Average Pay for Cruise Line Musicians
Estimated salary range: $450 – 2,000 a week
When I was employed as the keyboardist in a show band, I made $350 a week, or $50 a day with Holland America. I understand Holland America pays near the lower range of salaries for musicians, but I did hear that they have raised their minimum salary to $65 a day ($455 a week). If you had been with them for many years, you could expect to max out at about 150% of minimum, which these days is probably just under $100 a day.
I can tell you from experience that $50 a day doesn’t go very far. I didn’t save anything (but I did have a good time).
Headliners and guest performers can make much more income, between $800 and $2,000 a week, and probably more. Guest performers also typically work less hours than musicians in the house band or lounges and are housed in single passenger cabins.
There are other aspects of cruise ship employment that add value. Cost-of-living at sea, for example. Say, on land, you spend $100 a week on food – you no longer need to pay that $100, as all food will be provided for you. Also, you live rent free. Same for utilities, gas for your car – maybe you put your cell phone service on hold because you’ll be out of the country. In my opinion, you should factor those savings into your cruise ship salary. Let’s be conservative and say you save $200 a week by living at sea. To make the same value, then, you’d have to find a job that makes $800/month more on land.
In this way we see a cruise job that pays $27,000/year ($75/day) is similar to a job that makes $36,000/year on land.
Whether or not you are able to save money on your job depends a lot on where you are cruising. If you are in Alaska, you will have a hard time finding somewhere to blow your money. In Europe, especially with the current exchange rate, forget about bringing any of that cash home. The Caribbean and Mexico are still cheap – you get the picture.
Little luxuries really add up on a ship, and its typically little things that add up to crew members not saving money. Partying can become an expensive habit, souvenirs for family and friends add up, “cheap” electronics in the Caribbean or Asia are still big purchases – again, you get the picture.
But if you are frugal, you could come off of a cruise ship job with a lot of money saved up – even if you make near the low end of the salary range.
About the author
Hi Dave,
If you stay onboard, you don’t need to spend ANY money, correct?
I had heard you need to tip the people doing laundry service, making your bed, etc…
Thanks,
Michael
1/3/2009
Yes, you have to tip your cabin steward. Standard is $1 a day. Also, you have to pay for alcohol or soda, that costs money. But if you stay away from drinking, it is possible to pay just the $1/day while on a ship. But if you don’t get off the ship now and then and blow some money, I really feel that you’d go nuts.
Also, check out this post on tipping.
1/4/2009
Where can I go online to apply for a musician job? Thanks
1/16/2009
Dan – Check out the Musician Jobs tab at the top of this site. There are many links there to help get you started. When it comes to musician jobs though, “apply” might be the wrong term. You usually have to actively pursue the work and likely audition in some capacity.
1/16/2009
Hi Dan. Check this out: How To Get a Cruise Ship Musician Job
1/16/2009
Hi Dave! this is a great blog… I wanna know something please: You have to pay your tiket airplane?? thanks you… Greeting from Paraguay!
1/16/2009
Hi Fernando – The cruise line pays for your plane ticket to and from the gig – even if you live in Paraguay! Unless you get fired…then you have to buy your own ticket home.
Speaking of, for more info on getting fired, try this:
What happens if I get fired?
1/16/2009
Thanks Dave!!!
1/16/2009
Living and working on a cruise ship would a musician have time for a side job? Say, as a web site developer, would a musician have any time to build web sites on the side? Is this usually permitted?
I imagine having some kind of side job over the internet would help finances a bit.
1/22/2009
In theory you’d have plenty of time for designing websites, but unfortunately, you have to pay per minute for the internet on a ship and that gets expensive very fast.
Check this out:
Internet Connection on Cruise Ships
1/22/2009
Hi Dave,
thanks for the information on the broadway scene. In your opinion how much does the current economic climate affect touring road shows? Are the road shows in for the same fate as the musicals on broadway?
1/30/2009
Hi Dave
I was hopping you could tell me if the ability to read sheet music is a must or if guitarist recieve a full tab literature
Would love it if you could come back to me on this im really getting desprate
Thanx man
3/12/2009
Hi Arno –
How Good Should Your Sight Reading Be?
3/12/2009
Hi,
I have a fairly large karaoke business & was interested in doing karaoke on a cruise ship… any info on this?
Thanks!
Dianne
5/18/2009
hey dave,
i love to sing, my prob is memory! lyrics !!!! i did karaoke before it was karaoke! 1 song per 4 minute cassette! of couse , now i’ve got 130,000 songs on a hard drive and a music stand and away we go! i also have up to 3 girls singing with, but a duet is whats working right now.
could this work on a ship! plz check out my site and listen. all male vox are myself.
Thanx!!
rob
6/8/2009
Hello David! Your blog it’s been very helpfull, thank you for all these information. I want to go and sing on a cruise ship…it seems difficult, but I’m sure it’s not that difficult once you know more information about this kind of jobs! I’d like to send some live video demos, rather then go to audition in some other country…and it seems stupid to audion on the telephone…or on msn?? what sound quality do u have with that? can u show all u know as an artist in this way?? I doubt that! Well, anyway, thanks again for posting this information! Cheers! Greets from Romania
7/24/2009
Dave,
I recently returned from my first gig on a cruise ship. I went out with my trio and we play in one of the lounges nightly. Based on what you posted earlier about pay, we were being pay substantially less money. Why do you think that is? Do bands typically get paid less? Was it because it was our first contract? Hope you can provide some insight. Thanks!
Adam
10/19/2009
Dear Dave,
Thank you for your insight on this particular topic. It is a job that is rarely described in detail. Do you recommend forming a group or going solo for this type of job? And, what are the best cruise lines to apply for a job with? Thank you again for the post!
10/26/2009
Hello,
I finished a contract with Carnival in August 2009 and they were paying a bit more. I was a showband piano player. I got $600/week but the rest of the band got less, I think between $500 and $550. Apparently they stopped giving raises fairly recently. It certainly contributed to the “darkness”. I think $600 is the maximum showband salary for Carnival.
Also the contract that you are given to sign when you get to the ship does not always have the right salary listed!! Even though they say “sign it now, we’ll fix that later” don’t listen to them. Get it in writing from the office before you leave for the ship.
I used this blog to prepare for what to expect out at sea. It really helped. Thanks!
RK
1/3/2010
Hey RK – that’s really nice to hear, I’m glad the site helped you. That’s exactly the result I was hoping for when I started it!
1/3/2010
Can you pursue this as a career?
Also,Do you need to go to college to help your chances at finding jobs on the ships?
1/4/2010
Hi David! I´m from Brazil and i want to know about Bossa Nova bands. I have a band in this style, i´m a singer and i want to know if they really want musicians that play “everything” or if i´ll have a chance when i tell them we are a Bossa Nova band.
Tks!
6/9/2010
Dear Dave,
We are interested in providing Karaoke on a small, medium, or large cruise ship.
We have all our own equipment & have over 10,000+ songs of all varieties.
We have been in the business for 6 years. We are looking for a job on a ship so that retirement pay can be saved.
Could you please provide advice on how to apply for karaoke jobs on cruise ships.
Thank you,
Brian & Lorna Woods
6/17/2010
Wondering,.. if on a ship for a length of time, how one pays on-going bills at home. Does the line do a direct deposit? Do you get off the ship and mail a bunch of checks??
7/6/2010
Excellent and very helpful site, Dave!
How about taxes? Does the cruise line deduct them from your paycheck, or is it your responsibility to report your earnings to the IRS? Come to think of it, do you have to report anything to the IRS since, technically, you made your salary outside of the continental USA?
Thanks.
8/3/2010
About the classical ensembles, that they prefer the european groups for less money… it might be true because I wanna go to the cruiseship with a classical ensemble strings. The musicians here in Peru (Southamerica) say that that salary opf the cruiseships can be made at home!
8/23/2010
hey David,
I would Love to get a job on a cruise ship as a pianist or organist or violinsit or vocal performer. I was wondering if I would have to memorize a lot of music. my parents went on an Alaskan cruise for there aniversary a couple years back and there was a pianist playing and he had no music. i am a really good sight reader but not so good at memorizing music? do u think i could get a job still? I have a huge collection of classical, jazz, showtoons, and a lot of other music. I am currently teaching piano lessons and playing in my church. it wouldbe great if u could help! thx. God bless.
8/30/2010
Hi Serena – seems like you’d be a good candidate for the show band gig. Check out these two:
Different Types of Cruise Ship Musician Jobs
A Typical Day for a Show Band Musician
8/30/2010
sir, i am a band vocalist in the philippines, we play variety of music, from rnb to mellow, to reggae, and 70′s 80′s and 90′s to present. i would like to ask if there’s a possibility we can go abroad, and play on cruise ships..
as a band of 7 members.. we can play any song, but we need to practice it, but wmy instrumentalist are widow players. (not based on noted pieces)
9/5/2010
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