Out of Action

Out of Action

19^th April 2012

It’s the start of something new today. Unloading the guests from the ship and ending our seven day Western and Eastern Caribbean cruises, we embarked on a semi-new itinerary. Disney Magic is now into the five and four night Bahamian cruises. I say “semi-new” itinerary, as we’ll still be docking at Key West and Castaway Cay (obviously). The only new port we’ll be docking in is Nassau, in the Bahamas. Our first cruise is planned as: Port Canaveral, Key West, Sea Day, Nassau and Castaway Cay.

Maryna was transferred at the last minute to Disney Wonder. In many ways, Ani and I are incredibly jealous. Although the photographers on Disney Wonder will work the same amount as us and, as we’ve heard, earn less, the itinerary is amazing. It was the ship I was supposed to be assigned to before plans changed and I was signing on to Disney Magic.

Disney Wonder didn’t do the same route for long so Maryna could be seeing many, many ports and cities. I say “could” because Maryna hardly ever gets off the ship, which is a bit of a needle in the side for most of us.

When we arrive in New York, we’ll have long Port Canaveral days for guests to visit the Walt Disney Parks. Maryna wasn’t interested in going to any of the parks or NASA station. Instead, she was over the moon at the prospect of being able to sleep more than three hours. Asked why she doesn’t want to do anything, her response was “I don’t like these ports and I just want to sleep. What’s wrong with that?” It seemed a waste.

Although Maryna’s leaving was fairly good news, we all had our fingers crossed for a faster, more experienced photographer to replace her. Those prayers came crashing down when we were informed we were getting a new hire from Macedonia called Toni. “Not another one” went through the experienced photographer’s heads. Kate, Carolee, Ani and I were left to drag along a lazy team and now train a new hire while doing five day cruises.

The things we say may seem harsh and unfair but, we do have reason for it. The longer the cruises, the more spread out and slower paced things are. The shorter the cruise, the less time off and things are faster paced. Imagine, you have set up scheduled to take one hour. It can easily be done in thirty to forty-five minutes, if everyone pulls their weight. If only a few pull their weight and you have a new hires who doesn’t know what they are doing or slow movers, it’ll take over an hour. Every minute that goes over that hour set up is part of your break. When you only get the odd hour here and there for a break, each minute becomes very precious!

Getting off the ship as quickly as my stumpy legs would take me, I was off to meet Lee and Zoran from Royal Caribbean’s Monarch of the Seas. I thought I was late and cursing myself for not wiping down (removing photos from the last cruise) faster than I did. Lee jumped on the shuttle bus, a relief as he was just as late as I was. Happy days! Looking behind Lee, Zoran wasn’t there.

I always give Lee a massive hug every time I see him. Probably because on ships, you never know what’s going to happen. I might not see him again next week, or the week after and so on. Although the world of ships is small, it’s also very large. It turns out Zoran had to work this morning on embarkation, as the day off was given to someone else. It’s always sad to know you’re so close to a friend you once worked with, yet so far away that you can’t ever seem to get a chance to see them!

There were a few things that we both needed to do, so our first stop was Walmart. Lee nipped into the hairdressers for a trim. Before leaving he told me “I’m a real poof about getting my hair done - I’ll be about an hour”. Typical Lee!

Lee, strangely enough, had asked me to pick up a tub of Vaseline for Chet. Chet is one of the photographers I went to Miami training with and is now on his second contract on board Monarch of the Seas. Why did Chet need Vaseline? I’m not going to say… but you can make your own assumptions!

Lee soon caught up with me, walking around the shops. “Excuse me Miss… have you seen a blonde, very sarcastic English girl, about this high (waist height apparently)?” Again, typical Lee. I missed working with and being around people like Lee. Finishing off the shopping, we jumped in a cab to the Mall.

I had a massive envelope on me, which needed to be sent to the parents in Uruguay. It wasn’t much, mainly photos from the trip which Mom always enjoys seeing. As she’s up and down with the chemotherapy, I thought it’d cheer her up a bit. One word of warning though: Never EVER mail anything from the European Corner. It’ll cost you a freaking arm, leg and a couple of toes! My knees went weak when the guy told me it’d cost $20 to send an envelope full of paper from Florida to Punta del Este! Being so eager to get the things in the post for my mom, I paid it and walked out quickly, in case I changed my mind.

Non-Mess food was on the top of our list of things to do. Leaving the Mall, we set out to the best place to eat in Port Canaveral – Hooters! Don’t sneer. The food is decent, reasonably priced and great service, especially from a man’s point of view!

Hooters food was the first “proper” meal I’d had in days. The Mess food has made me feel ill a couple of times and the stench as you walk inside makes mine and many other’s stomach turn. Someone even retched the other day. It’s a putrid smell of rotting food and drains that sometimes lingers in the air or at times, punches you in the face as soon as you walk in.

Sitting back, we talked about everything. Lee’s one of these people that you can talk non-stop to (not that I need a helping hand in that department) but our weird and wonderful conversations just flow. As I have on many occasions, I asked Lee for some advice on the new hires. Not all of them are “new hires” but they act like it.

Three of the Photog 2’s don’t know how to set up a backdrop correctly, one even collapsed on Pirate Night. Imagine if someone had been standing there, having their photo taken. It could have killed a child and done an adult serious damage. Lee pointed the finger at management - they needed to step in. He wasn’t wrong, but management weren’t stepping in. It was left to the more experienced photographers to step in and do something about it. It weighed us down and in reality, we were waiting for an accident to happen.

Lee joked about some of the new hires he has meet recently, describing them as “dense as Forrest Gump” and he wasn’t wrong. There seems to be a lack of common sense or will power to work and learn with the latest recruits. Image Photo Services are now recruiting heavily throughout the Eastern European countries and have halted completely in the Philippines. Apparently, it’s too expensive to fly Filipinos to ships. What baffled me more about the decision is that the Filipinos are the ones who work like their lives depend on it and stick around the longest. The money we earn in their country will enable them to live like kings. For the rest of us in Europe, we’ll live like tramps, the money won’t go far. So far, out of all the Eastern Europeans I’ve worked with, only three have been the hard working, fun loving type, Ani, Bjanka and Zoran.

Sadly, it was time for us to go back to our ships. It’s always a bum note saying bye to Lee, even if I will probably see him next week in Port Canaveral. I smiled at the thought that Monarch of the Seas, a very fast paced ship, doing three and four day cruises had just received a new hire. I’d requested to be transferred to the ship. Instead of getting a nearly photog 3, they got a new hire instead. While speaking to Lee, I don’t think Csaba even sent the transfer request. Ship life is shit life, as we say.

Back on board the Disney Magic, I was in an upbeat mood after seeing Lee. Lee, if you’re reading this, don’t think you’re special or anything and get big headed! Changing into my day uniform, I headed into the lab to sort out the stores.

Eventually we found our two pallets containing sixty boxes of rolls of darkroom/printing paper. Surrounding them were numerous pallets and huge boxes with bright pink paper attached to them “Do Not Touch. Do Not Move Without Permission From Staff Captain”.

Speaking to Mike, we had to just get on with the job and pass the boxes over to the next person and get stores done any way possible. Cintia and Inna were looking at the mountain of paper in agog. Grabbing the scissors and ripping the plastic film off, I proceeded to pass boxes over to them. It was frustrating. Yes, it was a heavy job but it could have been done relatively quicker than we did it.

How many new hires does it take to push a trolley of paper to the lab? Two. I’d pulled off a box, turned around to pass it to Inna to find no one was behind me. Looking around I saw Cintia pushing the trolley and Inna walking along beside her, almost trying to guide her. A sorry sight indeed.

Towards the end of the boxes my wrist was starting to ache. I’m not surprised after the amount we’d been lifting, passing over our heads or climbing onto stacks of pallets to reach more boxes.

“Excuse me?” I turned around. It was one of the Filipinos in a yellow jump suit.
“Is that heavy?” he asked, motioning to the box I was half holding, half resting against the “Do Not Touch” boxes.
“A little bit, why?” I replied. I thought he was coming over to help for a split second.
“Do you know how much the stuff inside these boxes is worth?” he asked, pointing to the “Do Not Touch” boxes.
My good mood slipped and along came the sarcasm “I don’t know what’s even in the boxes, so of course, I don’t know the value”.
“It’s fire fighting equipment and each pallet costs around $200,000”. Staring at the man, I was far from impressed about being told the value of “Do Not Touch” pallets.
“Good to know then” I smiled before rolling my eyes and continuing what I was doing.
He wasn’t finished there though “So don’t touch the boxes okay?”. He had his smug smile on his face that irritated the hell out of me!
“Would you like to help us shift this load then? It’ll make sure we don’t touch your valuable boxes.”
"No, no” he laughed and waltzed off.

Ten minutes after the job was complete, my wrist was not only aching but swollen like a balloon. It’d clicked and ached during stores but now, it was getting much worst. Giving in, I went to Csaba and asked to go to the medical. My right wrist had been playing for up weeks now. Every time I shot Ressi or portraits I had to have my wrist strapped up in a support. Now, it looked like things had progressed and worsened. Why!?

Medical said that my wrist was spraining and gave me a brace to wear. Unfortunately, I was signed off as “unfit for duty” for twelve hours. Although it would be nice to have a rest, I didn’t like the idea of not working when there were things to be done.

Back in the lab, I passed on my medical papers to Csaba who wasn’t impressed but pleased that I’d still be able to shoot at the Princesses Gathering tomorrow morning.

I met the new hire Toni, a Macedonian. Toni said he’s worked with children before, taking portraits at his local nursery and as a photojournalist. He also boasted about being the best new hire in his training group.
 Something told me that things weren’t going to get easier. At the same time I tried to tell myself not to judge people so early, even though you start to get a good idea as to what someone will be like by their first impressions.

Bumping into Ani and Carolee, I asked for their opinions, they sadly, felt the same as I did. Lee’s Forrest Gump comment came to mind. I hoped and wished upon a star, Disney Style that this wouldn’t be another one of those cases. Only time would tell.

Airport Beach

Airport Beach

16^th April 2012

We’d been planning this day for a very long time. In true tradition, we finally managed to getting around to it on our last trip to St. Maarten. We were heading to Airport Beach to jet blast.

Meeting up on the gangway, Steph, Mike, Ani, Kate, Inna and myself headed out into the St. Maarten sun. Within minutes you could feel the sun roasting your skin. No wonder people come back to the ship with third degree burns!

The journey to Airport Beach or as the locals know it, Maho Beach, was a bit expensive. The more people, the cheaper the taxi fare. As there were six of us, the twenty minute drive would cost us $18 return. If it’s just you on your own, you can expect to pay around $12-15 - each way.

Maho Beach is situated on the Dutch side of the island. Most cruise ships will dock on the French side. The thing that makes Airport Beach special is that it’s supposedly, the only place in the world where you can jet blast. The landing strip at Princess Juliana Airport and the beach is separated by two very narrow lanes for road traffic to pass through.

At first, when we arrived at Airport Beach we thought we’d missed the big commercial plane. Luckily enough, it was delayed and we’d be there for its arrival. In the meantime, smaller air craft were flying in every ten to fifteen minutes. Sunbathers had worried expressions of their faces on a couple of occasions at the sight of an aircraft coming in incredibly low. There were a couple of times when I was dubious as to whether the plane would make it over the barbed wire fences, barricading the landing strip off to us adrenaline junkie tourists.

Every time a plane came into view, the beach goers would grab their cameras and sprint along the beach, situating themselves adjacent to the landing strip. There were cheers, people jumping around and others simply staring in amazement at the scenes unfolding before us.

Watching a roaring plane, no matter how small or large, fly only metres above your head, witnessing the wheels eject from the belly was an unbelievable rush! Words failed me at the time and thinking back, they still do!

Returning to the bar, while waiting for another plane to arrive, Ani came over, just before I arrived at our table. “Look at the guy sitting at the table in front of us. It’s Richard Hammond!” Glancing over, it didn’t look like it was Richard Hammond, until I got a little closer. She was right! Top Gear’s Richard “Hamster” Hammond was sitting at the table in front of us, almost huddled into a corner trying to keep out of the public view. With him were two men, the three of them seemed engrossed in discussion about shooting angles and how long the planes get when landing. By the looks of it, they were researching for a future episode of Top Gear.

Finding Kate, I told her that Ani had spotted Richard Hammond. She came over to make sure we hadn’t made a mistake. Obviously, he looked very different from TV. His hair wasn’t styled, in fact it was smoothed down as if to cover his face, large, dark sunglasses on and wearing scruffy clothes. Although we wanted to get our photo taken with him, we resisted, simply because, you only had to take one look at him, to see he was doing is best to stay out of everyone’s eyesight and remain unnoticed. It wasn’t long until the three of them left.

Airport Beach Bar

Mike was like a kid at Christmas, wishing for one of the few 474s to land. Kate being the dount that she is, forgot her swimming gear so was walking the beach taking photos with her Canon 500D. Ani, who isn’t the strongest swimmer, decided to chill out on the beach and recharge her batteries. Steph and Inna were stuffing themselves with non-Mess food.

Looking at the colour of the sea, I had to get in. The waves were high and sent you bobbing up into the air. It felt great to be in the sea, soaking up the sun and generally enjoying life. Trying to get out of the sea was a real challenge. I hadn’t noticed just how strong the currant was. As soon as a wave took you to the shore and you tried to walk out, the currant was sucking you back in again. Sometimes it felt like you were frozen to a stop while the sand and pebbles raced past your feet and ankles, back into the sea.

Looking back, there were a couple of massive waves coming and I was right in the breaking point. There was only one thing to do, dive into the wave and wait until the sea calmed down again, before attempting to get out. Just as I dived into the wave, it broke, sending me circling in the swirl and crashing against the sand below me. The others on the beach were rolling up laughing as I staggered out from the sea, after being hit by two breaking waves (I couldn’t get in deep enough out of the breaking point or out of the sea all together). My hair was all over the place and I was sporting a striking resemblance to Cousin IT from the Addams Family. No wonder the others didn’t want to get in the sea, especially after seeing me get chucked around. Still, after a while, I wadded back in for around round. Sometimes the waves were so high, I lost sight of the shore whilst bobbing up and down.

Run for your Life!

In the distance, a plane was heading our way. It was a 747, one of the commercial planes Mike had been waiting for. Ani and I were there, cheering and throwing our hands up in the air as the deafening roar of the engines grew louder and louder. Steph and Inna were running along the beach to get to us but the plane was too fast for them. Looking up the massive plane was directly over our heads.

The whole thing lasted less than a minute but the whole experience of having such a huge aeroplane fly over your head and so low was unbelievably mind blowing!! The roar from the engines became deafening as the plane flew overhead and only highlighted the rush.  The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up on end with anticipation as the plane lowered more and more towards the landing strip. No matter how I describe the thirty odd second ordeal, it’ll never be enough. Words cannot describe just how amazing, yet strange it felt to witness a plane so low, so unbelievably close and just above your head.

Jumping around, we were all over the moon and couldn’t believe what we’d just experienced. The others arrived just as the plane landed. The good news was, another commercial flight would be arriving soon. We weren’t disappointed either. We were ready this time… and so was everyone else by the looks of it. We all dived in for a group picture and the plane flew just behind us.

Unfortunately for us, it was nearly 13.00 and we still had some things we needed to do. We climbed into a taxi and just as we were leaving, a plane was just about the take-off. I couldn’t believe my luck!! Everyone was being forced to run towards the sea as the jets started up sending out a hurricane-like stream of wind.

I’d missed jet blasting by a couple of minutes. As much as I was disappointed, I couldn’t help but smile at what we had experienced. You win some, lose some. I’d missed the chance to do one thing but, instead managed to experience something else which was just as mind blowing. I couldn’t complain!

Back on the French side of St. Maarten Mike, Kate, Ani and myself headed towards the shops. Our mission, to find a Canon 5D Mark II. Due to my last batch of problems with my credit card, I was sure I was to encounter the same. Instead of buying the Canon 5D Mark II kit (camera body and 24-105mm lens) I’d just purchase the body and a lens at another date. It’s a pathetic way to go about things when you have the funds to do it in one go. Unfortunately, banks are banks and beggars can’t be choosers, I guess.

Mike is by far the best person to take with you when you are buying cameras and/or equipment. Not only does he know his stuff, but how much things are worth and he’s a bloody good haggler! Kate did her fair share as well and managed to get a Canon camera back pack thrown in with a $40 discount.

Of course, there were problems with the bank. Using their phone, I rang through the England and after about 20 minutes the problem was resolved. Their excuse: we saw someone was purchasing something worth a large sum of money in an unknown country and as you have next to no credit card activity history, we blocked it for security reasons. This, ladies and gentlemen is why I love banks! Don’t get me wrong, there’s an overdose of sarcasm in that comment!!

Finally, after nearly an hour, I giddily walked out of the store with my new camera. I am now the overly proud owner of a Canon 5D Mark II. I felt like one of those parents who drive you insane, talking about how wonderful and proud they are of their children while showing you endless amounts of photos. I’d become exactly like them… but over a camera. Feel free to judge!

Although I didn’t have a lens, I wasn’t too worried. I don’t think my Ocean Pay, wallet and credit card could have taken any more of a beating. Plus, I had two lenses for my Canon 400D which would fit the camera. Yes, I know the lenses are pants compared to what is on the market, but they’ll tie me over in the meantime, while I can save up and research some more into which lens would be best for the type of photography I want to do etc.

Anyway, we are going to New York soon and Mike says there’s a street full of camera stores, one in particular, where the prices are reasonable and there’s an abundance of stock and choice. Luckily enough for me, Mike will still be on the ship when we get to New York City . He’ll gladly come lens shopping with me while spending his saved fortune on more camera and electrical goods, before going home to the Philippines.

Kate waltzed out the store over the moon with her new Macro lens. Ani looked as if she was going to burst into tears after being told she’d paid $250 too much for a lens she’d purchased the previous week. Who can blame her? I, however, have my suspicions about what she was told. In many ways, I think it was a sales pitch, telling a friend of mine she’d been ripped off, as a way of convincing me to buy a camera through them. It made perfect sense to everyone but it wasn’t enough to up Ani’s spirits.

Soon enough, it was time to jump in another taxi and hurry back to the ship. It was going to be a long Pirate Night, but throughout the night was a large Cheshire cat smile on my face. It’d been a fantastic day, one of the best so far during this contract. The cherry on the cake was, of course, my brand, spanking new camera. My new baby… my Canon 5D Mark II.

Airport Beach - Kate, Ani and Lou

We didn't see that one coming...

Unbelievable!!

All Together: Steph, Kate, Inna, Ani, Me & Mike Behind the Camera :-p

Smaller Jet Coming In (Mike's Photo)

Right Overhead (Mike's Photo)

Distance Between Beach and Landing Strip

Chilling in the Sun

Landing Times

The Girls: Steph, Inna, Kate, Me and Ani

 

"Free Drinks For Topless Ladies"

All Fun & Games

Kate

 

Airport/ Maho Beach, St. Maarten

Peachy Bums

Peachy Bums

10^th April 2012

Tendering ports are always horrible, especially when on Disney, as they have the “guests must go first” approach. Sleeping in as much as I could, an utter fail as I was wide awake at 8.30, I decided to get the laundry done. It was about time too!

Carolee called to ask what the weather was like. I reminded her that we don’t have a window in our "penthouse cabin" but suggested that I’d have a look outside as I’m one level up from the crew open deck.

Going to collect my laundry, I spoke to one of the cabin attendants who asked if I was going outside. Not really, I wanted to type up my blog but needed to get off to withdraw money from Ocean Pay. Then came the shocker “why?” the cabin attendant asked. “We have no tender today”. That couldn’t be right, surely?

Charging down the stairs to the point that I nearly tumbled and rolled down the rest, I got to Deck 5 forward. Looking over the edge, he was right. The Disney Magic was docked in St. Thomas and not tendering. Running back upstairs, I woke Ani up and got on the phone to Carolee.

“Carolee, we are docked”

“Shit, are you serious?”

“Yes! I’ve just checked”

“I’m getting off the ship. Now. Bye” and she hung up on me – again.

Ani and I slowly got dressed and got off the ship. The sun was hot and beating down on us. I felt like a lizard, awaking as my body absorbed more and more of the heat. There’s one thing to always remember about the Caribbean sun, it’ll cook and toast you into a lobster red in no time! The vast majority of guests will come back as red as a traffic light. Some even get third degree burns and sun poisoning. One boy last cruise had large, horrendous, yellow blisters across his cheeks after a day in St. Thomas.

Walking around, there wasn’t really much to do, but apparently this was the more affordable side of St. Thomas. The other, where we tender to, is a more luxurious, expensive side, full of designer clothes shops etc.

Ani spotted the place and asked if I was up for having something to eat in Hooters. Of course, anything is better than the tripe served in the Mess. Crossing over the road, we sat outside admiring the place and enjoy the warmth of the sun, rather than the coolness of the air condition on board the ship.

Not long after we sat down there were people milling around in bright orange hot pants and teeny white tops. Boobs and bums out, of course. I had to smile. Most of the men were admiring the peach, pert bums that wiggled past in super tight Daisy Duke shorts. You couldn’t help but look! The internet wasn’t bad and I managed to get some blog posts up and photos, although uploading pictures took a while.

It wasn’t long until the food was served and we were woofing it up. Even though it was simple and on the verge of junk food, it was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time! The crew mess, we are forced to eat in, is putting me off food. Endless days of rice, undercooked chicken drumsticks and out of date salad. Now we eat to eat, because we have to. After eating crap for days on end, biting into a chicken sandwich made our lunch taste so much better.

Carolee spotted us and came to join us. Of course there were a number of “is there something you girls aren’t telling me” and “I caught you checking out her butt” comments but then again, even Carolee had to have a peek. At Hooters, it'd be rude not to!

As we were apparently going to be docking in the same place next time, we decided we should venture up the mountain in the cable cars. It sounded like a plan, but we wanted to rally up some more people.

Finishing up, we headed over to the bank after one o’clock to withdraw our money. Carolee and Ani hadn’t been paid. I withdrew some money that had been building up on my card. All of a sudden, Carolee figured out why we hadn’t been paid. Usually we get paid every two weeks, during St. Thomas at 13.00. Our days have switched now though. Instead of turning around on Saturday, we are now disembarking the guests on Friday. Basically, we’d be getting paid tomorrow at 13.00… when we are at sea and on our way to Castaway Cay where there’s no chance of finding an ATM… I guess such is ship life!

Man Down! Man Down!

Man Down! Man Down!

5^th April 2012

It’s the last day of the cruise and things aren’t really starting to look up. Thankfully, it is the last day and maybe things will be different during the next cruise.

Arriving at Castaway Cay, the sky was grey and the clouds threatened to rain. This is always a bad sign for all the photographers, especially the beach shooters, and I was one of them. If the weather is bad at the end of the cruise, the guests tend to be moody. Believe it or not, and they don’t spend as much as they would have if it'd been a sunny day.

When it comes down to the photo department, I can understand that. Getting a photo taken on the beach with blazing sun makes for a nice photo. Same goes with the family standing in front of the ship, surrounded by brilliant blue skies. Dull skies and grey clouds don’t have the same effect.

While walking on the beach, it was deserted compared to normal. My image target was a little lower than usual, too. Instead of 350, I only had to get 300. That target can still be a struggle sometimes, as I don’t like to overshoot, whereas others get three photos of the same person. None of the managers have said anything about over shooting, but a few of the more experienced photographers have.

I won’t lie, I kind of gave up towards the end of my beach session. Usually the beach is split into sections with a photographer in each. They keep going over the area and snapping photos of the new arrivals, etc. By the looks of things, as there the beach was quiet, the other photographers had been wandering into other people’s sections.

Walking up to one lady, I smiled and cheerfully called out “Ma’am, let’s have a smile” and received a sharp reply “No! You’re the fourth photographer to come get my picture. Three is enough.” Of course, if you’re trying to relax on the beach, you don’t want to be constantly bothered by photographers, asking you for photos, so I completely understood why she was annoyed. I would be.

I only had 200 images which was incredibly poor. Speaking to Inna, she had 100 images more than me at the time, but said “I double shoot” before shrugging and walking off. We always look bad when we come back with (like today) 200 images when the newer photographers have 350 and it’s all because they shoot multiples of the same people. It doesn’t sell. Usually the doubles would be removed by the lab manager and only singles counted, but not on beach.

Giving up, I met Ani to go into the shops and get Diva a leaving present. We decided to buy her a Castaway Cay t-shirt and have everyone sign the back of it for her.

Back on board, we walked into the lab to see Cinta with a bandage around her arm. Asking what happened, she told us that she fell off the tram which transports crew and guests around the island.

Later on, we found out the truth. Cintia had got on one of the trams, wanting to go back to the ship to drop off her memory card. Instead, she’d got on the tram to Serenity Bay and crew beach. Realizing she was on the wrong tram, she jumped off, just as the tram started moving. Jumping off the tram, with $2,000 worth of equipment, she went crashing to the ground, slicing her arm open.

Csaba wasn’t in the greatest of moods and making a series on phone calls from the lab. Slamming down the phone on a few occasions, making some of us jump out of our skin, he was trying to find someone to stitch up Cintia’s arm.

The first aid centre on the island just wrapped Cintia’s arm up in a bandage and said she’d need stitches. As she wasn’t an island crew member (or more to the point, a guest) he wouldn’t stitch her up and instead sent her back to the ship.

The medical centre on board Disney Magic was closed for another three hours. The doctor on the island told Cintia that she couldn’t call the emergency number as needing stitches “wasn’t an emergency”. Csaba was furious at this and finally, taking Cintia with him, managed to find someone to open the medical facility to sort her arm out. Fancy having a gash in your arm and the doctor saying “you’ll have to wait until 15.00 to get stitches as it’s not classified as an emergency.” If Cintia was a guest however, you can guarantee things would be the complete opposite.

Bumping into Cintia later on, she’d been signed off from work for at least 48 hours. She wouldn’t be able to lift a camera for a very long time though. In the end, it’d taken ten stitches to close the slice, so it must have been a big/deep cut.

Speaking to the others in Shutters, a few people were saying the girl should be sent home. No doubt she’ll be out of action for a week or more while waiting for the stitches to heal. In ship terms, a week or a cruise is an incredibly long time. Also, we were questioning Cintia’s common sense. Who the hell would jump off a moving tram, especially with so much equipment on her. The equipment wasn’t damaged, which was lucky but, we don’t have spare parts, so if something had happened, we’d be up Shit Creek without a paddle!

Now it’s just a case of waiting to see what will happen to Cintia. Will she be sent home? Or as Image like to put it: Chicken or Beef?

Photographs from previous sessions shooting beach.

Ani - Wading Out to the Climbing Frame

What we do to get a high image count!

Castaway Cay Climbing Frame

We Made It!

 
Setting Exposures


Test Shots with Mark

The Deal

The Deal

29^th March 2012

Another day at Castaway Cay, Bahamas.

Before we docked, I was in the lab for 30 minutes matching up reprints and kiosk orders so that everything was ready for this evening (last day of the cruise).

Gathering my camera equipment and heading towards the ship’s gangway, I saw a lot of people heading off the ship. They were guests! The ship had arrived earlier than 9 and already the guests were getting off… I had to leg it, squeeze into the crowd and get off the ship and set up.

Setting up as quickly as I could, I was only half way through and people were handing me their Key to the World cards to have the photo taken. Changing my aperture and shutter speed, I started shooting on the memory card, until I had the pentab (computer) set up and running. Only then could I swipe people’s room keys.

Anyway, by the time I’d finished I had over 300 images which was my target. Unfortunately my pentab battery had died so I’d shot half on the camera’s memory card. Diva wasn’t going to be happy with, as it gives her more work to do. Next time I’ll have to charge a second battery.

Taking my camera off the tripod I checked some of the photos. I don’t  know what made me look, but something clicked in my brain. My ISO. Checking the settings, I hadn’t changed my ISO from shooting stairs last night. Instead of using ISO 200, I’d shot at ISO 800! What the bloody hell was the matter with me!? I should have checked!

Mentally kicking myself as I walked back to the ship, I went into the lab and dropped my stuff off. Telling the new BM, Csaba what had happened, he got annoyed “didn’t you think your apertures were too high?” “No, because last week, it was so bright that we had to use those apertures anyway to get a good exposure and our ISOs were 200”.

Carrying on matching reprints, Diva came in and got the news from Csaba. Some of my photos were overexposed. Not burnt, but over exposed. Now it was time for Diva to give me an ear bashing “You do realize this is a $500 event? Like portraits. You’re losing us money”. Excuse me? I was annoyed enough with myself, without anyone else having a go at me. Yes of course, I knew that it’d lose people money and I don’t need to be told that. After all, at the end of the day, I don’t come here to earn ANYONE but myself money. With this job, while earning your own wage, you also earn for others. That is why I am here, to earn money. So do you really think, I’d want to lose myself money? Of course not! Keeping my mouth shut, I slipped out of the lab, feeling about as bright as a cloudy, rainy day.

It wasn’t just about money. I love, love, love getting excellent photographs… so when you get a bad batch, it really gets you down. Last but not least, by the looks of it, there’s very little chance I’d be promoted for Photog 3 - because of my mistake.

Diva and Csaba came down pretty hard on me yet, other members of the team have been repeatively making mistakes and nothing gets said to them. I take it personally, if I make a mistake. Some of the photos team members bring back are laughable. Completely burnt - the sand and sea are pure white, for example! Yet, those team members, if something is said to them, just shrug their shoulders, mumble “okay” and walk off, without giving it a second’s thought. They don’t care. How I envy those people on occasions like these!

Walking into my cabin I felt darn low, mainly because I’d mucked up, but also because of what had been said to me and the tone of it. Like I said before, some people mess up and nothing is said to them while others get a royal ear bashing.

Once Shutters was closed, Csaba told me to go to the crew bar for a drink with Rama, as he was leaving 

tomorrow. I was still working, delivering reprints and CDs to staterooms and printing.

Quickly running around the place, delivering as quickly as possible, I finished work at 2am. By then the bar was closed. Anyway, getting a drink from the Crew Mess I joined them in the Crew Bar. To  my surprise, only Cintia, Inna, Rama and Csaba were there.

Sitting down, Csaba told me that the new AMS, Stephanie, wasn’t coming for another week. We’d be left without an AMS. “So this is your time to shine. You’ll be AMS for the week, take Rama’s phone and do his schedule after embarkation tomorrow. If you do well, I will sign your checklist and you’ll be Photog3 from the following cruise.” Deal! Shaking hands, I was over the moon, yet nervous. There are still the odd things that I’m not 100% sure about in the gallery, but I was ecstatic about being given the opportunity to be a “stand-in manager” for the week. It was a chance to prove that I could do things and that I am worthy of the Photog 3 position.

Slipping into bed that night at 3am, I was one happy girl… a complete contrast from earlier on!