[qxy63]

Greetings, my first post here.

I did seven years as a photog on cruise ships, starting in 1993 as a junior and finishing as manager in 2000. Make no mistake, it's hard work and not for the faint hearted. On a normal contract you will work 7 days a week for 6 months without a day off, although you will get time off. Some days you may work for 16 hours, some days you may only work for 3 hours. Various cruise lines or concessions have differing policies on equipment, a concession will supply uniform and camera gear that will be deducted from your pay. Working directly for a cruise line, they will supply a uniform and camera gear, but you will be responsible for any damage to the now DSLR supplied.

The shooting of most events is covered by the junior photogs, whilst the printing is managed by the senior photogs. The general atmosphere of the crew is work hard, play hard. I worked on Princess, RCL, Costa, NCL and Deilmann ships and had some of the best years of my life. I've seen half the world including the Caribbean, Alaska, the Baltic, the Mediterranean, Hawaii, 2 atlantic crossings and chased 10 cruise ships across Panama in a 4 wheel drive to get the shots the punters couldn't.

You either loved it or hated it.

I loved it.