Shiplife - Life of a Carnival Crewmember

[ash4020]

My boyfriend and I have talked about doing working on a ship. I'm assuming we would have to be married to room together. How hard would it be to get on the ship for concurrent contracts if we were to be married?

[HoopTroop]

Is the shore ex manager on the big CQ right now, I love to get the scoop from him on things. I am enjoying your post, thank you!

 

HoopTroop

[DJ Eddy]

Ok, what are the 5 best and worst things about working on a cruise ship? Why did you decide to do it - what would make you give it up?

Ok then... firstly a bit of DJ Eddy history for ya...

 

I started with carnival cruise lines in July 2005. I have been DJing in bars & clubs around the West Yorkshire area in the towns of Wakefield, Leeds & Dewsbury since about 1998/99 playing mainly house & dance music. I was working full time in a telephone bank/ call centre, I was a mortgage assessor/ credit approvals. There were some redundancies in our department and they asked for volunteers, I volunteered and doubted I would qualify for it as I had been there for 5 years. I did get granted the redundancy as a lot of other people had been there for 10+ years so it was cheaper for them to get rid of me. I got a nice handshake and pay out and thought right time for a new start.

I was initially going to go & work out in Spain for the summer season DJing wherever I could get work but I was sick of bar managers & owners promising this n that in England, didn't really want all that hassle in Spain or somewhere else in Europe. My parents had been on 4 carnival cruises and although taking a cruise as a holiday didn't appeal to me she put the idea of working as a DJ on a ship into my head. I weighed up the pros & cons of working in Spain or on a ship and the way i saw it on a ship I have a guaranteed job & income, plus food & accomadation. I then applied through carnival's website, sent them my CV. They contacted me fairly quickly advising there were vacancies and then I had to get a US C1D Visa from the US Embassy in London and a full medical examination from my local GP (thank god for the NHS in the UK). Next thing I received my employment letter and flight details and off I flew to Orlando and onto the Fantasy in July 2005. The Fantasy was my first contract and my least favourite ship but I did a lot of growing up on there and it taught me a lot about what I want out of life... it changed me for the better.

At the end of my first contract I was ready to go home and unsure whether I wanted to do another but I said yes to the Conquest in April '06. I then went on the big CQ and had probably the best 6 months of my life so far on that ship... I've never looked back since..!

 

The 5 best things about working on a ship...

1. meeting people from all over the world (crew mainly but we do get some international guests aswell)

2. getting to see beatuiful places in the caribbean I would have to pay a lot to fly to

3. working full time doing something I love

4. this one is quite individual to me but I really feel like there's a good fmaily aspect to it. I am an only child so sharing a cabin with someone is something I enjoy as I never had any brothers or sisters I had to share with as a child.

5. working in the vacation industry, being around guests that are there to have a good time and knowing you are a part of that

 

notice that none of those mentioned the money aspect and how it is a great way to save money... your food & accomadation is free so the money you earn is yours to spend on whatever

 

The worst 5 things...

1. my mom's cooking, well good food in general. I do miss English cuisine when i'm on a ship. I actually lose weight as the mess food isn't the best

2. family & friends, yes I suppose this should be no 1 but I need to food to survive. I do miss my parents but I speak to them regularly and get them on a ship whenever they can, even though I miss them I have never been homesick. I do miss my family & friends but my hometown is a hole, nothing there for me anymore

3. a good night out, this is the no 1 thing I do genuinely miss about England, the nightlife. Being a fan of house/techno/dance music I miss hearing & dancing like a madman to that music. I miss the adventure of a good Saturday night out around Leeds, getting ready to go out, going to the local pub for a few cheap pints, catching the train into Leeds, going to some of my fav bars for cocktails then going to a club and jumping around until 8am then getting the train home. I just can't let myself go to hip hop, I find it too slow to dance to. Unfortunately music is an important thing to me so this is something I miss a lot.

4. good draught beer, on a good night out you have to have a good pint. Whether it be Guinness, Timothy Taylor's Landlord (a fav bitter of mine) or a nice lager, a good pint is all part & parcel of a good british night out.

5. bad attitude & rudeness of some guests, no explanation required... just sometimes there's no need for it.

 

What would make me give it up..?

Probably if I could get a "proper" DJ job on land playing the music I love in a club where the crowd really appreciates it. Some people back home think I have sold out working on ships playing all the r n b stuff instead of sticking with what's in my heart & soul. To these people I laugh, they're just stuck in a full time job they hate & DJ occasionally on a weekend... I know I used to do it myself. In a way shiplife is like a fake reality, so many people come n go in a six month period and it's like you can do anything you like then when you go home at the end of your contract it doesn't matter because no-one will know about it. I also know I don't want to be on ships forever and I would love to DJ somewhere regularly, in a good house venue. The DJ industry is extremely hard to get into (in the Uk especially, DJs are like superstars over here, it is in the top 10 occupations kids wan to be when they leave school). I suppose I am chickening out by not staying in the UK but I feel i've been there & done that and you don't get anywhere unless you're a real kiss ass (it's all about who you know and not what you know). Sorry but i'm not a brown nose so I plan to save up enough money to set up & promote my own club nights. Not sure where yet but I have ideas and some friends & contacts who have promoted before so they have the experience and guidance to aid me in my musical quest.

 

So there you have it, you know a little bit more about me now... oh yeah and if there are any club promoters out there that want a reliable solid English house DJ my my space details are below ;)

[DJ Eddy]

My boyfriend and I have talked about doing working on a ship. I'm assuming we would have to be married to room together. How hard would it be to get on the ship for concurrent contracts if we were to be married?

Firstly it depends on what position you are applying for as to whether carnival would accept you (they usually don't have USC's Brits or Canadians as crew... bartenders, waiters/waitresses or housekeeping). You would probably be able to get a ship together, canrival are usually pretty good with the couples thing but your first contract you may be apart. That's a whole 6 months apart... that's a long time if you're in a serious relationship

[kcdancerkc]

wow - nobody is bashing anyone on this - LOL --Too bad they don't need social worker's on ships - or if they do they aren't telling anyone about it! What do crew-staff do when they are having a crisis or just regular run of the mill problems with staff, family, life in general, depression, etc.....And if you can remember anything of the funniest stuff you've seen crew or passengers do - I could use a good laugh - not sailing out of this chilly weather again until MAY on the Glory. Thanks.....oh one other thing....I am a dance-a-holic and appreciate a DJ with a good balance who can read a crowd and not go from playing Garth Brooks mixing right into Billy Idol!:D

[DJ Eddy]

wow - nobody is bashing anyone on this - LOL --Too bad they don't need social worker's on ships - or if they do they aren't telling anyone about it! What do crew-staff do when they are having a crisis or just regular run of the mill problems with staff, family, life in general, depression, etc.....And if you can remember anything of the funniest stuff you've seen crew or passengers do - I could use a good laugh - not sailing out of this chilly weather again until MAY on the Glory. Thanks.....oh one other thing....I am a dance-a-holic and appreciate a DJ with a good balance who can read a crowd and not go from playing Garth Brooks mixing right into Billy Idol!:D

There have been discussions on the ships about having councellors or someone to talk to. On the Conquest a passenger committed suicide and the medical staff and security were a bit shook up by it. At the same time this happened the Tsunami hit in Indonesia so they actually brought people on the ship on certain days for crewmembers or any of us to talk to if we felt the need to. In all honesty I think it would be too costly to carnival for this to be a permenant thing or a job position on the ship. The majority of us are having a ball the majority of the time anyway.

[DJ Eddy]

And if you can remember anything of the funniest stuff you've seen crew or passengers do

One of the funniest things was the backstage party the entertainment staff had on the Liberty... the theme was trailer trash. We got dressed up in some of the worst combinations of clothing possible. Mel the social host was by far the winner though. She stuffed a pillow up her top, did her make up so she had 2 black eyes, wore a low cut white top and these horrid leggins and wrote with a sharpie on the back of her top... "are you my baby's daddy? Call 1800 Maury". I'm laughing now thinking about it, the backstage parties are always a good laugh but the theme was genius :D

[amybear912]

Are you guys allowed to bring on duty free booze that you purchase in port??? What kind of security do you all go through when you leave and reboard the ships in port??

 

Let me get this straight about tips...

 

is it reasonable for people to think that they don't have to tip their dining staff if they don't eat in the dining room??? I'm definitely not someone who does this but there are some who believe that it isn't necessary to tip the waiter or asst. waiter if they don't eat in the dining room...

 

Also...

 

What does the crew and staff think about people who don't dress for formal night????:D

 

As you can tell, these are hot topics on these boards and I'm interested in it from YOUR point of view...

[stx-is]

Yes, we can bring stuff on board that we buy in port. Actually more crew bring on take-away food than drinks.

 

Security - Depending on the port/country, we get searched, our bags and shoes (even socks sometimes) get sent through the x-ray machine and we go through the usual metal detector. You can always tell who the crew are as they are taking their shoes off and have bags from the local version of Walmart.

 

You might not be eating in the Dining room but there are still waiters on Lido deck cleaning up for you, bringing drinks around and serving you.

 

Formal night - If you are going to the dining room, dress up. After that if you want to change into something more comfortable to go to the disco, thats not a problem.

 

Simon

[Treens]

When I DJ I plan a set (in my head), if I am playing for example R Kelly Step In The Name Of Love, then I know that song is 95bpm (bpm = beats per minute) so I would then mix in a song around the 95bpm mark...

 

Interesting information Eddy. Thanks for sharing. I have a DJ question. My ex-husband was a DJ at weddings/parties and clubs. He would mix songs and even organized his music by bpm. With vinyl, you can back spin one of the records to match up the beats.

 

How do DJ's mix with CD's? I just can't figure it out...

 

Treens :)

 

Is Bobby Brown's "My Perogative" still a dance floor magnet? No matter what the setting, if things slowed down, he could pull that out and people ran, not walked to the dance floor!

[DJ Eddy]

Interesting information Eddy. Thanks for sharing. I have a DJ question. My ex-husband was a DJ at weddings/parties and clubs. He would mix songs and even organized his music by bpm. With vinyl, you can back spin one of the records to match up the beats.

 

How do DJ's mix with CD's? I just can't figure it out...

 

Treens :)

 

Is Bobby Brown's "My Perogative" still a dance floor magnet? No matter what the setting, if things slowed down, he could pull that out and people ran, not walked to the dance floor!

Yes, My Perogative is a good one, along with Salt & Pepa's Push It, they work every time.

 

The CD Djing works thanks to the geniuses at Pioneer and the Pioneer CDJ 1000's that are on the liberty ( and a few other carnival ships... sadly not all of them though). The CD player has a huge jogwheel which has a setting where it can be controlled like vinyl... it's all technodigital but it means you speed up & slow down, spinback and scratch the tracks like they are vinyl. Probably explains why the Pioneer CDJ's are about $1500 each, technology comes with a pricetag!

 

and there you go... my avatar is a Pioneer CDJ1000!!!

[Rhealsmom]

Thank you so much Eddy for starting the thread and Simon for answering some of our questions as well. We are preparing for our next Carnival Cruise and just wanted to say that we are always amazed at how the staff and crew "adapt" to the different passengers.

 

We have an adult special needs son who functions at about a 2 year old level. So, room stewards, wait staff, excursion staff, etc -- all end up making our vacation that much better.

 

Do you find in your positions -- that you have to do alot of adapting to the passengers needs?

[map70065]

Love your area of the UK spent a bit of time Dewsbury and hope to make it back there.

 

One more question from me - how much time off does the staff get. I know on previous cruises the dining staff seemed to have one day a week off - is that it?

[DJ Eddy]

Thank you so much Eddy for starting the thread and Simon for answering some of our questions as well. We are preparing for our next Carnival Cruise and just wanted to say that we are always amazed at how the staff and crew "adapt" to the different passengers.

 

We have an adult special needs son who functions at about a 2 year old level. So, room stewards, wait staff, excursion staff, etc -- all end up making our vacation that much better.

 

Do you find in your positions -- that you have to do alot of adapting to the passengers needs?

Carnival does ensure that everyone is catered for. On a cruise on the Liberty we had there was an elderly couple travelling together called Mary Ann & John. They came to the disco evry night at about 11pm and danced on the dancefloor to every song until the disco closed. At first we thought they were married couple proving they were no where near past it but it turned out they were brother & sister. At the end of the first night myself & DJ Brent called them over to the DJ booth and gave them some carnival medallions and a ship on a stick, even though it was only the first night we already loved these guys. It turned out that John had a mental deffiency and Mary Ann was his sister & his carer. John was so touched with the medals & trophy that he started srying bless him. Hayley, one of the dancers and Brent's gf was in tears as we were all touched by them. I even accompanied them to one of the shows and got them front row seats. They loved it, although I don't think John understood it all but they were wearing their medallions on formal night.

It's guests like Mary Ann & John that make it all the more worthwhile, everyone knew who they were that cruise... all the staff certainly did anyway

[DJ Eddy]

Love your area of the UK spent a bit of time Dewsbury and hope to make it back there.

 

One more question from me - how much time off does the staff get. I know on previous cruises the dining staff seemed to have one day a week off - is that it?

It depends on your job position on the ship how much you get off. The cabin stewards don't get a day off at all, they are very lucky if they get chance to get off the ship. The waiters have days off on rotation I think but of course they're all back onboard for dinner time in the dining room.

[lara h]

Fantastic of you to share your "down" time by answering so many questions!

 

It is interesting on my part, from a different angle. My son is a Steiner (Fitness) and he does not tell us much about "life on board", usually hear about the lack of money he is making and not much else.

 

His ship does not vary it's ports much so by now he has seen most of all he will see for the term of his contract (first), nevertheless he is still seeing and doing things that he never would have done just as a tourist, esp since we live downunder!

 

He also mentions about the camaradrie of the crew, and has been fortunate to make friends from all around the world.

 

Do you travel between contracts or just go home and rest up?

[mprucha]

Thanks so much for this thread! These types of questions are exactly what many of us wonder about?

 

I'm thrilled that you said Todd was going to be on the Freedom in the fall and that you're going there in Aug. We are doing a B2B cruise on the Freedom in Nov so we'll get to meet you both!

 

What type of activites do they provide for crew if you're off during a sea day? Do you have to cross train for any other job even though you're a DJ? Do you ever feel disconnected from current news stories because you're onboard and working so much? Do you ever get tired of seeing the same cruise itinerary if you're on the same ship for months? What's the most outragous thing you've ever seen or heard a passenger do......good or bad?

[DJ Eddy]

Fantastic of you to share your "down" time by answering so many questions!

 

It is interesting on my part, from a different angle. My son is a Steiner (Fitness) and he does not tell us much about "life on board", usually hear about the lack of money he is making and not much else.

 

His ship does not vary it's ports much so by now he has seen most of all he will see for the term of his contract (first), nevertheless he is still seeing and doing things that he never would have done just as a tourist, esp since we live downunder!

 

He also mentions about the camaradrie of the crew, and has been fortunate to make friends from all around the world.

 

Do you travel between contracts or just go home and rest up?

I just go back home between contracts but there are many people who do go travelling to different countries to see friends from the ships etc

[Anni_M]

Hi There!

Here's a question I've not seen, but always wondered about......

I spent most of my adult life working as a singer. (Stopped 5 years ago because I didn't think a mom should be working as a nightclub act) For the last 5 years I have worked as a balloon artist - not a person who twists dogs and swords and such, but I do beautiful decor (pillars, arches, structures). I've often wondered if it would be possible to do a working trade-out with Carnival (favorite cruiseline). I would LOVE to decorate for new years for example. I would love to do a show in one of the smaller clubs for a week. Every time we cruise I promise myself to find out about this and never do. Have you ever heard of anyone doing something like this?

Thanks!

Anni

[dorisday]

Eddy

 

You are very brave starting this topic, does Carnival know you post openly here?

I'm only asking because I know many (carnival company) crew members who have been disciplined for posting on these types of boards & would hate it to happen to you.

 

I too used to work onboard (Princess Cruises) as a bartender back in the good old days when they had British bar staff so a lot of your answers are bringing back fond memories.

 

Enjoy the rest of your leave

[DJ Eddy]

Thanks so much for this thread! These types of questions are exactly what many of us wonder about?

 

I'm thrilled that you said Todd was going to be on the Freedom in the fall and that you're going there in Aug. We are doing a B2B cruise on the Freedom in Nov so we'll get to meet you both!

 

What type of activites do they provide for crew if you're off during a sea day? Do you have to cross train for any other job even though you're a DJ? Do you ever feel disconnected from current news stories because you're onboard and working so much? Do you ever get tired of seeing the same cruise itinerary if you're on the same ship for months? What's the most outragous thing you've ever seen or heard a passenger do......good or bad?

Yes we should both be there on the Freedom so see you there... now then your questions...

On a sea day we can do whatever we want to on our time off. There are no real activities set for the crew but there is the gym, crew trainign centre, there are ping pong talbes in the crew area, aswell as fooseball and arcade games in the crew bar... the crew bar is open from 12 -2pm on sea days but it only serves bottles of water & soft drinks, no alcohol (not that i'd want alcohol in the day?) There is also a crew area at the bow of the ship with sunbeds and 2 jacuzzi's for crew only so we can sunbathe or go in the hottub out there. We all have TV's in our cabin that gets all the TV channels the guests get plus a couple of extra movie and music channels especially for the crew, so you can watch TV or a film. A lot of people (myself included) have a DVD player so you can watch DVD's.

 

The only other job I do onboard apart from DJ is boat drill. Every crewmember has to go through the training for emergency evacuation and although not every crewmember is involved and at muster stations, all the staff members from different departments are involved in the boat drills. ALso now, the DJ is on rotation with the social hosts to do embarkation. We stand on the gangway on embaraktion day from 11 -2.30 handing out deck maps and welcoming people aboard. Apart from those, there is nothing else the DJ is required to do, but if our dept is short or needs help with anything then I always volunteer to help out, we always work great as a team anyway.

 

We don't feel out of touch with news/current events as we get CNN channels on the ship TV.

 

I only got sick of the itenary on my first ship the Fantasy. I worked on it 2 years ago when it did the 3 & 4 day Bahamas run (the Sensation does that run now). The only ports we went to were Freeport & Nassau, there's nothing really in Freeport & Nassau is ok but you get a bit sick of it going there twice a week. All the other ships i've been on i've really enjoyed the ports and not been sick of them.

 

The most outrageous thing I have seen is also in conjunction with the coolest thing I have ever seen. On the Liberty in July 07, we were doing a 6 day cruise (Freeport, Grand Cayman & Jamaica) and it was the first night of the cruise. At approx 11pm a man who was really drunk decided he wanted to take his friends for a ride in a lifeboat. He smashed a fire point and grabbed an axe and started chopping at the lifeboat ropes with the axe. The ACD & Security saw him and shouted to him to stop. He firstly went at the security guard with the axe... then realised what he was doing, he dropped the axe and jumped into the ocean. The next thing there was a call on the PA system, the call was made by a new Officer on the bridge and he made the call incorrectly causing havoc. He should have used the code for man overboard but instead he actually said "man overboard port side". All the guests heard this and it was during the welcome abaord show... suddenly all the lounges emptied and all the guests were on the outer decks watching the action. One of out lifeboat/rescueboat's was sent out and the spotlights from the bridge were in the water looking for this guy, there had been several liferings thrown in the water and the spotlights were circulating around the liferings to see if the passenger managed to grab one.

Luckily for the man, we were going from Fort Lauderdale to Freeport which we can make at full speed in about 2-3 hours... so we were travelling at about 3-5 nautical mph so really the tide was just carrying us, this meant we had a much better chance of finding the guy.

It took about 45 mins but we found him and we picked him up out of the water. The US Coasguard came and the staff captain & chief of security (who were on the rescusboat) handed him over to the coastguard. The cg said we should tkae him back to the ship as we had found him but staff captain and chief sec refused saying they don't want him on our ship when he is messing around with lifesaving equipment. His friends who were also intoxicated and cheering him on got kicked off the ship the following day in Freeport.

The rescue was the coolest thing I have seen whilst on a ship!

[DJ Eddy]

Hi There!

Here's a question I've not seen, but always wondered about......

I spent most of my adult life working as a singer. (Stopped 5 years ago because I didn't think a mom should be working as a nightclub act) For the last 5 years I have worked as a balloon artist - not a person who twists dogs and swords and such, but I do beautiful decor (pillars, arches, structures). I've often wondered if it would be possible to do a working trade-out with Carnival (favorite cruiseline). I would LOVE to decorate for new years for example. I would love to do a show in one of the smaller clubs for a week. Every time we cruise I promise myself to find out about this and never do. Have you ever heard of anyone doing something like this?

Thanks!

Anni

Hmmm, no I haven't heard of anything like that but its worthwhile looking into. All I would say is go on the carnival website ans look for contact details for the miami head office, write to them about it and see what they say..?

[cruisernh]

WOW DJ you are really answering a lot of questions. I have read all your posts.

my question.

Do you get to choose what ship you go on. Some companies have internal postings does Carnival do the same thing?

[DJ Eddy]

Eddy

 

You are very brave starting this topic, does Carnival know you post openly here?

I'm only asking because I know many (carnival company) crew members who have been disciplined for posting on these types of boards & would hate it to happen to you.

 

I too used to work onboard (Princess Cruises) as a bartender back in the good old days when they had British bar staff so a lot of your answers are bringing back fond memories.

 

Enjoy the rest of your leave

I don't know if carnival know I post on here... as for disciplinary action, I think it would rahter silly of carnival to do that. It's not like i'm bashing carnival, just answering questions that people want to know. If anything this is a good PR exercise and carnival should be thankful about all the free advertising and praise they receive on cruise critic. I would kinds laugh if they disciplined me when I sign back on... the truth is if I didn't like my job or hated canirval then I would say negative things on here and probably wouldn't be doing another contract anyway.

[DJ Eddy]

WOW DJ you are really answering a lot of questions. I have read all your posts.

my question.

Do you get to choose what ship you go on. Some companies have internal postings does Carnival do the same thing?

It depends what department you are in. I know the bar staff & housekeeping get assigned a ship. In the ent dept, you get assigned a ship for your first contract then you can either choose a ship and see when it's available or tell head office when you want to come back for another contract and they will tell you what ships are available.