I'm in the final days of my contract here on the Explorer. Of course, they couldn't let me leave without throwing a couple of hurdles in the way. One of those was expected: we were due for an ice cast install. I have known that for a while so I was prepared. It means a lot more ice makes and generally more work for every stage staff. The other problem is that last cruise, one of the stage staff had to take an early vacation due to a visa mix-up. It's very unfortunate because I know he was really enjoying working on Explorer and it must not be a very nice feeling to get news mid-cruise that you are leaving at the end of the cruise. Because it was such short notice, there was no time to arrange for a replacement stage staff to join the ship for this cruise and the start of the ice cast install. The result is that we have only 6 stage staff during one of the busiest times of the year. The good news for me is at the end of the install, when I'm exhausted and wanting to leave, I'LL ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO. :)
The process of the ice cast install is quite different from that of the production cast (singers and dancers). The production cast has about 2 months worth of rehearsals with the choreographers and directors at the RCI productions facility before they even get to their ship. After that, they travel to the ship with the production team (choreographers, directors, and the like). Then once they get onboard it's all about getting used to the space, motion, and the sets and equipment, but they already know the shows. In contrast, the ice cast will meet with the choreographer for the first time on the ship. If they have not been in the particular ice show before, as far as I know the only knowledge they will have of the show is a DVD copy of the ice show which I am told is sent to them before they join the ship. After joining the ship, they have about 2 weeks to learn the show from start to finish. It's not a lot of time and certainly seems like a very intense process for them, not to mention the additional work for us production staff.
I got my flight info on Saturday, but there was a little mix up in the dates (flights booked for June 4, but my contract doesn't start until July 4). Sort of a big problem but luckily I caught it early and have been told the request has been made to re-book the ticket so I should find out the result of that in a couple of days. At the very least, I now have my ticket to return home on the 10th of April which is the thing that matters to me the most right now. It's hard to believe I am only a week short of spending 6 months on the ship. I didn't know if I would even make it, but here I am. Even made it through a dry-dock. Oh, speaking of dry-dock, I meant to check if there would be one on the Serenade while I'm there.... guess I'll do that now. Nope, thank goodness for that. I wouldn't be against the idea of more dry dock experiences, but preferably I'd like to avoid doing them on consecutive contracts. It's a lot of work.
Since I am scheduled to join Serenade of the Seas on July 4th, I guess it will be quite a hectic day since it'll be in a US port (San Juan, Puerto Rico) and also I would expect the majority of passengers to be American.
That's it for now but I'm sure I'll do at least one more post before I leave Explorer for home. Time to go enjoy the rest of my day in St. Thomas and the precious few hours off that I get today.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Next Contract
Wow, what a month. Was I ever right about it being the busiest. Everyone is now mostly settled in. We ended up getting one brand new stage staff in Studio B, and one that transferred from Liberty of the Seas, so it was a better situation than I expected (2 new hires). The final new stage staff came on last Bayonne. He is a new hire but only filling in until one of our regulars comes back in April, then he goes to Oasis (yes, I'm very jealous). Interestingly, although I expected the experience to be totally different when working with a different team of stage staff, I've discovered that not only does it not change very much, but actually the "black shirts" as a whole have been getting along much better since the change of staff. Of course, the only person left to go on vacation at this point, is me.
On the upside, in the last couple of days I received and accepted my next contract. Unfortunately for all the Explorer regulars out there (and I know there are many), I will be going to Serenade of the Seas starting on July 4. Since I leave Explorer on April 10, that leaves almost 3 months of vacation! I better start seriously saving some money. Serenade does exactly the itinerary I wanted for my first contract, so I'm very excited to have that itinerary for my next contract. Below are the two most common itineraries for the Serenade in 2010:
No more annoying trips up the east coast of the US to get to Caribbean ports! Yes I know there are many people who like to sail the Explorer just because it leaves out of Bayonne, NJ to avoid the need to fly, and I can appreciate that. But it sucks for us crew, all of whom endure up to 10 severe climate transitions every month. It's difficult to deal with, because the human body simply isn't built to handle that kind of rapid change all the time. Not to mention, there is a lot more motion up and down the east cost of the US in the winter months and I'm certainly looking forward to leaving that behind.
As I am only about a month and a week away from the end of my current contract on the Explorer, I met with my production manager once again to discuss my progress toward lighting technician. She suggested that it would show great initiative on my part to go out and get training on the Wholehog lighting console at the manufacturer (High End Systems) during my vacation. Unfortunately, there are no training classes available during my 3 month vacation, but I have instead opted for a private training session at their Austin, Texas office. It is a bit more expensive than the shared class but I'm very much looking forward to having private instruction so that I can ask all my questions and soak up as much knowledge as I possibly can. Then I will continue my lighting maintenance on the Serenade as I have been doing on the Explorer and hopefully after a few months I will be able to submit my paperwork for promotion and get an interview for the lighting tech position.
On another topic, during our last visit to Labadee, Haiti I helped to offload 150 mattresses for the people in need after the earthquake. There were also several pallets of medical supplies and food. The next call to Labadee (two days from now) will see more medical supplies offloaded as well as 29,000 servings of food, the latter paid for exclusively from the proceeds of crew events.
I will continue to post as often as I can think of something to write about. Many thanks to those blog readers who have come up to say "hi" to me during their vacations on Explorer of the Seas in the past few months. It's great to know that so many people appreciate what I write.
No more annoying trips up the east coast of the US to get to Caribbean ports! Yes I know there are many people who like to sail the Explorer just because it leaves out of Bayonne, NJ to avoid the need to fly, and I can appreciate that. But it sucks for us crew, all of whom endure up to 10 severe climate transitions every month. It's difficult to deal with, because the human body simply isn't built to handle that kind of rapid change all the time. Not to mention, there is a lot more motion up and down the east cost of the US in the winter months and I'm certainly looking forward to leaving that behind.
As I am only about a month and a week away from the end of my current contract on the Explorer, I met with my production manager once again to discuss my progress toward lighting technician. She suggested that it would show great initiative on my part to go out and get training on the Wholehog lighting console at the manufacturer (High End Systems) during my vacation. Unfortunately, there are no training classes available during my 3 month vacation, but I have instead opted for a private training session at their Austin, Texas office. It is a bit more expensive than the shared class but I'm very much looking forward to having private instruction so that I can ask all my questions and soak up as much knowledge as I possibly can. Then I will continue my lighting maintenance on the Serenade as I have been doing on the Explorer and hopefully after a few months I will be able to submit my paperwork for promotion and get an interview for the lighting tech position.
On another topic, during our last visit to Labadee, Haiti I helped to offload 150 mattresses for the people in need after the earthquake. There were also several pallets of medical supplies and food. The next call to Labadee (two days from now) will see more medical supplies offloaded as well as 29,000 servings of food, the latter paid for exclusively from the proceeds of crew events.
I will continue to post as often as I can think of something to write about. Many thanks to those blog readers who have come up to say "hi" to me during their vacations on Explorer of the Seas in the past few months. It's great to know that so many people appreciate what I write.
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