Random Thought (about working on a cruise ship and playing poker)

[TheMetetron]

Okay, so here's today's random thought:

What if I worked on a cruise ship (preferrably as a Disc Jockey which I have 6-7 years experience in) and played online poker during the day.

This is way I figure it... I sign up for a 6 month contract with some cruise company and do the whole DJ thing for like 4-5 hours a night, probably 5 days a week (maybe more, I don't know) and party with the drunk passengers and hot, foreign workers. Then, I buy some nice ass 1900x1200 laptop and I can 4-8 table on that during the day (as far as I know, free internet access is available to all employees).

The cruise company pays room and board, I get to stop in some sweet ass ports of call 3 days a week (during which time the clubs onboard are obviously not open), and I get to play poker during the day and late nights after work and squirrel away the assloads of money.

Seems like a decent alternative to my idea of moving to Costa Rica or Cabo San Lucas to play poker on the sandy beaches (though that is definitely not a bad idea).

I'll have to give this more thought, but it seems like it would be fun. DJing might be a hard job to get on a ship though (but I know the retards on the last cruise I was on sucked big time, so probably not). If that didn't work, I'd have to come up with some job that doesn't work much... pay from the cruise ship doesn't really matter to me, that won't be what I do to make money.

Hmmmm.... this is all like 6 months to a year down the road of course. But it was an interesting "what if" for today.

[bigballz]

I don't know how much you would like working a cruise ship year round, but if you did every 2 months on/off that sounds like a really cool idea.

[TheMetetron]

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I don't know how much you would like working a cruise ship year round, but if you did every 2 months on/off that sounds like a really cool idea.

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I was talking to some of the chicks who worked there on the last cruise I was on (they were hot and European... this is where I got the idea). They said you have to sign a 6 month contract with the cruise ship, but I know they get breaks. I just don't know if that's 6 months and then a break or a few months, then a break, then you finish your contract. I would ask them, but I didn't get their information because I really didn't care. I'll find out for sure IF I attempt to do anything like this, but it's not a sticking point either way... I could do 6 months straight if need be.

[Sponger.]

Sounds like a terrible idea. You'd be working long hours and living in [censored] conditions. Might as well just do semester at sea or something.

[Ron Burgundy]

I'd be worried about catching a virus or flu that's going around the ship and infects everyone. But then again, you could just sit on the crapper with your laptop all day.

[NT!]

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I'd be worried about catching a virus or flu that's going around the ship and infects everyone. But then again, you could just sit on the crapper with your laptop all day.

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If I was you I'd be more concerned about catching eight different kinds of AIDS from having drunken unprotected sex with all kinds of hot chicks. That seems like the only downside to this thing.

I always thought working on a cruise ship sounded cool. If my girlfriend ever leaves me this is one of the many options I would look to. Trip report plz.

NT

[disjunction]

Go for it. You only live once.

[surfinillini]

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Go for it. You only live once.

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you only die once too

[gdsdiscgolfer]

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Go for it. You only live once.

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you only die once too

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weak-tight

[TheMetetron]

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Sounds like a terrible idea. You'd be working long hours and living in [censored] conditions. Might as well just do semester at sea or something.

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This requires being in college.

Thing is, the job I'd be doing, I wouldn't be working long hours. I talked to the DJs on the last cruise and they worked 4 nights a week for 4-5 hours. I can handle that for free room/board plus a meager wage.

I dunno, it'd be a while before I do it, if I do it at all. But I think it's an experience worth considering.

[MicroBob]

They really only worked for 4-5 hours a night?

That really surprises me...but you're the one who talked to them.


I saw some special about cruise-ships on the Travel Channel and they showed the infirmary (or whatever) section with a couple nurses or something.

And I thought...My GF and I cruise for 6 months. She works as a nurse on the boat and I play online-poker all day (or maybe work a few hours as a dealer if I wanted to..but they probably require way more hours for that).


your DJ idea would be lots of fun much of the time I suspect.

And I don't think it seems THAT different from some of the European tour type folks (who support themselves via online-poker while hopping all over the continent)


However, I remember towards the end of last year's cruise we were pretty much ready to get off the boat and get to our own homes and beds.


Also, 1 week on a cruise is great when you don't have any problems.
But after 6 months you are going to have plenty of stormy and rocky situations that would be kind of be sucky I suspect.


It's not always sunny and beautiful.
Sometimes it's stormy and hideous and kind of scary.


I don't know...maybe it wouldn't suck that bad.
It's an interesting idea.


what else did the DJ's tell you about pay and hours and stuff like that?


the DJ on the PPM cruise last year was as sucky as a DJ can possibly be.

We're also pretty sure that he had a big crush on me for some reason regardless of the fact that I was spoken for and obviously don't swing that way.

[gilbert]

do you ever leave your house anyway, or do you sit around and play poker all day?

if you don't really get out much, i think this would be a cool idea.

[TheMetetron]

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do you ever leave your house anyway, or do you sit around and play poker all day?

if you don't really get out much, i think this would be a cool idea.

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I go to (surprise, surprise) dance clubs and lounges about 3-4 days a week, depending. Try to go skiing but the snow sucks up here. Summer, I love the lake and I'm sure I'll be there a lot.

But I don't do anything that can't be done during ports of call. And going on the deck is sort of like going outside /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Sponger.]

Why not just go to semester at sea and never go to any of your classes? hahaha, that'd be sick.

Seriously though, unless DJing is really a passion of yours I can pretty much guarentee this will be an awful idea.

[TheMetetron]

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Why not just go to semester at sea and never go to any of your classes? hahaha, that'd be sick.

Seriously though, unless DJing is really a passion of yours I can pretty much guarentee this will be an awful idea.

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It was, so it's not like I'd hate doing it. I use to produce songs for local artists and mix at the local radio station and clubs in SF. It's certainly more fun for me then being a waiter or something on the ship.

I dunno, I'd say there's a 15% chance I actually do it, but it seemed like an interesting thought in passing today.

[TimsterToo]

I worked on a cruiseship.

Things to consider: You live in a very small cabin, you share that cabin. You don't get to choose who you share it with.

There's no such thing as a day of on a cruiseship. You work every day for your whole contract.

If there's even just 1 guest on board who wants to use the club you're DJing. Bottomline, you never have a night off so forget about going to those hot clubs.

You want to go to shore during daytime? Great idea but if the boat can't lie in the harbour your looking at tender service. All guests go first all the time. Add another 2 hours back and forth just for waiting until you can get into the tender.

I seriously doubt you can use free wireless internet on the ship but I'm not sure, I sailed 5 years ago. The only way to guarantee wireless connection 24/7 on a ship (especially whilst sailing) would be through sattelite. This costs money.

Fratternising with the guests is prohibited. Screw a guest, go home.

I must add though that I had a fantastic time. I flew into Hongkong and the ship sailed back to europe. I saw a lot, met a lot of cool people and did a lot of partying. I was in the barteam which does make things a bit easier. But there's no way I would have had time to play or study poker a lot.

I say go abroad and get a job somewhere for a couple of days a week. If you get sick of the location move somewhere else and do the same. You'll have much more room to do whatever you want.

[bobbyi]

I've never been on a cruise ship. Is the internet access really that reliable? I would have thought that you would lose your connection too often to make this a good plan.

[mshalen]

Not if you have a really really long cable line.

[TheMetetron]

Thanks for killing that thought...

[TimsterToo]

You're welcome /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I own a bar with free WiFi in Amsterdam, the Netherlands though....

(but I'm not hiring! /images/graemlins/grin.gif)

[budman]

There is a reason 99.9% of the employees on cruise ships are from 3rd world countries. The pay sucks. My understanding of the rooming situation is that you will be bunking with a bunch of smelly foriegners who will probably steal your computer anyway.

I doubt they will hire someone just to DJ and ride the boat the rest of the week. You will probably have to do double or triple duty. If you are in the entertainment department you'll probably have to help set up the disco equipment, play roadie for the entertainers, etc.

The last time I was on a cruise they had a serbian magician that I swear was shilling day trips at the excursion desk. He probably bartended on the nights he wasn't amazing us with his magic tricks.

[Atomic]

I worked 3 contracts (8 months on 8 weeks off) with Carnival as a shipboard videographer, finishing my last cruise a little over 2 years ago, and I can attest to what TimsterToo stated.

I worked 10-12 hours a day almost every day of the contract. Shared a cabin, a very tiny cabin. There was very little interaction with cruise guests outside of anything work related.

Downtime was usually spent one of three ways. Drinking, sex or sleeping. The crew bar is the best bar in the world. The shop girls are the easiest girls in the world.

It wasn't a bad experience. 8 months of saving money, 2 weeks visiting family and mooching off them, a month in Las Vegas and 2 weeks burning through cash at a ridiculous rate staying on South Beach waiting for my next cruise out.

As for playing online poker, that was not possible since there was no internet access avaiable for anything but email.

[george w]

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And I don't think it seems THAT different from some of the European tour type folks (who support themselves via online-poker while hopping all over the continent)



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are there any threads about this?