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| Feeding the birds in Barcelona |
The life of a ships’ photographer is fairly routine. Most
days entail the same 4 items on the agenda: shooting, eating, drinking and
sleeping. I shoot some type of photographs every day (events, tours, portraits,
etc). Meals are rushed, but tasty. Most nights end with a drink or two before I
tuck into bed. I also try to take a nap in the afternoons, since I work most
nights.
Of course, the very purpose of me being on the ship is to
photograph the guests. Every day, we are shooting something or other. Formal
nights are the busiest nights, by far. But even during the day, we are shooting
many types of events. I typically get up early in the morning, either to shoot
a tour, or gangway photos. If I plan it well, I can get some breakfast before I
start. But that depends on how late I went to bed the night before. This season
is ‘port intensive’, meaning that we are seldom at sea during the day. In a
12-day cruise, we would visit 10 ports of call. So every morning, I wake up in another
port, and often in another country. So far since I joined this ship, I’ve
visited 14 cities in 9 different countries. And it hasn’t even been 3 weeks
yet.
I usually get a few hours off each afternoon. If we are in
port that day, I usually use that time to go ashore and have lunch or run
errands. If it was a late night the night before, then the free time is usually
consumed with a nap. It’s been years since I’ve taken naps in the afternoon,
but I am learning to enjoy them again. So far, I haven’t really had enough time
to really enjoy the ports for themselves. If I do get some time to explore, it
is always done with a camera, in hunt of some special photographic souvenirs.
The food served to the Officers (I am a two-striper) is
actually quite good. There is a lot of variety, along with plenty of fresh
fruits and juices. The coffee on board is quite good as well. I am not
suffering for food, that’s for sure. Sometimes, it’s a challenge to make it to
the Mess during the normal hours, but I can always manage to find some food
somewhere. I am trying to make sure I eat healthy, and not too much. When I eat
ashore, it’s a different story though. J
I drink. That’s no surprise to those that know me well. I
don’t drink TOO much, though. But here on the ship, drinking is part of the
culture. Most nights end up with a few drinks in one of the public bars, or one
of the 2 crew bars. It’s a nice way to end a sometimes-stressful day. Since my
day usually ends about midnight, I can’t stay up too late, because I need to be
back at work early the next morning.
My room is good enough. Not great, but not bad. I should not
complain too much though, since I have a room to myself. Most crew share rooms,
but since I am a department head, I have a private room with a window. The
rooms are similar to college dorms – simple and functional. I don’t spend much
time in my room, except for my sleeps and naps. So, it suits the purpose.
This is a 6-star ship. The guests are much better than what
I remember from my first stint on ships 20 years ago. It’s making the work all
that more enjoyable.
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| The Red House, Palamos, Spain |
