The Life Of A Cruise Ship Musician

“Tell me, does the crew sleep on the ship?”

That was one of the more memorable questions I was ever asked during my time on the luxury liner - ‘Crown Princess’ - of the P&O Cruise line.

The temptation to fabricate a long and elaborate explanation of how, after we had completed our shift each night, we crew members were lowered over the side and deposited onto rafts that floated along behind the cruise liner… was strong. However, and in spite of the fact that it would have greatly relieved the boredom of the weekly fire safety drill, I believe at the time I kept my British sarcasm in check and instead enlightened the newly arrived passenger that, yes, there were staff cabins on the lower decks for the purposes of slumber.

So began another week of the routine, sometimes mundane, life of a cruise ship musician.

Play in a band while cruising the Caribbean and get paid for it (you might well exclaim)?! That sounds idyllic!

Hmm, yes, there were some very memorable highlights of my stint sailing the seas around islands such as St Thomas including; learning to scuba dive, helicopter rides above dazzling coral reefs, chilling out on the sands of Seven Mile Beach in the Cayman Islands and watching the whales play in the sunlight off the starboard bow.

You’re right; it does sound idyllic.

But those memories are just what I described them as; highlights. Most of the time it was business as usual, after all, we were there to work.

So, for our ship, Saturday was turn-over day at the port of Fort Lauderdale, which meant mingling with the new arrivals and then the aforementioned fire safety drill. Sunday was always at sea, so we’d be on the Sun Lounge deck at 11am playing what we came to term as the “Pointless Deck Set” (because hardly any of the passengers wanted to hear “Montego Bay” at that time of the morning). Then I’d be off to one of the Piano bars to play an afternoon tea dance set (“Another foxtrot Madam? but of course…”). Followed by several evening sets, a few hours later, the final one of which we were allowed to conclude once the last passenger had left the bar.

The rest of the week ran along similar lines.

Port days were easier. Sometimes the Cruise Director would deign to let us loose and go ashore if we wanted, other times we’d be instructed to play for the passengers who had chosen not to set foot on land.

Repeat the above for six months.

So, in summary, I would say that working through a contract on a cruise ship as a musician (or in any other role) has its benefits and, as I did, worth doing once for the experience. However, if you’re considering it, based on the glamorous lifestyle as promoted in travel brochures and websites, then you’re in for a shock - that’s for the paying passengers. Now get back down below and graft, you slug! Har har!!

Oh, I have one more…

“Excuse me, what time is the midnight buffet?”

Yep, really.