Yet Another Sea Day

March 28

Today we should have changed our clocks an hour back at 2am, but my rommie and I got confused, so I ended up opening the gallery at 8am instead of 9am. We didn’t realize the mistake until I was done with my first shift. Well all said and done, my roomie worked for an extra hour and I got to nap an extra hour. Tonight is our first formal for this cruise.

March 29

Just hanging out in the gallery and talking to the guests.

March 30

All of my days are messing together. I have to keep better track of them now.

March 31

Second formal tonight. Tomorrow is Hilo and LAND! I am on IPM so it looks like I will get some rest then. Uneventful day today. I shot the galley tour with the Chef. Was fun. Then set up for tonight. Then lunch outside in the sun. It's hot out there.

Many days all together

March 25

Almost to the end of the cruise and we have another formal night to get through. At the end of this formal I get to photograph our Black and White Ball. This is a party where the guests get to dance and have fun with our officers. It’s pretty cool that the officers take time out of their busy schedule to hang out with the guests and dance some. I would stay till they shut the place down around 12:30ish if I didn’t have to be up early the next morning. But the after party is downstairs on the crew deck, which is where I ended up anyway. Decided to have one drink with roomie since I got off so late. When we got in the bar there was literally no one, so we thought it’s be easy to have one drink and leave. Before long everyone started joining once they were done with the party up stairs. My planned bedtime of 12:00 turned into after 1:30am. But it’s all good.

March 26

Got up early freaking out about the time due to some weird dreams I was having. We even had time to get breakfast in between setting up the gallery and opening time. On my time off today I slept to get more energy. Other than that we worked in the gallery when we got Ensenada, Mexico. No parties tonight. Have early start tomorrow and a whole new set of guests to take pictures of.

March 27

Embarkment Day- Cruise #3

Up early to set everything up. Started about 10am and had a small break to get breakfast. Hung out in the port terminal to take embark photos. Around 1pm the computers decided to shut down and stop working. At this point we still had 400-500 people still needing to be checked in and board the ship. It wasn’t until 3:30-4:00 when the computers were fully working. Talk about some upset guests. They didn’t even want to get their photos taken with us. We were set to sail at 5, but today we ended up leaving about an hour later due to the computer issue.

While in the terminal there was a Carnival cruise ship loading also. They blew their horn to notify their departure. The funniest thing to see is all these people waiting for our ship start looking around like we were going to leave them on the dock. At one point the other photographer and I thought panic was to follow. It was a long day down there, but not much going on. I got a few apps on my phone updated and also downloaded a new app… Smurf’s Village. It’s pretty cool and I suggest you get it if possible. It is also connected to fb so others can help you out and vice versa.

Here are some funny things that happen around the ship with me….

While at sea and hitting those swells it is quite hard to climb the stairs. So we have to time it perfectly. As the ship goes up with the water we slow down, due to the pressure coming down on us. And when the ship moves down we race up the stairs because it feels like we are ‘flying’. LOL It is more of an exercise to go up and down these stairs than it is to use a stair master.

During formal nights when the ship is rocking, I can’t tell you how many times I have had to catch someone’s arm so they don’t lose their balance while I am posing them. That is why I have a small stool to get some to sit down. I even had a lady run into my background while walking by… and the is no wall behind the background so she jus kept going.

We were shooting restaurant photos while people were at dinner and I had to catch myself before I landed I someone’s lap at the dinner table. I definitely got some laughs on that one.

I’ll have more later because I am sure this isn’t the end of it.

Sea Days...

March 23

I have found that it is VERY hard to remember what day it is yet alone the day of the week. Wow… I didn’t think I would be this bad. I am sure I ask what day it is about 5 times before it actually sinks in. The funniest thing is when both my rommie and me cannot remember what the day is when we are talking to our guests. It actually becomes a joke after a while.

Another cruise about to be in the books. We are on our way back to San Diego and have 5 sea days. Now when we have port days I am so exhausted from walking around on shore and doing things, but when we are at sea…. Hence the lack of pictures.

I find myself hanging out more and more in my cabin doing NOTHING. So my plan is to go out and sit at one of the bars and listen to some of the guys. We have our Piano Bar, and then another place is where you can find a small band. They consist of a piano, bass (chello maybe?), and drums. I’ll probably hang out with these guys for a while anc chat with them on their breaks. Sometimes after everyone is done for the night, we go to the crew bar, but if I have to get up in the morning I’ll try to get to bed before 12 or 1am.

Last night David called me around 1am, waking me up of course, and was asking what I was doing. When I told him I had to be up early and was sleeping, his reply… “There’s no sleeping on cruises!” Lmao. Gotta love these guys.

I have officially met the 1^st Engineer and the 2^nd Engineer. I had a drink with the 2^nd Engineer and one of the singers. Pretty cool guy and he is new to ships also. Which gave us something to talk about. I believe he is from Holland, but he has a strong accent so I had to pay real close attention to what he was saying.

I hang out with everyone it seems. Even the guys from the Philippines that work on the ship say hi to me and chat every now and then. I have been asked by one guy to help him with his camera… I like to hang out with the cast, they are all laughs and so energetic. All the musicians are fun and always interesting. The shop people are funny too. I am starting to know the bar servers better.

I almost got hit with a door today as I got out of the elevator. It was an Officer on the other side. All I could do was laugh… it just seemed typical for me to get in that situation.

So it is a lot of fun here and the guests are really fun when they open up to us. There always seems to be a couple of people here and there that make an impression on us.

March 24

Sea Day. Not much going on here. Here is a picture of dessert I had. By the way, the bread pudding there doesn’t compare to what we made at home. I drool to think of our awesome home made bread pudding and vanilla sauce.

Lahaina

March 22

I had to get up extra early today since we have Tenders to get to the island. We have to be on the first one out so we can get everything set up and ready. That means I woke up at 5:30 am to take a shower. Got the equipment at 6:25am. Went to the gangway to see how much longer it would be until we anchored… where I found out it would be about 30 more minutes. So I went to get some breakfast at 6:45am. Got back down to the gangway around 7am and sat on my butt for about 20 more minutes. Fun.

Once set up and all, the time actually went by quickly. My relief came at 9:30am, about the time the Senior Citizen dancers came out to hand out flowers and sing for us.

Well I couldn’t exactly leave the area because the regular crew had not been cleared to take shore leave. Since I was on shore working, I would get into trouble leaving the area. So I hung out with the Security guys until I got clearance. Here is our dock we tender to.

10:30 I finally got cleared to leave and started my walk to a small beach. Here are some pics on my way and the small beach I stood on for a couple of minutes. I wasn’t exactly dressed for the beach, but at least I got there.

I found a couple of Art galleries and Photo Galleries. Once specifically I will have to return to and buy his book. A Photographer, Thomas Barbey, who does surreal photography the old fashioned way. That is no Photoshop. Talk about love at first sight. He is very similar to Jerry Uelsman in the fact that he has a few enlargers set up in a darkroom and goes from one to the next in order to get these amazing photographs here. His store that I am going to revisit and some of his work.

Check it out: https://www.artifactsgallery.com/art.asp?!=W&ID=19298

I'll have to add the video of the rainbow later when I have more internet time. It looks pretty cool.

Honolulu Fun

Got into the port and worked the morning, then had the rest of the day to myself. Had to go find a Fedex that was open on a Sunday so I could finally send some stuff home. Luckily for me there was a print shop Fedex a few blocks away. Yea! Now I can get things to family.

As I walk out of the terminal at the port I came upon some kids fishing.. they had just caught a small fish, so I took a picture. Oh, and my normal point and shoot digital crapped out on me so I don’t have any other camera except for my Nikon and my iPhone. Here are the kids fishing:

And a pic of my ship:

Stopped at a local coffee shop and bought some Kona coffee beans for my Big Sis. Lovin the coffee here.

I asked some local guy where to eat for lunch and he pointed me to a place called Zippy’s. It was a good half-mile walk there and another half mile back. So I got some exercise today. This is the walk I took..

This is what I ate. Yum. Mahi mahi, Mac salad, and french fries. I have been having some crazy cravings for fries lately.

Volcanos.. continued.

Now to the Lava Tube..

We had to walk along a path through their Rainforest. It wasn't humid like you would think, but lots of bird noises and had to watch out for the bugs and spiders. :-)

And into the Lava Tube we go...

There was a part that was untouched, but you had to bring a flash light because it was pitch black.. we used my LCD light on my iphone... I never thought it would come in handy for something like this... Awesome!

On our way back to the opening. I'll have some pics of me in the pitch blackness. We used my light for the camera.. the pics look awesome...

The sun setting...

And.. me.

Volcanos.. Oh My!

March 18

Our rental car.. Woohoo! I get to drive in Hawaii.

First stop.. The volcano. But wait.. what is that? Steam vents?

We have from left to right... Eddie, Logan, Anders, and Ann. Travel buddies!

Look! Me! Isn't it amazing that I let them take my pic? I think so...

More steam vents... And I do not know those people who crossed the barrier.. Shame on them. :-)

Volcano.. and it is active..

Now to a museum..

Some pics of a different crater... I think. Or maybe a different angle on the volcano.

Now this is a crater area.. and they let people walk down there. Unfortunately we didn't have the time to take a walk there.

But we did take a walk to go to the Lava Tube...

Our wilderness hike.

I'll have to continue on another post.

St. Paddy's Day!

March 17

Another formal night. I did make sure I wore a green tank so I didn't get pinched.

After work we headed to Piano Bar and listen to David, Ann, and Anders..

After having fun, we went down stairs to where the real party was. Had lost of dancing, drinking and more dancing. I met tons of people already. Most of them are entertainers. Like some of the cast, musicians, and a couple of people who work in the shops. It was a late night and I had to get up early in the morning. I'll have some pictures up from the party as soon as I can get them from all the people who were taking them..

Happy Happy Birthday!

March 16

Happy Birthday to my sister!!

I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like I was about to roll off the bed. Talk about freak out. I’m on the top bunk. I have had too many images on how I would fall off the bunk. And none turn out good. Yikes. So when I got that feeling, I smushed myself against the wall. If the wall had handles, I’d be hanging on those for dear life every night this cruise. Lol

Taking naps in between my shifts are great. The only problem is that there are no windows here. So when we turn out the lights it feels like it is 10pm. Every time. Even if it is 11am. Now imagine how difficult it is to wake up and get moving. I am sure I have had that whining tone when I exclaim to my roomie that I don’t wanna get up. I fell like throwing a small tantrum in bed like my good friend, Lauren does. Makes me smile every time to think of her tantrums. Love ya! The first week I would freak out thinking I was sleeping longer than I wanted to. Of course I set my alarm and make sure I have some snooze time in there. But it takes a little getting use to.

Because of the swells here on the ocean, we had to slow our speed. We also had a mechanical failure and had to shut down one engine. Which means we will be getting into Hilo late again. This sure doesn’t help us photo peeps with our gangway stuff.

A beautiful day today on the ocean.

St. Paddy’s day is tomorrow. I sure am craving some green beer or even a small amount of Guinness.

Sea Legs/Rockin N Rollin

March 13

I tried to get up early this morning so I could go into San Diego. Woke up at 7:15, took shower, got dressed in jeans (so comfy), and got to the gangway at 8am. The security officer there asked me what kind of leave I am going on and I replied just a shore leave where I can get out and walk around, call family, and that stuff. He promptly informed me that we were not cleared yet to leave and it would be around 8:45 or 9…. but I could go to the top deck and use my phone there since it is one of the few spots we get good reception. Really?!? Now why would I want to stay ON the ship? Ha! Well since I would have to go to the deck to make call I have to be in uniform. So back to my room to change. There went my time on land in San Diego. Also I was hoping to meet up with a friend, but I think we need to make plans more than one day ahead.

A new group of guests today and one cruise in the record books. It seems like this will be a good group also, but we will see. Here’s something funny. I was in line to get a sandwich and a man was a few feet away waiting on his. He slowly moved closer to me and looked at my name tag. I had to laugh a little and say hi to him. This is what happens where there are no younger guys on the ship.. I get to flirt with the crazy older men. LMAO.

March 14

It was really rocky last night. I am on the top bunk and so I didn’t get much sleep. I kept waking up afraid I was about to roll off the bunk. Yikes. I wanted to get up early today and walk some laps around the ship. Well I woke up at 6am….felt the rocking of the ship…imagined myself walking and then falling overboard because the ship leaned. Once that image was in my head, I decided it might be better to sleep in a little bit longer and try to get up early when the ship isn’t rocking this bad.

Worked in the gallery and then set up for formal night. It was an interesting night with all the guests in high heel and trying to walk while the ship sways back and forth. I had half a dozen people almost run into me because of the sways. And I was standing still!

March 15

8:15am and I am putting up last nights portraits. My roomie and I decided to get up a little earlier to catch some breakfast. I have Dutch Apple pancake, French toast, a sausage link, all with lots of syrup. Now I usually eat fruit 2-3 times a day, but we were in a hurry and I didn’t have time for the cooks to make me some eggs. It was a yummy breakfast. Lunch was egg salad on croissant, mixed fruit, cheese and crackers (yea! I found some on here), and a little portion of some pasta. Dinner was nachos and pizza. Also had some guac… can’t get enough of that. Makes me feel more at home. Today was a slow day.. didn’t really do much but hang out in the gallery and try to pass the time. I made one of those fortune teller hand puppet things. I got a few laughs from everyone. I also realized I started to dance to the music that plays on the tv.. It is so sad.

Quarantine

March 9, 2011

After working in the gallery Whitney and I decided to hang low and watch some movies on tv. After getting to bed late and getting up early for work we decided to get some much needed rest.

March 10

My roommate got up early this morning saying she wasn’t feeling well and went to the infirmary to get checked out. After a few hours in the gallery my manager came and told me she was put into quarantine because she had flu-like symptoms. Now the ship has very strict regulations for the crew and guests when it comes to feeling ill. For the crew it is highly important that you see a doctor when you start feeling ill or start throwing up. Anything like these symptoms can be disastrous on a ship with the close quarters. So now that she is quarantined, I cannot go into the room but one time to get my belongings that I’d need for a few days. I was transferred to a guest room for the time that she is in quarantine. Here is a pic (from my pns, thank you very much) of my temporary cabin.

With the looks I’ve gotten, not many people get put in quarantine. I told a couple of the people I hang out with what happened and that they moved me to a guest cabin and I get these surprised looks. I guess lucky me. We were even thinking about a small party in my room.

Got the news about the tsunami and about the warnings for Hawaii and California. Luckily, we were south of the path and didn’t even feel a swell from it.

By the way, I liked being in a bigger room and not having to use a ladder to get into bed, but it was so boring. I didn’t have my rommie to talk to or watch movies with, or even to have a drink with. I got into a little bit of trouble tonight with some people, which I blame on my rommie. We try to keep the other out of trouble and knowing me...trouble finds me whether I like it or not. But its all good now.

March 11

I got woken up early due to text messaging from the family. After sending a short text, I quickly went back to sleep. Thanks sis. Today was a long day. I had gallery in the morning, set up early afternoon, SGK photos, our last formal portraits, and the b&w ball. Got to bed and read some till about 12. I tried to go to bed early since I had to be at the gallery at 8am.

My roomie is still sick, but hopefully she will be better tomorrow. It is getting unbearable in the big room by myself.

Back to Sea

March 7th

A night of drinking, listening to Piano Bar guy (David) and more drinking. I have talked to a few of the crew and the thing they have all said was that there is not much to do here while at sea, so we drink. Yikes! I think I am going to be working on my tolerance. But I will be responsible... I can hear my sister's voice in my head (all 3 of them) already.

March 8th

Did not get much sleep, but we survived it. After work we went down to the OB bar for the crew and had a drink or two. Then to bed. It was a slow day in the Gallery. We had a formal night and then some dinning room shots to take. Still doing good here. So far. I have been able to work with Amilcar, our Black Label artist. He has given me some pointers on how to get to be a BL artist. Good information there.

Our sea days are filled with mostly gallery work. Rearranging photos, making room for the new ones. We also have a photo contest going on right now.. the ones we have look pretty good. Unfortunately I do not have any pics today. And yes I do have my little point and shoot, but at the time when I went walking I didn't grab anything camera related, but I will be sure to bring it next time. By the way, my iphone camera isn't that bad. :-)

March 9th

Had to be in the gallery at 8am... I did not want to get up this morning. I think I hit the snooze button about 10 times. Got busy in the gallery with only 3 days left in the cruise. Everyone is going through all of the pictures they have thus far, which is good because we are running out of room in there. Had a 3 hour break and then back in the gallery till 6. I am starting to get use to the schedule by now.. we take a lot of naps around here. It is almost inevitable not to take a nap at some point of the day.

The funny thing about cruises is that you never know what the day is. In the guest elevator they change out the rugs for the different days of the week. But they don't have anything for the crew. I actually had a guest come up to me and ask what day it was so I had to pull out my phone to check. They asked if the crew get rugs in our elevator.. which was quite funny.

I will say that working on a ship that has a little over 1400 guests, we get to know the guests more since we see them everywhere and many times a day. We have a good group this cruise that like to joke around. Did I say before some of them remind my of my dad and step mom... over-grown teenagers. It certainly has been interesting this first cruise.

Recaps..

Well I haven't had much time to get off the ship, but I will with these next few cruises. Everything is going good in the Photo Dept. With exception of some drama... and we all know I don't do drama well. I got a manager who schedules herself, but doesn't show up... why even put yourself on it? Really? And the Asst. Mgr shows up late to a gangway shoot... when we really could have used him there at the beginning.... But that is all I am going to say.

My rommie and I are getting along good... we laugh at each other most of the time.

March 4th Hilo

We were late into port. We had to go to an immigration meeting which consisted of us getting our passports back and giving them up once again.... Oh I totally forgot. When I first came on the ship they took my passport and I started to freak... I almost went after the guy until they told me that is how it works... Lucky them for mentioning that.

Here is a pic of Hilo ship port.

Back on track... We took gangway photos and I have found out that I am the loudest of the group... so I can get the guests to get into position for photos.. who knew I would come in handy just because I am loud.

Went to Hilo Hatties and picked up some stuff for everyone at home... I promise it is coming soon. Hung out at Starbuck for the free internet. Ate at a local Hawaiian restaurant which was so yummy. I had chicken katsu which was so good and the sauce.. I don't know what it was but yum. I ate too much.

March 5th Honolulu

Cody's Birthday and I wish that I could have sent his birthday present earlier, but he will get it either way. Love ya!

I shot the gangway... took a nap. Got a massage, which was really good. I get 1/2 off so not too bad. I went out for a walk and they have this huge outdoor mall... got a few things and walked some more... Here are some pics to look at. All from my phone so not tough critics. :-)

This is a HUGE tree I saw while walking around the island. The picture here doesn't do it justice.

A view while I was walking around. Some really cool old ships I thought dad would like to see. Wish I could have gone aboard them. And another pic from the park I walked around.

March 6th IPM Nawiliwili

IPM means In Port Manning. I was stuck on the ship for this post due to emergency precautions. Its all good because I got to catch up on some of the sleep I was deprived and I got to start a new book. Yea!

I did watch some stuff on the tv and learned how to make homemade caesar salad dressing.. pretty neat.

March 7th Lahaina (today)

I am now in a Starbucks where I can get FREE wifi. I am going to head to the post office soon to see about some boxes to ship this stuff back home. I have till 3 today to do what I please. This is the only port where we have a tender to the pier. Kinda crazy wait to get on it and it is a little stuffy. And of course here are some pics...

View from the tender and some Hulu ladies.. they are too cute.

All I see is SEA

Day 4

There was a party for the crew so here are some pics of new friends and my rommie....

So far I have done Dinning Room photos.. which I was a little worried about. Once I got in there it went really smoothly and I had a lot of fun with all

the guests. This cruise is made up of more older folks, but I will tell you some of these people are hilarious. Got to do some casual portraits on a white background also. My rommie and I were bored most of the time, but when we got some sitters I will say I never stopped laughing..

Today is Day 5

Tonight we have formal night and it will be the first night I am by myself... I think I can handle that. Having your manager watching your every move gets kinda frustrating. So I will be looking forward to this..

And here are some pics of my birthday and some of the team.

Not my best pics, but I find that I am a test subject for about 90% of our shoots.

Well more to come later! I'll think of some random stuff soon.

The food here is good, but I was really looking forward to the pizza bar... it seems that they don't care much about pizza because it isn't that good here... I miss my pizza and cheese and crackers (which I will buy some at Hilo).

I'm the Newbie

Well today is day 3 and I had to buy some internet time to hop on here and there. I hopefully will have some photos up later. But first, here is horrible pic of my room... It is certainly like a hostel around here which is fine. I will also have a pic of my roommate and myself up later.

Day 1

My first day here was a whirl wind. I got to the ship around 11am, I think, and was brought to my cabin to unpack. Soon after I got to the cabin my roommate joined me and answered some questions and told me about the place. I didn't have much time to unpack so most of my stuff is still in bags. I got into my uniform... khakis and black button down and then we went to get some lunch. The rest of the day was taking photos of the guests coming on board for the first time (embarkment photos). Later we went into the gallery and set some stuff up. When we set sail, My roommie and I went to the deck to shoot some photos of the guests.

At this moment I knew I was rusty on the whole digital camera thing.... I am a film girl.. mostly a medium format one at that and my camera of choice is my Hasselblad.

The first day was kinda a blur since I was running on 3 hours of sleep because I didn't finish packing until 3:30am the day I was leaving home. And tanks to my big sis for helping me or it would have been later.

Okay. Day 2

This was the first Formal night we had on the ship and my first time to do anything. Talk about hitting the ground running. I got to learn a little on how to set up the studios and a crash course on doing dinning room photos. Once I got into doing all this my self, with a little guidance from the team, I was remembering all the stuff I used when I did portraits all the time. It was like riding a bike... except I fell off a couple of times... :-)

I think I impressed the manager some by the knowledge I have, which seems to be good. Oh... and it was my birthday also. I will post some pics of all the team with my little cake they got. It was actually quite funny.

So far this is the break down of my days. It is pretty rocky today and sitting still isn't the best thing for anyone. Till tomorrow or the next day!