Cruising The Seven Seas: Monaco!!

Monaco!!

14^th August 2011

Late last night when we got the schedules Sandra and I saw we weren’t working until the afternoon. Cannes, France was our next port.

Sitting at Back Deck having a drink after work we decided we should make the most of our time off and go to Monaco. Monaco is on the top of my “Places to Go” list so I was up for it. We needed to get up early, pretty much as soon as the ship arrived in Cannes.

Waking up later than we’d planned (08.00) we quickly got dressed and ran up to the Staff Mess for some breakfast. Returning to the cabin to grab the loaded camera bags and drinks we ran into Hernan. He now wanted to come with us. Originally we hadn’t invited him simply because he takes so long to get his arse in gear. Finally we were all ready to go. As we jumped on one of the first tenders, it wasn’t long until it was full and we were on our way.

Camila was doing her own version of free-shooting. It was more paparazzi shooting than anything else. Leandro was bopping around in the dolphin costume with Fabio shooting him. Obviously we had to make a quick stop to have our picture taken with the dolphin.

The train ticket to Monaco wasn’t as expensive as we’d originally thought it was going to be – 12 euros return. Monaco was an hour away. Sandra was getting a few strange looks for doing her make up on the train. Hernan and I were kidding about her trying to look her best in order to find a rich, old man to marry. Next she started plucking her eyebrows - she's definetly looking for a rich man!

Once we arrived, the cameras were out and we were going trigger happy! There was so much to see!! Everywhere you looked there was something to see and plenty of Formula 1 plaques, statues etc.

Walking around and straight away I spotted something that looked familiar. The Monaco Grand Prix pit lane. I was in my element!! We didn’t have long in Monaco so we were rushing around like Chinese tourists.

Sandra wanted to go to Prince Albert’s Palace which was right at the very top. As we were doing the long walk up towards the palace the views of the port and mountains were excellent. Nearing Prince Albert’s Palace was the Aquatic Museum of Monaco (Musée Oceanographique de Monaco). The building was massive with a huge banner at the entrance with a photograph of Prince Albert on his wedding day. Sandra and I wanted to go inside, not only were we dreading how much it’d cost but time was running out fast.

Hernan was complaining we should go back to the train station and he had a point. We carried on speed walking up towards the palace. Monaco was full of tours from different ships: Disney, Princess, MSC and of course our ship, Mariner of the Seas.

While speed walking around we managed to stop off on a couple of occasions for a quick photo. Walking along a narrow street for about five minutes we came to a huge opening. We’d finally made it to the Royal Palace which made Buckingham Palace look like one bedroom council house!!

Checking the time, we really needed to run back to train station as quickly as possible. We were still snapping away while trying to half run half jog to the train station.

Finally arriving at the station, the train wasn’t due to arrive until 13.13. We had a 30 minute wait. Hernan and Sandra were working on setting up the studios at 14.00 - they were already late. The train was due to arrive in Cannes at 14.13, it was a 15 minute walk to the port and then it could be another 20 minutes waiting for the tender to fill up. If you think that’s bad, you’ve then got to queue up and punch your card into the ship’s entry machine and get through security!

While waiting I ran upstairs to have a look in the small souvenir shop. I’d had a quick look in one of the shops in Cannes and the prices were ridiculous. Monaco was special, but there was no way I was paying €5.50 or more for a magnet!! Going inside there were so many magnets that I wanted to take with me. The price tag made your eyes water a little, €4 a go but it was Monaco and a once in a life time opportunity! Paying for a single magnet I ran back down to Sandra and Hernan who were waiting on the platform.

Literally a minute or two later, our train pulled into the station. We spotted a couple of people from the ship who’d spent the day in Monaco. Only difference was, they didn’t have to work that day.

When the train stopped in Cannes we were back to speed walking towards the ship. With the port in view Sandra and Hernan pegged it off to get to the tender. I wasn’t starting until later and carried on speed walking. Getting on the tender I saw Hernan and Sandra – their running to get onto the tender had been for nothing. We waited for about 15 minutes until the tender was full and boy, were the other two late!

Just as I was going into the corridor Hernan and Sandra were flying out of their cabins. Talk about a quick change! I hadn’t even seen them go through security. They both ran up to set up – which they were an hour late for. Checking the schedule I realized that I wasn’t due to work until 15.30. I thought I was working at 15.00. Saved!

Jumping into a cold shower, I got dressed into my day uniform and headed to the lab to get the prints. It was formal night so at 17.30, I had an hour break in which to get into my tuxedo and have something to eat.

Returning to the gallery and it was going to be a night of displaying, condensing and serving Italian guests. I was back to pushing the packages and sold three of The 15s. I even managed to sell a 15 package to an Italian family in my mix of Italian and Spanish. For that, I gave myself a mental pat on the back!!

The night dragged a little bit and the day’s events were starting to catch up on me. I was bloody shattered! Once formal night was over; the gallery closed and all the studios broken down, Sandra and I each took a camera bag and left the others waiting for pizza.

I’d gone up beforehand and was told to come back in 10 minutes. Fabio and Hernan went up after 10 minutes and were told to come back in 20. Every single time we have a problem with getting the pizza in, no matter what time you order it.

Sandra and I headed off into the Crew Mess (or the Zoo, as some people call it). We’d had enough of pizza and the waiting around that came with it so we’d been asking a friend or two to bring us something from the guest’s dining room. We didn’t expect dinner and desert though!!

After work, most of the photographers were heading up to Back Deck for a drink or two. I couldn’t face it, my eye lids were just about staying open. People were commenting on how knackered I looked so I was on a one way ticket to my bed for a couple of hours kip before it was time for gangway!!