Depends upon what you call "Free". They will barter for techs to go on board for specialty situations and will barter a free trip for 2 , but you'll be working to pay for the trip. Since 911, the number of those situations have dropped dramatically as the cruise ship's have altered their needs. The last one I did was on the famed QE2 .They flew my wife and I over to London, then we sailed from South Hampton, England to New York and did the Trans-Atlantic crossing. All black tie affair and everyone was in tuxes in evening gowns for all events. This was their yearly "Piano Cruise" in which big time concert artists were contracted to do numerous piano recitals daily, with piano masterclasses and lectures in between all concerts. I was on call 1 hr. prior to each event to get that piano ready then was allowed to do as I pleased until the next event. Lots of down-time, incredible good food all day long, but too much cigarette smoke for my tastes. Seemed like everyone smoked constantly and the whole ship smelled of smoke. Seas were a calm 25 ft high with a 1 day of 40 ft seas. Most of the patrons were loaded up with sea sickness shots and plenty of regurgitation, making for a memorable trip. Seemed like everyone had spilled coffee stains on their clothes by the end of the trip. We figured that the trips were being booked at $18,000 for 2 ( for our housing) for a 6 day crossing. All-in-all , a well-worth adventure and would do it again in a heartbeat. I should note that the first quarters they gave us were horrible. 2 double beds on the lower level at the tail end of the ship ( where the affects of motion are felt most). I complained and they said we could upgrade our quarter for $2500 on the 2nd floor ( with a queen bed). After complaining and trying to figure out a better plan, they agreed to give us the upgrade BUT, I would have to work on all of the pianos on the ship instead of the 3 that I was originally assigned to. I would work from 5AM -8AM daily, then go to breakfast with my wife, play Trivial Pursuit at 9:30, then nap, then tune at 11am, then lunch, then nap, then dancing lessons, then nap, then tune at 4PM, then dinner, then some other activity, then tune again at 7PM, then nap to get rested for the midnight buffet with all the king crabs legs one could eat. Pretty pathetic on my part. But hey.... Days were 25 hrs long as the clocks were turned backwards 1 hr each night. Six days of 1 hr r time zone changes has a great affect on one's system. Arrived in NYC with 15 new pounds that I thoroughly enjoyed packing on and stories galore, making this a memorable experience. Tom Servinsky ----- Original Message ----- From: "Denise Rachel" <pp-ff at verizon.net> To: <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Monday, February 15, 2010 5:56 AM Subject: Re: [pianotech] Another Cruise Ship Piano Tuning Question Terry, I agree with Dean. That's what I always thought, too. D On Feb 14, 2010, at 9:21 PM, Dean May wrote: > Hi Terry > > I've noticed that phenomenon cropping up also on pianos that are regularly > tuned. I attributed it to the differing lengths in the front scale and > backscale. It's the only thing that made any sense to me. > > But I'm probably wrong. Again. > > Tuning cruise ships sounds awfully exotic. Do you ever get free tickets? > > Dean > > Dean W May (812) 235-5272 > > PianoRebuilders.com (888) DEAN-MAY > > Terre Haute IN 47802 > > > -----Original Message----- > From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On > Behalf > Of Terry Farrell > Sent: Sunday, February 14, 2010 8:21 PM > To: pianotech at ptg.org > Subject: [pianotech] Another Cruise Ship Piano Tuning Question > > I have about 18 Yamaha C3s I tune on three cruise ships. Most of these > pianos are played every day for several hours. I see them every two > weeks. Each one gets a pretty thorough tuning every six weeks or so - > the other visits they will get some level of touch-up. The environment > on these 1,000-foot-long, ten story ships is VERY stable as there are > very few doors and windows opening to the outside and the AC runs 24/7. > > When I come to each piano, it will have been reasonably well tuned two > weeks prior. With respect to unisons, I'll typically see (well, > hear...) one string out of every six or so half-steps beating and more > whining a bit. What I find 95+% of the time is that if the pitch of a > string has moved at all, the right string has gone a little bit sharp > and the left string has gone maybe twice that amount flat. I'll be > like that on virtually every single note that is making some noise. > > What on earth would cause such a phenomenon? > > Terry Farrell > Port-of-Tampa > > PS: For any of you with tooooo much time on your hands, you can see > my cruise ship (Carnival Legend was today) at the Port of Tampa on > live streaming video - the cam is mounted atop the county building > downtown Tampa. Go to > http://cam01.hillsboroughcounty.org/user/JViewer.html > > and click on "Control" and click about a quarter inch away from the > upper left hand corner of the grey mesh area that appears after you > get control of the camera. Way cool, IMHO. The ship was late today and > I could simply periodically check my computer to look at this webcam > to see when the ship was approaching! >
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