I like to check the traffic stats of this site regularly. Not because the site gets a huge amount of traffic, just because it’s interesting. In most stats you can see how people got to the site. If they found the site through a search engine, it’ll even tell you what term they searched.
Today I got an interesting one. Some poor devil searched this term:
“musicians i got fired from a cruise ship will i ever work again”
That search term brought them to this website, although they probably didn’t find any information here. I haven’t talked much about being fired from a gig.
First off, yes, you will work again. Cruise lines don’t seem to talk to each other, strangely enough. If you get fired from Carnival one day, you can be on a NCL ship – maybe within the week. This is especially true if you are going through an agent. If you get fired from one cruise line, they’ll bundle you off to another cruise line right away. A placement fee is a placement fee after all. You’re still good for 12%, even if you got wasted one night and broke into the bridge with your birthday suit and a spa girl (or whatever you did).
The worst thing about being fired, aside from losing your job, is that you usually have to buy your own plane ticket home from wherever you are. So if you get fired and the next day the ship is ported in Tunisia – you have to buy a one-way ticket home for that day. There goes all the money you saved.
As far as work on land goes – relax. If anybody asks, you worked as a cruise ship musician and it was great. If they asked you point blank if you got fired you’ll have to tell them, but nobody will ask that. A musician’s career isn’t about credentials and resumes, it’s about recommendations and chops.
Here’s the process: If you do something wrong (it usually has to do with drinking too much, so be careful) you’ll be called down to the captain’s office. You’ll get a long lecture and you’ll be fired. You’ll have to pack your bags and leave the ship that day or the next day. Usually you’ll be totally responsible for your lodging or airfare from whatever city you get thrown off in.
Also, you will be the source of constant gossip on the ship for weeks and weeks.
Don’t get fired, it’s a total drag. If you work on a ship though, you can expect to have some member of the crew fired every few weeks or months. Again, it’s usually for drinking too much and doing something very stupid. Be careful and follow the rules and you’ll get through no problem.
David J. Hahn
David J. Hahn is a Broadway conductor and keyboard player. He co-founded MusicianWages.com with Cameron Mizell in 2008. Visit his new project, Songwriter.fm and sign up for his songwriting newsletter.
One thing you’ve forgot to mention here is blackballing by the cruise industry. This has recently happened to me and I was a three year veteran in the showband.
I’ll start with some history. A very small amount of marijuana(1/4 of a joint) was found in my cabin in the summer of 2007. It was not mine and my room mate denied that it was his. We were both fired. I was turned over to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, fined $500 and sent on my way home. Fortunately Carni-Balls paid my plane ticket home.
I immediately went to work doing a contract for Holland America and Princess subsequently afterward. During my last contract the CBP agents searched my cabin for drugs in every US port without any findings. Good for me right? Wrong! I am now on a list of potential drug traffickers. Now Princess will not hire me, I’ve had no such luck with Holland America, Celebrity, Cunard, Royal, or any other cruise line. I’ve contacted my agent who has no ability to find work for me and said that the incident at Carnival was leaked to Celebrity! Several other agents I’ve attempted to hire have not been able to find work for me. Even outside the music and cruise industry has been difficult for me to find work. I’ve been turned down from several jobs because Carnival reports that I’ve violated their drug policy, who knows what else they tell my potential employers.
Everybody that works on a ship. Remember to search your own cabin for drugs. Check every crack and crevice. It was found in the back of my medicine cabinet! Your cabin is not only used by you! Mine housed 5 other people in the course of 3 months. Do not rely on your cabin steward to clean everything up! I wouldn’t want this to happen to anybody. They take drugs way too seriously at sea! I went from being an in demand bass player to a guy who can’t even get a job in a warehouse!
I was working for Holland America Lines as a solo non-singing pianist and I got sacked for the most fantastic reason – my style was too jazzy ! It’s fair enough – I am not a classically trained pianist who plays standards, more of an improvisor. I was playing tunes like Night in Tunisia rather than tunes like Moon River. They even gave me official documentation with the reason ‘too jazzy’ in print and signed by the captain – it’s done wonders for my musical reputation in London !
The way it happened was bizarre as well – I was ‘sacked’ within a few weeks of my contract starting but they said I could stay on board and continue working until they found a replacement. After 3 months I was sick of it all, got off the ship in Rotterdam and got a coach back to London. I heard that they found a replacement for me a day later !
It’s got to be said that at least half the musicians on board were either sacked or quit, one was for getting too drunk to play but for the rest of us, it was because we couldn’t really cope with the dreadful conditions – playing long long hours on substandard or inappropriate equipment. A few times I was made to play a 6-octave synth that didn’t even have weighted keys. Or this fantastic Berklee-educated jazz drummer who for months and months just had to shake an egg for 3-4 hours a day.
I’m sure some cruises are better than others for musicians but if you work for Holland America, you’re doing it for the money alone, NOT for the music !
I too have heard horror stories of people who have worked for cruise lines and got dumped in a city in a country with a language in which this person didn’t speak. He said that he didn’t really like being on a ship after that because he went to North Texas and he was fired because they didn’t like the way he played… Come on!
Nonetheless, this is a great post by David because I didn’t know what I’d do if I ever got fired. Now I will know what to do. Thanks!
if you got fired on carnival cruise line, after how many months you can apply again for hire & how you can apply please i am waiting for your
response as soon as possible
Hi Umesh – Check out the article above, I think you’ll find it interesting. Thanks for reading.
I got fired from a Cruise Ship because a refused be lowered into the life boat during the boat drill. As an Independent contracted musician (Guest Entertainer) I´m not an employee and I’m not covered by the Company’s Insurance. If I have any accident in on my expenses! The Marine Department tried to force me to do it many times with threats, but I refused. Finally the Staff Captain decided to dismiss me instead change my position at the Boat Drill . Is it legal?
Greetings Dave:
I am a drummer that prefers Big band/swing/jazz/country. I am in my early 60′s
I currently play with 2 small jazz bands in the Ventura area of Southern California. Drumming is not my full time job but do it as a hobby. Am currently studying with one of the best drummers in the U.S. If I wanted to apply for a part time job say 2-3 weeks on a cruise ship, is that possible? and how do I go about applying auditioning? Any insite you can provide would be great. By the way is age a factor for any of the cruise lines when hiring musicians?
Thanks: Mark
Hey mark, it is typically very hard (if not impossible) to get a contract that short. Reason being, the cruise lines don’t like to pay airfare too often, so they stick people in longer 6-8 month contracts.
Hi Dave,
Very nice blog. Are you able to answer Cesar’s question? It may be a legal issue though.
Yes Holland America treats musicians very badly now. 10 years ago they were much better and more fun. Pay was lower but you had less work also. Now it’s just not good. Long hours and disregard for musician’s well being. Hope they improve the treatment. Stay clear until they do.
Hi Margaret and Cesar –
It’s a really good question, but definitely over my head. I don’t have the legal knowledge to answer.
Dave;
What do you think about my request above date 5/30
Thanks: Mark
much of that information is already on the site, which might be why you have not gotten a reply
Right you are, Jimmy. Thanks.
i got fired from royal carribeean due to swiping the other crew member sea pass card but i ve still confess n return the crew mwmber money but still i got fired after captain hearing now hw will it help me to find the other cruise co to work on cruise job….pls help
As far as cruise lines not paying your airfare home, something to check into is Repatriation. Most Caribbean Islands will not let you disembark a vessel without having a plane ticket to leave the island. I know in the case of the private super yachts, a ship must repatriate a crew member to their port of call upon firing. There are laws that protect crew from being stranded, usually enforced by customs. So If you get fired, check the repatriation laws, and go to the local customs office. In the Caribbean the customs officers love flexing their power.
To follow up on the issue of having to pay your own way home. If you get fired, the cruise line is required by almost every country that they visit to repatriate you to a gateway city of your country of origin. This is why often the Captain’s hearings are held towards the end of a cruise, even if the infraction occurred early on on the cruise, or why a fired crew member is often kept on board until the next turn around day. If you are sailing in the caribbean out of a US port and you are an American citizen then yes, you can be dumped off at any US port an left to make your own way home but if you are from any country outside of the US, then the cruise line is responsible for getting you back to your own country. If you resign of your own accord, then you are responsible for paying your own way home.
I spent 10 years out on the cruise ships working for 5 different lines, 4 years as a musical director so I have been through many masters’ hearings and firings, firing many musicians myself and during that time, every time a musician was fired they were at least repatriated to their home country by the cruise line.
Still, it is not a pleasant way to end your time onboard.
I am curious, is it generally harder to get a cruise gig in the summer?
Also, if you have had a contract terminated from a cruise line for lets say…jumping into a pool after st pattys day close to naked, would it be wise (or at legal) to keep that information to yourself when applying to another cruiseline?