Linda Giga Norwegian Dawn Photographer

Here's the Dawn tied up at the Royal Navy pier in Bermuda. Copyright 2017 Tim Carter

Norwegian Dawn Photographer

The last week of June, 2017 I was fortunate enough to be on the Norwegian Dawn. I was invited to go on the cruise by a close friend as a last-minute cancellation had created an empty cabin.

I decided to turn it into a work / pleasure experience and write a story about how cruise ships compare to the average home you and I live in.

It was my first cruise. The ship left Boston harbor at 4 pm on June 23rd and headed to Bermuda.

Everything about the adventure was new to me. I spent my first day exploring the ship and trying to talk to as many crew members as possible.

The first night at dinner is when I first saw Linda Giga. She's a young Dawn crew member hailing from Latvia and was employed on the ship as a professional photographer.

Linda was feeling much better in this photo taken the night before we got back to Boston. Five days earlier she was not feeling so well. Copyright 2017 Alycia Murray

The ship has about five white-tablecloth restaurants and Linda was going table to table taking photographs of the passengers. Norwegian then sells the photographs to the passengers in packages. When you sign up for a cruise, you can pick a photo package as one of your amenities in certain instances.

This is an example of a photo Linda would take at the bottom of the stairs in the Grand Atrium. I'm not an expert, but many families travel together on cruises and they love professional photos of themselves in the moment. Linda would have taken a much better photo making sure everyone was looking at the camera! Copyright 2017 Tim Carter - rookie photographer

Early in the cruise, I think it was Sunday night, I was wandering around the ship after dinner and found Linda in the Grand Atrium.

Here's the curved staircase in the Grand Atrium where I found poor Linda. I'm glad she felt better the next time I saw her. Copyright 2017 Tim Carter

She was on duty near the grand staircase and in great discomfort. Linda was crouched down, and appeared to be staring at the floor although her eyes were closed.

She was rubbing her temples. You didn't have to be a first-year med student to realize she had a monster headache.

Having gone through my wretched kidney stone attack three years prior that required emergency surgery, I knew she was at level 7 on the pain scale. She was avoiding and limiting her required physical activity.

This is a pretty good depiction of the stages of pain. I can tell you that Linda was very close to 7 on the chart. Chart courtesy of Shadowtwin.com or whatever website they stole it from.

I watched Linda for a few moments and couldn't take it any longer. I wanted to do something to help ease her pain. I approached her, she immediately stood up with a smile and I said, "I can see you're suffering. Would you like me to go get you some medicine?"

Linda immediately refused and thanked me for my offer. I believe it took every ounce of energy for her to put on that smile and give the appearance that nothing was wrong.

The next morning, I saw her taking photos at the end of the gangway as passengers got off the ship to enjoy the day on shore in Bermuda.

"Linda, how are you feeling today?"

"Oh, much better. Thanks so much for asking! You're the only passenger that's said anything last night."

"Well, I knew you were hurting and I just wanted to help in any way I could."

She thanked me again and I went to operate my ham radio at a nearby miniature golf course.

The last night of the cruise I saw Linda working in the gallery where passengers could view photos and purchase albums. Her energy and smile were infectious and it was great to see her one last time.

She was kind enough to allow a friend of mine, Alycia Murray, to take the above photo. Linda's great attitude and laugh were one of the highlights of the crew members that I had the pleasure of speaking with while on the ship. Norwegian Cruise Lines is lucky to have her on the Dawn.

Here's one of the decorative mood lights up on deck 13 above the pool. I shot this in Bermuda, but no doubt Linda could do a much much better job. Perhaps one day she'll send me a photo or two of the ship she took. Copyright 2017 Tim Carter

Linda, I hope that you have no more headaches in the future and that all your future cruises are pleasant and filled with good times and great memories!