Dear Musicians, Let’s assume that you have already gotten a gig on a cruise ship. Now you should be concerned with keeping that very same gig. I say this because quite a large number of people get fired because of disciplinary reasons. In other words, they can’t comply to the rules and regulations on the [...]

We talk a lot about what it is like to be a musician on a cruise ship, we talk about how to prepare for the gig, how to get the gig and how to perform the job well, but I haven’t mentioned the simple pleasure of being at sea. There’s nothing like standing out on [...]

Dear Musicians, For today’s pick I’ve chosen Blue Bossa…yes, I know, who wants to hear another version of Blue Bossa, right? Well, give this one a chance. When two masters go at it, there’s a good chance that something worthwhile comes out of it. Artist: Chick Corea and Bobby McFerrin Album: Play Song: Blue Bossa [...]

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Dear Musicians, I thought I would elaborate a bit on the job opportunities on cruise ships for classical musicians. We do get a lot of inquiries from individual classical musicians and I should say that we do hire existing ensembles only. These could be duos, trios, quartets and even quintets. A classical ensemble usually performs [...]

Dear musicians, Cover bands have a different role on land as they have on cruise ships. It is thus important to know how you need to modify your package to be suitable for cruise ship gigs. First, one general comment about music on cruise ships as opposed to land. On land, your cover band gets [...]

Dear Musicians, If you don’t know where to eat in Cozumel, Mexico, or if you’re tired of going to the same place you always go to, I have a great suggestion for you. “Casa Mission” is the best restaurant in Cozumel (according to locals) and that’s saying lot given the number of excellent choices you [...]

Dear Musicians, On a recent cruise I noticed that some of the entertainers don’t seem to apply themselves much to their performances and this may be understandable to some degree. Playing some popular requests over and over again could drive anyone nuts. A piano/vocalist rattled down some of the songs as if the goal was [...]

Dear Musicians, The economy is down (for those that haven’t paid attention) and the cruise lines are feeling it. Musicians that can’t find gigs on land anymore are flocking to cruise ships for gigs. The combination of both of these facts makes it harder to get gigs on ships. Here are five tips on improving [...]