Port-Bloody-Manning!

Port Bloody Manning!!

22^nd October 2011

Never has Port Manning annoyed me so much before! I had no idea that I was Port Manning until I punched my card into the machine to leave the ship for gangway. “Lou, you’re port manning. It’s okay, you’re working” So here I am, in Kusadasi where I wanted to go out shopping with Sandra and visit the small island off the coast. Fat chance of that now!

Originally I was supposed to be shooting Hernan, the Persian Prince on gangway while David shoots Sandra as Cleopatra. That didn’t happen as David got out of bed late, Hernan did too and didn’t have his costume. Sandra and I were ready to go so we headed onto the gangway together. Hernan and David finally joined us on the gangway 30 minutes later. You’d have thought that Hernan would remember to get his costume from the lab the night before after having to do so for 6 months!

The strange guest, who picked me up and started jumping up and down with me in his arms yesterday, did the exact same thing to Sandra. I couldn’t help but laugh at the scene in front of me. Of course photographic evidence of the scene was taken and uploaded onto Faceook!! 

Sandra and I were running around like blue arse flies, both smudging and having a laugh. On a couple of occasions Sandra’s patience worn thin at guests rudeness. We did a good job at perking ourselves up again by quietly taking the piss out of the guests when they’d gone or the gangway had fallen quiet. You either laugh or cry and scream at the top of your lungs. My temper was wearing thin, I have virtually no patience. It's a sure sign that I needed to go home for a break soon. Recharge the batteries and restore my patience.

Leandro came out and started shooting the ring. It’s always hard shooting the ring, especially when you have two costumes dancing around. Leandro though was giving it a bloody good shot.

Once gangway was over at 11.00, I punched my card into the machine and security told me what I already knew “Lou, you’re port-manning”. Every time I went in or out of the ship for gangway, I was reminded by security that I was Port bloody Manning! 

Sandra and I blew Hernan and David out of the water when it came down to counts. Sandra and I worked our backsides off and got 422 as a result. Hernan and David just managed to scrap to 200 images.

Going into the office to download my pictures I told Reuben I was port-manning. His reply was “I know. The days were swapped, that’s all”. From what I understood it wasn’t a case of it being swapped around with someone else. Clearly a misunderstanding on my behalf. Didn’t make it easier though, I desperately needed a suitcase and wanted to get something for my Mama’s birthday as I’m due to go home in only 4 days. Looks like my last day in Kusadasi is going to consist of looking at the port from Back Deck!

Making the most out of the day, I spoke to Whitney at lunch and she arranged a time for me to go up to Spa and get my eyebrows waxed. Bloody hell, the girl’s rough when it comes down to pulling the wax strip off your face but the results are always great!! Once the redness goes away, of course. The rest of the day I spent packing and typing up blog entries.

Sandra was out and on a mission for me. This is why I love my cabin mate so much. She’s gone out in Kusadasi to buy me a small suitcase/holdall. Going back into the cabin and she’d found a perfect holdall on wheels. Not only that but she’d bought me a blue and red scarf. The best bit came when she laughed about having got us dinner. Opening the bag, Sandra had managed to smuggle two kebabs onto the ship! Excellent!!

My stint on LSP was dead. This was the hour where I was supposed to be photographing the guys from Murder Mystery. Wrong day!

During an hour’s dinner break I met Sandra in the Mess. She was heating up our kebabs, an “original” and “chicken” – Sandra wasn’t quite sure what the "original kebab" included and neither did I. We shared the kebabs, half each and cor blimey! They were munch! Turkey and Greece rival each other in the food department! Looking around at the food on offer in the mess tonight, made our kebabs taste so much better too!

While in the gallery, a man I’d originally sold an Olympus to, came in looking for Reuben. He’d been complaining about the battery life. According to Paco and Reuben the man had been in every day complaining. Apparently I hadn’t tested the camera for the guy or set it up which is completely untrue. 

I asked the guy if he’d charged the camera for a good 12 hours for its first charge like we recommend. The reply I got was “it got a good charge”. It was a politician’s answer. In the end, the guy was creating such a scene that Rueben told me once the man returned with the camera, in immaculate condition with all the packaging etc. to simply refund it. 

This was the second camera I’d sold and refunded within two cruises. The first was the Argentinian lady - yes, the one who got me kicked off the bus in Lindos and who Hernan warned me about. She'd got a bee in her bonnet about the picture quality of the Olympus not being as good as the five year old camera she got stolen in Lindos, Rhodes. Now this American. The owner of the camera obviously hadn’t charged it long enough and the battery wasn’t lasting. Paco and Reuben both told the man they wouldn’t sell him another camera due to the problems he’d had with the Olympus. 

Usually, we don’t refund cameras unless there is a technical fault which has to be spotted within the first 48 hours. Not when you purchase a camera at the start of the cruise only to return it towards the end.

Once everything had been refunded the guy turned to me and said “Louise, hand me the Canon 100HS and Nikon”. What the hell? He was ignoring what Reuben and Paco had told him. I didn’t know where I stood or what I could say or do. Excusing myself for a moment, I told the man I urgently needed to turn in the refund reciept to the manager's office. Relaying the story to Reuben he called Paco to speak to the man.

In the meantime I got on with sorting out the gangway photos for Leandro who was displaying. The guest, ignored Paco, waving his hand around and told me “just get me to cameras. I want a camera”. Paco told me not to move and to carry on with what I was doing. I felt stuck in the middle and without a way out. The whole performance seemed so unprofessional and unnecessary. At one point, both Paco and I thought the guest was going to swing for him. Paco, refusing to sell him a camera because of the amount of trouble he’d been, backed off, warned for me not to sell anything to the guest and walked off to call security. The guest looked at me, bright red in the face, slammed his fist down on the counter before stormeing out towards Guests Relations.

Going into the office, Paco told me he thought the guy was going to swing for him. I did too. Paco and Reuben had already lodged a complaint against the guest. Speaking to Reuben, I commented that I wasn’t going to bother selling any more cameras as it was the 2^nd I’d had to refund. 

The cameras are all set up in front of the guests and set on Auto. They are told to charge it up for at least 12 hours for the first charge to ensure maximum battery life. If they don’t do that, it’s not my fault and I am in fact, working for nothing when the cameras are refunded. The $4 commission gets flushed down the drain! It's not a huge commission, but one of our biggest. It's disheartening.

Sandra and I closed up the gallery. I headed down to the cabin before everyone else. Inside my cabin was Whitney, she’d been waiting for us to finish work and had a present for David. A laughing dog (teddy) that rolls around the floor. Listening to it, it seemed fitting for David as his loud laugh was contagious, like the dog’s. 

Next Whitney handed me my presents. I hadn’t expected presents from Whitney at all. I opened the little pouch and found two pairs of dangling earrings and a Mariner of the Seas magnet. They are perfect. The idea of leaving was starting to get to me now. I’d be leaving these guys whom I’d become so close to over the months and now saw as a family.

David, Laura from Bar, Sandra and Zoran were soon in the cabin. How we squeezed everyone in, I don’t know. We got a video of David hollering at his laughing dog which started everyone off. He loved his present…. But wasn’t prepared to name his dog after Whitney.

Sandra told me she had an early present for me. Reaching under her bed cover she pulled out a Mediterranean scrap book and kit. Zoran came in with a stack of 5x7 prints he’d printed while in the lab from my 6.5 months on board the Mariner of the Seas. It was my present from the Mariner of the Seas Photo Team. Trying not to get emotional, I gave everyone a huge hug.

Although it’s nothing compared to what Sandra had given me… I handed Sandra her signature card. While she was upstairs in the gallery I’d popped into the lab on Reuben’s instructions to get us a signature each for our high image count on gangway today.

Settling down, I couldn’t wait to get started on my scrap book. It’s something that’ll always remind me of the good times during my first contract with my first team and fantastic friends on board the Mariner of the Seas.

Sandra's Turn to be Bounced About!