Neil Gregory
Founding member
Bio
Film and TV obsessive / World Traveller / Gamer / Camerman & Editor / Guitarist
Stories (118/0)
Hawaii & The Dark Knight
We had a breathaking run through Hawaii on our world cruise hitting ports in Maui, Honolulu & Hilo, and if I'm honest I really couldn't tell them apart except for my day in Honolulu. I was in over the halfway point of the contract and pretty burned out at this point and all I initially remembered from Hawaii was lots of bus rides upto Volcano craters.
By Neil Gregory3 years ago in Journal
The Legend of Classy Boner
It was all the Canadians fault really! After an epic Canada Day party in the crew bar the American crew were feeling a little competitive with the 4th July party coming up days later, and as a lot of the musicians and entertainment staff onboard were American it seemed only right they put on a gig in the crew which led to my first band night on ships!
By Neil Gregory3 years ago in Journal
The Nagsaki Hangover:Turning 30 onboard!
I had my 30th birthday onboard the Sun and unlike the Coral I had been there for more than a few weeks at this point and also unlike the Coral I didn't get called to see the HGM and get a verbal warning the next day either. If I'm honest I can't remember much of the day of my birthday but I think it might have been a formal night which as we've established is a big night for the photo department. Which would usually mean filming a Champagne Waterfall, A Captains Speech or some kind of atrium party, because we were mid world cruise there was nothing special we were filming that night.
By Neil Gregory3 years ago in Journal
Flooded cabins and drunken chaos! (warning will contain an epic rant!!!)
My personal situation on the ship was not going well midway through the world cruise, I had a frosty relationship with my senior who was a brilliant videographer but we just didn't click socially and some of that was down to the implosion of the photo team. At this point all my friends on the team had left Amanda, Matt, Lena, Sam, Travis were gone and with my cabin being on a different deck from the rest of the team and my video room being in the spa, there was a real disconnect from the rest of the photo team.
By Neil Gregory3 years ago in Journal
Good Morning Vietnam & Non Kidnapping's in Cambodia!
As part of our Asian run during the WC we headed to Sihanoukville, Cambodia, a sleeply small fishing town that on the face of it didn't have much to offer, this was back in 2008 and we were even docked in a container port in the middle of nowhere and with a bus journey to get us anywhere near civilization.
By Neil Gregory3 years ago in Journal
Back to Alaska & Hello Canada!
If you have worked on ships for any amount of time you will have most likely spent some time on a 7 day cruise in either Alaska or the Carribean as they are the two most popular cruise itinaries, and after 2 months of Alaska on my first contract we were heading back their as part of the Sun's World Cruise.
By Neil Gregory3 years ago in Journal
When Safety Leads To Free Steak!
One annoying habit my new senior had was he would drop stuff on me at the very last minute which absolutely winds me up and on this particular day, I forget the port of call but I had made plans with friends to go ashore and just as I was about to meet them at the gangway my pager buzzed (should have left it in my room!!!) and 'Ah bro you're gonna hate me but...' He was right I wasn't happy! 'So I need you to film this safety video in one of the main restaurants in about 30 minutes'
By Neil Gregory3 years ago in Journal
The Horror of Crew Waves, Paper Plane Challenge & Other Onboard Events During The World Cruise
No phrase strikes more fear into the heart of any videographer than 'can you shoot a new crew waves video?' They were the band of our existance, I thankfully didn't shoot the one above, but its the only example I have of the sheer torture filming one of them is.
By Neil Gregory3 years ago in Journal
Sun Princess World Cruise 2008: Auckland, Rarotonga & Samoa
As I mentioned in the last chapter my saving grace on this contract was the work and though the ports will not be in the exact order the next few blogs will feature some of the amazing ports I visited during the Sun's world cruise. One of the first ports was Auckland, New Zealand and a trip to the Muriwai Gannet Colony (https://www.newzealand.com/uk/feature/muriwai-gannet-colony/)
By Neil Gregory4 years ago in Journal
The world cruise starts, my new roommate is a snoreasauras and sleeping in the video room!
I was really not prepared for the social side of ship life on my 2nd contract and with the easier life and more free time like most of the team I spent almost every night in the bar. The first few months of the contract had a great team and everyone got on great, the problem is that inevitably your friends leave and you don't get on as well with their replacements.
By Neil Gregory4 years ago in Journal
Canada day carnage and videog side hustles!
I did not know too much about Canada before ships, I'd briefly visited Vancouver on the Coral but it had been a tunraround port so we'd had little time to explore. The little I knew was the typical stereotypes that they all loved hockey, everyone lived in igloos and had to hide from polar bears, and that they were a little bit like Americans except they were unbelievably polite.
By Neil Gregory4 years ago in Journal