A few college friends and I are looking to get a gig on a cruise ship for our summer of next year. We found a fairly legit seeming company that acts as an intermediary. We haven't seen a contract yet, but the requirements include:

-Minimum repertoire of 100 songs.
-Up to and including 4.5 hours of performing per day.
-As such, you're reccomended to have two vocalists or a large instrumental repertoire.
-Your repertoire has to include a large variety of swing and Latin/Afro-Cuban styles, as well as some rock, country, and pop tunes.

I have a year to work on the playing aspects of it...and there's a lot of work to do. To be able to keep a laser focus for a 4.5 hour night is just out of reach at the moment. Not to mention the number of tunes...a goodly portion are jazz standards, many of which I recognize and several of which I know, but it's a hunge undertaking at this point.

I know what I have to do: I have to raise my playing endurance, carve my time out of granite, I have to get a mad latin pocket, etc. and I know it's all just a matter of effort and time well spent on the instrument.

My question is...what's a cruise ship gig REALLY like? Did you have a positive experience playing on a cruise ship? What happened? Was the pay good? Are there any horror stories?

A cruise ship gig can be a good thing for some people but it wasn't for me. First off the positives, get to play all the time, ok pay, practice during the day, travel, meet new people. Negatives losing contacts in your city and moving to the bottom of the phonebook for getting calls for gigs, the food is terrible, spending all your money on partying because the cruise becomes tedious, drugs, missing family etc. For me I'd say do it if you can keep your nose clean if you know what I mean, are willing to practice and aren't really well established in town so you won't be losing work, cruises can be good but like I've said I have some friends that have terrible stories about things that have happened. For me I just didn't like the people I was hired to play with for a sub contract and never did it again. I hope some of this helps

Neal covers it pretty well. I can't complain too much, because a cruise ship ultimately landed me here. REALLY cornball music for the most part, and repeating it over and over every time you sail can be a drag. I hit the bottle pretty heavily when I was cruising, mostly out of boredom (this was a looong time ago). I think you'll be okay, you seem like you have a good head on your shoulders. Just don't get stuck on there forever.

I had a great time but my situation was probably better than most. I had my own cabin, we got to eat the same food as the passengers and the hours were fine. I was fortunate to be playing with a good rhythm section which more than made up for the inadequacies of the horn section. Like Marcus said, the music could get boring, but it was a long time ago, I was younger (and single) and I loved the party. Do it for the experience then move on. It's not something you'd want to make a living at. I'll give you an example of one of the things I thought was unfair. I was expected to tip the guy who came in and cleaned my cabin every week even though I didn't want him doing it. My contention was that I was hired help not getting paid enough to be tipping (which wasn't cheap) another employee, ESPECIALLY since they wouldn't let us put a tip jar on the piano during dance sets!!. I was brought before the Norweigan captain and told I had to comply...which I still refused to do. Needless to say, my tour of duty ended not long afterwards but I was ready to get off anyway. Like I said, it's great fun for awhile.

My trombonist friend and her bassist husband worked some of the Caribbean ships for a couple of years. They have some gruesome stories about one of the jobs. Their bandleader was a boss-from-hell type of guy who made life miserable. Their cabin, or locker, or whatever you'd call it, was a mold-ridden space in the depths of the bilge, right across the aisle from the ship's morgue (which was a couple of lovely pull-out drawers if I'm recalling this correctly.) Several years after the gig ended, they had the curious experience of seeing on the news that particular vessel completely on fire at sea, passengers and crew evacuated, and (I believe) the ship headed to the bottom.

They worked other vessels and had some better experiences. They're looking to get back into it but that might have more to do with boredom and not liking winter than it does with liking cruise ship work.

(Aaron, I could probably put you in touch with these musicians if you're interested.)

I think you roll the dice on a gig like that -- it could go either way. If you know the people involved you've got a much better chance of making the right decision whether to go or not. Whether it's good or bad, you'll probably gain some stories and experience that will last you a lifetime.

Just don't get drunk in port and miss the boat. In my railway days I learned that ALL KINDS of sin could be forgiven, but missing the train? Fired. Right then and there. Didn't matter where you were.

I have a bunch of friends that did cruise ship gigs. Every time I entertain the idea they stage an intervention.

It really depends on what cruise line you're on, where it goes, which band you're in, and the people you're playing with.
My experience was 50/50. I went out once for 4 months in the summer of 99. I'm glad I did it but I wouldn't do it again.

Good stuff:
Seeing all these great Carribean islands.
Playing everyday (I was in the jazz trio and only played 2 hours a day).
Free time to work out in the gym.
Dollar beers!!!
Chicks!!

Bad stuff:
Boredom. There's LOTS of it.
small, small, small room. With no window. Did I mention it's small?
The guitar player was a total stoner and musically the gig suffered because of it.
Ship food generally sucks. Simply because they have to cook for 1500 emplyees as well as 2000 passengers.
For however long you're out there, you do not cook or drive. That was annoying to me.

But hey, if you've never done it, it can be fun. Try to get a short contract, say no more than 3 months, with a good line (stay away from Carnival). Try to do it with musicians you know well and get along with. Don't worry about how many song you know; they'll never be listening to you.

Oh, try to get a carribean cruise, not the cruise to Antartica.....:cool:

Just reading all these posts - I can't help thinking about the fact that once on board, you are trapped and can't get away!! :p

Just reading all these posts - I can't help thinking about the fact that once on board, you are trapped and can't get away!! :p

That's true. But being able to get off in Cancun, Cozumel and Key West every week was worth it for me. There was always plenty to do!!! :)

It's really a young man's game. When I was bandleader on one particular boat, there was an older pianist, a Vegas pit guy who could read fly ****, playing way beneath his abilities. He was drinking a fifth of vodka before noon, playing inebriated (but brilliantly), and I don't think he ever took home a paycheck. He was really putting himself through hell, and I always had a deep sadness for him, becaude he was really a lovely guy. I just had the sense of him being at the end (sort of like Nicholas Cage in "Leaving Las Vegas", only at sea), and it was hard to watch.

Other folks, on the other hand, are able to save some money and get off the ship unscathed. It's one of the few situations where a lesser player may actually be at an advantage, simply because he/she is challenged enough that they aren't bored out of their socks. That sounds pretty pompous, I guess, but I don't know how else to say it. And I'm not applying that to you personally of course, just something I observed over the years.

Where is this ship taking you (geographically speaking)? I still think you will do fine on a cruise, just from knowing you from these forums.

Hey, all you fellow cruise survivors; when should we tell Aaron about the weekly lifeboat drill?....

Hey, all you fellow cruise survivors; when should we tell Aaron about the weekly lifeboat drill?....

LOL.
I stopped going to mine eventually.

What lifeboat drill?? :D

I thought musicians had to go down with the ship.

This may be a dumb question....Are most ship gigs on electric bass? When I auditioned and got accepted (and didn't go) I auditioned on electric and was told that I would be playing only electric. Is that how most ship gigs are?

Pop the top off the DB...

This may be a dumb question....Are most ship gigs on electric bass? When I auditioned and got accepted (and didn't go) I auditioned on electric and was told that I would be playing only electric. Is that how most ship gigs are?
Good question. I played slab for the most part on boats. I guess that you would want to check that out with the individual cruise line.

I haven't posted in awhile, but I had to reply to this one because I have a lot of experience on ships.

To answer the upright/electric question...yes, it's mostly electric, and you often have to play pretty damn loud. I did some jazz trio contracts on a few ships where I got to play upright and a few others where they required upright for certain shows. Most of the ships actually have an upright, but they're usually of the "more like a prop than an instrument" variety.

Everything everyone has posted here is true. I've had some great times on the ships, met some great people and been to some amazing places I never would have had the opportunity to go to otherwise (New Guinea, all over Southeast Asia, circled South America twice, etc.).

I can go on and on about the ships; I agree with everything that's been said. For general debauchery, the ship is great. "Romance" opportunities of all varieties. There are a lot of miserable drunks on the ships...if you think you might head that direction, stay away. For a young, single guy, it's great. A lot of people fall into a trap of staying on the ships for years...you don't want that.

In my experience, these are the good lines: Princess, Crystal Cruises (the best), Cunard. The worst: Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL), Royal Caribbean, Holland America. Other people might have had great experiences on those lines.

Good luck if you go that route. If you go, just stay focused on improving as a player and maximizing your free-time be it practicing, reading, exercising, or enjoying the ports. I've been on cruises to Rio and Buenos Aires where some guys in the band didn't even get off the ship!

Having no cruise experinece, but having planty of bad contract work experience, I'd say read the contract carefully. If it doesn't spell out:

How many hours you are expected to play
What hours you are expected to play
Your salary
Any and all expenses you are expected to cover
Where and what you'll eat

..and so forth, you're gonna get screwed.

Man, you guys are bursting my retirement bubble. :crying:

I told my wife that once all the kids are out of the house, we'll sell the house, invest the proceeds and get jobs on a cruise ship. No rent, no utilities, no groceries to buy. :cool:

It honestly sounds like the ideal situation for me next summer (20 year old college student looking to make money.) Sounds awesome!

My only issue is the fact I might not be playing upright bass for 4 months. That's a definite ball-buster, I'm not going to lie. Coming back to music school to play an instrument I haven't touched in FOUR MONTHS? Guuuuuh...dark prospect.

Rent or buy one of those EUB's. At least you'll be able to practice on it. Four months is a long time to be away from the URB.

This thread started out pretty good but quickly died. But there were a few good nuggets in there and I was thinking that much should be added.

I have never played a cruise ship gig but there seems to be many that have. Suggestions have been made regarding getting everything in the contract or else. So, in an effort to help those younger players that may end up doing a ship gig . . .

What should be put in the contract?

Hours playing per day. What's the average to expect?
Tipping the other employees of the ship. Opt for "No"
Food. What's negotiable?
Pay. Preferably "Yes".
Dress code.
I'm sure there will be plenty of boilerplate too.

What else should we add? I'm sure I missed a lot.

Hey Arron, when I was at humber plenty of people were doing the jazz trio gigs during the summer at school, talk to some people in the lounge because around 6 years or so ago I was getting asked almost everyday by one person or another, let them know your intentions and maybe you will get a double bass gig on the boat. Good luck

That would be great.... I think they are more open to DB than they used to be, though you'll probably need a slab as well. I always had pretty ample storage available to me, enough to keep a DB on the ship, to avoid insanity.

An EUB might be a good way to go... you could probably play most of the shows on a popsicle bass if need be.

i had a great experience on a carnival ship. i was just out of college and i was hired to play in the ship's orchestra, which meant playing 2 big band sets, 2 shows, 2 jazz quartet and 2 latenight club sets per night. yes, that's 8 sets per night. i absolutely loved it. aside from the shows, all the rest of the music changed. the shows were the same all the time, but the big band book was as thick as the yellow pages. we hardly ever repeated a tune and it was great for my reading. the band could read really well too. for the combo sets outside the casino every night we would just call tunes, pretty cool. and the late night sets were generally backing up whoever was the guest act on the ship that week, so that was changing all the time and the reading practice was alot of fun. sometimes, for whatever reason, (either there wasnt a guest act that week or the guest didnt feel like doing a late set,) we got to play latin sets. we would use those 2 late sets as latin dance sets if there was nothing else going on, and they had a pretty decent book there so there wasnt much repeating.. i loved it.

I know this thread has been stale for a while, but I'm considering spending half a year or less doing a cruise gig, I think I'd be able to thrive and save a few paychecks...

A couple questions I couldn't find answers to were;

1) What are the auditions like? I've heard from some people with experience that it is a somewhat competitive gig. I assume reading is a must, but what else is there to expect in terms of what skills you MUST have?

2) I'm sure it varies depending on the cruise line and how much you play, but what is the pay generally like?

3) Is there much interaction between bandmembers and the passengers? I'd go insane if I wasn't able to hit on or be hit on by bronzing beauties...

YMMV, but...

1.) Nil.... they asked if I could read, I arrived in Honolulu and took a quick physical, and I was playing that night.

2.) Not great compared to gigs on actual soil, but you can save money and see the world for nothing.

3.) Yes. Yes yes oh dear god yes.*


*It's good to remember that, on some ships, the average age of these bronzing beauties is "deceased".

I'm glad this thread was resurrected.

Any info on how to get these gigs? Are there open calls? Is it like Disney/Cedar Point where the audition is posted online somewhere?

Like Aaron and a few of the other guys-i am a relatively young cat and have entertained the idea of doing a cruise ship gig-i'm down for nearly any gig.

I have played on a ship-but it was with my show choir in 2001/2002. We got to play on the main stage of i think it was Majesty of the Seas c/o Royal Caribbean. It was a blast. The bad decision i made on the ship was to not wear sun screen one day. OUCH. Playing my Pilot Plus 5 electric [it was crimson red] w/crunchy shoulders wasn't much fun, and my face & arms right about matched my bass.

*It's good to remember that, on some ships, the average age of these bronzing beauties is "deceased".

Which brings up another plus and that's that booze in the crew bars is ridiculously cheap...and necessary.
I'd rather bite down on a file and rip it outta my mouth than do another cruise ship gig. If you get one playing jazz with people you enjoy it could be ok for a while I s'pose but most of them are playing shyte with and for morons.

jeff

I better work on my shuffleboarding before I attempt to get with any golden grandmas...

From the cats I know who have done the ship gigs, I get the impression that it is not a good idea to take them if you know you have an addictive personality...

I better work on my shuffleboarding before I attempt to get with any golden grandmas...


And maybe they'll send you $12 on your birthday.

With at least 2 of those dollars being in the form of a two-dollar bill.

i've been sort of toying with the cruise ship idea for a couple of weeks now. i have a drummer friend who just got back from a six-month carnival tour of the islands and loved it. 5 days a week, 4 hours a night and the rest of the time was free to do what he wanted. the appealing part is that he is a killin drummer and it was trio with a killin guitar player as well...he said not once did someone tell them what type of music to play, or that they were too loud, etc. he offered me the spot the next time they go out, which is in march for another 6 months. same deal...trio, whatever music you want, $12,000 pay for the trip.

i have never really considered hopping on a cruise for a lot of the reasons listed previously. i've been making good contacts in baltimore, studying with a great teacher, and playing 4 times a week pretty steadily here. however, as soon as im done with this degree i was planning on making the move to either NY or Chicago. so it is sort of appealing to finish school, jump on a ship and save some money, then move a month or so after the cruise is over. pros and cons on both sides, but i am sort of struggling to sort it out right now. any similar experiences, words of advice? thanks,

adam.

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to ask guys who have done the ship gig before something: What is the practice space situation like? I will be playing upright bass so I doubt that I'll be able to practice in the tiny cabin where I'll be living. So where does one practice outside of their own quarters?

Practice space????? Living quarters???? If you want to schlep your uprite down steep narrow stairs to a cabin by the propshaft that's so small you have to go out in the corridor to change your mind and all the cockroaches are hunchbacked, take a cruise ship gig. I worked H...... .....a in the early 80s, and can only assume conditions and salary have gotten worse in the global economy. The last cruise I did, there was a Filipino show band playing a daily rehearsal for a show they already knew, two dance sets and a show 7 nights a week for $125 a week. I'd rather sell shoes.

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to ask guys who have done the ship gig before something: What is the practice space situation like? I will be playing upright bass so I doubt that I'll be able to practice in the tiny cabin where I'll be living. So where does one practice outside of their own quarters?

on the carnival ship i was on you were allowed to practice backstage during the day. with bass, even if someone were using the stage and they weren't too loud, you could keep it low enough not to bother anyone. if someone else were already theer practicing you would have to look around to see if there was room for you too without bothering whoever was there first. get up early and you'll be the first one there and probably already have in a few hours before the rest of the band even wakes up.

Okay, so I'm resurrecting this old thread--but I had to put in my two cents.

Played my first 9 week ship gig the summer before my senior year at U of M. Played in a jazz quintet, all fellow music students. We sucked, but it was a good learning experience to gain repertoire and learn the difference between jazz and ballroom dancing. I played upright on that gig--but living in Miami made it fairly easy to get on the ship.

My next ship gig was a 9 weeker in the Caribbean just after I graduated college. I was schooled severely, and learned a lot, but in general couldn't stand the people I was working with, especially the guitar player. It was almost my last ship gig... It was an electric gig in the main band.

My third ship was a longer contract (actually two that were almost back-to-back...long story) that totaled about 7 months. The ship went from South America to the Mediterranean, and I loved the travel. The band was great, people were fun to hang with, music was good, just all around a great experience. My reading chops improved big time, and so did my skills for playing with a click track. There were some sub-par players that came and went in the band, and it taught me to deal with musicians with varying amounts of skill and whatnot and how to "split the difference" with different concepts of timing from the various members of the band. Again, this was all electric. My upright chops sucked when I got off, but my groove had improved so getting back into upright was in some ways easier.

My most recent ship gig (2003) was with a quartet. The cruise line hired me and a friend who is a pianist (I got him the gig) to play in a lounge band similar to my first ship gig. The guy that was the leader was a sax player who was old and grumpy and wouldn't let us really go off into improv land. The drummer was a smoking Polish cat--great player--but the rhythm section never got going cause the leader always sabotaged the groove potential. So, my final gig on the ship pretty much sucked, although it had potential to be one of the most musical situations I had. I played EUB and electric on that gig, but the electric was more practical and sounded the best on the ships' crappy amps.

BTW, all gigs were with Royal Caribbean. Good company to work for, but it just depends on what ship you're on and who you're with. Seems like the guys who went through booking agents always did better than in-house musicians. Food for thought....

The guy that was the leader was a sax player who was old and grumpy and wouldn't let us really go off into improv land. The drummer was a smoking Polish cat--great player--but the rhythm section never got going cause the leader always sabotaged the groove potential.

That reminds me of the joke about the jazz bass player who took a cruise ship gig that demanded he stick to the "two-beat" society formula. Whenever he tried to sneak in four-to-a-bar, the leader would hiss at him, "Play two beat!" The bass player was disgusted, stuck it out for the bread.

One night the ship hit an iceberg and quickly began to sink. To calm the passengers, the leader gathered the band and they began to play. Soon, the lifeboats were manned, and the water was up to the band's knees. At this point, the bass player leans over to the drummer and says, "Screw it! Let's play in four!"

That reminds me of the joke about the jazz bass player who took a cruise ship gig that demanded he stick to the "two-beat" society formula. Whenever he tried to sneak in four-to-a-bar, the leader would hiss at him, "Play two beat!" The bass player was disgusted, stuck it out for the bread.

One night the ship hit an iceberg and quickly began to sink. To calm the passengers, the leader gathered the band and they began to play. Soon, the lifeboats were manned, and the water was up to the band's knees. At this point, the bass player leans over to the drummer and says, "Screw it! Let's play in four!"

Yep, that sums it up.

I did a ten-day tour with Buddy DeFranco over Thanksgiving 1985 (was it that long ago?!). We left from Ft. Lauderdale and went to the Yucatan, Colombia, Jamaica and Panama, including going through the Panama Canal. What a blast! Thanks for reminding me!

Jon Liebman
www.JonLiebman.com

there are worst things in life
you could be working a part time summer job at the mall

I don't know if things have changed, but when I was on the ships, it was a lot of food, booze, drugs, casual sex, and really bad shows. Crappy paycheck at the end of the week. Lather, rinse, repeat.