July 20. 2011

This will be several days worth, as I have not had time to update or write, so the highlights: Karaoke Contest, All Access Tour, Customer Service Brainstorming, and SUN!

Oasis has recently commenced an All Access Tour possibility for its guests. They may have had it before, but it has recently been turned over to Cruise Staff to host. I was informed the night before that I would be hosting this. I looked forward to the opportunity, but was a bit nonplussed since there were so many parts of the ship I had not been to, how could I possibly host, or even get the guests from Point A to Point B. So midnight, the night before, I am rushing around making All Access Tour Passes with lanyards, putting together gift bags for the participants, and trying to find someone to explain to me how to get to the Bridge, which is the last stop on the tour. Nothing like being prepared.

Now, everyone knows that the Bridge is the Captain’s Territory, and it is not a place you just wonder into and say howdy. Also, as a former Marine, the Bridge is “God’s Country”, sort of like visiting Mt Sinai, I would expect. This is a place you only go to for two reasons: You are an officer ON the Bridge, or you are in trouble…excuse me, Trouble. I had no idea what protocol was called for, and I certainly did not want to make my manager look bad, so I was a bit stressed about this.

Priscilla, one of our Filipino Team Members, had done the tour the week before, and she happened to be in the office. She helped me put the gift bags together and then we took a tour up to the bridge. There is a buzzer outside the door that you press and announce yourself. Done. Now I knew where to go.

The next morning I show up for the guests ready to lead them. This is organized very well. I don’t have to actually tell anything about the ship, I just shepherd the people to and from each stop, and an officer at each section explains what happens there. The stops included: The Aqua Theatre, The Main Galley, Provisioning, The Engine Room, The Laundry Facility, the Crew Areas, (Mess Hall, entertainment areas), the Heli-Pad and finally, the Bridge. This whole concept reminded me of the people who paid large amounts of money to attend a Tech Rehearsal and backstage tour in a theatre. As an actor there is nothing more boring than a Tech Rehearsal, but to the uninitiated I realize how interesting it is to see the process that creates an event. With this ship, the ‘backstage tour’ is fascinating. I had no idea, (granted I have only been here less than six weeks), what all went into making this enormous vessel work. Each section was fascinating.

The Aqua Theatre was designed specifically for the Aqua Shows. It is a kidney shaped pool that has a floor that rises and falls very quickly underwater. One of the best tech moments of the shows are when a diver has just dove from a great height into the water and seconds later you see people “walking” on the water, because the floor has appeared. Technical tidbits like the red and green lights that no one really sees, (to tell the diver on the board whether it is safe to jump or not), the underwater “cave” the performers enter to access the ladder to take them back up unseen, the divers who are in the pool underwater with air tanks to supply the swimmers who dive and don’t immediately reappear, etc.

From there we went to the Main Galley where the Executive Chef, Daniel, (the youngest Chef to be hired, and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America), took us around the ENORMOUS Galley that supplies the Main Dining Room. He was very well spoken and interesting to listen to. One of the facts I learned there is that each of the scarves that the employees wear has a meaning. There are three colors: Yellow, (new hire, first contract), Red, (second or more contract), and Blue, (Senior/Supervisor and ready for Sous Chef possibilities). Oasis, at every American Port is checked by the government, and for the last three cruises has received an unheard of 100% grade. This is impressive when you consider that even a mislabeled canister can mean a negative five points, and when you realize the size of the operation the possibilities for negative points are dramatically increased. They are to be commended! The sure number of plates they create every day runs in the multi thousands.

From there it was off to Provisioning and Stores, where all the food and drink that are used in the Galleys comes. Again, this is a HUGE operation, and every week countless amounts of raw materials are brought in. As RCI’s goal is a totally green operation, which means low food wastage, I found out that they actually look at the demographics for each cruise and that is how they order there materials. Each culture in the world eats differently, and they get a list, weeks in advance, of the breakdowns. From this they decide the amounts of raw materials so that the people on the ship eat more and throw away less. Refrigerator units the size of our house in Key West are used for Alcohol, Poultry, Seafood and Beef, as well as Fruits and Veggies. They are all housed separately to avoid cross contamination. And they are all used. There is VERY little left by the end of the voyage. There are elevators, sort of like giant Lazy Susan’s that travel the three decks of Provisioning taking the raw materials to the Deck 2 section, from where they will travel to the section of the ship they need to go.

On to the Engine Room. This is a section that NO ONE gets to go, but has been opened to the guests, who are given a security check first, to see. Here the officer explained that not only do they run the ship engines, but also ALL the machinery on the ship, including the plumbing and waste facilities, the water reclamation facility and the engines. RCI has a belief in what they call Above and Beyond. If regulations say that you can only release waste into the water six miles out, they will go 12-15 miles out. Everything has to be above and beyond stated regulations. The water treatment is no exception. Every bit of water is treated on the ship, and by the time it goes through its treatment it cleaner than most country’s water. Some absurdly small amount of particles per gallon of water. This is released back into the ocean cleaner than it came out. So you can say that each voyage helps clean the environment! All glass, paper, food waste, etc, is either reduced onboard in the incinerator, which again goes above and beyond in its carbon footprint reduction, or is crushed and sold out to companies that reuse the raw material.

Zero Waste is the goal, and a Zero Footprint. All this the Chief Engineer explained fully, and though my eyes tend to glaze over with machinery information, I found it fascinating, as did the guests. We did NOT get to see the engines, though we saw the camera monitors and crew members working on them.

Now it was down I-95 to the Laundry Facility. Edna, a Filipina Officer, led us through the FOUR decks that comprise this section. Again, above and beyond, if you can imagine YOUR lint trap on your washer, imagine how much lint is created with the thousands of towels and sheets and clothing washed each day. They machines are enormous, and actually they are so big that they were installed before the ship had even reached Deck 2 completion. They had to be installed already assembled, and they are so large that had they not been installed early on they never would have been able to get them onboard. Everything from dry cleaning to normal washing is done here, and there are even a normal sized washer and dryer as an added thought for those guests who may have had luggage lost (American Airlines), and need to have their only set of clothes washed quickly. The conveyor belts and machinery, like everything else, is too impressive to even describe, and it takes an army of crew members to keep it all running and the washing done.

Up to the Crew Areas, on the forward part of the ship, which included the Mess Hall, the Venetian, (which is the Deck 3 bar for Crew), Deck 6’s HeliBar, and finally the Heli-Pad itself. All of which I have described elsewhere.

Final stop: The Bridge. So we all get up to Deck 12, I lead them down the passageways, I push the buzzer and announce, “Michael, Cruise Staff, here with the All Access Tour”. A voice comes over and says, “Sorry, Michael Cruise Staff, there will be no Bridge Access today.” Surprised, but one does not question the Bridge, I prepare to apologize and lead the people back the way we came…when the buzzer allows us entry. He was joking. You don’t do that to a Former Marine who is accessing the Bridge for the first time!!!

We had a young Officer Apprentice showing us the Bridge, and the technology there, like everywhere else on the ship, is amazing. The fleet is going to a paperless goal, which means maps, etc, are instead being taken by large electronic screens. The OA explained everything superbly, and the guests were excited to be on the Bridge and taking pictures. No video is allowed however. I even got to sit in the First Mate’s chair…I drew the line at sitting in the Captains. I didn’t think it was appropriate to even ask.

All together a great three hours, and I enjoyed not only hosting and educating the guests in the processes that allow a ship of this size to run, but learning a lot about the ship in which I work. I recommend you take this option if you have it. It is money well spent!







Karaoke Contest Tuesday Night – This went much better, and LORD did we have better singers. Awesome singers in fact! What a pleasant change! My butt cheeks were happy…no clenching on bad notes. I had a really nice compliment from Earlon, the DJ. Apparently the bar staff and Earlon have all been talking about what a great host I am, and they wanted me to be the permanent Karaoke Host. Can’t do that, due to scheduling, but I was able to get Amy to agree to letting me be the Contest Host…at least until I have built the format that works best and can turn it over as a finished product. This time I had four volunteers from the audience as Judges, reserved tables for them up front, had paper and pens for them to take notes, and had them choose from the 12 singers the six they wanted to hear at the competition. I arranged with the bar for them to each have a free drink of the day.

From beginning to end the bar was packed beyond SRO…they were standing outside. Earlon says I bring in the best audiences. Uniformly the singers were excellent, which made me want to cry I was so happy. Wish the cast from Hairspray could have been here for that.

The competition was so tight that I had to have a Sing-Off for 1st and 2nd. Walt, the winner, had a voice like Nat King Cole. We also had a white girl singing “I Know Where I’ve Been” from Hairspray. This is the big anthem for Motomouth Maybelle, the character played by Queen Latifah in the movie. I have to say I was impressed with the girl. I had my doubts, but she pulled it off. Since she was so good I ended up singing the harmony backup that we had used when Terri White sang it in my Cabaret at the Red Barn several years ago.

Altogether a great night.

Today was a port day in St Maarten, and I had pretty much the whole day off after a session with the Training Group who led the Cruise Staff in a Customer Service Brainstorming session. It actually had nothing to do with Customer Service, but was a chance for us to brainstorm ways we could improve the team. Apparently there have been some issues. Well, with two people quitting from frustration, and a third rumored, there is something obviously amiss in the team. It was a private session, with only the team members, no managers. It was facilitated by the Training Staff and I think it went really well. There is no doubt that this is a difficult assignment. It is the largest ship in the world and takes the most work, as you can tell from the All Access Tour description. Here is where my age comes in handy. After all the jobs I have pulled through the years, and all the managers, good and bad, that I have had, nothing much phases me in this job. There are issues, as in any organization, especially one where everyone is living in close quarters and working incredibly long hours, but nothing insurmountable. The over all meeting was positive, and I think the comments and suggestions made were credible and meant in a positive manner as well. We shall see what happens.

One of the main concerns was the staffing of activities that no one attends. Wii is the one that is the most talked about. It is the most often cancelled due to lack of attendance, and when there are people there, there are only 1 or 2. We have to staff it for 30 of the 45 minutes before we can leave and call it cancelled. This does seem to be an inefficient spending of Cruise Staff time and RCI money. It was big a couple years ago, but Wii is a bit passé now with the younger crowd, and they would rather be outside on the decks. At a time when we are short staffed and overworked it does seem reasonable to cut back on the activities that show a steady lack of interest. But, who knows.

One of the other things mentioned was the lack of interaction outside of the workplace. We don’t seem to hang out with each other, so in the spirit of building team morale, I went to Deck 16’s sun deck with TT after the meeting for an hour of Vitamin D building and chatting. I have gotten a little pale, and there are whole days I don’t see the sun, so it seemed the right thing to do. I’m glad I timed myself, exactly an hour and I was turning pink. But at least I have color today!

70s dance tonight, and I will be dancing with the rest of them in my polyester glittery shirt. Yea!