Here is the tag line for this General RV'ing Forum
"This forum addresses all things RV -- news and notes, comments and concerns are all welcome here." I post this here because the Workcapmping forum is all but dead.
So with the above in mind I will relate another workcamping experience here. About two weeks ago I shared my experiences Delivering RV's.
This time I will write about my experience two seasons ago working for Holland America/Princess Cruises Alaska. And opportunities in Alaska in General.
While in Tucson for a few of the winter months I was getting bored again and wanted to "do something". The previous year I had been to Alaska with my 34ft TT and my friend and I remarked that it would be a great place to work for a season. So when it came time to "do something" the next year we naturally thought about Alaska.
As it turned out The very first place I contacted hired me in very short order. I applied two places actually, one in Skagway and HAP (Holland America/Princess). After filling out the online application with my prior experience and hitting "send" We went to lunch. It was an hour later at Carls Jr that my phone rang and I found myself in an interview for the job. (I was Hired on the spot)
I had applied to be a Driver/Guide and they wanted me for the Fairbanks office which is the largest of the HAP operations in Alaska. I would be driving a 45ft motorcoach (You know the really big ones with the photos of Bears and whales on them)with up to 55 passengers and giving commentary on all things Alaska.
The kicker was I had to be in Alaska on the 20th of March for training. Now this means traveling the road in winter conditions and it was definitely still winter. Once we reached Dawson Creek it was -20 to -30 every morning. But the weather was generally good and the days mostly sunny. The drive was actually pretty easy.(We obviously stayed in hotels on the way up)
HAP has a great training program that will get you a class B license with the passenger endorsement and frankly for those of you with giant class A's this will teach you a great deal. Now I had in previous lifetime held class A CDL"S with Tanker, Hazmat, Doubles and Triples endorsements so big vehicles were not strange or intimidating to me. But the HAP training program took people with no prior experience and did a fabulous job of producing really great drivers. I can highly recommend the experience. Now more than a few did not make it through the school but they were accommodated in other jobs.
Work started in the mid part of May, you were paid for all training hours at the rate of $10/hour with more hours paid than you actually were in training. Driving for first year folks was paid at $12/hr. Overtime is generous and frequent. But the salary is only part of the pay for this particular job...TIPS were the big thing.
As a Fairbanks Driver/Guide I made a little over $6000.00 in tips from mid May until Mid September. I banked all of that in a new account at Alaska Fed. Credit Union. I felt I was good at my job but was still very pleased and a little astonished at the amount of tips I made. Some did better than I and some not so good...but I was happy.
Now there are some other perks too. They paid me $500 to offset the cost of driving to Alaska(They will fly you for free) and there are safety bonuses and finishing the contract bonuses amounting to 15% of your total.
Also as a Driver/Guide you are at the top of the Hierarchy of HAP temp workers with some other great perks. If you want to eat at one of the truly great restaurants at either the Denali Princess Lodge or the McKinley Chalet Resort you got a whopping 60% off your meal...almost all other employees got 25% off. These are Fine Dining Restaurants. Eating there was a rather common occurrence as most of the trips you drive are from Fairbanks to Denali National Park taking folks to one of the HAP owned hotels there. If you have to spend the night at Denali and pick up new guests the next AM you are housed in the huge employee Camp for HAP employees and you are one of the ONLY people who get their own room. Of course you could also just eat in the employee dining hall for free. There are many other smaller perks too numerous to mention including discounts on all the tours.
When I first arrived for training I originally stayed in a long term "hotel" room much more like an apartment until the RV park opened in early/mid May (they let me in a bit early). I had reserved a spot at the Rivers Edge RV Park and Campground right in Fairbanks and close to everything. It's a beautiful Park with everything you need and quite a few workers parked there.
Now... are you right for this job? Well almost anyone can do it but it helps if you have some larger vehicle experience though it is definitely not necessary and that you truly like dealing with people. An outgoing personality is also a big plus.
I loved it.
Now my Friend also needed a job there so She applied to HAP also but not as a driver. She ended up working at the Tour desk in the Princess River Side Lodge in Faibanks, (a short walk from the RV park)a job she truly enjoyed and she made lasting friends there. I made it contingent on me accepting the driving job that she have a job also and this was no problem.
If there was a downside to this experience it was the fact that as long as you didnt violate the hours of service rules it was easy to work too hard. You could work as much as you wanted to. I worked 6 days a week for most of the time, Some days are longer than others. A typical Fairbank-Denali Trip means picking up a group at the hotel in Fairbanks and driving them the 125 miles to Denali, eating lunch, and then picking up another group GOING TO Fairbanks. (groups go in both directions as Fairbanks is the big Hub of HAP in Alaska) This makes for a long day but not so bad.
Other times you do shifts picking up and dropping off at the Fairbanks Airport (one of my favorites) and the local shuttle. You also take groups to sights around Fairbanks including the Salmon Bake (You get the prime rib and Salmon for free)the Gold Dredge and the River Cruise. These were my favorite trips as folks really had a good time and I would often make in excess of $100 in tips for that shorter day.
All in all it was VERY profitable even with the expense of living in Fairbanks. Our RV space was $800/month (this is the long term discount).
There is so much more I could tell but this is so long already I will wait for some responses. It was a great job and we made a lot of lasting friends and had a really great time. below is the link to HAP if you are interested:
HAP Tour Jobs
Here is one of the buses:
"This forum addresses all things RV -- news and notes, comments and concerns are all welcome here." I post this here because the Workcapmping forum is all but dead.
So with the above in mind I will relate another workcamping experience here. About two weeks ago I shared my experiences Delivering RV's.
This time I will write about my experience two seasons ago working for Holland America/Princess Cruises Alaska. And opportunities in Alaska in General.
While in Tucson for a few of the winter months I was getting bored again and wanted to "do something". The previous year I had been to Alaska with my 34ft TT and my friend and I remarked that it would be a great place to work for a season. So when it came time to "do something" the next year we naturally thought about Alaska.
As it turned out The very first place I contacted hired me in very short order. I applied two places actually, one in Skagway and HAP (Holland America/Princess). After filling out the online application with my prior experience and hitting "send" We went to lunch. It was an hour later at Carls Jr that my phone rang and I found myself in an interview for the job. (I was Hired on the spot)
I had applied to be a Driver/Guide and they wanted me for the Fairbanks office which is the largest of the HAP operations in Alaska. I would be driving a 45ft motorcoach (You know the really big ones with the photos of Bears and whales on them)with up to 55 passengers and giving commentary on all things Alaska.
The kicker was I had to be in Alaska on the 20th of March for training. Now this means traveling the road in winter conditions and it was definitely still winter. Once we reached Dawson Creek it was -20 to -30 every morning. But the weather was generally good and the days mostly sunny. The drive was actually pretty easy.(We obviously stayed in hotels on the way up)
HAP has a great training program that will get you a class B license with the passenger endorsement and frankly for those of you with giant class A's this will teach you a great deal. Now I had in previous lifetime held class A CDL"S with Tanker, Hazmat, Doubles and Triples endorsements so big vehicles were not strange or intimidating to me. But the HAP training program took people with no prior experience and did a fabulous job of producing really great drivers. I can highly recommend the experience. Now more than a few did not make it through the school but they were accommodated in other jobs.
Work started in the mid part of May, you were paid for all training hours at the rate of $10/hour with more hours paid than you actually were in training. Driving for first year folks was paid at $12/hr. Overtime is generous and frequent. But the salary is only part of the pay for this particular job...TIPS were the big thing.
As a Fairbanks Driver/Guide I made a little over $6000.00 in tips from mid May until Mid September. I banked all of that in a new account at Alaska Fed. Credit Union. I felt I was good at my job but was still very pleased and a little astonished at the amount of tips I made. Some did better than I and some not so good...but I was happy.
Now there are some other perks too. They paid me $500 to offset the cost of driving to Alaska(They will fly you for free) and there are safety bonuses and finishing the contract bonuses amounting to 15% of your total.
Also as a Driver/Guide you are at the top of the Hierarchy of HAP temp workers with some other great perks. If you want to eat at one of the truly great restaurants at either the Denali Princess Lodge or the McKinley Chalet Resort you got a whopping 60% off your meal...almost all other employees got 25% off. These are Fine Dining Restaurants. Eating there was a rather common occurrence as most of the trips you drive are from Fairbanks to Denali National Park taking folks to one of the HAP owned hotels there. If you have to spend the night at Denali and pick up new guests the next AM you are housed in the huge employee Camp for HAP employees and you are one of the ONLY people who get their own room. Of course you could also just eat in the employee dining hall for free. There are many other smaller perks too numerous to mention including discounts on all the tours.
When I first arrived for training I originally stayed in a long term "hotel" room much more like an apartment until the RV park opened in early/mid May (they let me in a bit early). I had reserved a spot at the Rivers Edge RV Park and Campground right in Fairbanks and close to everything. It's a beautiful Park with everything you need and quite a few workers parked there.
Now... are you right for this job? Well almost anyone can do it but it helps if you have some larger vehicle experience though it is definitely not necessary and that you truly like dealing with people. An outgoing personality is also a big plus.
I loved it.
Now my Friend also needed a job there so She applied to HAP also but not as a driver. She ended up working at the Tour desk in the Princess River Side Lodge in Faibanks, (a short walk from the RV park)a job she truly enjoyed and she made lasting friends there. I made it contingent on me accepting the driving job that she have a job also and this was no problem.
If there was a downside to this experience it was the fact that as long as you didnt violate the hours of service rules it was easy to work too hard. You could work as much as you wanted to. I worked 6 days a week for most of the time, Some days are longer than others. A typical Fairbank-Denali Trip means picking up a group at the hotel in Fairbanks and driving them the 125 miles to Denali, eating lunch, and then picking up another group GOING TO Fairbanks. (groups go in both directions as Fairbanks is the big Hub of HAP in Alaska) This makes for a long day but not so bad.
Other times you do shifts picking up and dropping off at the Fairbanks Airport (one of my favorites) and the local shuttle. You also take groups to sights around Fairbanks including the Salmon Bake (You get the prime rib and Salmon for free)the Gold Dredge and the River Cruise. These were my favorite trips as folks really had a good time and I would often make in excess of $100 in tips for that shorter day.
All in all it was VERY profitable even with the expense of living in Fairbanks. Our RV space was $800/month (this is the long term discount).
There is so much more I could tell but this is so long already I will wait for some responses. It was a great job and we made a lot of lasting friends and had a really great time. below is the link to HAP if you are interested:
HAP Tour Jobs
Here is one of the buses:
