On a recent vacation for the benefit of my in laws We took a casino cruise ship out of Port Canaveral Florida. To my surprise all musicians including a Neil Diamond and Marilyn Monroe impersonator who entertained on the 5 hour cruise marched ( and I do mean marched ) off the ship with waiters, waitresses, dealers and food service staff. Nothing glamorous about that kind of gig.

All of the regulations and rules that apply now were not so much in place 40 years ago
when I did the Matson Lines from Cal to Hawaii....things were a lot more slacked off
than they seem to be now'a days....back then the 7 day cruise was really a lot of fun and even back then the money was pretty decent for main room performers....however, I would have to take a good hard look at doing anything like that today....it may be good for the young guys looking to get started and a have a taste for adventure...
TR

Shipped docked in NYC at 8am saturday .....you have about eight hours leave then it sails Sat nite 5pm again same day..

Playing music is no fun hardly anywhere anymore! I'm going to see about becoming a plumber!

Mark

You couldnt be more wrong!

My wife and I were being poached to go and play on a big UK shipping line:
http://www.oceanvillageholidays.co.uk/


Apparently the money was good - but here's the catch - a 6 MONTH CONTRACT!

(Who was complaining about a few weeks???)



The more I read about cruise ships these days, and the offers we get from Cruise Ship/International Hotel Agents, the less I like it - talk about crap money!!!

We make usually $1500-$2000 a week working 3-4 days per at home!!!!

Most O.S. positions seem to struggle to offer that money doing 6 nights per!!!!!!

Forget it!

Before I moved to the States, I played a 9 month contract for Cunard going around the Leeward and Windward Isle based out of Puerto Rico in a nine piece dance band.

They treated their musicians like passengers... Passenger cabins, passenger dining (or crew, if you wanted), passenger drinking (or crew, which was MUCH cheaper!) and only two cabaret shows a night and one day gig on the day we steamed to Venezuela from P.R..

I went diving almost every day for most of it (island hopper cruises have no passengers aboard during the day), and had a great time. Fast forward 25 years or so, and everything seems to have gone to the dogs. Sad.

Being single, I would do it again in a flash if I could get the same deal, but maybe stick to six months at a time. They look huge when you board them, but those cruise ships shrink about 20ft a day once you get aboard!

quote:Originally posted by Mark79100:

Mark: Playing music is no fun hardly anywhere anymore!

Dnj: You couldnt be more wrong!

Mark (clarifies the remark): Playing music is fun. Playing music to people who don't appreciate it anymore is NOT fun!

Thanks to all of you who gave your input about working on the cruise ships. I was starting to make inquiries in that direction even though I was hearing rumors about unfavorable working conditions. Now that I got it "straight from the horse's mouth (you guys)," that idea is "Gone With the Wind" for me!

Regards my remark about "music not being fun anymore," I meant for working musicians out there in the "battlefield" (the venues). Now there is mountains of paperwork involving each job, traffic to get through, tons of equipment to carry, inattentive/unappreciative/rude/musically illiterate audiences, contemporary music that sounds like a washing machine on steroids and impossible to play without 1/2 dozen sequencer programs running simultaneously, etc.

I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist for those wondering where I'm coming from! The only real enjoyment I get nowadays from music is sitting at the piano and playing my heart out for myself. I wouldn't give that up for the world!