Heya,
So I have decided to start a blog, because I'm getting on a cruise in a few weeks, and I feel my experience could be helpful, or at least interesting for people who are looking to take a similar path in the future...
So I have decided to start a blog, because I'm getting on a cruise in a few weeks, and I feel my experience could be helpful, or at least interesting for people who are looking to take a similar path in the future...
Negatives
The "positives" of doing a cruise are pretty obvious - Paid to do what you love, travel the world, meet new people etc. So I'm going to jump straight to a couple of the cons that went through my head when embarking on this opportunity and how I think about each one.
"Out of the Scene": This was probably the biggest con that I struggled with - having just graduated from uni, willing and ready to jump on any gig that came my way (and meeting people who could give them to me) not being in the country does prove quite a dilemma to furthering your "land career". The way I see it is that this is something that have really wanted to do as a musician, and there was/is always going to be a gig/tour/show on that I "could" do instead of the cruise... But these opportunities are going to be far better and more plentiful in 5 years time (hopefully!) So while I am missing stuff now, it's nowhere near the quantity or quality of stuff I'd be missing if I put it off for any length of time!
"Musical Soul - Destroyed!": This is a "Kind-of-joke-but-not-really" that I've found gets tossed around about cruise musicians. Playing the same music week after week, not playing anything all that challenging or musically gratifying... And to be honest I can see where they're coming from, but I'm actually pretty keen to play some "lame" music for a change! Not that that's all I'll be playing (I'll come back to that later) but, I think it's going to be really fun! The music is only as lame as you make it! One of the challenges of playing this music is to keep it interesting and fun for both yourself and the audience?!
"Out of the Scene": This was probably the biggest con that I struggled with - having just graduated from uni, willing and ready to jump on any gig that came my way (and meeting people who could give them to me) not being in the country does prove quite a dilemma to furthering your "land career". The way I see it is that this is something that have really wanted to do as a musician, and there was/is always going to be a gig/tour/show on that I "could" do instead of the cruise... But these opportunities are going to be far better and more plentiful in 5 years time (hopefully!) So while I am missing stuff now, it's nowhere near the quantity or quality of stuff I'd be missing if I put it off for any length of time!
"Musical Soul - Destroyed!": This is a "Kind-of-joke-but-not-really" that I've found gets tossed around about cruise musicians. Playing the same music week after week, not playing anything all that challenging or musically gratifying... And to be honest I can see where they're coming from, but I'm actually pretty keen to play some "lame" music for a change! Not that that's all I'll be playing (I'll come back to that later) but, I think it's going to be really fun! The music is only as lame as you make it! One of the challenges of playing this music is to keep it interesting and fun for both yourself and the audience?!
Agency
In my very limited experience so far, I believe it is near impossible to get a gig on a boat with out an agent/agency of sorts to start with. After looking around/asking advice I went with Lime Entertainment. Of all the agencies I had contact with, these guys have been the best. Sam and Fede, who are the two I have been in contact with have been amazingly helpful in every aspect of the process - especially the audition! Even though it is primarily a sight reading audition, they gave me the flute and clarinet music a whole day in advance!
Liner
Having not been on the boat yet, I don't have a whole lot of knowledge about different liners and what they offer, but from what I have found, most boats have a very minimal band set up - Rhythm section, 1 horn and vocalist. I went in under the impression I'd be playing with 6+ horns every night, but apparently Carnival are one of the only liners that offer this, and they are some of the more sought after contracts.
My cruise is with the Holland America Liner (HAL). Having not heard great things about the liner and how they treat staff, Lime have assured me that I am on one of their "Elite Ships", and that as a musician, I get "Officer" ranking; ie "Access all Areas". We shall see....
My cruise is with the Holland America Liner (HAL). Having not heard great things about the liner and how they treat staff, Lime have assured me that I am on one of their "Elite Ships", and that as a musician, I get "Officer" ranking; ie "Access all Areas". We shall see....
Music
Again, having not been on the ship yet, I haven't got much of an idea of what the actual performing situation is going to be like, but from the music they have sent me, I'm actually a little bit excited about it! Having spent four years focusing on classical saxophone (which I really enjoyed and got a lot from!) It's going to be really different playing lounge jazz/pop/show music/whatever-they-thow-at-us!
REpetition and Boredom
So, I've been told that cruise musicians get very bored, very quickly because it is a lot of repetition of routine and repertoire. I have devised a plan to overcome this (success of said plan is to be seen.) My plan is to use this Cruise not only as an amazing opportunity to see the world and get paid to do it, but also for self improvement! I am planning on continuing on my health kick - taking advantage of the gym and pool on board in an effort not to succumb to too much delicious food and cheap beer. The other thing I'm quite excited about, actually, is the amount of time I'm going to have to practice!! I've got a lot of repertoire I want to have under way by the time I get back (including a possible very exciting collaboration that could be happening in the second half of this year.. Watch this space!) As well as really getting stuck into flute and clarinet, and furthering my jazz chops (which I'll get to put into practice every night!).
That's the plan.... We'll see what happens....
Well they're the main things that I've found/been thinking about during/since getting this gig. All in all, pretty excited for this experience and looking forward to new people, new places and new adventures!
That's the plan.... We'll see what happens....
Well they're the main things that I've found/been thinking about during/since getting this gig. All in all, pretty excited for this experience and looking forward to new people, new places and new adventures!
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