This morning I am in New Orleans at the New Orleans Convention Centre sipping some Starbucks peppermint hot chocolate and enjoying all the free wi-fi I can get. It's been far too long since I was on a proper Internet connection.
There has been lots going on recently but the biggest news is the Martina McBride concert taking place on Voyager of the Seas today. We loaded in a ton of equipment for them on Nov. 12 and 3 of their techs sailed with us during the last cruise so that they could set up overnight last night for the concert. Among their gear we had to carry a 900lb analog console from the stage to the sound booth, along with 2 effects racks. This begs the question-- why not just use our beautiful DiGiCo D5 Live console which is already there and available? It is digital, has double the number of channels, can do all the things those FX racks can do, and it is right there and waiting. But no, instead a massive wooden coffin was constructed around our very nice console in order to put this 900 lb beast on top. I'm just hoping that the thing doesn't collapse...
Should be a very interesting event. Apparently there will be free admission to all Crown & Anchor members which is a very nice treat/surprise for them. We will also be simulcasting the event in Studio B and as far as I understand that will be open to all guests. Myself, I simply hope to find room for myself at the back of the house so that I can keep an eye on everything. Sure they brought their own techs and what not but as Head Sound & Light I probably have a duty to be on hand in case I'm needed...
Other than that I thoroughly enjoyed last cruise, got off for lunch in both Cozumel and Grand Cayman, which was great and I expect to do so again this cruise. From what I have heard there is still very little for crew to do in Falmouth, Jamaica so I will continue to refrain from visiting there.
There is a lot more I could say right now but Wal-Mart is calling me so I must be going. I will try to post a few more updates before the end of this contract. Only 4 more cruises to go! Then I will be home with my family and actually being home for Christmas this year which will be a nice change.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Another cast install
This has been a rather hectic month so far. To start with, 3 weeks ago we had our annual DNV audit. DNV is the company that certifies Royal Caribbean ships as being safe to sail. Only a few minor things came up in the production areas as issues and we were luckily able to fix them right away, but there were other areas of the ship where more work was needed. Nonetheless everybody worked hard to get everything resolved all over the ship and actually we did very well overall. The week after was our SQM audit. SQM is our internal regulatory system which governs how we operate internally as a company so they look at many of the same things as the DNV guys, with an added focus on overall management of the ship and how well we comply to company policies. Once again there were a few issues here and there, but overall everybody did quite well. At the same time SQM auditors came onboard, the new ice cast also arrived to start rehearsing Ice Odyssey for two weeks.
Now this week, I have my mother and a family friend visiting, while at the same time we have cast install ongoing, and also a large group who are using the theatre and/or pool deck almost every night for an event. It's just been crazy and it's not going to get better right away either. Next week we have a certain important person coming onboard and while I will not say who it is for their own privacy, suffice to say that it is an individual that is very important when it comes to Royal Caribbean's ice shows in particular. I have to work extra hard to make sure that all of my lights are in absolutely perfect order for next week. On top of that, next week we also have our next Lounge Technician coming onboard who is a re-hire (thank goodness) will have a one-week handover before our current Lounge tech signs off at the end of the week. Next week we will also have a new cruise director starting. All of this had made it a bit of an unfortunate time for my mom to be onboard because I cannot be away from work as much as I maybe could at other times of my contract. However, I have still managed to get away enough to visit Ravenna with her yesterday as well as eat dinner in the Dining Room. The second half of the week should be a bit better, except for the many ice show rehearsals that will be going and and will definitely get in the way a bit.
Only 80 days left til my vacation (by my estimate). So far I do not have a definitive replacement/sign-off date but I can definitely feel the difference in the length of this contract compared to the last one which I had extended by 5-6 weeks.
Also, anyone looking to cruise Asia next year needs to book NOW. My mom just booked her two cruises for next year and apparently the cabins are already slim pickings even though the Voyager Asia cruises opened up for bookings only 3 weeks ago or so.
Now this week, I have my mother and a family friend visiting, while at the same time we have cast install ongoing, and also a large group who are using the theatre and/or pool deck almost every night for an event. It's just been crazy and it's not going to get better right away either. Next week we have a certain important person coming onboard and while I will not say who it is for their own privacy, suffice to say that it is an individual that is very important when it comes to Royal Caribbean's ice shows in particular. I have to work extra hard to make sure that all of my lights are in absolutely perfect order for next week. On top of that, next week we also have our next Lounge Technician coming onboard who is a re-hire (thank goodness) will have a one-week handover before our current Lounge tech signs off at the end of the week. Next week we will also have a new cruise director starting. All of this had made it a bit of an unfortunate time for my mom to be onboard because I cannot be away from work as much as I maybe could at other times of my contract. However, I have still managed to get away enough to visit Ravenna with her yesterday as well as eat dinner in the Dining Room. The second half of the week should be a bit better, except for the many ice show rehearsals that will be going and and will definitely get in the way a bit.
Only 80 days left til my vacation (by my estimate). So far I do not have a definitive replacement/sign-off date but I can definitely feel the difference in the length of this contract compared to the last one which I had extended by 5-6 weeks.
Also, anyone looking to cruise Asia next year needs to book NOW. My mom just booked her two cruises for next year and apparently the cabins are already slim pickings even though the Voyager Asia cruises opened up for bookings only 3 weeks ago or so.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Time is Flying By...
I can't believe I'm already halfway through this contract. The past month or so has been quite busy for me. I received my new Road Hog console Aug. 13, so I spent the following 3 days working very hard on getting the rest of the showfile converted and was able to start using the new console that same week for shows. Since then,. I haven't had a single problem and programming anything has been a breeze.
As expected, I also ended up being promoted to Head Sound & Light technician, also on August 13. A few extra responsibilities and a bit more pay but otherwise nothing has changed. Things seem to be running smoothly so far though.
Itineraries for Asia have now been released internally so while I cannot say right now what is going to be available, I will say that there is going to be a lot of variety and we are going to be very busy I am sure as some cruises are as short as 3 days and as long as 7 so the schedule will be constantly changing and it is going to be a big undertaking to make sure that everyone is in the right places at the right times for shows and events all around the ship.
As expected, I also ended up being promoted to Head Sound & Light technician, also on August 13. A few extra responsibilities and a bit more pay but otherwise nothing has changed. Things seem to be running smoothly so far though.
Itineraries for Asia have now been released internally so while I cannot say right now what is going to be available, I will say that there is going to be a lot of variety and we are going to be very busy I am sure as some cruises are as short as 3 days and as long as 7 so the schedule will be constantly changing and it is going to be a big undertaking to make sure that everyone is in the right places at the right times for shows and events all around the ship.
Monday, July 25, 2011
A new toy is on the way...
I can't believe I haven't written anything in over a month... I guess nothing overly exciting has happened. Since my last post I have accepted an offer from our personnel scheduler to come back to the Voyager of the Seas for the Asia season in 2012, I am supposed to join on or around Feb. 18. This would mean I should be home for both Christmas and my birthday which would be really great. Also, when I return I will be in the theatre which is good news because as much as I love Studio B and the Ice Odyssey show, I will probably be pretty bored of it come the end of this contract. It will also give me more chances to program shows since I will be programming guest entertainer shows in the theatre.
My lighting console in Studio B (a Wholehog II) has developed a number of problems over the last month or so to the point now that it is no longer usable. Luckily we have a spare PC-based console on the ship which was on loan from head office in Miami while our Promenade console was away being repaired and we hadn't really gotten around to sending it back to them after we got the promenade console back. So for now I am using the PC console and so far there haven't been any major issues, just small tweaks needed here and there to keep things running.
I had sent an e-mail to our fleet sound, lighting, and rigging specialist in Miami to express my concern in repeatedly repairing our old consoles and to my surprise he responded that he had a Road Hog console just sitting around the office and offered it to our ship as a replacement for the old Hog 2. We should be receiving it sometime next month I would guess. It will be really nice to have a new toy to play with, with many added capabilities, not to mention something more reliable than the Hog 2 (ours are all 12 years old and each has SOME kind of issue). I sent my Hog showfiles off to the manufacturer today in order to have them converted into the newer format. Since the conversion process doesn't convert every last bit of the file, there will be some work still for me to do in order to get Ice Odyssey looking the same as it did before. That will not be a problem at all for me since I was present during the recent visit of our lighting designer in February and during that time I absorbed a lot of information about the show that I will be able to use to touch-up the show (in addition to videos from past shows, if needed).
So far there is still no real update on the itineraries for the 2012 Asia season, other than the crossing from New Orleans to Singapore. That will be one heck of a cruise and something I am really looking forward to. It will contain calls in the Bahamas, Azores, Spain, Egypt, the Suez Canal, Dubai, Goa, India, and Malaysia over a period of 6 weeks, broken up into 3 cruises.
Also, our current Head Sound and Light Technician is going to be signing off in just over 2 weeks and it sounds as though I am the most likely successor. It will be good experience for me to have, plus I am already contributing a lot to the overall running of all things technical as it is right now so I think if I am chosen I will settle into the position just fine.
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| Wholehog II |
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| Road Hog |
I had sent an e-mail to our fleet sound, lighting, and rigging specialist in Miami to express my concern in repeatedly repairing our old consoles and to my surprise he responded that he had a Road Hog console just sitting around the office and offered it to our ship as a replacement for the old Hog 2. We should be receiving it sometime next month I would guess. It will be really nice to have a new toy to play with, with many added capabilities, not to mention something more reliable than the Hog 2 (ours are all 12 years old and each has SOME kind of issue). I sent my Hog showfiles off to the manufacturer today in order to have them converted into the newer format. Since the conversion process doesn't convert every last bit of the file, there will be some work still for me to do in order to get Ice Odyssey looking the same as it did before. That will not be a problem at all for me since I was present during the recent visit of our lighting designer in February and during that time I absorbed a lot of information about the show that I will be able to use to touch-up the show (in addition to videos from past shows, if needed).
So far there is still no real update on the itineraries for the 2012 Asia season, other than the crossing from New Orleans to Singapore. That will be one heck of a cruise and something I am really looking forward to. It will contain calls in the Bahamas, Azores, Spain, Egypt, the Suez Canal, Dubai, Goa, India, and Malaysia over a period of 6 weeks, broken up into 3 cruises.
Also, our current Head Sound and Light Technician is going to be signing off in just over 2 weeks and it sounds as though I am the most likely successor. It will be good experience for me to have, plus I am already contributing a lot to the overall running of all things technical as it is right now so I think if I am chosen I will settle into the position just fine.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Voyager of the Seas Heading to Asia?
It's true. In May 2012 the Voyager of the Seas will be re-located to Asia, doing a few cruises out of Singapore, then the rest of the summer will be spent sailing out of Shanghai. In October, the ship will once again be re-located, this time to Australia and New Zealand. Voyager of the Seas will be the largest cruise ship in Asia, and the first with an ice skating rink and indoor promenade. It's odd to think that about how much we take this ship for granted as crew members, or indeed even as guests in Europe and North America. Being almost 12 years old, Voyager of the Seas is nothing new to anyone here, however when we become the first Voyager-class ship to sail out of Asia, this ship represents many firsts that have never been offered on a cruise ship in that part of the world before.
The itineraries have not been finalized yet, but it sounds like we will be doing a few cruises out of Singapore to start with, followed by spending the Summer sailing out of Shanghai, and finally being repositioned to Australia and New Zealand for the winter season. At this point it is not clear if I will be coming back to Voyager for my next contract or going to a different ship. Luckily enough though, our head office sent out an e-mail request to all production managers to ask if they would like to request any specific technicians to stay with their ship for more than one contract. The premise of this is of course to assist in building a knowledgeable team on board, which particularly for techs takes some time as we really need to know the ship bow-to-stern as it relates to our job; but of course it would work in my favour if I get to come back to sail to Asia. It seems likely that my Production Manager, Marie, will submit my name to have me return to this ship as everything in my venues runs smoothly (lighting-wise) while I'm here.
This past Friday and Saturday there was a press conference in Studio B that is part of a program to promote Voyager of the Seas to Italian cruisers while we are in Italy. Everything went off without any problem despite some lack of information being provided in some cases.
Right now I am saving up for a new laptop so I haven't really been out in any of the ports, except a brief couple of hours in Venice. I am looking forward to possibly taking a couple of tours as a Tour Escort. So far it sounds like we don't have any "dud" ports -- that is, ports where there is nothing to do-- on this itinerary, so when I do have the time and money to go exploring I will definitely do so.
The itineraries have not been finalized yet, but it sounds like we will be doing a few cruises out of Singapore to start with, followed by spending the Summer sailing out of Shanghai, and finally being repositioned to Australia and New Zealand for the winter season. At this point it is not clear if I will be coming back to Voyager for my next contract or going to a different ship. Luckily enough though, our head office sent out an e-mail request to all production managers to ask if they would like to request any specific technicians to stay with their ship for more than one contract. The premise of this is of course to assist in building a knowledgeable team on board, which particularly for techs takes some time as we really need to know the ship bow-to-stern as it relates to our job; but of course it would work in my favour if I get to come back to sail to Asia. It seems likely that my Production Manager, Marie, will submit my name to have me return to this ship as everything in my venues runs smoothly (lighting-wise) while I'm here.
This past Friday and Saturday there was a press conference in Studio B that is part of a program to promote Voyager of the Seas to Italian cruisers while we are in Italy. Everything went off without any problem despite some lack of information being provided in some cases.
Right now I am saving up for a new laptop so I haven't really been out in any of the ports, except a brief couple of hours in Venice. I am looking forward to possibly taking a couple of tours as a Tour Escort. So far it sounds like we don't have any "dud" ports -- that is, ports where there is nothing to do-- on this itinerary, so when I do have the time and money to go exploring I will definitely do so.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Busy Back on Board
Hard to believe I've been onboard for more than 2 weeks and have not posted anything yet. Just goes to show how busy it has been!
Coming back to the same ship is something I haven't experienced before. It's nice to see so many familiar faces, not just within the production team but all over the ship as well. The other 3 times I have signed onto a ship, I didn't recognize more than 1-2 people and it took some time to feel comfortable. This was not the case this time however, and as soon as I got onboard I immediately set about writing out plans for how I'm going to get my venues back in top shape.
Unfortunately there has been a lack of maintenance with some of my fixtures while I was away, leaving a bit of a pile-up for me upon my return. This, coupled with the double charter cruise we did last week, has lead to an extremely busy first couple of weeks... with no end in sight at this point. The charter was especially demanding on all of us. We had two 3.5 day cruises with a total of about 5000 guests between the two, and 100% of them were from France. It was very unusual hearing all of the usual announcements made over the PA solely in French. We were expected to compress many of our usual activities of a 7 day cruise into each 3ish day cruise. This meant doing 6 ice shows, 4 parades, 6 theme nights, 2 captains welcome receptions, and 8 production shows during a 7 day period where we would normally only have half as many (with the exception of the ice shows, of which we usually have 4 in a week).
A nice benefit of this charter was getting to sail into Istanbul on what is probably the largest ship ever to call there. Istanbul is one port where you definitely do not want to miss the sail-in. I went up to the Helipad while we sailed into Istanbul so that I would have the best possible view.
This week we started cast install in the theatre. Since my 4 follow spot operators in Studio B are usually dancers, this means I will have a bit more difficult time getting spot cues done correctly over the next few weeks as generally the replacements that are sent to me have not used a follow spot before. In a few weeks time they will have learned all their shows/events and then I will finally be able to start teaching them the spot cues for Ice Odyssey. It’s a difficult show when it comes to spot cues so it’s really important to consistently have the same people doing it every time. By the time they’re halfway through their contract, generally spot operators will have memorized all of their cues and I will no longer have to call them. Unfortunately for me, I missed most of the second half of the previous dancers’ contracts so I never really got to sit back and watch the show a bit without having to call the spot cues. The solution to this is to record the spot cues… which I will be doing sometime next month after I have the money to buy the equipment and software to do it. The beauty of buying my own stuff is that I can take it to every ship and use it over and over with different shows which will be great.
I’m currently typing this from my cabin onboard. Using my TIM 3G USB stick I am able to get Internet in my cabin, courtesy of the porthole which I am very lucky to have (I believe there is only 1 tech cabin with a port hole).
Anyway, better get back to work.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
How I know this job is the right fit for me
I have been on vacation just about a month now and I have to say that although I love being home, I also find myself missing the ship. This never happened when I was a stage staff, but as a light tech I enjoy my job so much that even during my vacation I'm thinking about things I'm going to accomplish when I get back.
In the past few weeks my mom has both sold her current house and bought a new one, so my last few weeks of vacation are going to be spent moving and doing some wiring at the new place.
One last thing: I don't know if there are any first time cruisers reading this blog, but if there are MAKE SURE YOU SEE THE ICE SHOWS (if you are on an RCI ship that has them). I truly can't believe the number of people who never even get to Studio B until the last day of the cruise and sometimes those guests will ask me when the ice show is and it's painful to tell them that they're too late. The showtimes are advertised both in the cruise compass and by the cruise director at every possible opportunity. Even if you don't THINK you'll enjoy the show, just go. Give it a chance, what's it going to cost you, 45 minutes? It's worth it.
In the past few weeks my mom has both sold her current house and bought a new one, so my last few weeks of vacation are going to be spent moving and doing some wiring at the new place.
One last thing: I don't know if there are any first time cruisers reading this blog, but if there are MAKE SURE YOU SEE THE ICE SHOWS (if you are on an RCI ship that has them). I truly can't believe the number of people who never even get to Studio B until the last day of the cruise and sometimes those guests will ask me when the ice show is and it's painful to tell them that they're too late. The showtimes are advertised both in the cruise compass and by the cruise director at every possible opportunity. Even if you don't THINK you'll enjoy the show, just go. Give it a chance, what's it going to cost you, 45 minutes? It's worth it.
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