I totally got lost with working on Disney Cruise Line... There pretty much isn't time to do anything but work, sleep, and eat on land when you can.
So now that I finished my second contract I thought I'd post all that's been going on.
So I went to the Disney Magic as a Merchandise Crew Member. Wow. In the job I learn't sooo much about Merchandising and I have certain managers that I thank for that. As with any job there are some good points and some bad points.
The good points.
- You get to visit AMAZING places. I had the great opportunity to do the Christmas and New Year period. It was pretty hectic with work yes, but they put in extra ports. I basically saw pretty much 40% of the islands in the Caribbean. Then when we were in the Mediterranean on my second contract I got to see Italy, Spain, Malta, France, and a few more places. It's truly a great opportunity to travel, sometimes I may have forgotten that with all the work.
- You get to meet and work with some great people. Some of my team members were amazing at their jobs and I learnt so much from their experiences. Many of them had a great history with the company so getting to share stories with them was great. Many times we had special guests from the company come on board to give presentations.
I met some Imagineers from WDI. One of them (Eric Goodman) gave me a WDI pin... I guess they must carry them around for that reason. I was his host when he came on board and expressed to him my great interest with WDI. He told me all about his work with the Haunted Mansion queue extension, and I attended all of his presentations on board and got a good insight into everything that goes on at WDI. It truly would be a dream to work for them. But I now know how hard I'll have to work to get there.
I met Don "Ducky" Williams, who cruised with us throughout the Christmas cruise. He is an amazing artist and it was fun to watch him draw the characters.
I met a very nice Disney Historian called Stacia Martin. I spoke with her the first night on board and she told me where I could find some info on her history with the Company. Wow is all I can say about this lady. She is ever so sweet and complimented me on the way I speak with Guests... What can I say? I'm British ha ha. Anyway, I attended a presentation that she did privately for the Crew. She drew a few of the characters and we drew out of a hat who would get them... And I won one. I could chose who I wanted so I went to Cinderella as I knew someone special who would want it. I told her that it wasn't going to be for me but I really appreciated her drawing it. At the end of the cruise after speaking a bit about the History of the Company and her learning that my favourite character was Figment, she came into the shop and handed me a scroll, I opened it to find a very nice drawing of Figment with the words "James, One little spark lights up for you." Truly the greatest gift I've ever had. I hope that one day our paths might cross in the company and I can work with her.
- The pay. Now I'm not gonna talk much about this, but imagine if all your meals and rent were paid for and you were confined to one place (a ship for example). You wouldn't spend any of your earnings. So basically I saved a whole lot and came away rich!
The bad points.
- As in every job... Some people aren't there for the right reasons. I met some truly terrible Disney employees. And quite frankly I'm surprised at how they have kept their jobs at all. The loop hole is that people from corporate don't work on the ship and when they do visit the crew tends to put on a show for them. It truly sucks, because they could represent the company so much better by learning from other sectors. Enough about that though.
- The crew food... Wow. It is truly terrible. I mean TERRIBLE! I often wouldn't eat because it was that bad. At first I tried to try new things, but all the food is covered in grease. The only good part is at 10:30 at night they bring all the left over food from the Guest restaurants. Left overs... It's quite shocking now that I take a step back and say that. I ended up buying a lot of dry food (we can't bring all foods on board) and eating it in my cabin.
- Hierarchy. I know it was a ship, and as such we have to follow maritime standards. But there is a serious issue of "I'm wearing a uniform so I'm better than you" mentality. Imagine walking around Disney World and a manager not picking up a piece of trash because it is "beneath them." That's exactly how it is. Now not all of the crew were like that. But it's surprising at how many people weren't like that who came from different sectors of the Company.
Overall I am so glad that I got to work with the Disney Cruise Line part of the company. I'm sure that with the new ships now sailing they will grow and get better and better at their Guest Service. But for now I think I'll stick to working for Disney on land.
My plans for now are to sort some schooling out. I plan on taking some type of Business and Administration/ Management course and then progressing from there. I would love to work for the Company again, so for now just hold tight and I'll make an update when I'm finished with school.
See ya real soon!
