Here's a great discussion from the vaults of the old forums:
mrmxyzptlk
I just wanted to note that I'll soon be returning to working as a show band musician for Princess Cruises after a seven-year hiatus. I have a friend who's out there now, who tells me that there has been a recent development that might change the quality of life somewhat for crew members: They're slowly rolling out Wi-Fi in the cabins.
As with any new installation on ships, Wi-Fi apparently still has some bugs. Furthermore, the passengers naturally get priority. My friend says that Wi-Fi isn't “officially†available to crew on her ship yet, but show band members are able to use it because it has been installed for passengers, and crew members whose cabins are closest to passenger areas are able to jump on.
Although it will probably be a while before the system will be running smoothly for crew members, the fact that it's in the works was a factor in my decision to go back to ships. I've recently bought a small netbook computer (an Asus Eee 1000HA) to take with me on the contract.
In bygone years on ships, getting online used to mean paying to use Internet cafes in the ports, or waiting on long lines and paying high prices for a few minutes of Internet usage on board. Now it should be somewhat easier to stay connected to friends, family and job contacts on land - not to mention that the days will be somewhat less boring!
Dave
Hey mrmxyzptlk - if you don't mind me asking - does the economy have anything to do with you going back out on ships? I read on Oceanbound's blog that lot's of musicians were auditioning for cruise gigs right now with the economy in the can. Just curious. Thanks-
mrmxyzptlk
I actually made sort of an illogical decision: I resigned from a full-time job that has nothing to do with music, with a decent salary and health benefits. I wasn't satisfied with the work I was doing, and was frustrated with my boss and some of my co-workers. Because of the current state of the economy, I wasn't confident that I could easily find another job, especially since in the past I neglected my career development because I had the fantasy that I was going to “make it†as a musician, with the result that now I lack the marketable skills and conventional resume that other people my age have.
I saw cruise ships as my escape hatch. I've had no problems getting gigs on ships in the past, and figured it would be easy to do so again. As far as I can tell, so far the industry seems to be somewhat recession-proof, in that the cruise lines can keep discounting fares and filling up their ships. Once passengers are out at sea, in the magic bubble of the cruise ship environment, the ships can easily suck more money out of their pockets via the onboard casinos, the gift shops, the bars, shore excursions, and myriad other little “extras.â€
Anyway, in quitting my job and going back to ships, I know that I'm simply kicking the can down the road - that is, deferring the decision about what I'm eventually going to do with my career, and in a way making things worse for myself (since future prospective employees will likely look at the fact that I left a job to play music on cruise ships and wonder if I'd do the same thing again). I rationalize it somewhat by noting that a) I can think of it as kind of an “extended working vacation,†or a “sabbaticalâ€; b) hopefully I'll stay motivated to use the Wi-Fi aboard ships to conduct an aggressive job search. In time, when the economy picks up (assuming it ever does!), I hope to be better situated to rejoin the “real world†and have a better selection of jobs from which to choose.
I want to make it clear that my goals are probably different from those of most readers of this site: I'm probably somewhat older than most of you, and have no illusions that I will ever make a living as a musician. In past years I was a busy free-lancer, playing lots of weddings and private parties, and doing bar gigs. However, much of that work has dried up - and even when I was at my busiest, the money I made from music was not sufficient for me to live on.
Corporate non-music jobs can make life so much easier, removing the worries about where one's next paycheck will come from, or how one would pay for medical care in the event of a catastrophic illness or accident. The problem is that unless you're careful about the direction in which you guide your career, you could end up spending eight hours a day or more doing work that bores you to tears - or, as in my case, working for an incompetent boss. Starting a business of one's own, rather than spending one's whole life working for someone else, would be ideal, but I'd advise anyone who wants to go this route to start early, save your money, and don't be distracted by foolish notions such as thinking that you're going to be able to make a career as a musician.
Dave, sorry if this answer was longer than what you wanted!… 
Dave
Well…just on principle I have to disagree with the part about making a career as a musician being a foolish notion. The whole site is based on the assumption that you can make a career as a musician, so I'd be remiss if I didn't disagree with that.
I will say, though, that the state of the economy makes it much harder, and working on a cruise ship right now is not a bad idea.
As for the cruise economy, it's somewhat recession-proof, but not entirely. I had a gig this year with a guest performer act on a ship, but we were laid off in the fall. Too expensive in a rough economy - they decided to hire a single performer to fill the spot, rather than a group of performers like us. You likely won't have any problem with that. We were really quite expensive for the cruise line.
mrmxyzptlk
I can totally understand. I'm just offering my own perspective as a 50-year-old who gave it a shot and is now trying to take a more pragmatic approach to life. I've certainly met people who had no desire to do anything but play music, and to them I'd say yes indeed, give it your best chance, especially if you're young. You won't be happy with yourself if you don't at least try. Just be realistic about your chances.
I shouldn't have said that the cruise industry is recession-proof; I meant that it's more recession-proof than other industries. I know, for example, that the cruise line for which I'll be working has eliminated horn players in the show bands on their smaller ships and replaced them with guitar, which, unfortunate though that may be, actually benefits me. I play both bass and guitar, so having more guitar chairs available in the fleet gives me a lot more opportunities to work.
Paul
Hey mrmxyzptlk, just so you know… I was on Holland America last summer and Wi-Fi was supposedly in all of the crew cabins, but sometimes didn't work if your door was closed or if the ship was in certain areas. Also it was $20 for a 200 minute card for crew members. Once after using about 60 minutes of my 200 minute wi-fi card, firefox installed some updates and deleted my stored logon and password. I had lost the card and there wasn't a way for them to refund me my lost time.
mrmxyzptlk
Yikes! Thanks for the heads-up, Paul. For some reason I had the idea that Wi-Fi usage was going to be free and unlimited. I really should have known better!…
