Going to work on RCCL, few questions for those who have experience??

[Stocky]

Hi there. Brand new here and have noticed cruis ship work gets mentioned often here.

 

Recently got the OK and placed in gap pool as an A/V Operator / Sound Engineer for Celebrity Cruises part of RCCL. Have a few questions if anyone who has worked on Celebrity/RCCL in the tech production side would like to share!

 

Firstly I was hoping to know if anyone has heard of/seen this position before as I haven't heard it mentioned. My interviewer said I would be expected to, without stating the obvious, operate sound and sometime AV for theatre, bands etc across the ship on each stage/studio. Could anyone suggest what kind of acts/bands/music you mix? Typical channel list / set up for whoever is on stage?

 

I've been told digital desks across the board now, the interviewer was happy when I told him I had experience with Yamaha LS9s but I was hoping for higher tech? Can anyone advise on what desks, consoles I could expect?

 

Also ive worked mainly as a sound engineer for music venues/touring bands for forever but I have done some theatre stuff over the years. How high spec is the theatre production? Or is it mainly backing track, house band, radio mics? Are there a lot of cues etc? Im good at slotting in to new rooms / venues / equipment. anyone know anything I might struggle with, or anything to prepare for?

 

And finally ive been in the gap pool for a month, anyone have any idea how long I would be expected to wait for an assignment?

 

Really can't wait to get out there. Im all for he work hard, play hard ethic, just wanna get as prepared as possible.

 

Thankyou in advance to any repliers!?

 

Stocky

[dbuckley]

Have you read Bryson's Blog?

[Bryson]

Bit old now....

[dbuckley]

Since I posted the link I find myself reading it again. Thats going to be a chunk of my day gone. And yes, I'm p*ssing myself laughing. Again. It remains wonderful, even though it is from days gone by.

 

Although the technology may well have changed since the Blog, I suspect it is still a very good reference of what life on board will be like. None of the more recent nautical types have dismissed it.

[sameness]

Id love to give you some idea, but I'm on the RC side, unfortunately even though they fall under the same umbrella they are both completely different. Techs cant swap between without reapplying.

 

For a vague answer (based on RC), as far as digital goes, LS9 is the low level on ships, from there you are going through DM1/2K and onto Digico SD8/9/10.

 

Theatre productions will generally be a 9ish piece orchestra and 24ch of track, this includes backup tracks for sections of the orchestra incase of illness/firing/death/drunk. Radio mics can be anywhere from 4-24 depending on the show. Depending on the board will depend on the amount of cues. Sometimes show-control will trigger cues, other times you manually advance the desk snapshots/mute cues.

 

As I said, this is how RC is, Celebrity will probably be similar, but there will be differences.

 

Gap pools...well, I was in the RC pool for 9 months.

 

Any other questions feel free to PM me.

 

Pete

[Bombhead]

On this subject, I too am off on a ship but with NCL, ive been reading a few books, such as Cruise Confidential - A hit below the waterline and The Truth About Cruise Ships - Surving the Sex, Alcohol and Drama.

 

Has anyone who has lived the ship life read these such as Bryson, if so, are they accurate? All I can gather from these is people get drunk alot and have care free sex all the time?

 

Cheers,

Colin

[mac.calder]

All I can gather from these is people get drunk alot and have care free sex all the time?

 

It is what you make of it... Yes, there is drinking... and some people take it to the extremes... and there are a lot of people that in 6 months time there is a good chance you will not see again, so casual sex and short term relationships are not unheard of, but that does not mean that you NEED to drink or that everyone just shacks up at the end of the night. My experience is more along the short term relationship side - you find yourself compatible with someone and know that it lasting is unlikely as in 3 months they will be gone and you will be stuck there for another 2, so you go out, date etc and make the best of the time you have. At the end, if you think it's worth it, either you pursue the relationship and attempt to make it work - or more realistically you kiss each other good bye one morning and are once again single.

[Bombhead]

Thanks Mac.Calder

 

I just figured these would be very one sided views, I personally rarely drink. But I suppose that does make sense on the relationship front, especially when there is so many crew members tightly packed in.

 

Do you have or any insights into NCL at all? Ive found loads on Carnival and RCCL on here and of course the brilliant Brysons Blog.

[LXbydesign]

As above. I was with P&O for my sins.

 

It was nice to be able to have a drink when you wanted - to a degree, but I never took the p*ss.

 

As far as sex goes, ** laughs out loud **, yes - you can probably have as much or as little as you want. I semi agree with Mac about short-term, but my feeling was to avoid any sort of close relationship with other crew, because in the event of it all going tits up and turning bitchy - there isnt really far to run on a cruise ship.

 

I just had fun with passengers now and then. They come and go . . . .

[Bryson]

Has anyone who has lived the ship life read these such as Bryson, if so, are they accurate? All I can gather from these is people get drunk alot and have care free sex all the time?

 

 

No comment.

 

;)

 

 

Seriously, though, those books are more like a distillation of the most interesting bits of the most interesting people's experience. So yes, all that happens, but not as often as the books would have you believe. I don't think it's any different to any group of youngish people forced to live and work together.

[dbuckley]

Bryson's Blog - got to "Gaelic U2 Breakfast-Vision" before completely losing the plot...

 

The only good news is that I *know* not to have the can of coke handy whilst reading this. It's in the kitchen, a goodly walk away, so the keyboard is saved...

[tolley1466]

Thanks Mac.Calder

 

I just figured these would be very one sided views, I personally rarely drink. But I suppose that does make sense on the relationship front, especially when there is so many crew members tightly packed in.

 

Do you have or any insights into NCL at all? Ive found loads on Carnival and RCCL on here and of course the brilliant Brysons Blog.

 

Well, after a long day a beer or two seems quite attractive. On the ship I just left, it was sort of quiet compared to the previous one I was on! Well, at $1 for a bottle of Corona you find yourself not really caring too much and it's even worse if you have a lot of port days ahead of you. It suddenly becomes party central! When you stay couped up all day working in the same environment and your cabin isn't the biggest, I found I needed some way to wind down other than going to sleep straight away so I'd usually go for a few. It was just my way of winding down!

 

Be prepared, if you are planning on "dipping your wick" or starting a relationship, everyone will know within 12 hours about who, what, why, where etc!

[Stocky]

Thankyou for the insight into the the non-working aspect of cruise life! I shall look frorward to this (in moderation of course).

 

Have any of you guys anymore advice for new starters?

 

Anyone know much about what its like on Celebrity lines?

 

And is there any more like minded Sound Engineers / production techs who have anymore advice?

[Bombhead]

"Seriously, though, those books are more like a distillation of the most interesting bits of the most interesting people's experience"

 

That Bryson makes total sense, suppose I will learn if I am an interesting person then!

 

 

"I just had fun with passengers now and then. They come and go . . . ."

 

Did you ever get caught or in trouble for this? Apparently its a big no no, unless your friends with the right person obviously!

 

 

"Be prepared, if you are planning on "dipping your wick" or starting a relationship, everyone will know within 12 hours about who, what, why, where etc!"

 

I could imagine it being a massive rumour mill, maybe they should make a ship board Big Brother type show?

 

 

Sorry Stocky for stealing your thread abit! Have you been asked to start the clearance stuff, such as visa's medicals etc???

[Stocky]

"Sorry Stocky for stealing your thread abit! Have you been asked to start the clearance stuff, such as visa's medicals etc??? "

 

Those will be my next step as soon as I have been offered an assignment. Been waiting a month, have no idea how long I might have to wait. Just hoping it wont be too long as RCC specfically advertised for Sound Engineers on the website when I applied a few months ago.

 

Anyone care to share their waiting times in the gap pool!!??