Acupuncture at Sea

Here is part 1 of an article I wrote for the school paper after serving on one of the cruise ships. I'll publish it in here in 2 parts. Enjoy.

Most acupuncture students have a dream of graduating and walking into a clinic setting where they can start seeing patients and making a good living. One of the popular options for those of us lucky enough to be able to pick up and move is working on a cruise ship. Who wouldn’t want to spend 4 months on a luxury ship sailing to such exotic places as the Caribbean or the Mediterranean? It sounded good to me, so last January I sold everything I owned and flew to Miami for “training.”

There are two companies hiring acupuncturists to work on cruise ships. The one I worked for, Steiner Leisure, is a British company that supplies most of the spa personnel for the cruise industry. The other is called Acupuncture at Sea. This company only works on Celebrity cruise ships.

Steiner’s US office is located in a non-descript building in South Miami. For our training, the three of us who were being sent out had to memorize a lecture that was to be given twice a week, learn the ingredients on products that we were required to retail (more on that later), and be taught about life at sea.

Most people in the US don’t work in the cruise industry, we heard that week, because the hours you work (about 70 per week) and your monetary compensation (for some crew as little as $300 per month) it is hardly worth it. The social structure of the ship is militaristic in nature. There is an actual Captain. Officers take care of various aspects of the ship. There are high standards of quality that are utilized and crew are regularly reprimanded for disobeying the slightest of the many rules used to keep order and provide a luxury vacation experience for passengers. It turns out that working on a cruise ship is like being part of a militaristic Disneytopia.

Our week of orientation ended with more questions than answers and the three of us left our comfort zone to head out to sea. I had never been on a ship before, so pulling up next to three of them that Saturday morning was like standing at the foot of a huge mountain. Each ship was three(!) football fields in length and 14 stories tall. It was to be my home for the next 4 months.

I walked onto the ship excited about the prospect of making the $1000 per week that I was promised was possible, ready to share the lecture in my head,

Acupuncture is an ancient tradition that has roots far beyond China. Have you heard of the Austrian Ice Man? He had 57 tattoos on his body that correspond directly to the placement of some of the most important acupuncture points on the body.

I had my business-casual wardrobe and a made-up face (part of the contact you sign states you will wear make up and have your hair in an up-do every day). It was a small price to pay when you are about to make $4000 per month fresh out of acupuncture school.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that I wasn’t in San Francisco anymore. Right off the bat, my co-workers had issue with my hippie-girl look. I had to buy new make-up, color and cut my hair, and buy new clothes. Turns out that business casual means an all-black wardrobe and make-up means being made to look like a runway model. Can you say eyeliner?

Once everyone was happy with my look, I set about acquiring patients. Giving lectures was the most effective method. People from all parts of the US had heard of acupuncture, always wanted to try it, and wanted to meet someone who actually performed this ancient “voodoo” as it was frequently called. Many people were surprised that I studied for a Master’s degree, that I was Caucasian, and I actually believed acupuncture can make a difference. I quickly learned that if I lectured from a place of experience and expertise, people were convinced and ready to give it a try. This practice of recruiting new clients every week was the best part of my time at sea. Where else are you going to have a captive audience to listen to your expert information and then try what you have to offer?

More to come...