Musician Jobs on a Cruise Ship

If you want to get Musician Jobs on a Cruise Ship, the first thing to know is the different entertainment job positions on-board offered. Every cruise ship has their own entertainment on-board; however, generally, these jobs are very wide.

Show Band Musicians: Most lines have an orchestra (aka Show Band) on board.  This 5-10 piece band plays the production shows, headliner shows and big band or top 40 sets on board. Bass, drums, guitar, keys, sax, trombone & trumpet are the most common instrumentation.

The most important requirement in landing one of these jobs is strong sight reading ability (both jazz charts & notation).  Working on board a ship as an orchestra musician, you’ll find yourself playing new shows daily in front of thousands, and having little to no time at all to prepare.

In order to assure that you’ll be comfortable in that setting, we want to see/hear you sight read similar charts prior to hiring.  We do live auditions around the country as well as auditions over the phone and via video.

In each case, you’ll be handed several charts and be asked to read them without any preparation.  These charts will range from big band to top 40 to Broadway selections.  Depending on the audition, you might also be asked to play a jazz head and solo over it in order to get a feel for your improvisational skills.

Needless to say, at the end of an orchestra musician contract, you’re sight reading and chops in general will definitely be strong as ever.

Live Entertainers: If sight reading isn’t your thing, you can also be hired as an entertainer on board. Cruise Lines hire the following entertainers to perform on their ships: solo pianist/vocalist (aka Piano Bar Entertainer), cocktail pianist, solo guitarist/vocalist (aka Pub Guitarist), classical guitarist, duo, standards trio/quartet & party band.  These entertainers perform four to five 45 minute sets a night in lounges on board. In order to get hired as an entertainer on a cruise liner, you must have promo video, song list, performance history & availability to do a contract.

Specialty Acts: Some cruise lines hire specialty or variety acts such as comedians, steel pan musicians or cappella quartets.  The actual job description for these musicians varies, however a promo video is required for all in order to secure employment.

Singers and Dancers: Finally, each cruise ship has their own production cast on board.  This cast is composed of singers and dancers often hired by a separate production company.  The production cast performs Broadway revues, top 40 and classical shows on board and sometimes even have aerialists or flyers included. These positions are usually secured at live auditions held by the different production companies around the world.

Length of Contracts: No matter what the position, cruise ship musician contracts are generally 3-8 months long in length.  These are continuous contracts where you live on board the ship for the entirety of the contract.  Often food, room, travel and health coverage are included, so there’s definitely an opportunity to save money.  It’s a great way to travel the world, play music and get paid for it!

One of the most educational and memorable things you can do as you grow up is to travel the world and sample the delights that other countries and cultures have to offer. But for many the prospect of doing this is just a pipe dream as they either cannot afford to take the trip, or cannot afford to take the time off work to go on the trip. But there is a way to get paid to travel and that is by working on a cruise ship.

Things to keep in mind while Applying for Musician Jobs on a Cruise Ship:

Be open, clear and honest. By telling the whole truth about your musical abilities, your musical experience, your medical condition and your legal situation, your agent can guide you towards a position and a cruise line where you can be successfully approved. Omitting to tell us about a change in the band line-up, your ‘realistic’ song list, pre existing medical conditions, use of medication, or a DUI record can have you refused from a line for life. A good agent can work with some of your musical, medical and legal limitations, but he or she needs to know what the reality is to be effective.

Play conservatively and ‘in-the pocket’. Cruise lines cater to broad passenger demographics and therefore the entertainment offerings are within a conservative musical spectrum. Forget about playing original material on a demo or breaking into wild improvisations or playing material on the fringe of global musical production.

Be quick and deliver on time. Timing is everything. Jobs come and go at a fast pace so every discussion is timely, even if the proposed job is a year ahead. When promising your agent certain material on certain dates, be sure to deliver the goods on time as part of the recruiter’s evaluation of you will be your sense of urgency.

Dress the part. Remember you are applying to be part of the entertainment on a luxury cruise vessel, where passengers might wear tuxedos a couple of nights a week. Grand ballroom, Captain’s cocktails, white glove service are the norm onboard cruise ships. Even if you are applying as a party band, you have to look clean and sharp and that goes for the audition as well. There is no second chance to make a good first impression.

Think quality. Send good quality videos, photos, demo recordings. This doesn’t mean to overproduce your videos with overdubs and expensive camera work. Your agent will prefer hear your ‘live sound’, but hear it well and see you well even with a stationary camera.

Prepare yourself for an audition. Make sure you are warmed-up, in tune, well rested, on top of your form musically and dress the part. Do not underestimate the standard of reading and musical ability required to work on ships, thinking that “sight reading” means you will get an hour to look at the chart or it means just reading chords or guitar tabs.

Be available. Regular cruise contracts range from 3.5 months to yearlong employment with pre-planned vacation. If you are only available for a couple of weeks, take a cruise vacation as a passenger. Occasionally shorter contracts occur with short notice; however those are usually reserved for experienced individuals.

Be open. A cruise ship gig is like no other you’ve ever experienced in the past. Going on a cruise is an adventure in an unreal environment. None of the land life parameters exists at sea, such as buying groceries, washing dishes, cleaning your house, driving to the gig. You are at sea and ultimately your boss is a captain, so it’s very different. Avoid having a preconceived idea about what ship life and applying for such position will be like. This is not a “paid vacation”.

If you have any other question regarding working on a cruise ship, feel free to comment below.