The Hiring Process

I started working in casino's in 1999, in Edmonton, Alberta. I worked at the Palace Casino, in the West Edmonton Mall. I was wandering around the mall one day and saw the casino. It was time for a new line of work and I have always enjoyed playing cards, so I thought why not give dealing a try. After my initial interview I was told that I had been selected to attend blackjack training. The training classes were usually lasted 4 hours. We trained for 2 weeks, 5 days a week. 40 hours. At the end of the training we had to do whats called a "table test". For this test you usually have 2 or 3 supervisors from that casino come and play at your table for about a 10 minutes.

I passed my test. I still had some practise to do, but, I would be fine to work on the gaming tables. Over the next few months I worked dealing dealing blackjack only. After I was confident in my ability, it was time to learn Caribbean Stud, Let it Ride and Baccarat. These games are very easy to deal, with little training needed. Soon after I learned to deal Poker and then Roulette.

In 2002 I applied to work on cruise ships for the first time. I wanted to work with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises, mostly because I had a lot of friends from the casino who had gone that way before me. The requirements were that you dealt Blackjack, Caribbean Stud and Roulette, with a minimum of 2 years experience on Roulette. I applied via email. I was 6 months short on the Roulette experience but I had also started my Craps training, and hoped that would help me out. The response I got was to reapply in 6 months. That's what I did.

When I tried the second time, the response I got was much better. The hiring partner that I applied to was coming to my city to conduct interviews and table tests. I was give a date and time to show up, and given a list of documents that I would need. My interview would be in about 3 weeks. I spent this time anxiously waiting, and collecting my paperwork. I was showed up early for my interview. I also had a friend with me who was interviewing as well. We were both dressed in suits, and I think looked pretty good. There was a group of about 20 people interviewing at the same time. We all sat in a conference room for a meet and greet, and to watch a short video about cruise employment. After that each person went to a small room to have and interview, then to another room for a short table test. After that it was back to the conference room to fill out paperwork.

I passed my interview. I was blown away. I got an email about a week later saying that I had been accepted, The email also contained a list of about 5 ships that I could choose from for my first contract, and another list of documents that I would need to bring with me. I decided To pick the GTS Summit out of the list. I called the hiring partner, and she gave me a date to be in Florida to join the ship. I would have to get a medical, and pay for my airfare. It was winter in Edmonton, and very cold. I was leaving Canada for the first time and I would not be home for 6 months. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

About Cruise Ship Casinos

I had worked in a land based casino for about 3 years before deciding to leave home and work on a cruise ship. At the time, I considered myself a pretty good dealer. I dealt all the normal casino games like Blackjack, Roulette, Poker and Caribbean Stud. I had also gone through about 100 hours of Craps training (all on my own time), but I was still having trouble with the game. Experienced dealers say Craps just comes to you one day and all of a sudden you understand. Now I understand.

Working in a land based casino is a pretty easy job. Generally you have a 7 or 8 hour shift. During that shift, you will work for about 40-45 minutes at a gaming table, then take a 15-20 minute break. Usually most casinos keep their dealers on a 1 hour schedule, So if you worked for 40min you get a 20min break. You break is at the same time every hour. Pretty peachy.

Working on a cruise ship is a different story. The length of your shift really depends on where the ship is for the day. If your in port, the casino opens about 30min after sailing, and stays open until 2 or 3am. If you are at sea for the day, your shift will be a long one, and sometimes the breaks don't come around so fast. On board, the casino has a break list, and is run much more like a real business. Tables are opened and closed on based on how full the casino is. If the place is quite you may get a break every 30min, and during peak times I have stayed at a table for more than 2 hours.

My first few weeks on the ship I felt like a total rookie. Some of the equipment was a little different, and I felt a little out of place. I could feel my supervisor looking over my shoulder a little more than I was used to, and the late night parties, and early morning training was getting to be a little bit too much. Lucky for me, I adapted to the changes (even if it took a little longer than it should have) and after my couple of months I had worked out all the kinks.

Going To Work On A Cruise Ship Part 2

So I had been in Florida for all of about 12 hours before it was time for me to go and join the ship. I got to the pier at around 9:30am but didn't board the ship until around 11:30. It was winter when I left Canada, and here it was hot and humid. I was not prepared for the heat. Anyway walking onto the ship for the first time I made a huge sigh of relief as the air con hit me. Someone was there from the human resources department to meet us when we got onto the ship, and they brought up into the cafeteria where we had some orientation, and before long someone from each department came to pick up their new staff.

When the supervisor from the casino showed up (he seemed very busy), he gave me an envelope with a welcome letter from the casino manager. The letter also contained details on my cabin, my work schedule, and a safety card. My new supervisor showed me to my cabin, where we dropped off my bags, then gave me a quick tour of the ship. I had a safety meeting at 2pm and at 3:30 my supervisor would be back so I could go and get uniforms.

I'll never forget my first cabin mate. He was a Filipino guy, who had worked on the ships for a long time. He was very quite, and slept a lot. He finished his contract 2 months later, and I never saw or heard from him again.

My first shift started at 6:30. The suit had come back and I had gotten my uniform, but my new waistcoat was missing a button. I had my door propped open, and heard music coming from next door, so i went to investigate. I didn't have to go far because next door was 5 feet away. When I looked inside, I saw these two guys, getting ready for work, so I asked them for a hand. One guy was English and the other was from New Zealand. They helped me out, and I really hit it off with the English guy. It was his first contract too and he had been on board for about 3 weeks. His name was Jason and we quickly became best friends.

When I got to work I had a quick 30min training on some rules that may have been different from home, then it was strait to work. Being a casino dealer is a real easy job. You typically work for about 45min to 1 hour, the take a 20min break. My first break, the boss saw that Jason and I got along so he sent us on break together. we went to the bar and had a smoke, talked about travelling. At around 9pm the bar opens and people from other departments, who have already finished work, start coming to the bar. We would take all our breaks in the bar, and by 10 or 11 we were drinking on break. Everyone seemed to do it. Sometimes I would come into the bar at 10 O'clock, and there would be 4 or 5 people from the casino having a beer or drink while on break. It got pretty crazy.

By 2am the casino was shutting down, and so was I. Jet lagged, working in a new environment, meeting so many new people, the slow rocking of the ship, I was wiped. Somehow I let Jason talk me into going back to the bar after work. About 10 people from the casino stayed there drinking until about 6 in the morning, myself included. Tomorrow was a sea day. I had training in the afternoon, and a long shift to follow. Man was I going to be hungover...