How To Get Work as a Guest Entertainer on Cruise Ships - Part II
Embarkation
In the majority of cases, the cruise line will fly you to your
destination a day before you are to join the ship. You will be
met by the local port agent, who is responsible for your
transport to the hotel and to the ship the next day. In some
cases the port agent hasn't turned up to pick me up, so I always
make sure I have my agent send me the port agents details
including phone number, email and emergency phone number plus
the name and address of the hotel I will be staying. From
experience I like to have all bases covered when it comes to
arriving in a foreign country. Now I always email the port agent
to let them know I will be arriving so they are there to pick me
up. You will find, more often than not, that there will be other
crew members joining with you and they are usually picked up
from the hotel between 7-8am. In some cases because I am a guest
entertainer they don't want to see me too early, so I often find
out where the ship is docked and catch a taxi a little later on,
giving me more time to relax in the hotel and also the ship a
little more time to process all the crew. On the day you are
scheduled to join the ship, they do like you to board as early
as possible. If it is a turn around day where passengers are
getting on and off it can be very hectic, so I often go with the
crew straight on the ship. Upon arrival at the ship's terminal,
go straight to the cruise ships information desk and explain you
are a guest entertainer joining and have your joining documents
ready to show, you will then be directed onboard. If there is no
information desk then head straight to the gangway and advise
the security officer on duty that you are embarking and they
will call the office and get you settled. You will either be
asked to visit the Crew Office (crew purser) where all of the
embarkation formalities will be completed or told just to go to
the main reception area where you will be given your key. I
always make a point of visiting the Cruise Directors office to
introduce myself and hand over my promotional photo and get a
schedule of performances.
Side note:- There have been times where I have flown very long
flights, from Vancouver to New Zealand, and by looking at the
'Patter' daily news found out I was performing that night. This
doesn't happen often but be prepared because it CAN happen. The
rules also state that you are to attend the passenger safety
drill with all passengers. If this is your first time on ships I
certainly suggest you do this!
Crew or passenger list? It depends how long you are on the ship
and where you are going as to whether you are put on the crew
list or not. If you are put on the crew list then you will be
given a crew ID badge which you use to get on and off the ship.
In most instances I am on the passenger list and get the
passenger ID card. The only reason we are put on the crew list
is because it makes the paperwork a lot easier in the crew
office, especially when it comes to visas in some countries such
as Brazil. Because you are Guest Entertainer status - always
check the guest manual to make sure of rules and regulations for
the company you are working for - in most cases this means you
don't have to do crew drills. The only thing you might have to
do are 'watertight' doors if they put you in a staff area. There
are some cruise lines where guest entertainers are required to
do crew drills.
Disembarkation Arrangements for leaving the ship differ
from port to port and the crew office will know more about your
details of what time you are to be picked up and taken to the
airport. Sometimes it can be a long process as you may have to
go through customs and immigration so be prepared for a long day.
A few things to make sure you have before leaving:- * Paid all
your onboard bills * Returned your crew ID to purser, if you are
on the crew list * Hand in your blue or yellow card - a safety
card given to you when you join. * Leave your key in your cabin
* Pay your room steward his or her tips * "Signed off" the
ship's crew articles if on crew list.
Acccommodation With the cruise lines I work for they
always put me in a private double cabin and you have your own
bathroom facilities. The cabin is either located in passenger
area or a staff area depending on the ship. Although I have not
found it in any regulation hand book we always get an outside
cabin which seems to be the rule of thumb. Towels and linen are
always provided. Each morning your cabin steward will come and
change the towels and usually once a week change the linen.
Accommodation on each ship varies, in many cases they tend to
put all the entertainers together in one area which makes for
fun times and a good way to get to know other acts. There have
been instances where we have been put in passenger areas and the
room service is the same as passengers. If you are in a staff
area then you will not get the chocolate on the pillows at night
and the cabin steward usually comes in only once a day, unless
you ask otherwise. We have always had a TV in our room,
sometimes with a video and fridge. On contracts where I have
been booked for 6 months or longer and there was no fridge I
would often purchase a little $80 fridge and have it in the
cabin, it always comes in handy on those long runs. There is
always a phone in the cabins and if in staff areas I am able to
buy a calling card at crew rates in the crew office and phone
home from my cabin. I remember in the early days I had to line
up with all the other crew to use one phone on one of the lower
decks on the ship, I could be waiting there over an hour to use
it. There are advantages to being in a staff area. For
passengers to use the satellite phones it can cost up to $4.50
per minute, for crew it is only seventeen cents, depending on
where you are calling.
Discounts This varies from cruise line to cruise line, so
again, either ask your agent or check the Guest Entertainer
Manual of the cruise line you are working for the discounts you
are allowed as a guest entertainer. The general rule for most
ships is that there is a 25% bar discount for guest entertainers
and a 20% discount in the boutique shops on board. At the end of
each cruise when you get your bill, make sure that the discounts
have been taken off the final account. It has happened on so
many occasions where the final discount was wrong or not taken
off. For whatever reason these days, the bills are always wrong
and most guest entertainers have to end up going down at the end
of a cruise and sorting the problems out. I often believe the
problems on ships are due to simple lack of communication
between departments! There are the top end cruise lines where
you don't have to pay for any drinks at the bar, but that is the
minority. There is also a 21-year minimum age requirement for
purchasing alcohol on most cruise lines. Everything you purchase
is put on to your account so ships are a cashless society,
however I always take a few dollar bills and leave them as tips.
Note:- As of re-reading this book the company I work for has now
taken off any discounts in the shops on board for guest
entertainers.
Requirement of Shows Each cruise line will have different
requirements from their Guest Entertainers, what I offer is
simply a guidline -
Length and number of shows I checked the guidelines in the
manual for the cruise line I work on and they state that a
minimum repertoire of two 30-minute and one 15-minute show is
required. On longer cruises it may be necessary to perform three
of four 30 minute shows. On the ships I work I have never done
two different 30 minute shows, rather one full show and a split
show with another act or two different 45 minute shows. On the
cruise I am on at the moment, as of writing this book, I am
performing two 45 minute shows and a close-up show. The close-up
show is at my suggestion to the cruise director as it gives me
another chance to push my DVDs plus I thoroughly enjoy close-up
magic. How many shows you are required to perform depends
entirely on the length of cruise. If you are doing the short
seven day cruises then more often that not you will only be
required to do one full show, perhaps maybe another show sharing
the bill with another act. On the longer cruises of say twenty
four days you can be assured you will need to do two different
full shows. This requires a lot of work and it is important that
your second show is as strong as the first. Speaking from
experience I prefer just to do my one main show as it contains
all my number one material, rather than try and split it up
between two shows. After experimenting with my act I realized
how important it is to make sure your first show is very strong,
that way people will talk about you, get to know you and come
back for the second. You will hear other entertainers say they
have an A and a B show, in my opinion if you want a long career
in Cruising make sure both your shows are A material. If you can
do a close-up show then by all means mention it to the cruise
director as it all helps in the long run keeping your name in
front of the passengers when they fill in the comment cards. The
general rule of thumb is that you will do your main show twice
in one night.
Your schedule
Your schedule will vary from ship to ship and cruise to cruise.
Generally speaking, on a seven day cruise you will be required
to work one night with your main 45-50 minute act. This you will
do twice, once at the early show, usually 8.30pm and the other
at 10.30pm for two different audiences. On the larger ships they
are now getting us to work more, so we will work one night with
the two shows, then repeat the show again the next night for the
crowds who missed it. The large ships now carry up to 2800
passengers so you are required to do an extra show. On the seven
day cruise you may also be asked to do an extra ten to fifteen
minute spot on the last night, along with other guest
entertainers.
Because I have two different full 45 minute acts plus the
close-up show, I tend to get the longer runs which also means
the better contracts where the ships travel to more exotic
locations around the world. It makes sense to keep me on a ship
longer as I can do two different nights of entertainment and the
close-up show on a sea day. However, having said that next week
I will be leaving the ship I have been on for three months and
transshipping to another ship for a little over a week where I
will be on the last part of the cruise and the beginning of a
new one, then fly to join another ship for a little over a week,
then fly to another ship for only one night before flying home.
There is no set rule for how many times you will perform and you
usually only find out when you join. My advice is to make sure
you are prepared before starting your cruise ship career,
otherwise it will be short lived and chances of getting
re-booked are very slim.
There somehow seems to be an invisible network amongst the
Entertainment Department in the cruise industry and word travels
fast. Remember that Carnival cruises owns about 70% of the
cruise industry including; Carnival Cruise Lines, Windstar
Cruises, Cunard Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises,
Costa Cruises and The Yachts of Seabourn. That is a huge market
and Entertainment is now overlapping with these companies as
they all come under one umbrella.