The Basics

I'm about 2 and a half weeks into my 6 month contract on the norwegian Epic, cruising around the Mediterranean for the summer. I guess we should do this right and start with the basics. Our cruise itinerary is:
Sunday: Barcelona, Spain
Monday: At Sea
Tuesday: Napoli (Naples,) Italy
Wednesday: Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome is a train ride away from this port)
Thursday: Livorno, Italy
Friday: Cannes, France
Saturday: Marseille, France

My job. My job title is "stage manager" but I also assist the Production Manager with some stuff. Basically I serve as a back up for the department. I'm learning to call all of the shows onboard, which are Legends In Concert (we have Rod Stewart, Madonna, and Elvis) and Blue Man Group on the main stage which is the Epic Theatre. In the Spiegel Tent we have Cirque Dreams & Dinner (which is not a CdS show, just a similar style of circus.) I've been calling Legends since the first week I got here and shadowing a lot on the other two. Cirque is difficult only because almost all the cues are safeties that can't go until the performers are safely set in certain places, so it's really just getting to know the show better. I could probably call that one at this point, I just haven't. Blue Man is very specific and mostly set to counts, so that one is the most difficult, but I'm comfortable with most of the sections. I also oversee the Nickelodeon events, mostly just spot checking them to make sure they are starting their events on time and that they have everything they need. There's also a Motown Cabaret in one of the dining rooms with the ensemble from Legends when they don't have shows in the Epic-so 3 times a week. I just have to get them there and take a few notes for that one though, the show runs itself and the techs know what they're doing--mostly. I don't really work all that much, I have all day to go play in port and then I come in around 5 or so to check e-mails and do a few paperwork type things, and work until about 11:30 or 12:30 depending on which show is happening. For the shows that the Production Stage Managers call, I just watch the shows or wander around the ship checking in with the other guest entertainers in the lounges and stuff like that. It's a pretty cushy job, and I have a "yellow card" which allows me to be in any passenger area and I'm allowed to take my name tag off when I'm outside of crew areas.

There's a lot of drinking onboard, mostly because there's nothing else to do. We usually end up in one of the lounges for a while and then head down to crew bar. On Wednesdays we have movie nights in the Epic theatre on the big projection screen. I've been reading a lot in my downtime too. I don't spend much time in my cabin, which I usually refer to as my shoebox. It's small, but it's a petty officer cabin, so it's not as small as a crew cabin and I have my own bathroom.

I think that covers the basics. I'll try to be good about updating this every few days or so. Eventually I'll put some pictures up too, but right now I'm using ship internet which is slow and expensive, so I'm calling it a post. I also need breakfast--I'm starving!

-Nikki