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Latest reply from dar917

(15 posts) (7 people)

lots of questions!

Posted 2 years ago by dar917

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dar917 said 2 years ago

Hi Dave,
I have been researching the cruise ship thing and am very interested. I am 26 years old, from Minnesota; I play flute and saxophone, I have a BA in music, I play in my city band and also do musical theatre. Anyway my question is about health insurance. I have type 1 diabetes, which means I take insulin injections and check my blood sugar several times a day. (I was diagnosed almost two years ago.) I understand some cruise lines give you health coverage, but some won't cover pre-existing conditions (like diabetes, I assume). That said, would it be better to go directly through the cruise line, or do you still get health coverage through the cruise line even if you go through an agency? Any advice would be great. Thanks!
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marlajski said 2 years ago

Great question!

Health insurance is tricky on ships. Here's how I understand it, and bear in mind that this could be completely wrong, or outdated.

What I was told when I was on ships is that the crew will be taken care of by the crew doctor while on the ship. If there are any illnesses or emergencies that need attention in a hospital on land, the cruise line will cover you up to $15,000.

As someone well-versed in medical stuff, you'll no doubt note that $15k is hardly anything. Yes, that's what I always thought.

Again - I was never too sure about the whole medical thing, so take that with a grain of salt. My best advice would be to get a definitive answer from the HR department of a major cruise line. Google them, call the main office and ask for personnel/hiring/hr/whatever the call it. Agents might give you the run-around on this, so it's better to call the lines themselves.

2nd - there's a full physical that you have to pass to get on a ship in the first place. I'm not sure if diabetes is something that would cause you to fail the physical or not? That's probably another good question to ask the lines.

Sorry I'm not more help. Keep asking questions, I'm sure I'll know one eventually!
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David J. Hahn said 2 years ago

Great question!

Health insurance is tricky on ships. Here's how I understand it, and bear in mind that this could be completely wrong, or outdated.

What I was told when I was on ships is that the crew will be taken care of by the crew doctor while on the ship. If there are any illnesses or emergencies that need attention in a hospital on land, the cruise line will cover you up to $15,000.

As someone well-versed in medical stuff, you'll no doubt note that $15k is hardly anything. Yes, that's what I always thought.

Again - I was never too sure about the whole medical thing, so take that with a grain of salt. My best advice would be to get a definitive answer from the HR department of a major cruise line. Google them, call the main office and ask for personnel/hiring/hr/whatever the call it. Agents might give you the run-around on this, so it's better to call the lines themselves.

2nd - there's a full physical that you have to pass to get on a ship in the first place. I'm not sure if diabetes is something that would cause you to fail the physical or not? That's probably another good question to ask the lines.

Sorry I'm not more help. Keep asking questions, I'm sure I'll know one eventually!

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dar917 said 2 years ago

Thanks! I will call some of them and see what they say. I knew about the physical but I don't know if they would disqualify me for being diabetic. I would hate to trash the whole idea because of insurance issues! I have good control of it, but if they do accept you then there's the whole issue of bringing a six month supply of insulin and test strips!

This would be at least a good year in the future, but I want to find out about all this stuff first to see if I should even bother. (I also need to learn clarinet apparently, heh!)

Another question is about travel--do they pay for your ticket to get to the ship? Because I read some make you pay for it yourself the first time. And on that note, do you need to stay at a hotel the night before, or can you go the day of and go straight to the ship? I suppose it would depend on where you're going though.
Thanks again!
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David J. Hahn said 2 years ago

Good question - at least for musicians, all travel and accommodations are paid for by the cruise line, on your way to and from the ship.

(Unless you get fired - then you're on your own.)

Let us know what you find out about diabetes, I'm really curious.

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dar917 said 2 years ago

I haven't had time to call any of them yet, but I was also wondering about bringing things like laptops, iPods and cameras and things, is there a high risk of them getting stolen?

Also, I rent an apartment and live by myself. What did you do while you were out on ships? Put stuff in storage? I figured I'd keep my apartment just because it would be nice to have a place to go after a contract is over. What do you suggest about renting?

Thanks again!
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David J. Hahn said 2 years ago

As far as renting...beats me? I left my stuff at my parents place.

I wouldn't worry too much about your stuff getting stolen. There's no more risk of it happening on ships than happening anywhere else.

There is one exception, though, where I got my computer stolen. But even with that in mind I wouldn't worry too much.

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Dmdaisey said 2 years ago

I have a couple more questions!

What would happen if your had to check your instrument in as luggage and when you got in, your instrument didn't make it on the flight, and you have to be on the cruise that night?!

With agents, is there a lot of communication between the time they say they like you, and the time they say "We have a job for you?" (Both seemed very impressed with me, and I did what they asked, and they both communicated well, now it's kind of silent, so just curious.)

What if you get sick as a singer/performer? Do you still have to play on that day?

As a musician, do you get to interact with the crowd at all (say if I was a lounge musician)? Get to talk after the sets and stuff?

Do you think 170 songs is a good amount to start with?

Thanks for the help!
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David J. Hahn said 2 years ago

You do have a lot of questions! Try reading through the blog some more - a lot of those questions are addressed:

Chronicles of a Cruise Ship Musician

I think 170 sounds like a good number. Make sure you bring a few thick fakebooks with you. They will be a life-saver.

When I first auditions it took about 4 months before I got a call for a gig. I didn't hear much from them in the meantime. I'd actually sort of put it out of my mind by the time they finally called. That seems to be pretty typical.

You don't have to perform if you are too sick. On the other hand - you have to be p-r-e-t-t-y sick to get out of it. If you are that sick them may talk about sending you home - that's my experience anyway. You don't want to get sick on a cruise ship. Stay healthy.

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drummaman1 said 2 years ago

have a couple more questions!

What would happen if your had to check your instrument in as luggage and when you got in, your instrument didn't make it on the flight, and you have to be on the cruise that night?!

With agents, is there a lot of communication between the time they say they like you, and the time they say "We have a job for you?" (Both seemed very impressed with me, and I did what they asked, and they both communicated well, now it's kind of silent, so just curious.)

What if you get sick as a singer/performer? Do you still have to play on that day?

As a musician, do you get to interact with the crowd at all (say if I was a lounge musician)? Get to talk after the sets and stuff?

Do you think 170 songs is a good amount to start with?

Thanks for the help!

1. Most of the wind players set it up so they will have their horn with them on the plane. Being a drummer, I had to check everything in...so yeah, were SOL if the luggage doesn't come with us. I won't say it never happens, but the odds are good that we will get our checked stuff...call me an optimist....

2. With the agents, in my case the whole thing, from audition to the offering of a contract, took about a month. After you get hired for a contract, and get the necessary paperwork ready, the agents job is basically done until you get on the ship. You can always ask them questions about the contract, but you won't know what's up until you step foot on the ship (as I did)...

3. Try hard not to get sick. The ship I was on had Purell hand sanitizer stations EVERYWHERE (I joined the ship when it was in Red Code, too, so that was another level of germophobia I had to deal with)...needless to say, you can try EVERYTHING, you will most likely get sick while on the ship. Sick or no, YOU STILL HAVE TO PERFORM...if you're performing that night. Hopefully, it's a production show night so you're not as relied upon to play your part. If you're a singer though...that's tough. But yeah, you still have to peform, unless you were signed off by the ship doctor and have been confined to your cabin.

4. Yes, all the musicians are able to "mingle" with the guests. Most of the time, they would come to me when they saw me, I didn't have to seek anyone out. So, if you are in public areas, be gracious, be kind, and if you have to go (for whatever reason) be INCREDIBLY polite. Polite to the point where if a friend saw you, they'd say "you didn't have to be THAT polite"...any "Attitude", even though completely unintended, could be trouble, especially come comment card time.

5. I don't concern myself with quantity, more than with song form, styles, tempos, volumes. Then again, I am a drummer, so...as many songs as you can know, standards and even newer stuff, is beneficial.

Thanks for reading!
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Dmdaisey said 2 years ago

Proship called about an opportunity to play a one month thing in august. He just asked if it was a possibility.. How do the one month kind of ships go? For a lounge musician or something similar.
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David J. Hahn said 2 years ago

One month gigs are sweet. You are there long enough to enjoy the itinerary, but not long enough to hate your life. You should totally do it if you have the space in your schedule.

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dar917 said 2 years ago

Hi David,
I recently got in touch with a lady who is an agent for Pro Ship on Facebook; do you know Cindy Blackburn? She said Holland America doesn't care if you're diabetic. You really liked them, right? That gives me hope anyway.
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David J. Hahn said 2 years ago

That's great to hear.

Cindy was my agent on my first contract with HAL. My experience was good enough - although by the end I'd mostly had enough and never did do a second contract with Proship or HAL. I think if you go into them with reasonable expectations, cruise gigs can be a good experience.

So what do you think you'll do?

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dar917 said 2 years ago

Well, I want to audition on saxophone, flute and clarinet. But I have a lot to do before I'll be ready to audition; I have no promotional materials that they want, for instance. I figure I'll go through Pro Ship first. I am very good at sight reading, and did three years of jazz band on tenor sax in college. Also, I went on a cruise for one of our band trips in college; it was on Carnival Imagination. We performed twice on the ship; it was a lot of fun! So I have some idea of what ship life is like. This was all before I became diabetic though.

Anybody else know any diabetic cruise musicians or have thoughts on Holland America? Thanks!
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jisantangelo said 2 years ago

At Notescopemusic, we have professional arrangements, and classical sheet music for different instruments and abilities. Give us a call at (646) 249-4382.
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dar917 said 2 years ago

OK I have another new question. I am looking at purple clarinets on Amazon. Does anyone know if they care if you have a different colored horn? Obviously with electric guitars it wouldn't matter. I don't know if they're even any good, just that purple is my favorite color and since I'll be buying a new one anyway it would be fun. lol
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