Many dancers have taken up work on cruise ships for a number of reasons and there can be many advantages. Dependent on your situation money earned can be tax-free, you literally get to see the world, there's no competitive pressure, everybody with you is in the same boat !

The down side is having to perform in very different & often difficult environment, being on a contract with no way off (unless you pay for Air-fare home from wherever), loosing the use of large ballroom floors and the "feel" of other dancers around you plus having to do other ships duties.

On that last point, I would like to advise anyone thinking of "doing the boats" to check what duties are involved, often its quite simple such as greeting passengers as the arrive or go, manning the ship's library whilst the librarian has a break - sometimes much more is required. I've known people have to work very long hours and even call Bingo ! If the ship has a ballroom (why would you be there if it didn't have a ballroom ?) you may be 'expected' to be there every night and dance with the passengers.

I was very lucky that my first cruise ship was the world's most famous, the QE2. It's a beautiful ship, now over 25 years old, large enough to cross the Atlantic Ocean comfortably but small enough to fit into the Panama canal (just). A crossing from Southampton, England to New York takes 5 continuous days at sea (or longer if the weather is rough). On my first day it was a force 8 gale, I'd never been on a cruise ship before, only Ferries. I awoke and felt very green, managed to clamber my way upstairs to breakfast (not many people about) and could only look at a black cup of coffee. Cutlery and crockery were falling off the tables as the ship pitched and rolled, What had I let myself in for ? I asked one of the other members of the entertainment staff, The band leader "will every day be like this ?". His wife gave me wonderful advice "Go to the hospital and get the anti-seasickness injection, its much stronger than pills and will last you several days, you must have a little sleep afterwards though". Amazingly I did feel so much better afterwards and soon found my "Sea Legs" often able to cope with rough weather without the injection. Then it would be me who would sit at the breakfast table with a great steaming pile of bacon, eggs, sausages, fried bread, hash browns and Danish pastries whilst new members of the crew would sit opposite their faces green.

I once made the mistake of having the anti-sea sickness injection and not sleeping afterwards. It was one of the times I had volunteered to be part of an onboard fashion show. Well, even the simplest of tasks seemed impossible, I did not feel tired but I did feel silly, I could not even put on a bow tie (the elastic sort - not even the proper tie-it-you-self kind), and as for the planned walks up and down the catwalk/runway forget it, I went out at the wrong times, walking the wrong way around and wearing the wrong clothes. The poor announcer managed to cope. Really that's what ship life is all about, teamwork and helping things go smoothly any way you can. It can be frustrating, you are always at work, even when you have time off to visit the ports if you meet passengers they will expect you to behave in the same way as you so onboard, and often expect you to know everything about the town you are in - often its your first visit as well. When all's said and done its a great way to see the world and get paid for it.

Language, especially English can hinder not help. One unfortunate American gentleman was about to go on a coach tour, I was standing on the gangway when he asked me "Is there a restroom nearby ?". Not being familiar with the term restroom I asked him "Are you tired ? perhaps you can rest on the coach." "No" he replied "I want a restroom !", I was puzzled so I suggested "Do you want to rest in your cabin ?", by this time he was a little red in the face and jittering about.

"My cabin's the other end of the ship" he cried, "there must be a restroom closer". "You could try the Main Lounge" , I suggested, "That's quiet and restful, plus they are just serving tea & coffee - or you can have a nice cold drink". He was quite upset now and stormed off, strange man I thought. It was only later that I was told that "Restroom" in America was a "Toilet". It was then that I remembered that at the time I was standing in front of the toilet door.

Some classic passenger quotes

"Do these stairs go up or down ?"

"Couldn't they move the old ruins nearer the ship ?

.. In mid-Atlantic 2 days from land

"Do you have today's newspaper ?"

"Does the staff stay onboard overnight ?"

The last question was asked of somebody in the Hair & Beauty salon, the staff member replied "No, a Helicopter comes out each night and takes us back to England." The next day the purser's desk received a complaint from the guest involved that the Helicopters kept them awake in the night.

My two favorite cruises were getting up early to see the ship steam into New York as the sun was rising, absolutely breath taking, and a trip through the Panama canal, pure fascination at the engineering feat of it all.

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Last Updated Sept. 2006

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