New Shows

On By D. EndoIn Ship Life, TerminologyLeave a comment

A common question we get asked is how often does the show change on the ship. While the cast changes out, the shows stay on the ship for years. Every time the cast changes, we go through a process we call “Install” which I have mentioned earlier. The entire cast does a swap out to keep the integrity of the show. A director will come on to ensure the original vision is still there. In some of the minor details, the new cast can change things, but the show should be pretty much the same today as it was when they first put it on the ship. Us techies come and go piecemeal as our contracts start and end. Our production shows end up costing millions to install on a ship from set pieces and costuming to licensing the music and any images used. Everything needs to be designed and placed deliberately on the ship. One of the primary concerns is storage. With how big some of the set pieces can be, there is a battle between shows on how much space any given show can take up. On Explorer, they have a massive set piece which basically separates the orchestra into giant cubby spaces. That is an all hands on deck kind of set up. You need a lot of hands to push the pieces, people to page the curtains and at least one person whose sole job is to be a spotter in case we snag on something. While that show takes a bunch of floor space backstage, the second production show on that ship uses a lot of batons to fly backdrops in and out but has fewer physical pieces. Since we have 3 shows on the ship, our third show, Tango Buenos Aires, takes up the least floor space as well as uses the fewest unique backdrops. I still think Tango Buenos Aires is our best show and I would enjoy it more if I didn’t have to concentrate so hard on running it. Interestingly, this show is a rented show, which I didn’t know we did until they installed it on the ship. This means the show is more akin to a guest performance that has an extended stay on a ship. In fact, we are down to only two guest entertainers brought on instead of three. Usually we bring on a comedian and two performance acts for our week long cruises.

I’m fairly certain our current shows have been here for at least a decade and there are not indications of the company wanting to change any of them out. I only feel one of the sections in the shows we have feel irrelevant, but the rest seem to be going strong. My best guess is that these shows will stay on the ship until it retires in who knows how long.

Anyway, I’ve been rambling. I’ve been told to wait a bit longer to hear back about extending. I miss the days when you knew pretty soon after you made your request if they were going to accept it or not. They seem to be struggling a bit since a lot of techs never came back after the pandemic. I can’t even tell if they’re leaning one way or the other.

The Routine Blues

On By D. EndoIn Comparing, Goals, Ship LifeLeave a comment

After going on the world cruise, I’m now relaxing by doing one of two itineraries. We’ve mostly been doing Western Caribbean runs with ports in Mexico, Belize, and Honduras, and we’ll start again doing Bahama runs later this year. I have to say, part of me misses going to new and exciting ports every time. There was so much to do and see. From finding a small restaurant while wandering Yokohama to going on an African safari, I was busy exploring every chance I got. It was exhausting. Sometimes, it was nice to be stuck on the ship to catch up on sleep or laundry. For one of those cruises, we had 8 port days in a row. I usually only pack enough clothes to last me a little over a week, so I was cutting it a bit close. Everything was so new on that contract. Now, it’s the opposite.

I’m only getting off the ship a couple of times a week even when I can get off. I’ve been to the ports we’re going to many times, and we’ll be back there soon enough. For that reason, I don’t feel like spending money since I have to pay tourist prices for everything off the ship. Even the onboard specialty restaurants have lost their luster for me. It does help that they don’t have a late night Johnny Rocket’s on the ship anymore. Goodness knows I would be going there way too often. Since I’m not leaving the ship all that much, I think I might try organizing a Dungeons and Dragons group on the ship. I’ve tried playing games with my immediate coworkers, but they don’t always have the drive to play like I do. I’m sure if I reach out, people will come. Even before, one of my players was talking about it and caught the interest of someone from engineering. Unfortunately, I was never able to talk to this person to ask him to join. I’m hoping being able to advertise a group will increase the likelihood of a game happening. I have plans for three games I would run. The first would be a new player campaign group with pre-written characters playing adventures from a book of beginning campaigns I got off of Kickstarter. The campaigns won’t last too long before I end it and start a new one. Hopefully, I can cycle through a bunch of new people and give them a great introduction to the game. The second will be a drop-in campaign with a western theme, where I could take anyone who was available to play. The final would be on would be a group that uses an app that randomly generates a dungeon. The best part about this one is that I could participate since I don’t know what is in the dungeon since I did nothing to prepare it. All I would need to do is facilitate the game which is a lot easier. Plus, there is also the chance that there are other people who are able to DM like me but don’t get a chance to due to not having enough players. I’m just super excited for the possibilities.

Oh, and my New Year’s resolution this year is to lose weight and to be more social.

Go F12

On By D. EndoIn TerminologyLeave a comment

The other day it struck me as interesting that sometimes we as a society forget the origins of phrases and even lose information that used to be common. Sometimes, no one writes down something because it was common. In the 19th century, Victorians had three shakers at the table: salt, pepper, and the third one. What was the third one? We don’t know. No one thought to write down what was always on the table. Why would society ever forget that common information? We have some pretty solid ideas about what it could be, but we cannot know for certain. Or the phrase with someone to the bitter end. There actually is such thing as a bitter end. That’s the bit of rope that’s tied off to something, such as the part of the anchor line that’s tied to the ship. I grew up thinking that it meant that you were going to be there even when things got terrible. I mean, I guess it still does, but I thought that was the only thing it meant. For a modern example, we say we dial a phone when the phone usually doesn’t have a dial anymore. I imagine a time far in the future where people say they’re dialing a phone and have no idea why they say that. What got me on this thought train was hearing the command to start the show “Go f12” from the production manager. Now, I know why he said that because I was around when our show system was started advanced forward in cues by pressing the f12 key. We have since upgraded our system so all we have to do is click a button. Years from now, I wonder if “Go f12” is just going to be the signal we use to start the show and no one questions why even though no one in the team was around for the old system.

Oh, and it’s going to be a hectic month. We have three weeks of cast install followed by Christmas and New Year’s. I hope I get enough rest.

Still no news about if I get to stay longer, but they have taken my request under advisement.

Back in the Swing of Things

On By D. EndoIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Oh, man. I was down to the wire for my medical this time. Given the amount of work needed to do on the ship and how isolated we are, it’s no surprise that cruise ship companies want you to be healthy when you join so they don’t have to worry about you keeling over while onboard. I don’t have to get this every single time I go out to sea, but it is often enough where it can be annoying. You don’t have to be the picture of perfect health, though they do prefer that. As long as everything is being monitored and nothing too crazy is going on, they can let some conditions go. I now have a better understanding of how long the process should take if I have the time. What was hard this time is that I had to drive 3 hours to an approved clinic. Last time, it was a 20 minute drive, but I guess that place is no longer a part of the list of approved care centers. If I have more time, I might make a day of it, but I found out that not a lot of stuff stays open really late over there.

One nice thing about this new contract is that I’m pretty much going to places I’ve already been, so there isn’t the need to go out, explore, and spend money like my last contract. Instead, I’ll just go to my favorite hang outs when I get off the ship. I might even stay on the ship if I don’t think the port is all that interesting to me. It will be so nice to just relax in a port. The only downside of my current contract is that I started in Los Angeles, and that is also where my contract ends. This ship is scheduled to do Alaska in the summer and Caribbean in the winter. I caught them as they headed to the Panama Canal. I asked if I could extend out, but the company says it’s too early to make that decision. I hope they can at least extend me out a couple of days so I can walk off the ship and be driven home without taking a plane or worrying about baggage weight restrictions.

I’ll try to keep you posted if they extend me out. Here’s to hoping.

Around the World Again

On By D. EndoIn Goals, Ports, Ship LifeLeave a comment

I made a blunder. I forgot to check, and now I have two magnets for Napoli. Oh well, I guess it wasn’t that expensive. Anyway, I’m about to go home which means I’ll have now gone around the world twice. I’ve had a lot of fun seeing new ports, but now I’m tired. We’ve had a lot of new acts come onboard the ship. There have been many interesting shows to program from the aerial duos to the local groups that have to be kicked off before we set sail. I’m a little sick of some song selections as they are quite popular for acts to select and I can’t wait to get on a ship and have consistency of ports and acts. Really, I cannot express just how tired I am. The worst of it is, I really want to get out in the ports because I don’t know when I’ll be back. My next contract has me seeing new Alaskan ports but also very common Caribbean ports as well. I’m even swinging by San Francisco so I might be able to invite my family on for the day.

Even though I saw so much, I know there are places I was and was not able to see where I want to go. I went to quite a few Asian amusement parks that I want to see again. I had some awesome cuisine from their countries of origin, but that only scratches the surface on what I could have eaten. I went on an African Safari, but I wasn’t able to see giraffes or elephants. The ship sailed past Null Island in the middle of the night when I needed to sleep. Ok, there isn’t much to see at Null Island but still. Doing all of this just emphasizes how much there is to experience out there and how little I have actually seen. I’m no closer to accomplishing my goal of circumnavigating the globe, but I have seen a lot more of the world than I ever thought I would. I keep telling guests that if you had told me even six years ago when I was just starting in the company that this is what I would do, I would never have believed it. I’ve been to Cuba. I’ve been to Japan. I’ve been to South Africa. While I’m sad that this job keeps me away from home, I can’t wait to get on my next ship.

Oh, and I can now add Margherita pizza and carbonara in Italy to the list of things I’ve eaten.

My Challenge

On By D. EndoIn Goals, Ports, Ship LifeLeave a comment

Six Continents down, one to go. The only downside is I’ll have to book my own trip to Antartica since no Royal Caribbean ship has any walking tours on the continent.

I have to say, I’ve really enjoyed my time in Africa. I went on an African safari and had some really good ostrich on a skewer. I saw three of the Big Five while on safari. I’m just missing the tallest and the largest, oddly enough. My constant challenge, as is always on this world cruise, is finding a magnet with the port name. I’ve gotten lucky several times and have only missed one magnet so far since I wasn’t able to go to a place with heavy tourism. One of the hardest things to deal with is the currency. I will say this for the Caribbean, Europe, and Australia, I really miss having a common currency. I now have a bunch of foreign paper currency that I don’t really know what to do with. At this point, it’s doubtful I’ll be going to those places again. I don’t know if I should just hold on to it or see what my bank can do with them. I’m just lucky that the dollar is strong enough to be accepted when my credit card isn’t. Well, I’ll be in Europe soon enough and then I’ll be back home a few weeks after that.

You would not believe how hard it is to find a simple magnet with the port magnet. The hardest I had to look for one on this trip was in Osaka when I went to Universal Studios there. It was amazing and I highly recommend going there if you get the chance. I went to pretty much every store looking for something with either Osaka or Universal Studios Japan written on it. None of their magnets could be identified specifically from that theme park. I was just about to give up when I saw a Hard Rock Cafe by the City Walk entrance. I bought my most expensive magnet there at about $20 for a single magnet that could represent my time there. Lucky me.

Anyway, now I’m looking forward to delicious Italian food.