The Creative Universe 4: Cruise Ship Entertainment

Our Life at Sea: Cruise Ship Musician FAQs

About working for Carnival Cruise Line…

Q. Did you have to audition? What was the audition process like?

A. Yes. Carnival is the only cruise line company, we know of, that does their entire audition process online. Other cruise lines require you to go through an agency.

Both Tyler and I auditioned for our respective positions (Female Singer & Guitar Player) in Carnival’s “Showband,” when we first started working for them together back in 2016. We each submitted our resumes, and answered pre-recorded zoom questions (watched a video question and filmed ourselves answering). 

It wasn’t until 2018 that we transitioned into performing as a “Mainstream Duo” for which we submitted a complete setlist and a demo reel to our shoreside supervisor to make the switch.

Q. Do you need to apply for a visa to work for Carnival?

A. No, luckily as Canadian citizens, our border buddy makes the business visa situation with Carnival quite simple. All we required to cross the border to work was our letter of employment. That being said, when we arrived, in order to enter the United States from the cruise ships we joined our crew members in getting the I-95 landing permit which allowed us to disembark freely in he US for the duration of the contract.  This was organized by the company so all we had to do was show up to get it.

Q. How many/What ships have you been on?

A. We’ve worked on 5 different Carnival ships together; 2 Fantasy Class (Small), 2 Conquest Class (Medium), and 1 Dream Class (Large):
Carnival Imagination (Fall 2016 - Spring 2017) - Fantasy Class
Carnival Valor (Winter 2017 - Fall 2018) - Conquest Class
Carnival Inspiration (Spring 2019) - Fantasy Class
Carnival Liberty (Winter 2019 - 2020) - Conquest Class
Carnival Magic (Summer 2021 - Spring 2022) - Dream Class

I made a highlight Reel from each of these contracts over on instagram.

If you want to read a quick synopsis of each cruise ship experience, check out my ‘Labour of Love’ article on our website’s About page.

Q. How long were your contracts?

A. Our duo contracts were 4 months, and band contracts were 6 months. Our longest band contract was 8 months on the Valor. Our shortest duo contract was 2 months, but that’s because my high cholesterol prevented us from starting when we were supposed to… full story here.

About being a musician on a cruise ship…

Q.  How many days of the week did you perform?

A. Typically we performed 6 days a week with 1 day off. That being said, some contracts the scheduling worked out to give us a day off every cruise, which sometimes worked out to 5 days and a day off, or 7 days and a day off.

Q.  Did you have to do any other jobs on the boat?

A. We also worked in shifts with other departments for things like guest services (helping answer guest questions on the first/last day of the cruise), safety (directing the guests for the safety drill on the first day) and like any workplace, attended meetings and safety drills of our own.

Q.  How many hours per day did you play/sing?

A. Typically we played 3 x 45 minute sets per day, occasionally 4 sets if scheduling required it. On the Carnival Valor, we also performed in the production show “America Rocks” with the playlist cast (stage performers) which was typically 2 x 1 hour shows every cruise.

Q.  What kind of music did you play? 

A. Both in the band and duo we played a variety of music to appeal to the masses from rock & pop to country & Motown/jazz. We still perform many of the songs we learned on cruise ships at gigs today, see our live song requests here.

About life on a cruise ship…

Q. Were you able to get off the boat during your time off?

A. Yes. As musicians, we were very fortunate that our common evening schedule allowed us time to visit our ports of call most afternoons and experience some amazing places along our travels at sea. From Long Beach California, Ensenada Mexico & Catalina Island on the west coast, to Galveston TX, Cozumel Mexico and of last but not least, the Bahamas.

Q. Was it hard not to spend money?

A. It wasn’t as hard for us because we knew we wanted to save as much as we could while we weren’t paying for housing/food, and we aren’t big drinkers/party people so we saved there as well. We really only spent on things/experiences we wanted to.

People are often surprised to hear that many ports we would spend the bulk of our time sitting in a cafe (sometimes just McDonalds) with wifi to either connect within friends and family or share posts on social media. My favourite “tourist” experience though, was the day we visited the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.

Q. What was your living situation like?

A. We lived in a crew cabin (about half the size of a typical dorm room) for the duration of our contracts. Each cabin had a desk, chair, small TV, bed/bunk-beds, double sided closet, and a small bathroom.

Q. Was it hard not to eat all the time with the cruise ship buffets? 

A. We get asked this a lot. But no lol. Each cruise, the buffets were on a rotation, so after the first 2 weeks of trying things, we would find our favourite meals to alternate between because the buffets get repetitive quite quickly.

That being said, we had many dining options to choose from, as entertainment staff, we were allowed to eat at the guest buffets, and open cantinas, but we also had the crew cafeteria buffets, and occasionally we would spend the extra money to eat at the Steakhouse, Sushi or Seafood Shack).

Q. Did you get crew discounts?

A. Yes, everything from the ship shops and restaurants to excursions off the boat had discounted rates for crew.

Q. Were there any downsides to living/working on a cruise ship?

A. Being away from family and friends for long stretches of time can be tough. The ship-to-shore politics could also be frustrating at times like any job (corporate vs. workers), and the cabins were not always ideal (e.g. for a couple contracts, our room was directly behind the mooring deck where they anchor the ship at around 5am. As musicians who often work late, this made our sleep schedules very irregular.)

About the time off between contracts…

Q. How long was the time between contracts? What did you do then?

A. On average we took 3 months off between cruises, some were longer based on contract availability. We spent time with family, performed at venues on land, and even recorded an EP!

Q. How did you prepare for your next contract? Did you have to pay for your flights?

A. In order to work on the ships, we had to first pass an extensive medical exam. This process took about 2 months prior to boarding. Medicals include extensive blood work, a urine test, dental exam, physical exam, vaccinations and immunizations, and even an X-ray.  Once we obtained the necessary paperwork, we got an approved certificate indicating that we were healthy and physically capable of working on the ship.  

In addition, we had to stock up on any prescription medications we needed for the duration of our contract.

All flights and travel costs were covered by Carnival.

About the future…

Q. Would you recommend working on a cruise ship to others?

A. Yes and no. Cruise ship life is not for everyone, but it can be a great experience for those willing to try it and in a position in their life to take it all in.

Q. What skills did you gain from your experience as a cruise ship musician?

A. Working as cruise ship musicians definitely helped us gain confidence, stamina and agility. Not only does it allow you to work on performance skills and showmanship, but the sheer amount of playing/singing definitely strengthened our musician “chops.”

Q. How has your experience on a cruise ship impacted your career?

A. The amount of songs we learnt on cruise ships will forever be a huge impact on our career in general because we now have those songs “under our belt.” The experience has also given us credibility in the entertainment industry.

Q. When is your next cruise/Will you return to cruise ships?

A. At the moment we are focusing on building our career on land, currently performing at venues, weddings, and events across southern Ontario. That being said, if the right opportunity came along, under the right circumstances we are always leaving the cruise ship door open.

    Working as musicians on cruise ships was a wild and unforgettable experience. We met amazing people, played music every day, and got to see some really beautiful places.  You can scroll through our instagram page to see all our adventures from our first cruise up to now.