My New Position

I'm now getting settled into my new job here on Voyager of the Seas as a Light Technician.  All the paperwork is done, and I've also received my next contract offer.  Leaving Voyager on Feb. 27 and coming back to the same ship (no surprises there) on May 1.  It will be awesome to spend nearly 5 months sailing out of Venice, Italy.  In fact, every port on the itinerary should be great.  I'll have to try really hard not to spend all of my money in port next contract haha.

Now that I'm a light tech instead of stage staff, my duties have changed and responsibilities have increased considerably.  My two main venues are Studio B (the ice rink), and the Royal Promenade (AKA the mall, the street, and whatever else guests call it the first time they see it).  For the technically inclined, below is a list of fixtures in those venues (which I am responsible for repairs, maintenance, changing lamps, etc.)

Studio B

Ice Odyssey ice show

• 18 Lightwave Studio Color 575s
• 12 Martin MAC 500s
• 12 Lightwave Cyberlight SVs (half of which are to be replaced by MAC 700s which we already have onboard but cannot use until the show is redesigned for them in Feb.)
• 12 Martin MAC 250 washes
• 4 Martin MAC 250 entours
• about 10 data flash strobes
• 8 "9-lites" with scrollers (AKA the biggest pain in my life right now), to be replaced by Elation LED ELAR216s (also in Feb.)
• 100 or so source 4s (combination of pars and ERS)
• dimming for conventionals accomplished by about 280 ETC Sensor Dimmers in 3 racks
• 1 DF-50 Diffusion Hazer

 all driven by a Wholehog 2 console... unfortunately (it's a really old system).

I'm also responsible for Royal Promenade lighting:

The Royal Promenade on Country Western night

• 12 Martin MAC 600s
• 12 Martin MAC 250 Entours
• 4 Martin MAC 500s
• 4 Martin MAC 250 washes
• 8 Chauvet Colorado1 LED wash lights
• about 20 Source 4 ERS and PARs
• 1 rack of ETC sensor dimmers
• 3 DF-50 Diffusion Hazers

all driven by a computer running Hog 2 PC (on loan from shoreside, the Hog2 for this venue is not working)

and the Vault Nightclub:

The Vault

• 12 Martin Mania SCX700
• 4 Martin Mania SCX500
• 8 Martin Smart MAC

Controlled by Martin LightJockey


That's 112 moving fixtures that I am responsible for, plus a bunch of other lights and associated equipment which also require maintenance.  It's a job that never ends, but I'm glad that I'll be coming back to this ship because it means I get to benefit from all of the work I'm doing right now when I come back.  Many of these fixtures have been left for more than a year without proper maintenance and therefore I have created a new maintenance schedule for my Production Manager both to track my own maintenance work and to ensure that my replacement (for my 2 month vacation) takes on a couple of maintenance tasks as well so that I do not come back to a totally broken ship (lighting-wise).

Now, off to go work on the Vault so that I can hopefully get it back to what it looks like in the photo above... it certainly doesn't look that way right now haha.