Chloe Dyason 24100157
Professional Studies 1: Working in the Creative Industries (SHR4C007R)
Research portfolio
As a classical musician, there are many different potential career paths, but one job that I have a lot of interest in is working as a musician on a cruise ship. There is so much opportunity to play, perform and travel all at the same time with a good wage and very low expenses. Having been on a cruise and talked to professionals onboard, it has given me a basic understanding of what skills and qualities I would need to work in this profession, but this essay has given me the chance to further research my knowledge on this career.
Working as a musician on a cruise ship is similar to that of a conventional musician as all jobs involve playing, performing, practicing and some administration. Where they differ is that most classical musicians would be hired as part of an orchestra to play mostly classical, orchestral music or spend a large amount of their time teaching. This involves commuting between teaching jobs, is usually not full time, and often on a self-employed basis providing musicians with a portfolio career. However, on a cruise ship the job is more condensed as you will be playing multiple gigs a day with a wide variety of genres.
All instrumental roles on board a cruise ship will require a music degree, as well as a good understanding of a wide verity of genres, repertoire and styles. You can get into most music careers through a university course, applying directly or specialist courses run by private training organisations. Some forms of music do not need a degree, but it is usually expected to have a degree in classical music, so most cruise ship musicians – if playing in an orchestra or classical solo/ small ensemble role- would need a degree. To get this degree, the entry requirements are usually 2 or 3 A levels including music, Grade 8 in your main instrument, and passing an audition held by the Higher education Establishment. (National Careers Service, n.d.)
After getting the right qualifications, there are a few ways to get a job as a musician on a cruise ship. You can either apply direct through a cruise line, or through a recruitment agency. (Berklee college of music, 2024) The benefits off applying through an agency is that they can do most of the paperwork for you and will apply you to all of the jobs available without having to go through lots of different companies, however a charge is usually included with this. (Landau Music, n.d.) Applying directly is cheaper but is very time consuming and you may not always know of an opportunity.
There are lots of personal qualities and attributes aside from the music skills needed for this job. Working on a cruise ship is a mentally taxing job, as you are away for weeks at a time so, interviewers usually look for a strong-willed person, who is determined and will thrive in the environment of a cruise ship. As you could be interacting with guests onboard the cruise ship at any time of the day, employers look for welcoming, friendly people with good, professional communication skills. In addition, you will be working in close quarters with your colleagues, so a friendly, outgoing personality is sought after.
As part of my research, I spoke to a former cruise ship musician via social media, where he told me about his day-day life and responsibility.
“My day usually starts off with me checking my schedule and planning my day out. Each Day is different, I would shower in my cabin, go to the cafeteria (Crew Mess) to eat breakfast then report to work.”
“Here’s a screenshot of a schedule. I was in the orchestra and follow what they have scheduled for us. I was in 8 different groups (which is unusual for a typical cruise ship musician). I report to the venue with proper attire/instrument/sheet-music and perform. Our performance are scheduled throughout the day and sometime back-to-back. Between, after or before shows I would hang out in the crew lounge, The guest areas, explore ports if the ship is docked, practise, or be in my cabin.”
“Sometimes crew members will do mandatory safety drills. They usually have them during the mornings before any performance start.” (Dilworth, 2024)
Most musician jobs on a cruise ship involve learning a few instruments and performing in a wide variety of styles, as they only hire a small number of musicians, so knowledge of multiple instruments and genres is preferred. (Flying fish, n.d.)
When you’re working on a cruise ship, there are lots of rules to follow, as you’re almost always in contact with customers of the ship, so professionalism is a necessity. An example of some rules are: No fraternizing with guests, No public intoxication. (Landau Music, n.d.)
The average salary of a cruise ship musician is from $2000 to $3300 a month (£1564.28 to £1564.28). Salaries are based on experience level and can depend on the type of job you take up. Entry level jobs will be on the lower end, but performers (like musicians) will usually start on a higher salary than cleaners and waiters.
Looking more in depth to the salaries, on a singular cruise ship at one time, there can be up to 25 musicians on board. Solo Musicians have their own cabin and start at $3300/month (USD). Duos share a cabin and start around $2400/month each (USD). Ensembles share cabins and range from $2400 – $2800/month per person (USD). Orchestra/Showband Musician share cabins and start at $2200/month (USD). Bandmasters are often a member of the orchestra, have their own cabin and start at $2700/month (USD). (Landau Music, n.d.)
Cruise Ship Musicians are either employees or contractors. For employees, most cruise lines offer direct deposit and/or a bank card. Funds are deposited directly to your bank account or to your bank card on the 1st and 15th of every month on board. Contractors are paid every other week via PayPal or company check. (Landau Music, n.d.)
On indeed, the national average salary of a musician on a cruise ship is £20,684 per year, but a cruise ship performer national average salary is £35,471 per year (Indeed Editorial Team, 2024)
As another part of my research, I took to social media to find musicians talking about working on cruise ships. TikTok/@jackcruisesaround is a performer, vocalist and instrumentalist, documenting his life on cruise ships. In one video captioned ‘Hourly Wage of cruise ship musician’ he explains that musicians tend to earn $4,000 (£3,129) a month while working for one and a half hours a day, six days a week. So, in total he does ‘just nine hours work a week, which equates to approximately just 36 hours a month. In other words, that’s $111.11 an hour. Another cruise ship employee, Amber, on TikTok, notes that you usually have to pay for Wi-Fi, but its discounted compared to the price for guests. (Nolan, 024) (Battison, 2024)
When you work onboard a ship, you are exempt from paying UK income tax, as long as you meet the qualifying criteria and fill in your tax return correctly. When you work as a seafarer, you are paid without any tax or national insurance being deducted, because cruise ships and other vessels employ their crew from all over the world, so it is up to each individual seafarer to declare their income to their country.
You don’t have to pay any tax due to the Seafarers’ Earning Deduction legislation, Deduction HMRC will still expect you to declare your income by completing a seafarers’ self-assessment tax return. Although the Seafarers’ Earning Deduction means your earnings will most likely be exempt from income tax, you must still complete your tax return if you’re going to avoid any nasty penalties. (Flying Fish, n.d.) In order to complete your seafarers’ self-assessment tax return and apply for SED, you’ll need to submit some records like a photocopy from your discharge book, P60/P45 from any PAYE employment during the tax year, wage slips or bank statements showing the gross amounts received to HMRC:
Looking at this research, there is a large benefit to working on a cruise ship, as the pay is good, and you take home what you earn, meaning you can save a lot of money as expenses are a low whilst working. Most travel – like roundtrip flights, hotels and transfers is covered by the cruise line. Meals are all provided at crew buffets, restaurants and other eating places on board the ship and lodging is free, with a regular cleaner. Health insurance is covered whilst onboard, as cruise ships have their own medical centres (Landau Music, n.d.)) So, you don’t have to worry about paying expensive medical fees abroad. It depends on the cruise liner, but employees have access to their own ‘crew bar’ where alcoholic drinks are ‘heavily discounted’. (TikTok @jackcruisearound) therefore saving more money. To limit unnecessary expenses whilst on board is best to stop payments on land before setting sail, like rent, car expenses, health insurance, Wi-Fi tv licence, as they won’t be needed when you’re on the ship and it’s a waste of money. (Landau Music, n.d.)
After researching this career thoroughly, a lot of musicians have taken to social media to earn some extra money on the side documenting their life. Most of these are short videos and pictures on TikTok or Instagram, or longer vlogs on YouTube. This helps them reach out to a wider audience and share their work. With creator programmes and monetization on certain platforms, this can lead to some extra income on the side. This benefits them, by making them more well known, potentially reaching someone that wants to hire them for a future gig.
Career-wise, there are some opportunities for a promotion, but taking a promotion means less playing and more admin. Most people begin their careers at sea in an entry level job. All supervisory or management positions prefer the job seeker to have previous shipboard experience. To gain a promotion, you will need training and skills. Sometimes speaking a second language and emergency training is important depending on the role. (cruise ship jobs, n.d.) As a musician, you can be promoted from musicians to band leader where you are in charge of the bands and organising them, but this is fairly rare.
With any job comes intellectual and personal challenges. Whilst researching and interviewing people, one of the biggest challenges working as a musician on a cruise ship is being away from home, living with strangers and only getting one night off a week (Berklee College of Music, n.d.) When you’re spending 4-6 months on a ship you don’t get leave or see family very much, if at all. This can feel very overwhelming and lonely especially if you are not friends with you cabin mate. I talked to Reginald Kelvin Dilworth
Q- Are there any challenges presented, working as a musician on a cruise ship?
- “Yes, the amount of playing that we do throughout the week can sometimes be taxing especially for the brass-wind players. We usually play 6 days a week, but sometimes all 7 days depending on the schedule. We don’t get a lot of rest time or days off. We gotta have good endurance/ chops (lips) and take care of ourselves. I had built mine up when I was on the ship.”
“We don’t have as much freedom compared to life on land. We are pretty much on the ship all day unless we are at a port but only for a limited time. Some people get homesick. If anything happens to a family back home (like sickness, injury or death) you can’t be there to physically to support or attend a funeral. The first two weeks is usually pretty difficult for crew members to adjust to ship life but once you get past the first few weeks it gets much easier. By the time I got into my week 3 it got much easier for me. My biggest challenge was learning the music from 7 different shows within a short time and dealing with seasickness/migraines” (Dilworth, 2024)
Contrary to these challenges, there are many benefits of working on a Cruise Ship. Everything is included, so everything you earn goes straight to you, which means it is a great way to save and earn money. You get to travel the world whilst being paid do it, and sometimes can schedule contracts around places that you want to travel and visit. Performers are allowed to get off at ports when docked, as ther only work when passengers are on the ship. (Landau Music, n.d.) All meals are cooked for you from the staff buffet, and rooms are cleaned, leaving you with much more time in the day to practise and perform. As you’re with the same set of people for up to 6 months, there is a great opportunity to make friends for life. In addition, there is a lot of opportunity to collaborate with other musicians and make professional contracts, (Landau Music, n.d.) which can help with future employment.
References
Battison, J. (2024) Musician working onboard cruise ship shares incredible amount of money they make per hour https://www.ladbible.com/community/cruise-ship-worker-salary-money-how-much-723218-20240312
Berklee College of Music (no date) Cruise Ship Musician https://www.berklee.edu/careers/roles/cruise-ship-musician
Dilworth, R.K. (2024) [Text]
Cruise ship Jobs (no date) Promotions and Careers in the Cruise Industry https://cruiseshipjobs.com/career-advice/promotions/
Flying Fish (no date) Is working on a cruise ship tax free? https://www.flyingfishonline.com/news/do-cruise-ship-employees-pay-taxes/#:~:text=Although%20the%20Seafarers’%20Earning%20Deduction,to%20avoid%20any%20nasty%20penalties
Indeed Editorial Team (2024) 7 cruise ship and cruise ship performer jobs (with benefits) https://uk.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/cruise-ship-performer-jobs
Landau Music (no date) An In-Depth Look at Cruise Ship Musician Salaries and Perks https://www.landaumusic.com/cruise-ship-musician-salary/#:~:text=Starting%20cruise%20ship%20musician%20salaries,for%20what%20you%20can%20expect
National Careers Service (no date) Musician https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/classical-musician#:~:text=Whatever%20your%20musical%20genre%2C%20you,classical%20music
Nolan, J. (2024) Hourly wage of a cruise ship musician😮🛳️ ##cruiseshipmusician##cruiseshipcrew##seafarer##money##livingwage##musiciansalary##bestjobever##imamusician##belowdeck##jackcruisesaround##virginvoyages##royalcaribbean##norwegiancruise [February 2024] https://www.tiktok.com/@jackcruisesaround/video/7339199242952527136
