Contract 3 - Azura

August 2017 - May 2018
A 249-day adventure by The Ships Photographer Read more
  • 168footprints
  • 23countries
  • 249days
  • 256photos
  • 0videos
  • 89.9kkilometers
  • 44.8ksea miles
  • 6.8kkilometers
  • Day 13

    Flaam, Norway

    September 12, 2017 in Norway ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    Had a great morning because I spent the entire morning sound asleep. I got up around noon when Chris our manager was knocking on our door because we had agreed the night before that we as well as James (another photographer) would go for lunch at a restaurant Chris had been to before. It was really cool. The building was like a viking lodge inside. The main floor was a bar and the top floor was the restaurant. They had skins on the benches, carvings everywhere. When we went up to the restaurant they directed us to our table by telling us it was the one beside the reindeer skin. Then the food was amazing. I had Chicken A La Munin (Pulled chicken served with Ceasar dressing, fresh salad, tomato, onion compote, cheddar and bacon on oven-baked Ægir bread with Parmesan), the guys had Pulled Pork SÆrmine (slow cooked pulled port marinated in Rallar Amber Ale served with fresh salad, tomato, onion, cheddar, jalapeno dressing and homemade coleslaw on Ægir bread). We all loved our food and ate WAY to much. I wasn't able to really get any photos inside because it was too dark. I just got a photo of the outside of the building.

    After lunch Chris headed back to the ship to plan our next cruise well James and I went for a walk. We were able to get some great pictures of the ship because we followed the water. It was really pretty. Next time I plan on walked up along the waterfall and getting some pictures there. I am now comfy in bed with 2 hours until I start work so it's time for a movie.
    Read more

  • Day 14

    Olden, Norway

    September 13, 2017 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Today is not a very exciting day. I had to get up for crew drills in the morning. Then the team went up to the passenger buffet for brunch. Now most of the team is headed to the sky-lift but I decided not to go because £30 is a bit to expensive for me right now. There's a cafe right beside where the ship docks that I decided to go to instead to use the wifi and get a hot chocolate. I end up here basically every time we are Olden. After walking around for a bit I always come for hot chocolate and wifi. I was sad to find out this time however that I couldn't get a hot chocolate. So I settled for a pepsi.
    After my hours worth of internet is used up I will be headed back to the ship to help my cabin mate Naz clean the cabin. She is getting ready to head home when we are back in Southampton. We are getting a new photographer named Marie who we think is a grade 2 photographer.
    Read more

  • Day 15

    Bergen, Norway

    September 14, 2017 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    I had set my alarm to get up to go out and get some pictures and get some subway for lunch but ended up sleeping through it. Leaving just enough time to relax for a bit on the ship before starting work. We had to start work early because it's a formal night and we had to come in to set up the portraits. Tonight is two of the photographers leavers parties and another one of their birthday's. So I probably needed the extra sleep anyways.Read more

  • Day 17

    Southampton, UK

    September 16, 2017 in England ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Today was an interesting day. I decided not to get off because I had embarks at 11:30 and was expecting a new cabin mate a little after 9. So I got up nice and early to be moved down to the bottom bunk and have everything ready for her when she got here. I then found out that she was not coming into my cabin after all and I have the cabin to myself! After having a sad afternoon or saying goodbye to my cabin mate Naz and the craziness of embarks I got the evening off. Normally even if you want all afternoon doing embarkation you still have to work in the evening. Today however, all 5 of us who did embarkation finished work for the day after the passenger drills. Which finished a bit before 5. During the passenger drills however I heard some interesting news. We had actually gotten two new photographers. One of which nobody had any idea he was coming. Not even our manager. He has no uniform and apparently doesn't speech English very well. A photographer Guil who was had a cabin to himself for a while suddenly had a cabin mate and Chris (the manager) is trying to piece a uniform together for him from bits of uniform he's getting from the other guys. I haven't really talked to him much yet but he seems nice.

    So after drills I got to just go back to my cabin. Video chat Jackson (the boyfriend) for almost an hour. Updating him on the cabin and team changes and then sleep. Getting up for a team meal at a restaurant called Beach House. I had potato skins (amazing), salmon (good) and fudge cake (amazing). Most of the team then headed to Manhattan a bar from some drinks where we listened to the band that was playing for a while.

    I'm now back in my cabin (with no cabin mate!!!) ready for a nice long sleep since I don't start work tomorrow until 12.
    Read more

  • Day 21

    Ibiza, Spain

    September 20, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Was suppose to be IPM today but traded with another photographer for her Santorini IPM because she really wanted to get off in Santorini. She also took all my gangways so I have no gangways this cruise. I however regretted my decision when I found out I am now the one who has to lock down the gallery with our manager for helicopter drills and this morning was one. So I spend the morning standing on the end of the gallery instead of getting off. After drills I quickly got off to get a few pictures and videos. It was lots of white and palm trees with little shops everywhere. It was really nice and the weather was perfect. We were docked with Costa Rivera and an Aida ship.Read more

  • Day 24

    Mykonos, Greece

    September 23, 2017 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Today was amazing! I got to sleep in and then most of the team went out in port together and rented what they call Quad bikes which are actually ATVs. There weren’t too many of us who had their driving licence but it worked out in the end. We got four ATVs and three of them had two people on them. Right away our manager Chris claimed me as his “quad bike” buddy because he was one of the people who couldn’t drive. It was so much fun and Mykonos was so nice! We got to see so much more then we would have if we had just walked. We drove around the Island to a lighthouse and then worked our way back to where we had rented the ATVs. On the way to the lighthouse we lost one of the photographers who was on the bike on his own. He decided to go off on his own when we came to a challenging part of road because he didn’t want to wait. There was a VERY steep hill. We made it up fine and then stopped at the stop to make sure everyone else did as well. We turned around just in time to see the other two bikes start to roll backwards back down the hill. I walked back down the hill and drove the first bike up for them. Then walked all the way back down again to get the last bike up as well. Even though they had never drove ATVs before that was the only time they had trouble.

    After we returned the ATVs we went to get some lunch. I had some AMAZING pizza (Ham, cheese and tomato). Venice was the best pizza I had ever had but this was very close. Then some people headed to the beach and Chris and I explored a bit before heading back to the ship.

    I definitely enjoyed Mykonos and would love to go back. I highly recommend renting ATVs there as well. Three hours cost €25 then we put €15 of gas in it. Which was then split between the two of us.

    Tonight was very busy but also fun. It was tropical night so we were all going around all the different restaurants but it was also the start of the all out war between the photographers! We all got another photographer and a way we had to kill them. For example there is poison them where you have to put salt in their drink and get them to drink it. There’s freeze them to death which means you have to get an ice cube down their shirt 3 times. There’s crush them to death which means you have to hug them for 15 seconds without them breaking free. There’s sniper which means you have to get a photo of them without them knowing from a certain distance away out in port without them knowing. The one I got was gas them to death. Which means I had to spray my victim 3 separate times with either perfume or deodorant. Luckily my old cabin mate had tiny little bottles of perfume that she left behind so I had the perfect weapon. I was the only one to kill my first victim on the first day. So now I have to kill the person he was suppose to kill, the way he was suppose to kill him. Which means I am stocking up on salt packets because my next victim will be poisoned. I almost had him today as well but he hasn’t drank any of his water yet that he leaves in his locker. I’ll definitely get him tomorrow. I also now know who has me because of a failed murder attempt. Our manager Chris came up behind me and tried to get an ice cube down the back of my shirt. So he’s trying to freeze me to death. Now that I know that I will definitely be avoiding him tomorrow.
    Read more

  • Day 26

    Santorini, Greece

    September 25, 2017 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    IPM today so I was unable to get off. Another photographer was suppose to be IPM today but she really wanted to be able to get off. So I traded her IPMs so I could get off in Ibiza and she took all my gangways for this cruise as well. The team said it's really pretty but boring with nothing to do. Unless you go to the beach. So I was happy with my decision to trade IPMs. It did look nice from the ship though.Read more