Actor Deckhand – City Cruises Chicago

Job Position(s): Actor Deckhand - City Cruises Chicago

 

Hornblower Group

 is a global leader in experience and transportation. Spanning a 100-year history, Hornblower Group’s portfolio of international offerings includes water- and land-based experiences and ferry and transportation services. City Experiences, Hornblower Group’s premier experience division, offers dining and sightseeing cruises and walking and food tours through the City Cruises, Walks, and Devour brands. City Ferry, part of Hornblower Group’s Ferry and Transportation Division, is the largest private operator of high-speed passenger and vehicle ferries in the United States, carrying more than 10 million passengers annually and operating services including NYC Ferry, Puerto Rico Ferry, and other regional ferry systems. Hornblower Group’s subsidiaries include Hornblower Marine, which provides vessel outhaul and maintenance services at Bridgeport Boatworks in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Seaward Services, Inc., a full-service shipping, waterfront logistics and management company that specializes in the operation and maintenance of government and commercial vessels. Additionally, Anchor Operating System, LLC, a Hornblower Group subsidiary and independent entity, provides reservation, ticketing and website integration services for clients in the transportation, tourism and entertainment industries. Today, Hornblower Group’s global portfolio covers over 10 countries, over 50 U.S. cities and serves more than 20 million guests annually. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, Hornblower Group’s additional corporate offices reside in San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; London, United Kingdom; New York, New York; Dublin, Ireland; and across Ontario, Canada. For more information, visit hornblowercorp.com.

Position Summary

We are currently seeking friendly, upbeat, talented people to work seasonally as Actor/Deckhands on board our Seadog speed boat ride, entertaining passengers in a fun and upbeat manner, and providing excellent customer service. If you like interacting with people from all over the world, have a friendly, outgoing personality, and an interest in performing in theatre (or improv), then this may be the position for you! We seek friendly, courteous people with exceptional customer service skills, who enjoy engaging with the public in an interactive manner, and can learn a basic script which includes both historical information and a narrative theme.

The right person will be adaptable, dynamic, and embody Hornblower’s RESPECT Service System.

Duties And Responsibilities

• Learn the basic script for the narration and prepare your own “verbalization” of the ride through the Lake. (Actor/Deckhands are provided with a basic script, but some leeway is given to inject your own personality and company-approved supplemental material
• Deliver an engaging and informative experience on the vessel, using a wireless mic, in front of the passengers.
• Greet and interact with passengers in a friendly, courteous manner. The Actor/Deckhands play the role of “congenial host,” greeting guests with a smile, and bidding them farewell at the end of the cruise.
• Responsible for cleaning all parts of the vessel, including between trips and at end of each shift.
• Learn and perform important maritime skills such as safely throwing and tying lines, emergency procedures, and more.
• Take part in safety drills and work in cooperation with the captain and crew of the vessel.
• Arrive to work on time and punch in and out on the company’s time clock system.
• Communicate clearly with other departments and personnel.
• Additional job duties assigned

Requirements & Qualifications

• Ability to learn and memorize information, and to deliver an engaging “story-like” tour.
• Ability to express anecdotes in a clear and coherent delivery style, and to engage with audience members / customers in a humorous yet family-friendly way.
• Capacity to keep calm and maintain a pleasant demeanor in a busy, fast-paced work environment.
• Tolerance for getting wet over the course of a typical shift. Seadog is a high-powered “splash boat” that travels at high speeds and truly “makes waves.”
• Ability to stay on your feet for lengthy periods of time.
• Theatre or improv experience can be helpful but is not necessary. If you have an engaging personality and sense of humor, the narration skills can be learned and developed.
• A commitment to being on time and delivering a consistently entertaining and interactive tour.
• Availability on weekends is important; you must be able to work either or Saturday or Sunday.
• Pre-employment and on-going random drug testing are required for all marine personnel

The RESPECT Service System embodies our mission, vision, values and operating principles. By creating a company culture that puts RESPECT at its core, we believe it will drive us to achieve our goal of becoming a Global Experiences and Transportation Leader.

EEO / Disabled / Protected Veteran Employer. Hornblower is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We offer equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals and prohibit discrimination and/or harassment of any type, including but not limited to discrimination and or harassment based upon race, religion, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, pregnancy or relation medical conditions, childbirth, breastfeeding, parental status, veteran and/or military status, disability (physical or mental), medical condition, genetic information or characteristics, political affiliation, domestic violence survivor status, marital status, or other characteristics prohibited by federal, state, or local law. Additionally, as a federal, state, and local contractor, Hornblower complies with government regulations, including affirmative action responsibilities for qualified individuals, where and as they apply. The company also participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations.