When you book your vacation on a cruise ship, you see those mysterious people... dressed their best... always smiling. Singing, dancing, performing comedy, entertaining... all to ensure YOU have the best time on your vacation.
I am one of those :-)
Have you ever wondered what it's like to LIVE on a ship for 6-9 months straight?
It may be exactly what you imagine, or nothing at all what you thought. I think it's both.
^^ that's me in my little ship cabin (you never see the crew level from where YOU would be staying.) I'm in my "Motown Genre" attire.
First... to prepare, you are flown to an unfamiliar location (in my case, 30 minutes outside of Miami, Florida) and surrender any amount of familiarity or individual life you had. You are placed in a decent condo (for free) usually shared with several other cruise ship entertainers (by gender.)
I am in a 3-bedroom condo with 4 other females. We either share rooms (two, twin-sized beds per room) or one of us is lucky enough to have a room to herself (this case being... me.) Sometimes these places are very nice. Even though you don't have transportation, you're within walking distance of a grocery store, CVS and other places (including where you go to work every day.) Condos usually have a pool/hot tub, gym, etc.
For one month, every day (except Saturday) from 10:30 A.M. until 5:30 A.M., you rehearse with the group you are assigned to. Usually, you have never met any of these people... sometimes, if you find a group you really enjoy working with, you can ask to be assigned the same ship again for your next contract and stick together as a family. You have to be O.K. with feeling very "alone" at times. You need tough skin. Must be emotionally, mentally/psychologically and spiritually flexible.
I'm the only female in a music band of 5 other men, whom I've never met prior to this contract. This is a risk haha but sometimes you luck out and get the greatest people! The "MD" or Musical Director, is one of the musicians/singers in the band and usually keeps the music organized and is in charge of all communication between the corporation/ship and the band. You are told to come up with an entertaining band name for people to recognize you in the ship schedule and want to come see your live music :-) We cover KNOWN music from genres: Motown, Classic Rock Era, 90's, Disco/Boogie Nights, Modern Pop/R&B, 80's... etc. etc. etc.
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^^ DISCO FEVER!!!! haha
SO... after learning/rehearsing HUNDREDS of well-known songs for a month with your band... every day for 6 hours a day, 6 days a week for 4 weeks... You are sent your flight information to where you'll be flown before boarding your ship for 6 months. I've JUST finished my month of rehearsals (as of today!!!) This is my 3rd cruise ship contract. My band and I fly out in 2 days.
Once I board the ship... I have to take a LOT of safety training courses and courses on ship life itself... You're living on the ocean for 6 months, so you need proper training as a SAILOR (not just entertainer.) These courses are sometimes intense... and I am now a certified Sea-farer for 4 years :-) Trainings, emergency drills (where sometimes you can't leave the ship to go on land when everyone else CAN,) all sorts of responsibilities.
Yes I'm allowed to go on land (if I don't have a training to keep me on the ship.) The amount of time I can spend on LAND... is 5-6 hours for one or two days a week. I can see beautiful places. I meet HUNDREDS... sometimes thousands of people per contract. When you're on a vessel working closely with the same people... it gets "interesting." Thousands of people representing different cultures, languages, religions, beliefs, etc. ALL working together.
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Gets VERY still and quiet on the ocean...
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Jamaica
I have some beautiful stories. I have some horror stories hahaha
We'll see what happens THIS contract :-)
@thisiskrista