question about cruise lines entertainment

[omgH4X]

does anyone know how they go about hiring their musicians and what they pay, any other conditions of the contract, etc. ?

[MissT74]

They pay anywhere from 1-2K per month depending on your position. Contracts are offered at 6 month intervals. You work 24/7 for 6 months, then 3 months off, then back on again if you're given another contract. Almost all cruise lines go through headhunters/agencies to gain employees. Almost all cruise lines hire non-Americans. I say almost as in the 8 cruises I've taken in the past 2 years, I've only met about 2-3 employees that were from the States.

T

[youtalkfunny]

I'm beginning to wonder if there's anything OOT doesn't know.

[private joker]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm beginning to wonder if there's anything OOT doesn't know.

[/ QUOTE ]

Women.

[phiphika1453]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm beginning to wonder if there's anything OOT doesn't know.

[/ QUOTE ]

Women.

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe MissT can help you with that one too.

[Fatt Albert]

There are plenty of musicians from the states. It seems pretty standard for most students just coming out of college with a jazz degree to play cruise ships for a while.

The ships hold auditions. For some of them you can send in a tape, others have auditions in many cities. Just go to the various cruise websites and click on employment oppurtunities. Pretty much all of them explain how they hire musicians. In general, sight reading, jazz improvization and either faking or having a lot of memorized repertoire are highly valued.

Also, most cruise ships have no qualms about firing musicians that are not doing well. I have heard more than a few stories about people that won the audition, join the cruise, and are then fired 3 days later. That being said, I have never actually played a cruise, just done a lot of research on the subject and known quite a few people that have. One other thing - some cruise lines are better than others about what duties are expected. Some cruise lines separate the musicians from the rest of the crew, but others, the musicians are just as much "staff" as anyone else, which means all sorts of hours and extra duties that suck.

The best way is to be part of a big name group that the cruise seeks out and hires. If you are in a group like this you will probably have passenger status, which is where its at.

[T-God]

You have to play on a boat