Overworked Musicians in the Mediterranean
Right now we are leaving Kusadasi and heading towards Rhodes. Tonight is a show that’s done every cruise, either after leaving Kusadasi on the 10 day cruise, or the night we are in port at Istanbul on the 11 day cruise.
Besides the “Welcome Aboard” presentation on embarkation day, this is the only full show which we use click tracks. Because the show is on the pool deck, the equipment keeps changing around because it can’t stay there, which makes sound check a pain, because each time we do the show, a new problem shows up. Last week, my bass couldn’t be picked up in the house at all. Cables were replaced, the DI was replaced, my bass was checked in the guitar channel; we gave it the works. We resorted to putting a mic in front of the amp. Today, the same problem arose, and none of us really felt like working out the problem this time, so it’s all just my amp. Fine with me.
The MD still threatens to fire me. That’s fine, because I found out that a sub MD has no real power. Besides that, I’ve had over 30 “one more mistake, and you‘re gone” speeches, and no action yet. He’s proven to me that he has no power, and gets really upset at me because I can smile and nod at these speeches now rather than apologize for something the drummer did (usually I get blamed for situations like this).
I had to sit back and ask myself a while ago if I’m having these problems, is it because I really am not able to handle the gig? So what I did was at these “jazz” sets, was toy with H. Immature? Maybe. But I learned what crawled up the MD’s rear. In short, if I do one thing, he tells me not to do it. I comply, and he nitpicks something else. He’s just going power hungry, and he wants to pick on the new guys. He sees the others as friends, because he was just a showband musician with them before he stepped in as sub MD. He doesn’t realize those guys don’t like him much any more. So, I found H. is unjustified with his complaints, his ears are nowhere near as good as he thinks they are (I even played a tune in the wrong key by accident in the beginning, and he didn’t notice before I fixed it), and he has absolutely no power. So I don’t have to worry about it any more.
But there is one thing I worry about now: H. may be my new roommate! Oh God, please don’t let that happen!
At the end of this cruise, my roommate and the alto player leave. The new couple that are coming ARE a couple, and have requested their own cabin. I can’t room with the alto player’s roommate, because she is a she. So, the way I see it, I may have my own cabin for two cruises. Then, the real MD comes back. He’s the drummer, so the current drummer leaves, and H. is moved out of the MD cabin. The other showband guys, the singers, and dancers are all laughing about it, too, even if it is still only just a possibility. When I think about it, it’s about a 30% chance the this may happen. For me, that’s way too much. Now, I’m a nice guy, but I don’t know how nice I can be to a guy that gets a kick out of threatening me. Rooming with him just wouldn’t be a good situation. The current drummer rooms with the DJ, and H. said he can’t live in a cabin that small. My last resort may be trying to get the DJ to room with me.
Besides all this, in general, the ship is just not a good ship. I find enjoyable things to do with the little down time that I have, but morale is fairly low, even in the entertainment department. Everyone works every day. Technically, the showband hasn’t had a day off since I’ve been on the ship. I missed one “jazz” set, because it was last minute, and I wasn’t around to get the call. So, I have had an accidental day off. The upper management on the ship figures they can use us any time we have down time, so when we aren’t playing a show, we are playing on deck 11 aft (by the pizza bar), or in one of the clubs, or in the restaurant. On a typical ship, the general idea is musicians are to get at least one day a cruise off, if not one day a week. One time, I told H. that my hands are really hurting from all the playing we have been doing, and he told me to quit if I don’t like it. Wouldn’t it be nice to just have Carpel Tunnel Syndrome and then sue the company for not listening to me? In short, I don’t practice, so I can protect my hands, and to at least give my mind some sort of break from all the music. I hope that changes with the MD switch. The singer in the Party Band has complained that her throat hurts from singing four sets every day, and she was also pretty much told to quit if she doesn’t like it.
The reason we are made to work so hard is because the ratings on the ship are the lowest in the fleet, so upper management figures if they make the entertainment department work doubly hard, ratings will go up. It’s having another effect, though: it’s bringing the morale of all the musicians down, and not just the show musicians, but also the five other musical acts around the ship. I’m sure all musicians know, when morale is down, performance suffers, and it’s hard to put on a good attitude. In my opinion, working us harder to improve ratings is having an adverse effect.
The current drummer has been on six different ships. He has told the cruise director exactly what’s going on compared to other ships. He told me the CD doesn’t think things are likely to change, though, because the ship is sold to another country, and it goes to them sometime next year. They told us in meetings that they are still trying to improve things even though it’s sold, but all their promises have not yet happened. In general, the next five months might still might be unpleasant, but at least I will be with an MD that’s reputedly the best MD in the fleet, rather than this hack. The guys say at this point, because H. has made us work so much, Y. might not be able to clear the schedule without upsetting upper management, but they promise that he will be much more pleasant to work with.
So that’s what’s going on so far. I’d write more, but there’s the whole being overworked thing, plus I’m a procrastinator. Dave definitely wants a follow up to see who my roommate will be, so that will happen as soon as I find out.
About the author
Interesting and honest! Thank you. My specialty is piano bar w/vocals. I’m working in Branson currently but thinking about shipping out.
10/25/2008
I think it’s time cruise ship musicians all joined the musicians union and stopped the cruise lines from having their say with things. I just quit Carnival Cruise Lines, they won’t pay for transportation costs, they have instituted 5 hour work days, which is only performance time, not any of the inservices, or practicing or anything else. The show band musicians practice but it doesn’t count toward the 5 hours. They do the show and a jazz and blues set, respectively. Carnival has cut the Jazz Trios, Classical Trios, and Supper Club Duo’s and, it is my belief, they feel the musicians can fill in for the time that is vacated by the downsizing, but without compensation for the extra time. Oh, and they want 7 days a week. Our Music Director said he was not going to enforce the 7 days a week, he has worked for Carnival for over 13 years and this will be his last contract with them.
I know a lot of people feel they have a great deal working for the cruise lines, but I am not going to ruin my voice trying to sing five sets of music. I was very highly rated on both the ships I was on, I was told by the hotel manager on the first ship I increased bar sales by 75% and on the other ship was told they never, ever had that big a turnout. The wait staff were making great money in tips, which is all they get paid.
If Carnival is an example, and they are all the same, then the cruise line industry is morally and ethically bankrupt and they shouldn’t be supported by musicians, customers, etc. Carnival has the crew members who are waitresses, bar workers, and stewards all pay for their own uniforms, all their own travel costs, and they work for tips. Carnival’s defense is, “they’re making better money than they could make at home.” That is no reason to exploit people. It’s no wonder other countries hate the US and the people here. These cruise lines should be paying the employees, pay for their insurance when they go on vacation, their uniforms, and their transportation, at the very least.
I will never work for another cruise line and will make a video and post it on YouTube about what I’ve seen go on.
10/29/2008
amen, let ‘em burn. every time i go out the musicians get shittier, causing more and more good ones to say fuck it. that’s why a union will never work, the office has no standards. they’re used to being called, and now that no one’s coming back they’re not changing anything. they’re just lettin em be empty, and watching md’s squirm to do their job for them and try and find musicians.
so i help a desperate md friend of mine out (aka drank face and played up to the current level of mediocrity) for 2 weeks, then had to get back to real life, guess what? no replacement again, rendering what was supposed to be a 7 piece band (once 11 piece!) a quartet — closer to the trio they got rid of than an actual show band. this was by no means an old boat either.
hate to be a pessimist, but every rumor i hear on these gloomships comes true. the showband is on life support and doctors are giving it less than a year to live. hey bob, we got orders for 100 more player pianos from them there circus cruises, better git to work! if i ever decide to hit the waves again for a long period of time, you can be sure i’m not working for anyone appending their name with the word “corporation,” and i am surely not alone in this sentiment.
1/1/2009
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