I would have thought the worst ways to get fired from a ship was to have to 2) walk the plank and 1) keel hauled.

Our family took one cruise. It was in I think 2012. Day one heard you featured on “The Chicken”. That was my musical highlight of the cruise. During the rest the cruise I’d say to my wife and grade school age daughters, “Hey, there’s that great tenor guy”, whenever we would see you performing. They were somewhat less enthused. Years late found you on UKposts.

I respect anyone who makes a living playing music. My stomach couldn't handle it.

Your channel should be required reading for everyone who is either a working pro musician or considering becoming one You know EXACTLY where the pitfalls in the business are, and you relate them in a way we can all appreciate. Playing music professionally is a dream job, but the nightmare part of it catches anyone who doesn't know what to look for and avoid Subscribed.

I was a sound technician for Costa from 1997 to 2000. I tried Celebrity in 2000 to 2001 and went back to Costa in 2002. I married my wife who I met with Costa in 1997 and in 2002 we both quit the lifestyle. As cruise lines got bigger they got more demanding and paid less. The good people were never given what they were worth and the bad kept getting work because nobody else would do it. When I was manager of 7 technicians and only 2 would actually work I told the cruise line either they go or I go. They didn't listen to me so I walked off with 1 days notice and never went back. Those were the days! I hear ya!

I used to think I missed out from never having done a cruise ship. After hearing my friend's stories and yours, I'm glad I didn't. Good video sir!

So sorry to hear about your experiences, us musicians are not treated well by modern society in many ways...thanks for sharing your story!

Good things always get corrupted. Money, prestige, ego…stupidity, Dance in when it’s great, dance out before it gets funky. I’ve never wanted to set foot on a cruise ship, you just validated my feelings.

BROOOO!!! I loved working with you on the Summit in 2008! LMAO I literally can still hear the voice message when we did like...25 days in a row with no day off and we finally got one "day off, day off, day off, day off" I had no clue you were doing UKposts!! Great to see you

20 years!? Just wow. Love your Tenor work and you are a great teacher too.

When I got to college in 1997, all the guys in my jazz program that I looked up to seemed to play on cruise ships in the summer. They gave me the good and the bad. I heard lots of stories about boredom, STDs, rampant alcoholism, and strict rules (on some lines) about where crew members could walk and be seen. I was very close to looking for work when I got a call to do some touring on land and I never ended up getting on a ship. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I went on my first cruise, on the Holland America Westerdam, to Alaska. They market this ship as an entertainment/live music-centric and it was pretty good, all told. I did wonder what the pay was like these days but never got to really chat with any of the band members. Thanks for giving your perspective!

I worked on ships for a little under 3 years until I realized the lifestyle just wasn’t for and left a contract 2 months early due to health reasons. The drinking aspect is really really REALLY something they need to get under control. I’ve witnessed multiple people and friends that I’ve worked with die from jaundice in the middle of a contract. One of the best piano bar guys I’ve ever heard (and one of my closest friends at the time) was one of the people. We literally watched his eyes and skin turn yellow and more darker yellow in a matter of weeks and one day and never showed up for embark and come to find out he died in his sleep. The very next contract I took was the one that I left 2 months early and haven’t been back since.

Absolutely GREAT channel...I mean a ONE OF A KIND source of great professional info for the musician PERIOD...practical advice for cruise ship gigging, club gigging, and just gigging in general. You're like the Questlove of saxophonist

You’re one of my favorite creators by far. Appreciate how thorough you are when articulating your thoughts. Take care 🤘👍🏼🎷

I got a call in college for a cruise ship gig and decided to pass based on stories I heard from classmates. It is so difficult to be a professional musician and I hope you get better gigs. Musicians really need more protections. It makes me sick to see what we get paid for streaming rights,etc. Cheers and thanks for the video! BTW - I like that you acknowledged the positive side of a cruise ship gig which is traveling. Looks like you experienced some amazing places.

Preach! We need more honesty in this “business”

Man what an Experience you have had to have Travelled the World. I thought about working on a Cruise ship some years ago. I didn't know if I was good enough as a Musician but looks like I probably could have done it knowing most of the Musicians you mentioned were drunk. So Instead I played in the Church for about 11 years to get my Chops up on the Piano. I sing, songwrite and produce. I have some of my songs on my Channel. Thanks for Sharing.

Fascinating vid. I was a Guest Ent for 13 years. I worked Disney, Cunard, Princess, Norwegian and mostly RCI, but it was always such a succubus. I am a Juggler. We don't command the kind of salaries that the vocalists and musical guest ent acts do (the Bobby Arvons and Mark Donaghues), but we aways lived in this very grey world. We work 1 or two nights (a variety act might be part of the welcome aboard or farewell spot), and on RCI and on Princess we were mostly booted out of the crew bar. At least on RCI (thanks to a boy band tribute act we got kicked from the crew bar and lost access to the slop chest (crew store). So unless we know the other guest ents we essentially are in the ghost town onboard. On RCI they hold a pax cabin and staff cabins for the guest ents (other than their high end acts who get the suite which is not an act like mine). I would get the staff cabin. But, since we were not allowed in crew area, we would have to exit crew area the moment we left our room and get into a guest area immediately. It was nuts. The crew mess and staff mess would be right outside my door, but we could not go in. I have not been on ships since 2014, and I do not miss it. When you hire out for a show on land, the buyer hires you and watches either likes it or not. On ships, there are so many factors. Shoreside buyer. CD (who intros you and leaves to eat). The production manager. Comment cards. It's all politics. When I was there, musicians were constantly being held over (extended contracts) as they were having trouble getting new musicians on. It's also interesting to see how each line uses work forces from different 3rd world countries. You mentioned Ukraine. RCI liked the Philippines. Norwegian often hired from Romania etc. Awesome video good sir! Neat to see this perspective as many people don't know what life on a ship is like for entertainers. I will keep an eye out for more of your vids.

I was fortunate enough to travel on crystal cruise lines. A few times. Just as a passenger although I did sit in at the piano bar and got hit on one night. That’s what happens with an open bar 24 seven as you pointed out. it was way high end. No, I didn’t pay for it never hurts to have Rich in-laws. Being a musican, and listening to your story about pay, I started professionally in about 1970. The average pay per night was 50 to 75 bucks. I was working at a lumber mill at the same time. My pay was $4.10 an hour. Now, here in the 21st-century, can you play an average local gig, and you make 50 to 75 bucks. Musicians put 1000 more times work in their craft and most people do and get paid 1000 times less for it. I suppose it depends on where you place your values , in any case, it is fascinating to hear what it’s really like on the other side of the cruise ship music business. Thanks for your insight.

Man that contract we did together was super cool! I miss playing with you and you was the best neighbour ever! Cheers! Great video!

The being punished for being good seems to be common in most types of work. It really really takes the piss.

Great stuff Sirvalor, Thank you!

I did one Jazz trio 3 month contract around 2007. I had a blast contrary to what all my friends/colleagues who had done cruise ship work for years told me. I don't drink, smoke or do drugs, so no issue there. I worked out during the day, lost 20 pds in 3 months, I was in great shape by the time I finished. I didn't want to do another contract, I had to get back to my on land obligations. I also shedded piano every night in the cigar bar lounge late after it closed and I was done with my gig. It was great playing straight ahead Jazz 6 nights a week. My jobs were at their best up to that point. I may do another one day. I will say there were challenges. I got along with everyone well enough. My roomate Bass player in my trio and I bumped heads in the beginning but we worked it out. Also, the baot drills sucked. Lol!

Thanks for sharing the inside story. I've been on a lot of cruises as a passenger but as a sax and keyboard player, have always wondered what it was like to play on a ship.

Interesting story. I had no idea. Thanks for sharing it.

Thank you Sir Valor. I never even came close to playing (tenor) sax at the level you play but I had to listen to your contracting stories. I contracted aircraft maintenance and I sat and laughed as you shared. Different fields but similar events when it came to coworkers that couldn't put the cork in the bottle and high expectations being levied. Some contracts were fantastic, most were good and the bad ones were the best remembered even when I didn't want to remember them! You get the gist. I love your command of knowledge. I saw your video on the selection of mouthpieces and the effects the mouthpieces generate. Sure would be nice getting your input on reed selection. Especially the pros and cons between natural and composite reeds and how they affect the delivery of music. Take care.

Enjoyed that. Im a keyboard player and was on the road in 97 87. Sounds like the typical way a musician gets treated. Got to see alot of the States and Alaska. Like you said after a while, all the towns start to look the same. Mountains are nice.

Thanks for this post! My daughter is a singer on cruise ships: so far she is enjoying it.

I started early following your vids from cruise ships. You have always had great vids! From our perspective, you were professional and focused, and the content consistently educational and very interesting. I think that says a lot about your character and respect for the music. Other vids that focus upon "What it is like to be a musician on a cruise ship" are not as revealing or as educational as this one! I am thankful that you had some great times in spite of the total imbalances in salary, bad hires, emotional instabilities, substance abuse, and job vagaries, etc.... Another impressive aspect is that you actually endured much, much longer than so many other musicians. I am lead tenor in a tight, consistent big band, and even this stable band has some challenges and "politics"! I can only imagine how much worse a cruise ship could be, with all of the various changes, personalities, and demands. I hope you are now playing all kinds of profitable gigs and can work as long as you want to. I used to think I would love to do a year only of cruise work just to build chops and become a better musician. I think a year would literally be all I could take. As an aside, having a "poor BMI" is not always bad, but please do watch your health and stay here on earth as long as you can. Heck, maybe you should get into session work, but I am sure that the biz is screwed up in that area, too! The "wrecking crew" days are past, unfortunately. I wish you all the best.

I am a big cruise fan . I will think about this on my next trips. Great photo reel at the end. Thanks.

i've been wanting to do this since i was a kid. thank you for the insight.

Thanks for sharing. I chose not to study music performance, because I wasn’t sure I had the energy to hunt for jobs afterwards. I was aware of a lot of the problems surrounding labor laws and workers‘ rights in the branch. Hearing it from your perspective makes me feel like I made the right choice for me. Still, I’m glad you had some cool experiences on the ships. Love to hear about your experiences!

Great video. Honest and relatable on so many levels!

Yep. This is great info. Good job my brother!

Good learning experience … glad you did get that off your chest….. and your a good teacher as well … thank you 👍

Pictures were amazing. Your attitude towards the cruise industry is a good is a good one to copy for any musician in an overpopulated market

Good stuff brother. I was offered a ship gig in 90s and it wasn’t enough money then!

This brings memories ... Miss playing with you brother.

Bro I love that this video exists. The title made me laugh. Thank you for sharing. I appreciate the honesty and truth. 🙏🏾

I remember I met you on a ship about 5-6 years ago you even told me about the channel and I’ve been a fan since

Your thumbnail game is giving Wes Anderson cold sweats.

Thanks for sharing, corporations are out of control with how they treat people. Much love and respect 🙏

Thanks for your take on the cruise ship gigs. I've never done it but a friend of mine did for quite a while so I sent your take on it to him, for a kick.

Thanks for your experience

My family took a cruise a month ago so this was very enlightening. I'm returning to sax after ages away (I'm primarily a guitarist) so I'm definitely going to check out your stuff.

One time in the past I considered trying to play in cruise ship bands. Just never got the timing right & this post proves it. Thanks for sharing.

Cool video. I'm 17 and I currently play the clarinet and in the future I have to pick up the saxophone as well. My family brought up this idea of going on cruise ships with a sax & a nice lady that can sing, living the best life, and it became my dream since then. Thank you for sharing your experience and I'm looking forward to the video where you talk about the bright side of it.

This is one of your best videos. The only positive thing about that mess is that those experiences brought out and highlighted your CONSISTENTLY AWESOME character. And now we get all your mad skills to ourselves. Also, you look DOPE on that camel in Egypt!

26 years ago, I had a similar revelation and got off while I still could. #3 and #2 were almost at the top but my #1 was that I felt that I didn't own my life. Un-discussed, unannounced until the last minute transfers broke my back and I was done. Glad you made it out, hope you have some good memories.

Thanks for sharing this!

😵‍💫☕️Wow man, I knew you had a bad time with that circuit, but I didn’t realize just how bad and frustrating it actually was!Thanks for sharing! 👍👨🏻 Peace..

I thoroughly enjoyed your video. You're an awesome storyteller. I'm a vocalist and I can relate so much. New subscriber here! Keep going!

Wow, I have a good friend, a friend of the family since grade school, and he played the sax for decades on cruise lines. I had no idea what he was dealing with. I know that in the states, on land, most self-employed musicians can't eat, etc., but local clubs don't charge a door fee equivalent to a cruise at sea, so I find it quite disturbing, but not surprising that musicians are greatly exploited. I feel for you man. Glad you aren't doing that any more, and glad that you are educating people that might consider going blindly.

What an interesting video! Glad I stumbled on it. Thanks for sharing your cruise ship story.

Man, thanks for talking about this stuff, it’s really important for musicians to know all of this!

Im so glad you got in my algo man, im a musician and have thought about working for cruise ships, you seem real af

I ain't watching this but that thumbnail alone deserves a like and comment

Thank you for sharing your stories from the frontline, Sir.

Great video, and really interesting. I did ships for a year or so 1999/2000 and in those days I had no extra duties, just played bass 4 or 5 sets a night and didn't get paid much. But I was young and just starting out.

That's gold content. Thanks, pal.

Man this is an awesome video. You seem like you would have been great to work for. I love hearing your stories 👍👍

Glad I ran across this channel because I applied for a cruise ship years ago. I wasn't fluent in reading ...but it taught me a lesson. Thank you for sharing your experiencing. Its great for new musicians or musicians in general to know what to expect. Its amazing how musicians get drunk and perform on stage. Usually dosen't turn out well.... :-) New subscriber :-)

Yes, it's great doing something you love and can create music for yourself and others. After 50 some years I've seen some strange and interesting situations that can raise the average eyebrow. I can see how cruise ships (as glamourous as they are portrayed) carry hidden horrors. Thanks for this real perspective on the industry and objectively describe your experience. I appreciate it!

I’m glad the algorithm brought me here. Idk anything about saxophones but I loved your story.

Direct, honest, revealing and overall informative. A sincere education in musicianship life experiences. Thanks for the upload!

I was playing in show bands in the early ‘00s. I had flashbacks listening to this, lol.

thanks for the insights!

Thanks for sharing! Insightful! I will say those struggles you faced (cheaper foreign work and companies taking advantage of salaried employees) are common in the workforce in general.

Thank you for your insight man, appreciate you.

Enjoyed your video very much. I learned quite a bit. Thank you.

Thanks for sharing your wisdom man

You have a gift of story telling and public speaking. Thanks for sharing. Sax on!

Thank you for sharing your experience, I received an offer for being a pianist on a ship but I refused and now I'm touring with a famous actor and you are confirming my doubts about being a musicians on a cruise so I dob't regret anything

Great video. I have done that for 7 plus a few spare contracts too, and I couldn't agree more

Good to see you Adrienne. We worked together on the Grand in 2007!

Very interesting and informative. Thanks for sharing. 👍

Great stories thank you for sharing

Greetings from an old pro (bass guitar). I hear you on the drunk bandmates, man. Dealing with drunk patrons is bad enough, but having drunks on stage with you is hell.

Thank you for this video. You have successfully demystified the cruise ship musician life. Wow. 😮 Truly, thank you Sir.

Thank you. I hope you're well. I dealt with similar issues in the commercial fishing industry, and now as director of high school string orchestra programs. Last year I shared a classroom on alternating days with an inept, mentally ill choral director who was at the bottom of the pay scale and did a lot of extra work almost for free. They kept her and didn't renew my contract. People's strengths and shortcomings seem to be pretty well distributed among many fields of human endeavor. Fwiw I keep a private lesson with a grateful family or an after school program with grateful people going, so that's the fresh memory I bring home. When I need to call parents about poor work, attitude, or behavior, I follow that with a call to parents of a kid with great work, attitude, or behavior. Peace.

great vid man, keep it up

Get back in shape brother ! You can do it !

great info ,very clearly explained . thank you!

Thanks for sharing your expirences of musicians on cruise ships. I worked cruise ships for years and I agree with you. You get put on with cats that can barely read music and have no solo chops so you end up picking up that slack. Even worse, if they find are you're a good arranger. You end up writing charts for every act that comes on the boat and recopying the horrendous charts that are already being used, for little or no money. Also, if a patron or fellow band member damages your equipment they do not pay to repair or replace it ( had that happen a few times). But you are correct when you say, when it's bad ..it's real bad . However, when it's good it's fire!!!

Thus was some good stuff. I was all up in this story bcuz these things can translate to other jobs as well. Had a very similar experience working for Panera Bread.

Thanks for sharing your experience. 😊 im a little nervous i just applied.

Man, that was super interesting! I've just been doing music full time for the last 3 months (guitarist/singer/bass). I mostly get these background shows playing popular covers. It's nice! Obviously, I wanna be playing my own stuff, but that doesn't pay the bills. I'm still pretty fresh to it and it feels a whole lot better than working in some warehouse. I guess it's a tale as old as time musicians getting shafted by a company or label or whatnot. Anyway, I hope you're finding more cushy jobs and a way to pay the bills without breaking your back 🤞

Love the slideshow!

I worked with you on Allure of the Seas in 2019! Didn't know you had a channel. Keep up the good work!

I stumbled on your channel randomly while searching for sidechain compressor techniques in EDM music… which how it connected this video to that specific search I will never know… but that said… I just subscribed cuz I have a feeling you got some super cool stories I want to hear lol… and you tell them quite well based on this video. I rarely listen to vids on the first go, but you have a gift for narrating … 👍🏻👍🏻

Nice one bro! I did ten years from 96-06,I guess I must've swung by you sometime. Those were good times,I figure stuff must've gotten stupid after that.I got to play some great shows and made some real friends and learnt a ton of music discipline! I hear what you're saying about getting the boot though,that tap on the shoulder fri night after the last show meant your ass was going shoreside the next day lol, although some companies used to downgrade you to the smaller older ships where you could work your way up again. Good times, bad times, but all in all it used to be a decent gig, especially if you wanted to push on musically and save some cash and see a few places. Nice one

I had a buddy in college who went on a cruise ship; came back a like totally different person. Didn’t want to play jazz anymore and joined a rock band. I think they were playing backing tracks and he was t the only one who said it was soul crushing.

This is great information. I remember going to an audition with a bunch of friends. I wasn't interested as I was going to college soon but I remember people that ended up going and them saying that all there is to do is drink. Drink and play.

Thanks for sharing, sorry things went that way after so long. Life is an odd, unpredictable journey. You might not know yet, what the next chapter holds. But you are smart & extremely talented, with drive & ambition. You can't fail with that combo.

Jazz jam in Viking Crown lounge. We had a night off !!

Great video buddy ! Great personality too ! X 🙂

It was a great to get schooled about the reality of musician life.. I've always wondered about playing cruise ships, just never manifested.. I thank you for your story

the thumbnail is everything

This has no effect on my existence but you are good at telling a story.

Amazing info! As somebody who just auditioned for a cruise ship gig, I appreciate the experience and honesty!