Rick and Marla Archer

Jean and Kurt Wind

Ann and Mike Harrah

Patty Harrison and Joe Lachner

Mara Rivas and Bruce Hanka

Steve Gabino and Vivian Gustafson

Cher Longoria and Robert Goins

Ken Landgren and Maite Rombado

Gus Donnell and Fran Zandstra

Jack Myers and Jo Wilson

Pat and Jess Carnes

Nick and Belma deBerardinis

Wendy Weston and Susan Arevalo

Joan Korpal and Albertin Gharcheghah

Gay and MG Anseman

Sandy Upchurch, Leroy Ginzel, Sandra Schneider

Sharon Michaels and Dave Rolando

Christine Skagerberg and Denny Morse

Justin Sullivan and Phyllis Sullivan

Sherry Thornton, Jack Myers, Mary Cioffi

Dana, Frank and Mary LeDoux

Ken Landgren and Nancy McCormick

Margie Ortega, Deborah Ebner, Jeff Goberli, Claudia Cruz

Ann McKenzie, Greg Hatchett, Becky Bratton

Eileen Kondor and Imre Kondor

Marla, Patty and Mara

Linda Wade and Jon Monteith

Wendy Weston and Jim Felker

Nancy McCormick, Rick Archer and June Singh

Mike and Jan Davis

INDIVIDUAL PICTURES NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE

Robert Bratton
Rhoda Sheskin
Alfreda Lewis
Stacy Margules
Anne Fry
Marsha Sprague
Kimberly Gilmore
Melissa Davis
Linda Ausmus 
Donna Kyle

Mike Manuel
Heather Bell
Paul Broadbent
Shannon Broadbent
Martin Hogan
Lorraine Cull
Mary Griffith
Rick Elizondo
Maggi Dodds
Patricia Davenport

Pat Salinas
Joan Recht
Renita Oko
Mackie Deese
Doug White
Millie Cagle
Valerie Baum
Carolyn Novogradac
Jim Ruark
Linda Conwell

(Rick Archer's Note:  I took a picture of everyone I could chase down on Picture Day and the day after that too.  However, just because I didn't put a picture up on the first go-round, there is no reason why I can't add one later.  Just email me a photo you like to dance@ssqq.com  or hand me a CD at the studio.)

The lady countered this was common practice on this ship. 

Marla said maybe so, but on her previous 14 trips, we had always had our group pictures taken "standing up" so she was pretty sure it could be done. 

Fourteen previous trips?  That gave the lady reason to pause for a moment. 

Nevertheless, the lady wasn't going to be dissuaded easily.  She countered by saying our group was much too large for any other venue on the ship.  Studio B was the only practical place for our picture to be taken!

What this lady didn't know is that I had already scouted the ship for the place I wanted the picture to be taken.  That's when I turned and pointed out the long sloping La Scala staircase.  Even though it was one deck up, it was visible from where we stood.

La Scala was the theater where the shows were held.   The staircase in front of it was lovely.  Why not use this lovely stairway?   It seemed perfect for our picture.

The lady shook her head.  Absolutely not!  Our group was much too big. 

She said the staircase was not approved by the engineering department to hold 90 people.  She could not guarantee its safety.  It was out of the question.

I was incredulous.  First of all, I didn't believe her.  A modern staircase is more likely to be required to hold double the amount of people that can physically stand on it. 

However, I'm no engineer so I preferred not to challenge her on that assertion just yet.  I was willing to argue this point, but first I decided to try some finesse instead.

I had studied the emails.  One email said, "The only other place we can do that large a group is on the La Scala Staircase although that fits only 60 guests. Any more and it gets a bit squishy."

Armed with their own words from the email, I tried an end run on this woman's position.  I pointed out that the staircase would not actually be holding 90 people. 

First, I estimated 10 people wouldn't show. 
Second, 10 people could stand on the floor. 
Third, 10 more people could stand on the landing above the staircase.
Fourth, 10 more people could stand on the two secondary staircases (pictured).

At this point, the lady had her arms crossed and a frown as wide as the Mediterranean.  She didn't like where this was going.

I didn't blame her.  I had just set her up for the coup de grace.

After subtracting 40, that would leave the remaining 50 beautiful women for the narrow staircase.  Surely the staircase could support 50 beautiful women without straining?

Then I added that our ladies were unusually slender.  I was fairly certain they would be well within the legal weight limit. 

Even better, thanks to their lovely figures, I imagined they would be able to fit gracefully within the tight configuration as well.  And then I smiled. 



(As you can see from the picture, this is exactly how it worked out.  The men stood on the landing above while our slender ladies fit comfortably on the stairway).

The lady frowned.  She said that might work, but she would might not be able to get free at that time.  She would have to get permission to let another photographer besides her to handle the important Captain's Reception.

I wasn't willing to give her a way out of this deal.  I now had permission to use the staircase and I now had a time slot.  All I needed was a photographer.  Now it was time to play my ace card.  I told her if she was unavailable, we had a member of our group who was a professional photographer (Steve Gabino).

This was only a partial bluff.  Although I hadn't actually spoken to Steve, I figured in a pinch he would help.  The point was that I had to make my best play immediately.  It was now or never.  If I was convincing enough, I figured the lady would fold. 

I was right.  With the threat of her commission slipping away, she gave in and agreed to photograph us.   Now all I had to do was talk the group into skipping dessert, no easy task in itself.  

This had been an incredibly stressful negotiation.  Patience is not my strength.  It took every ounce of my will power not to lose my temper and chew her out.  Every word out of her mouth seemed to hint at how unreasonable or inconvenient our requests were.

From where I was standing, I felt very uncomfortable being forced to beg her to help us. I knew from experience that if I let her force us into an unpopular time slot, many people would simply skip the photo shoot.  Furthermore Marla and I had no way of communicating last-minute changes to our group. We needed to get this picture taken either immediately before or after dinner to get maximum participation, especially an "unscheduled photo shoot".  As it was, I was forced to make a serious time concession that I wasn't very happy about.  I didn't think I had much choice given her negotiating posture.

As far as I was concerned, there were ninety of us and one photographer.  Wouldn't it have been a lot easier for one photographer to adjust her schedule for ninety people than to ask ninety people who had no access to instant messaging to adjust their schedule for her? 

Besides, wasn't this her job?  Why was she making this so difficult for us? She was being paid by us to take a picture, but she acted like she was doing us a favor. 

To her credit, let me at least say the lady was unfailingly polite. 

The Big Night Arrives

That night as people began to stroll in for 6:45 dinner, I informed them we had a photo shoot scheduled at 8:45.  That's would be about the time people get their coffee and dessert. 

As I surmised, no one was pleased at this last-minute development.  They had just finished a long day on the French Riviera and they had forced to rush to get dressed for this early dinner.  In fact, most of the people were up to 15 minutes late.  Now they just wanted to relax and enjoy their meal.  So naturally they complained about this early time slot.

I didn't blame them a bit.  I didn't like it either.  I simply said that if they only knew what hoops Marla and I had jumped through, they would understand we had done the best we could.

I personally rushed through dinner.  I got up early enough to make a round of tables one more time to let them know I was leaving for the photo shoot and that I would see them there.  In reality, after the kind of looks I got, I expected only half the people would show up.  I had a really bad feeling about this.

I got to the La Scala staircase about ten minutes early.  I was met by the anxious photographer who looked at her watch and reminded me she was on a tight schedule.  Would the people be coming shortly?  

I said that people were just beginning to finish their meals and were right behind me. They were on their way as we spoke.  Fortunately Robert and Cher did magically appear just as we spoke.  Their presence helped quiet this deeply skeptical woman for at least a few more minutes. 

Making the best of the situation, I began to take pictures.  Guess whose picture I took first?  After I finished taking Robert and Cher's picture, some more reinforcements arrived.  At the time we were supposed to take our picture, I would estimate about 20 people were milling around. 

Now the lady was angry.  She came over to me for the second time to demand to know where everyone was.  Had I given them the correct time?  I promised her I had given them the correct time, but people were reluctant to rush through their meals.  After all, they were tired from a long day and, besides, this was their vacation.  They felt like they deserved to move at their own speed.

The woman walked away in a huff.  I was really worried. I felt that she was quite capable of saying she had shown up as scheduled, we had failed to appear, and now she was obligated to be somewhere else. 

In desperation I pulled Robert aside.  I begged him to go back to the Dining Room and encourage people to please hurry up.  I concluded my statement by saying I really needed his help "because this woman has an attitude you wouldn't believe."

From the staircase above me, the woman barked at me, "I heard that!"  

Interestingly, from that point on, things seem to magically click.  People started to show up and the lady began to organize them.  I frowned.  Where was she going to put them all?

I noticed the lady had one very clever idea.  She had brought some wooden boxes along for the men to stand on.   Obviously she was still worried about the staircase being able to support the load.  These boxes were a way to create a second level for the men at the top of the staircase.  All six men in the picture are standing on a box.

That second level made a big difference.  Otherwise I am not sure where the extra six men would have been able to fit into the picture.  As she had predicted, even though our women were undeniably slim, the picture did turn out to be a very tight fit. 

What was her word?  "Squishy".  I guess she knew what she was talking about.  Thank goodness for the boxes.  I smiled.  Maybe this lady wasn't so bad after all.