Cruising The Seven Seas: Kicked Off the Tour Bus!

Kicked Off the Tour Bus!

11^th October 2011

Lindos Tour – I’ve never been on tour in Rhodes but I’ve seen Sandra and Zoran's photos from previous occasions. It’s Sandra’s favourite place to go on tour as there are amazing 360 degree views – and boy, she wasn’t kidding!

First stop of the tour was to a pottery making factory. I say factory, it was more like a little house in the middle of the countryside. Everything is handmade. There was a demonstration as to how the Greeks used to make clay pottery. The only way to tell if something was handmade as opposed to machine made is by the numerous rings within the clay piece. If there are rings apparent in the clay, then it’s handmade. If the surface is smooth, it’ll be machine made. The man who gave the pottery demonstration made it seem so easy and effortless. A large chunk of the bus (I was on a Spanish speaking bus) were Argentinians and weren’t interested in what was going on. Shame, especially if you’ve not seen it before.

Moving on, we came to the main attraction. The Acropolis at Lindos. Acropolis means the highest point of a city. "Acro" – highest point. "Polis" – city.

It was a long walk to the Acropolis and I was actually worried about how everyone was going to get up there. To say a few were elderly was an understatement. Some of the people from the bus were almost fossils! According to the guide, there were roughly 360 steps to get up. The surface is marble which has become slippery due to erosion and general weather. I think the tour guide was wondering if everyone would make it to the top, too.

Getting up to the bottom part of the Acropolis, I started running around taking photos of the guests and surrounding areas. Quite a few Spanish speakers were telling me “take my photo with my own camera. I’m not paying your prices”. To that, I’d simply walk away… they could take their own photos!

Climbing the stairs as quickly as possible while doing my best to keep my balance and not slip, I made it to the top. People were slipping and sliding everywhere! The main path was the worse place to walk up. It was so eroded it was like walking over ice. If you ever visit, wearing hiking boots!

At the top I started smudging and gathering people together for their picture. One lady was good enough to take my photo too. Again, Argentinian guests were asking me to take their pictures on their own cameras to avoid paying. No. They didn’t understand why I couldn’t and wouldn’t. If you did it with one, everyone would flock to you with their personal cameras. Plus, no offence, but it's my job and I want to make money. No one lives off fresh air!

We were given 30 minutes free time. Most of the latinos had disappeared and now only had eyes on the shops. I took the opportunity to grab something to eat. What the kebab was or what was in it, I don’t know nor could I pronounce the name. Whatever it was, I’d certainly eat it again! The food is so delicious in Greece!

Back at the bus, I was hurrying a small group of Argentinian ladies along. One went into a panic about not having her camera. Sitting on the floor she proceeded in taking everything out her bag. In the meantime I climbed onto the bus. The tour guide was trying to talk the Argentinian ladies onto the bus... and failed!

Five minutes later, the tour guide came on to the bus looking for me. “The lady’s lost her camera and you need to go with her find it”. What!? I told the tour guide I couldn’t, I had to be back to the ship for work. The tour guide wouldn’t have it “No, you’re from Royal Caribbean and you need to help this lady find her camera and then get her back to the ship. It’s your job.” Everyone on the bus was turned to see what the commotion was about. “Actually, it’s not my job. I’m a photographer… and if she’s lost her camera, do you really think she’s going to find it? Or does she want to search all the way up to the Acropolis?” The tour guide lost her rag and put it rather bluntly, “You’re going with her. You’re from Royal Caribbean and you are getting off this bus now! We are not leaving with you on it. Get off and help her!”

I didn’t have much choice but to reluctantly gather my things get off the bus. I had no idea what time we were sailing away. That scared me more than anything, that the ship left without us. It's enough to cost you your job! Just as I was getting off, the tour guide called over to say she’d let the ship know why I’m late. Being sarcastic I asked her if she was going to explain to the Captain himself if I’m back later than Crew On Board or miss the ship.

The guest explained to me where she’d probably lost her camera. None of her three friends had opted to come with her either, which rankled too. It was either one of two shops. She’d slipped over with her camera in her hand and had buggered the lens. So, she took it into a shop where they sold disposable cameras and asked the owner if he could fix it, which he couldn’t. Next the Argentinian crossed the street, walked about five metres and went into a souvenir shop to buy a baby-grow.

The camera strap had been dangling from her wrist. As soon as she said that, a little light flashed on inside my head. “Did you have the camera in your hand?” I asked. “No, it was strapped around my wrist like this”, demonstrating. Her camera had been loosely hanging from her wrist. I suggested that it could have been stolen. Shocked, the lady looked at me as if I had two heads, asking “How? Who would do such a thing?” How? Well, the thief held onto the camera dangling from her wrist, cut the strap, and walked away with the goods! It’s quite easy and it's a technique often used in Spain. As for who would do such a thing, I reminded the lady about the financial difficulties Greece has encountered. The same finacial difficulties that weren't going to improve any time in the near future. People will go to desperate lengths to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. Before getting off the bus the tour guide had even warned everyone to beware of pickpockets and thieves.

Popping into the shops, obviously no one had her camera. The owners seemed quite offended that a women could be coming in to very nearly accuse them of stealing her camera. Turns out, she even left her on the counter while counting her money out and picking up her shopping bags. The lady behind the desk reminded her not to forget her camera.

In the end the Argentinian, who must have been in her late 50s, agreed that her camera had probably been stolen. Now it was time to convince her to get back to the ship. I was wondering how someone could be so naïve.

She asked me how to get back to the ship and which buses we could take. How was I supposed to know which buses to take? I am a cruise ship photographer… not a bus conductor, working and living in Rhodes!

I told her we’d have to take a taxi and looking at the price list, it’d cost an almighty 55 euros. To my utter disbelief, the woman said “we can split the taxi fare”. I didn’t want to be blunt, but had to “sorry, I don’t have any money on me. I came on this tour for work and only carry about five euros which I spent on food”. Somehow the Argentinean lady managed to get the price down to 40 euros. Maybe because she was crying her eyes out, begging the taxi driver saying she’d lost everything and only had 40 euros.

During the journey, she opened her wallet to get the taxi fare out and must have been carrying well over 1,000 US dollars plus a couple of hundred Euros. Maybe she wasn’t so daft after all!

A little later on, the lady told me how she’d been conned in Kusadasi. After the Ephesus tour she’d gone into a leather store. She found a leather bag she liked for 800 euros, an offensively obscene amount of money! Bartering with the owner, the price got halved and she agreed to buy it, part cash, part credit card. She dished up half the money, in cash, and quickly signed the receipt for the credit card payment before jumping back on the bus.

Once back on board she looked at the receipt and saw that she’d been incorrectly charged. Instead of using her credit card to pay off the remaining half she’d in fact paid double. The bag went from 800 euros to 400 euros and she’d paid 600 euros. She got conned good and proper, yet she couldn’t see how it was her fault, asking me why people would do such a thing. Maybe she had a point. Having said that, if the poor can find a way of ripping off the rich who flaunt their money, then they will. I obviously didn’t tell the guest this. One question I did ask was “why buy leather in Kusadasi when the best comes from Argentina and for a fraction of the price?” Her reply, “I don’t know. It seemed like a good idea.”

Arriving back at the ship, a security officer was talking to one of the Explorations! team. Luci from Explorations! saw me and asked if I’d been the one to stay with the guest. Security asked if I (or Miss-Blue, as they call me) was okay and if we found the camera. Luckily enough I had one hour before crew on board. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough time to go out.

Dropping the signs off to Explorations! Luci asked me what happened, so I retold the story. She couldn’t believe it. The tour guide had told her the exact opposite to what had happened on the bus. Apparently, I’d demanded to go with the Argentinian guest to make sure she found her camera and got back to the ship safely. Luci found it a bit odd, but thought whoever it was must have a heart of gold. When she saw it was me, one of the photographers who get very little time off in our busy schedules, she knew the tour guide couldn’t have been right... and she wasn't!

Back in the corridor I told Hernan, another Argentinian, what had happened. He couldn’t stand the sight of those four Argentinean ladies, saying they were rich, snobby people who were used to living in a bubble and looked down their noses at everyone else. Pointing at me, Hernan warned me, “they are going to bring you nothing but trouble…”

Later on in the gallery, the Argentinian women appeared looking to buy another camera. I’d already sold her an Olympus in the taxi back. Now she was in the gallery to try the camera out. She liked it, so I charged her and set the camera up. While setting up the camera, Hernan’s words were ringing through my head. “they’ll are going to be nothing but trouble". I was starting to think he maybe right too!