Wednesday, January 15, 2014

ACUDOC'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE…THE SEQUEL

Well It Is Starting All Over Again…

I’m heading back continuing my life and career as an Acupuncturist at Sea working for Steiner. This time I have been confirmed to join the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas in April.

Previously I had served for three contracts, my first contract was on the Carnival Dream in the Caribbean and then I did two contracts on the RCCL Rhapsody of the Seas where I went to Alaska, Hawaii, French Polynesia, New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific.  Then I took a year off and went on a working vacation in Yosemite National Park.

Overlooking Juneau, Alaska

Kauai, Hawaii

Picton, New Zealand

Sydney, Australia

Vanuatu in the South Pacific

Yosemite where I have been living for a year during my working vacation

But of course if you have followed my previous blog "AcuDoc’s Excellent Adventure" you know all of this. Those that have not I would suggest that you take at look at the link provided to gain further knowledge on starting your career as an Acupuncturist at Sea as well as the different Ports of Call during those contracts.

I started that blog in December 2010, as there was virtually nothing I could find on the Internet that gave me any information about my new career. Unfortunately I am unable to access it now so I have started a new blog "AcuDoc’s Excellent Adventure…The Sequel" to continue the story of my life at sea and inform you of the realities of being an Acupuncturist at Sea.

For those of you that do not know my next ship, the Oasis, is the largest cruise ship in the world. It has a crew of 2,394 to serve 5,400 guests, that a total of 8, 000 people. It is almost a quarter mile long being 1,185 feet in length, 198 feet wide and a height of 236 feet making it the same size as a Nimitz class aircraft carrier. In fact I remember once when I was in Nassau, Bahamas on the Dream I was on the top deck looking across at the Oasis docked next to us and I was looking into staterooms…it still had three or four decks above us. In other words it is HUGE!

Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas


The Oasis next to the 900+ foot Grandeur of the Seas


The size of this ship in itself is going to be a challenge for a few reasons. My first ship The Dream was Carnivals largest ship with a crew of 1,369 and 3,652 guests and the Rhapsody having 765 crew and 2,435 guests had a learning curve. Each ship has a learning curve and is different. They all have their own personalities from the crew to the passengers to the ports of call.

I found that I was not a fan of large ships, which I also have heard from a number of other acupuncturists. Still when offered the Oasis I jumped at the chance and I think of it as an honor being offered the largest ship in the world, especially after being gone for a little over a year. To me it shows the confidence that Dan, Stephanie and Natasha have in me to get the job done.

And what is the job? As every manager will tell you are not on the ship to be on vacation, your job is to serve the guests and perform a service, in our case acupuncture. You are there to “make the numbers”, which is the target revenue that Steiner has deemed for you. As my first manager Raj would say at the end of every staff meeting “get out there and kick ass” and that is what is expected of you.

This means promoting yourself at spa tours, conducting seminars, booking patients, rebooking patients and selling herbal formulas. But I am getting ahead of myself. Lets start from the beginning, actually this new beginning for me.

About a week ago I was received an email from Stephanie Kimber, the Manager of Oriental Medicine Programs for Steiner. She does the training in Los Angeles, hires you and places you on your ship. The email read “call me immediately.” When she answered the phone and realized it was me she said, “where in the world do you want to go, what ship and when…we have an opening for you.” During our conversation and ones to followed we discussed the Liberty of the Seas where my good friend Tonya Weber is now serving and my last manager Emmett Homan is the manager. If you have the chance to work with either of these two people take it.

It was looking like I was going to relieve Tonya when her contract ended but then I received another call and was asked what my thoughts would be to join the Oasis. I had to think about it a bit because like I said I am not really a fan of big ships. Also though I like the Caribbean I had already seen many of its ports of call. But after doing some research I found it now goes to the Mediterranean, the Netherlands and England for a couple months. So within minutes of her phone call I emailed her and said “Confirm me on the Oasis for April 26th."

Here is a tip for you. By research I mean going to the cruise ships website, in this case Royal Caribbean and seeing exactly where the ship goes and its ports of call. Also note the number of "sea days" the ship has as those will be your busiest day and when you see most of your patients. I also look at how many hours the ship will be in port. As an experienced Acupuncturist at Sea I can visualize where I can take my free time and when I need to be on board to treat patients.

These are all things I look at to determine if I want to work on a given ship. Know up front that Stephanie will assign you your ship and on your first contract you will more then likely be told which ship is available. Also know the better you do your job the more opportunities and say you have on which ship you would like for your next contract. Stephanie is great so if you work hard, prove yourself in turn you will be rewarded the ship you want if possible and if it is available.  

Caribbean Ports of Call for the Oasis that I have already experienced

Nassau, Bahamas

St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

Orient Bay on the French side of St. Maarten

Beach at Philipsburg, Dutch side St. Maarten

Cozumel, Mexico

Next I contacted Dan Brown, the Director of Operations and Oriental Medicine working my way up the chain of command. Over the years Dan, like Stephanie and I have become good friends and it was nice to talk with him again. I thanked him for his invitation back to Steiner, told him that I have confirmed the Oasis with Stephanie, shot the breeze for a while and we said our good-byes. He is a busy guy...

My next email was to Natasha Spencer to thank her for this opportunity. Natasha is the Director of Maritime Spa Operations and has the final word. We had also become friends over the years and I received an email back from her saying welcome back.

At this point I want to say that you may have heard horror stories about working for Steiner and I am sure that some of them are true.  But I can only write and comment on what I experienced. Those that followed my first blog know I hold no punches and tell it like it is. With that said on ships management and staff come and go as contracts end different times. During my three contracts I had five different managers. I only had one that I would not care to work with again. It was also my experience that if I had a problem with a manager Dan, Stephanie or Natasha were only a telephone call or email away. I found that each of them will fight for you and have your back if you were in the right and let you know if you were in the wrong, as it should be with upper management.

So in closing today I am waiting for Stephanie to call to discuss the paperwork involved in order to join a ship. It is tedious and there is a lot of it. As my situation changes and progresses I will report it here so you will know what to expect should you decide to become an Acupuncturist at Sea along with me and the other 160 acupuncturists that have decided to treat patients on cruise ships and travel the world…


Enjoy and as always any comments and questions you any have are greatly appreciated.

3 comments:

  1. ACUPUNCTURE AT SEA
    last month I worked with Steiner for 15 days as an Acupuncturist on Disney Dream Cruise to know their work procedure and environment, so that I should send the Acupuncturists from my country to learn the skills in Acupuncture . They are providing Acupuncture worldwide on cruise lines. Working on sea is a wonderful experience for those who are new in Acupuncture and want to travel free of cost. They are offering this service on the cruise along with their Spa Department. The status of the Acupuncturist is of officer grade, so lot of respect is given to the acupuncturist by the whole cruise staff. Free accommodation and free food is available on board, which makes the journey exciting. Lot of things to be learned during this period. You will learn how to communicate with the new guests and to tell them about acupuncture, which makes you perfect in your coming practice. Upper staff like Dan Brown (Director Operations) and Stephanie (Manager) are very cooperative and you can discuss your problems with them directly. Both are senior Acupuncturists, so can better understand your woes. Sometimes differences with the Spa managers occur, but you can consult with Dan Brown in this regard and the problem can be solved easily
    If you got a chance to join this, don't miss

    Dr. Anish Gupta
    M.D. PhD (Acupuncture)
    Director Principal
    Indian Institute of Acupuncture Research & Allied Sciences
    National President
    Acupuncture Science Association of India

    ReplyDelete
  2. ACUPUNCTURE AT SEA
    last month I worked with Steiner for 15 days as an Acupuncturist on Disney Dream Cruise to know their work procedure and environment, so that I should send the Acupuncturists from my country to learn the skills in Acupuncture . They are providing Acupuncture worldwide on cruise lines. Working on sea is a wonderful experience for those who are new in Acupuncture and want to travel free of cost. They are offering this service on the cruise along with their Spa Department. The status of the Acupuncturist is of officer grade, so lot of respect is given to the acupuncturist by the whole cruise staff. Free accommodation and free food is available on board, which makes the journey exciting. Lot of things to be learned during this period. You will learn how to communicate with the new guests and to tell them about acupuncture, which makes you perfect in your coming practice. Upper staff like Dan Brown (Director Operations) and Stephanie (Manager) are very cooperative and you can discuss your problems with them directly. Both are senior Acupuncturists, so can better understand your woes. Sometimes differences with the Spa managers occur, but you can consult with Dan Brown in this regard and the problem can be solved easily
    If you got a chance to join this, don't miss

    Dr. Anish Gupta
    M.D. PhD (Acupuncture)
    Director Principal
    Indian Institute of Acupuncture Research & Allied Sciences
    National President
    Acupuncture Science Association of India

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anish thank you for your views on what it is like to work as an Acupuncturist at Sea...I hope you enjoyed the blog and it helped you along the way...larry

    ReplyDelete