No Gladiators!

No Gladiators

4^th August 2011

As always I was working the first gangway. I didn’t mind, it saved me from a second day of embarkation and I love gangway. This time I was teamed up with David who was decked out in his Gladiator dress. 

The lads really aren’t too keen in walking around in a burgundy velvet-looking mini dress. We were the only ones on the gangway this time and had a 500 target. We thought it’d be a piece of cake as we normally get near the target with two costumes.

We started on the tour gangway and waited, waited and waited. Finally, nearly an hour later the tours started coming out. There were plenty of declines, in fact, there were more people refusing than those having their photo taken! It was the complete opposite to what we were used to. 

Smudging like hell, and we were getting nowhere. The excuses were the same as ever “I’m tired”, “it’s too early”, “I have no make-up on” but the one that stood out the most “I had my photo taken with you last night”. People didn’t spot the difference between Hernan, Zoran and David. 

There were a few jokes about that later on in the evening as Zoran and Hernan could pass off as the each other behind the mask. But David? David’s black with a thick South African accent! How can they confuse him with someone who is as white a sheet? It wasn’t just the person, people thought the Gladiator was the same as the Centurion that was posing with the guests the previous night. Even though the outfits are completely different, it didn’t matter. If the guests thought it was the same, they wouldn’t have their photo taken.

The place was dead after the tours so we nipped in for a coffee. A coffee turned into a quick breakfast. 

Feeling more awake, we headed out onto the main gangway. The place was full of Italians and neither of us spoke Italian. It didn’t help matters as Italians are very stuck in their ways. If you don’t speak Italian you can get stuffed. They don’t want to know. David tried smudging the Italians but they refused. A couple of times I’d shout out to the same Italians “let’s get a photo” (in Italian) and they’d agree. They’d have their photo taken if they thought you could speak Italian.

10am arrived and it was time for us to go in. Hernan and Sanela would be replacing us on the gangway. Realistically we should’ve waited for them to come and replace us but we know exactly what those two are like. 

While getting my equipment from security X-Ray machine, Sanela came over asking for the lab key. She needed to get her Quantum battery, camera battery and memory card. I didn’t have the key. Knocking on the cabin door, Sanela asked if she could borrow my battery. No, it needed to be charged. I’d been working on gangway and therefore had a half empty battery. Sanela was knocking on the doors trying to pick up bits of equipment from everyone. 

Hernan was lying in bed watching TV in his costume, waiting for Sanela to get her act together. Forty-five minutes after they were supposed to be on the gangway, they were ready to go. We told them about the problems we’d had on gangway. We’d missed our target by a long shot and struggled to get passed 100. It wasn’t until the end that we slowly started to rack up counts. Sanela had to beat 182 images. Did they? Did they heck!! They came back with 82 images.

A couple of hours later on, Camila was banging on the doors in the Photographer's Corridor to brag that she’d got 400 images in 1.5hours. She'd been shooting Leandro who was dressed as the Pizza Chef. We weren’t sure about it as she was a slow shooter compared to us. Plus, David is by far one of the best smudgers so we doubted two new hires would be able to do so well when we’d failed miserably.

Going down to the lab later, I checked with Ritesh. Everyone wanted to know if she had hit her target. Yes, Camila had hit her target – one photo horizontal, one vertical. Usually, Ritesh will discount our doubles. Bad cropping where she hadn’t separated the guests, just took two separate photos. In one picture, Leandro who was the Japanese pizza chef, had an arm wrapped around him… the person had been cropped from the image!! 

Not only that, you can see when Jomar came out to check her exposures. The first 300 odd images were badly burnt and just about saveable. So yes, she hit her target, but did a shoddy job of it. No one seemed to care though. 400 images were 400 images – they didn’t care about the fact very few would sell. I guess it depends on Ritesh's mood!

Ripped Off in Italy

Ripped Off In Italy

30^th July 2011

I suppose I shouldn’t tar Italy with the same brush but there are a few of us feeling ripped off by Italy, mainly Genoa! We all love Naples and wish we could be back there. The more we visit Genoa the less we think of it. The place is a real dump unless you’re on the sea front.

In the morning I was shooting David on the gangway. Sanela was shooting Hernan. Both the lads were decked out as Gladiators. Last night I’d told David that Sanela was shooting him. He literally begged me to shoot him and I used this to my advantage for the entire night! It had me and Regina rolling up laughing when I impersonated Sanela’s slow shooting and taking regular breaks to fix her hair rather than taking photos. At the end of the night I refused to shoot David. He chased me around the Crew Mess poking and tickling me - wouldn’t stop until I agreed to shoot him. Finally getting around him, I ran out the Mess and down the corridor with David in hot pursuit. He grabbed me and almost floored me, poking and tickling. Okay, enough was enough, I’d shoot David as long as he stopped tickling me!!

David and I took the tour gangway as Sanela wasn’t ready for work.  When Sanela and Hernan came out they complained that no one was coming out of the other gangway. They disappeared for about 30 minutes, we later found out they’d gone for breakfast!! David and I got over 200 images from the tours. 

Hernan and Sanela were back on gangway, but the crew gangway. They were supposed to be outside the terminal taking photos by the fountain. When we told Hernan, he said he didn’t care and Jomar could kiss his arse. Fair enough.

David and I situated ourselves outside the terminal but as predicted the space was too open. If anything, we needed two people in costume here. The fountain acts almost as a roundabout so guests were going in every direction. No one knew we were from the Mariner of the Seas so getting people to take their photo was ridiculously hard. 

After about 10 minutes of trying to smudge people in, the police came over. The police wanted to know what we were doing and who we worked for. Someone from the tour buses came over and translated - a massive help when neither of us spoke Italian. Once the police found out we were from the ship, she thankfully, left us alone. 

Within 30 minutes of being by the fountain we’d managed to take an abysmal 11 photos. You compare over 200 photos in just over an hour to eleven in 30 minutes. It was disgraceful! It was completely useless being there so we headed back down to the ship to join Hernan and Sanela.

We had to take it in turns to take breaks as having two of the exact same costumes standing side by side on the gangway was useless and Jomar hadn’t taken notice of what we’d previously said. 

With gangway finally over David and I had managed to rack a fair amount of images and nearly 150 more than Sanela and Hernan. With 365 images we were far from our 600 target.

Dropping the memory cards into the lab we all meet up in the corridor, ready to go out. This was Luci’s last cruise so we had to make the most of it. We found a place where the exchange rate was better than that of the ship which was a bonus. 

We went to the place I’d found with a good internet connection. The prices were the most reasonable we’d found. Ordering something to eat, we all sat using the internet. 

When the food came out we were all completely shocked! In front of us was a small plate containing about 6 pieces of ravioli. Hernan complained to the waiter that we were paying 8 euros for nothing. We were still starving after we’d eaten. So much for wanting to get some nice food off the ship.

We had a wander around before heading back to the ship for a snooze. All of us were disappointed with Genoa and it was only our second visit. Unless you were going on tour, there wasn’t much to do.

Later on, I was up on the deck outside the mess having a coffee with Hernan as the Mariner of the Seas sailed out of the port. He was right, the city was a dump. Next time we wanted to go in the opposite direction to see what else the city had to offer. Thinking about how things had been recently, we hadn’t been doing much. 

The team had drifted apart and we needed to come back in together and do something as a team. Football and dodge ball after work were one of the options. There’s not much to do after work other than have a few beers on back deck. Although that’s fine, we wanted to do something else. Hernan reckons we needed to go out more as a team and do something rather than just using the internet and he had a valid point. 

When Cannes finally comes up a few of us were talking about going to the beach with some of the photogs. Also, when we have a bit more money scuba diving and parasailing. Parasailing was at the top of my list! It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and as it’s a one-time occasion, I didn’t really mind how we’d have to pay!  We just needed to find out how much and then save. 

Another thing we wanted to do was get on a bus or train from the port and go to Monaco. Can you imagine the pictures we’d get in Monaco? I’d finally get to run around the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix circuit. It was a must… the only problem would be working it in around our work and sleep schedules.

At the end of the day, we are only here together for six months or less and needed to make the most of it all. People from the team would come and go so we also needed to make the most of very second we spend with each other. Although you’ll be in contact with these people for years to come, you don’t know where or when you’ll see each other again.

Genova/Genoa, Italy

Sandra Outside the Port, Genoa, Italy

The Nice Part of Genova, Italy

Genoa, Italy

The City of Genova

Team Work

Team Work

23^rd July 2011

As predicted, getting up after 4.5 hours sleep was a nightmare. I nearly fell back to sleep. 

Dragging my clothes on I had to make sure Zoran was out of bed and I was hoping he was in a relatively sober state. He was. Fabio was far from it. 

As promised I went down to the Crew Laundry to pick up the Gladiator costume for Zoran. The Indonesian guys from Laundry asked if I was going to be wearing the costume on gangway. When I said no, it was for a guy, they looked shocked before laughing. They thought I was joking as the Gladiator outfit is a burgundy velvet looking mini-dress. The lads rolled up laughing when I assured them a guy was wearing it as a girl couldn’t be a gladiator.

Heading back upstairs I passed the costume onto Zoran. Fabio was rolling around in bed talking crap. Fabio called me in to explain where my new emergency point is. Yesterday I had to change emergency cards with him because I didn’t speak Italian. There go my hopes of driving the life boat haha! 

Next Fabio started telling us about going to find his son. His son!? He said he had a son in Genoa, because about four years ago he was in dry dock and met a girl there. I told him it didn’t necessarily mean he had a son and to go back to sleep. His slurred reply was “No, I know I have a son because me and this girl did a lot of things together… a lot. Yeah man. I don’t know if I have a son, but I know I have a son. I’m going to be a great Dad and show my son how to smoke marijuana but only the good stuff”. This had us rolling up laughing at his drunken blabber. He didn’t know what the hell he was on about and to be quite honest, neither did we! Zoran and I went along with it and started winding him up. If and when he finally sobered up without topping himself up on drink, we’d remind him of everything and use it to our advantage… another good laugh at his expense!

Camila was fuming, sitting on the floor, shouting at Fabio to shut up! I don't know if she was jealous or had simply lost her patience with Fabio, but her reaction just made Zoran and I, play up more and contiune to wind Fabio up!

Come 07.00 we were heading onto the gangway. Hernan was in costume with Camila shooting. Zoran was also a Gladiator and teamed up with me. I always have a laugh with Zoran on gangway so I was pleased we were teamed up together. As Camila is slow at shooting, Zoran and I took the tours gangway. We each had a target of 500 images.

Sanela, who was late as usual and shooting the rail, had a 250 target. Would she get it? Probably not. Would we hit our target? Maybe not… but we were going to have a bloody good go at it!

Soon Zoran and I were clocking up our image count. Hernan and Camila came over to the tours gangway complaining there was no one coming out on their side. We told them to stand back a little and work the tour side too. There’s very little point having two of the same costumes standing right next to each other. So during the rush they were catching the people we missed or slipped passed us.

Guests from a one day  cruise were disembarking from Deck 4. We were wondering why the hell the gangway on Deck 1 was so deserted. It was unusual. We took it in turns to have a 15 minute break before Zoran and I had a walk around the ship. 

Coming out onto the deck, there was a terrace area leading off the exit from Deck 4. We headed up and started smudging. Security had told us that the passengers getting off the ship were disembarking… that wasn’t entirely true. Guests going out for the day were also using the Deck 4 gangway. Hernan and Camila came back from their break and took over from us. Again Zoran and I went for a walk around the ship. In the end we positioned ourselves out on the deck where two lines on guests were merging into one before heading down to the terrace where Hernan and Camila were.

One of the great things about working with Zoran is that we both want to have a laugh and have each other running around like blue arse flies. All wasn’t plain sailing though. Hernan and Camila got annoyed with us being on Deck 4 complaining we were taking all the counts even though there were two queues of people going down to them. We were only working one side where they had both sets of traffic. 

Zoran and I finally reached our target with 45 minutes to go. Checking how the others were doing, we did a few calculations. Each of us needed to get 40 images more to hit the overall 1,000 target. Zoran and I, rather than going in, started running around like crazy, grabbing people, pulling them in for a photo.

Hernan was still pissed and stormed back onto the ship 10 minutes early saying he was done. We were nearly at the 1,000 target and only needed 30 images more. Camila was complaining that we were being unfair for not “sharing” the guests with them. This wasn’t a playground! I tried to tell her that if she wanted to speak to me, then to do it later, not while I’m working, taking photos and smudging guests in. She wouldn’t have it. 

Stopping we told her that we hit our target and therefore could have left the gangway but, we didn’t. We carried on working so both costumes would have a total of 1,000 images. How was that unfair? We also told her that Zoran and I hit the target because we were working together as a team. Gangway is about team work. Zoran, who was in costume, was doing the most smudging. Costumes are the main smudgers. Having said that, the shooter still needs to help smudging the guests in. 

Camila had the audacity to tell us we were wrong and only the costumes smudge. The shooters just take the photos. This wasn’t the first time we’d been told how to do our jobs by Camila, a new hire. Turning to her, I pointed out that she was a new hire and although Zoran and I had only been on the Mariner for 2.5-3.5 months, we were P2 and in our short stints on the ships knew more about working as a ship’s photographer than she did. Camila was only in her 3^rd week!! We weren’t having a go, we’re trying to help and explain the way things are to her as she’s new. The last thing we expected was for her to storm off crying her eyes out!!

Zoran and I were determined to get the target and stayed on. Everyone else had gone inside. Within 12 minutes we had hit the overall target and surpassed it with 677 images! Leaving the gangway in good spirits and a huge smack of a high five we headed to the staff mess with about 1,080 images between us. We’d smashed the target!!!

Going back to the cabins, I heard Hernan’s music. The thought of going in to talk to him crossed my mind but I left it. I knew the real reason why he was upset and annoyed and it had very little to do with gangway. The previous night he’d broken up with his girlfriend, Eve and was still upset about it. I won’t say why it happened but as they say… ship happens!

Jumping in the shower, I stuffed my laptop and camera into my bag. Luci was shouting at me to hurry up and get ready! Yelling back, she laughed saying “Lou, you are so cute. You are like my daughter!” It is a bit of a mother-daughter relationship with me and Luci now. She yells at me for not being ready to go out when I’ve just come back from work, even though she’s been off all morning. She yells, I yell back, often reminding her the more she yells at me, the longer I’ll take to get ready.

Finally, Camila arrived at the cabin. None of us had been to Genoa before so we had no idea what to expect. Walking around, we found a cheap supermarket so we all popped in for juice, coca-cola and a few snacks. 

Genoa is a nice city, don’t get me wrong, but it’s at the bottom of the list. If we’d just gone straight to Genoa, we’d have loved it but after all the places we’ve seen while working on the ship, we didn’t find anything special about it. 

Taking photos as we went along, we were trying to find a place to use the internet. I wanted to call the parents and Becks. 

Time was ticking and it wasn’t long until Luci and Camila had to go back to the ship. I carried on walking around and within another 5 minutes found a pizzeria where there was free wifi. The internet was fast and there wasn’t a single crew member around. Bliss! 

There was another message from Stu, he was still doing good and going back into the wilderness again. He hadn’t uploaded any photos from his previous trip. The parents weren’t online because of the time difference. This is something I tend to forget about! About five minutes before I left I was getting attacked by bees and I’m not kidding! The buggers were all after my can of coke. Quickly sending a message to my Dad, it was time for me to leave…. Quickly!

Walking around for a little while longer, I spotted the Bio-sphere on the docks. I remembered seeing it while looking through photos on Flickr.com. It looked a lot more impressive in the photos though. Situated near the aquarium is an enormous pirate’s ship which wouldn’t have looked out of place in a Pirates of the Caribbean film!

Back on the ship, I had an hour to sleep before shooting casual Ressi. After casual ressi I was in the gallery for a while before shooting on LSP. 

LSP wasn’t as dead as it was the previous night but it was far from busy. Either way, I got some good shots which, for me, was the most important factor. By the time we finished up it was 1am. We all  had to pop down to the lab to collect the schedule.

In true tradition with Jomar’s schedules, there was a problem. Zoran and Hernan were due to be on gangway in costume… only problem was, we didn’t have the costume for the occasion! Ritesh changed the costumes to sailors. Zoran was too tall to wear the sailor’s outfit so I had to swap with him. Instead of shooting, I was now the sailor. Last time I was sailor there was a complaint so I’d better watch myself this time…