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Fun on board the P&O Australia ships. Even on the smaller ships they have been able to utilize as much space as they can. Flying fox, rock climb, walk the plank, waterslides and so much more. before i go on, i would love to know in the comments what you guys might have done on ships that you have been on that was fun! I know that when I worked for Carnival they were starting to install a bunch of cool ropes courses, and Royal Caribbean has so many extra activities. I have never been on a Royal but the ads i have seen makes it seem unreal. But with P&O i wanted to check out some cool things to do and made a video about it. Thanks for reading and watching. I would love to hear your thoughts on fun things onboard ships. CHEERS!

This past weekend I got to go on another themed cruise. This was called the BIG LAUGH COMEDY FESTIVAL. It was a 4 day cruise on the P&O Pacific Explorer from Sydney to Moreton Island (outside of Brisbane) and back. I have been on "comedy" cruises before. Typically its your normal 1 or 2 comedy shows and a couple little workshops, but this one was different. This really was like a festival. On the 2 sea days it was wall to wall comedians, 14 total, converting some of the rooms into comedy clubs. There were big acts on the big stages, but then they also had more intimate rooms that were equally hilarious. These shows would go continually throughout the day so you have to pick your own schedule to try and see them all. Myself and another P&O employee did a live facebook broadcast on the ship: It was great to see it all come together and be an event that guests will never forget. I also got to perform and play music every night and it was a great time, and I gained a lot of fans. Ironically, I am not a comedian, but sometimes i get portrayed that way because I have a lot of banter with the guests as I am playing, and usually after a couple of drinks I can be quite funny. Thanks for reading my blog, I try to make a new post every week but would love to get some input from you guys (the readers) on any interesting ship topics you would like to read about? Cheers!

So the reason this title is "not Elvis" is because the real theme is "Tribute to the King" This was a themed cruise I went on recently. Apparently the Presley Estate doesn't give out the rights to Elvis easily. Which I thought was funny because no matter how you wordplay it people are going to say Elvis. Check out the video and then come back to read more. https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=7nbcLL6xmY8 I got on this cruise in a weird way... I thought I was on to play, and then found out there wasn't enough room for me, basically hearing that I am confirmed and then on a waiting list about 5 times... and then basically it worked out, although I wasn't there to play music, I was there to make a video of my experience for promotion on P&O Australia. This might sound like I'm complaining but really it was a great chance for me to check out other acts on board and it was really cool to see people diving in to being "Elvis" Backstage getting pictures of the performers one of the impersonators was talking to me with a thick southern American Accent and then a flip of the switch had a super thick Australian accent. That blew my mind how well they get into character. The cruisers were also doing their part, dressing up, and screaming like teenagers at a real Elvis concert like the KING himself was singing in front of them. It was a really good experience. I am excited that P&O will be doing more themed cruises and cant wait to share more stories of these. Next cruise in 2 weeks is a full on comedy cruise! So stay tuned and keep cruising!

I opened up my facebook and instagram to anyone with questions about ship life. I got some great questions, and some silly questions, and of course questions that had nothing to do with ship life. So I made this video to answer those questions including... "do they have a morgue?" The biggest question of all is when people watch this video and they want to work on ships, I am a big fan of anyone wanting to work on ships because this has changed my life in so many amazing ways. So if you are interested or have a family member that might be interested don't hesitate to ask and I would be happy to point you in the right direction. Also if you have any questions yourselves please ask and I will do my best to answer them. enjoy

So there have been a lot of magical sail aways ports... Venice, Antigua, Auckland, Messina, Athens, Singapore, and probably even more that I haven't done yet. Today I wanted to talk about Sydney Australia. I have sailed away at this port over 30 times and it is always something amazing... Going under the Sydney Harbour bridge and passing the opera house. I posted a couple of cool video of the experience... Before you take a look at those, I would just love to know which are your favorite ports to sail away from? This one is edited this one is an actual 360 video that you can move your cursor or phone around and see it like it is.

So a lot of people wonder what happens behind the scenes on ships... the next few blog posts will be dedicated to giving you some insight to behind the scenes.... First of all if you haven't seen any of my videos on youtube... check them out So there are 5 things that musicians on ships typically do during the day... SLEEP NAP SNOOZE HIBERNATE REST Sensing a theme? Most musician find themselves staying out late at night, doing their job and then socializing and then resting the whole day to have the energy to do it again the next night. Being a singer, I usually hide away during the day to rest my voice. Not that we typically go hard and drink the night away but being social on the ships is more fun than the alternative, but there have been times during my contracts where I got so hooked on a TV series that I would finish my set at night and then hurry to my room to binge watch until the sun came out. There have been other times in my contracts where I would stay out all night learning new songs to perform the following night. There also have been times when I wanted to be productive and get up at a reasonable time, go to the gym, be healthy and get stuff done. When I started making videos on youtube I would find myself going around the ship more and being creative. Which is a much better thing than sleeping 12 hours a day. Stay tuned for a new blog post every week !!! Ill see you next time and if you have any questions or suggestions for blog posts please let me know in the comments ?

Since I started this blog back in 2011 working for Carnival Cruise Lines… I wanted to reflect a little about my time on ships. Although its only fair to say that over 8 years ago when I started ( Jan 2010 ) on the Carnival Freedom, I have actually only been on ships a total of 30 months ( 2 1/2 years) out of 8. The other 5 1/2 years I have been traveling and visiting all of the people I met on ships and playing gigs to cover that cost. This was my new life… driving, staying with friends/family, not really having a home. The opportunity for working with P&O Australia came in 2014 and I jumped at the opportunity to spend time down under.... little did I know it would be another life changing journey. P&O wanted to do an artist feature of me on their facebook and I made a video for them to highlight it. Check it out - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzfsDd2LDn0&t You never know where life will take you... you wouldn't even believe what my life was like before ships... (and ill get to that another time) So get out there... cruise to exotic places and invite the musician to your town to play ?

Working on P&O Australia recently I have been promoted to a new position. I have been classified as a "fly on" entertainer now, which means I come on for 1 or 2 cruises at a time to entertain the guests, and then I go home until my next short contract. It is a great position and gives me the ability to have more guest privileges. So I wanted to check out all of the restaurants on board and try the food out. I made a video about it too. FOOD ON SHIPS <- click to watch The take away I get from this is that people are OVERLY critical when it comes to cruise ship food. To me, anything that you get on a ship in the middle of the ocean is going to be great. Maybe I appreciate it more because I used to eat in the crew and staff mess down below and that food would get very, well lets say not the best. So running around to these restaurants and even the ones that you do not have to pay extra money for, they are doing great things and making very tasty dishes. So next time you are on a cruise ship instead of being on the side that complains about every little thing, just enjoy it and look at it from the perspective of how much goes on behind the scenes in making the food for 3000 + people every day.

It would be way to dangerous in mid ocean to take 4000 people off of a ship to another ship... Plus they were planning to dock in Mexico but realized they had too many people without passports.. To transfer to a different ship would require people getting on the ship and getting new key cards and figuring out which room where their luggage is.. thats an absurd idea... I think the only thing Carnival did wrong was giving a free cruise for the 5 days, and not free for anything more!

Most of the crew that had their contract ending will most likely get an early vacation and go home, some might jump on to other ships in the area, and some will just get paid vacation where the ship is getting fixed... The crew that goes to the sunshine wont get there until late March early April... I worked on the brand new Carnival Magic, and I didnt get on the ship until 10 days before it set sail.

This is not a blog about the port of St Thomas, the beautiful US Virgin Island, but more of some amazing advice from an individual living there. I was with a friend at a restaurant in St Thomas, the waiter came to us and you could tell he was from the States and not the Caribbean, so I just had to ask. "Where are you from?" He replied, "Philedelphia." Then he went on telling us how he used to be a school teacher but since all of the budget cuts in the school system he has not worked as a teacher for 3 years but waited tables in Philly to make ends meet. He then said something that will stick with me forever. "If I am going to wait tables, I might as well do it somewhere beautiful and in a place I will love to be all year long." He just blew my mind with that advice and I told myself that this world is far too beautiful to not enjoy it or love where I live. So I encourage everyone reading this… if you are not happy where you are, make a change! Life is not life unless you are happy!

$25 is so cheap... i bet its more like $100 now a days!!! crazy though!

yes i know... i was so tired and just ready for a vacation... luckily i was working on a ship in the caribbean! lol :)

THE BOAT DRILL is probably one of the biggest buzz/fun kills after arriving at your final vacation destination. Why do we have them? Safety reasons no doubt. What about returning cruisers, sorry nothing can be done about it... It really has nothing to do with the cruise lines, only maritime (coast guard) regulations. Especially after that horrific accident on the Costa ship, it has become more important to follow. Luckily on some cruise lines, such as Carnival, you no longer need to bring your life jacket for that painful 25 - 30 minutes of standing and waiting in crowds or kids and drunk people. HERE IS THE SECRET way to avoid as much of the painfulness of that experience. Take your time getting to the muster station. Do not set course for that place until you hear the ship sound its whistle. At that point make your way to your spot and you will sit there in the front able to leave first in a mere 5 - 10 minutes. Please do not yell at or complain to the people working, because they are just doing their part of the job that sucks more than you having to be there. We do drills multiple times a months and have to be certified in being able to save you before saving ourselves! One couple I know tried to hide in their room, and were found skipping the drill and had to have an extra drill after they set sail, missing the sail away, and they were not happy. Room stewards do check rooms as part of their jobs to make sure everyone is clear in their section... I am just trying to make your vacation just a little more fun and a little less BOAT DRILL! Do you have good stories about boat drills you have done? I would love to hear them!

So on my last blog I told a story about almost missing the ship.. Part 2 is also a true story about about actually missing the ship. This is one of the craziest stories I have had while traveling. I can say that when it comes to traveling to your ship or a transfer of ships when working for ships the cruise lines will waste a LOT of money. It all started while I was working on the Carnival Legend. It was a nice ship but the same ports every week can drive you crazy. I asked for a transfer to the Carnival Freedom, a ship I worked on before with great ports. When the time came to transfer, the ships didn't dock at the same time in Florida so I couldn't easily make the switch so I suggested to be let off at Cozumel for 3 nights when the Freedom would dock, but they ignored my plan and this was their "genius plan"! I arrive from the Legend on a Sunday... take a long bus ride to Miami, staying in a hotel and catching an early flight to Cancun and then to Cozumel. All went as planned until I got to the tiny plane traveling to Cozumel, and they were running late, which was not good because I was cutting it close. The plane was scheduled to land at 3:30 CST and the ship was scheduled to leave at 4 CST (you do the math because I don't think they did) I landed at 3:50 got in a cab and rushed to the port 40 minutes away. 15 minutes from the dock I could see the ship leaving... WHAT NOW? Without a phone, I rushed to the closest WiFi hotspot and emailed my agent, (after ordering a drink :P) they told me to find a hotel and stay the night and they will figure it out the next day, so I did. I had to check out at 11am, and waited in the Lobby with wifi my only means of communication until 6pm when they wrote me saying stay another night. They finally contacted me the next day telling me to get on the next flight off Cozumel to Dallas to Miami and fly out Thursday morning (Thanksgiving day) to Panama (the country) I got into Miami at 1am, stayed in a hotel but had to be back at the airport at 4am. Needless to say I was exhausted... and in my exhaustion I left my laptop at security (which i picked up the following sunday) but when I arrived in Panama and waited for my luggage, it never came. They told me it was coming in on a later flight, which didn't work for me because the boat would have to leave. So I wrote down where they could send it... and to make an even long story longer SHORT... I didn't get my luggage until 4 weeks later when we arrived at Panama again. YEA so thats my missing the boat story.. it was a nice little vacation in Cozumel... but to think of how much money they wasted on flights and hotels is crazy! Anyone out there have any great stories of missing the ship? Comment below.. i would love to hear them! thanks for reading and check me out www.thedannyblack.com So I checked in again after wasting a day in a Lobby.

Ship nursers are considered staff on ships. They do work pretty hard, especially when the waves are real big. Also thanks for enjoying the blog jacket watch :) Im writing a new one now!

Missing the ship! This is what all of us Cruisers and Crew all fear. You will hear in this blog one of the best close call missing the ship experience ever! Lets start out with a little background info about the ship. If it says back on board at 4:30 it means you need to be back at least in the line to get on ship at that time, and at 5:00 the ship will sail away. If your missing on the ship they will go into your room and find your passport and give it to the dock agent, and will help you figure out what to do next. On Carnival I have seen people miss the ship and have to pay for their own transportation to the next port, or back home. Usually the captain will let you on on the next port but will have to have a "chat" with you... One of the crew's favorite things to do is to go out on the deck and watch the late guests run and sometimes miss the ship. We even make bets and its sad, but also funny. After reading the post, I would love to hear some of your stories of your close calls in the comments section. My close call... this is a great story! In Cozumel, I was asked to join the golf pro and production singer in a round of golf 40 mins (boat ride) away from the island of Cozumel. We jumped on a tender (smaller boat) that was taking guests to the main land for excursions at no cost. They told us to be back at the dock to re board the tender no later than 3:30 because back on board the cruise was 4:30. We had a great day at a beautiful golf coarse. We arrived at the dock around 3:20 and noticed that no other guests were around and the boat was not around. After a few minutes we asked someone what happened to the tender, and they told us that it left an hour earlier because it was hot and all the guests were back early. So we sat there going... ummmmm uh oh! They told us a dock 2 miles down the beach might have a boat to take us back. So we ran as fast as we can down the beach with our golf clubs, hot, exhausted and mile down the beach we realized how we don't have time to make it. So now we are in the middle of the beach at 3:45 looking to the water (cruise ship out of site) going, we are so fired. (it is not a good thing to miss the ship as crew) We saw a guy with a boat on the beach and asked him if he would take us to Cozumel, and negotiated as much as we can, and he said he can get someone. He radioed a friend and we sat and waited and waited, and about 10 nerve wrecking minutes later he came to the beach, and we had to run out to the boat, in chest deep water, with our clubs over our heads. Climbed in the small boat and had them take us in a tiny boat through the ocean, with LARGE waves crashing and soaking us. We realized that we might make it, and we had our hopes up. Then we could see the ship in the distance, and still did not realize how far away we were from it we were more excited that we would actually make it. Finally it was 4:20 and we were about 10 minutes away, and bad news, they told us they had to drop us off at a dock that would be a 15 minute cab ride away from the port.. We said, "out of the question, we know the captain, radio him and he will allow us on the dock." They did not have the correct frequencies, and so we talked them in to dropping us off at a dock close by the ship at a private resort. We arrived, (paid the guy a painful $300) and jumped on the dock, with a security guard telling us we couldn't. It was 4:30 (back on board time) so we ran past the guard ignoring him... Now we are running again another mile to the ship and scared to arrive seeing the ship pulling away. We were all so exhausted that it almost felt hopeless. Finally we arrived at the ship at 4:50 with the crew pulling the last ramps away and luckily without hesitation the security was nice and let us on. So after a shower and a couple hours sleep it was back to work as usual. Wow, what a scary close call. Stay tuned for next weeks blog where I actually missed the ship... and what happened next! Also check out my website www.thedannyblack.com & like my page facebook.com/thedannyblackpage

I had a question come in about "Ship Life" for crew: Larry asked, "Do you get days off and how many hrs. a day does the crew work?" All positions for crew are different, but there is actually 3 different levels of workers on the ship. Crew, Staff, and Officers. Crew are like cabin stewards, servers, cleaners, and most people you do not see on the ship. Staff includes entertainment, sales and guest service positions, spa workers, and kids department. Officers are always the italian looking guys in formal white outfits. We all had different lifestyles in our little floating island... different places to eat, some places others couldn't go into, and hours/responsibilities aboard the ship. The "crew" definately works the most hours throughout the day, and when you see a cabin steward always working it is important to know that they do work hard, but not as much as you think they do. Most Guests see a steward and think that they are the same person, and always see them through out the day, but the stewards work about 5 - 6 hours a day with no full day off. They have a 12 hour period of time that they work but take time off in-between when the guests are back in their room. They do get time to get off the ship and enjoy many of the ports. Entertainment staff has it pretty easy only working about 5 hours but spread out throughout the day, and usually get a full day off a week. I would probably say some of the hardest workers on the ship are spa, guest services and shore excursions, and the kid watchers. They work about 8 - 10 hours a day everyday with very little breaks. So make sure your extra nice to these workers. Officers, well what can I say, they have it pretty easy... Large cabins, and work about 4 hour shifts a day driving the boat (which is a HUGE task) They can pretty much do what ever they want on the ship and above security in some cases. So as it looks like we are slaves on board ship, we are certainly not. Crew parties, night after night of crew bar until 2 am with $1.25 beer, and the rest of the night out on the front of the ship under the stars. Week after week of crew activities, games, and cheap excursions. Ship life is great in its moderation... working on board a ship for 9 months would be death, but 4 - 6 months is not so bad as long as you have a few months between the next contract. Hope this answered your question. if you have any questions about working on a ship please let me know, and stay tuned to my next blog which tells some nail bitting stories about getting to the ship too late!!! YIKES, I have some good ones.... so until then follow me on facebook www.facebook.com/thedannyblackpage (like the page and send me a message telling me you read this and ill send you some free downloads)

I worked on cruise ships for 2 years and I have hung out with a lot of guests in that time. I always hear stories about how they sneak their alcohol on the cruise ship. I always perk up and ask "how?" They always were reluctant to tell me because they though I would turn them in, and I would always assure them its out of my own curiosity because everyone does it a little different, some work, some do not... Here are the do's and dont's to sneak alcohol on cruise ships. Know that most cruise lines do not allow you to bring your own alcohol on board with exception to 1 bottle of wine per person. When bringing your luggage aboard the ship they x ray and have the right to remove your alcohol. DO: One of my favorites is using a mouth wash bottle and food coloring. Fill up your SCOPE with clear liquor and put some green food coloring in it to make it green. That works so well! Use a liquor with high alcohol percentage to maximize your buzz (drink responsibily) DO: Water bottles. This is a good trick, but you have to make it look like you just bought them, meaning putting them in a pack of six. They will check if it looks like it has been opened. Don't try using a clear bag and putting it in your clothes in your luggage, I have heard to many stories about people that lose their alcohol, and in some rare cases, they get kicked off of the ship at the guest's expense. Don't let security or workers aboard the ship see you pour your liquor or water bottles into their cups. It is best if you have it in a bag, or even "pre game" in your room before you go out. Don't buy their bottles of duty free alcohol thinking that its a good deal, because they won't even let you drink it until the cruise is over! There are many ways to sneak it on, but believe me that they are searching for alcohol to make you pay for theirs. Im not suggesting that you bring all the alcohol you need for the cruise, but bring enough to help cut your bar tab in half! Share with me some of your stories... i would love to hear them! Thanks ? ( www.thedannyblack.com )

I'm Back! After signing off the Carnival Magic in Barcelona in September, I traveled the States bringing the Vacation to the people. I have been performing all over the States and heading to Europe and Australia soon. I decided it was time to share more inside information with cruising, for all the new and old cruisers and people looking to work on ships. I love to help guests on which itineraries and excursions on ports, whether they should do them or not or how to save money in the process! Ill be writing once a week, giving information and answering questions. If you have any questions that you would like me to answer send me an email DannyBlack@me.com (attn: CruiseCrazies) also check out this video to see what cruise life is like when you work on a ship… Also you can check out my website www.thedannyblack.com to see where I will be live! ps… I am only sharing this information on my blog but I have been asked to start working on ROCK BOATs this fall, where I jump on a ship for a weekend and open for bigger bands, or play through out the ship each night. I will keep you updated on this information! THANKS and remember MAKE LIFE YOUR VACATION!

So after working on cruises for a good while, I finally broke down and booked a cruise as a Guest. I am going on the Carnival Destiny for the Weezer (band) cruise on January 19th. I have not been on a ship that did a concert style cruise but I am looking forward to it. I will be only stopping at Cozumel (a place i have been more than my fair share) I am still on tour all around the country. My next stops are in Salt Lake, Denver, Saint Louis, Columbus, Boston, Albany, Long Island, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Vegas, Rochester NY, Williamsport PA, Toronto, and DETROIT (home) Then a full month in Florida. Sounds crazy I know. If your in those areas you can find out more on www.theDannyBlack.com I am officially back to writing about the ins and outs, behind the scenes, and crazy ship life stories. So stay tuned each week for more tales! Thanks for reading =*DB=

Hey Everyone, I'm back home for a few months after spending 5 aboard the Carnival Magic. Upon returning home on land, the differences are significant! Read more, in my latest blog update: http://www.cruisecra...ships-vacation/ Enjoy!

Hi Everyone, Coming home from being on a cruise ship for 5 months is always different. You do not realize the differences of living on ships and living on land. Communication is completely different. Having a cell phone and texting is foreign to me again, and being connected online all the time without paying for it is amazing. However paying $3.75 a gallon for gas might be enough to send me back out on the sea. For ship crew vacation is sitting at home for a week and not anywhere tropical or scenic. It is relaxing to sit in one spot catch up with friends and family. As for me and entertaining, my vacation is short lived. I am planning shows and tours all over the States from October to mid December. The locations are on my website (and below). The shows will be very entertaining, if you can make it that would be great! My next venture might be an Australian cruise line in January.. (P & O) It will include more exciting BLOGS from the Australian coast! Thanks for reading! =*DB= THE DANNY BLACK FALL BACK TOUR Plymouth, MI ---------------- Sun. Oct 2 Minneapolis, MN ------------ Fri. Oct 7 Chicago, IL ------------------ Sat. Oct 8 St. Louis, MO --------------- Sun. Oct 9 Atlanta, GA ------------------ Tues. Oct 11 Charlotte, NC --------------- Wed. Oct 12 Raleigh, NC ----------------- Thurs. Oct 13 Washington D.C. ------------ Fri. Oct 14 Williamsport, PA ------------- Sat. Oct 15 Philadelphia, PA ------------- Sun. Oct 16 New York, NY (NJ) ---------- Mon. Oct 17 Boston, MA ------------------ Tues. Oct