What's your job? Prince Saquian, cruise ship entertainer

Prince Saquian

 

Prince Saquian is probably one of the few people his age without a smartphone.

But the 26-year-old doesn’t seem to mind; phone plans aren’t well suited for the sailing life.

In the past three years, Saquian suspects he’s clocked up over 450 days at sea and been to over 40 countries, part of his role as a Junior Assistant Cruise Director. Translation: Saquian travels the globe on a cruise ship coordinating bingo games, wrangling ventriloquists, teaching ukulele and doing whatever it takes to make the lives of seafarers a little cheerier.

So his less-than-sunny disposition surrounding the whole shore leave thing is understandable.

“It’s hard to adjust to a good sleep cycle,” he says over the landline from his folks’ place. “On ships we have such a different rotation – we're so used to being constantly on the go but now I feel so lazy all the time.”

He’s only just returned from a six and a half month stint in the South Seas a week ago and is still living nocturnally. It seems Saquian has a hard time reacquainting himself with solid ground. But shore leave is a part of the occupation with employees of the high seas being legally obligated to spend a least a month of the year in their country of origin. Saquian’s home happens to be in the plain Jane suburbs of the Greater Toronto Area.

But things are looking up. Shortly before we spoke he was offered a spot on a cruise ship in less than a month.

Before Saquian returned to his home port, we took a moment to chat about cannibal tourism, entertaining baby boomers and the cost of checking Facebook off the coast of Africa.

Where’re you off to next?

I’d be flying down to Melbourne and doing a rotation in the South Pacific near Vanuatu and New Caledonia. It’s not too bad. It’s somewhere I haven’t been yet but it’s my old ship again and ideally I want to go on a different one. I’m just afraid that if I go on a different one it will be a very different team.

Aren’t you more worried about cannibals? Are they still a big fear down in Vanuatu/New Caledonia?

Actually, no, but according to my colleagues and stuff they have all these displays. There are literally signs advertising: “real human bones, come pay to see them.” I was looking at the photos and apparently it’s still a thing tourist-wise. I don’t think cannibalism is really practiced though.

So how’d you get the gig?

I took international studies and wanted to go into diplomacy or something. I was on a cruise with my parents and I talked to the Canadian cruise staff onboard and they were super encouraging. They told me to go to this website run by ship recruiters or agents who look at your skills, do a background check and based on your experience you get an audition. I speak English and French but I also studied Italian and Japanese in university, which helped. I was looking to escape, for something that combined my languages along with the international scope. The choices were either NGOs and volunteering or working in travel. Cruising ended up being the thing.

So what’s the deal then, a month off and then back to the ship?

At any time they want your skillset for a certain ship they’re going to pull you back out again as soon as they want you. You’ve got to jump for it otherwise you’re stuck waiting around.

What’s the skillset?

Essentially we're the liaison between the cruise director and the rest of the ship. All the activities that happen onboard are done through us. Whether it’s games like lawn bowling or golf or volleyball or activities like bingo or trivia. We're also the ones that greet the crowds and open the shows in the evening. Everything that’s in the realm of the entertainment department, we're in charge of. But you tend to find your niche, like if you’re really into sports – which I’m not – you end up doing a whole lot of those. We spend most of our time in front of the guests.

What’s your most surreal moment?

The cruise we just did went all around the world. We were getting local groups in from wherever we were. So one day we'd have these huge Maori warriors from New Zealand doing the Haka war dance then another day I introduced this Irish group that was just so incredible. That was when it got to me, I was like – oh man, I’m really doing it.

Who’s the archetypal guest?

For the cruises I do, which are longer than 20 days – older people. The demographics are about 70-plus – mostly retirees or Australian people who can afford to spend upwards of $15,000 each. And that’s for the smallest rooms available. I originally worked for Disney but now I work for Princess cruises. Different clientele. My ship is usually one of the smaller ones – it has 2,000 passengers.

So who’s performing for the older folks?

Most of them have been Australian because you’re often down in that part of the world. But we had a duo from Broadway called Two on Tap and some singers from Britain’s Got Talent. For the most part we have a series of guest entertainers from singers and magicians to ventriloquists and gymnasts. Some are well known in the biz. Sometimes they're B-listers. On the ship, they’re just the regular person who lives across the hall from you.

I'd assume most haven’t built their careers around touring the cruise ship circuit. How do you keep them sane and from trashing their rooms or something in a fit of cabin sickness?

For the most part they know what they’re getting themselves into. They go through a ship talent recruiter too. Normally as soon as their onboard, they’re assigned to us so my team has to train them about things to avoid on the ship like the water tight doors that if they close on you will probably cut your arm off. Just a refresher on safety training. We’re there in case they need anything.

Do you ever go a bit mad or feel pent up?

No. I think when you first start it’s almost like you’re either going to make it or break it. Some people aren’t built for it and luckily I was because if I couldn’t handle it I would have gone home in the first month. The hardest thing I will say especially right now is sharing space with another person. On the majority of cruise ships the crew ends up with a roommate.

What’re the hours like?

Normally on a port day you have the whole day off and get to explore and maybe have to work for an hour or two tops. But on really busy days when there isn’t a port you’re typically working from nine in the morning until midnight with breaks in between. For the most part you do one activity like teaching ukulele that runs for 45 minutes to an hour, have a little break and then go onto the next activity.

And the pay?

If you were to get paid this much on land it would be such a paltry income but since you’re not paying for room and board or transportation it becomes accessible.

How does it compare to something like working in a restaurant on land?

A bit more than that. It’s around $10 an hour I think.

What is the most expensive necessity you end up spending your money on?

Internet. We end up having these Internet cards for 200 minutes it's $20 and for 460 minutes its $40. You’re always gaging your time, because it’s all done via satellite. When you’re sailing off the coast of Africa that’s the best you can get. You end up spending around $300 or so a month. It's a big chunk out of your pay and when you’re getting $3,000 month.