Shoot, eat, drink, sleep, repeat…

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.

The Red House, Palamos, Spain