Shopping

Shopping!

15^th July 2011

Waking up late I knocked on a few cabins to see if anyone was around and if they were, what they’d be doing today. We’re in Ashdod again and for the final time. If you’re not on tour, there’s not a great deal to do like there is in the other ports.

David wanted to get off the ship before he went nuts. That made two of us! 

Grabbing a bite to eat before heading out, we jumped on the shuttle bus and headed to the shopping centre. David was determined to get some new shoes of some sorts. I think his mind was set on a new pair of Converses. 

Arriving at the shopping centre, we had a look around and it wasn’t long until we’d mentally spend a huge sum of money. Looking around for what seemed forever, we finally found someone to exchange our dollars and euros to shekels. 

Heading back to the shopping centre, I bought a new bikini top – I’m hoping for a couple of hours at the beach at some point! Going into another shop, David bought a pair of black trainers which didn’t even make it into the box! He walked out wearing them, telling me his new trainers were so comfortable it felt like he was walking on air!

It wasn’t long until we bumped into Hernan and Eve who were walking about doing a bit of shopping. Eve wanted a hat but couldn’t find anything she liked. She didn’t know which type she wanted and just said, “I’ll know when I see it”! I saw a lovely shirt but $80 was a bit over my budget!! 

Popping into a few more shops, David and I separated from Eve and Hernan. They were going to the beach for a few hours. Eve had the entire day off while Hernan didn’t have to work until the late evening. 

The best place to buy electrical equipment is definitely Israel. I was so tempted to give my credit card a good hammering!! It was just under €60 for a 1TB external hard drive. In the end, I managed to contain myself and walked out with an 8GB SD memory card for €13. Looking back on it, I really wish I’d bought the external hard drive. Mine is only 500GB and it’s rapidly filling up with obscene amounts of photographs!! Oh well, you live and learn.

We spotted Hernan and Eve again. David and I were off to the ship for an hours nap before we started work. Hernan and Eve were still trying to find a way of getting to the beach and didn’t fancy waiting 15 minutes for the free shuttle bus and were contemplating getting a taxi which would cost about $10-15. In the end they went for the cheap and cheerful option and joined us on the bus.

The rest of the evening was spent in the gallery and studios. The night itself was so slow. For sure we aren’t going to make much money this cruise. No one is buying and we’ve got our fingers crossed that somehow, things might just pick up on the last day or towards the end of the cruise.

HOT day in Ashdod, Israel - David, Eve and Hernan

David, Me and Hernan

Dragon's Lair - All Crew Party

Dragon’s Lair

14^th July 2011

Compared to normal we had a late arrival in Haifa. Arriving at 10am, crew couldn’t get off the ship until 12, unless they were escorting the tours! Great! David, Camila, Luci and I were hoping to run to the supermarket before going out on tour. However, we didn’t find this out until we were on the gangway and getting called back by senior security who told us to go back onto the ship!

Fede was shooting Sanela who was dressed as the dolphin. Their counts were very low. Sanela wasn’t putting in any effort to get the guests to have their photo taken. Fede was smudging as much as he could but it was like flogging a dead horse! He was getting nowhere. Sandra had more counts on the rail which is a real rarity.

Getting back onto the ship, we went for something to eat before going to the Savoy Theatre to get our tour group. Ritesh, Camila and I who were going on the same tour. Fabio would be going on another a little later on. 

Speaking to someone from Explorations! we later found out that I wasn’t on a Spanish tour and Camila wasn’t on a Brazilian (Portuguese speaking) bus. This kind of buggered things up! The South Americans love having their photos taken and will buy almost everything. The Americans and Europeans won’t. We were in for a hard job getting people to have their photo taken.

Meeting my tour guide I asked if he could let everyone know I’m the ship's photographer and if anyone wanted the photo taken, to give me a call. In return Amir asked if I could email him some photos of himself working. Of course I would. 

Getting onto the bus, he introduced me saying “We have Lou here, our tour escort and photographer for today so if you want photos, go to her. Call her over.” The more I spoke to Amir, the more I liked him. He was very knowledgeable and a pleasure to talk to. The group I was with on tour were also a delight. Some people were a little off but overall, they were a great bunch.

On our second stop we arrived at one of the places I really wanted to visit. The previous day I’d pointed it out to Luci. Today I got my wish, we were finally at the Bahia Gardens… but could only get a look in from the top. Still, beggars can’t be choosers. 

The views from Mount Carmel were breath taking! Grabbing my camera, I positioned myself on the steps where I had a great view of Haifa city and the cruise ship in the background. Smudging like crazy, my image count soon started heading up and up. While photographing guests I was also taking my own photos of the gardens, temple, city and ship. I was photographing everything! The Bahia Gardens are stunning. A real must-see if you ever go to Israel.

Moving on, we to The Stella Maris Church where we spend about 30 minutes listening to our tour guide giving us a somewhat overly informative history of the place. As interesting as it was, the temperature was soaring and the guests were growing tiresome. They wanted to see the places rather than know the history of it all.

We arrived in Acre or Akko, as the Israeli’s call it, and went into the tunnels running under the town, that were discovered only 15 years ago. A lady had a problem with her plumbing and called the plumber. The plumber started pulling up the flooring to get to the problem and came across the tunnels. More and more is slowly being excavated with new findings on a weekly basis. I cannot, for the life of me, remember the name of the tunnels. 

You’re given an over load of information while on tours and it’s sometimes so hard to remember it all. Or, put each name to the location. 

Going through the tunnel was quite amusing. I was the shortest on the tour and people in front of me where having to bend down to get through the passage ways. Me, being 5’1, I just walked straight through without a problem!! There were two occasions where I had to bend down for a short period of time. At one point I thought an American guest was going to have to get on his hands and knees to crawl through a passage!! He had to bend down for the entire walk through the tunnels. You see, there are some advantages to being a short arse!

Thankfully, the tours in Haifa were only half day compared to the usual 12-13 hour tours. Heading back to the ship, I wanted to get a group photo. I told the tour guide so he could get into the photo as well. He announced the group photo idea on the microphone and even told the guys to stand on the left of the bus. Amir was fantastic getting everyone together. All I had to do is get people to move in and take the photo. Overall it was a great day.

Bahai Gardens, Haifa, Israel

Bahai Gardens and Haifa Port

Our Tour Guide

Ciry of Haifa and Mariner of the Seas

Tunnels of Acre

 At about 23.30 Camila called and asked if I was ready for the all crew party. I’d completely forgotten about it!! Climbing into the dress I’d bought in Kusadasi and painting my face as quickly as possible, we were all ready to go. Fabio and Zoran were filling themselves up on vodka and red bull and said they’d join us later. Camila was borrowing my Greek Goddess dress.

I’d never been inside Dragon’s Lair before. It’s the ship’s night club for guests. By 00.30 the place was packed with crew dolled up to the nines and dancing the night away. Of course, being photographers, we took one of the cameras and started snapping away. The drinks were in full flow at crew prices and it wasn’t long until we all hit the dance floor.

At one point Camila and I went back to the photographer’s corridor in search of Fabio and Zoran, they still hadn’t made an appearance. 

Fabio thought it’d be funny to give me Stu’s Israel visa “as a souvenir”. Somehow we got onto the subject of Stu and sat around chatting for a bit. Me and Zoran got a bit emotional, well, mainly me. Zoran told me a few things that I didn’t know. I don’t know everything, he’s saving that for another day when he’s sober and can talk properly. It made me understand a few things that had happened but I won’t go into that. Zoran and I sat about in the cabin for about an hour reminiscing about the good times when Stu was around. The  random crap we used to get up to during the night, after work. 

One thing was for sure, some things might be easier and more relaxed but both Zoran and I really miss Stu. We miss coming back to the cabin after work, sitting about, talking and laughing. I miss the stories from South Africa, random jokes and dancing eyebrows. Picking ourselves back up, we both headed to Dragon’s Lair with Zoran’s missus in tow.

Towards the end of the night, the party was in full swing and a rather large amount of booze had been consumed by most! All the photographer’s along with a couple of the guys from shops and girls from Spa were dancing together in a group. 

Later on, everyone had paired up with their other halves. Turning around, David and Regina were slobbering over each other. Looking the other way, Fabio had got his wish and was munching Camila’s face. Zoran was doing the same with his girlfriend. 

Whitney tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the side of the dance floor. There was a couple laying on the sofa chairs, drunk as skunks and almost getting down and dirty!! My mouth dropped open before I burst out laughing!! 

Everyone was with someone and Whitney and I were the only singletons on the dance floor!! We were the only ones without a guy or girl on the ship. So, making a joke of it, we decided we’d be a couple for the night and spent the last three or four songs dancing together having a giggle. Thierry from Shops kept coming over, dancing on me and getting a little too raunchy. Luckily enough for me, people from Photo and Whitney kept spotting it and dragging me away to dance with them. No matter how much I moved away from him, he’d follow. They all had a good laugh at my expense… and I’m not going to lie. I found it hilarious… he was too drunk to take a hint.

Calling it a night at 4am, I left the others to it and headed to bed. I had the morning off in Ashdod for selling the most GTP and 15 Packages (12 GTP and 7 15’s) and wanted to make the most of it. Hernan also had the day off for taking the most couple shots in Ressi. All in all, it was a fantastic night!!

Camila, Me, David & Sandra

Sandra & David

Me & Ashleigh

The Dave!

Fede, Sandra, Dave and Whitney at Dragon's Lair

The Dave, Sandrita and Hernan

Fede and Sandra

Fede and David

Sandra and Ashleigh (Spa)

Our Two Favourite Spa Girls - Whitney and Ashleigh

Brothers from Another Mother

Raissa (Bar)

Gina (Spa) and Hernan

Rafa (Shops)

Eve (Spa) and Fede

Sandra and Fede having a dance

Couples Dancing - David and Regina

Sandra, me and David

"Couple" for the Night: Me and Whitney

Regina, David, Thierry and Me

Me and Fede

Fede and Sandra

Group Hug!

Me and Whitney

Sandra, Camila, The Dave, Lou, Annek & Ritesh

Half-Way Point!

Half-Way Point!

13^th April 2011

Here we are, still at sea and cruising to Haifa. This is our second sea day. 

The previous night was formal night which didn’t go to plan. Things were slow, we didn’t get as many photos as we needed so we’ll have to make up for the counts elsewhere. 

After the second Ressi Jomar told us there’d be no pizza as the crew members making it are still kicking up a fuss. Of course we kicked up a fuss as it meant most of us hadn’t eaten for round 15 hours. Jomar’s suggestion was that we were all to close our studios at 11.20, download our images and head straight up to Johnny Rockets where he’d be taking care of the bill. 

Later we found out it was Jomar's birthday as a treat he wanted to take the team to Johnny Rockets! Happy Belated Birthday to the Big Boss Man!!

Getting back to today, I’d been in the gallery for most of it, and managed to sell quite a few photo packages. I think it’s around five or six but I’m hoping to upgrade them all to a bigger package (more expensive) at a later date. The GTP where all photos are put onto a CD is causing everyone so much aggravation so I’ve given up pushing it. I’ll upgrade at a later date if there’s a cause for it. Until then, I’m pushing the smaller package which is straight forward and brings next to no hassle.

While in the gallery, Jomar and Luci told me I was switching the evening with Camila. There’d been a major change in the schedule. There was to be a crew table sale. We’d be selling alongside the shoppies. 

We originally had 20 cameras to sell but Luci sold one just before going down to the table sale.  I only had one model to sell and I had no idea which camera it was! Was I worried? Hell yes! Taking five minutes before the sale, I looked over the camera and had a play. I knew enough to push the camera and it was a freaking great compact too! 

With 19 units to sell at a discounted price, I was determined to flog the lot!! Playing around with the camera I was tempted to buy one for myself. The Olympus camera had a 12.5x zoom, numerous “magic” setting such as fish eye, pin hole, punk etc. It was an excellent camera and for $199.95, it was a bit of a steal. If there are any left after the sale…

Soon there was a huge buzz around my table and people were snapping the cameras up with memory cards and cases. They were flying off the table and Luci couldn’t bring down the receipts quick enough. It was mainly the Filipinos that were buying the cameras.

One guy made me laugh! He asked me what was good about the camera, so I told him. The guy then had the audacity to tell me “you’re only saying that because you’re selling the camera. Olympus is shit. Nikon is a good camera”. I told him that yes, although Nikon is a good BRAND of camera, Olympus is excellent and still one of the top selling brand. I also pointed out that the price was good and today would be the only day that crew would be able to buy cameras at a discounted price. He turned around to me, sneered and said “yeah yeah, whatever man. What would you know about cameras?” Erm… hello! Last time I checked I was the one with “PHOTOGRAPHER” on my name badge while yours says “CABIN ATTENDANT”. I had to laugh in the guy’s face… what a retarded comment to make!!

At the end of the night, things started to slow down and we had three cameras left to sell. I spotted a friend from Spa and called her over. She wanted the camera but only had cash. All transactions had to be made on Crew ID Cards. Sod it! Taking the money, I charged for the camera on my sea pass card. 

By the end of the night we only had one camera left, the display camera. The place was dead by 23.30 and Luci was tired and called it a night. So in the space of three and a half hours I’d managed to sell 18 cameras along with numerous memory cards and cases. It’s a shame I couldn’t get rid of the last one but it was still a job well done! 

Upstairs eight cameras had been sold which bought a total of just over $8,000 in. We’d succeeded our camera sales target and it was only day 3 of the cruise.

In the end I decided against buying the camera. As much as I wanted it, my parents bought me a Canon compact camera a year and a half ago for my 23^rd birthday. Plus when I go out, I use my Canon EOS 400D as well as my compact. Although my Canon compact might not be the latest model or have all the mod cons like the ones we are selling, it’s still a good camera and does its job. 

Looking back on it, I’m still 50/50 about buying the camera so it’s a good job I didn’t buy it. Plus, why buy a compact camera when you are saving up for a Canon 5D Mark II?

Towards the end of the night Ritesh informed us all that it was his birthday. He used my sea pass card to buy some after shave. Later on, we divided the amount up between the rest of the team and split the bill. We did the same for Jomar’s late birthday present.

Handing me some money, Ritesh insisted on buying drinks for everyone on back deck. His card was blocked so the money was going on my sea pass card. After paying for a camera, two bottles of aftershave and cigarettes I was $-408!!! Getting the money I was owed, I shoved it all onto my card to get out of the red. Fede brought his Canon 5D to back deck and we all had a laugh, taking photos, having a drink and celebrating Ritesh’s birthday.

Ritesh’s birthday wasn’t the only thing we were celebrating. On the 13^th April, Hernan and I joined the Mariner of the Seas in Rhodes. Today is our three month “anniversary”. We’d been working on the ship for three months. We’d finally reached our half way point and that in itself deserved a drink… any excuse hey!? The night rolled on into the small hours of the morning. 

Calling it a night at 3am, some of us had to be up early for tour and others would be on the gangway. It’d be our last visit to Israel so I intended to go trigger-happy on the guests while taking as many photos for myself and family as I possible could.

Whitney (Spa) and Sandra

Sandra, Fede and Whitney

Drinks at Back Deck - David and Sandra

Sandra, Camila, Whitney and Fabio

Luci & Sandra

The Girls - Sanela, Camila, Luci, Sandra and Lou

Back Deck: Sandra, Fede, Whitney and Fabio

Fede, Luci, Jomar, Fabio. Sandra, Camila and Myself

Mad Rush

Mad Rush

22^nd June 2011

Usually we have a sea day, the second formal night, in between Haifa and Ashdod. However, on this cruise, we are heading straight to Ashdod, arriving tomorrow morning. The distance between Haifa and Ashdod is unbelievably short, more than I'd realized: 45 minute flight or an hour and a half by car. Rather than cruising slowly to make a sea day we steamed on towards our next port of call.

All the photographers were up between 06.00 and 06.30. Those who weren’t on tour were working on gangway. Again, Stu had a private tour lined up with the same family. Zoran therefore took Stu’s place as the Crusader. Jeni was shooting the ring at one gangway and I was on the rail at the opposite end of the ship.

Yesterday's events on the gangway went well, today things were the opposite, especially for me. As usual Ashdod was a royal mad house! People were running here, there and everywhere trying to find their bus or trying to get to their tour bus first to grab a window seat. It's like going back to your school days! It’s crazy, they turn into little kids! Some people had got their tour bus stickers and headed straight out to find the bus rather than waiting for the tour guide to take the group. Some of them even got lost looking for their bus!

Smudging was near impossible. Ritesh came out on the gangway to see what was happening. Picking up the rail he told me to help him carry it to another spot. He plonked the rail in the centre of the gangway rather than on an entrance/exit. It was insane! I had to constantly keep heaving the rail out the way for the tour buses to get passed. So not only did a get a crap image count I’d buggered my back and shoulder again!

Once the tour gangway was closed Jeni came up to join me at the gangway exit. Fabio was shooting Zoran and Jeni and I were shooting pretty much the same thing. Obviously people didn’t want a photo with the ring when they’d had one on the rail and vice versa. It made sense to only use one or the other but we were told to stay outside and keep smudging.

Towards the end of our stint Jorge from Explorations! came out from the ship dragging his suitcases behind him. He was disembarking to be transferred to a smaller ship in the Baltics. It was actually quite sad seeing him go. I’ve always got along well with him, he’s absolutely lovely. 

Everyone seems to be leaving or preparing to leave. Saying goodbye seemed strange, almost unreal but he’s happy to be going so good luck to him. Jeni and I got our photo taken with him behind the ring. One last Mariner of the Seas photo which we said we’d email to him. It still didn’t seem real when his taxi drove off. Even now I still expect him to pass by or call out “Hola Chiquita”.

The rest of the day I spent catching up on sleep, searching for cans of Coca-Cola and blogging before going to work in the gallery. I really need to catch up on my blog entries but been too knackered and favouring sleep each time!

There's even a shortage of fizzy drinks on board. Well, for crew anyway. The guests have run out of pretty much everything. As we can't possibly have the guests going without, our crew area got raided. All our vending machines have been emptied and so have the majority of the crew bars! Once we run out, we're dry and caffeine-free until Embarkation Day!

Tomorrow is Stuart's 22nd birthday and we are all at a loose end. We honestly don't know what we can buy him. Well, we did have a few ideas. Originally, we were all going to chip in and buy the Knight's shield he wanted in Rhodes, but that isn't for another three days. Unfortunately, we are going to be at sea for his birthday and as it's a sea day, it's formal night! We also have to get a leaving present for Reuben tomorrow as he disembarks early in Kuasdasi.

Zoran as the Crusader

Jorge Disembarking - Jeni, Jorge and Me

Costume & Shooter
Zoran the Crusader & Fabio

 

Smudge! Smudge! Smudge!

Smudge, Smudge, Smudge

21^st June 2011

Today we all had an early start. Mariner of the Seas is docked in Haifa, Israel and we needed to get a good image count. 

Haifa gangway is like a zoo, a madhouse! After Israel, things go to pot, our image counts, gallery purchases and profits go down the pan. The guests either tighten the grip on their wallets or run out of money from buying too much holy water, or both. 

This was the final push so we doubled up. Jeni was shooting the ring, I was on the rail and Stu was smudging for us both. David is the “new age” camel. Stu can no longer dress up as the camel because, according to Mike, he’s naturally too tall and wearing the camel’s head takes him up to something loopy like 7 foot. There’s too much of a gap between the guests and camel’s head. Shooting the camel was Fede.

Stu started smudging for me until I had a reasonable count while Jeni was struggling. He switched to Jeni to give her a hand. Reuben soon came over and started helping me smudge. During a quiet moment on the gangway he checked my images for faithful exposures and cropping. A mad rush came with everyone running around like headless chickens looking for their tour buses. Reuben started shooting and between us we smudged as much as possible. 

I’m far more comfortable smudging in Spanish. For some reason, I find it so hard in English. When speaking in Spanish I have no shame, naturally wave my hands around and speak louder (or shout) than I do in English. At one point Stu got a bit pissed at me for not smudging enough. Someone's always got to complain.

Towards the end of our four hour stint on gangway, Mike came out from the ship and told me to follow him. Reuben picked up the ring Jeni was using and carried it down to the opposite end of the ship. 

The ring was set up so the guests were close up foreground and the entire length (or 95%) of the Mariner of the Seas in the background. Some port agents apparently don’t allow you to go that far away from the ship if you’re working so Mike had to clear it with Israeli security first.

For the next hour and 15 minutes I was roasting in the Israeli sun like a chicken!! None of us bother slapping on suncream in Haifa as the ship always provides us with shade for the entire gangway stint. Big mistake! There was a small area of shade, provided by the terminal's roof ledge, that I was running to for refuge during breaks from guests getting off the ship. 

Stu came down with a bottle of water and to see how I was getting on. There was about 45 minutes left so he stood around keeping me company and doing the odd bit of smudging. Most of the time he took the pee out of my accent and how I say “photo”. He’s South African though… he isn’t one to talk!! Nowadays if I tell him to repeat “yes” or “off” in his thick South African accent, he tells me to fuck off!! Charming. I guess it does contain the word "off"...

The images I was getting were bloody good though so I took a couple of stock shot like images to put on the blog and send to the parents. Slowly but surely I was back to racking up more images.

Once gangway was over we all headed back onto the ship. Stu and I went upstairs for munch while the others went back to bed for a few hours. 

I had until 17.30 off so it was a chance for me to get my washing done. Borrowing Stu’s detergent I managed to get it all done relatively quickly! Sara (Mexico) the singer from Boleros said there’s a cheap supermarket nearby the port. Chucking my lights into the dryer and darks into a bag, I ran off towards my cabin to drop everything off. 

While charging down the I-95 I bumped into Jorge from Explorations! He was being transferred tomorrow to work in the Baltics and needed to bue a suitcase. We arranged to meet on the gangway in five minutes to find a suitcase and get some shopping in. 

Finding the suitcase was much easier than finding a supermarket. There are plenty of clothes, leather and delicatessen shops. Finally we found a supermarket that looked more like a garage from the outside. Everything was so much cheaper than in Europe so I made the most out of it, keeping in mind that I had to carry it all back to the ship. I finally managed to find washing detergent, a 3litre bottle of Persil for $6. In Europe it’d cost you an arm and a leg! Next time we need shopping, we’ll save it until we’re in Haifa.

Back on the ship I had a couple of hours to spare but didn’t quite know what to do with myself. Stu was now on his private tour with the large, Honeymoon family. Jeni was catching up on her beauty sleep. Hernan, Fede, Sandra and Eve were at the beach. I’d had enough sun for the day and decided against going to the beach. The last thing I needed was a lobster red body followed by shedding my skin like a snake!!

Making the most out of the time I jumped into bed for what was supposed to be an two hours and turned into three and a half. Gathering my stuff up I headed to Back Deck for a while. I’ve been a bit behind with my blog updates due to our hectic schedules.

When we are in port we can’t sell a lot of our products due to tax reasons. So today I was surprised when Reuben put me on table sale to sell cameras. Once everything was on the trolley to take up to Deck 11 we said we couldn’t sell anything until we were out of the port and asked what we were supposed to do. Reuben hadn’t realized that sail away was 22.00 and it was now 17.30. Either way, I had to set up and just promote what we had to offer. I had to turn a couple of people away as I couldn’t sell them a camera. 

During the evening, a guest came back to purchase a camera and mentioned my name so the commission would go to me. Someone else came back to the gallery and bought one from Stu. It’s kind of frustrating when you’ve pretty much sold a camera but can’t close and charge because you’re in port. It’s worse when they buy from someone else and you loose your minimal commission of $4

Reuben has also confirmed that he has a definite date as to when he’ll be leaving the ship. Our previous manager Jomar will be returning to the Mariner of the Seas from vacation. Reuben is being transferred to the Oasis of the Seas. Although Rueben likes the small team - Oasis of the Seas has 27 photographers while Mariner of the Seas has a team of 10 photogs - he’s pleased to be going to Oasis. Fantastic money, or so I'm told. Not many people can say they’ve been the manager to a team of photographers on the second biggest cruise ship in the world. Reuben will be disembarking in Kusadasi in three days. 

Good luck to him.

Smudger: Stu on the Rail (with half the Ring)

And there's the other half of the ring

David The Camel, Haifa (Israel)

Character & Shooter - David & Fede

Our BM Reuben

Reuben & Mariner of the Seas, Haifa (Israel)

Mike & Reuben - Sample Shot

The Set Up