Michael Moody is a globetrotter. For the past six years, he has lived and worked on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, visiting over 40 countries in five continents. In his role as lounge technician, Michael set up bands, maintained stages and equipment, as well as mixed and monitored sound levels for various lounges around the ship.

“I got quite lucky with my cruise ship career,” says Michael. “I only worked on two different ships for Royal Caribbean but both were constantly changing itineraries and trying out new routes.”

As a result, the Recording Arts grad has experienced the beaches of Greece, the street markets of Vietnam, the outdoor adventure sports of New Zealand, and the beauty of Bora Bora. “Working on ships gives you the opportunity to make it to a lot of really expensive destinations, one of them being Bora Bora,” says Michael, who visited the South Pacific island a handful of times while on the job. “The last time I visited there I hiked to the highest peak and had a full 360-degree view of the island. It was pure bliss.”

But don’t get him wrong—cruise ship life isn’t just hiking and beaches all day; it requires a lot of work too. “My duties for being a lounge tech were to maintain the band and game show setups in all the secondary lounges and maintain proper volume levels,” Michael explains.  “I was on my own schedule but it was always busy. Sometimes I would have two bands playing in two different lounges, while a game show was getting set up in another.”

These days, Michael is back on solid ground. “It was a fun experience with many great memories but it was time to get something a little more full-time.”

Not that he regrets the experience for an instant. “The best part of working on cruise ships is meeting all the new people. If you're working on a ship, that usually means you're open to new experiences and new people. So is most everyone else on the ship. I have so many friends all over the world now and am ever grateful for it.”