Cruise Ship

[tubabrandon]

Do cruise ships ever hire tuba? If so, which companies? I've never seen it, but then again, I'm not very old.

[Ben]

From what I understand, much of the cruise ship gigs are a stripped down band that plays with a prerecorded click. Usually one or two reeds, one tpt, one bone, with rhythm. I haven't heard of tuba on a ship, but it can't hurt too poke around.

[Bob Kolada]

Nope, and don't even bother with bass trombone. There are apparently only like 2 ships that have 2 trombones. All the other trombone gigs are lead tenor stuff, which I am quite bad at.

[Ian Stewart]

I have worked on cruise ships, although I played electric keyboards and piano. One possibility is on specialist cruises. Some cruise companies specialise in special interest cruises, such has going round historical sites in the Mediterranean. These cruises have academics and specialists lecturing on the historical sites they will be visiting. On these cruises the music is inclined to be classical rather than MOR/show music. Just an idea, but if you have a good, yet accessible classical repertoire that may be a possibility.

[olaness]

Hi!

I've never done cruise ship gigs myself, so can't point you in the direction of any specific company. The number of cruise ships are growing at a staggering rate at the moment, so now could possibly be a very good time to get some work. The different companies all work in different ways, but generally speaking, they will hire musicians through agencies. The agencies will sometimes put together bands from musicians on their books, but often will they book an already formed band. So if you have a band that does what the cruise company wants and it happens to have a tuba in it, sure, they'll hire a tuba. If you really really want to do the cruise ship thing then I would suggest you find out which agents hire to ships in your country/state and go to them and discuss requirements. Find out what is your best bet in terms of getting work (amount of players involved, musical style, rep etc etc) and get a band together that conforms to this.

Do also bear in mind though, that the working conditions onboard varies enormously. On some ships the musicians have a schedule of 4-5 performances a week, good pay, staff discounts on booze, passenger lodgings etc etc, whilst on others you will need to do 2-3 gigs a day, plus scrub toilets and change sheets in your spare time, for little money and with few perks.

The bottom line is: do your research and do it properly before committing to a gig on board a cruise ship. You can have a whale of a time, or it can be hell. Better to know in advance and opt for the former.

Ola

[Brown Mule]

Been on several Holland American ships------------all had, in addition, a Sax player(heaven forbid to mention on Tubenet) and he played several size saxes depending on arrangements. Noticed that band was worked to death. They played two shows a nite( show tune type stuff) and then play up in the large crows nest lounge late at night and sometimes in afternoon. I ask a couple of them about their contracts and they said their contract was from January to January. Said some play the Alaska trips in summer and the Caribean or Mediteranian trips in winter. In the lounge they took requests but wouldn't play anything not in their loose leaf music book, or as the New Orleans band guys would say ( They can't play "head" music). Joe, I read about "head" music out of a book----is that term correct to use?

[hokkmike]

Wait a minute Olaness - scrubbing toliets - isn't that the drummer's job?

[Bob Kolada]

Ba-dum-BUM!

[GC]

I thought they had machines for that, too.

[swillafew]

I have not worked on the boat, but was told about the bass guitarist whose quarters were not big enough for him to hold his instrument except while sitting on the bed. The ads for such work that appear around here are looking for six month contracts, so your personal life has to be something you want to escape.

[fshalor]

There does seem to be a bit of an up-tick in cruises and cruise ship opportunities in the last few years. I think its an awesome alternative way of life.

As someone who goes to sea for work, I can't stress enough the importance of taking a personal survival training course (PST) of some sort. A lot of the better ship gig's are going to require it. Though many will not.

Just this December, I was very close to a situation where a cruise ship got into trouble, a wave broke through bridge windows and things went bad. Fortunately, the ship was close enough to land and help that the damage didn't turn things into a disaster. (I was on a research ship a few hundred miles away that rode through the same storm in the Southern ocean.)

This is just a cautionary poke. Find a course and take it if you're considering going for any of these gigs (which honestly sound like fun!).

When I took a PST course last fall (even though I'd been going to sea for 4 years), most of the people in the course were merchant mariners, or other marine going scientists. However, three were from cruise ships. One lady was a cook, another a sax player and the third guy a keyboardist, and only the cook/steward had been required by her job to take the course.

A two day bit of fun, putting on gumby suits and flipping over life rafts in a pool is a small price to pay for the chance of remembering what you should do if you need to live.

Play safe!