Entertaining on a cruise ship: The Ultimate Guide

I've always been a fan of business books in magic. Unfortunately my magic brethren often do not share the same feelings. So with that in mind let me introduce you to Paul Romhany's most recent book, Entertaining on a Cruise Ship: The Ultimate Guide.

For many magicians the cruise industry seems like a dream come true. This can be the case but it is also hard work. Aside from seemingly high pay, the industry also has a high school feel to it in terms of on ship politics as Mr. Romhany explains. You also need a truly spectacular act... 2 of them. So before you consider jumping in to cruising remember that you need 2 acts 50 minutes each and perhaps another 15 minute act, all A material. Without this you have no chance. So if you don't have this already, you might be better off working on the stage shows before diving into a book on how to book shows you are not able to work yet. That being said, if your GOAL is to be on ships then this book is a must buy at 30 bucks it's a deal and a half. As per usual I will be hyper critical where necessary.

Let's take a quick peek at some basics of the book. You can buy it at Amazon.com for 29.95 which should get you free shipping. So buy it there if you choose to. Second the book is a misleading 265 pages in length. We will discuss this more later on.

Let's take a quick peek at the table of contents for this book.

Chapter One is a history of cruising, the ships, and the destinations. Not a must have in this book but I actually enjoyed reading the history behind it.

Chapter Two Dives into the life you could live on a ship. Whether or not you are a passenger or crew, nightclubs on board, your potential accommodations, dos and don't, etc. A great chapter for prepping but really I was more anxious to find out magic related specifics.

Chapter Three is a good look at things you need to know, who people are on board, there positions and power, who to be nice to, etc. This is the chapter I was looking for because it discusses at length, Requirement of Shows, Length and Number of Shows, Your Schedule, Performance Material, Cue Sheets, Live Animals, Theatre conduct, Contracts, Dress Code Gratuities on board, Money, Passports, Selling DVDs of your show or teaching DVDs, baggage, Even how to travel with a guest who IS NOT part of the act for a small fee, How much money you can make (You will likely turn here first so I will ruin it, 1500-3000 per week US Dollars, but your agent will take 10-15%, something to keep in mind).

Romhany does a good job of being honest with you about cruising. Some books glorify everything, this book does not. Sea sickness, disease and viruses on board, what type of visas you need. (Romhany is from New Zealand, lives in Canada but is a resident of nowhere, so pays no taxes. A very strange place to be in for anyone!)

There is also a great section on EXACTLY what you need to find work on ships. This was a fantastic section! This is not all business Romhany goes into relationship issues. What about cruising with a wife or kids at home? That's a lot of problems potentially!

We also get a few travel tips, which covers things like viruses on board and then we get to a fun chapter. Cruise Line Entertainment Bookers. This is the chapter that is very difficult to put a price on. Essentially it is priceless. Certainly worth 30 bucks at this point. To me at least. But we are only on page 101!

Okay, now Romhany talks to us about some business ideas, professionalism, attitude while on the job, Dress, Performance, Preparation, Back up shows, Promoting yourself, business cards, brochures, photos, websites, even free publicity.

We are at about page 123 and my biggest complaint has to be the lack of editing. The book is riddled with spelling and grammar errors, it makes the book very difficult to take seriously sometimes. I suppose this is the bi product of self-publishing. While it has opened the door to everyone to become an author it has also dropped the quality control tremendously.

Paul, you need to send your books for review by friends before publishing!!

There are over 15 errors within less than 50 pages. That is way too many in my mind.

My favorite has to be on page 157, this is the "Excerpts from Journal" Chapter, and we start with.

"Note: This section has been taken direct from my journals - no editing has been
applied in order to keep it real."

I am a fan of keeping it real, that is what this review site is all about! But I like to keep it real easy to read and real professional. This book should have been sent to a professional proofreader. Also, after about page 125, it is a lot of blog entries, journal excerpts and stories, including a section entirely dedicated to cruise ship jokes, which are funny. It just seems a lot of pages are used poorly. The blog chapter is 11 pages long, too much if you ask me, then the journals run another 43 pages!! WHOA 43 pages of journal entries! This was too much.

But reading them did give me insight into Paul Romhany the man. They often focused on the price of things and how cheap things were, which leads me to believe that perhaps the money you make on cruise ships looks like a lot but somehow isn't then again I know very little about Mr. Romhany's personal finances. To me it just sounded like the money working a ship isn't as great after the fact as it sounds.

I would love to be in a position to be on a ship performing to let people know first hand what costs are like and how much you come home with. When it comes to cruising the only alternative to this book seems to be Fred Becker's book, The Cruise Ship Magician's Handbook, but it is difficult to find, Mr. Becker doesn't even have any for sale! He should consider republishing perhaps.

I would recommend this book by Paul Romhany to anyone with 2 solid 50 minute stage acts or a VERY intense desire to work cruise ships. If you are merely curious then pass on this book. I should also mention Romhany has thrown in a handful of magic tricks and routines in the back of the book. One I will be using immediately is the production of a bottle of wine at the end of a paper balls over the head routine. The tricks are decent but I wouldn't buy the book for the tricks. At 30 dollars this book is a steal if you ARE SERIOUS about cruising. Otherwise spend your money on Rick Marcelli's book, it would do more for your career over all than this book will. Paul's book is available from Amazon.com with free shipping in the US. Rick Marcelli's book can be bought here