Cruise Ship Gigs

[MrBubbles0305]

I was wondering if anyone here has played on these gigs before. I want to know any and all information that I can get about them. I'm currently a freshman college student looking to improve my sight reading, jazz, and lead chops to eventually become a professional trumpet player. I have a month and a half winter break as well as summer break that I could go out on. I've seen on a few websites that you need to be 21 to be hired as well as people going out anywhere from a few weeks to mandatory 6 months. I just want to get some extra insight to see if it's something I could do. Thanks!

-S

[trickg]

There have been a number of threads over the years talking about cruise ship gigs - they are a bit of trick to find though unless your Google-fu is strong. I literally did a Google search to find threads on the TH about cruise ship gigs - it's more effective than using the TH's site search feature.

https://www.trumpetherald.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=131770&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Here's something else that popped up:

[trpthrld]

Although this post is 10 1/2 years old, you'll read about many hard-core realities of a cruise ship gig on it.

Something to keep in mind (and this is mentioned in that post) - musicians may and will be given extra tasks on the ship completely unrelated to your primary job. With Covid, you can bet that you'll most likely spent several hours a day on the ship disinfecting the ship. That is time where you could be practicing or enjoying time onshore.

It's possible you would also, in addition to Covid disinfection, spend time in the passenger buffet actually dishing out the food for them. I had to do that during a few weeks of Noro-virus restrictions on the ship.

HINT - Go for the very first serving at breakfast when breakfast opens. Your workload will be less than later in breakfast and other meals plus you'll get that extra duty done and over with first thing in the day. That's what I did and I'm glad I took that first shift.

ALL OF THIS - you will receive ZERO monetary compensation and for that matter - ZERO gratitude or appreciation. And my guess is the ship's cast will not have to perform those disinfecting duties near as much or often as the musicians.

Being a 1st-time hire it's unlikely you'll be able to go out for the short term you're looking for. It's possible, but unlikely. Those calls go to seasoned and proven ship musicians FIRST.

Plus you'll need to have a complete physical exam AT YOUR EXPENSE before being hired. And any accompanying vaccinations, also at your expense. Maybe your health insurance will cover those exams, maybe not.

Whether you play well enough or meet other individual cruise line standards...who knows. For sure it's worth checking out and if it doesn't work out for now, maybe it will in the future.

Here's the post you should read:

https://www.trumpetherald.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=105024&highlight=
_________________
Tim Wendt

www.trumpetherald.com/marketplace.php?task=detail&id=140259&s=The-Best-Trumpet-Lead-Pipe-Swab-EVER-

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPWAJqghk24&feature=youtu.be

[ebolton]

[Shaft]

From 2006-2009 Carnival was paying about $450 a week.

A couple heavy days were 2 production show time slots & two captain cocktail sets. Rehearsal for an hr was at 4 after beach time and island exploring.

Some days were lighter with only two playing commitments plus the standard rehearsal before dinner.

Typical ship routine was to learn 2 different production shows plus the legends show and the 1-200 tunes in the dance book.

The standard arrangements varied in complexity from freshman jazz band difficulty up to as good as the band’s members were capable of.

We played with a click track for the production shows so you need a good ear piece to hook up to the aviom, your tuxedo, flugel if you have one, all the usual mutes and pack light otherwise.

Typical contract length was 4 months. Iteneraries were 3/4 day cruises or 5 to 7 day cruises coming back to home port and doing it again each run.

Carnivalentertainment.com has an audition link for trumpet. Aside from that I don’t have any current contacts but if you audition and do well then they will place you in a spot if they have a vacancy.

I heard stories of fill in quick contracts when a player was established and they knew the player could be counted on to come in and do the job when needed.

We did not have any side duties. But to have us work more hours we started playing in empty venues on the ship. The 14 hr work week turned into 40 by the end of the three years I played on the boats.

10 piece bands with 2 trumpets (lead and solo) were on the bigger ships but they had lots of 7 piece ensembles with 1 trumpet.

Yes it was a couple hundred dollars for a full physical and med clearance but after that its paid travel and time on the horn playing.

Perhaps that helps.

[LullabySir]

I haven't played on a Jazz/Commercial gig before, but I've heard that cruise ship gigs can be a great opportunity for musicians. Have you checked out cruisetimetables.com? They have a section specifically for musician jobs on cruise ships. From what I've heard, the age requirement can vary depending on the cruise line, so it's best to do some research on the specific ones you're interested in. As for the length of the gig, it can range from a few weeks to several months, but it's a great way to gain experience and improve your playing. Good luck with your search!

[bike&ed]

[mograph]