Cruising The Seven Seas: Nos Vemos Pronto Fede!

Nos Vemos Pronto Fede!

29^th July 2011

It’s turnaround day today and 50% of the guests will be leaving. Within a couple of hours those who have disembarked will be replaced by embarking guests.

Today is slightly different from most. Fede automatically takes charge of embarkation. Today, it was Hernan, Zoran and I working together to get things set up. Sanela was dragging her heels like usual and late again.

Hernan and Zoran went to get the backdrops, caution signs and auto poles while I nipped down to the lab to gather the camera equipment. While in the lab, Sanela came down to ask for the store room keys. I told her they were in the door. After standing around watching me for five minutes she asked if she should take the keys up to Hernan and Zoran. Obviously! How else were they supposed to get what we needed out of the store room?

She returned 15 minutes later asking me where I get my shore pass from. I told her I had a British passport and therefore didn’t need a shore pass anywhere in Europe. She then asked where does she get her shore pass from. The girl has been on the ship for well over a month and should know where to get her shore pass from by now. The only place that I could think of was in the envelop that Luci hangs in the corridor. Sanela disappeared telling me she was going to look for it. It rankled that she was going to look for her shore pass 30 minutes after starting work. Why not get it before you start work? We are already Fede down and we needed all the help we could get!

In the terminal, the lads were asking where Sanela was. When I told them, Zoran said she didn’t need a shore pass at this port if she was working. When she finally returned Ritesh got her to help him put up a backdrop. Hernan and Zoran were setting up the second. I busied myself setting up the cameras and pentabs. Within no time we were set up and ready to go. All we had to do is wait for the embarking guests to come… which wasn’t due for another 30 minutes.

Deciding who was doing what was easy. There were four of us, two shooters and two smudgers. Zoran and Hernan wanted to shoot as they’d be smudging later in the dining room. Sanela didn’t say a word so I told her she’d be smudging the quite studio while I’d take the busier one. That way, she can get a bit more practise smudging.

Before setting up we’d all gone for breakfast with Fede and again it was like a count down. Hernan had told Fede he just wanted him to go, now. Hernan didn’t want to say bye and felt like the time was dragging too much. He had a point and Fede knew where he was coming from. 10.00 came and Fede came back into the corridor to say Image had messed up his hotel reservation and he’d now be leaving at 13.45. All he could do was sit in the cabin and watch TV. His Sea Pass Card had been taken off him as he was disembarking so he couldn’t even get off the ship for a wander around.

Finally the guests started to trickle through the studios and we were getting everyone to have their photo taken. We were doing well and the counts were going up and up.

Just as things went quite Fede came running into the terminal, bear hugging Hernan and Zoran. This was it… Fede was finally going on vacation. Running over to me, he gave me an enormous cuddle (where that skinny guy gets his strength from, I’ll never know) and kiss on the head. Seeing Fede say bye to Sandra was so sad! It’s a good job we’d both brought our sunglasses with us because they were needed! Both Sandra and I disappeared behind the backdrop to control water works. Once again, as we did when Stu and Jeni left, we pulled together as a “family”. This time we were all making sure Sandra was okay.

Sandra has really grown on me within these past couple of weeks. Originally, I wasn't too keen on her, but she's proved me wrong. Sandra's, in fact, a lovely girl and a big part to the Mariner of the Seas photog family!

Hopefully sometime in the near future I’ll see Fede again. I’d love it if Hernan, Fede, Jeni and Sandra came to Punta del Este (Uruguay) for a few weeks. Let’s hope things turn out the way they are planned. Until then, nos vemos Fede!!! We are really going to miss you!!!