Wow, nearly a month since my last post. I guess that would be because not much has happened. My family and some friends visited me on the ship a couple of weeks ago. That was a lot of fun but also very exhausting doing my usual workload everyday plus shore excursions in most ports. I found myself going to sleep at about 1am and waking up at 7:45 am for the next day's excursion almost everyday.
Ice cast install started on Sunday. Haven't really had a chance to meet the new cast but I'm sure that will happen sometime this week. I luckily managed to avoid being "on duty" this week and next which means I will miss most of the work involved with ice cast install (ice makes every couple of hours since they are constantly tearing it up). Just a few tech rehearsals next week as they get ready to put on their first show for an audience.
2 weeks ago I purchased a TIM USB 3G Internet stick for my laptop. It has turned out to be a great purchase because my ship ports in Italy 3x a week (TIM only operates in Italy for the most part). Cost of about €63 to purchase and activate the card, which included 40 hours free for the first month. Pay as you go cost of €9 per month which is also 40 hours. Most Italy days I can be found in Studio B surfing the internet on my laptop now. Speed is decent, with Livorno being the fastest (presumably due to having a lower population density than Naples and Civitavecchia, therefore fewer people using the service).
Getting a new roommate today. I like to clear out of the cabin for a few hours to give the guy a chance to unpack without being in the way all the time. So I guess I'll meet him later.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteSince you said you will be online a lot, I thought you might be able to answer some questions. My daughter is going to be working on NCL and she will be going to Europe and then Orlando. Do you have a cell service you use that is good? The ones on Verizon seem very expensive. Also, regarding medical insurance. Are you covered by your company when you are not on the ship? Thanks for your replies. She leaves on 9/18.
Love to answer questions, unfortunately they rarely come along on here.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing by the fact that you are talking about Verizon that she already has a Verizon cell that she can use in Orlando?
Regarding a cell service in Europe, I would guess that she is only going to be there for about a month and a half before the ship repositions. If that is the case, it may not be worth investing anything into a cellular service for that period. The ship will have a crew phone service available (some of them even work with cell phones, but only AT&T as far as I know) whereby one can purchase a crew phone card and use the phone in their cabin to call home. Rates for crew are not too bad. Also, Skype is becoming an increasingly popular option. Many crewmembers simply go to an internet cafe in port and call home using Skype, which is free except for the cost of the internet usage (seems to be about 1-3 Euro per hour for crew most places).
When the ship is relocated to Orlando, the cheapest cell service will be that in Orlando. Caribbean carriers have not caught up to the price points available in the rest of the world.
With RCI, we are not covered by any company medical insurance while on vacation (IE. if you step off the ship to visit a port for the day you are still covered. When your contract ends, you are no longer covered by anything). I would imagine NCL has a similar policy.
Hope that helps.
Ryan
Thank you so much for answering. I wanted to tell you that your blog has been great. She is a lighting technician and this is her first BIG job. She graduated from college last year and has been doing small off off Broadway and regional theater.
ReplyDeleteHer title is lounge tech. I gather this means that she will not be working in the larger venues but in the smaller ones on the ship. She is going on the Sun. We are hoping that they will have time to let her train on the larger lights. Her position seems to be very close to yours, from what I can gather. Although I don't think that she will have the fun of riding a Zamboni.
Can I ask more questions? How did you decide upon this career? Is the ship life everything you thought it would be? With working every day, how does it work that you get time to see any of the ports you visit.
As you can tell, my questions are many. I am excited for her, and although she has been away for college, this seems to be so much more.
Thank you so much for writing your blog and even a bigger thanks for answering me.
Stay Safe,
Maureen
We have lounge techs on RCI too, it's a much more independant position than mine (tech. stage staff) and other technician positions. Although the lounge tech reports to the head sound and light tech and the production manager, the work is usually as you said in the smaller venues and a good chance to work independently. Although you did say she is a lighting technician, I would hope for her sake that she is fairly strong as a sound tech as well because the lounge tech position is mainly about running sound for various bands, events, etc. The lighting in the smaller venues is generally more simple and requires little input. I haven't cruised with NCL but I have cruised on HAL, Carnival, RCI, Celebrity, and Cunard and they all seem to follow the same pattern when it comes to these things so I would imagine NCL would too.
ReplyDeleteI actually decided I wanted to be a light tech on ships when I was cruising on RCI's Adventure of the Seas during New Year's 2006-07. I had recently decided to leave the college I was attending for a degree in Electronics Engineering and didn't really have a plan in mind. I was watching a show in the theatre on Adventure when it dawned on me that I had been doing theatrical lighting for my whole high school career and I really enjoyed it... so why not pick that as a career? From there I applied to another college for a technical theatre production program, which I completed in April 09. Unfortunately, I have yet to make it to the actual light technician position that I have been working towards for nearly 4 years now. My intent is to make it happen by the end of this year because I really dislike the fact that I have so much training and knowledge in lighting and yet the job I do doesn't utilize any of it; rather everything I'm doing now I would have been equally competant in straight out of high school.
Ship life is just about what I expected it to be. I just wish I was in the position I expected to be in by now.
I do think your daughter will have some chances to work with the lighting equipment in the larger venues. The work we production staff do is largely focused in the evenings and this usually leaves the middle of the day free to explore ports or work on training for a promotion. The opportunity largely depends on how well she gets along with the current light technician on board. As somebody who has completed every step of the training, I have found that some light techs don't want me to work with them because (it seems) they are intimidated or something. On the other hand, I have had some who very much appreciate having a knowledgeable helper who may even be able to teach them a thing or two. I don't claim to know everything there is to know about lighting, and I appreciate every bit of knowledge I can gain along the way, as I always will no matter where I am in the career ladder.
I know this is a very long "comment" but I hope I have answered everything you wanted to know. Please don't hesitate to ask if anything else comes up.
Regards,
Ryan
Thank you for your long comment. It is worth its weight in gold. Your comment that ship life is what you expected is good I hope. My daughter likes a party, but doesn't drink. I hope that she fits in. She is a bit disappointed at the moment because at the last minute the job description was sent and she will be setting up projector's for meetings, etc. I think that NCL mis-represented some things to her. But she is leaving today. She is very nervous, as am I. You can tell because I am not even writing in paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteI hope the lighting tech's let her get some experience on the hog's. She has worked the last year and 1/2 doing shows off off broadway and has even designed some shows. She was looking to get experience on the larger equipment. Hoping even that some of the lounges might have equipment that need programming. As for sound. She is not great with it. They never mentioned it to her.
Does the six months go by quickly? How do you spend your "off" time on the ship? Do people leave their contracts if they are unhappy? I am not hoping this for her. I hope she has a great time. It was so much work to get the contract in the first place.
One last question and it is personal. Are you able to save any money? The pay is not large, but we figure with the free room and board and the fact that she doesn't drink, she will be able to save. What do you think?
Stay safe,
Maureen
One more question, if you don't mind. Do you get paid when you are off the ship?
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Yep ship life is alright. I don't think she'll have a problem if she likes to party but doesn't drink. It's unfortunate that the job description was not supplied in advance. Hopefully she'll be OK.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I have to work in 2 minutes so I'll try to answer your questions quickly.
Six months goes by quickly when you look back on it, but the last couple of months seem to go on forever when you are actually living them.
Off the ship, usually go and find a place to have lunch, occasionally some shopping, and excursions are usually available for crew as well.
People do leave their contracts if unhappy. As long as two weeks notice is given (with RCI) you also remain eligible for rehire in the future.
Personally, I am not saving money as I am paying off student debt. Otherwise, yes I think i would be able to save plenty. Especially if she is not drinking, she shouldn't have too many expenses on board.
With RCI we get a vacation pay at the end of our contract which builds up every month of the contract. The final amount of the vacation pay is approximately 2 weeks' worth of regular pay.
Hope that helps,
Ryan