doubt the others could do with a break from me talking too.

After my break I asked David if he could swap with me. He’d shoot in my studio and I’d take his place in the gallery. I’d need my voice far less in the gallery and could quite easily busy myself condensing or displaying prints.

Although the head cold has faded a bit since Athens, it seems to have passed down to my chest. I’m starting to worry in case it turns into a chest infection. Not what I want or need so I’ll have to play it safe for a while and keep wrapped up.

On a brighter note, from what I displayed in the gallery, the knight in armour was a success on the gangway! Unfortunately for Stu, his gauntlet investments are “falling apart” and he’s having to super glue the metal onto the glove... maybe they are more for show than gangway!

Stuart as the Knight in Rhodes, Greece

Quasimodo’s Sister

Quasimodo’s Sister

7^th June 2011

Okay, so as predicted I woke up at 6.30 with a face that resembled Quasimodo’s sister. Not only that but I felt like someone had given me a good hiding!! Seeing Luci, I showed her my face, the only advice she gave me was a shrug and “lots of makeup”. Still feeling like death warmed up, I had to get onto the gangway and work, there wasn’t anyone who could fill my position so early in the morning and the schedule was already set.

On the gangway I felt so sluggish it was untrue. Luci was bugging me to put my arm around the guests to stop them to have their photo taken. It’s what I usually do without a problem but this time my body was aching. The bright sun was making my eyes sting and water, keeping them open started to become impossible. I’ll have Chinese eyes in some of the photos – and those are the photos I have my eyes open!!

Stu was dolled up in his Greek God costume and working the opposite end of the ship where the tours were exiting from. Both he and Fabio later came up to join us. We took it in turns to have breaks. I was downing water as if it was going out of fashion!

Paco our AMS was signing off today and Luci would be taking over. She was looking forward to it but seemed a little nervous about things. She was more pleased about never having to wear the Image “scarf” (evening wear) again.

The rest of the day was a blur of sleep, sleep walking and working! Whatever happened, I really don’t remember.

Aye Aye Sailor

Aye Aye Sailor!

2^nd June 2011

Don’t be silly… of course I wasn’t dressing up as the Sailor after what happened last time! It was my turn to shoot Jeni, dressed as the Sailor. We arrived in Chania, Crete (Greece) later in the morning so it was a relatively late gangway compared to most. Stu was already out on gangway shooting Fabio who was also dressed as a sailor.

The morning hadn’t got off to a great start, I fell out of my top bunk! It wasn’t so much of a fall but it was! Jeni rang me early to ask if I had to costume as a pair of pants were missing. In the end they were in Hernan’s cabin. Getting a call completely disorientated me and I stepped off my bed expecting to put my feet on the floor, instead I went into a quick free fall. One foot hit the chair while the other crashed towards the ground. Even though the chair broke my fall, I felt the muscle pull non too gently in my leg. Telling everyone on gangway what had happened provided a laugh.

Fabio and Stu were going back on the ship, they’d got 200 images. All aboard was at 13.30 (13.00 for crew) so everyone would be leaving the ship early to make the most of the time in Chania. Stu said to get 200 images and then check how many were left on board. We got cracking and the numbers soon started racking up. Our target was 200 images each. Within an hour and 15 minutes we had our 200 images. We couldn’t go in too early as we were supposed to be on gangway until 11. For 15 minutes we continued taking photos and got to 220. 

The port went dead. Security told us there were only 280 guests on board so we called it quits. We’d reached out target and passed it. There were only 30 minutes left so we went back on board and called Ritesh who gave us permission to end shooting. Result!

We headed up to the Crew Mess, which is more like a zoo, for something to eat before heading for a nap. Luci was out on tour so I had the cabin to myself. I love having the cabin to myself. I can put my music on, dance around, make as much noise as I like and even walk around naked if the fancy ever took me (not that it ever does). 

After sorting out my music and camera equipment, I left the door open ajar (which Luci hates) and jumped into bed for a nap – this time reminding myself I’m sleeping on the top bunk rather than being at home. For some reason I feel more comfortable leaving the door open ajar or all the way. The others drop in, sometimes just to say hi, and you feel less confined in your cell.

As soon as Luci comes in, she’ll shut the door. She wants the privacy without people passing by. Each to their own.

At 13.00 we had training in the office with Reuben. We had a test which “wasn’t a test, it’s just to find out what you guys know”. So it was a test. Later Reuben spoke to us about selling and techniques. Not only did I find interesting but helpful. Patricia and my Dad had told me the same when selling houses, just act as if you don’t care to a certain degree. Don’t look overly keen. Be interested in the guests but don’t look as if you are desperate for a sale.

Set up didn’t go to plan. My brain went to mush, I was so tired. Fabio and Fede were setting up my studio on Deck 5 while I was down on 3 with Stu. I made a few cock ups and Stu was rapidly losing patience, not that he had any to begin with. He’d gone for a snooze and woke up in a bad mood. 

When I turned off the power pack I forgot to release the power which is a must. Normally I do it automatically, today for some reason I didn’t. Stu came down on me – yet again. Telling him to get off my case didn’t go down to well and I got another Stuart lecture. “How long have you been here for Lou? You should know what to do by now.” He then turned to the others and asked if he was being unfair. No one answered. Too annoyed for words I told him where to go (not the best thing to do) and headed off to the lab to collect the camera bags. 

When I got back, Stu just looked at me as if waiting for me to say something or an apology. It didn’t come. I dropped everything off and headed passed him and back to my cabin. Again, it feels like I can’t get anything right. I’m tired and everything is just mounted on top of me and everyone else. Luci was asleep so I jumped into the shower and there were more than a few tears. I couldn’t help it.

Now I’m on Back Deck typing away, having down time and clearing my head before work at 17.15. I’m shooting the black background for the first time so I can’t afford to make a mistake. I want to get some great shots! To be able to do that, I need to calm it and sort myself out.

I’m finishing at 22.30 tonight so I’ll probably be heading straight to bed for an early night and possibly call Becks to see how she’s getting on depending on the time difference. I need it… We all do! What’s worse is we aren’t going to get a night off until Istanbul which is still about 15 days away. We didn’t have time to get off the ship today, tomorrow is a sea day, last day of the cruise so it’s going to be manic and then straight onto embarkation the following day. We won’t get any time off on shore for the next  3 days. 

Normally you don’t get days off so Istanbul is a little special for us as we get the night and morning off if we get the image count. At the moment we are working ourselves ragged to get the impossibly high targets that Image have sent us. 

Roll on Istanbul!

Greek Goddess

Greek Goddess

14th May 2011

As you can guess we are in Greece today. After formal night and finishing at 1am it was a struggle dragging myself out of bed at 5am. The only bonus was that I was dressing up as a Greek Goddess. 

Tugging my bed sheets off at 6am and numerous failed attempts I managed to get the sheet to look something along the lines of a toga. In the end about three people were helping me as I wasn’t quite ready when the gangway opened. We used my belt to fasten the sheets around my waist. If there was a strong wind, the guests would be getting a glimpse of my very unflattering cow pyjama shorts. Lou from Spa lent me a wired head piece with white flowers and greenery wrapped around and a Greek style bead bracelet.

Stu arrived a little before we headed onto the gangway and helped me sort the sheet a bit more to make sure it was secure. Stu was also in costume – a Greek God. He was luckily enough to have a Greek God costume. A bed sheet was simply used to go across his back and drape around his arms. In true style Stu wore his dirty Converses which stood out like a sore thumb against the whiteness of his costume. This caused a few laughs amongst the guests.

Jeni was shooting the rail. David was photographing Stu. All were shooting at the back exit of the ship. This was where all the tours were departing from so the area would be busy. Luci was shooting me at the forward exit. This exit was for guests who were going out and about on their own. Our section was far quieter but most people were saying yes to have their photo taken. Having said that, we weren’t giving them much choice. As soon as they walked out I’d put my arm around them, literally trapping them into having their photo taken, while Luci took the shot. She was standing there ready so the second the guest looked up, she’d take the photo and we’d move onto the next. People were lining up to have their photo taken; what one does, the other follows. Most guests just joined the queue without knowing what it was for.

When things didn't go quite to plan or I'd freeze up a little with nervous, Luci was straight on my case. "Grab them!" and "Don't let them go!". Having Luci on your case can be hard going but it makes you push that little bit harder to get over your nerves, get the job done and get her off your back! Luci's a great teacher to be fair.

Towards the end of the 4 hour stint on gangway Stu, Jeni and David came up to our part. Stu had a moan at me for not smudging enough. That was kind of ironic as Luci and I had the quietest section yet double the photographs!! When I started smudging he told me to not smudge the guests he’d just had a photo with. This boy was doing nothing but complain and nag me and it was starting to get on my nerves. For a while we were both having our photos taken with the guests. Athena on one side and Zeus on the other.

After gangway Luci and I headed to a great little café to use the internet. The café makes its own pizzas and pastries. The food is absolutely delicious! The place was empty so we had a reasonably fast internet connection. Unfortunately the parents weren’t online. I’m used to not seeing them all the time but I do miss speaking to them every day or every other day. Maybe another day.

Back on the ship I was in gallery. Stu was displaying the prints from gangway so I thought I’d give him a hand. The gallery was fairly empty. It was great seeing the gangway photos in print! Again, everything that I did was wrong. Maybe I shouldn’t have done, but I pointed out that it feels like he’s now being overly critical. Some of the images were about half a centimetre out and he’d move them along so all the prints were directly in line. It was the small nitty gritty things that he's picking at. Stu quitely reminded me, rather needlessly, that I’m a Photog 1, he’s Photog 2 and it’s his job to show me how things are done and how to do it properly. He’s only trying to help. That may be true, but it still feels like everything I do is wrong and it’s putting a real downer on me. When Stu talks really quietly, you know he’s doing it to avoid an argument – not that I was looking for one! I just wanted to know why the hell he was on my case so much. Hernan doesn’t get the same amount of shit I do. Thankfully a couple of guests came over so I could get away from him for a bit. I have no idea what’s up with him at the moment. Normally Stu’s a great laugh and I love working with him but at the moment, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Natasha left the ship today. As nasty as it may sound, there were a few sighs of relief. Before she’d resigned she’d been giving so many people grief and it only got worse when she handed in her notice. I’d quite frankly had enough of being spoken to as if I’m a servant and getting shouted at. David and Hernan were the same. On embarkation she had a go at Hernan for something that wasn’t his fault. He asked a couple to stop and have their photo taken and completely buggered up his English and took a couple of seconds to recompose himself and carry on. By then, two couples had walked past. She said he wasn’t doing his job properly etc. It’s easy for someone who only speaks one language.  Even though I speak fluent Spanish, I sometimes fluff my words and get muddled up. And yes, sometimes you do have to take a second or two to recompose yourself when you get nervous and/or embarrassed about not being able to get the right words out at the right time, and more importantly, doing it quick enough! Hernan’s English is getting much better – sooner or later he won’t have half as much troubles as he does now. It’s just a matter of time and practise.