sábado, 6 de agosto de 2011

Sleeping on the Job!!

Sleeping on the Job
31st July 2011
Another day, another gangway. Unlike last week I wasn’t in costume, Lady Corsica wasn’t making an appearance. Instead I was shooting Camila who was dancing around in the dolphin costume. Sandra was on the rail while Fabio was once again free shooting… drunk. 

We all headed out just after 07.00 and as predicted no one was around. The tours weren’t leaving the ship until 08.00 and the Captain didn’t give the all clear until around that time either. In the hour I managed to take 2 photos from the only two people that left the ship. In the end Camila, Sandra and I just sat on the steps outside the ship and fell asleep. Sleeping on the job… I bet Brand Quality would have loved that one!!
Gangway went relatively smoothly, the only small problem was Camila had her music blaring in her ears and couldn’t hear a thing anyone was saying. Security were telling her to move away from them, I was calling her when people wanted their photo taken and she was looking the other way. She couldn’t hear a thing! I told her to turn the music down, she needed to be able to hear what we were saying to her but she refused saying she could hear just fine. Once again we’d only had a couple of hours sleep so by 11.00 we were all completely shattered. 

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

In the end we found a place with wifi and reasonably priced food. After ordering we realized we had to pay 3 euros for the internet. What a load of cack! We paid as we hadn’t found anywhere else open with an internet access. The food came in monstrous, American size proportions and the calzone I had was absolutely excellent. I’ve never had a calzone with so much stuffed inside: tomato, cheese, egg, ham, bacon. All that was missing was the kitchen sink! Camila wasn’t too impressed as she said her egg wasn’t cooked properly.
All of a sudden, I had a message come through on Facebook from Hernan. He was nearby. Looking around I realized that not only was he nearby, he was in the bar next door to the one we were in. According to Hernan the internet was quick and completely free. 

Camila and I later found out the internet access was 3 euros per hour!!! Camila was fuming when her connection cut off half way through one of her competency tests. Next time she’s online she’ll have to start the test from the beginning. Pain in the arse!
Back on the ship and it was time for a snooze. Looking at the way things are panning out there seems to be a steady ritual. We work, go out for a couple of hours, sleep and work again and in that order.
The first couple of ports of call are quite slow with very little to do. We are all looking forward to Cannes (tomorrow), Barcelona and Palma. By far the best place to visit is Barcelona!
As I mentioned before Brand Quality is on board. They are basically here to make sure we are keeping the brand’s quality up (keeping Royal Caribbean at 5 stars) so many things have to change while the mystery shopper is here. Apparently BQ has come in two forms – a male and female and no one knows who it is. 

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

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

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