I have worked on several Royal Caribbean ships since joining them in October of 2001. Each ship is basically the same, however they do tend to have several differences. On all of the ships I am responsible for programming and running the lights within my venue. In addition I assist the Lounge Tech whenever specialized assistance is needed, normally for automated light problems. On all ships I operate the show control system, Richmond Showman II. I normally take care of routing video to the screens as needed outside production shows, which the show control does. I often am the person that loads and fires pyro for the shows as needed. The main show room on each ship has two production shows as well as guest entertainers, for which I supply lighting as needed. I also call all spot cues for all shows.

My first ship was the Sovereign of the Seas. It has a small show room at the aft of the vessel. The lighting is controlled by an ETC Expression 3, that handles conventionals, and Martin Light Jockey, that handles the automated lights. The automated lights consist of eight Martin Roboscan 918s, and eight MAC 600s. The ship also has PARs with scrollers in addition to the other conventionals, which are very old.

The next ship that I went to was the Monarch of the Seas. There I replaced a tech that had been fired, so I walked in mostly blind and had to pick up everything quickly as there is a show every night. The Monarch’s equipment is basically the same as the Majesty of the Seas, which was my third ship. I only spent a month and a half on the Monarch before leaving as opposed to the normal six months.

The Majesty has slightly better equipment than the Sovereign. The lights are controlled by an ETC Concept (not nearly as nice as even an Express) and a Hog PC is used for the automated lights. On both ships I improved the stability of the Hog PC. The Majesty and Monarch both have 10 Martin Roboscan 1220s and six MAC 300s. When the Head Sound and Light Technician left for vacation I took over as Head Tech until I left. The Head Tech oversees the other Techs onboard to ensure they have what they need to do their job. The Head Tech also completes a weekly tech report as to the status of the various lounges on the ship and maintains the work progress report that tracks what equipment has been sent out for repair as well as what has recently returned.

After the Majesty I spent two and a half months on the Navigator of the Seas, the newest in the fleet at the time. I worked in Studio B which is an ice rink for the one ice show and serves as a TV studio as well. The lights are controlled by a Whole Hog II with expansion wing. The lighting is much more extensive than my previous ships. There are 18 Cyberlights, 18 MAC 600s, 10 MAC 500s, as well as Data flashes, and lots of scrollers. The conventionals consist of 9-lites, Nocturnes, and Source Fours. I do not have to worry about guest entertainers as much on this ship as they spend several months at a time onboard and are incorporated into the ice show. Studio B uses four spots as opposed to the two spots used in the main room of each ship. I also handle the Royal Promenade for parades and other similar activities.

While with Royal Caribbean I have gained valuable experience with a variety of automated lights and control systems. In addition I trained a stage staff to move up to light tech, she is now doing very well in the fleet. I also started training a lounge tech to move up to light tech as well, unfortunately she was moved to another ship before I could finish. I have programmed the Richmond for shows as well as repairing programming to shows that were not functioning as needed. In addition I have completed two of the three tracks in Royal Caribbean's Leadership Excellence Achievement Program.