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
Interesting - I'm keen to read more!
I agree, I had a friend who use to work on Cruise ships and he always told me that you gotta be a special kinda person to live the life.
Right on! I'll post more about these people and our places and experiences :-)
Wow thanks for the insights into the other side of cruising.
So much more... I'll keep you updated :-)
ADVENTURE!! Yasssssssss!! 💚
Miss you.
I miss you so much I ache... Need a friend like you around <3 (But there IS no one like YOU) :-D
Awesome!!!
Wow this is really interesting, thanks for sharing. Went on a cruise and was really impressed with the entertainers but was wondering about exactly what you described in this article.
Best of luck on your future voyages!
I'll be writing more... What's REALLY going on below deck hahaha
The wandering minstrel.. love it
:-)
Welcome to Steemit, @thisiskrista
Very much looking forward to hearing more from you. I'm a sailor, but not a performer. I am following you now, @thisiskrista. Thanks!
Sounds fun but also exhausting to be away from home soon long. Great post
It truly is... for most. Some of us don't have the feeling of "home" and are like sea gypsies :-) Others... from different countries... don't get to speak to their wives and children for weeks or see them for months :-( They work to send money back home. they don't get any days off... and are paid pennies compared to Americans or Europeans. I'll tell more of their stories too... <3 It is very VERY lonely sometimes. We all have each other at certain times though. We all have that loneliness in common.
I love this very much.
Living on the ocean again would be a lot of fun. I don't know about living on a cruise ship as a performer but I still think the time off would be a lot of fun.
Right now I live 2 hours from the coast and I took a job here 3 months ago. Best pay I have ever been given so I couldn't turn it down. I mean it was also 13 hours closer to the coast so I couldn't say no either way.
Amazing pictures, and I wish you the best of luck!
~ @Timbo
That is commitment to your craft, for sure! Have a great time on this contract.
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I'd love to invite you to an AMA account (askme) to do one sometime. Let me know!
Hope to see you on one of your sailings this contract... like in November with Brenda 😎
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Hey Krista!!! I see JAMAICA!!! nice! how was your trip here and is it one of the places where you had a great experience? If its not then I'm re-inviting you back for a much better experience. 5 to 6hrs in a country would be too short for a genuinely true experience.
That is super awesome! Welcome to steemit by the way, I'm discovering all kinds of my Springfield friends on here lately!
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