Long overdue

It's been a crazy year and once I hit Alaska, it was so busy that I couldn't find the time to hop on here and write. My contract ended the middle of February and I headed home. I took off again on a road trip for a month to keep myself busy.

First stop was New Orleans for St. Paddys Day. I had so much fun and got to dress up and be one of the crazy folks.

After that I headed to Tamp to hang out with my sister and nieces. I stayed with them for almost 2 weeks. She was so busy with everything that I needed a little extra sister time with her. While there I got to see a friend from the ship. It is a little weird being off the ship and hanging out when you are so use to seeing them only on the ships. We had tons of fun and I got to see a lot of Tampa's night life.

I then headed south to Ft. Lauderdale to pick up a friend from the ship for the day. We got to hang out on the beach and go have some awesome lunch at Moe's Southwestern Grill. If you have never tried this place, do it. It's so yummy. We also went to a Dave and Buster's where I kicked his ass at a lot of the games. All in all a very fun and exciting day to hang out with a friend.

I was told to stop in St. Augustine for a night because it was a really cool place to see. So I headed that way. Stayed at a hostel and made some new friends. I got a private tour of the nightlife while having some drinks and the next day I got to go to some of the tourist spots. The fort was really cool to see and to walk around. On my last day there I went to leave, but my truck decided otherwise. So instead of stressing over the fact that my car didn't want to start, I decided to go to the beach with my new friends.

Once I was able to leave St. Augustine (fuel pump fixed and ready to go), I got stuck in Jacksonville for a another truck problem. But thankfully it didn't take long to fix even though I had to stay overnight.

Atlanta was my next destination, but not before I took a quick tour of Savannah. A coupe of hours walking around was nice until it started to thunder. So I decided it was time to go. Drove through Macon, cute little town, and headed north. I hung out with the aunt and uncle there in Atlanta till after Easter. On Easter we had out own little easter egg hunt, just for the adults. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. There were 11 of us running around hunting for eggs and liquor. Yep, little bottles were just a few of the goodies we went searching for.

Heading home I took another stop in New Orleans to hang out with the guys again. As always, I had tons of fun. Got to hop on their float and ride along all the while drinking beer and dancing with everyone. It was definitely an epic day that day.

And after NOLA, I headed back home. Photos from my road trip soon to come.

A lot to catch up with....

June 22

Juneau

Beautiful day today. Unfortunately the Zaandam wasn’t docked us, but I got to walk around the town and make some calls. I had to be back on the ship early for work, but I did get a small break to sit down and check out the scenery.

June 23

Sitka – tender port

Get to have fun with the bear today… Got to walk around a little bit and have some goodies for lunch. Then back on the ship.

June 24

Ketchikan

Got to see the Zaandam people for a little bit. Tried a burger from Burger Queen.. very very yummy.

June 25

Victoria

Headed out for the first time on shore. Nothing really around the port. Went to a café within walking distance and had some overpriced food and dessert. It was good.

June 26

Seattle

Ian came on the ship to visit some of us. It was fun to chat it up and talk about what’s been going on since last time I saw him. Another day another cruise to start.

June 27 and 28

Sea Day and glacier bay

A little on the rocky side while at sea, but ut was fun for us. The guests didn’t like it much.. I’d say suck it up.. your on a ship, what did you expect. HA! Glacier Bay very cloudy today.. looked like it might rain, but hopefully it won’t because that would not help the photo gallery at all.

June 29

Juneau

Hung out with some of the Zaandam people at the bar.. played some pool with my team and just had an all around good day. Ended up running off the ship in between my breaks to see more of the Z people and chat it up.

good times with good friends.. He is sitting on my lap.. by the way.

June 30

Sitka

I love tenders! Not really.. This was not a very fun day.. Not many people wanting their photos taken, even if it is with a dancing bear. I have a video too.. check it out on my facebook. I would upload it here, but it takes way too long.

Leaving Sitka.. storm ahead

July 1

Ketchikan

Very rainy day here, I actually didn’t have to to the gangway and spent my time walking around the town trying to find some internet connection. Got a nice hot Chai to drink, but no place to sit in the coffee shop.. It’s times like these that I miss a starbucks.

July 2

Victoria

Stayed on the ship today and just played on the internet in between work. Got caught up on some emails and such.

July 3

Seattle

A new group of cruisers here for the holiday weekend. It should be interesting here with all these Americans and all the crew being more European and Asian. A very long day today and even though I had service I barely had time to call or message anyone for any length of time.

July 4 and 5

Sea Day and Glacier Bay

Happy 4^th of July. I didn’t really celebrate it much seeing as it was a formal night and I was working all night long. Went to bed right after work from being exhausted. The next day is Glacier Bay and it should be good….

Glacier Bay was so rainy that I didn’t think we would ever get enough roll count. The sun did finally come out and show its face for us a little bit, but it didn’t elp us very much. One of the other photogs and I were invited to a Bali celebration tonight. We went and observed their prayer, which I will say was a sight and sound. It was quite impressive to watch them all together saying their prayer. I got a few photos of it all.. makes me really want to visit Bali in the future. We also stayed for a midnight snack Bali style. Had rice, with a sauce filled with shrimp, brocc, spinach, japs… also have a mixture of chicken and japs and other spices. They even had pieces of fried pork, which I will say I tried.

Forget everything and go....

June 19

Seattle Embarkation

My ‘real’ manager is back on the ship today. I am a little nervous about meeting him. I have been told that he is very strict, but if you do your job well, he is very fair. I got to talk to him a little this morning before we setup for embarkation. We went over a few things that I had concerns about. I also explained to him that photography is what I went to school for and what I want to do as a career. I think working with him on this ship will definitely help me in all the skills I need to be a good photographer. I got to see how they shoot embarkation and helped out with the traffic directing of the guests coming through the terminal. The guests go through us photogs before they even enter the gangway. A few reasons why this is good... we keep the flow of people smooth so that there is little backup on the gangway and at security where they scan your card. At one point or another I thought some of these people were going to run me over. Worked in the gallery and also went out to the decks to shoot sailaway with another photog (training).

June 20

Sea Day – Formal

With me being new, my manager set me up in the gallery to shoot on a background with him and also work in the gallery. I got to see how he talks to the guests and how his flow is when photographing people. Formal nights are always long. Afterwards a small group of us photogs went to the nightclub on board “Northern Lights” for a drink or two and then up to the OB to hang out. I got to meet more people and ‘bond’ with the photogs. Lol

June 21

Glacier Bay

Another day here for me, it was actually a really nice day too. It is a really neat place to be and see all of the scenic views. For this day we are out shooting on the decks for a few hours. Unfortunately this cruise there were not many people outside. Instead they stayed inside drinking tea and looking through the windows, really? We setup our white studio for white nights. I was the first to shoot, but I couldn’t leave until I reached 100 shots. The first 45 minutes of my hour and half consisted of me talking to myself. Everyone that walked by didn’t want any photos. It wasn’t until about an hour into my time that I started to get big families and group to get some photos and they kept me quite busy for a bit. I got my 100 or more shots and then handed it over to the next photog. I was a little worried that I would be there all night long.

Cruise #1 done and done

My first view of the ship.

June 14

Glacier Bay – Scenic Cruising

Not as big as I was expecting, but quite beautiful. Shot on the decks with the printer and talked about some things to look for and what to expect. It was an interesting time on the deck getting the guests to take some photos. The way the ship was being steered was like a zig-zag. So once we got into position and started shooting, the ship would turn and the glacier would then be on the other side. Therefore all the guests would make their way there. I was surprised the ship didn’t lean to one side with everyone crowding around.

June 15

Juneau

Gangway in the morning with the other American. We had a person dressed as an eagle to take photos with the guests. It was a big hit with everyone on the ship and we had a good time. The guy was very outgoing and even chased some kids around trying to give them a hug. Afterwards I met up with the Zaandam people. Walked around with Whitney and caught up on the drama on the ship and how everyone was doing. Hung out at the Viking, with other crew from the ships and got to see some of the guys. It was a cool place for us people on the ships. Pool tables and bar.. free internet. Sadly I had to leave early and get back to work, but we have made plans for next Juneau we are together to go up the trolley to the top of the mountain. Good times should follow with these guys.

June 16

Sitka - Tender port

Have I mentioned that I dislike tender ports a lot. We had a bear this time and due to all the tours going on, our roll count was not where it should have been. It is so hard getting people to stop and take a photo when they think they are going to be late for a tour. They get very focused on their goal and don’t even notice me. Didn’t stay out due to the bear costume needing to be put back. I am not sure if I will see Sitka anytime soon. It is not worth it to go back to the ship and then back out… It just takes too long no matter how you do it.

June 17

Ketchikan – Formal

Gangway a little bit in the morning, but a lot of the guests got off the ship early so my roll count was not good at all. Lucky for me the printer came up for me to ask about how long they want me out there since there was less than 200 guests left on the ship. He agreed that it wasn’t worth staying out there too much longer so we came in and undressed the guys and put the costumes up.

I got to go back out and walk around for a little bit. I was in such a rush to get off the ship that I forgot my money for lunch. This port is the shortest port we have and I wanted to check it out before I had to go back to work. I got to hang out with a guest for a little bit. Now this man was on the Zaandam with me when I first started my contract and he remembered me on this ship. He is the funniest guy and always smiling. Also he adopted me this time around and hopefully we will run into each other again in the future because the ship circle is a very small one.

Sachquach (sp?)

June 18

Victoria - Last day

For the last day of the cruise I am in the gallery all day long with breaks. Its good to have a busy couple of hours and then go on a break to rest. I do enjoy working here. It has been a crazy week and believe it or not, I haven’t made it to the bar yet. I figured I would get myself settled and then go have some fun once I am more comfortable with everything on this ship.