Shiplife - Life of a Carnival Crewmember

[CrazieNCruisingGypsy2]

HELL NO!!! Next question :D

 

Alrighty then!

 

Would your family get a discount to go on a cruise? Does the CD get a room to himself?

[DJ Eddy]

What are the captain's quarters or room like? Is it a nice cabin like the suites? The CD and Navigator?

I have never been to the captain's cabin, never been invited. I know that on the older ships (holiday & fantasy class) that the captain, officers & dept head cabins are bigger & more spacious than on the newer, bigger ships. I have been to the CD's cabin... it's bigger than mine but no that big. The CD has his/her own room which has a window, has seperate bedroom with en-suite bathroom and seperate living room/office area. Another good thing about going to the CD's cabin, the Cd can order room service ;)

[Txladyofthelake]

Eddy, thanks for answering everyone's questions, I've enjoyed reading your responses. Also, happy belated birthday. :) My dh's birthday was New Year's Day, so we went on the Valor to celebrate - our first ocean cruise and it was awesome. We were very impressed with the crew and how hard everyone worked to make sure we all had a good time. Many, many thanks for all you and your fellow employees do!

 

My question has to do with the tip that is added to the S&S and how it's divided. Any thoughts about how and why Carnival decided on the particular percentages? Specifically, why is the waitstaff given so much more than the cabin stewards? Do the stewards get a higher base salary?

 

We ended up adding a much higher tip for our steward and her assistant to our S&S card at the end because we figured she spent so much time working to clean our cabin every day, whereas we only ate dinner in the dining room 5 nights out of 7 and the rest of the time we ate elsewhere.

[DJ Eddy]

Do you have internet access on board the ship? Do you pay for it?

Yes we have a crew internet cafe. We have to buy cards for $20 (for about 200ish mins) but the internet on the ship is soooo slow it's cheaper & quicker to go to inernet cafes in the ports of call

[Wylie Coyote]

Staff

Staffmembers are the hospitality, entertainment & sub-contracted staff which include... (pursers, shore-ex, photographers, IS managers, singers,

 

 

Hello Eddy,

 

Very interesting thread. just a note.... IS Managers are considered Officers. I only know this becuase I have a friend who is an IS Manager with Carnival. Not that it really matters....

 

Thanks for all the info.....

[jetskier]

Hi Eddy,

How was Becka doing on the Pride when you were onboard? She used to be the social host on the Holiday and is from Canada. You cant miss her as tall as she is.

 

Dave

[Tbay-eh]

:cool: :cool: Thank you for taking the time to answer all our questions. I have a couple of comments. I always tip the steward when we see him the first time - whether it is $20 or $50 we are treated like royalty thereafter. Never stiff on the tips - these people work their butts off for very little pay. The restaurants at $30 a head - more than worth it. My question is - we are on Liberty Feb 16th and want to do a go through tour of Panama Canal , any recommendations. Had a cousin working the Destiny in 2000 when it was the cruise to nowhere (propulsion unit shut down) best cruise I ever had.. Thanks Cindy:cool: :cool:

[deborahjo]

Just wanted to say thanks for your time when we were on the Liberty. You are totally awesome. Carnival is extremely lucky to have a DJ like you. Love you Man.

[DjVyrus69]

Another DJing question for you, do you have to have your own library of music, or does Carnival provide you with the music they want you to play?

 

IE I've never really noticed, but are you allowed to play music (mainly hip hop) that has foul language? Or are you required to play the radio edits of all the songs?

 

Also, are you part of a good record pool at all?

 

Another point, since you're a house head, what is your fave label? I always would go for a nice Hooj house, but lately I've gotten a lot of my stuff from www.beatport.com.

[krisbtr]

Eddy,

 

what does the gold name badge mean?????

[yst347]

Had a cousin working the Destiny in 2000 when it was the cruise to nowhere (propulsion unit shut down) best cruise I ever had.. Thanks Cindy:cool: :cool:

 

If this was the Valentine's Day cruise, we were on it also. :D ;) I felt so badly for the casino crew. By Thursday they had worked 5 straight 14 hour days, they were worn out and getting very sloppy. Even the pit bosses were chipping in, though they were even sloppier lol. This was our first Carnival cruise and we were hooked. We were treated top notch!

[DJ Eddy]

whats the funniest hing you have seen while on the ship?

The funniest thing... crikey I can't think of anything right now... i'll get back to you on that one

[DJ Eddy]

Alrighty then!

 

Would your family get a discount to go on a cruise? Does the CD get a room to himself?

yes we get friends & family discount to sail in a guest cabin. Family can also get complimentary cruises staying in crew cabins (this is for close family, parents, siblings, spouses etc and not for aunts, uncles, cousins, fiances or boyfriends/girlfriends).

 

Yes the CD has his/her own cabin

[rickcop44]

Eddy, a generic security question for you. As a retired police officer, I am always drawn to the type of security officers on board ship. My take is that the typical security officer is Filippino and really has little or no practical law enforcement experience. True? Why doesn't the cruise line hire former police officers, retired officers, military veterans, etc. to provide security? In all honesty, the security officers I've seen in my 17 years of cruising usually couldn't whip their way out of a wet paper bag, much less provide adequate security.

[DJ Eddy]

Eddy, thanks for answering everyone's questions, I've enjoyed reading your responses. Also, happy belated birthday. :) My dh's birthday was New Year's Day, so we went on the Valor to celebrate - our first ocean cruise and it was awesome. We were very impressed with the crew and how hard everyone worked to make sure we all had a good time. Many, many thanks for all you and your fellow employees do!

 

My question has to do with the tip that is added to the S&S and how it's divided. Any thoughts about how and why Carnival decided on the particular percentages? Specifically, why is the waitstaff given so much more than the cabin stewards? Do the stewards get a higher base salary?

 

We ended up adding a much higher tip for our steward and her assistant to our S&S card at the end because we figured she spent so much time working to clean our cabin every day, whereas we only ate dinner in the dining room 5 nights out of 7 and the rest of the time we ate elsewhere.

Thanks again for the nice comments.

I don't know how the gratuities get divided and what % goes to your waiter, or steward etc. I don't work in a tipping position so I don't know how the CPG pay works

[CrazieNCruisingGypsy2]

What, if anything, would you change about life on the ship?

[DJ Eddy]

Hello Eddy,

 

Very interesting thread. just a note.... IS Managers are considered Officers. I only know this becuase I have a friend who is an IS Manager with Carnival. Not that it really matters....

 

Thanks for all the info.....

Yes you're quite right, the IS managers are classed as officers and have to wear formal uniforms when in guest areas. The funny thing is, although they are classed as officers & have stripes they usually eat only in the staff mess and I don't think they are allowed into the casino... I could be wrong..?

[DJ Eddy]

Hi Eddy,

How was Becka doing on the Pride when you were onboard? She used to be the social host on the Holiday and is from Canada. You cant miss her as tall as she is.

 

Dave

I don't know Becka i'm afraid, she wasn't on the Pride when I got there

[DJ Eddy]

Never stiff on the tips - these people work their butts off for very little pay.

Very very true, they are the hardest working people in the world (literally)

 

My question is - we are on Liberty Feb 16th and want to do a go through tour of Panama Canal , any recommendations.

Thanks Cindy:cool: :cool:

Hmmm... yes there is a shore excursion to see the Panama Canal, and I would suggest you book it through the ship. Colon Panama is not a nice port, it is a very poor country and I personally don't get off there much as it is pretty damn scary. I would not reccomend going on an excursion in Panama that is not booked through the ship

[carnivalkim]

Hi Eddy I just wanted to say thank you again...This is so nice of you to take the time to answer our questions...:) ...It is very interesting...;)

[MistyRo76]

Just go and politely ask the DJ for some 80's music (i'm sure a tip would help ;) ). Yes, as i've said before, the majority of music is hip hop & rap as this is what gets requested the most and (sad but true) it fills the dancefloor every time above any other genre, I would imagine there will be some 80's music played in the disco anyways, there will probably be an 80's theme night or happy hour or something. It all depends on the crowd that cruise and what works or doesn't work with the crowd and the dancefloor.

 

That's the way I work anyway, I suppose it depends on how good & experienced the DJ is on the holiday..?

 

Eddy...thanks for answering the questions.

 

Like the poster you were replying to I also like the "oldies" 70's & 80's stuff. My last cruise the two DJ's in the night club were like night and day. The one would play just about anything that was requested and the dance floor was always full when he DJ'd (even when he was playing country songs out by the casino). The other wouldn't take requests and his dance floors were almost always empty. The only songs he played were the rap/hip-hop, which I don't mind as long as it's not really hard stuff. I have really found that the best DJ's really mix it up. I don't mind the rap stuff but don't want to hear for 3 straight hours.

 

Thanks again for coming on here and answering questions. Hopefully we will get to cruise with you sometime.

 

Misty

[DJ Eddy]

Another DJing question for you, do you have to have your own library of music, or does Carnival provide you with the music they want you to play?

 

IE I've never really noticed, but are you allowed to play music (mainly hip hop) that has foul language? Or are you required to play the radio edits of all the songs?

 

Also, are you part of a good record pool at all?

 

Another point, since you're a house head, what is your fave label? I always would go for a nice Hooj house, but lately I've gotten a lot of my stuff from www.beatport.com.

Carnival does provide the music. They receive promo only CDs which are edited for bad language. I also have my own CDs that I use when I can. I am not part of a record pool but don't really need to be when carnival provides the music.

 

Personally, my favourtie labels are Defected www.defected.com & Hed Kandi www.hedkandi.com and I get a lot of my vinyl, CDs & MP3s from juno www.juno.co.uk or traxsource www.traxsource.com

[Scotto97]

DJ Eddy - why will some DJ's only "play their own thing" regardless of what people request? This happens at dance clubs as well as on cruise ships.

 

Are they just too involved in the "art" of their trade with certain mixing styles thus forgeting their real job which is pleasing patrons?

 

I'd like your thoughts

[DJ Eddy]

Eddy,

 

what does the gold name badge mean?????

 

it means you're a carnival crewmember

 

 

next question

[DjVyrus69]

DJ Eddy - why will some DJ's only "play their own thing" regardless of what people request? This happens at dance clubs as well as on cruise ships.

 

Are they just too involved in the "art" of their trade with certain mixing styles thus forgeting their real job which is pleasing patrons?

 

I'd like your thoughts

 

As a fellow DJ just like Eddy, one key component to any DJ regardless of how well they mix, is reading the crowd. If the crowd is dancing mainly to a certain type of music you keep it going for longer, if they are not taking to it, then you have to switch it up immediately.

 

BUT, and big BUT, you have to make the bar/club happy too. Sometimes you have to play a song that gets people off the floor and to the bar to spend some money. But this is usually a 2 or 3 minute snippett of a bad song to get people off the floor, and the very next song you play has to be something that will get everyone back on the floor.

 

Example of songs that get people dancing:

 

Electric Slide

YMCA

Conga

A lot of disco songs

and in Miami, a lot of salsa and merengue.

OR just any type of song the crowd is reacting to.

 

It can't be a slow song, you will really kill the crowd, but crowd reading is a big part of a DJ's skill set.