Feb 12

Feb 12, 2011 - 12:15pm

I left the hotel this morning at 9am and took a shuttle to the ship's port in Fort Lauderdale (technically Fort Everglade). There was one other girl on the shuttle and she was going to the same ship as me (also a photographer!). What a relief! Her name is Alena and she is from Belarus. This is her second contract with Image and her first time onboard the Constellation. It was good to have someone with me who has done all this before and knows what it's like to be new. We didn't talk much on the ride though.

Once we got to the port we checked through security (just like you would in an airport) and waited to be escorted onto the ship. After we got onboard we dropped off our luggage in a room and went to the cinema where the new & returning crew were greeted by HR. We had to fill out and read a bunch of forms and hand over our passports and medical forms (I wasn't given many forms because my name wasn't on any lists, they apparently only added me yesterday, so the lists weren't updated). That took about an hour, and then we met Mark, the Photo Manager. Alena had worked with him on another ship, they seemed very close. Mark brought us to our room (yep, we're roommates) and it is TINY! A narrow table and 2 chairs, a closet to hang clothes and 3 small drawers below. A table with a small TV, DVD player and telephone, with a mini fridge underneath it. Above the TV are the security deposit boxes and a shelf (full of random crap the last people left behind). The beds are on top of each other, and I assumed I would be taking the top, since I'm the new girl, but she put her bag on the top and said she's "feeling generous.... for now", so I'm not really sure what to think of that.

Alena and Mark left and said they will come back to get me in a little while to eat. As soon as they left I sat on my bed and just took it all in. I really didn't know what to do!! I took pictures, used the washroom, cleaned up a bit (the people before us left a lot of crap behind, just random bits of stuff stuff). Mark said not to unpack yet because it's possible we will be moved around. I feel like I have way too much stuff! A large duffle bag on wheels (shoes, toiletries, makeup, books/magazines, chargers/cables for computer, camera, sweaters, bathing suit, etc), a small duffle bag (I had to buy at Walmart last night to carry all of my uniform!!) and my Betseyville carry-on which has all of my casual clothes.

We did a quick tour of the ship. My room is on Deck 0, the bottom of the ship (well there is a lower level called the Tween deck and that's where the crew bar and laundry services are). The photo gallery is on Deck 4, between the casino, theatre and piano lounge. The photo lab is right next to the gallery. The mess (dining hall) is on Deck 1 just upstairs from my room. That's pretty much all I have seen. I hope I have some free time to explore the rest of the ship later, but I'm not sure if I'll have that luxury.

We have "Pre-departure safety training" at 1:30 and a general emergency & lifeboat drill at 4:15. Tomorrow from 9-9:30 there is a "Time & Attendance, Welcome Onboard" and from 9:30-10 a "Meet & Greet". 10-11am the schedule says "SSOT 1" which I guess is some kind of safety training. And at 4pm I will get my A-Pass (crew card). On Monday from 9-10am there is a "Save the Waves" training session and 10-11am is "SSOT 2". On Tuesday there is a safety quiz from 11-12. Thursday (Feb 17) and the following Wednesday (Feb 23) are Crew Drills, and Friday (Feb 18) there is some security training from 9-10am. So much to remember! and that's not even for my own job, just Celebrity's required training. I think I will start tonight at the formal dinner, but I'm not sure if I will be taking pictures or just shadowing someone. Alena says there are only 5 photographers in this team, plus the manager, assistant manager and a videographer. She said I'm lucky because there are a lot of new people, and people leaving after this cruise, so I won't be the only one. But I still feel like the only new-hire who is clueless about this whole situation.

2:20
Just got back from the safety on board training (they just made us watch a movie & handed out a booklet with info). Before that I had lunch with Alena and Mark, and I felt pretty alone, as they were getting along great and talking to each other mostly. When we came back to the room I asked Alena about the bed situation.
"Are you sure you want the top bunk?" I asked her.
"Yeah, you are lucky. I won't be in here much anyways."
"Oh? Why's that?"
"I'll be in Marks room mostly"
"Ohhhh, are you two, like, together?"
"Yeah, *laughs* so only if we fight I will maybe come and sleep here."

I am very lucky!!!! Not only do I get the bottom bed, but I also have a room pretty much to myself :D I have a few hours until I need to report for work (5pm) so I'm going to take a nap.

12:16am
I just got back from my first shift in the Photo Gallery. It began at 5pm and went until 11pm (the gallery closed at 10 but we had a team meeting that went until 11, and they told us we are losing an hour during travel, so technically it's 12). It was not as bad as I thought, although when the ship left the port and I started to feel the rocking back and forth, it made me feel a bit 'off' (a combination of slight nausea, dizziness & disorientation) but it might also be because I had just woken from a nap and didn't eat any dinner until 9pm. We ate on the top deck at a guest buffet area because the crew mess had closed. I got pesto pasta and a slice of pizza but didn't really eat much because my stomach was still a bit woozy (I thought food would help tho), I mostly just drank water and juice, and a little bit of ice cream.

I had a bit of a panic attack when I first arrived for my shift and realized I wasn't wearing the half-knot tie thingie all the other girls were wearing. I went back to my room to put it on and I got so completely lost! All of the crew cabin areas look the same, but they are not all connected. You have to go up one floor and then down a certain set of stairs to get to your area. The first time I was shown my room they took me down these stairs which had a water-tight door connecting to my room. When I went down that way again the water-tight door was closed! I didn't know any other way to get to my room, so I panicked! I was also really hot from my uniform, and my stomach was off, I needed to drink some water badly, and all I could do was cry :( I didn't want anyone to see me though so I just walked around in circles :s. I eventually found my room, took off my suit jacket, chugged some water, and let it all out (hyper-ventilating and all). I took some deep breaths, drank more water, eventually calmed down and went back to work.

There was no shooting tonight, so all of us in the photo team were in the gallery trying to sell the photos taken earlier (Embarkation). Right away I see 2 other photographers selling $120 packages and $150 cameras to guests, and they made it look so easy! It was pretty slow for the most part. I answered a lot of questions like "where is the theatre?" "what time does the show start?" "where's the restrooms?" and so forth. The gallery is not really like a shop as I imagined. It's mostly a hallway with the pictures displayed on the wall and a counter off to the side. Guests have to pass through the gallery to get to the theatre, casino and restaurant. I ended up selling about 5 photos. Not bad, considering they are $15 each (normally $20) I heard a lot of people complaining about the prices, but many didn't. I guess if you are spending so much money on a cruise, you want to be able to have a professional photo to remember it. The photos come with a cool border that shows all the ports we will be visiting, as well as the date and name of the ship. Tomorrow is the first of 3 formal nights, but I won't be shooting it. I'll be in the gallery with Alena, thankfully. We only get our schedules one day in advance (the night before), which kinda sucks. Besides the safety training in the morning, I've got a 1 hour shift in the gallery from 11-12, then a break until 3:30, half an hour of set up and then an hour break (for dinner), and then I'm in the gallery again all night from 5:30-11pm while the rest of the team shoots the formal portraits and ressi (restaurant). I'm exhausted now so I'm going to sleep! good night