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August 21, 2011
Dear musicians,
Your input is needed.
As you may know, we have a discussion forum on our site, that has provided a lot of information over the years. The idea of the forum was to have a place for us cruise ship musicians to discuss all aspects of our jobs and travels and to make available as much information as possible.
The forum is really successful in that people go there to read the information that’s there. We can tell this by the traffic the forum generates. However, we found that musicians don’t participate in the dialogue as much. In other words, they read the information but they don’t post a lot of questions and/or comments.
This is why I’m wondering if the forum is really needed. We have several options to deal with this:
- Get rid of the forum and post some of that information on our blog, twitter, Facebook presences.
- Keep the forum as is
Let us know what you think.
Thanks.
Update!
We have decided to make the forum readable only, as soon as our new site goes up. We’ll keep the forum around for a while in that state and eventually remove it.
We feel that we already have other tools that provide ways for us to make information available and we wouldn’t want people to have to go to many different pages to gather information. In order to consolidate information, we’ll be posting the important information on our blog which will then be announced on Twitter and Facebook.
You can still comment and ask questions on those services.
Marco
Dear musicians, friends and clients of Oceanbound Entertainment Inc.,
Over the next couple of weeks (or months, depending on progress), we’ll be making changes to all of our web presences and this will ultimately affect how you can stay in touch with us. Here’s an overview of what the overall plan is:
- There will be a complete re-design of www.oceanbound.com (also available at www.oceanbound.ca)
- We will add a Facebook fan page for Oceanbound Entertainment Inc., and we’ll convert our followers to fans of that page.
- Our twitter presence for Oceanbound Entertainment Inc. is “oceanbound_com”. Please follow us there as we’ll be posting updates about the changes as we go along.
Thank you.
Marco
July 15, 2010
Dear musicians,
By now we’re well aware of the fact that airlines love coming up with all kinds of ridiculous charges seemingly by the day. They don’t like to make them easy to find though. ABC have compiled a list of charges that’s really helpful. You can download it here.
Celebrity Cruises have recently sent us an email pointing to a recent development at UPS, the shipping company. The idea is to ship some of your equipment to your port of embarkation ahead of time using a “luggage box” which you purchase at a local UPS store. This reduces cost and makes travels much more comfortable.
Celebrity Cruises seem to think that this is a solution for those musicians that have to travel with a lot of equipment. You can get the details by clicking here.
January 22, 2010
Dear musicians,
The CLIA or Cruise Lines International Association, has posted some more statistics and an overall positive outlook on the immediate future of cruising on their Web site. It’s a long read but don’t worry, I have picked out some of the more interesting tidbits for you. more info
May 5, 2009
Dear Musicians,
In a previous blog post I wrote about the fact that more musicians apply for cruise ship jobs because they can’t find jobs on land. By now it’s clear that this has created a huge backlog of musicians that can’t get back on ships because the supply is larger than demand and this may seem as a negative effect at first, but could it be that the quality of the music on cruise ships improves as a result? more info
April 1, 2009
Dear Musicians,
The economy is down (for those that haven’t paid attention) and the cruise lines are feeling it. Musicians that can’t find gigs on land anymore are flocking to cruise ships for gigs. The combination of both of these facts makes it harder to get gigs on ships. Here are five tips on improving your odds:
1. Be available – The list of those waiting for gigs is getting longer by the minute. If you’re not available for full contracts, the cruise lines will simply pick someone that is.
2. Apply early – This has always been true but is even more important now. For some positions we’re booking for 2010 now.
3. Be ready to go – People always get fired or signed off for medical reasons. If this happens we’ll need people in a hurry and we’ll take those that are ready to go.
4. Kick butt during your audition – Lots of applicants means cruise lines have the luxury to pick the best.
5. Yes, weed counts as a drug. – Hold off on lighting it up, you will fail the drug test.
December 17, 2008
Dear Musicians,
Due to the slow economy a larger than usual number of musicians seem to run out of gigs on land and thus are applying for cruise ship jobs. This means that it’s a bit tougher at the moment to get gigs on cruise ships.
Cruise lines have the luxury of picking not only the best players but also those that are willing and able to stay for full contracts which can vary between 4 and 6 months depending on the cruise line. They are also booking further ahead, so if you’re interested in this kind of work, make sure to audition early and make yourself available as much as you can.
December 8, 2008
The smaller tourist vessel MV Ushuaia, owned by an argentinian company grounded on December 4th near Cape Anna in the NW Antarctic Peninsula. All passengers have been transported to safety by vessels that where cruising nearby.
During the accident the ship punctured fuel tanks resulting in an oil spill that seems to be contained presently by an oil spill barrier. Nearby bird colonies as well as penguin colonies could be in danger from the toxic fuel oil.
Cruise traffic seems to be outpacing necessary traffic regulations in the region, something the Antarctic Treaty System has failed to implement.
Steps to be considered must include banning large vessels (since they pose a larger threat to the environment because they carry heavier fuel oil), establishing ice-strengthening standards, establishing stringent qualifications and training for ice navigators, and reviewing how effectively existing regulations are implemented.
News of cruise ship attacks by pirates in the waters around Somalia have have been pouring in the last couple of months. An oil tanker has been captured and a ransom is now being paid out to pirates to release the ship with its crew. The cruise ship MS Nautica was attacked by pirates but was able to outrun them. More and more such stories are being reported to everyone’s growing concern.
Finally, efforts are underway to attack this problem head-on. 18 United Nations Members States have cosponsored United Nations Security Council Resolution 1846 which was adopted unanimously by the Security Council on December 2nd. This resolution will increase efforts to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia.
Furthermore, the European Union, on December 8th, will launch a fleet of at least seven ships, including the frigate HMS Northumberland, to the Gulf of Aden to fight the piracy threats. Considering that 20% of world trade passes through the Suez Canal, along with numerous passengers ships, and considering that pirates have carried out over 100 attacks this year only, there seems to finally be enough incentive for such an undertaking.
The German company Hapag Lloyd has taken other drastic measures to ensure the safety of their passengers on board MS. Columbus, a ship that was supposed to pass through pirate infested waters. The company has decided to disembark all passengers in the port of Hodeidah, Yemen, and fly them to Dubai where they’ll wait for the ship and embark anew.
The crew of 50 will have to face the pirates nevertheless.
So while we’re seeing pirate attacks increase, we’re also seeing some efforts to ensure passenger safety. Much more needs to be done though. Maybe this is worth reconsidering your travel plans.
November 20, 2008
Only eight days after Princess inaugurated Ruby Princess, Celebrity held their festivities for their newest ship, Celebrity Solstice.
If you’ve been reading this blog, you’re not new to Solstice as we’ve documented its features in several posts. The “lawn club” seems to have drawn quite some attention, and lately some of that has turned negative. Some guests seem to think that having fresh grass under your toes isn’t a good substitute for more sunbeds. more info
