Music on the Cruise

Just returned from 5 days on the Caribbean. On ship there were a few arranger musicians. One group called 'From Russia With Love' was a family trio of wife, husband and daughter. The woman played a G1000 and an E-36. She used the E mostly for piano intros and endings, but I was surprised just how well this older lower end keyboard sounded. She was very accomplished and seemed to be the musical leader. The husband was a sax/flute player and filled in with a PSR1500. He did some organ, strings and trumpet on it and it too sounded very good. The daughter sang and had a voice I would characterize as very much like Karen Carpenter with a slight Russian accent.

Their arrangements were right on and very polished. I asked how much of the arrangements were styles and how many were midi. She said they made their own styles, but a lot of stuff had very specific fills and background, so I think it may have been midi from a style or vice versa.

There was also a solo pianist in the lounge who played a grand along with SMF off a laptop with VanBasco midi player. He was much looser and I didn't care for his vocal style at all.

There was a modern band in another lounge, but the girl keyboardist played Roland RD700 & 300 and a Triton - heck of a player.

Lastly, there was a reggae band on the pool deck. They would play all afternoon. I guess that unless you're totally buzzed, constant reggae get too monotonous. The keyboardist played an XP50 and an M3.

There was a violin-guitar duo, but I only heard them for a minute.

The stage orchestra was very good (big Triton) and so were the 4 singers, but the 8 dancers were so-so at best.

We had a great time avoiding tropical storm Noel for 5 days. I got to meet Tony Rome in Cozumel and I heard a great piano player at Sloppy Joe's in Key West. Yeah, mon!

What! NO S900 or Tyros 2's

hahahahah.....
glad you had a great time ....brings back good memories when my 9pc group played on board the cruise lines years ago lots of fun.

Cass ... did you get to perform?
t.

I reluctantly sang one karaoke song and got more nervous than I've ever been in front of an audience. I need my keyboard in front of me. I didn't ask to perform; the musicians were doing fine without my meddling

NEAT!

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Sounds like a fun trip, Cass. "Very much like Karen Carpenter" has gotta be good.

Cass, thanks for the review sounds like it was a nice time

Cass ... that's funny, because I can never imagine myself singing karaoke, but I've "sat in" with bands from time to time with no problem ... but I'm always most comfortable with the kb in front of me ...
t.

Cass,

Thanks for writing all that out.

To anyone, I've been considering the cruise ship circuit. Can any of you tell me the pro's and con's of working on the ships? Someone already told me you get the worst rooms, and they milk as much work out of you as they could. Also, I believe the pay is not as good as it was years ago.

Comments?

http://www.proship.com/LifeBoard/LifeBRule.html

Follow all the links read all the info it's not that glamorous.

Description of OMB onboard http://www.proship.com/CockPian/CockPian.html

"Salaries are always paid in U.S. currency and range from $400 to $600 per week for a non-singing cocktail pianist; from$500 to $900 per week a singing cocktail pianist; and from $400 to $750 per week for a One-man-band."

What's up with the lower max for a OMB ?!?!?

t.

Dont forget PLUS TIPS in the bowl &
"Under the table

Next week I'll be performing a wedding on this Cruiser...should be a fun affair.
http://www.cornucopiacruise.com/Default.asp?h=1

COOL Nice gig!

Non-Singing Cocktail Pianist:

Versatility and a vast repertoire are needed. Should be fluently at ease with the following repertoire: light classical, Broadway musicals, American standards, golden oldies and contemporary easy listening hits, all performed with taste and style. Usually, an experienced cocktail pianist knows hundreds of songs.

Piano bar Entertainer Recommended Repertoire

The Piano Bar Entertainer should have a large memorized repertoire of over 200 selections, wide enough to play 3 or 4 sets per day for a 7 day rotation, ideally without repeating any.
IMO it is harder to find a pianist that can fulfill all these requirements on an acoustic piano with no backing tracks or styles.

And all WITHOUT Charts

Donny,

Are you going to use your Mackie's on the cruise?

Up until I got the Bose L1, the captain of a similar cruise to yours told me all speakers had to be on the floor. No pole mounts.

Even with the Bose, I can only use one section of the L1 due to ceiling height limitations in the salon where they wanted the music.

They have also called about me playing outside on the upper deck...but I won't subject any of my gear to the salty air..even under cover.

Eddie

I don't need no stinking charts! When you look at the rate of pay, McDonalds pays better than being an OMB performer on a cruise ship. Top of $900 for 28 hours of playing works out to $32 an hour. The lowest paying nursing homes pay better than that, and you get to sleep in your own bed every night. Not for me.

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

No one mentioned anything GOOD about working on a cruise ship. Especially notable was the $32 an hour and working on the deck in hurricane season!

Is there ANYTHING that makes it worthwhile? If I'm correct 20-30 years ago they were prized positions. If I were to guess, it's probably like everywhere nowadays...squeeze every bit of music performance out of you they could in 24 hours. And, on top of that, the ships periodically hit an iceberg and sink!

But....what about all the women you meet? No one said anything about that! Or do they place you behind a "force field" so you don't attempt hanky-panky?

what about all the STD's you get

Eddie no biggie....floor I can lay em down sideways on an angle like monitor style so the sounds hits the ceiling & disperses, no poles needed..it all sounds good....thats the beauty & flexibility of two powered speakers ...plus I can also add the two CM30's to fill out the room if needed.

A friend of mine went to play on a cruise ship, thought he would be treated like a respected musician/entertainer, Meet people, schmooze with the guests.
He was not allowed to mix with the passengers, he was given a certain amount of time after the show to be out of sight. And stay there, he could use the crew lounge and gym but it was quite clear he wasn't a passenger and he was allowed any of the perks of the paying guests.

"There are areas on a ship that musicians and entertainers are not permitted to visit. These areas include passenger cabins, (passengers are not allowed in your cabin either), the ship's Casino, and the pool. Bar stools are also off limits.

You are not allowed to linger in any of the public areas (lounges, bars, etc.).

Use of the public gym facilities may be permitted at certain times. Some ships have their own staff gyms and pool which are more accessible. "
http://www.proship.com/LifeBoard/LifeBRule.html

Unless your a headliner

There are a few things I've thought it would be fun to do at least once with music. Performing on a cruise was one of them. My sax player has done several of these and says its not so bad, though some are better than others.

Given the comments from him and several threads over the years on this topic I've concluded...

1) It really has to fit your situation like a glove to work well...

2) As much as you have contracts and understandings in place, by & large you're at the mercy of the various cruise companies.

3) Probably not for me...

Me neither.

On a big liner Your just considered another worker unless your a headliner.
The repetitiousness week after week, Plus the weather factor is atrocious when rough seas are a mist!! Dont let the Glitzy allure foll ya

Donny did you do day cruises (?) or the kind where you had to live onboard for months?

I played weekly cruises to the Caribbean in a 9 pc 50's/60's Headliner act about 25 years ago with some of the top Doo Wop groups...did it for about 6 weeks sponsored by one the big New York Oldie Radio Stations.

You didn't have to live on the boat for six weeks did you?
I know I'm a wus but I couldn't stay away from home that long.

On a recent vacation for the benefit of my in laws We took a casino cruise ship out of Port Canaveral Florida. To my surprise all musicians including a Neil Diamond and Marilyn Monroe impersonator who entertained on the 5 hour cruise marched ( and I do mean marched ) off the ship with waiters, waitresses, dealers and food service staff. Nothing glamorous about that kind of gig.

All of the regulations and rules that apply now were not so much in place 40 years ago
when I did the Matson Lines from Cal to Hawaii....things were a lot more slacked off
than they seem to be now'a days....back then the 7 day cruise was really a lot of fun and even back then the money was pretty decent for main room performers....however, I would have to take a good hard look at doing anything like that today....it may be good for the young guys looking to get started and a have a taste for adventure...
TR

Shipped docked in NYC at 8am saturday .....you have about eight hours leave then it sails Sat nite 5pm again same day..

Playing music is no fun hardly anywhere anymore! I'm going to see about becoming a plumber!

Mark

You couldnt be more wrong!

My wife and I were being poached to go and play on a big UK shipping line:
http://www.oceanvillageholidays.co.uk/


Apparently the money was good - but here's the catch - a 6 MONTH CONTRACT!

(Who was complaining about a few weeks???)



The more I read about cruise ships these days, and the offers we get from Cruise Ship/International Hotel Agents, the less I like it - talk about crap money!!!

We make usually $1500-$2000 a week working 3-4 days per at home!!!!

Most O.S. positions seem to struggle to offer that money doing 6 nights per!!!!!!

Forget it!

Before I moved to the States, I played a 9 month contract for Cunard going around the Leeward and Windward Isle based out of Puerto Rico in a nine piece dance band.

They treated their musicians like passengers... Passenger cabins, passenger dining (or crew, if you wanted), passenger drinking (or crew, which was MUCH cheaper!) and only two cabaret shows a night and one day gig on the day we steamed to Venezuela from P.R..

I went diving almost every day for most of it (island hopper cruises have no passengers aboard during the day), and had a great time. Fast forward 25 years or so, and everything seems to have gone to the dogs. Sad.

Being single, I would do it again in a flash if I could get the same deal, but maybe stick to six months at a time. They look huge when you board them, but those cruise ships shrink about 20ft a day once you get aboard!

quote:Originally posted by Mark79100:

Mark: Playing music is no fun hardly anywhere anymore!

Dnj: You couldnt be more wrong!

Mark (clarifies the remark): Playing music is fun. Playing music to people who don't appreciate it anymore is NOT fun!

Thanks to all of you who gave your input about working on the cruise ships. I was starting to make inquiries in that direction even though I was hearing rumors about unfavorable working conditions. Now that I got it "straight from the horse's mouth (you guys)," that idea is "Gone With the Wind" for me!

Regards my remark about "music not being fun anymore," I meant for working musicians out there in the "battlefield" (the venues). Now there is mountains of paperwork involving each job, traffic to get through, tons of equipment to carry, inattentive/unappreciative/rude/musically illiterate audiences, contemporary music that sounds like a washing machine on steroids and impossible to play without 1/2 dozen sequencer programs running simultaneously, etc.

I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist for those wondering where I'm coming from! The only real enjoyment I get nowadays from music is sitting at the piano and playing my heart out for myself. I wouldn't give that up for the world!