Counting down the days ‘til dry-dock

Today is Christmas eve but I have to say it definitely doesn’t have the same feeling as at home.  I’m going to talk to my family on the phone tonight so that should help but in many ways it’s just not possible to replicate the home Christmas experience.  Many of the crew members on board have children at home and I can’t even imagine what it must feel like to be away from them at this time of year.   Christmas cruisers expect everyone to be at the top of their game and they expect a great deal of extra activities, a tall order when so many crew members are missing their families.

Explorer of the Seas will be presenting a Christmas variety show on Dec. 25 (tomorrow) featuring the Ice and Production casts and the Cruise staff.  In terms of crew activities, Christmas dinner will be served in both the crew and staff/officer messes.  Following that, there will be crew ice skating offered in Studio B and then a midnight party on the back deck.  It should definitely be a fun night.

In addition to the chaos of the Christmas and New Years’ cruise dry-dock also looms, starting January 3rd.  Many supplies have been brought onboard already and we’ve all been briefed on the procedures of dry-dock and what to expect.  I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to hear that we should be working about 8 hours a day (9-6), I had been thinking more like 10+ hours per day just because of the shear amount of work to be done in only 10 days.  Nearly every entertainment venue on the entire ship has SOME form of work planned, many receiving new lighting and/or sound equipment.  It’s going to be a lot of work for us.

I should also add that I’ve definitely been taking advantage of the free room service for 15 days that I won in the crew auction.  It has been great being able to relax in my cabin and have dinner brought to me for once.

Crew Auction

Last night we had a charity crew auction, run by our art auctioneer John. It was pretty well-attended which was good because large crew events can be very much hit-or-miss. There were a number of items/services/people up for bids and the proceeds all go to a children's charity in Dominica. Among the many things up for auction were:

• Various Crew members volunteered to be put up for auction for a dinner for two with the winning bidder at Portofino.
• Bridge tour
• Engine Room tour
• Learn to drive the rescue boat (we have two small rescue boats on board)
• Eat at Windjammer free for 15 days (excluding breakfast, since it's very busy)
• Various art pieces donated by Park West to be auctioned for charity
• 24 hour Room Service free for 15 days
• A Balcony guest stateroom for one cruise (only if one is available)

Most of the items got surprisingly high bids, the highest bid for the night was $1000 for one of the two balcony staterooms. I bid on a small number of things and ended up winning the Bridge tour and Room service for 15 days for $150 each. A rather large purchase for my pay bracket but I know the money is going towards a great cause (and on and island we visit so that we can see some results).

The Bridge tour is no ordinary Bridge tour. Rarely do our guests get such an opportunity and even then they get the same Bridge tour that every crew member gets when they join a new ship as part of safety training. Apparently I'll get to sit in the captain's chair, blow the ship's horn, and other things that can only really be offered on a private tour. As a technical kind of guy I think it will be very interesting and a great experience. Once the 15 days room service was bid up to $175, the auctioneer made an offer for anybody who will pay $150 for it to bid that much and he would give it to all of us, so that is what I did. I think it will come in very handy on the upcoming 14-day Christmas and New Year's cruise as it's a very busy time for all who work onboard and having some meals delivered to my cabin will be a real treat... not to mention my coworkers all want in on it too haha.

In addition, all who registered bid cards were entered in a raffle to win some art pieces and I ended up winning one of those too... the one I won was my favourite of those raffled so I think I'll enjoy it. Park West is going to ship it home for me free of charge.

That's all I have for today... I start duty again tomorrow and then we go into the Christmas cruise, then right into Drydock. There will likely be another post before Christmas and a couple during drydock with some pictures of the work going on around the ship. It's possible that the ship may not have Internet access and I may not have time to take my laptop ashore to post them so rest assured that I will type them up during drydock and post as soon as I can.

Update:

As I published this post, John started his daily crew announcement and informed us that the total raised by the crew auction was in excess of $10 000, not a bad donation at all.

Lighting, Lighting, and More Lighting

I am just coming up to the end of my second month here on the Explorer of the Seas. It’s been an adventure so far but definitely an enjoyable one. I’m thinking it’s likely I’ll stick around on ships for at least a few contracts, if not more.

For the past few cruises I have been doing as much lighting work as I possibly can, so that I’ll be a good candidate for promotion to light tech when I get close to the end of my contract. So far that has involved doing lots of maintenance and some repairs on automated lights, and reading the control console manual cover to cover. A new light tech is working in Studio B now and I’ve been working closely with him whenever possible to get more lighting experience. The Studio B light tech has (from what I can tell) the largest responsibility for maintaining lighting fixtures (as opposed to the light tech in the Palace Theatre), because they are responsible for 3 different venues: Studio B, the nightclub, and Royal Promenade. All of those add up quickly when you look at the number of fixtures (each of which must be thoroughly cleaned out and re-lamped (change bulb) every 3-6 months).

For the technically inclined, here is a summary of the lighting-related equipment in those 3 venues (note quantities may not be exact but are very close):

Studio B	18x Cyberlight SV 12x Martin MAC 500 16x Martin MAC 600 14x Martin MAC 250 Wash (4 of which sit on the ice during shows) 30x ETC Source 4 ellipsoidal (most have Coloram II scrollers) 8x 9-lites (with Coloram II scrollers) 18x ETC Parnels 16x Martin Robocolor 400 (powering fibre optic star cloths) 6x Wildfire Long-throw UV lights (with scrollers) 4x Snow machines 4x Antari ICE low-fog units 2x MDG hazers several of strip lights which will be replaced with LED strips in dry-dock (these light the edges of the ice rink) Wholehog II control console Richmond ShowMan show control
Royal Promenade	18x Martin MAC 600 16x Martin MAC 500 8x ETC Source 4 ellipsoidal 10x Chauvet Colorado II 2x hazers Wholehog II control console Richmond ShowMan show control
The Chamber (nightclub)	6x Martin MAC 600 14x Martin MAC 500 8x strobes a bunch of non-functioning DJ lights that are all being replaced with Martin SmartMAC and Mania fixtures in dry-dock Martin LightJockey controller

When you add all that up, it’s quite a large responsibility. But, it’s also a great opportunity for me to get my hands on as many fixtures as possible because it’s important for me to have that experience.

In addition to maintaining and repairing fixtures, I am also about to start working on programming shows and learning about ShowMan show control. It’s great that stage staff have a few more hours of free time than many other positions because it enables me to spend this time learning about the position I want.

Last cruise the ship started to get decorated for Christmas. As my job involves trips to the galley on occasion, I had an opportunity to watch the production of the gingerbread houses that make up the gingerbread village which I have seen on a previous Royal Caribbean cruise vacation. It’s a big job and I could tell many different chefs were pitching in to help, not just the pastry team. The huge Christmas tree was also installed in the Royal Promenade.

Rough Seas

Last night was definitely an adventure.  While I was speaking on the phone with my mom yesterday I mentioned that we had fairly rough seas the previous day coming back from Bermuda.  I felt bad for the passengers on that cruise because it was pretty rough on the way to and back from Bermuda.  it’s unfortunate that many people lost 1 or 2 days out of a 5 day vacation due to seasickness, but it could have been prevented by taking some Gravol or similar medication ahead of time… don’t take chances.  Little did I know, that weather coming back from Bermuda was NOTHING.  It’s days like yesterday that make me very happy to be on a larger ship because I know how much worse it truly can be.  Last night we had waves over 20 feet high and winds at 60 knots gusting to 70 knots.  It should be noted that this was the first time since I’ve been on this ship that I felt seasick.  Took lots of meds though and I felt better in minutes.  The worst weather started right around 9pm, and we had the sail-away parade coming up at 10:30.  As should be expected from such a situation the parade audience was pretty dismal and some of the performers weren’t looking too well.  I would recommend anyone sailing out of Bayonne during the winter months to take something to prevent seasickness.  Don’t wait until the ship starts rocking, as that is sometimes too late (and it’s right around dinner time too).

The production manager for the Palace theatre returned today so Leslie is back with us in Studio B and Junior has headed back to the Mariner.  In a couple of weeks things will change up again as Jamie joins us in Studio B and Leslie heads out for her well-deserved vacation.  On land a stage manager would stay with a particular show/theatre for months or even years,  so it’s interesting having 3 different people in the same month running the same show.

That’s about all there is to write about for now… Oh! I get paid tomorrow, so already I know that tomorrow will be a great day.

Halloween on the Explorer

As someone who has cruised several times as a passenger before, I have to say that I never considered what a Halloween cruise would be like. It just never occurred to me, really. I’ve been on several new years’ cruises, so I know what those are like, but never Halloween.

In addition to decorations around the ship, the cruise staff organized two large Halloween events: a costume parade and a dance party. Both were extremely well-attended. Anyone who dressed up for Halloween was given the opportunity to be in the parade, and many opted to do so. At least 200 passengers in addition to several crew and staff members participated in the parade, and I would estimate over 1000 were there to watch. The parade started at the forward end of the ship and headed toward the aft, and down the Centrum staircase into Studio B, where the dance party was to take place. This resulted in a very full dance party as we just kept sending folks down the stairs into Studio B. The party only lasted about an hour but I was astonished by the level of attendance.

I got a few photos of both the parade and the party, but of course the lighting was fairly dim so the quality of the photos is not the greatest (click the photos to view full-size). Some of the scenery for “Spirits of the Seasons” came in quite handy for this party.

St. Maarten

Today is one of those days when it hits me again that I love my job. There are parts to my job I dislike, I think everyone experiences that to some extent, but the fact that I'm living on a ship that visits warm caribbean islands every week is still sinking in. I'm used to going on vacations to a caribbean destination one or two times per year, but getting used to being here almost once a week is a bit different.

Had a lazy day so far today. Only had to wake up to work at 11am, and even then all we had to do was take down the dashers along the ice rink which are used for passenger skating sessions. The next thing I'm scheduled for doesn't happen until 7:15pm, so I have plenty of time to just wander around St. Maarten. So far I had a lunch consisting of conch fritters, jerk chicken and ribs, and 2 wonderfully strong drinks.

Unfortunately I'll be going on duty again tomorrow, which means I won't be able to get off the ship for a week. But at least the Blades install is over, so I won't be called upon to make ice at all hours of the day.

New Roommate

It's another busy Bermuda cruise, although thankfully the second-last one until April. A lot of effort goes into packing a lot of the same things from the longer cruises into a short 5-day Bermuda cruise and in addition to that I'm booked on several nights in the theatre to teach the shows to our new stage staff in the Palace theater, Rex.

Rex is my new roommate, he is from the Philippines and it sounds like he's been with Royal Caribbean for a number of contracts now. Other than the slight language barrier, it's been quite easy teaching him the 3 palace shows he needs to learn because he's so experienced as a stage staff. As soon as I get him to understand my description of what he needs to do, he's able to do the whole show start to finish.

I did some lighting maintenance in the Palace theatre yesterday, going to try to as much lighting work as I possibly can because getting promoted to a lighting technician is a high priority for me. I'd say I'm pretty good in my role as a stage staff but it isn't really stimulating at all. There's no creativity to it, just a matter of getting tasks done over and over each cruise. It's interesting to me that it seems so many of my stage staff coworkers are happy where they are and don't seem to have a desire to move up. I guess it is a fairly easy job so that must be what they want.

I saw something interesting in the crew area this past call in Bayonne; stacks and stacks of LCD TVs. Perhaps a sign of good things to come for Explorer passengers?

End of a busy week

This was my first week as the stage staff “on-duty”.  It was quite busy but good to know that it won’t usually be any worse than that.  Being on duty means that I could not leave the ship for the week and had to carry a wireless phone and pager and so that if anyone needs a stage staff at any time, that’s the phone they’re going to call.  It wasn’t too bad, just difficult hours; Shifts starting as early as 8 and ending as late as 1am.

This week a choreographer is onboard to teach our ice cast the new show we will be doing starting late November, Blades. That was a large contributor to my very early and late working hours as I had to make ice every few hours as the skaters were on it.  It looks like it will be a good show, I’m interested to see what I’m going to be doing for that show.

Another thing that has been keeping me very busy this cruise is learning all the shows that my current room mate, Ryan does in the Palace theatre.  Since there is no “hand-over” period (where the staff leaving teaches their job to the staff signing-on) for stage staff, I need to learn Ryan’s tracks in the Palace in order to teach them to his replacement who will be joining the ship next Bayonne.  It’s a challenge because he does 4 different shows in the Palace and I’ve only just learned my own show in Studio B, so I'm taking  as many notes as I can in case I don’t remember everything.

Yesterday I decided to treat myself to a lobster lunch in Halifax, NS.  I went to McKelvie’s, which after a quick Google search turned out to be the highest rated restaurant in the area for seafood.  I had the crab bisque and a 1.5lb lobster.  It was a great (albeit expensive) meal and I would definitely recommend that restaurant to anyone looking for a great seafood meal in Halifax.  Try the crab bisque, you won’t be disappointed.

Well, today is payday so I need to go down to the financial office very shortly.  Now that I’m not on duty I’ll try to get a few more blog entries in as I know that I’ve gotten a bit behind.

Edit, Oct. 30, 2009: Just want to clarify that Blades is not actually a new show for Explorer of the Seas, but rather new for all of us crew and the ice cast. Blades only runs during the months of the year when we do 12 day cruises (so, for the winter months). Basically that means that although the scenery is all stored backstage year-round, nobody knows what to do with it each fall because there is usually a new set of staff and a new cast that have never done the show before.

Zamboni

Today I drove the Zamboni for the first time.  I wasn’t really expecting it at all… Junior (another Stage Staff) drove it onto the ice so I went to get my shovel to do my usual duty of cleaning up the snow, when he gets off and tells me to get on and go for a couple dry laps (no scraping/water) just to get the feel of driving it.  It was important that I do some practice first because first of all, you can’t stop and start during ice cutting/making (Once you start, you must keep going until you’re done; otherwise it makes the ice uneven) and second: the rink is surrounded on 3 sides with glass dashers.  I presume the glass is fairly strong, but it’s not plexi and I can tell that some of the panels have been smashed and replaced because the glass colour is slightly different from the others.  When cutting the ice, you have to get quite close to those glass panels so would be very easy to collide with them if inexperienced.

The whole thing went a lot more smoothly than I had hoped though.  After those few practise rounds, they told me to put the blade down and start cutting the ice.  From then on I think my Canadian blood kicked in and it was smooth sailing (no pun intended).  My production manager was pleased and said I was a true Canadian, haha.

When I’m the Studio B duty tech for the first time next week set up my camera and film the ice resurfacing process.   The duty tech is the person who gets called when things go wrong and it rotates between the 3 of us stage staff each week.  They are also responsible for doing most of the ice scrapes & makes as well as doing food pick ups.  Essentially food pick ups take place on nights when the ice or dance cast will be performing late.  Since the dining areas will be closed before they finish the late show, we pick up food for them from the galley and deliver it to the theatre for them so that they can eat there when the show is over.  So that was something a little surprising about my job, that I will be visiting the galleys on a regular basis.  I just hope I can find everything when it’s my turn to go.  I went with Leslie last night and he showed me where I need to go to pick up each item.  They have about 10 things on their list and we have to visit 6 different areas to pick them all up (and then have to hope that we can get to the theatre with the hot items still hot).

As my first week has drawn to a close, I’ve decided that I will definitely enjoy this job.  It looks like I’ll have plenty of free time to work on training to be a lighting technician in the future (I’m really hoping we don’t have much to do for dry dock… that seems like an ideal time to sit in the lighting booth and get some learning done).

Waiting for the ice to melt

Currently doing a mini melt on the ice in Studio B, and decided to visit the crew internet cafe to pass the time. What's a mini melt you ask? Exactly what it sounds like. We crank the temperature up and let the ice start to melt, then scrape/sweep the ice and water off the top layer. It's rather fun actually and it meant I got to finally wear some spikes on the ice so that I wouldn't fall and break every bone in my body. It's bad enough walking on ice in running shoes, but then when you melt the ice a bit and get the ship rolling... it isn't a good combination. So I strapped some spiky things onto the bottom of my shoes and for the first time was able to work on the ice surface without fear of injury. I think I'll start wearing those things more often.

As I mentioned above it's been a bit rough at sea today, the worst so far this cruise. Luckily I don't get sea sick but it sure makes it interesting trying to work a show (or worse yet to be one of the skaters trying to perform on the swaying ship).

Tomorrow we're in Boston and I have to wake up at 7am and get to immigration. After that I'll have my I-95 and be able to go ashore in US ports in the future. We also have crew boat drill, which everyone hates but I know it's for the safety of everyone on board. It'll be nice when I have a more interesting job to do though, unlike what I do now which is just go to the bow and wait for someone other crew to need assistance. That isn't too likely to actually happen unless we were in a real emergency.

Well I think that should have been enough time for the ice to melt some more... time for round 2.

My Cabin

I don’t think I’ve said much about my cabin on Explorer yet so I’ll share a bit of info and some pictures of it today.

My cabin is located on Deck 1, Portside Forward.  Most of my department lives in the Deck 1 Forward area so we don’t have to go too far to visit or to share information when necessary.

 

Above are photos of my cabin taken from the entrance and beside the beds (excuse the mess… we’re guys and it can’t be helped most of the time).  I sleep on the top bunk… not the easiest thing to get to but when I stand on the chair I can get up there without too much effort.  The beds themselves are actually quite comfortable.  I don’t know if maybe the mattresses are the same as those in passenger cabins but I’ve been sleeping even better than I sleep at home.  Clearly it is best for crew to be well-rested when performing their duties so it only makes sense to make the beds comfortable.  As you can see it isn’t a large cabin but there is plenty of storage in closets, drawers, and shelves so I was able to find homes for all of my belongings.  There is also a TV, DVD player, refrigerator and two small safes in all the crew cabins.

Of course, if the cabin is that size then how big can the bathroom be?  Well the answer is that you can stand in the same spot and use all of the facilities at the same time.  I don’t know if that is meant to be a selling feature or not but I’m going be positive and say that it is… at it comes with a complimentary all-too-friendly shower curtain. I don’t have a very good wide-angle lens but I think you get the idea from the photo below… not a large space.  There is a sill on the floor to separate the shower from the rest of the room… but it is mostly for show as the water doesn’t seem to know which side is indeed the shower.  It also means that any time you want to use the toilet… you can’t help but have one foot in the shower.

 

So that’s about all there is to know about crew cabins.

On another note, I finished the last of my safety training today.  Only a few more days until the rest of the training is finished as well.

We are in Halifax, Nova Scotia today with Queen Mary 2.  It’s the only ship I’ll be seeing anytime soon which dwarfs this one.  That is… until December 15 when we will be in St. Thomas with Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas; I can’t wait to see that ship.

That’s about all I have to say about today… I’ll post photos of some of the staff/crew public areas when I get a chance.

When will it end?

The training so far has been taking up every single one of my mornings (and some afternoons too). While my co-workers are sleeping in 'til noon, I'm up at 7:30 every day to get ready, eat breakfast, and get myself to the training room. I know it won't last forever, but it's exhausting at the moment.

Today I completed the last portion of my PAIE (Person Assisting In an Emergency) training. It was definitely the most interesting so far... probably because it was the most interactive. Two days ago I had my firefighting training and we all had a chance to try out the fire hose, shooting water out the back mooring deck. I'm sure the people on shore must have been quite puzzled about this water shooting out the rear of the ship. Then today I had life saving training which included learning about all the life saving equipment on board, getting into a life raft, and a tour of the bridge.

Tonight we have a late-ish ice show (around 10pm). I'm not really sure why since the average passenger age on this cruise is probably 70. The older crowd doesn't tend to attend late activities so it might be a fairly empty studio tonight.

Anyway, time to leave for my next training section, simply entitled "New Hire Training", real specific.

Training

My training has begun, and wow is it ever just as intensive as everyone said it would be.  I’m technically supposed to be off today (minus a half-hour shift at 9:30pm) but instead I’m spending most of the day in training.

I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather today and yesterday… I think I must have caught some kind of mild URI on my first day.  My co-workers have been great about it and told me to get lots of rest.  I do feel much better today than I did yesterday so the rest must have helped.

Getting around the ship as a staff member definitely takes some getting used to.  I’m managing because I have always had a good sense of direction, but even I was totally lost on my first day.  When these ships are designed, priority is obviously given to the passengers and therefore they are given very easy routes around the ship.  For the staff and crew, it’s more tricky.  We aren’t allowed to use passenger elevators unless accompanying a passenger to a specific location.  There are lots of crew elevators but most of them don’t stop at every floor, so you have to pick and choose in order to get on the right one.  Fortunately the route from my cabin to studio B is only a brief walk up I-95 (the main corridor on deck 1 which runs the length of the ship) and then up one set of stairs.  That’s going to come in quite handy when it’s my turn to have a rotation as duty tech in a few weeks (duty techs are responsible for taking out the trash, locking up the venue at night, and most importantly: making ice).

Well, it’s time to head back to the training room.  I have no idea what this particular one is for… my schedule says something about FF training.  I’m guessing FF is Fire Fighting?  Should be interesting.

Welcome Aboard

Today was quite the exciting day.  The bus from the hotel took drove me and 5 other crew members to the pier, where we had our paperwork checked and handed over our passports.  From that point it was probably about a 45-60 minute wait until we got on the ship.  Once onboard, went directly to the crew office and signed my employment and checked to make sure all the info they had on file for me was correct.

The dance captain from the main theatre met me at the crew office and took me to my crew cabin (my roommate’s name is Ryan… so I guess it shall now be known as the Ryans’ Cabin), followed by a brief tour highlighting a couple important areas of the ship such as my emergency station, staff mess (cafeteria), and staff bar.  Then I was introduced to my Head Stage Staff, George (who was only today promoted to Head Technical Stage Staff).  He showed me around the crew areas a bit more and then took me to my venue, Studio B.  Studio B is a multipurpose room featuring an ice rink which is used for 2 different ice shows as well as being available at certain times for Passengers to skate.  Since I work Studio B and not the main theatre, my schedule will probably be a bit more relaxed and I will also get to drive the Zamboni when we make ice (which seems to happen quite often, 3-4 times a day.  At Studio B I met the other 2 stage staff there: Leslie and Junior, and my Studio B supervisor: also Leslie.  I have met the entire technical team at this point including all from the Palace Theatre and from Studio B.  Everyone seems quite friendly and positive, so I think this is going to be a great experience.

I’m all unpacked now (I can’t believe I’m already done) and the cabin has a surprising amount of storage considering its size.  I’m on the top bunk, but it’s not as bad as I had expected it might be.

I think I’m going to go for a walk now.  I haven’t really been up to the passenger areas today, and since I am allowed to use them, I think I should.

Tomorrow I will have a 3 hour safety training session first thing in the morning.  I’m not looking for ward to it.  On the positive side though, I will get my crew ID card tomorrow which means I will be able to start charging drinks to my onboard account.  I think that will make up for the training.

So me and my luggage are all in Newark and checked-in to a hotel for the night before boarding tomorrow.  Apparently I’m supposed to be getting a roommate for the night but so far nobody has shown up.  Since the latest flight into Newark arrives around 11:15pm, I’ll assume that it’s unlikely anyone will show up after midnight.

Hopefully I’ll be well-rested tonight and all set for tomorrow… something tells me it’s going to be a long day… followed by a long 2 weeks. lol

The Adventure Begins

So here I am at Toronto Pearson International Airport. I came way earlier than necessary because I expected there was a high likelihood that I would be lead into some kind of back room and interrogated… but no. The US Customs/Immigration officer was unexpectedly personable, and after a couple minutes checking that everything was in order, he sent me on my way. Of course that was going to happen, because I made extra time available in case it did; that’s how life works.

Anyhow, I suppose it’s all for the best that things have gone smoothly so far… I hope that they continue to go that way. As long as my flight to Dulles doesn’t get delayed, I’ll be fine. If it is late… all hell might break loose. I have a 50 minute connection and two suitcases containing my entire life which might not make it to the second plane if this flight is late.

Other than that… not much else to report at this point. I’m glad to be finally on my way.

Update:

Here is a photo of my sister and I before I left for the airport:

Just a few days now

Only 3 more days until I join the ship, I can't wait. I REALLY need to get my packing done tomorrow; I don't think I'll be doing anything else but packing all day.

As much as I would love to update everyone as soon as I can about how things are going once I've started, please understand that any new crew member's first two weeks on board are usually taken up by intensive safety training (when not working their usual job, that is). As soon as I have a reasonable amount of free time, I will do my best to get the blog up-to-date on how things are going with my job, etc. In the meantime I will probably write posts on my laptop before bed or something and then post them in order when I have the opportunity to get myself to an internet connection.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to being able to actually get on with writing about my experiences on board Explorer of the Seas.


A side-note for Cruise Critic members:

I can tell by looking at my site statistics that approximately 90% or more of my blog traffic so far has come from Cruise Critic. Please be advised that for the duration of this contract, and any subsequent contracts with Royal Caribbean, I will abstain from posting on Cruise Critic and similar message boards as it is considered a conflict of interest. However, anything that I feel is appropriate to post about the Explorer of the Seas I will do my best to write about it here on my blog. Also, remember that anything I post here is to be considered unofficial.

Two Weeks!

Wow, and here I was thinking that these last few weeks were going to be the longest of my life. Time has actually been passing fairly quickly for me as my departure date approaches. For the past couple years I have been doing some freelance work, in order to earn an income while I was at college. Let me tell you, nothing brings in a flood of last-minute work like telling your clients you'll be out of the country for 6 months. So I've been plenty busy with that.

Last week I passed and submitted my medical exam, so there is no more paperwork left for me to submit at this point. All I have to worry about is how to get my entire life for the next six months, packed into two suitcases weighing less than 50lbs. each. Luckily I'm well-traveled and know how to pack, but it's still going to be tough. I've just learned that United Airlines has no weight limit on carry-on luggage, so I'm going to be packing my small carry-on suitcase denser than a lead brick in order to ease off the demands on the other two suitcases.

The excitement is building as September 30th draws nearer, only 15 more days!

It's Official

Today I received all my official paperwork that outlines my specific contract, the method for joining the ship, and what to bring. I didn't even know it was coming soon so it was a nice surprise. I looked through all the contents of the huge envelope and was left with every single one of my remaining questions answered. Despite being a somewhat complicated process, Royal Caribbean and my hiring agent have been very thorough in the information and paperwork provided so I should have no troubles when I head down to Newark on September 30.

There is a lot of paperwork involved in the hiring process. I must have mailed at least 3 envelopes containing multiple forms to the hiring agent since April. Luckily all that's left is to complete my medical exam, which should be ready to submit by this time next week.

My Letter of Employment states that my contract will last 6 months, 3 weeks. By my calculation that would have me disembarking the ship on April 15, 2010.

I figured I should make my address available for any family/friends that might want it. I know that nobody sends anything by snail-mail these days, but just in case my mailing address on the ship will be:

REDACTED
I guess that's all for now. I look forward to starting work on the ship and being able to post lots of information on ship life, the ports of call, and anything else that happens to me along the way.

Third time's the charm?

While I was working today, I got another phone call... my ship assignment has been changed. After first being given an assignment, then the date changing, and now the ship AND date changing, I certainly hope everything is sorted out.

I will now be working on Explorer of the Seas, sailing out of Cape Liberty in New Jersey. My contract will start on October 1st (so I'm back to the original date). Explorer of the Seas sails several different itineraries. I'll be starting in Canada/New England and Bermuda, and then as the weather gets cooler the ship will move to Eastern Caribbean routes. Explorer of the seas is part of the slightly smaller (compared to Liberty) Voyager class of ships.

Unfortunately, my mom and my sister had booked a cruise on Liberty of the seas for Christmas week so that they could be with me for the holidays, and then they were going to spend a week in Aruba which had already been planned. Now the cruise has had to be canceled. There is no cruise on the Explorer that they would be able to visit me on because the cruises are mostly 10-14 days in length as opposed to a week. It was extremely lucky that it happened today though as today was the last day my mom could get the deposit back on that cruise. The flight on the other hand is costing a lot more money now that they are back to flying straight to Aruba instead of spending a week in Miami first. I guess we've learned our lesson now not to book any cruises to visit me until I'm actually ON the ship.

Although I will miss seeing them for a week, I am very happy with the new routes I'll be sailing as there is a lot more variety. Also, the cruises are longer so I can only hope that means a greater variety of on-board shows and guest entertainers.

I have spoken to the cruise hiring agent and they have informed me that Royal Caribbean is going to be paying for my new air ticket to New Jersey (since I had a non-refundable ticket to Miami). So that's great news.

More details

Alright so there was a minor screw up with my start date. The day I got my ship assignment, I headed to the Royal Caribbean website to see what itineraries it sails. It struck me as odd that the ship was not in Miami on October 1st at all, which left me wondering how in the heck I was supposed to be joining that date. I sent an e-mail back to the hiring partner to find out what that was about. Turns out that I'm actually supposed to be boarding on the 3rd of October... good thing I checked before booking a flight that would have been 2 days too early. Goes to show that if something doesn't look right, don't be afraid to speak up about it!

I'll be flying down on October 2nd and they will pay for my overnight stay at a hotel. I even have my flight booked already.


Here are some details about the ship I will be working on, Liberty of the Seas.


Gross Tonnage: 160,000
Maiden Voyage: May 19, 2007
Passenger Capacity: 3,634 double occupancy (approx. 4,300 fully-loaded, plus 1,300 crew)
Godmother: Donnalea Madeley
Length: 1,112'
Max Beam: 184' (width)
Draft: 28' (height of the portion of the ship which is below sea level)
Cruising Speed: 21.6 knots




Liberty of the Seas is a Freedom-class ship, which is currently the largest size of cruise ship in the world. This will change about a month after I board when the latest largest ship in the world, Oasis of the Seas, is scheduled to go into service.

Ship Highlights

FlowRider® H2O Zone Cantilevered whirlpools Rock-climbing wall Ice-skating rink Royal Promenade Extensive WiFi capabilities and connectivity for cell phones Full-size, flat-screen TVs in every stateroom Themed bars and lounges Adventure Ocean® youth facilities Fitness Center and Day Spa Full-size Everlast boxing ring

Casino RoyaleSM Presidential Family Suite Sports Pool Full-size sports court 9-hole miniature golf course Johnny Rockets® '50s-style restaurant Portofino Italian Restaurant Chops Grille Ben & Jerry's® ice cream Vintages wine bar Boleros Latin-themed lounge Sorrento's pizza Vitality Wellness Program

Contrary to my initial posting, LOS sails both Eastern and Western itineraries, and even those change up a bit themselves... so I shouldn't be getting bored of the ports too quickly.

My contract will last at least 6 months (6 is the minimum for my position), however I have not been informed of my exact date of departure from the ship at this point.


That's all for now. I'll post any new information when I receive it. Until then, it's time to get my life in order before I leave :).

Good News!

I have just received a call from Cruise Services with my first ship assignment. It's on Liberty of the Seas, starting October 1st. The itinerary is Western Caribbean. I'm so excited.

At least there will be lots of time to get my life sorted before I start.

Should anyone want to send me letters or anything like that ;), I'll be posting the ship's address at some point soon.

Waiting

You know those moments when you've written out the majority of a message, and then your hand slips and you accidentally press a key combination or something else that makes it all disappear? I just had one of those moments.


Anyway, right now I'm still waiting for a ship assignment with Royal Caribbean. It's been a slow journey so far. I've resubmitted my resumes to the other cruise lines just in case they have something sooner. Unfortunately, nobody has called me for an interview since April.

The American economy is doing me no favours right now. Since jobs are so scarce, cruise ship employees who are in positions such as mine are extending and renewing their contracts when they otherwise maybe would have decided their career at sea is finished.

On a more positive note, I've joined a local gym to try and lose a few pounds in addition to getting in shape a bit. No point in sitting around doing nothing all the time. So far it's going well but it's only the first week so I guess I'll see what happens over the next month or so. The gym has agreed to allow me to pay for training bi-weekly so that I can easily leave the gym commitment without losing money should I get that oh-so-important call from the cruise line that they need me.

Update

After hearing back from some of my forum posts, it looks like Technical Stage Staff are used on the radiance class of ships as well, bringing the potential ships to be hired on up from 8 to 12. Hopefully I hear something from them soon, I can't wait to get started.

Hired & Waiting

Why I created this blog:
I've had a look around the internet and it seems many people have created blogs to document their experience working on a cruise ship, especially when doing their first contracts. Since internet on board is so expensive, blogging is a fairly cheap way to keep everyone up to date because you can write a very detailed message in notepad or word, and then when it's ready it can be posted where everyone can read it. Much more convenient than individual e-mails. On that basis, I decided to start this blog to write about my experiences working at sea and maybe one day someone will find this info useful in their career search, just as I have found the information that others post online to be beneficial to mine.

In April I was offered a position with Royal Caribbean cruise lines as a Technical Stage Staff. I accepted it right away and I'm really excited about getting started working on a ship. I've cruised enough times to know that it definitely is the right place for me, so I don't have that unsure feeling that I would imagine many people get when they first start out working at sea.


Unfortunately right now I don't know when I'll be starting, where I'm going, or what ship I'll be on. What I do know is that the technical stage staff position only exists on the larger ships (voyager class and larger) so I'll certainly have plenty to do no matter which ship I end up on. Unfortunately, this also means that instead of 20 possible ships to be hired for, I am only eligible for 8 of them (9 when Oasis is ready). That will make it a bit of a longer wait but I think it's going to be worth the wait. Cruise lines install the best of the best equipment available in the theatres on their ships and working on the largest ships also means working on the newest ones. I can't wait to get started working with that stuff.

Another thing about working at sea that has me excited is that It'll be a completely new and different experience, not only in terms of the work I'll be doing but also the lifestyle and surroundings. I'll be meeting many new people from all over the world and gaining a ton of useful knowledge and experience.

Right now all I can do is sit back and wait (and take any freelance work that comes my way) until my day comes. By my estimates, that will probably happen about a month from now.