# getting a job on a cruise ship



## gbirdsall (May 7, 2013)

So contrary to the standard "Life on a cruiseship" or "what to expect" 

I figured I would post up my experience in getting a job on a cruise ship, Itried searching a few months ago when I first applied and didn’t find much so Ihope this will provide some information for anyone hoping to land an interviewand eventually the job onboard. 

First thing I can suggest, take your resume read through it, have at least 4other industry professionals read through it and take all the feedback you getfrom them and incorporate it. Second if you have been in the industry for more thana few years a CV is also a good thing to attach and send with the application. 

I applied with Princess Cruise lines, and I applied for an audio, lighting, andstage hand position, and was selected for the stage hand position with thewritten promises that when a lighting position opens I will be moved. 

*The lighting interview*

Within a week I was contacted by the lighting trainer for a phone interview,the actual interview questions lasted about 45 minutes but I was on the phonewith him for about an hour and a half. The questions consisted of: 

What consoles are you familiar with? And how much programming time do you haveon each of them?

What intelligent lights are you familiar with? and why were those chosen,answers like because that was the cheapest rental and that what the house hadare acceptable answers but if you can reference specific features of the instrumentthat made it the choice for you it’s preferable. 

What are the shows you usually program for? Details here are your friend, ifyou work in a road house the last 6 months or so of your schedule are satisfactory.

Also there were some questions of color theory and how to mix the colors youwant from a CMY, RGB, and RGBW and A. Princess uses the MA2 but I am familiarwith Congo so I referenced the color picker in the Congo for the majority ofcolors and this was satisfactory. 

There were also patching questions when using an optical splitter.

I was also quizzed with several trouble shooting scenarios, things like: how doyou handle a non responsive fixture, what they are looking for here is thewhole run down of a simple lamp change to step by step walk through of each parameterto identify what’s wrong. 

The rest of the lighting interview was a lot of talking and conversation ofindustry, favorite show to work least favorite etc. Something to keep in mindhere, the interview IS NOT OVER you are still being interviewed solanguage is important. 

*The general HR interview*

this was conducted over Skype. My tip here would be find a semi blank wall inyour house and use that as a background, and treat this as a face to faceinterview shirt and tie are appropriate 

the questions here are a lot of standard interview questions and ship relatedquestions. Are you ok with sharing a cabin, how would you deal with adisagreement with a roommate etc.

The important industry questions were: 
How do you deal with a situation when a performer is late, when they aredifficult to work with, when they want something you can’t give them.

Give me an example of each of these situations. 

I also got asked a few questions about theatre safety, such as what are theproper calls for when rigging is moving over head, safe handling for dry ice,pyro and things like that. The answers to the pyro and things you aren’ttrained to do is ask and wait for instruction.


*The audio interview*

this interview was more difficult to schedule, the audio trainer was on boardat the time so it was also significantly shorter. 

Many of the same questions as the lighting interview, consoles wireless racks,etc. 

also some general audio definitions are asked: 

console unity

How to use a compressor, gate, sub group, vac, and dac. 

They also give some trouble shooting questions such as: 

What do you do if you have a body pack that you are getting a metallic poppingout of during a show.

Also there were a few sound design questions and your experience with it. 



*The offer and the paperwork*

From Princess the offer came via email so check it daily.

If you are serious about the job and don’t have a passport, apply for one whenyou get your first interview.

The big issue for me at least is they do a bmi (body mass index) calculation topass your physical. You must be under 30, I am at 31 and they offer no leewayso if you think this is a concern for you start working out after your firstinterview!

I will be sure to update as the process goes on!


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## gbirdsall (May 24, 2013)

Update time and more information!

before you will be passed on the physical exam you must have a "dental health letter" saying your gums and teeth are in good shape and you will require no serious dental work for the next 2 years (the same time span your physical is good for). Personaly i need to have my wisdom teeth out as two of them are impacted (growing in sideways).

Also, im not sure if this is princess specific, the offer is valid for 1 year from the day of the offer so if you do need to loose some weight, finish a season, or deal with personal issues you have time as long as you talk to your representive. As of now i am slated to be available the first of july!


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## Footer (May 26, 2013)

Just a side note when I was talking to Royal Caribbean they did not have any of these health stipulations on any of the contracts they sent me. 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD


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## crgranner (Jul 29, 2013)

Sounds intense! I know a LD who did worked for Cruises for years. He loved it!


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## chawalang (Aug 1, 2013)

to add to footer when i worked for carnival none of that medical stuff was a stipulation when i worked for them, same when i interviewed for royal.


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## What Rigger? (Aug 3, 2013)

The medical portions to me sound like things that apply to talent. I almost took a contract (a long time ago) with a certain company that provided staffing for a norweigian line, and they sent me a performer contract that stipulated that I had to meet a weight requirement and would be required to lead shore excursions and staff the library, etc... My interview consisted of acting as the SM for a day of auditions up in Hollywood (pretty sure I got paid, too), and they offered me the gig.

Said company would not make changes to the contract, assuring me verbally that none of that applied to me. But I was not down with playing that game, so I wound up walking away about 24 hours from hopping a plane to Miami, and then 24 hours after that hopping a plane to Germany to get the ship out of the shipyard and rehearsing back across the Atlantic. They had just cut and lengthened the ship. Did they cut right through the theater? Of course. 

Results will vary, to be sure- but always always always get your contract straight. Or as David Lee Roth has sung "God is love....but get it in writing".


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