Working on a cruise ship

Aaron Saunders · #1 03-14-2007, 01:55 AM

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?

neal davis · #2 03-14-2007, 02:03 AM

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

Marcus Johnson · #3 03-14-2007, 05:43 AM

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.

christ andronis · #4 03-14-2007, 09:08 AM

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.

**Damon Rondeau** · #5 03-14-2007, 09:31 AM

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.

fingers · #6 03-14-2007, 09:57 AM

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

musicman5string · #7 03-14-2007, 10:01 AM

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.....

Bruce Lindfield · #8 03-14-2007, 10:06 AM

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!!

christ andronis · #9 03-14-2007, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

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!!

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!!!

Marcus Johnson · #10 03-14-2007, 11:46 AM

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?....

musicman5string · #11 03-14-2007, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

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

LOL.
I stopped going to mine eventually.

christ andronis · #12 03-14-2007, 01:16 PM

What lifeboat drill??

Stan Haskins · #13 03-14-2007, 02:12 PM

I thought musicians had to go down with the ship.

joel kelsey · #14 03-14-2007, 02:29 PM

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?

Aaron Saunders · #15 03-14-2007, 02:49 PM

Pop the top off the DB...

Marcus Johnson · #16 03-14-2007, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joel kelsey

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.

bassgeek · #17 03-14-2007, 09:57 PM

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!

mje · #18 03-16-2007, 03:12 PM

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.

**Freddels** · #19 03-16-2007, 05:31 PM

Man, you guys are bursting my retirement bubble.

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.

Aaron Saunders · #20 03-17-2007, 04:12 AM

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.