Cruise Ship Jobs for Couples

Sharon asks:

I am a singer and my husband is an alto sax player, what do you know about getting a job as a married couple? Do cruise lines like to hire couples or do they find it annoying?

Cruise lines do hire couples, although I might not go so far as to say that they give couples preference in the hiring process.  Married couples are good for cruise lines because it tends to make the couple feel more satisfied about the gig, and they therefore last longer than other crew members.  In other words, the turn-over isn’t as quick.

Also, they don’t have to worry about roommate problems with married couples (usually).  They know that they can match up the couple in a room and everyone will be happy (usually).

However, from what I’ve seen in entertainment departments, these married couples are usually hired within the same group.  I mean that two singers could be married, or the lounge duo, or the magician and his assistant – I don’t often see them hiring couples ala carte and putting them in different groups.  (The musicians are considered a different group than the singers.) I think this has a lot to do with housing – the singers are given a block of rooms and the musicians a different block of rooms, and combining a singer and a musician in one room would require cutting through a truly preposterous (and unnecessary) amount of corporate red tape.

So in your case, Sharon, this could be a hurdle to get over when looking for a cruise ship gig for you and your husband.

I don’t mean to be too discouraging.  Certainly I don’t know everything that these cruise lines think, or if they think at all, so there’s always hope.  If you do get a gig with your husband, it could be a really incredible experience to have together.  I can think of nothing better than traveling the world with a husband or wife and making a living playing music.  I would think that having your loved one with you could solve the great majority of the challenges of working on a cruise ship.

In order to do this, I would contact the cruise lines directly and not bother with talent agencies.  Singers and musicians usually go to separate talent agencies, and you’ll never end up on the same ship like that.  (Although: I hear that the talent agency Stiletto Entertainment has started hiring musicians as well as singers and dancers.)

Or better yet – try to come up with an act that incorporates both of you.  Then you’d be in the same group.