University News Last updated 09 April
Meet Applied Performance in Community and Education alumnus Liam Fletcher, who shares what it’s like to live away from home for more than eight months of the year on a cruise ship.
After completing their studies at RBC, graduates will end up working all over the globe, but one alumnus prefers a floating home for over eight months of the year.
Liam Fletcher, who graduated with a degree in Applied Performance in Community and Education in 2018, is now a Cruise Director for Marella Cruises, one of the largest cruise lines in the world. The cruise line is operated by TUI, which sails to more than 100 destinations.
As a Cruise Director, Liam’s responsibilities include everything from managing the entertainment team and planning the packed programme, to socialising with guests and hosting parties.
In this role, Liam has travelled much of the world, from America, Canada and the Caribbean, to the Norwegian Fjords and the majority of Europe.
But he never planned to live his life at sea…
Shortly before graduating, Liam secured a job as a Show Cast Member for a holiday company with a seven-month contract in Spain. After the contract ended, he planned to return to the UK to start a teaching career. He met one of his good friends, who worked for Marella and RWS Global – the entertainment company that contracts entertainment staff from all over the world. They told him all about working on a ship, adding that Liam would be perfect for life at sea.
A week later, Liam flew to Barbados for his first contract, and six years on, he still enjoys the job. After starting as a Host, Liam worked his way up to become a Cruise Director, where he excels at managing people from different backgrounds and countries.
He works closely with other heads of department within the ship’s management and sees the Captain every day to make departure announcements from the bridge; a nerve-racking experience at first.
Cruise contracts can vary from three to 10 months, and Liam feels very lucky that he now has a rotation of four months at sea, then two months leave, which he describes as “wonderful”.
He added: “The person I work with the most is the Assistant Cruise Director who is literally my right arm. I’ve worked my way up to head of department, and my role is split between managing the team and planning the entertainment programme, and the other part of my job is being with guests, hosting parties and the main shows. I still like to host game shows as this is part of the job that I really enjoy, as I meet so many people.
“Living at sea is the best thing in the world. When we have new crew members, I often say to them living at work is the strangest thing, as you create bonds with people, and you all become family.”
He said: “RBC prepared me for what I do now. Working with so many people in many different situations prepared me to work with the public. Performance is at the heart of everything I do, and I love making it enjoyable for all our guests. I was never particularly good at being someone else in acting, but my course helped prepare me for having a role where I can just be myself and use my personality to engage people, which is ideal for working at sea.”