Ship History

In October 2001 I went for what was one of the best decisions in my life; to work on a Cruise Ships, I started in the gift shop with Starboard Cruise Services and was very lucky to set up a brand new ship, the Carnival Pride and take it over from Finland to the USA where it would start its regular itinerary. 8 Months later I was on my way home with a ship load of stories and adventures, had a couple of months off and then I was on a flight to Italy to join yet another new ship Carnival Conquest.

Mid way through my contract I got transferred to what I originally thought was hell on ships the M/S Holiday which was at the time the oldest crappiest ship, turns out I was wrong; while the ship did have some old character traits and some horrible smells that nobody could quite explain I had my best time on there. In fact I ended up doing back-to-back contracts on there then coming back on there for another contract after my Vacation, but I’ll get to that inn a minute.

1 ½ Days before I was supposed to go home I got called into the cruise directors office regarding working as a Social Host which I had already had an interview for as It was a position that I felt I would be great at and would suite my personality. She explained to me that one of the hosts had to go home for a family emergency and that a position had become available for me and while it was not the Social Host position as I wanted it was a Karaoke Host/Deck DJ position which is in the same dept and I was going to be helping out the Hosts with other activities. Also she assured me that my next contract would be that of a Social Host. With a huge smile and a quick phone call to my mum from the ships satellite phone telling her “Don’t pick me up from the airport tomorrow…….I won’t be there, I’ll explain everything tomorrow when I can call you from port.” I said good bye to Starboard Cruise services and hello to Carnival Cruise Lines.

KARAOKE………Seems like the best job in the world……Yeah – Not so Much!

Well I guess the job it’s self is pretty easy. (See description)

1. Put disc in player.
   
2. Select track number.
   
3. Call Persons name that is going to sing.
   
4. Wait.
   
5. Press play.
   
6. Wait till song ends or person gives up.
   
7. Thank them and tell them they did a good job. (No matter how CRAP they were)
   

But……For somebody that can’t sing and does not particularly like to listen to drunken people who think that they are the best singer in the world but in reality they SUCK!!! Yet people will cheer and clap for them and sure enough they will think they did such a good job that they will be up again another 2-4 times. (AAAAGGGGHHHHH Make it stop!!) Don’t get me wrong karaoke is fun if you are involved or if you know the people that are up there but as a job it is not so glamorous.

..................VACATION TIME....................

The strange thing about taking a vacation when you work on cruise ships is that; unlike other jobs when it comes to vacation time you go away somewhere. Not the case on a cruse ship, normally the crew will go home for their vacation.

..................VACATION TIME....................

After my vacation I was on my way to join the M/S Fantasy but I had decided the I would leave Australia 1 week earlier and take a cruise on the M/S Holiday so I could spend New Years Eve partying with my friends. Well the day that I arrived was great, I was so happy to see so many familiar faces; I knew that I was going to have a great New Years but as it would turn out the Cruise Director came up to me and informed me that the Social Host had just been fired and that she would love me to Stay on the Holiday and do my contract on there. So I did.

..................VACATION TIME....................

This time I was off to the M/S Sensation still as a Social Host and still having a great time, it seemed that this contract just flew by. As much fun that i was having i decided that it was time to try an make a little more money and dip my pen into another ink well.

I applied for a job as an Art Auctioneer on board Cruise Ships with parkwestgallery I passed the interview and got into the training but I felt like i was doing a PHD in art history in a few short weeks, I did learn a lot as you would expect but what a stressful time. unfortunately though i kinda got moved around a lot as an auctioneer (3 ships, 2 cruises on each) that good part is i got to see a lot of cool places (Scandinavia, Russia and more around that area) and got to experience Holland America Cruise Lines. Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstance's i needed to go home making my time as an Art auctioneer quite small. No regrets though, looking back it was a lot of work and while i have no problem doing the work I want to enjoy my time on a cruise ship not look back and say wow i just worked a lot and didn't really have a life.

So it was back home once again.