Just about to finish 7 1/2 months on a cruise ship

[chuck in ny]

sounds lovely altogether. what a life. ..chuck

[rufflicks]

Tim,
What pic you playin???
_________________
http://www.youtube.com/user/Rufftips

Remember this is supposed to be fun.

[trpthrld]

gold plated Kanstul 1520.
_________________
Tim Wendt

www.trumpetherald.com/marketplace.php?task=detail&id=146827&s=The-Best-Trumpet-Lead-Pipe-Swab-EVER--

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPWAJqghk24&feature=youtu.be

[rufflicks]

Thanks
_________________
http://www.youtube.com/user/Rufftips

Remember this is supposed to be fun.

[trpthrld]

Other silliness that ya hafta deal with as a crew member.

- Name tag. Your name tag has your name, what you do, and home country on it. The backing was in company colors with the company logo & "Royal Caribbean."

Tim Wendt
Musician
United States

You have to wear your name tag whenever you are out in public.

Now dig this - in an emergency, it is absolutely essential that, above anything else, you wear your name tag.

If the emergency alarm was to sound at 3:30AM and you then have to rush to your emergency station to help pax get into their boats (btw, crew don't get "boats" - you get rafts)...the single most important thing, above wearing your life jacket and safety vest (which, among other things, designates you as being sacrificial in an emergency)...is that you WEAR YOUR NAME TAG!

Your life vest also has "CREW" emblazoned on it.

Your first name tag is free. Lose it & it's $5 to replace it. Come back for another contract and if you didn't save & bring your name tag from your first contract? $5.

And bringing your name tag back is something they don't tell you about. Why? An easy $5 for the company on something that costs them maybe $.35.

- The GOLD Standard. This is a company acronym for the crew to follow. In essence, it is very "drink the Kool-Aid. It's delicious."

G: Greet and Smile.
Company policy is that all crew are to greet all pax and other crew with "Good Morning / Afternoon / Evening" whenever they are within 10' pax or other crew.

You can guess that 90% of the officers never returned the greeting. Being former military, that really irked me. It's like an officer not returning a salute.

First, 10' is a big distance to be talking with someone. If you're a pax and in conversation with someone it can be downright intrusive and irritating.

O: Own the problem.
This is a very good policy. Basically it means that crew, when presented with a problem or issue or question by a pax, are then required to do everything they can to resolve it. This is terrific customer service, something that RCCL always get high rating on.

L: Look the part.
Always look clean, neat, don't smell funny, wear the uniform correctly. All basic stuff, but good stuff.

D. Deliver the WOW.
This is where you're supposed to go above and beyond the minimum to get the job done.

OK. G, O, L - those make sense. But D? Some PR bozo probably spent many a sleepless hour to figure out what D could stand for. I suppose "Duh" was out of the running very early on.

- Water bottles on stage.
We could have bottled water on stage when we played...but the label had to be removed.

Why? Because of a Catch-22 company thing called "Brand Quality." BQ is an all-inclusive but never fully defined approach to rules & regulations that, in my opinion, mostly just further repressed the crew. Anything they couldn't nail you with directly they could always claim "Brand Quality."

OK, so I removed the label from my water bottle on stage (not like anyone could see any details like that from the house).

BUT...guest acts could have bottled water on stage, and with the labels still on. When I asked the Production Manager about this, he said "Has to do with Brand Quality for the crew. Guests acts aren't crew. They can do just about anything they want, including drinking from bottles with labels on them."

The high point of all this label silliness happened when one of the acts brought along their own trombonist. We had done this act several times before, and our trombonist was nailing their charts perfectly, but for some reason, one time they brought their own.

He sat next to me, on my left.

On stage, right next to my un-labeled water bottle, was his water bottle, label in tact.

You tell me what makes sense - PLEASE!!
_________________
Tim Wendt

www.trumpetherald.com/marketplace.php?task=detail&id=146827&s=The-Best-Trumpet-Lead-Pipe-Swab-EVER--

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPWAJqghk24&feature=youtu.be

[altamira_28]

Sounds like they've been taking a lot of cues from military musicians, Tim. Sometimes PC and uniformity at the cost of better judgement. Glad you made it out of there, bud!

Josh
_________________
XO Brass 1600I
XO Brass 1602LTR
XO Brass 1646 Flugelhorn
XO Brass Tribune 1622 C Trumpet
Jupiter Tribune 1220 Bb Cornet
Jupiter 1700S
Monette B3S3, C3S3, B4LS1, B4LSS1, B4LVS1, BP6, Bob Reeves 43WF, Denis Wick 3B Heavy Top Cornet

[JonKratzer]

Picture of Name Tags, I have a drawer full of these.



View from the top bunk


Literally the Whole Cabin on one ship I did, roomie's face blurred for privacy.



At least this part of the job is sweet

_________________
BM Oklahoma City University
Pursuing MM at UMKC's Conservatory.
http://www.jonkratzer.com

[trpthrld]

Oh yeah - "Save the Waves." A present-day company logo & policy to hold current-day crew responsible for a major RCCL foul-up.

from Wikipedia:

"In 1998 and 1999, the company was fined $9 million US dollars because one of its ships, the Sovereign of the Seas, had repeatedly dumped oily waste into the ocean and tried to hide this using false records, including fake piping diagrams given to the US Coast Guard. Because the company was and is incorporated in Liberia, Royal Caribbean argued that this case was not in the jurisdiction of US courts. Despite their argument, they were unsuccessful."

Save the Waves is, in essence, a very good approach to protecting the environment of the seas, something that all persons who enjoy or who's income is based on the seas should do. It's also an enormous PR spin for the company to now profit from their screw-up.

The way it's spun today to the pax is like it was the company's idea to save the waves. They never say anything about what brought it about.

"Save the Waves. Look at us...we SAVE THE WAVES! WE make the ocean better for air and gill breathers alike!!"

From almost the moment you sign on, it is ingrained in your head about the impact of Save the Waves and how it is YOUR responsibility, YOUR job, YOUR duty...

Hey, I didn't repeatedly push the dump button or falsify any documentation on the Sovereign, OK? That was someone else, not me. Don't hold me responsible for someone else's deeds.

We would have fun with it. I'd see a wave and say "Look! That wave looks like it's drowning - should I 'save' it by tossing it a life buoy & shouting 'Oscar Oscar Oscar'!?"

If a pax tosses a cigarette butt over the side & is caught, they are informed that that's not a good thing to do...environmental...save the waves...yadda yadda yadda. But if a crew does the same...pretty good chance you'll be packing your bags & let off at the next port.

That brings up the subject of security cameras. Almost the entire crew area is covered by multiple security cameras. The only places that aren't covered are rest rooms, cabins & some of the shorter hallways. The ship says they're there for the security and safety of the crew, the ship, and the ship's stores.

True, but they are also used to spy on the crew to ensure you are doing your job. When we had to do barrier cleaning (see previous post about sanitizing the ship), we were told the ship would be watching us to ensure that we didn't skip over any areas in an effort to speed up the process. When we did barrier cleaning when we were in ports, our successful completion of that task determined when or if we would be granted shore leave.

Are there security cameras in pax areas? Absolutely, but no where near the amount and coverage there is in crew areas. You'd think there would be an equal amount of cameras in pax areas for their safety and protection. Many pax are getting on in years, and is someone was to slip or collapse in a pax cabin hallway, it might be quite some time before anyone walked in that same area and noticed them.

There were cameras in every crew elevator, but none is pax elevators. Elevators are prime locations for all sorts of nefarious activities. You'd think they'd be there, but they're not.

Several years ago, a flute that belonged to one of the musicians was stolen by a pax. This was in the rear lounge during a band break. It took some doing and convincing to the ship ("Are you positive you didn't misplace it or perhaps throw it overboard or did you even BRING it with you in an effort to file claim against the ship?") before they allowed the musician to view security footage of the area.

It was there, plain as day - a pax walking in front of the stage & lifting the flute, stuffing it under their jacket & walking away. The pax was confronted, gave some lame story about "I play flute & wanted to do some practicing while my flute was at home," the flute returned to the musician and NOTHING was done to the pax.

Why? It'd be bad PR, the flute was returned...and the ship still got to further repress the crew with its accusations of it all being the musician's fault to begin with.

It's all about the spin on things.
_________________
Tim Wendt

www.trumpetherald.com/marketplace.php?task=detail&id=146827&s=The-Best-Trumpet-Lead-Pipe-Swab-EVER--

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPWAJqghk24&feature=youtu.be

[trpthrld]

I knew I'd find it eventually. I had seen this web site & specific thread before. It paints quite a rosy picture.

www.monestudios.com/pagestyled/cruise-life-0

I've been dead-on open about my experiences from the last 7 1/2 months. I had a lot of laughs with a lot of great people. I played with some terrific guest acts. Most of the musicians were good, a few were outstanding, the others...

Another point to bring up. If you are ever accused of doing something that you shouldn't, the attitude will be that you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent. And if you are successful in that, there will still be attitude against you for (1) taking up the ship's time to prove your innocence and (2) for having embarrassed whoever it was who accused you to begin with (more than likely a higher-ranking officer).

I went out with the specific intention of paying off some debts and coming home with a nice buffer of cash. Had it not been for the horrendously bad food on board & spending more money than I had planned to onshore (to try to make up for the chow on ship) & buying food at outrageously high prices in the Slop Chest, I'd have come home with a lot more in my bank.

But, I did pay off debts (main goal).

I played my tokus off every time my horn was on my face (another goal), despite unbelievable things working against me.

All the guest acts were very, very happy with me and my playing (another goal, an always ongoing one).

I'm glad I took the contract. If I ever go out again, I'll know a whole lot more of what the realities of the gig are. The web site referenced above shows you only the roses...no thorns.

Geez..."seminars..." - now THAT'S a good spin on what happens in the classes, many of which are taught by people with accents so thick you haven't a clue as to what they're saying. It used to be you signed an attendance sheet for those classes, but there were some where we had to show our ship ID card, and it was scanned to show we were actually there.

Don't know if I mentioned this before, but the actual contract that you have to sign...you never see it before you get to the ship...and you will not be able to get a copy of it. If you really push they'll show it to you but won't allow you to make a copy for yourself. And when you are told to sign it, it's at a time when the ship is telling all the sign-on crew to hurry up, so it's very easy for certain caveats to slip by unnoticed.

I just hope I've been able to inform potential cruise musicians of what often happens on a regular basis.
_________________
Tim Wendt

www.trumpetherald.com/marketplace.php?task=detail&id=146827&s=The-Best-Trumpet-Lead-Pipe-Swab-EVER--

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPWAJqghk24&feature=youtu.be

[PhxHorn]

Do you think they'd have let you take a cell phone pic of the contract? You should be entitled to your own copy.

Did you have to play many of those awful Shawn Evans charts? Apparently he was a cruise ship MD and he sells charts for pretty much any tune you can think of. I'm seeing them crop up on various gigs lately, and some are OK and some of them suck. Wrong notes, trumpet parts in different keys (Lady is a Tramp), etc. With some tweaking , they can be made to work, but they are way over-written. He will have the brass players blowing every bar of a chart, or playing low brass licks below the staff and then jumping up to high C, back and forth. Even worse, they are written for 6 horns but supposedly playable by 3, so you've got all the solos and lead in one part. Don't even get me going about the horrible chart he did on Sway. Ridiculous.

[nyctrumpeter]

[trpthrld]

[PhxHorn]

Heh, heh. Here's your buddy Shaun's website.

http://www.shaunevans.com/mdarranger/


The sad thing is, with a slight bit more effort, those charts could be very good, but I feel sorry for the musicians and clients who try to play those on a gig with no rehearsal. Bandleaders who don't read music tend to get suckered into buying them and dropping them into the horn sections' lap on a gig.

Oh, I just found this on his FAQ:

http://www.pepperhorn.com/f-a-q/#1-w

Q: “Is this too high for my trumpet player/My trumpet player is whining that his part is too high/hard?!?”
A: The real answer is that Trumpet players are never happy unless they have something to complain about! (ha!). At PepperHorn Music we provide professional level arrangements so some players might find the range or length of blow a little trying. You’ll generally find the Trumpet range in the description of each chart, but there are some things you can try when problems arise:
The best solution is water boarding! (okay … maybe not the best solution). If that doesn’t work try a pencil. Seriously! If your guys are finding it a hard graft then mark TACET. It’s that simple!
For range issues there’s a simple solution too – cut down the lead pipe! (Okay – not a good idea). Try writing in ’play 8vb’ or ‘down the octave’. It’s that easy! You’ll find with these simple additions of a bit of graphite to your page you’ll considerably decrease the blubbering, whining and nonsense coming from the Brass section!

He puts the trumpets in two different keys, but hey, it's the brass players' fault for complaining!

Anybody who's heard the original version of Fly Me To The Moon might have noticed the sax clam in the unison line about 12 bars before the trumpet hits the high F#. Well, Mr Evans transcribed the clam right into the sax parts! Plus, he added some clams to the chart that aren't in the recordings. Presumably that was no extra charge. Oh, and he's got the harmon mute 'Sweets Edison' solo in the lead trumpet part, with about one beat of rest to pull the mute and come in on a high D! And the drag triplet lick at the end is written a half step too high. But those pesky brass players just love to complain. Brilliant!

[trpthrld]

Respect. It's all about respect.

And competency.

And integrity (personal AND professional).
_________________
Tim Wendt

www.trumpetherald.com/marketplace.php?task=detail&id=146827&s=The-Best-Trumpet-Lead-Pipe-Swab-EVER--

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPWAJqghk24&feature=youtu.be

[cperret]

Shaun's sense of humour can be mistaken for irreverance. In fact, he's a very generous and respectful person. I know that on a personal and professional level.

I feel compelled to point out that most of the charts floating around were arranged before Shaun was 20... while he was MD'ing on ships. I don't think my charts looked as good, when I was that age.

On the other hand, I'm not defending his trumpet writing! I've literally loosened my front teeth playing sets of his charts, where the trumpet has the vocal melody, then the horn backgrounds, then string backgrounds, then back to the vocal melody, etc...

I just wanted to remind everyone that there's a real person behind the name. And I happen to know he's a great guy.

Thanks all!

P.S. Tim, thanks for sharing your experiences onboard ships! Great thread - I just had to jump in to defend a friend - even if he is a sax player!

[PhxHorn]

In other words, he's been selling the same defective charts for all these years and hasn't fixed the mistakes? I understand quick and dirty when there's a deadline, but for something like Fly Me, or any Sinatra standard that's going to be in demand for years to come, he'd have fixed them by now. I fixed Fly Me for one band, and then years later, a new bandleader tells me he bought the chart, and I see the same mistakes. Then just a few months ago, another guy bought the chart, and there are the same mistakes again.

Maybe I need to start a website selling the corrected version of these charts.

[trpthrld]

Phx....don't start "complaining"...seems like us trumpet players already have a reputation for doing that...
_________________
Tim Wendt

www.trumpetherald.com/marketplace.php?task=detail&id=146827&s=The-Best-Trumpet-Lead-Pipe-Swab-EVER--

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPWAJqghk24&feature=youtu.be

[trpthrld]

Ratings. Sorry, I can't believe I've gone this long without mentioning "ratings."

At the end of every cruise, the pax are given a form to fill out, rating various aspects of their cruise - quality of the food, cabin attendants, excursions, entertainment - all sorts of categories.

The people who receive these bonus', which can be quite sizable, include the ship's Captain, the Hotel Director, the Food & Beverage Manager, and the Cruise Director. Those positions are paid a very nice monthly wage to begin with, but they plan on always receiving high ratings bonus'. It can add quite a chunk of change to their paycheck.

The Cruise Director (CD) is who all the entertainers work for. If his ratings were low for the previous cruise...guess who then gets the responsibility of improving his ratings?

Not the singers and dancers (who can never do any wrong).

It'll be the stage crew (who really do work their tooki off to begin) and the musicians with added sets and / or shows.

And as I'm sure you can figure...not one penny of any bonus the CD or any of the others may receive goes to those who did the hard work to make it happen. Yes, I know this is just as it is in the corporate world. But every band leader who I've worked for, when given a tip by a patron for playing a certain tune or doing a great job in general, has always split that up among the musicians.

We had one CD on my contract who got terrible ratings. He then called a department meeting and royally reamed us out for HIS poor ratings. This guy...aaahhh...TH won't let me post WHY he got such poor ratings. All I can say is it was all HIS doing, and none of ours.
_________________
Tim Wendt

www.trumpetherald.com/marketplace.php?task=detail&id=146827&s=The-Best-Trumpet-Lead-Pipe-Swab-EVER--

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPWAJqghk24&feature=youtu.be

[crzytptman]

[RandyTX]

So all cruise directors are not like Julie on the Love Boat? Say it isn't so.

BTW Tim, I'm starting to get the feeling (after pages of posts) that you didn't enjoy the cruise.
_________________
"Music is like candy, you throw the (w)rappers away."