Which Cruise Lines are Best?

Hey Dave,

Love your blog…just found it…. Love the comments about the lines. I’m a bass player, with lots of experience on Carnival and I’m set now to do another tour on…one of the other lines you mentioned as getting ‘good’ reviews…leaving early April (Asia tour). and I hope upon return to do some musical theatre work in NYC as well….we probably have some friends in common I bet from either NYC or the ships…

I also have been a freelance journalist, in short, writing about various ‘social’ issues and things like that, and also encountered some rediculous corporate censorship paranoia on a project I was doing on a ship not too long ago…

Anyway, just saying hi and it’s great for musicians to keep connected like this…freelancers that we are…so thanks for doing this. Don Lieber

This message is for the last person who left a comment (Don Lieber). Just noticed your comment Donny, and wanted to say hello. I’m an old friend of yours (Laura H) from the Bronx, from M&A. Hope all is well with you and that life is treating you good. Ran into Ricky some time ago and we caught up a bit. I’m still in touch with Harryet as well. Glad to hear you’re keeping up with your music. I know it’s something that gets in your blood and bones and never quite goes away, lol. Be good! Laura :)

Great website David, full of much-needed advice and information for those seeking cruise ship positions. Not only are you a great and very talented musician, but you are also the best publisher! What a guy….

We have both worked for NCL, NCLA as well as Holland America.

My first contract was as intermissionist/utility pianist on the Pride of Hawaii during her maiden voyage from San Fransisco to the islands. As this was was the first ship job I had had in more than twenty years, I was a bit apprehensive. The crew was all-American, with registry in Honolulu. Unfortunately, by the time I got onboard, several hundred of the crew members walked off and quit. By the time we got to Honolulu, nearly half had quit. Clearly, the young Americans were not ready to work 12 hours a day! I had to share a cabin (not good!). I later told my agent, “No more shared cabins for me. I’m old…not dumb!” There were only a few things that irritated me about that trip, aside from the unhappy crew and the cabin sharing: We could not bring alcohol aboard or have it in our cabins at any time; We could only buy beer and wine in the crew bar and NO hard liquor; We were not allowed to have food in our cabins at any time; I did not have room service privileges like the piano bar entertainer, but there was a 24-hour café onboard, so it was not the end of the world. I could however eat meals in ANY of the many restaurants onboard, so I was spoiled. As I had taken numerous cruises before as a passenger and had been used to the passenger side of things, I expected a passenger cabin and since I had ‘guest entertainer’ status (a contractor and not employed by NCLA), I expected better treatment.

My second contract was for the same position but with NCL on the Norwegian Crown in South America. When I arrived on the ship, I found out that I was the de facto Piano Bar Entertainer as there was no one else! I quickly went to plan B and had to improvise with some comedy and sing alongs. I was a smashing success but had to eat ALL of my meals in the terrible passenger buffet. Needless to say, I went on a diet and rarely ate on the ship. I tripped on the staircase and tore the ligaments in my ankle. No one went for ice, a wheelchair, etc. and I spent the next six weeks in my cabin with my leg elevated, except to perform at night in a glass-enclosed lounge under the searing sun (the sun does not set below the equator until about 11pm). I finally got off the ship and went to a hospital to get x-rays and an air boot. Later NCL refused to pay my medical bills related to the injury, so I got stuck with it. When my contract was over, NCL informed me that the airfares were too expensive and that I would have to stay an additional month on the ship. Shocked, I explained that I had a gig three days later in Hawaii and needed to be flown home as per our contract, but they declined to pay. So I had to fly myself from Santiago to Atlanta to connect with my Hawaii flight at a cost to me of $1000.

My third contract was with Holland America in Alaska on the Statendam. It was as close to a dream job as one could get. The CD and MD were terrific. the Hotel Manager told me that I was overqualified for the utility pianist position and should have my own headliner show. The Captain was also the best who sat with me and other crew members on numerous occasions in the buffet.

My fourth and last contract was a nightmare with Holland America. Two weeks after getting off the Statendam, I boarded the Ryndam for a five-month Mexican run. The cruise director had me playing synthesizers without pedals or a bench. When I improvised and went to get another digital piano with weighted action keys, he gave me a PIN (Performance Improvement Notice) for ‘insubordination.’ “What is this: The military? When I became irritated and told the passengers how evil the CD was when they asked about my well-being onboard and how I liked the job, he wrote me up again for ‘complaining to the passengers.’ After one gets three PINS with Holland America, they are fired and put off the ship, regardless of the port. Since I did not want to be put off in some forsaken port in Mexico and have to fly myself home, I told my agent that I would stay only two months and then leave. I later heard that the nasty Cruise Director got off the ship and was replaced the same day that I left. If I had known that, perhaps I wold have stayed longer.

David, I know exactly who the person in Seattle was who instructed the CD to write you up. He’s gone, you know…… Am I bitter? Perhaps a bit, but most of all, I am wiser and my agent now loks for choice jobs for me as she knows I will not put up with silly officers on power trips.

Holland America: Get the pianos tuned….and your act together! Do you realize that I played for two months on pianos that had not been tuned? I also played five one-hour sets a day over an 8-hour period. Did I see the world? Well, it was rather tough to see anything from the Lido Deck…..

I too would suggest Princess, SilverSea, Crystal, Oceania and Regency as possible alternatives to the poor treatment by the bottom feeders.

Hi Giles – I’m really glad that you find CCSM so valuable. I wrote it entirely for people like you that needed more info about the gig.

Try this post:

Provided Backline Equipment

And also read all the posts from Ghostwriter, who was a bass player that worked on a ship overseas.

I started out on Celebrity as one of the hired sax guns. It was awesome til I needed a simple perscription and got sent home for pre existing med condition…crazy, but the gig was cool while I was there. THEN CAME HOLLAND AMERICA! Stay away. I did bout three cruises with them and they all sucked bad. The last was the worst the CD was an extremly racist south african, not saying that they all are, but he definitly was. I just wanted to play but could not win for losing. In conclusion, stay away from holland america. Yeah, up your’s Quesada. Celebrity good. Royal csrribean good. Princess good. Dont know bout NCL or the others. HOLLAND AMERICA BAAADDDD!

Hi there. I’m an Australian jazz trombonist. I did a contract on Celebrity which finished earlier this year as an orchestra musician and I had a fantastic time. The music programme was excellent at the time but yes I’ve heard stories from other musicians that have worked for the company for a long time that say they’d worked with some pretty average musicians in the past. As with anything there’s going to be times where things just click and times where because of the management of the ship or weak members in the ensemble, the job might not be as enjoyable.

I’m currently working on Azamara Club which recently split from Celebrity and now falls directly under the banner of Royal Carribean, for my next 2 contracts. The crew morale is excellent here and the level of musicians is very high. The itineraries are phenomenal because the ships are small and can get into more interesting ports. I’m returning to work for Celebrity late next year however which I’m looking forward to as well.

So for me personally, I would take the comment above about hearing nothing but bad things about Celebrity with a grain of salt.

This is a great blog David and I enjoyed reading it before I did my first contract and found it very helpful.

Just wanted to contribute that I’ve been working for Carnival and don’t really have complaints specific to Carnival. In fact, I’m rather glad that Carnival doesn’t seem to have the issues that a lot of the people mentioned above for other lines (what Eric said is true though… luckily I’m a piano player and don’t have to carry my instrument). Overall it’s been really good :-)