Back on a Ship

It’s been a little over a week since I signed on my new ship.  The travel to get to the ship was long and as always there were a few minor bumps along the way.  I was sitting in a 777 to fly from Detroit to Tokyo when the pilot asked everyone to exit the plane as the toilet system was broken and he would not attempt to fly over 14 hours with no working toilets.  Luckily maintenance fixed the issues quickly and we were on our way with only a minor delay.  Finally I arrived in Hong Kong after 11pm, went through immigration, and got to my hotel after 1am.  The following morning my alarm went off at 6am to get up, eat breakfast, check out, and get on a shuttle bus taking everyone to the ship.

All in all it is nice to be back.  Taking the last year and a half to two years off helped remove the burnout that most people being to suffer after a few years at sea.  I’ve found the little things don’t bother me as much as they used to.

I wish I had wonderful stories of getting out in port to share, but so far I have stayed on the ship.  There is new music to learn, new trainings to take, and a routine to settle into.   I did this same itinerary 2 years ago and we also have one more cruise with the same ports so I am not rushing myself to get off the ship.  After all, this is work even if in exotic places around the world.

It has been fun getting back into playing with the orchestra on the ship.  I have been onboard for 9 days and every single night has been playing style of show with different entertainers.  My very first day I had to play a production show with the orchestra and the production cast of singers and dancers.  So imagine traveling over 24 hours, going through 13 time zones, getting less than 5 hours of sleep, and then get up early and go through a day of meetings and then at night having to play a one hour show with click tracks, tempo changes, and style changes in front of the passengers.  Luckily I didn’t experience jet lag and I was able to play through the show with only one run through.

A couple of things that I have experienced in the past week and a half are worth noting.  Some of them I have written about before and some of them are new points.

1) Be organized when you pack.  Don’t pack any important documents in your checked luggage.  Get a folder and place all of your documents there so you know right where they will be when you need them.  I arrived after 24 hours of sitting on planes and was 13 hours ahead of my home time zone and I found myself having to pull out all my documents to present to port immigration authorities in the Hong Kong airport.  I was so exhausted, but it was easy because I had put all the documents together in one folder in a carry-on bag.  The tie spent organizing beforehand definitely paid off.

2)  When you first get to the ship, be friendly and introduce yourself to people.  First impressions are important and can last a long time, so if you make a bad impression on your first day it may take the entire length of your contract to overcome it.

3)  While the passengers may be there on vacation, the crew is not.  If you are joining a ship, make sure that you are settled into a routine before you go off the ship.  Make sure that you can play through all of your music and can handle all of your work responsibilities first.  Many musicians I am working with were shocked I was staying onboard when we were in some great ports.  But I am there to work and I do not want to let anybody else down just because I am new to the ship.  It is rather selfish to play poorly in the evening shows because you are too busy off the ship sightseeing around town.  The ports will still be there, and most of the time the ship goes to the same ports several times over so there is no rush.

4)  Always check with your supervisor and the training board for any upcoming training.  Due to port schedules, management meetings, and other reasons the trainings can get moved quite often.  I’ve had one particular training canceled three times just in my first week onboard.  I’ve had several moved to other locations or to other times so it is important to keep up with the latest information.

5)  Finally, learn to go with the flow.  This might not be easy to understand for some people, but the world does not revolved around you.  There are oftentimes other people and circumstances to take into consideration.  Whenever you are dealing with large groups of people there is always a need for flexibility.  The day I signed onto the ship, I woke up at 6am after just 4 hours of sleep and we were rushed to the ship.  Then we waited outside of the ship for 2 hours.  Yes, it was frustrating and we were all talking about the extra sleep that we could have all had after long travel days.  But there was nothing we could do about it.  In just one week we’ve had port times cut short, rehearsal times change, trainings changed and canceled, and even discussed about missing a port altogether (we are currently in Bangkok and due to the protests we almost had to skip it completely this cruise).  At that point you have a choice, either fight the change or learn to let it go and be flexible.  If I can give a little advice, the end result is going to be the same so there is no reason to fight it along the way.

Being back has brought back a lot of memories from earlier contracts.  It is like a little reunion because I am working with several people I have worked with before on different ships.  It’s also nice to work to meet new people and build new friendships.

So now this blog will start to incorporate some new stories and some new travels.  Each week is different so hopefully there will be some good material.  But in any case, I have some music to look over!

New Journey

Today is the day.  I will be flying today (and tomorrow) to get to Hong Kong to start my new contract.  My wife and I have known about our upcoming contract for a couple of months now.  She's already rehearsing with her new cast of singers and dancers.  For the past few weeks I have been taking care of all my paperwork (new Chinese visa, medical, etc.).  I was in the middle of my last minute packing last night when I saw an email come in from Delta.  I had already taken advantage of online check-in earlier in the day so I was ready to go.  I was flying from Cincinnati to Atlanta to Tokyo to Hong Kong.  The email indicated a scheduled delay on the Atlanta to Tokyo flight which would have only given me 40 minutes in Narita airport to get to my connecting flight.  In Japan, if you are just passing through luckily you do not have to claim your bags and go through customs and immigration, but you do have to pass through the transit passenger line and go through security again.  40 minutes would not be enough time.  So I called Delta and they were quickly able to change my flights and I was even given better seats on my new flights.  I will be going through Detroit now instead of Atlanta and will even pick up the exact same Tokyo to Hong Kong flight.

I'm hoping that is the only glitch in the travel day(s).  I've learned to be as flexible as possible because anything can happen.  The timing still works out, my new first flight leaves 10 minutes later and I will still be getting to Hong Kong at the originally scheduled time.  I will arrive in Hong Kong after 11pm, will head to the hotel to get a couple of hours sleep and then get up in the morning to sign onto the ship.  It feels a little like the first day of school as I will be in a new environment and will be meeting a lot of new people.

The first few days onboard the ship are usually busy, but I will do my best to update from the ship.  It's also a crazy time of adjustment, probably the part I'm least looking forward to.  I leave today, Sunday, at 10am Eastern time and will arrive in Hong Kong after 11pm local time on Monday.  It's over 24 hours of travel time and then throw in the time differences, going across the International Dateline, and on the clock it will look like 37 hours.  Add in getting just a few hours of sleep, waking up early to sign on the ship, and then it's a full day of meetings, followed by work.  I don't typically sleep well on planes so it can sometimes make for a rough beginning.  I'm just hoping jet lag doesn't hit me too hard because I don't have time for it.  Crewmembers really hit the ground running right at the beginning of their contracts.

It's time to close up the laptop and say goodbye to the world of high-speed internet.  Ship internet is slow and can be expensive, but I am looking forward to continuing to write on the new adventure.

Packing

You’ve passed the audition and you’ve received all of your paperwork.  Now one of the overwhelming parts: time to pack!  It’s quite intimidating to try and pack for 7 months at sea.  I thought about writing on this topic now because it’s very relevant as I’m getting ready to leave for the ship in less than a week.  Typically most people will over pack.  On a vacation that isn’t too much of a problem (minus some excess baggage fees), but working on a cruise ship every bit of extra space is vital.  If you over pack for a contract, you will be stuck with excess baggage fees, but more importantly you will be stuck storing all the extra stuff in a place where they isn’t really room to store it.

It’s important to determine what you will actually need versus what you want to bring.  Think about your itinerary and your work.  Are you cruising in the Caribbean?  Then best to pack warm weather clothes and some swimsuits, but if you are cruising to Alaska you need to pack differently.  I have worked some contracts where I hit both warm and cold weather and it was a packing nightmare.  On this next contract, I will be visiting 40 countries in just under 7 months, going from the heat of Southeast Asia to the cold of the Baltic and above the Arctic Circle.  Not only can it lead to come nasty sinus infections, but can also be quite a challenge to pack for so many different climates.

The small crew cabins.  There is no room
for overpacking!

I usually plan on doing laundry about once per week so I will use that when planning on what to bring.  For laundry on the ship, you usually have 2 options: to send it out for a fee and it usually takes a few days, or you can do it yourself at the machines and it will only cost you laundry detergent.  You can choose which option you prefer, I have done both in the past.  Sending it off is nice because you don’t have to give up your free time searching for an open washer and dryer and watch over your clothes.  Sometimes rude and impatient crewmembers will take unattended clothes out so they can do their own.  But the downside of sending off you laundry is that it will cost you and will take a few days to get them back, something to consider if you really need the clothes back quickly.  Most ships I have worked on will clean uniform clothes for free, but again you have to plan ahead if you will need those clothes quickly.  Usually the best option is to wash your own clothes if you have the time, and most musicians will have plenty of time.  The machines are generally free and you only have to pay for the laundry detergent.  You can wash your clothes the way you want as the laundry service tends to use harsh detergents and chemicals that will wear our your clothes.  But the downside is that watching clothes in a washer and drier is usually pretty boring but you must  do it to make sure your clothes stay where they are supposed to be.

When it comes to clothes to pack, I try and break them all down into 4 general categories: 1) daytime work, 2) evening work, 3) off duty, sightseeing, 4) underwear, socks, etc.  For daytime work, smart casual will usually work around the ship in guest areas.  Smart casual means slacks, polo shirt or long sleeve button-down shirt, and dress shoes.  Jeans, t-shirts, and tennis will not be allowed in guest areas. Uniforms in general are only for when in guest areas, so if you are only in crew areas no uniform is necessary.  For evening work it will depend on your specific ship.  It is best to check with your agent or the cruise line for the specific eveningwear requirements.  I have worked on some ships with 2 to 3 formal nights per cruise, which means formal gowns for women and tuxedos for men.  The other nights usually require dress clothes with dress shirt, dress pants, and dress shoes or even a suit on some ships and then a nice dress for women.  But again it will depend on the ship so best to check first so you will only pack exactly what you will be using.  If you are a member of a band onboard, you should check with your bandleader and/or agent if possible because I have seen a lot of bands that will coordinate and wear similar or matching clothes on the bandstand.

Now again for the off duty clothes it will depend on where the ship will be.  In the Caribbean, it will be warm year-round and t-shirts and shorts will be OK.  Even in warm weather it’s good to pack a light jacket and a few pair of jeans.  If you are in cold weather then you should focus more on long sleeve shirts or sweaters and pants and bring a heavier jacket or coat.  Then sometimes you have to pack a mix of both.  On one of my contracts, it was February and we would start the cruise in sunny and hot Singapore and then go to Japan and South Korea where it was still cold that time of year.  The variety was good in the itinerary but it was hard to pack, not to mention a sinus infection just waiting to happen with all the weather changes.  Then the last category is socks, underwear, etc.  It’s a good idea to pack enough for one week without laundry so you can determine the amount to pack.

My sister visiting and showing
off the tiny closet

A quick recommendation on buying uniforms based on my experience is to buy a quality brand than will last over the course of your contract.  Even if you are very active in the music scene in your home city, you will be performing every single night wearing your dress clothes and they will take a beating.  The laundry service is useful but can also be rough on clothes.  I wouldn’t recommend an Armani suit, but I wouldn’t go too cheap and have it fall apart either.  Same goes for dress shoes, make sure they are quality and are comfortable because you will be using them every single day.  Just try finding some middle ground: not too cheap that it will fall apart after a few washings but not too expensive so that you will cry if something happens to it while being laundered.

In addition to clothes make sure you have your instrument and any accessories you need.  Remember that in many areas of the world it is difficult to find the accessories you want for the job.  I’ve seen sax players down to their last few reeds and worried about where they will be able to restock.  Bring extra sticks, slide oil, reeds, pads, etc. to last for the whole contract.  When I worked in Dubai there were hardly any music stores and no places for instrument repair, so if a sax player had a problem with their pads then it was up to them to repair it themselves.  When the pianist broke a string on the grand piano in the theater, I worked with the piano tuner to purchase another one and they had to order them all the way from London because there was nothing closer!  There is an address you can have things sent to and then the cruise line will ship it to your ship but it takes quite a long time and I’ve heard some stories of things not making it to the ship.  This is one area it is better to over pack.

For toiletries it will depend on your comfort level.  It will be next to impossible in some areas of the world to find the exact brand you usually use with certain toiletries.  There are different cultures and sometimes they will not use the same style of products.  For instance, it is common the United States to use roll-on deodorant, but in other areas they use more aerosol sprays.  If you refuse to use something other than what you are used to, then make sure to pack enough to last you a while.  Same thing goes for shampoo, soap or body wash, toothpaste, razors, etc.  Sometimes it’s also cheaper to find certain products at home so you can take that into account, too.  But at the same time you don’t want to load up your suitcase with just toiletry items.  You will have the opportunity to buy in port, but you will be busy at the beginning of the contract so you should at least pack for a couple of weeks even if you plan on buying once you get to the ship.

Be sure to pack all of your paperwork that you will need.  There could be nothing worse than flying all the way to the ship and then finding out you left something required at home.  Double and triple check before leaving to make sure you have everything.  Make a checklist if that will help you: passport, Seaman’s book (if required), visas, immigration forms, Letter of Employment, training records, etc.  Make sure you pack all required documents into your carryon just to make sure they arrive with you.  I would suggest putting them all together in a folder or binder to keep them all together in one place.  It will keep you organized and cut down on the stress of traveling and arriving to the ship.

Make sure you bring some cash with you for the trip to the ship.  You may have to pay for a taxi, excess baggage fees, entry visa fees, etc.  Depending on when you arrive to the ship it might take a few weeks for your first paycheck so you will need some cash to get you by on the ship and also off the ship on your free time.  Having a credit card or debit card will help with purchasing things off the ship, but cash is the only way of paying for things onboard the ship.

One of the best parts of working as a musician on a cruise ship is being able to travel and see the world.   Bring a camera to capture all of the memories you will make.  I was never into buying souvenirs (because I’ve traveled to over 40 countries so I would have filled a house by now), instead I liked to take pictures and experience things as a way to remember where I’ve been.  Also, because of the lack of continuous cell phone reception, I would suggest bringing a small travel alarm clock.  I worked with crewmembers who would wake up late for work because they were used to using their phone as an alarm and then it would reset and show the wrong time.  Cell service on ships can be a hit and miss thing and I’ve had my phone jump across weird time zones, which would have messed up any alarm I had set.  An alarm clock and a watch are two things that can be set and left alone.

With any gadgets, be sure to bring along any required accessories such as chargers, cases, etc.  Even the newest iPhone or Android phone will do no good after a while without a charger.   For cameras I would highly suggest an extra battery in case you are out on a tour and the main battery dies.  Nothing worse than sitting on a bus for a couple of hours to reach your destination and then find your battery is dead.  Bring a pair of sunglasses for when you are off the ship and walking around at the beach or around town.

It is near impossible to create a single packing list for all cruise ships, but here is a general outline:

Toiletries: enough for at least a few weeks, maybe more if you are picky with the brand of products you use.

Underwear/socks: enough for a week.  Think about how many dress socks and regular socks you will need.

Daytime work: I would pack 4-5 polo shirts or long sleeve shirts for daytime wear.  Also 3-4 pair of dress pants.  Ladies can convert that to 4-5 blouses and 3-4 pair of slacks.

Evening work: For guys if there is a formal night, then pack a tuxedo and possibly a suit if they are required.  For a tuxedo remember to pack a bowtie, cummerbund, tux shirt, studs, and cufflinks.  If there are no formal nights, but suits are required every night then pack 2 dark suits.  4-5 solid color dress shirts and 3-4 ties that you can wear with them.  If you are in the ship’s orchestra make sure to pack 3-4 black dress shirts and 2-3 black polo shirts.  For ladies, if you have formal nights then a 2-3 formal gowns and 3-4 cocktail dresses.  If there are no formal nights, then more cocktail dresses and no formal gowns.

Off-duty clothes: 5-6 t-shirts, a couple of collared shirts, at least one button down shirt, 2-3 pair of shorts, and 2-3 pair of jeans.  This will depend on the itinerary and adjust according to the anticipated climate(s).  If in warm weather with beaches then pack a couple of swimsuits as well.  Even if you will be in a colder climate I would suggest at least one swimsuit because you will need it for your new hire training.

Shoes: For guys 1 pair of black dress shoes, 1 pair of comfortable shoes for off the ship, 1 pair of gym shoes for working out, and 1-2 pair of sandals (you don’t want to be that guy at the beach wearing tennis shoes, right?).  For ladies, a few pair of heels (or half a suitcase full if you are my wife… just kidding, I love you!), a pair of casual shoes for off the ship, a pair of shoes for the gym, and a couple of pairs of sandals.  It's important to note that shoes are required, no sandals, on the ship for crew except for coming and going from the ship.  This is for safety reasons.

Medications: try and plan ahead and pack as much as you can.  Prescriptions can be filled, but it may be more difficult going through different medical facilities around the world.  If you have a chronic condition that required long-term prescriptions then plan ahead with your doctor at home before leaving.  It’s good to bring a few over the counter medications as well: pain reliever/fever reducer, flu medicine, and something for upset stomach (you might experience different food than your stomach is used to).  Some are provided for free on the ship, but better safe than sorry.

Finally the last part of packing is picking the right size luggage.  Suitcases will need to fit under the bed in your cabin so don’t pack in a massive, oversized suitcase if possible.  If you need to pack in 2 suitcases, then try to use different sizes where one suitcase can be stored inside the other.  Crew cabins are so small to begin with and your roommate won’t appreciate having to step around your oversized suitcases every time they come and go from the room.

Overwhelmed yet?  It’s not something that most people are used to.  Vacations usually last for a couple of weeks at the most, so now imagine leaving home for 7 months for a mix of vacation and work plus your instruments and accessories as well.  As the airlines allow less and less checked baggage it gets even more difficult but that’s one of the parts of our job.

Our bags packed for this upcoming contract.

Happy New Year

We're already a few days into 2014, but Happy New Year!

I wanted to give an update with the blog and also let everyone know about some things coming up soon.  There is a reason that I started this blog; when I started working as a musician onboard a cruise ship in 2008 I literally knew nothing about what to expect.  I searched the internet trying to get as much information as possible and there really wasn't much out there.  I promised myself to always help people who are interested and are new onboard so that can be better prepared than I was.  After helping several musicians get hired by cruise lines and also helping new crewmembers when they come onboard, people were suggesting that I start a blog and share the information with everyone.  I gave it some thought, but I had never done the blog thing before and the idea went to the backburner.

In 2012 my then fiancee (now wife) and I took a break from working on ships in order to focus on our upcoming wedding.  We finished our last contract in May 2012 and got married in August.  Since then we have performed on land and have been living in her hometown of Cebu, Philippines.  She performed in the musical Avenue Q at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore and we have both performed at different venues in Manila and Cebu.

Now fast forward to 2013 and there is another reason that the blog finally came into being.  My wife and I got offered a contract to come back to ships again.  My wife will be a featured singer in the production cast of singers and dancers and I will be playing drums in the orchestra.  I figured it would be a good time as I get ready to go through the experience again and plus I will have new adventures to write about and share.  We have worked for the company before and have even worked on a sister ship (meaning same design and layout).  One of the bonuses is that the ship is small and has an amazing itinerary.  We will be visiting 40 countries during our contract onboard.  I will be signing on January 21 in Hong Kong while my wife starts rehearsals with her cast in Florida this week.  She will join the ship in March in South Korea.  We will sail in Southeast Asia, then over to India, the Middle East, the Red Sea, through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean, and then up to Northern Europe and Scandinavia.  With a smaller ship you can get to ports that the larger ships just can't fit into.  Plus this cruise line is known for a lot of overnights and their great itineraries.  Our contract will run until August when we sign off in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The blog will continue with the theme of performing onboard an international cruise ship but will start to include some new firsthand travel experiences.  We are excited about returning and traveling again.  We are sad to leave our friends, family, and our dog but it will be fun to return to traveling to new places and performing every day.