Ultimate Ice Skater

Ultimate Ice Skater

2^nd July 2011

During the table sale up on Deck 5 I managed to sell a Canon 300HS, case and two memory cards. Not great but not bad.

While shooting LSP, Zoran came over to tell me that he’d spoken to Ritesh. We were due to have another equipment inventory after work. This time we were going to have to take everything out of each studio bag. Zoran told him everyone wanted to go to the all crew ice skating event (which most of us knew nothing about). Ritesh agreed to postpone the inventory until tomorrow. After work, once we'd packed as quickly as possible and changed, we all charged to Studio B to hit the ice!

By 00.15 most of us were on the ice. I’ve skated before when I was younger and rollerbladed a few times before so I didn’t think there’d be much of a problem. Getting onto the ice, I realized it’d be a bit harder than I previously imagined! There were grooves everywhere from the skate blades making it hard to glide along. Everyone was slipping and sliding everywhere! 

Fede was armed with his camera and so was Ritesh. 

Grabbing my hand, Hernan skated around the rink with me a couple of times. Zoran took over. I was more nervous of Zoran as he’d previously been trying to knock David and Hernan over. I was sure he'd go as fast as possible, dragging me along with him, before letting go of my hand! It's something Zoran would do! Boys will be boys!! 

David was trying to help Sandra stay up on her feet. Camila took to it like a duck on water and whizzed off! Going back to Hernan we did two more laps before I went wobbly and tried to head for the side of the rink. Hernan accidently got in the way making me slip around even more. You gotta love him… he tried holding me up but failed miserably! I went flying over, landing heavily onto my back - Home Alone style! Poor Hernan came crashing down too but had a softer landing... by landing on top of me!

The other photogs on the ice quickly crowded around to see if we were okay. Hernan and I were in fits of laughter. Helping us up, someone pointed to my elbow. Everyone was asking how my head was – it took an almighty smack! Good job we all had helmets on or else there might have been a problem. My head was fine believe it or not… there’s not much damage to do there! My elbow was throbbing like a bitch!! Having a quick look, I saw it was already grazing and cut all over the place. No matter how much it hurt, I was still laughing, I couldn't stop… until I saw the size of my elbow!  

Originally I was going to carry on skating but decided against it. I don’t think my bum or elbow could take another fall… and I was bound to go over again. Feeling a little dizzy I headed over to the ice. Whitney from Spa was rolling up laughing but started to get worried when I was going pale. At one point I honestly thought I was going to faint - the pain was that bad. Luckily enough I didn’t! One thing is for sure… I am now the ultimate ice skater. No one took such an almighty tumble although there were some smashes that could rival it!

Going back to the cabin Luci and Camila were talking in Portuguese. Rather than switching languages, Luci said they had to speak in Portuguese to me so I’d learn. I can now string a couple of sentences together such as “shut your mouth”, you know, the useful stuff! I understood most of what was being said. My vocabulary is getting better but my pronouncation isn’t! The few things I can say are with a Spanish accent. I shouldn’t complain though… speaking another language with whatever accent is an advantage. By the end of my contract which is just over 3 months away, I intend on having a Brazilian flag on my name badge. My Spanish flag is looking a little lonely!

The others all headed over to back deck for the all crew party. Camila and I went up to the staff mess for cereals. Spotting Eve and Hernan outside on the deck we went out to speak to them for a while. Sitting outside on the deck of a night is lovely. It's cool, sometimes chilly, yet so tranquil. The amount of stars twinkling in the sky is unbelievable - never before have I seen so many stars.

It was about 2.30am by the time I got to bed. I was due up at 7.30 for gangway. I was shooting Zoran who was dressing up as the knight. Originally I was supposed to shoot David as the Knight which got changed to the centurion as we don’t have two knight costumes. Fede saw the schedule and said he was shooting David. When I argued that I was shooting David he pointed out that he is P3 while I’m only P2 before cracking up laughing. The bugger!! Fine, I’ll shoot Zoran and we’ll get a freaking awesome count. It’s going to be a bit strange shooting a costume in Rhodes, I’ve never done it before. Plus, Stu is always the one in costume for Rhodes. Let’s see how tomorrow pans out.

I’ll see if I can get some of the photos from Fede and post them on here and Facebook as soon as possible.

Zoran's on his Arse!

After Falling Over

Photog Train - David, Hernan, Zoran and Camila

Ouch!!!

Ice Train - David, Zoran, Hernan and Raissa (Bar)

Spa and Photogs - Whitney, Sandra, Annik and Me

Zoran

Hernan Showing Off

David

Hernan and Annik

Hernan and David

Mariner of the Seas Torvill and Dead - Hernan and David

Show Offs!

Nearly... Hernan Takes a Tumble

David

Hernan

Ancient Greeks Thinking of the Future

1^st July 2011

Thinking of the Future

There were quite a few cock ups during the previous night in both setting up and breaking down for formal night. We noticed we were missing two valuable members of the team. 

Shooting on the centrum on Deck 4 I occasionally looked down to where LSP (Stu’s studio) was set up. The queue wasn’t a mile long like usual. The booming laugh and voice were gone and replaced by Flabio’s relatively quite ways.

One studio, at the end of the Royal Promenade didn’t get broken down until the next day – we completely forgot about it! It was a complete mess. By the time we had pizza (the original order was lost) and finished up it was 2am. Everyone was due to start work at 06.45-07.00.

Fabio, Hernan and I were going on tour to the Acropolis. Sanela was the Greek Godess and teamed up with Sandra. Zoran was the Greek God with David shooting. Zoran did a fantastic job and the a couple of guests even commented at how well he was acting the part and playing up for everyone. Nice one Zoran!!

As I was leaving for tour, I had to tell Sanela to stand by the exit, not in the middle of the hall. From there she can’t smudge for shit! The results showed, only 200 images. Even though I am more experienced and been working in costumes on gangway before, Luci and I would always get more than 400. She needs to improve a lot. Maybe someone more experienced should have been put on gangway for the start of the cruise and allow the newer people to have a go towards the end when the image count drops? Just a thought. It's what Reuben did with us new hires when we joined. Obviously they need to train but we also need the image count and to make money.

The tour itself was hard going. We were told to only get one or two kinds of shots. Trying to get up to the Acropolis itself was a task in itself. The heat was almost unbearable (we were all sporting large sweat patches or wringing wet shirts – very sexy!) and the crowds were unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like it before!! Neither had Fabio. 

There were six ships in the port and all were doing tours to the same attraction. Smudging was too bad, I had a few catty comments to which they got a similar reply! The biggest challenge was getting a gap in the crowds to take someone's photo. I only came back with 32 images which, let’s face it, is nothing. A real disappointment, especially when I was only there for 30 minutes! Fabio was there for longer and got 60 something. I’m not sure how well Hernan did.

Herds of people were trying to leave and enter the Acropolis making the journey to the bus slow and almost painful! People were pushing and shoving, it was like you were at a football match! 

At the entrance of the Acropolis is a tall archway. The archway has been divided into one narrow paths. One side for entering and the other exiting the Acropolis. It's the slowest part to get through, especially with people shoving and getting agitated. One American lady even complained to her family. “Why didn’t they make this archway bigger? It’s not big enough for everyone”. I had to laugh at the stupidity and hold my tongue!! All I wanted to do was tell the lady “I’m sure that 2,500 years ago, while building the Acropolis, the Greeks weren’t thinking of accommodating so many bloody tourists!! Mass tourism never crossed their minds!” Some of the things that get said are unbelievably amazing yet stupid. I need to write a book of all the daft comments I hear!! It’d be a top seller!!

On the schedule we were all supposed to be back at 11am. Fat chance! By the time I got back it was 13.00. Fabio didn’t get back until 14.00.

Sandra popped into my cabin to ask if I was going out for internet. Fede was port manning and therefore couldn't leave the ship. 

Quickly showering and changing we ran off the ship and to O’Connell’s Irish Pub to use the internet. Becks was online – finally we were both online at the same time! I really needed to speak to her, get a few things off my chest and in general I really miss speaking to her. It wasn’t long before she went offline. Just my luck!

There’s no word from Stu like he promised. Checking his Facebook we saw that he’d contacted the American family. That caused a few raised eye brows, rolling of eyes and shakes of heads. It didn’t seem right, the people that genuinely care about him, hear nothing from him yet those people… I won’t continue.

Heading back to the ship I jumped into bed for 1.5 hours before I starting work in the gallery. After a three hour stint in the gallery I had an hour shooting on Garden – a hideously ugly backdrop.

Breaking down the studio, I noticed some things hadn’t been set up properly. Jomar had put Sanela and Sandra to set up alone. It took two hours to set up two studios?? 

One of my studio lights hadn’t been attached to the clamp!! If it had been pulled or knocked, the results could have been lethal – mainly to Image’s bank balance. An auto pole didn’t have a rubber stump at the end so it wasn’t very secure. If someone had leaned against it, the pole would have simply slipped out of place. 

Speaking to Sandra I wanted to know who had done the set up out of the two of them. It wasn’t to have a go at them, just explain and point them in the right direction. Sandra told me the pin hadn’t been put into her backdrop so she had to resort to using a hair pin!! A flimsy hairpin to hold up a heavy backdrop!? What the hell was going on? Had no one checked the set up?

Finishing up, I went down to the cabin to get my camera equipment. Ritesh was doing another inventory list for everyone. Putting my key in the door, it didn’t work. Going to the lab I told Ritesh who said I could do the inventory tomorrow. Thank you!! 

Waiting for Luci, she tested her key when she got back to the corridor. It was the same. The door unlocked but the handle wouldn’t budge so we couldn’t get it open. I’d already called maintenance who said they couldn’t do anything about it until tomorrow. What the hell!? Instead we had to call security who weren’t best pleased. When they arrived their key didn’t work either so they had to use a hard key (rather than a card key) to let us in. We had to call maintenance tomorrow, first thing to get it fixed asap.

Originally I was supposed to be staying over at Zoran’s. The new girl, Camila, isn’t happy with the cabin she is in. Her cabin mate is reportedly being royal bitch plus her and her boyfriend are at it like rabbits, day and night. The poor girl can’t even go into her cabin without her cabin mate shouting at her. So I was going to stay in Zoran’s (Stu’s bunk) and Camila would sleep in mine. 

Jomar finally gave her permission to move into Sandra’s cabin, taking Jeni’s place. Jomar only got his arse in gear when Luci nagged him about it in the gallery. Camila was taking a nap in the back office, on the bench prop rather than go back to her cabin. It’s not fair and certainly not a great way to start a 6 month contract! She’s moving tomorrow.

Zoran and Sanela have had a uniform delivery sent to them. Sanela’s is fine from what I’ve seen. Zoran still has no uniform… he’s been sent girl’s clothes! He can’t even get his gallery jacket on… a size 8, girl’s jacket for a guy? It’s a joke and he was far, far from happy! He was fuming, refusing to pay for any of it. Still, poor Zoran, has no camera or uniform and has been borrowing from us for nearly 1.5 months!! Now, he’s got to continue doing so until Image send the right uniform for him… maybe he’ll have everything for his second contract?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STU!!

Happy Birthday Stu!!!

The title of the blog entry says it all but either way: HAPPY BIRTHDAY STU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I woke up this morning talking to myself! I’d been having the most random dream possible. I was on the ship, running after my brother. People kept stopping me to ask questions while I was desperately trying to tell them I had to go. Getting woken up by talking to yourself is strange enough but I was completely lost and confused… It took a couple of minutes to click where I was. The men in white jackets will soon be coming to take me away, locking the door and throw away the key!

Getting dressed and heading up to the gallery I had to meet Luci and Reuben to get some presents. My crew card is the only one working. Everyone else has had theirs blocked due to lack of funds. Mine, however, no matter how much in the red I am, has never been blocked. I saw Stu in the gallery but he was helping a guest so I didn’t want to interrupt to wish him a happy birthday. 

Heading upstairs Reuben pointed out a Puma jacket he wanted. Talking to Luci she didn’t think getting Stu the shield was a good idea.  Giving Stu a call she told him to get his backside up to the Royal Promenade. In the end he chose a pair of sunglasses. It seemed a bit of a cold, thoughtless present.

Luci also wanted to call Jeni up to the shop to get her something. We’d already decided to get Jeni a scrapbook and fill it with photos. Luci thought the idea was “a shit”, too heavy and big to take home. She also asked if I’d spoken to Jeni about what to get her and if she wanted the scrapbook. What ever happened to surprises? Anyway, getting bit irritated and just left it up to Luci, she can do what she wants with the presents… I was just there to pay for it all.

Back in the gallery I started my first stint. It’s formal night so it was going to be a long one. Plus tonight we’re doing a team photo for Jeni and Reuben. Rather than take it on LSP it was suggested we use Fede’s centrum studio.

Set up was a complete nightmare. We took so long to set up the studios, I think there were about 9 in total. Someone was supposed to sort out the studio signs and only did half so at the last minute a couple of us had to run around finishing up the job. 

Running down to the lab we gathered our camera equipment and pentabs before heading upstairs. 

The ice staking show was on while we were taking the bags through Studio B. Stu and I stood watching for about 30 minutes before I had to head back to the cabin and get changed into my tuxedo. What we saw of the ice show was absolutely amazing!! I’d love to see the show in full rather than snippets here and there. It’s like watching the trailer of the shows.

Once changed into my tux I was back in the gallery for an hour. At 17.00 we had the usual meeting before the studios opened. Overall the night went relatively fast.

Normally Stu is the last to finish shooting but tonight he was so tired he closed his studio almost on time. Breaking down as quickly as possible, we wanted to get our team photo before going out to celebrate. Just as we were putting the studio bags into the store room David looked up to Deck 4 and saw that Fede’s centrum studio had been broken down. Fabio had broken down the studio… we didn’t have a studio for the group shot. 

Rather than setting up to break down we simply grabbed one of the cameras, put Fede’s flash on and rested the camera onto of a bench from LSP. Getting a group shot was funny, we took quite a lot to say the least!! 

After we had an all girl’s photo, then the guys had their turn. Next we put Reuben in the middle and all the girls surrounding him. As it was Stu’s birthday, we did the same. To make the photo unique from Reuben’s, all the girls hid their bodies behind Stu, only revealing their face of upper part of the body. There wasn’t that much space and being the smallest I kneeled in between Stu’s legs. The photo was excellent!!

Spa were hosting a themed party out on Back Deck – Black, White, Short and Tight. Typical Spa! Luci and I didn’t have anything black and white. None of my clothes were short or particularly tight so I had to settle for jeans and a navy top.

Newman had arranged to get a cake for Stu saying “HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHREK”. We were all rushing around the find Stu. In the end we found him at the bar. We managed to get a confused Stuart to sit down. I covered his eyes so he couldn’t see Newman getting the cake out the bag and box. 

Unfortunately we didn’t have any candles which, obviously, was a bit of a shame. Either way, the chocolate cake looked fantastic! Stu’s face was a classic when he opened his eyes and everyone started singing happy birthday.

The rest of the night we just spent sitting around, having a few drinks and laughs, chatting etc. Stu by the end of the night was completely smashed and by the time he reached the cabin at 5am, had to be up and out on the gangway at 8am for another private tour. That should be a sight to see…

Top left to right: Sanela, Reuben, CJ
Bottom left to right: David, Regina, Lou (moi) and Stu

Happy Birthday Shrek!

Zoran & Raissa

Stu and his Dirty Martinis

Hernan & Eve

Typical Stu!

Celebrating Stu's 22nd Birthday

Zoran

Newman

Top left to right: Reuben (India), Newman (Brazil), Luciana (Brazil), Zoran (Croatia), Hernan (Argentina)
Middle left to right: Sanela (Serbia), Jeni (Chile), Sandra (Colombia), CJ (South Africa), Eve (New Zealand)
Bottom left to right: David (South Africa), Regina (Brazil), Stu (South Africa)

Enough is Enough

Enough is Enough

14^th June 2011

Waking up this morning I checked to see what the time was. 10.15. I thought something wasn’t right. Jumping out of bed, I check the time on the cabin’s phone. 10.15. Shit! My alarm hadn’t gone off. Checking the alarm on my phone, I hadn’t gone back to sleep. It simply hadn’t gone off at 9! I was 45 minutes late for work! Grabbing the phone I rang Luci in the gallery to apologise and let her know I’d be up as quickly as possible. I asked why she hadn’t called and very nearly got my head bitten off “because I am too busy and have a lot of things to do”. She told me to speak to Reuben and do an extra hour elsewhere. 

Chucking my hair up and throwing on my uniform I ran up to the gallery and went looking for Reuben. He wasn’t about. If he was, I’d have been given a warning without a doubt. To be fair, I’d have quite happily taken the written warning as I’d cocked up famously. 

Getting behind desk to work, Luci called me to one side and told me not to tell Reuben or anyone else and to make the hour up somewhere else. No problem. Taking out the schedule she asked where I’d like the make up for the hour. I was fine with staying on an hour during the shift I was doing. Why should I choose where I make the hour up when I was the one that was late? Once that was settled I carried on working and trying to wake up. I couldn’t believe I’d woken up for work late and that my alarm hadn’t gone off. In a way I was also aggravated that no one else in the gallery had called the cabin, especially as I’m the one calling them if they are late or making sure they are awake on time.

Overall I’ve been feeling pretty down lately and I can’t manage to pick myself up. I’m not sure why I’ve been feeling this way but I’ve quite literally had enough of everything. Half an hour before we were due to close the gallery Ritesh came up from the lab to tell us we had studio portrait training. I’m one of the few who have New Hire Training books so I was sent to find mine. 

Going to the studio on Deck 3 Ritesh gave one of us the camera and told us to choose a couple. Me and Jeni went first and were joking around a bit. One of the poses is for the lady to put her hand on the guys chest. I was mucking around putting my hand an inch away from her chest. Ritesh moaned “the more you want to mess around, the longer it’s gonna take. I don’t care man. You waste your own time”. During the entire training he repeated the same thing like a broken record. 

Up next, I chose two Spanish speakers and did my posing in Spanish. Looking at the photos afterwards Ritesh did nothing but make critical comments. The hands were too high. Her fingers aren’t closed. “Come on these are the basics, man” he complained. One of my photos had too much head space and because of that I had to reshoot at the end. Reshooting, I got my poses right but now the head space was too tight. With Ritesh, you can't win, especially as if he takes a dislike to you.

Hernan trying to have a laugh got a handful of sterilising gel and first covered my hand in it. Then he shoved a load in my face. Some slapped me in the eye. Sterilising gel in your eye stings like a bitch! With a stinging, red and puffy eye, guess who Ritesh volunteered to pose for the next set of photos? Posing with David, Ritesh had to take the piss, laughing "oh shit man, she smiled. She looks better when she's pissed off and crying!" Fuck you, Ritesh!

Reuben called me into the office to speak to me. He’s told me I need to get new white shirts for my evening uniform. When I asked what was the matter with the ones I had, he told me that they were too short and couldn’t be tucked into my trousers. Apart from that, there’s nothing wrong with them. I can’t believe how picky Image/Royal Caribbean are being. You can’t see the bottom of my shirt with my jacket on. Reuben told me that Gordon (Marketing and Revenue Manager) is on the lookout and if I get caught I’ll get banana (ship talk for getting fooked). To me, it’s just petty. I look as smart as you possibly can, like everyone else, in the uniform but my shirt doesn’t tuck into my pants so it doesn’t meet Royal Caribbean’s uniform regulations.

At the moment I can honestly say I’ve had enough. I don’t want to be here anymore. Everything is getting to me. Someone is always on your case about something no matter how small or how hard you try. We are working our arses off and getting very little (financially) in return. I know I’m not here to purely have a good time but hell, at the moment this seems more like a jail sentence. If I had a home to go to, I’d go. Simple as.

Independence Day

Independence Day

13^th June 2011

Today is Independence Day in the Philippines. The majority of the crew on board are from the Philippines and they’d organized a huge celebration on back deck with free drinks, food and music. The party started at 23.00. Only problem for us was, it was formal night!

Slipping out of bed at 8.30 I headed up to Pool Decks to start shooting. Not many people wanted their photo taken, especially the younger guests. Severe hangovers, no make up and flashing lights don't mix too well! Having said that, I was still stacking up the shots which was surprising. 

There are two girls who always dress up during the evening and make their way around the studios. The sisters, from America, always arrive at the studios in the most stunning outfits, anything from stunning dresses to ball gowns with tiaras to tuxedos. I feel sorry for whoever is paying the bill but they certainly look the part!! Stu and I had been trying to guess their ages. One in particular looked about 15 but I was dubious as to whether or not she was. She looks younger. I thought she was about 14. She spotted me, came over and gave me a cuddle. She’d lost her grandmother and had been looking for quite some time. What shocked me the most was that she was getting to such a state about it, at one point she was about to cry.  

Leaving my job I walked around the decks with her, trying to find her Nan. While walking around I was asking a mix of questions: some about her grandma to get a better idea as to where she had been and could be. The others were to try and calm her down a bit. Nan had to be around here somewhere!

I felt sorry for her but didn’t think it was the behaviour of a 14 year old. When I asked her how old she was, she obviously saw just how amazed I was… she was 12! At 12 my mother would never have let me out the house wearing a face full of makeup, false nails and skimpy, clingy clothes. I’m 24 and still get the “put some clothes on talk” if I’m wearing a low cut top! To be honest, when I was 12 I was still wearing Wellington boots, old jeans and polo shirts (like a farmer) running around the fields with my dog!! 

Just before the Walk for Wishes was about to start she spotted her Nan and ran over for a big cuddle. That brought out just how young she really was. She’s a lovely girl but just seems to be trying to grow up too quickly.

An hour after I started my shift Fabio came up to start shooting Walk for Wishes. Walk for Wishes is a mile long walk (5 laps around the pool deck). The crew sell Make A Wish t-shirts for $20 a go and they literally sell like hot cakes. The shirts fly off the shelves. 

The walk is led by Captain Flemming and other senior officers. The money raised the Make a Whish t-shirts goes to charity, Make a Wish, which supports terminally ill children. So many people took part that there wasn’t a break in between the front and back of the pack. It was a continuous ring of white shirts… a great chance for us to get shots.

Regina was working on the pool decks and got dragged in to do the walk, just as my shift was ending too. I had a couple of minutes left so I joined her for two laps before heading down to the staff mess.

After a quick break and we were all on for set up. Once again I was shooting what was originally Luci’s studio Centrum 3. I think my favourite is probably Centrum 1 out of all the studios. We finished set up at 15.15.

At 17.00h we were all in our tuxedos and sitting in the office for a meeting. Ritesh gave us a talking to about getting double shots. Fabio apparently had 112 double shots out of 380 odd. I had 23 out of 78. One thing that got me was that if there’s a group of people you are supposed to get more than one shot. You’re also supposed to reshoot if you think one of the people in the frame blinked. So now I’m not sure what the hell to make of it all.  Do I just take one photo of a group and let them get reprints? That’s of course if someone from the group doesn’t buy it first. I was also told Luci used to get about 300 shots on her Centrum. I didn’t even make it to 200 and I needed to do better. I love the whole name and shame approach they take on the ship. You can really get humiliated in front of your work mates if they fancy took them... which is does and often too!

In the studio I did my best to get as many photos as I possibly could. I didn’t get 300 photos, I did get over 200 though.  In Ressi I didn’t do the best either. I was concentrating more on getting group/table shots. Most of the people I asked for couple shots didn’t want one but were more than happy to get a group picture.

Popping into the lab afterwards I had to speak to Ritesh about my images. Everything was wrong with my Ressi shots. At one point he even said “the first photo is over exposes but the next aren’t”. I had to explain that I took the image at 1/60 (the shutter speed we use in ressi) but there was too much light coming through the window so I upped the shutter speed to 1/200 (as we are told to if there is too much light). He just stared at me blankly, confused. 

Next my cropping was bad. I’d left too much space on the side for group shots, exposing too much table. What else was I supposed to do? I didn’t want to crop in too closely and cut peoples arms off. As for exposing the table… it’s a bit hard when you’re trying to get 10 people into a horizontal shot.

We finally finished at 01.00. I was completely shattered to say the least. A group of the photogs headed to back deck for the Philippines’ Independencne Day party. While popping in and out of cabins, talking to people, Stu called me in to check a photo he was editing in Photoshop.

Laying in bed, reading and relaxing, Luci was woken up by the music coming from one of the photographer's cabins. Never wake Luci up, she turns into a pitbull! Annoyed beyond belief, Luci told me she was going to call security.

Book in hand, I stuck my head into the cabin with the music playing to give them a heads up that Luci would be calling security if they didn't turn the voulme down. The last thing anyone wants is to get their collars felt by security. On top of that, this sort of thing breaks the team up, causes bad feelings. Living and working in such proximities it hard enough without ill feelings.

Going back into Stu’s cabin I asked if I could come in for a bit and read my book until Luci had either calmed down or gone to sleep. Stu was still editing his photos. I was reading and trying stay awake. I failed miserably and fell asleep. Stu woke me up and couple of times but it didn't take long for me to drop back off again and finally let me to sleep. 

Stu headed off to back deck to enjoy what was left of the Independence Day party and woke me up when he got back to the cabin. He was about to leave me sleeping in his bed and sleep on the floor! Grabbing my stuff, knowing Luci would be asleep, I sneaked back into my cabin and climbed into bed. Work was only 6 hours away and I desperately needed some shut eye.

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

Diseased

Diseased

6^th June 2011

Tonight is formal night and I’ve woken up feeling as rough as a dog’s backside! My neck and shoulders are aching along with the rest of my joints. My head is pounding, throat sore and I’ve got an almighty cough forming.

I didn’t have work until 13.00 and the clocks had gone forward. As the day continued I felt worse and worse. While working in the gallery, I popped into the office and Reuben asked if I wanted a medical form to see the doctor. Refusing, I carried on working. I really didn’t want to be signed off work again. Returning back to the office a bit later Reuben handed me the form and ordered me to see the doctor.

Heading down to the medical facility the doctor asked me what was up. I love how you go to the medical facility but you're never told what’s wrong with you! I was given a small bag stuffed with yellow pills, two sachets of night medicine to help me sleep and a handful of asprin. The doctor wanted to sign me off from work but I refused. I needed to work as it was formal night. Formal nights are busy and hard enough as it is without being down a person.

In the meeting Reuben asked why I wasn’t signed off. I told him why. He told me to take it easy and try not to use what was left of my voice. First off we were in the studios, mine for the first two session was Titanic and finally moving on to Fede’s Centrum. 

During the first seating of Ressi I was incredibly slow and couldn’t speed myself up. Feeling as rough as ever, I took the advice of the other photographers and went to speak to Reuben. Telling him I felt like hell he sent me back to my cabin to rest. 

Popping over to Stu’s LSP studio I grabbed his cabin key to get his external hard drive so I could watch a film. Jumping into bed, it wasn’t long before I dropped off to sleep. Hernan later popped in to see if I was okay before heading back up to his studio. 

Housekeeping soon came in to my cabin to clean so I had to move into Stu’s. Again I fell asleep and didn’t wake until the others had finished work at 01.00. Luci dropped a schedule and some sandwiches into Stu’s for me. A few people popped in to see how I was. Lifting my face off the pillow, it felt like I’d been given a royal beating!! Zoran couldn’t believe the size of my face! One side of my face had ballooned and my eye would hardly open!!

During the night I woke up several times, my face still swollen. I had to be up at 06.20 to get ready for gangway… Greek Goddess with a swollen face. How the hell that was going to turn out is anyone’s guess. 

Hopefully the meds would work and I’d feel better by then. If not, the guests will be having their photo taken with Quasimodo’s sister!

Spa Day

Spa Day

5^th June 2011

Our itinerary is now starting to seem like a bus route. As soon as the guests leave the ship we have another crowd waiting to board. We stop, off load the guests, load the new ones and turn around again. 

As you can probably guess, we are back in Italy for another embarkation. This time, I was lucky enough not to been shooting embarkation. I was on morning sale and had to be in the gallery for 06.45! Not fun! The best bit was I got from 11.00 til 16.30 off.

Denise from Spa asked me if she could use me as her lab/spa rat! She needed a model to use for her demonstration for the new guests. Ion therapy is something I’d usually frown upon. The treatment is supposed to make the treated area loose anything from 1 – 8 inches. As legs, thighs and bum were most in demand it was the area she wanted to use in her demonstration. I didn’t mind – maybe it’d stop my complaining for a while – if it worked! 

First she brushed my legs with a hard brush for the circulation. After she applied two different types of liquids before mixing an algae paste and slapping it on thick. Laying on top of a cover connected to electrical wires she started the machines. A series of electric shocks passed through my legs. It felt like needles stabbing me, making my leg muscles contract. After a while you got used to it and the power was upped. At one point I couldn’t contain myself – the higher the power the more ticklish it got.  

All I had to do is lay there while Denise gave the guests explanations as to what she was doing, what the treatment did and any packages/offers the spa had. Laying down for so long soon got the better of me and yes, I fell asleep! Let’s just hope I wasn’t talking in my sleep, catching flies or snoring while she was giving the demo… that would be embarrassing – more for her than me!

Looking at myself after the treatment I didn’t want to pass judgement in case I was being biased. Heading back to my cabin for a shower, I had to head back up to the gallery to set up the studios. 

Once the studios were set up I had to run back to the cabin and get my evening uniform on. Without a doubt my grey work pants were baggier. I’m going to have to swallow my pride and admit that the treatment does work… would I pay $159 for the treatment? Well, maybe if I was a millionaire or married to Lewis Hamilton!

Summer has Arrived!

Summer has Arrived

It’s the 1^st June and the temperatures are certainly rising. 

As I fell asleep at Stu’s I woke up late (no alarm clock or phone). Darting back to my cabin I chucked my uniform on and grabbed my camera before running up to the pool decks on deck 11. I was shooting pool decks and the rock wall (deck 12). 

Later on in the day is the Make a Wish mile long walk which is to raise money for terminally ill children. I wasn’t going to be photographing the Make a Wish walk, Stu would be up later with Fede and do the honours.

At 9.30am there wasn’t a huge amount of people around and those that were there didn’t want their photo taken. The rock wall was different. When you are up on a climbing wall, 20 metres about the deck, you don’t have a lot of choice but to look and have your photo taken. 

By 11am I only had 56 shots which is pure pants, if I’m honest. Fede had just arrived, did a lap around the deck and came back with 4 images. At least I wasn’t the only one having troubles getting people to have their photo taken.

My number one Canadian fan, Daniel, kept walking past, doing a few rounds of the pool deck – strange. Doesn’t that guy ever sit down? He’s always on the go! 

Later on I bumped into Luci in the Staff Mess, she said the Canadian guy had been talking to her and his parents are from Portugal. Therefore speaks fluent Portuguese. She said he was lovely and even though I’m not interested in any way, shape or form, Luci reminded me that there is a zero tolerance policy about relationships between guests and crew. Cheers Luci!

Tonight is the last formal night for this cruise – thank God! We have another sea day after Chania, Crete tomorrow. My day today is completely choca-blocked! Apart from 9.30 to 11.00 at the pool decks I’m working at 14.00-15.30 then again at 16.00 all the way through to 01.00 – no breaks. It’s going to be tough one. Mind you, I’m doing a stint in the gallery first so Paco might let me go for a quick 15 minute break for a drink. Apart from that it’s all systems go!!

**UPDATE**

During the break a few (Zoran, Jeni, Newman, Stu and I) went up to the staff mess for coffee/hot chocolate and cereals. 

Stu asked me about what happened on tour yesterday with the Italian couple, so I repeated the story for the group. No one could believe it! Stu gave me some advice on what to do if it ever happened again. 

Previously, Stu got annoyed with a table in the dining room when a man started raising his voice to him about not wanting his photo taken. He’d said “I’m sorry Sir, but it’s my job to come over and ask whether or not you want your photo taken. If you don’t, just say no thanks and I’ll move on but there’s no need to shout at me and be rude.” He then asked if anyone else on the table wanted their photo taken and one couple did. 

Next time someone is rude I can either call security, tell my BM and explain it’s my job and that I don’t have to take their shit! 

After I told them all about another Italian couple in the Jacuzzi. I called the couple and motioned to them to move closer together. They moved together and just as I put the camera to my eye the lady said, loud enough for me to hear, “fucking photographers”. What can you do? I walked off with my tongue clamped in between my teeth!!! I didn’t trust myself!

While working in the gallery I got a phone call from the office. It was Reuben asking me to go and see him. He called me "Lou" so I knew I wasn’t in trouble for anything I may or may not have done. When I walked in he gave me his hand, shook mine before saying “congratulations you are one step closer to becoming a Photo2” and handed me my checklist. He explained roughly what I’ve got to do which is show Paco and/or Ritesh that I can do everything on the checklist which is 4 pages long!! 

Some questions are ridiculous like how do you insert a memory card into a camera. Others aren’t so straight forward. It’s going to be hard to show Paco or Ritesh that I can do things like smudge or how I work on the gangway when they are never there. Normally they are busy doing something else, even if they are gangway manager, they don’t bother coming out to see what’s going on.

There was one major cock up for the night which got blamed on me. In the morning I was shooting decks and Fede who is the lab assistant took my memory card to print. I had one out of two of my memory cards. Ritesh called me before I opened my studio and said the card was empty and to show him the photos. He even asked “did you even check your photos while shooting?” My reply “No, course not? Why would I check my photos? Of course I checked my photos, I had to keep checking the exposure of the shots, didn’t I?” Sometimes he talks to you as if you are an idiot! It’s not just me either.

Later on, I went into the office to pick up my memory cards to shoot Ressi. Neither were there, Ritesh hadn’t bought them up from the lab. I rang him and he said he only had one of my cards which he was formatting and that I should have the other. I explained that one was from Decks and the other from the Haifa tour from the previous day. He was adamant he didn’t have it. All of a sudden he said “oh, wait. I have the other card here, it was on the (lab) desk”. 

I was late enough as it was for Ressi and couldn't run down to the lab. Ritesh wouldn't bring my card up. Instead he suggested I go into the dining room, find another photographer and see if they have a spare card I could borrow! This of course meant a photographer would be a memory card short for second session in the studios.

Running into Ressi I ran over to Hernan and borrowed a memory card. He asked me not to give it to Ritesh as he has personal photos on the camera. Ritesh always formats the memory cards once he’s done printing so if you have any personal photos on there, they’ll get deleted.

Paco and Reuben came over to me in the gallery afterwards and asked me what had happened and why I wasn’t prepared for ressi. I explained why, and Reuben for once saw my point of view, telling me he’d fix it before walking off.

A little while later Ritesh came over with both my cards and asked for Hernan's, which he wasn’t getting. I’d downloaded all the photos from Ressi to the drop zone for printing so he didn’t need it.

My studio (Moon backdrop) was situated nearby Stu’s LSP. At one point he shouted over to me. He asked if a couple were the Italian’s that were rude to me on tour. It wasn’t. As the couple were walking past LSP, Stu said hello and asked whether they'd like their photo taken. The guy had done the exact same thing the other Italian did while I was on tour, sticking his fingers up at him.

Stu walked over to me and just one look at him, you could see he was highly pissed off! He reminded me that if anyone does it to me, to not take any shit (but be polite) and if needs be, call security. With a quick arm around the shoulder hug, he disappeared back to his studio. Previously he was fuming when I told him what had happened on tour, now he was just being protective and reminding me what I had to do.

Normally this sort of thing doesn’t happen to Stu. His height is intimidating enough (6’7) so people tend to do what he asks. I guess being a guy helps too – not that you find many 6’7 females! With me and Jeni, the two shortest, we tend to get a lot more shit. Jeni gets away with a bit more as English isn’t her first language. For me, it always seems a little harder.

Other than that incident, the night went well. I closed my studio before everyone else on Reuben’s request and started breaking down. By the time everyone was finished shooting I joined them in breaking down their studios. It speeded up the process. 

We also had to move everything down from the store room on Deck 4 onto Deck 3 – Captain’s orders. The store room on Deck 3 is far too small for all our studio equipment so it’s going to make set up and break down much harder and time consuming. 

There were too many of us aimless milling around the store room as we couldn’t get close to pass things to Stu who was inside the store room. Because of that, Hernan and I headed up to the Promenade Café kitchen to grab the pizzas and sandwiches. 

By the time we were finished it was 1.30am. A few of us headed up to SOB for a drink… we needed to wind down. Nowadays we are too tired to go to SOB so it made a nice change, even if we were knackered.

Knight in Shining Armour

Knight in Shining Armour

28^th May 2011

Today was one of the best days so far and we did relatively little. Rhodes is growing on me more and more. It’s moving up the list and becoming one of my favourite places to go along with Naples. 

Stu, Fede and I headed out for our free time. Fede went off to use the internet while Stu and I were on a mission to improve the knight gangway costume. Stu had an idea in mind, it was just a case of finding the necessary goods to pull it off.

The sun was shining and the place was a busy as ever. We walked down the main strip heading to one of the few shops which sell armour, knives and unique ornaments. Stu spotted a gauntlet which he loved and had to have. 

Stu's usual knight gangway pose is balling his fist up and either pointing it towards the camera or holding it up to his chest (as if protecting himself from a punch). He normally wears a black glove but it doesn’t really look very effective. Putting the gauntlet on, he did his two usual poses and even though he was dressed in his usual clothes, you could imagine how it would look on gangway. The guests would love it!! Instead of getting one gauntlet he decided to get both! The Australian-Greek lady working in the shop gave him a good discount too. 

While looking around the tiny shop we spotted a shield. Stu could have used the shield with one hand while wearing the gauntlet on the other, pointing towards the camera. It must have been quite funny for people walking passed, seeing us imitating gangway poses! We were deciding on what the hell to buy when Stu remembered a chained head piece (he told me the name and I’ve completely forgotten). The piece goes over and covers the head, leaving a small area of the face exposed. The knight’s helmet then goes over the top. One thing is for sure, Stu certainly knows his stuff when it comes down to armour! Again, Stu loved it and decided he wanted it straight away. 

The funniest bit that made my day was when Stu got the head piece stuck on his head. It slipped on easy enough – getting it off was another story. There was a technique to it – slip your chin out first before sliding it off your head! It took us a good 15 minutes of trying, fits and giggles to work out that technique. 

Now it was case of deciding what else to buy. For some reason my opinion was highly valid… and so was my debit card! We could have quite easily bought the shop. Stu had only bought a certain amount of money with him as he only intended on buying one or two gauntlets so I was lending the difference (which wasn’t a huge amount). Finally, after much deliberation, we waltzed out the shop with two gauntlets and the chain head piece. The lady working in the shop took a large chunk off the price when we said we worked on the cruise ships. Crew member discounts - another bonus to ship life.

She was interested in the idea we had for the costume but worried we wouldn’t get the money back. We knew we wouldn’t but Stu wasn’t fazed – he saw it more as an investment and he had a valid point. If everyone dressed in a costume, looked the part and different from the others featured on cruise ships the more people would have their photo taken and buy more. In the long run, the more photos the guests bought, the more money we’d earn and to be honest, Stu would get his money back, plus extra on top, very quickly. Both Stu and I were like kids at Christmas – we couldn’t wait to come back to Rhodes to try out the entire costume and see the results. Without a doubt it’s going to go down a storm!

One question that was playing on our minds was whether we’d be able to get the armour through security. If push came to shove, it’d be taken off Stu and he’d have to collect everything each morning we docked in Rhodes. After gangway he'd have to hand it back into security. Either way he wasn’t too fussed. In the end he managed to get the armour through without a problem.

In the armour shop were gothic paintings wrapped onto black scrolls. It may sound odd but they were stunning! One in particular, featuring a girl-cum-dark angel. She reminded me a lot of Amy Lee from Evanescence. It was 26 euros which I didn’t think was a bad price, especially as I loved it. I was thinking of where I could hang it on the ship. I was too tempted to buy it and Stu was constantly telling me to get it. Instead, I decided I’d buy it for myself when I finally made it to P2. It's my incentive.

Leaving the shop we headed to our new local internet place, Four Seasons. Reuben took Luci and I there after the team lunch. The people are friendly, decent prices and fast internet. For some reason I can’t get on Skype to talk to my parents but Stu could. Luci and Fede were already there surfing the net. 

Before anything I logged onto ImageU to start my competencies. I had two left to go. Again I failed one buy one question so I had another crack. I was determined to own that painting!! On my second attempt of the day I passed it with 8 out of 9. The final competencies was much harder so I needed a little help from Fede who explained a few things to me. Having another go, I passed it! My competencies were sent off to Image. I did my little jig while Luci, Fede and Stu cheered that I was soon to be P2. All that's left to do is wait for Image to send a checklist to for Reuben and the other managers to sign. Once Photog 2, more money will start rolling in and I can make a start on up the ladder to Photog 3.

To be fair, I wouldn’t have been able to do my competencies as quickly as I did without the help of Stu and Fede explaining things and helping out in general. Stu is more like my trainer and was almost literally kicking my arse to get my competencies done. Thanking Stu for helping me out he said if I was P2 by the next time we come to Rhodes he’d buy me the painting as it was a fair deal for helping him out with money for the armour. Result!

I was absolutely over the moon – you cannot imagine it! The day couldn’t have got any better!! I’d finished my competencies which was a huge weight off my shoulders, Stu and I had a great laugh shopping, the sun was out and everyone was in a fantastic mood. We were enjoying the day and spending time together as friends rather than colleagues. What more could we ask for?

Talking to Stu I commented that I was nervous about shooting LSP (Lifestyle Portraits). You can do what you want on the white background. It sounds easy but you can’t take forever thinking of how to position guests and some are wooden at posing. LSP is Stu’s studio, it’s where he’s normally working, especially on formal nights. He gets the best results and his advice: “think outside the box that the box is in”. To give me a hand or train me up a bit, he suggested I popped around to his cabin later and he’d help me with a few simple but effective poses.

Later on at Stu’s he was showing me a few poses using the white stool. He made it look so simple. It was funny watching him posing as a lady doing dainty hand positions. 6'7 and dainty don't go together too well! 

There was a question I’d been meaning to ask Stu for a while but hadn’t wanted to. As everyone was in such a grand mood and we were having a laugh posing I didn't want to spoil anything. Having said that, the "why are you so hard on me?" question was niggling away in my head.

To be honest, Stu doesn’t have to train me the way he does anymore. Zoran, our Croatian new hire has finally arrived. Shouldn’t Stu be concentrating on him? Still, after nearly two months, if I do something wrong, Stu tells me about it, sometimes coming down quite hard on me. Other times, before I even do something he’ll make sure I know how to do it or tell me a way to improve. Although I’m grateful (and I’ve said it a hundred times) he seems to come down harder on me and get on my case more than he does Hernan. Sometimes you can't help but feel that you’ve done a really shit job. 

In the end, the question popped out my mouth. Stu simply looked at me and smiled before shaking his head. Stu said the reason why he was on my case so much was for a number of reasons, one being because I could take his criticism and that he means it constructively. He also said that he can see the images I produce and how I go about it.  Apparently, Stu thinks, along with the others and BM (business manager) that I have real potential to be a great photographer. All I needed was more time, experience and training. Because of that he is taking it upon himself to train me. The others help out too, don’t get me wrong but Stu will spend as much time as he thinks necessary to go through things until it’s engraved in my brain. In all honestly, I was amazed people thought I had potential to do well at what I love doing. It was a massive confidence booster to say the least!

Later on LSP, I was so nervous and it showed in my cropping. The poses weren’t too bad but the cropping needed to improve. I needed to calm down. I asked Luci to come over and have a look at my work. She said the images were great and not to worry so much. Taking the camera she got me to go onto the scene and started posing me. Stu had shown me how to pose using the stool. Luci showed me a few floor poses for singles and couples. 

A lady and her son came over so she stood with me while I posed them and even added a few poses to give me a hand. I'm so lucky to have people like Luci and Stu around to help me. The gallery was dead so Stu came over to see how I was getting on. Trying to pose on LSP with both Luci and Stu watching was making me more and more nervous. At one point Stu saw I was bricking it. Luckily he jumped in and positioned the last shot for me. I was about to lose the ability of speech!

Afterwards I had a 30 minute stint in the gallery with Stu and Luci. Both were telling me to calm down. Stu's advice was to relax and have fun. 

A couple came over who wanted their photo taken on LSP. They thought Stu would be in his studio so he turned around and introduced me to them. They were all joking that the pressure was on and not to cock up the shots as they had high expectations. My face must have been a picture as Stu took one look at me, burst out laughing and gave me a hug!

Back in the studio the couple came over, the guy said he wanted something original. His wife laughed and told him to lay off a bit. When he asked why I looked so worried I explained it was the second time I’d been on LSP and the first I could work freely, without doing the usual formal poses. I was nervous I was going to bugger it up and everyone is so used to Stu being there I’d automatically be compared. 

Stu’s work would win hands down without a doubt. Like the few couples that I love, they were patient, let me experiment, gave me their ideas and on a shot or two posed themselves to give more ideas. Some of the shots were absolutely fantastic. I loved it! They were pleased with the photos too - bonus!

Luci came over later and wanted Stu to pose with me so I could get some extra poses for couples and see the photos. Unfortunately although the gallery was quiet the guests were trickling in so he couldn’t leave and there wasn’t anyone else to pose on the backdrop.

All in all it’d been an absolutely fantastic day! My BM was pleased I’d finally finished my competencies and said he’d let me know once Image sent through my check list. Hernan saw on my Facebook profile that I’d finished my competencies and came over to give me a huge bear hug and congratulate me… he’s becoming more and more like a big brother brother. An Argentinian step brother. 

Today really couldn’t have been any better and it’s all thanks to the team I have around me!

The Knight in Shining Armour of Rhodes, Greece