Bad News All Around

Bad News All Around

20^th April 2012

Princess Gathering is usually scheduled for 09.30 and set up at 08.30. Getting out of bed at 07.00, to set up for the Princesses at 07.30 was a real shock to the system. It reminded me of my Royal Caribbean days – late nights and early mornings with a few hours’ sleep in between.

My wrist was still in pain and ballooned.

Arriving at the Atrium there was a huge puddle by the elevators, right where we set up one of the studio lights for the Princesses. Looking up, it was coming from the deck five ceiling. The water was splashing up against the electrical points. This was obviously going to slow down our set up as we were frantically calling people to get the leak sorted and mopped up.

Kate started setting up a light on the opposite side of the elevator. She had the right idea. If the leak couldn’t get sorted, we could just move the light over and position it towards Snow White. None of us could find a small soft box, so Kate used one of the large ones from LSP. As it obviously weighs more, she didn’t extend the light’s tripod too high, making it top heavy. Our back up light was sorted.

I tried helping where I could, which wasn’t much help. Cintia was just standing around, watching people until someone told her to get on with something that needs doing and not to wait for us to tell her what to do. Cintia frantically started moving on the spot, looking around for something to do, before resuming her place of standing still and watching us.
“Cintia, there’s a lot to do, so start setting up the lights” after having what we’d just said repeated back to us, she went over to the light Kate had put up and extended the height of the tripod.
“Cintia! What are you doing? Can’t you see that light has already been set up?”
Blankly Cintia looked at me before repeating “So this light is already set up?”
“Yes Cintia, look at it. Look at the other side, there is no light set up there. You’ve extended the height of the already set up light too much, lower it.”
“So you want me to lower this light?” The parrot talk between Cintia and another person wears thin very quickly.
“Yes and then set up the lights over there” pointing to the opposite side of the Atrium.
“OK, so to confirm, you want me to lower this light and then set up a character light on the other side of the atrium?” As rude as I felt, I had to ignore her. I was frustrating enough with not being able to do a lot, without the rest of the team having a muppet, who has been with the team for two months, not knowing what to do during a Princess Gathering set up. It’s not brain science!

Grabbing the light metre, I went to help Ani out at Preludes where she’d be shooting Princess Minnie. At least I can test the lights and be of some help. Ani was having problems of her own. The monolight wasn’t firing. Playing around with the switches and plugs, there was no obvious reason as to why the monolight shouldn’t be firing. The ON light was on, so there wasn’t a power connection failure. It was a job for Mike the AMP, who had already been woken up by Csaba. Things were a mess.

Going down to the Atrium/Lobby area to speak to Mike, there were glass all over the floor. What the hell had happened here? Mike was pissed to say the least. Turns out, the light Cintia had extended, hadn't been lowered. Being top heavy and the ship cruising through rough seas, the light was wobbling around and gravity took hold. The entire light and tripod came crashing down, smashing the light head into pieces.

Csaba and Mike were looking for answers and by the looks of things, it was all going back onto Kate, who was adamant she hadn’t set the light up so high. I had to stick my foot in say what had happened after Kate set the light up. Even though I felt bad for Cintia, I couldn't watch Kate take the blame. Especially as us senior photographers have been taking a lot of stick and blame recently for the new hires mistakes. When asked questioned on the subject, the only reply I could give was “It’s Cintia”. Everyone made the same acknowledging face that Cintia had cocked up royally, again.

Later on, Mike told me that we were now two lights down. Why? Whoever was shooting Preludes or using the Monolight last, hasn’t packed it again properly and the glass dome of the light had a hairline crack across it.

People’s tempers were running out. Studio lighting is very expensive and being on a ship, we need that equipment to work. If it doesn’t, you can’t set up certain studios and therefore lose counts. Losing counts means you use money. In addition to that, it can take weeks or months for new equipment to finally get sent to the ship. Accidents happen, but two lights being completely trashed because of poor care was unacceptable. Management were fuming!

Set up was finished with minutes to spare. It was unbelievable that it’d taken so long. Picking up the camera, a sharp pain shot through my wrist. I couldn’t shoot Princess Belle, that much was clear. Signalling to Csaba that I couldn’t shoot, he gave me a disappointed look before saying he’d call Carolee to swap with me. I’d be taking over her from display in Shutters.

The Princesses arrived and I had to take a couple of photos while waiting for Carolee to replace me. The sharp, stabbing pain was still shooting up my wrist and into my index finger. I also had pins and needles in three of my fingers. Belle was great and spent time interacting with the kids while I flipped the camera vertically, zoomed in or out and focused at a snail pace, until I was ready. For that, I couldn't thank Belle enough or be more grateful!

Within minutes of being in Shutters, the Captain made an announcement. Due to bad weather and winds of 15 knots, we wouldn’t be docking in Key West. We were nearly there and the ship was starting to slowly turn around. Steph and I looked somewhat confused. The previous Captain had docked in Key West when we had the tail end of a hurricane. Outside it didn’t look that windy and the waves weren’t very high either. Then again, what did we know? He was the Master of the ship for a reason.

Everyone was rescheduled within minutes. Carolee later joined me in Shutters.

A couple came in, disappointed that Disney Magic wouldn’t be docking in Key West. They sure had an excuse to be disappointed too!! This couple were supposed to be getting married in Douval Street today at 13.00. Both of us couldn’t help but feel bad, they were a generally lovely couple who didn’t have luck on their side.

They were now trying to arrange a small ceremony on the ship. All they wanted was someone to say “Do you?” to be able to reply “I do” and someone to take one photo of the event. Carolee was more than happy to arrange something for them in her free time. All they had to do is let Carolee know when the event would be taking place and she’d meet them there with her camera and take a couple of photos, free of charge. I was invited too, but insisted that I’d come only if there were jugs of beer, like the ones they were carrying, available. They agreed! Sadly enough, I’d have to refuse the beer!

During the day, Csaba confirmed that I’d have a wedding later on in the cruise. Great news because it’s extra money and a wedding really does help pump up your pay cheque. The only worrying aspect of it all is my wrist. What happens if it’s not better by the wedding and I cannot shoot? I was determined that no matter what happened, I’d be the photographer for that wedding. I needed the money. I needed the money for the deposit on a house… that’s the ultimate goal at the moment.

While in my cabin, Carolee called me, laughing her head off. She’s just met her wedding couple. Apparently the bride and groom are lovely, but very picky. They are the sort of bride and groom who’d make your wedding pictures look great in your portfolio. Mine, however, were a completely different kettle of fish. The couple were big, fat and hard of hearing.

Five minutes later, I got another call from Carolee. My couple weren’t hard of hearing, but completely deaf and mute!! Oh Lord… one thing is for sure, this is going to be a wedding to remember and quite possibly for all the wrong reasons!

Snow White and Princess Belle

Biking Around Key West

Biking Around Key West

31^st March 2012

Everyone was scheduled for lab maintenance and once again, Carolee and I were propping ourselves up against the printer, scrubbing it within an inch of its life. Csaba told me to come down for lab maintenance for training such as how to do copper test strips and column changing. Both had been tested recently so there was no need to do it again. Plus, I don’t think Diva had any idea about such trainings.

With lab maintenance complete, we had breakfast and gathered our stuff up. Getting off the ship was just what a few of us needed. Freedom for a couple of hours. Luckily enough, I had the entire day off and was planning on making the most out of it. At 12.15 we were in the fresh air and piling into a mini bus.

Not far from the port is a bike rental place called Pirate Rentals, where they have a choice of bikes, mopeds and battery powered buggies. The bike rental, including tax, was $11 each for the entire day. We even had a little basket at the front of the bike! We couldn’t stop laughing. The things we get up to – the things we pay money for!

Getting on the bikes, we got a real shock; there were no hand brakes. To use the brakes you had to pedal backwards. It was so odd and felt completely unnatural after spending years and years stopping a bike using the brakes on the handle bars.

Adjusting the seats and wobbling all over the place, Ani, Kate, Diva, Carolee and I headed off down the road. Kate and Ani were flying down the road while Carolee and Diva were getting to grips with the bike. Diva was shouting “guys! Slow down!” while peddling as fast as her little legs could.

Ani, Me, Carolee and Diva

Five minutes down the road, we stopped. Ani wanted to have a look at the Key West Lighthouse. It’s only a small museum which costs $10 to enter. No one wanted to pay $10, so we had our photo taken with the lighthouse in the background, before having a look in the souvenir shop. While paying for a few things, I asked how much it was for crewmembers to enter the Key West Lighthouse Museum. “Do you have ID on you all?” we nodded. “Why didn’t you say so? It’s free!” Result! Smiling and thanking the lady we all made our way into the Lighthouse Museum.

Key West Lighthouse

Here’s a little history lesson for you all from the Key West Lighthouse Museum leaflet we picked up:

“The Key West Lighthouse was built in 1847 to replace the original wooden tower on Whitehead Point destroyed the previous year by a hurricane. The present location, 14 feet above sea level, was chosen to protect the new tower from a similar fate, This tower was constructed of brick and was 66 feet high with a fixed white light. In 1894 twenty feet were added to bring it to its present height. The three red sector panels were the code signifying dangerous approaches to the harbour. The Lighthouse was decommissioned by the U.S. Coastguard in 1969. The tower was restored for $265,000 in 1989, reopening in February. Its 175-watt metal halide light which works on a photo-electric cell lights up as the daylight diminishes can be seen several miles out to sea.

The Light Keeper’s Quarters was built in 1887 and houses the museum’s collection of lighthouse artifacts and the martime history of the Keys. The word Key comes from the Spanish Cayo; the original name for Key West was Cayo Hueso, or Bone Islet. Visitors may climb the 88 steps to the balcony and a spectacular view of the island surrounding waters. There are ten addition steps to the actual light.”

Carolee, Kate, Me, Ani and Diva at Key West Lighthouse 

Walking into a small room, was a light house lens. The lens took up all the space, it was massive! It was called the “First Order Lens” and installed into the lighthouse situated on Sombrero Key. The lens was manufactured in Paris costing a grand total of $20,000. It’s 12 feet high and 6 feet wide at the focal point. “In 1984 the U.S. Coastguard removed the lens from the automated lighthouse which is still an active guide for navigation.”

Looking up at the Lighthouse, we all decided to climb the 88 steps to the top. Every so often we stopped to have our photo taken. On one occasion someone called me and Kate to look down - probably the worst idea. We were nearly at the top of the column and looking down gave you a good idea as to how high we actually were. As soon as I looked down I got jelly knees and everything around me started slowly spinning.

Carolee

Making it up to the top was a relief. Even though there were bars up to stop anyone from falling over, I subconsciously stayed by the column’s walls. The view from the top of the light house really was spectacular. We could see the Disney Magic ship which looked like a model, toy boat. Key West resembled a small model town.

Now came the worse part, getting down. Kate realized I wasn’t doing too good and asked if I was scared of heights. Obviously, yes. Going up, isn’t too bad, as long as I don’t look down. Going down is the real problem. This obviously caused a few jokes and laughs - even I had to giggle. I must have looked a slight, gripping onto the stair rail and walking down the steps like a child!! My knees felt like they were going to buckle at any minute. Sitting on my bum and shuffling down the stairs was an option that came into my head but I couldn’t… that’d mean that I’ve turned into my Mom!!

Thanking the gift shop attendant, we hopped back on our bikes. The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory was only a short distance down the road. Ani nearly got mowed down by another cyclist, a loud mouthed American who’d obviously had one too many Burger King’s in her life time!

Me and Carolee, Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory

Chaining the bikes up outside Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory, we all took it in turns to have our photo taken at the Butterfly cut out boards. This brings a new meaning to Patricia’s “Mariposa” (butterfly) nickname!

Kate and Diva

Walking into the conservatory is like walking into a different world. It was hotter and stuffier than it was outside too! Everywhere you looked were different coloured butterflies. Small, large, single coloured, multi-coloured, two-toned. It was amazing! Within seconds we were all armed with our cameras and snapping away. Not only were there butterflies flitting around but brightly coloured birds too. One, my favourite, was roughly the same size as a gold finch was a lovely baby blue colour. Its wings were a darker, more royal blue with black tops at the end of the wing’s feathers. Even his beak was baby blue!

Slowly walking around we were constantly trying to capture shots of the colourful butterflies… and we got some cracking shots too! One of the workers pointed out a massive butterfly called an Atlas. It was huge! We’d bypassed it thinking it was a leaf. According to the worker, the Atlas butterfly only lives for 6 days. Another massive butterfly we saw was a butter yellow and green and again, it was camouflaged by the colourings of the tree leaves.

Atlas Butterfly

Opposite Side of the Atlas Butterfly

Ani was the only person who was lucky enough to have a butterfly land on her… and have someone nearby to take a photo. After bending down to take a photo of a butterfly, I stood up and felt something on my head. Someone next to me announced that I’d had one of the large, two-toned blue butterflies on  my head. Damn! Where’s a camera when you need it?

Ani Found a Friend :-p

Cycling around the corner, Carolee and Diva wanted to see the Southernmost Point. It was only a quick stop before we were cycling back towards the port, searching for somewhere to have lunch. Pulling over at a little place, we slumped down, hot and sticky.  Ordering food, it made a great change from the usual crap we are served in the Crew Mess. Proper food and boy, was it lovely! I could have eaten it again!!

Diva and Aniko had to go back to the ship for set up. Leaving us some money, they biked back to the bike rental shop. The rest of us waited for the bill. When the bill arrived we got the shock of our lives. We didn’t have huge meals, everyone had a slice of quiche or sandwiches, etc. We didn’t expect to get an $87 bill. On top of that, we didn’t expect to have 18% gratuity which took the bill sky high! Unhappily paying the bill, we left.

Back at the Butterfly and Nature Conservatory, we stopped off at the Gift Shop to have a look around. We didn’t have a chance to do so beforehand. Obviously, I had to purchase a magnet, but I also found a cute pair of butterfly stud earrings. They’d be useful for work, especially if I have to take my hoop earrings out.

As we didn’t have a lot to do, we just started aimlessly biking around Key West. A guy, looking down from the balcony shouted something at Kate. Kate, taking her eyes off the road, started gawking at the guy. Carolee, cycling behind Kate shouted “Kate, keep your eyes on the road!” The guy on the balcony shouted something along the lines of “Why not? Who are you?” Carolee’s reply was bloody classic “No she can’t. I’m her MOTHER!!!!” All of us cracked up laughing while cycling down the road.

Dropping the bikes off at the rental store, we all got a lift back to the ship. Carolee and Kate had to rush off to work. Giving Ani a call, she’d just finished set up so we arranged to meet and go out for internet. 

Off the ship again, we headed to Sippin’ a large café with fast internet. Sitting down with fruit smoothies we were as anti-social as could be, eyes stuck on the screen.

Back on ship after a few more hours off, I showered, changed and went downstairs to see the Dale K show (hypnotism show). Before going in, I saw Cinderella and Ani at Preludes. Waiting in line, I got my photo taken with Princess Cinderella with a bad cough!

Csaba spotted me in the queue. After getting my photo taken, Csaba asked me where my date to the show was, insisting I needed one. He certainly wasn’t getting an invitation! Asking me why I was getting my photo taken, I replied, “because I send them to my Mama, cheers her up a bit. It’s a nice thing to do”. Sarcastically he asked “Why? Does your Mom have depression?” “No, she has cancer, thank you very much”. Shrugging his shoulders, he commented “My mom died of cancer”, there was almost a hint of sarcasm in his voice. What a bastard!

Going down to LSP, Kate had fun taking my pictures, having a go with different poses etc. She even tried some 50’s style poses to match my Lily Allen style dress. 

The show itself was absolutely fantastic, I haven’t laughed so much in a very long time. I wish the others weren’t working. Once it finished, I went back down to see Kate. Joining another queue, I went to have my photo taken with Alice (Alice in Wonderland) and the White Rabbit.

Finally, I popped back over to Aniko to have my photo taken with Princess Tiana before heading back to my cabin to chill out and relax. After such a busy, I was shattered but bloody hell, it was well worth it!

Key West Light House

Me and Aniko - Key West Lighthouse Museum

Disney Magic - Toy Ship from the Top of Key West Light House

At the top of Key West Light House

Carolee

Over Here!

Ani, Me and Diva

Carolee at the Light House Museum

Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory

Feeding Area

Southernmost Point

Southernmost Point

18^th March 2012

Originally I was due to have the day off in Key West, but that didn’t go to plan. I was working the evening.

We docked late, so meeting Ani and Maryna in the Mess, we hurried off the ship as quickly as possible. It took time as the crew have to wait behind a curtain, peeping through, until there were no guests coming.
Security gave us a wave and a sudden burst of crew members quickly rushed over to the gangway exit. The moment guests started appearing, we'd have to wait again. Frustrating isn’t even the word!

Looking at the map, we didn’t have a lot of time, two hours, so we decided to walk down to the Southernmost Point. The name says it all really, but it’s the Southernmost point of the Continental United States of America. It’s location is only 90 miles from Cuba but 150 miles from Miami. On a clear night you can apparently see the lights of the shore streaming along the horizon. I’m not 100% sure whether it’s just at night, but it wasn’t clear enough for us to see anything during the day.

We stopped off at a shop on the way there and I ended up walking out with three pairs of earrings.

Moving along, we found Key West’s Butterfly and Exotic Birds Conservatory. Walking in, we saw the price list, $12 for adults. Walking over to the lady, I asked how much it was for crew, thinking we might get at least a bit of a discount, if we were lucky. We were more than just lucky, for crew, it’s free plus there’s a 20% discount in the gift shop.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to go in as we wanted to get to the Southernmost Point. The lady at the Butterfly and Exotic Bird Conservatory told us to get there quickly as there’s usually a queue from here to Cuba! She gave us a stamp anyway, suggesting that if we have time, to pop in and have a walk around.

Arriving at the point and there was a long queue, but not as long as we’d expected. Apparently it’s usually much longer. We waited about 15 minutes and got two girls behind us, were nice enough to take a couple of photos of all three of us together before we returned the favour.

Heading back to the ship we stopped off at a small café to get a drink for the walk. The owner seemed confused by the mix of our accents and asked where we were all from; England, Hungary and Belarus. "How do you know each other, being from different countries?" "Cruise ship crew members." People are always intrigued by us crew members and have dozens of questions to ask. The main question, "what’s it like to work on cruise ships" and "how much time do you get off?" People are also shocked when we say around three hours and no days off. Mind you, we always get a mixture of sympathy and “hats off to you” for doing 6-8 month contracts with no days off and limited free time.

Back on the road, and Key West changed from modern day America to Old-Age America within a snap of your fingers. Key West is a place that intrigues me. It’s completely different from any of the other places we stop at. Plus, two sides of Key West are two completely different worlds. One part is a normal, slightly tourist America where the most advertised item is Key Lime Pie. The other side is full of souvenir shops promoting t-shirts and other clothing items with KEY WEST scribbled across and novelty slogans. I still haven’t found a better slogan than on the shirt in St. Thomas "You can have me chest, but don’t touch the booty!“ However, I’m not paying $20 for a strap top!

Maryna wasn’t working until later on in the evening, so she headed off in search of the supermarket while Ani and I walked back to the Disney Magic. We were both on set up.

There are still plenty of places for us to visit in Key West, the only problem is, we doubt we are going to have enough time to get around everywhere… and that’s just on the main land.

Back on board, it was the last time we were going to be in Key West for two weeks. Next cruise, another Western Caribbean, is a 6 rather than 7 night cruise. We’ll be skipping Key West and sailing straight to Grand Cayman.

The rest of the night was spent in between LSP, deserted as usual, and helping Cinta shoot chracters which to be fair, was a disaster. Dave came down to watch and asked how she was getting in and it wasn’t good. As we were watching it took her 13 attempts to focus the camera before shooting. It was painful for everyone watching!

Later on, I was told by the greeters that Cintia was snatching the guest’s Key to the World Cards and snapping at them. Why? I don’t know. What do you do? Again, I don’t know. I’ve been on her case all night about cropping and not shooting the backs of kid’s heads so I really didn’t want to point out something else she was doing wrong.

Everyone except Cintia is now a Photog 2 so Rama told me my wages were to be lower than before, when we hit target. Basically, we have more people to share with. Rama, trying to be encouraging, told me to hurry up and get sorted for Photog 3. This through me into a bit of a rage though. My competencies are done, I was told to learn to print and I have. I’m hitting my targets, helping the new hires, taking responsibility. What more do you want from me before I can have my checklist for photog 3? Rama apologized and said there was nothing he could do, but he’d speak to the new BM Csaba.

Later on, Csaba, Dave's replacement, came over and asked who was P3. Only Carolee, who was leaving soon. Rama quickly piped up and said I was ready for P3, I just needed to do my checklist. To this, Csaba nodded and said he’d get something sorted when he takes over. Looks promising and all thanks to Rama!

At the end of the night, a few of us went upstairs to Deck 5 for a drink. It was pitch black which threw Csaba. He knew parties on Royal Caribbean. Now he's arrived on Disney Magic and learnt Disney’s way of partying. Drinking on the front deck in absolute darkness, expect for security’s occasional torch light, when they made their way around everyone, making sure we were behaving well and still sober.

Speaking to Csaba, he asked why I wasn’t Photog 3 already, so I explained everything that had happened recently. Asking me whether I can set up, I said yes. Printing Ressi, I told him I probably could print Ressi but have never done so before. Then it came to the crunch. They need a Photog 3 because Carolee is leaving soon so someone has to replace her and Csaba wants someone with experience.

Not only that, Diva the AMP is leaving in two weeks and there is no one to replace her. We’ll be without an AMP for maybe weeks up to a month as Image hasn’t sorted anything out in terms of replacements. By the looks of it, I might be promoted to Photog 3 to do the AMPs job. There was me thinking I was going to become the new lab rat. Instead, it looks like I’m going to be the lab rat filling in the AMP’s shoes and Diva has very large shoes to fill. She`s another machine, like Dione, who whacks prints out in no time. Me, I’ll be spending until early hours of the morning printing!

Southern Most Point - Maryna, Me and Ani