Hi everybody,
have you ever seen a one-man-band (I mean only man with top class arranger) on cruise ships?
Or may be somebody have such experience?
The matter is I would like to try to get such job but Google has no answer.
I have no questions concerning crewing agencies, salary, repertoire, conditions, etc. - the only question is - is it possible or not.

Thank you in advance,
Ian

Ian,

I think the SZ members will be all out of thier depth on this one....... you know what I mean cruise ship, depth, Doh!

My daughter was on a Cruise Ship up Skagway a few years back.

Good luck with your venture if you get there.

Tony

Several zone members have done this, but the person with the most experience, I believe, is Joe Ayala (songman55). The only ships I performed on were smaller ones that returned to port the same day. It was a fun job, but the pay was lousy and getting your gear on/off the ship was a real struggle. Hopefully, Joe will enlighten you on this.

Gary

I performed many shows on Cruise ships in the early 80's touring the Caribbean with an 9pc 50's Show band..it's glamorous for about a week until you hit your first Hurricane .......things are a bit different nowadays...most acts require a good agent to get your foot in the door and of course who you know!. It's not impossible just a lot of legwork on your part, auditions, resumes, etc, like any job applicant. A list headliner performers like we were get treated like royalty, B list sleeps downstairs with the crew Good luck to you.

I've looked into this. If you want to get a position on a cruise ship as a musician, you must create a promo pack with Bio, Photos, and a Video of your public performance. You simply go to any of the major cruise lines websites and click on careers for example : http://www.carnivalentertainment.com/index.htm

It is not a glamorous lifestyle as you are part of the crew; you typically make $2500 month plus room and board. You typically share a room with someone and these are not staterooms, they are crew quarters. However, this may be the lifestyle for some people.

Good Luck.

I always get acquainted with the musicians on cruises we have made. I have yet to see anyone working on a ship with an arranger. I have often seen a guitar player accompany his vocals playing lunches and dinners in the buffets, but never in the dining rooms. Sometimes the guitar player will use backing tracks also. I got acquainted with some keyboard players in some of the bands and none of them were using arranger keys. I sat in with a jazz group one evening in the lounge but it was on a grand piano. I made a report on synthzone on this some years ago. Bebop

Several of my friends performed as singles on cruise ships, 2 as headliners (Bobby Raye and Bobby Burnett) and one as a "one man band" with an arranger module.
Gene Lovello from the Bay Area is/was a solo artist with Princess Cruise Lines aboard the "Love Boat". Gene played a Petosa midi accordion with a Solton arranger ... mostly used his own sequences. I used to correspond with him via snail mail (pre computer days). The last I heard from him, he was trying to sell his equipment. I would guess that he is no longer performing as he met a very pretty lady on one of the cruises and she may have influenced his selling his beloved Petosa.
So, the answer to your question is, Yes it is possible.
Ciao,
Jerry

I have been on quite a few cruises...I think a arranger player with a GOOD VOICE could do well in one of the lounge shows etc...but not the main evening entertainment.

Personally I have not known of a arranger keyboardist working on a cruise ship. Every once in a awile they have in town auditions in the Dallas area for cruise ship gigs, and they look for solo pianist, all and typical band instruments. That said I don't see any reason we a OMB guy couldn't get a gig on a cruise. Put together a good promo and see what happens.

Now my time time to brag- I played drums on a cruise ship for season when I was in college. Great gig, food, women, no worries. Just played music at night and played around the rest of the time. What a life!

I did this about 12 years back. It was on the M/S Carousel cruising the Mediterranean. I was backing my brother who was one the head line acts on the boat. I played a we were a 3 piece band, I played a Yamaha Arranger (I cannot remember what type - because the band were sponsored by Yamaha so they just gave us instruments to play with.) my brother on piano and vocals, and a dude on guitar. It was great fun - we kept the party going on all night and all day. Never stopped drinking, bought rounds for the captain and his crew, laid all kinds of girls, ate top notch food and when we crashed we crashed in the first class cabins. And did I mention I lost my whole student loan in the casino? Good times.. very glamorous - hopelessly idiotic I wouldn't do it again - but I'm glad I did.

I don't know how it works these days - but we got that gig through our agent. My brother was a "semi-celebrity" here in Norway - and his agent were trying to launch him in the rest of Europe at the time.

If you get the gig - my tips to you are:

1. Don't think that roulette is all about black and red - there are those darn two green spots!

2. Don't play poker - unless you actually know what you are doing.

3. The employees are "easier" than the guests....

4. Don't stuff all the receipts in your dresser... you will have to pay the bill once you get to shore, it might help to have some idea of the total sum...

5. Captains don't like drinking Galiano shots

6. Tabasco sauce isn't a good replacement for tomato juice in a Bloody Mary.

7. The guitarist get's the most girls - so make sure to hire a gay guitarist...

8. If it stings when you pee - don't worry - just cut down on the lemon alcopops...

9. Don't go to the bars outside of Barcelona - that ain't bars... it may look like bars - trust me... not bars...

10. If your roommate has a zip lock bag with white pills with smiley faces - they are most certainly not fluoride tablets.

Just what I learned the hard way....

DocZ