Cruise ships?

Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

I didn't know where to put this post. So it ended up here. I have not played out much. In fact I'm just at the point in my playing where I think I maight be able to really begin. Mostly because other people have begun to talk to me about it. I have not firm offers, but one of the things that someone has hypothesized about was a cruise ship gig. Has anyone out there done this? What are the ups and downs of it?

Gary Steele · From: Columbus, Ohio, USA

Edward, LOTS OF BIG BIG WAVES!! Thats the ups and downs on a ship. I am just kidding a little about your last line in your post,
LOL

Bill Terry · From: Bastrop, TX

I talked with a married couple who did a cruise ship gig for Carnival out of Galveston Texas. They worked for the cruise line, not independently, and I think they were 'on duty' 90 days at a time. That may be different from one line to another.

In order to maximize the number of passengers serviced, the cruise lines generally turn those 5-7 day cruise ships around in port in less than a day. That includes unloading passengers and luggage, restocking supplies, and loading the next set of passengers. Because of that, they told me they seldom had much time on shore during the 90 day stint, just long enough to buy anything they needed and maybe drop off mail or something.

Regarding the playing part, they had a lot of free time on board, as they played in one of the clubs every night for about 3 or 4 hours. I seem to remember that they had some sort of crew quarters, not regular staterooms, so not sure how 'nice' their accomodations were.

They did a 'full band' gig with the guy switching off on guitar, PSG, and some bass, and the wife did keys and ran a laptop doing drums and sequenced bass on some tunes. They sounded great, but on this particular cruise I seldom saw more than a handful of people in the room, while the karoake lounge next door was packed every night.

I would assume the $$ was probably ok, but not great, since they chose to do the duo rather than a full band, but that may be the cruise line dictating.

To be honest, they didn't seem to be having a whole lot of fun, but I guess there are plenty of worse places to spend your 'time off' than on a cruise ship.

Edited to add: There is another type of cruise ship gig where a band or organization sets up a block of staterooms and sells/markets the cruise as a ' Party Cruise'. The idea is that the more people that book the cruise as part of the 'party', the cheaper the cost is for the band or artist. Once you hit some 'x' number of rooms, you (the artist/band) cruise free. I know a couple of guys who have done this, and it's totally different. You may play a couple of times during the cruise, and normally in the big theatre, not in one of the clubs. You never actually work for the cruise line, at least that's how I understood the arrangement, and you're more like a guest, not an employee.

[This message was edited by Bill Terry on 03 November 2006 at 11:58 AM.]

Walter Jones · From: Athens, Ohio USA

Check with B. Greg Jones, Forum member, via email. He might share some of his stories of his adventures with Carnival when working out of the East coast. I would also suspect there are many differant types of gigs for the cruise ships. I remember one of his stories was that he sat in one night with a Jamacian band and had a ball playing steel guitar with them.

Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

Thanks for y'all's replys and emails. I will keep checking though. This is definitely beginning to interest me.

Gene Jones · From: Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)

My only cruise ship experience was playing on a USN Transport "cruising" from Japan to San Francisco.

The pay was minimal but the food was OK!

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www.genejones.com

Bo Borland · From: South Jersey -

What a priceless photo Gene! I especially like the lead players creative use of a chair and table mic stand.

Joe McHam · From: Houston, TX * R.I.P.

Gene I would think that pix is memory maker..and a keeper. Thanks for sharing..
Gene when you have time, email me pls.. Thanks

[This message was edited by Joe McHam on 05 November 2006 at 01:32 PM.]

Gene H. Brown · From: Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada

If you're looking for adventure, try a Pirate Ship off the coast of Africa, could be quite an experience, heh, heh
Gene

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If You Keep Pickin That Thing, It'll Never Heal!
;)

Sidney Ralph Penton · From: Moberly, Missouri, USA

looks like gene was a fellow marine. 1966 to 1972 here 39 months in nam plus many other countries.

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zum SD10 peavy session 400 peavy XR600G
if its not a zum steel it isn't real
just trying to steel for the Lord>

Rick Jolley · From: Colorado Springs

My son (Tim Zahn) talking to Carnival about a cruise gig -- they are looking for singlss --- he plays piano -- pays $300 a week & R&B of course. You can save a lot of money, he figures.

RZ

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

I have a friend who did this gig on one of the major cruise lines. Be careful. Once he got on board, he was told that he wa NOT allowed out in the public areas AT ANY TIME. No fraternizing with the guests. And since he only played a few times during the day, the rest of the (LONG) days he had to spend in back-quarters. It was actually a hellacious experience for him. So be careful what you ask for. Of course, YNMMV (N=Nautical

)

Gene Jones · From: Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)

[quote]"looks like gene was a fellow marine."[/quote}

Sidney, I'm flattered by your observation, but I wasn't a Marine, I was Army. The uniforms shown in the picture were from the "brown shoe" 1956 army which explains the similarity.

Old Army vets will remember what was known as "Black Friday" in the late 1950's....the day that the US Army worldwide changed from brown shoes and tan socks, to black shoes and black socks. It was like the recent evolution to "berets".

Bernie Straub · From: Folly Beach, South Carolina, USA

Just FYI, the cruise ships don't spend any nights in port due to port taxes.

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Bernie Straub
Fessenden D-10
Peavy NV 1000

Billy McCoy · From: Ft. Worth, Texas, USA

Hey Guys,

I've done a cruise ship gig in the mid and late 90's.
Pay was 600-650 per week..with a crewmans quarters. Same size as the small stateroom.

The earlier replay is correct...you cannot be in the general public parts of the ship...but, there are a few levels of the ship that are just for CREW members and there is a LOUNGE deck as well for crew members. There are several ports of call that the ship will rest in PORT...but there are several nights that the ship is at sea.

I liked the gig for CARNIVAL that I did...made some money and was an experience that I will never forget...GOOD one.

Hope this helps.

b

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MSA Millennium D10, Walker Stereo Steel, Stone Tree Custom Tele, LINE 6 Vetta II and POD XT PRO

Jerry Clough · From: Las Vegas, Nevada USA

Hi all,

I'm new here. I was asked , by a friend who originally noticed this thread, if I could add to it.

Having done many cruise ship contracts, as a guitarist,(and with 5 different companies), I'll see what I can contribute.

Much accurate information dispensed thus far. But one thing that has not been addressed is that a lot of this information is cruise line specific. Not all cruise lines have the same limitations/perks etc.
1)Salary
2)Deck privileges
3)Length of contract
4)Tax issues
5)Whether the ship stays in port overnight
6)"Picker" issues

Salaries vary widely, from company to company. Low end of the scale (for a U.S. citizen) is about $350/wk if you've not had previous cruise ship experience. High end of the scale (for a "lounge type act" )would be a little over double that. As I said, it's company dependent. Most companies I've worked for start folks out somewhere in between those two figures.

Mind you, one's expenses are minimal. The only "out of pocket expenses" are for 1)toiletries, 2)perhaps a dollar a day if you want a steward to clean your cabin and bring you towels etc.)and 3)any "discretionary" items you feel you can't come home without (souvenirs etc.)

Some companies take Federal Income tax out of your pay, but I've never worked for one which covered Social Security or Medicare deductions.

Some treat you as a 1099 (temporary contracted)employee and others treat you as a W-2 employee. The only difference there (for us, as musicians) is that when you receive a 1099 you can offset your earnings at tax time using I.R.S. Schedule C and (as far as I know) a W-2 employee ends up "eating" expenses (strings, repairs,etc,).

Many lines limit what you can do and how much contact with the passengers you can have. While it is true that there are some lines which have pretty restrictive deck privileges others are happy to have you(as a featured entertainer) mingle and get to know the people you are entertaining.

Common length of a cruise contract for a "lounge musician" is 13 weeks...give or take.
The shortest contract I've worked was 5 weeks and the longest was 27 weeks. But, 12-17 weeks is, by far, the most common..in my experience.

Quarters provided are typically two people to a cabin. They are spartan, but comfortable.

You may (depending on your status...(be it "musician or "guest musician") be required to attend safety drills (usually once a week) that last about an hour each.

You may have to go through some safety training, which is comprised of watching films, learning escape routes, learning how watertight doors function and some environmental issues etc. Takes an hour a day for three days at the beginning of your contract.

When the ship is in port, musicians who are "off duty" can leave the ship just as freely as passengers. There are some minor restrictions to this.

You, as a staff member, will have to be back to the ship 1/2 to one hour before passengers are required to be back.If it is a "tender port" (one where the ship doesn't dock, but instead "ferries" passengers ashore in lifeboats) you, as a staff member, usually cannot depart the ship until all the passengers have had an ample time window in which to do so.

Depending on the cruise line and your official status you will probably be in an I.P.M (in port manning) rotation. On any day it is your "turn" for I.P.M, you are required to stay on the ship that entire day. It's an insurance thing for the cruise lines.

Depending on the cruise itinerary (and cruise line) and how many musicians are in the "rotation", the number of days you may be required to do this varies a lot. I've done it as much as twice a week and as little as once a month.

Ships "usually" don't do "overnighters", but this depends on the itinerary. Most ships I've worked on haven't had "overnighters" but I have enjoyed overnighters in Bermuda, Tahiti, Argentina, Brazil, Scotland, Russia and Denmark....so, it DOES occur, from time to time.

A couple of last things, which are more related to the needs of a player (and I also speak from personal experience here).

Take a pot load of spare strings with you. Many ports are "music store impaired" and the ones that aren't can be expensive (if they even carry what you're looking for).

Don't expect a regular strobe tuner (Conn etc.) to work on a ship. They require electricity of 110-120 v @ 60 Hz in order to calibrate themselves.

Ship electricity can be erratic. The voltage is usually pretty stable, but the frequency is not. Many run 110-120 v at 50 Hz (which is fine for many things, but not for the tuner type I mentioned.

The tuner that works the best for me (and I am in no way affiliated with this company, other than I use their product because it works wonderfully on ships) is a Peterson VS (virtual strobe) model.

When run off "house" AC, it doesn't require a 60 Hz signal. It can even be used with batteries. Any battery powered tuner will , of course, also work...if it is accurate enough for the player's taste.

I may have left some things out...but I hope this helps you understand a little about what working, as a cruise musician, is like.

Jerry

Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

I'm still reading. This is a gold mine! Thanks everyone.

Jerry Clough · From: Las Vegas, Nevada USA

Edward,

If you have any specific questions, feel free to email me or post them here. I'll do my best to answer whatever I can, about cruise ship life/work.

I'm new here, as my post stated, so I don't know exactly how this forum works. But I *think* my email address is available to you.

Cheers,

Jerry

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Jerry, that's great information; thanks for coming aboard to share it.

One question, does the erratic voltage on the ship cause any problems for the instrument amplifiers?

David Coplin · From: Eugene, Oregon, USA

Edward,
Try this site. Has lots of info on gigs
on cruise ships and foreign hotels. http://www.cruisegigs.com

David