To help me find a set of questions on what I wanted to discover, I started off by interviewing my colleagues. So I asked, "What Issues affect us in the Entertainment department in the cruise industry as performers?"
Here are the answers I received:
- Hierachy?
- Why are dancers considered not as respected as singers?
- Bad Management-how does that affect the group?
- Separating work from our personal life, as essentially we live at work...
- Tolorance-diverse groups of people. Some nationalities aren't as tolerant of more diverse groups in the entertainment department.
- People from all over the world, working together with one goal...How does nationality affect how we work together?
- Entertainers who work on a cruise ship are not considered to have a viable job that is respected by the rest of the crew, we are highly resented by the rest of the crew.
- Entertainers on a cruise ship are not as respected and entertainers who are working on land on Broadway, West-End or reputable dance companies. 'It's just a cruise job'
- Cruise ship perception, how have cruise ship alumni affected the improvement the quality of the shows onboard?
- Weigh-Ins- it affects performers due to the mental training we receive as a dancer. Why do it? Muscle is heavier that fat...How do dancers handle it? No feedback is given.
- Stage-It is literally moving, so there are safety concerns and also sea-sickness is possible.
- Audience is a factor as they are not paying customers, they don't necessarily know theatre etiquette. They come late, walk around whilst we are performing, they let their children run around the theatre, they'll shout out to the performers whilst they are performing on stage...
- Always at work, there's no escape unless you stay in your room, you can't be anonymous.
- Having other responsibilities-taking exams that don't relate to us as performers...
- It's more difficult to arrange your next job whilst onboard-meetings have to be delayed, more internet access is needed and it's very expensive!
- No understudies or swings, so last minute re-blocks are constantly needed, a lot of unnecessary stress and it's a lot of pressure for the rest of the team, you feel like you can't be sick as you'd be letting down the other 13 members in the cast.
- Food. It's very limited on what you can take on/off the ship, so its hard to maintain a healthy diet. Scheduling times for food, if you're working you just miss out on eating times and have to wait until the next available time slot.
So as you can see, there are many issues that affect us as performers and these aren't all of them! Next task, I have to devise a set of questions...Wish me luck!
