How Much Do You Make? The REAL Salary of a Cruise Ship Musician

Inside The Music - my vlog about all things relating to my multi-faceted music career and my life in general.
April 14, 2024
In this video, I cover the questions I get asked the most about my life as a cruise ship musician: "how much do you make?" I also discuss the different job options for musicians onboard ships. I go into the responsibilities, salaries, and perks of Lounge Musicians, Party Bands, Pit Orchestra, Production Cast, Guest Entertainers and everything in between.
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davidpaigemusic
www.davidpaigemusic.com
Started Channel - September 26, 2009
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1,000 Subscribers - March 13, 2023
1,500 Subscribers - August 7, 2023
2,000 Subscribers - November 25, 2023

[@TheWanderfullLife]

We are from Chicago too and just missed you guys. We sailed the Viva the end of January. Hopefully, we’ll see you on another cruise in the future! Just subscribed. 😁

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

I'm sorry we missed you guys! We were here August 4, 2023 through January 7, 2024 and then just signed back on in March! It was a small window, but we missed you by just a few weeks on either side!

[@FraserAtSea]

This is so interesting - thanks for the 'behind the scenes' view to this aspect of cruise ship life. I've actually always wondered how much cruise ship entertainment make, so thanks for this!

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Thank you for watching! I have a whole bunch of videos about our life onboard! I’ve been watching your channel too, so it’s really great to see you popping up here!

[@FraserAtSea]

@@DavidPaigeMusic oh, sweet - hi hi! 👋🏼

[@BarbaraAnnLittle]

Very helpful David, thank you!

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Thank you for watching! I’m glad you found this helpful 🤘🏻

[@danieldsouza4528]

Good one David.

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Thank you Daniel!! Miss you man! How have you been? Are you on a ship now?

[@michaelking42]

Great video thanks mate. I used to work on cruise ships 20 years ago, what a great experience. The numbers you cite seem inline with what they were 20 years ago. I was the art auctioneer on board and met my wife on a cruise. I'm not sure if you mentioned it, but US citizens pay tax I believe when on the ships, so you don't see many working onboard. I'm Australian and did not pay taxes so the money was good and unmolested by politicians. I tell you, they were some fun times onboard.

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Thanks for checking this video out!! I love that you and your wife met onboard! What an incredible life! It makes me so sad that the wages haven't changed much over the past 20 years, but that's not just this

[@michaelking42]

@@DavidPaigeMusic Yes it is a shame about the pay, but the way I used to look at it was that the money was savings, not pay. Meaning, I didn't have to spend a dime if I did not want to, and 100% of the money could go to savings. And as you say, with the exchange rate for most staff, the money was incredible. Not too many Americans on board working, but lots of pretend Americans, or American Light....Canadians. I need to go on a cruise again, I sure miss it.

[@camerondunbar1738]

G'day David, nice honest video. An insight for those interested in the ship life. Which company are you working for? I have worked with Princess since 2018, they have their pros and cons of course. You mentioned that soloist guitar is paid quite well and offered privileges with your company? On Princess we have actually been down graded (SOLO guitar) In light of assistant music managers taking priority, over solo cabins. Anyhow, hope to hear back from you. And wishing you a great contract ! Cheers, cam

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Thanks for watching! I appreciate that! We are currently on Norwegian, and have also worked for Carnival in the past. Both of these companies have a little bit better situations for the soloists than for the bands and duos. For Carnival, the soloists got a nicer room, while all the musicians had the same privileges. On this particular ships, the soloists got the same type of room as the rest of the musicians, but they did get higher privileges. I believe both companies starting rates were a little higher for the soloists, as well.

[@bassfacebass3497]

Love and Miss You Guys!!!

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Love and miss you guys too!!

[@tarkheenameyer5499]

Really missed having you on Prima. We just debarked from her and we we were not as impressed with the duet they had there.

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

We miss you here on the Viva! Sorry it wasn’t the same, but we are so grateful for the complement! It means a lot! Hopefully we see each other again on the seas real soon!

[@rockybalboa8932]

​@@DavidPaigeMusic Hi David.. How are you?.. I wanna ask you. Is there an age limit for working as a musician in cruise ship? I'm 50 y.o..Thank you so much..

[@MHSMagicLuver]

Saw you on elation back in December 2022 (I’m from Jacksonville). Yeah those pay seem low but then I remember you get free room and food. When I was younger and went on cruises it was my dream to work in the kids clubs on a ship. I never did and now I’m a medical provider but it would have been interesting. I’m also a dancer (well from 3-18) and it would be cool to be a dancer on a ship but most likely not good enough for what they would want :p.

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

There is a medical team onboard as well! Not sure about those jobs but they exist! There are opportunities in the kids club and as a dancer as well! I know that the dancers are usually highly trained and conditioned. I don’t know your background, but it may be possible to dust off the old character shoes and get a gig! Also, those starting rates aren’t the rates one should accept. Negotiate up for sure.

[@Ray9s]

Great video and thanks for sharing such useful info. I'm a solo musician and looking into playing cruise ships but my wife does not play or sing. Have you seen any musicians bring their spouse along? I'm thinking perhaps she could get some other kind of job on board.

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Thanks for watching! It’s. Great his, so I’m glad you’re considering it! The only way would be to have your spouse onboard is to have them get a job with the same company on the same ship. Either that or they can purchase a cruise and you can see them when they’re onboard. We know some people who have jobs on the same ship but in different departments, so it’s possible, but I don’t know much about the logistics

[@MB-en3vx]

Thank you for the info! It’s really helpful. I have never done anything remotely close to this and I really want to embark on such an adventure. How do I even go about signing up for this? Do I need an agent? Is there a specific website where I can apply?

[@phuquoclivemusic4348]

Yes , i just checked a week ago on Disney cruises website

[@juniorhervecastille9963]

Great videos 🔥🔥can you recommend where to apply as a cruise ship Musician ?

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

@@juniorhervecastille9963 thanks for watching! I recommend you try everything you can. Find every cruise ship music agency and apply. You’ll need to have done a bit of research to know what kind of musician job you’re applying for. For instance, as an individual- are you applying to be part of an ensemble? Are you looking for a soloist gig? Or are you trying to bring on an existing act? Knowing what the ships offer is the first step and then being able to find your place in there is helpful for the agents to do their jobs. Honestly, send your promo reel, your resume, and your song list to AS MANY agencies as possible, but in order to not burn any bridges, make sure you know what you’re offering is ready to go on ships. Feel free to message me on instagram if you need more direction @davidpaigemusic

[@Swan1manband]

I hear from most entertainment directors and musicians that you need a great live video for your audition submission but I’ve also seen some musicians just shoot at home and now they’ve got a cruise ship gig. What exactly would they like to see?

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

I can’t say exactly what a casting director will want. What I can say is that the link below is the video that has landed us 3 consecutive contracts. We recorded it live in our living room: David & Stephanie Promo Reel 2022 kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4G0YZypptubpaM

[@Swan1manband]

@@DavidPaigeMusic I appreciate that. Thanks

[@DSA.Productions]

Are there any cruises that accept french horn players, or even trumpets? Brass is my go-to but I cannot for the life of me find any opportunity that calls for a horn player other than extremely selective orchestras that I have no shot at getting in

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

I’m not entirely sure. Perhaps certain show orchestras would need horns, maybe a jazz ensemble. I did a quick google search and found something called musicians for cruises (dot) com. Maybe that will help?

[@SSN706]

Are there ever any opportunities for cover bands or original music bands? Maybe for just a few weeks to a month contract?

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

There are! …kinda… So there are opportunities to participate in festivals at sea (not a trademarked name or anything. Just music festivals that happen at sea). These will usually just be a long weekend or a week long cruise. Definitely not a month long. From time to time, production companies will charter out cruise ships and there are opportunities for original bands to get booked or to buy you way onto the festival (just like real-life!) I believe that these opportunities are very much ticket sales based. So if you can sell a lot of cruise tickets, you may make some money, but this is hearsay as I don’t have any direct experience with this. Another option is to get booked at a convention at sea. Again, this is a chartered out situation, but a friend of mine just had his band booked for a nursing convention that chartered out a Carnival ship. They got paid a decent chunk of money, had their flights taken care of, and had guest entertainer status for the sailing. Yet another option is to chase the elusive guest entertainer gig. You’ll need an agent to work those out for you. There are agents who specialize in this. You can look into these opportunities and find yourself a nice gig!

[@SSN706]

@@DavidPaigeMusic Thanks for taking the time to write this up. Appreciated. Quick follow up: Is your friend's band an original band or do they play covers? Or mix? Curious what kind of entertainment a convention cruise looks for.

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

@@SSN706 they are a cover band called Fueled by Emo. The convention wanted that specific niche for the entertainment

[@michaelvitale4029]

Interesting. Something I’ve always wondered is what do you do when you’re not performing ?? And a musician doesn’t play all day, right ? Surely you aren’t doing the usual crew activities, aside from emergency training/responsibilities.

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

I made this video about our first contract. While some things have changed with a different company, much is still the same. kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXjdaXZ5gKiIbMksi=Ob3pdf5z4dtQthmb

[@ryandaihatsu165]

Did cruise ship allow us to bring starlink

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

So, Starlink is a satellite internet provider. I don’t know a lot about it, but I assume it’s kinda like xfinity back in the states. I cannot provide my own xfinity, I have to purchase internet from the provider. The question may be beyond my ability to answer, because I don’t know anything about it, but if you have the ability to receive internet from the Starlink satellites without the ship’s help, then I have no idea what the answer is. If you are asking about the ship, then I can tell you that the ship does have Starlink internet that it provides for its guests and crew and that internet on ships is expensive

[@ryandaihatsu165]

@@DavidPaigeMusic thx man for ur answer

[@MRkeys1234]

Do you get paid for 12 months of the year? So you’re getting paid for the 6 weeks or so pto that you have built up?

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Wouldn’t that be nice! No, we get paid for the time we are on the ship. During “vacation” we are unemployed. No income unless you get a temporary job somewhere else.

[@alemon22]

no experience or qualification and having good voice is still acceptable to sing? they will ask u to record to check out ur singing or sing there? many thanks and i'll appreciate ur reply

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Experience and qualification are absolutely required… My wife and I both have music degrees and extensive performance careers. In order to audition for the job, a resume is required. While a degree is not necessarily required and a combined 40 years of professional performance experience is not necessarily required - the statement “no experience or qualification” is inaccurate. And the cruise line won’t hire you and fly you out hoping you can sing. That is determined several months before you ever step foot on a ship.

[@pillowfighter86]

2,300-2500 a month each seems so low --- is that net or gross?

[@darrellq6954]

Not bad for 4 hours a day….beats busking at a coffee shop…😂

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

It certainly beats busking. Not denying that at all. I’m also not necessarily complaining about it. However, the 4 performance hours a day are not all of the work that goes into this job. That’s a pretty big misconception. There are rehearsals, department meetings, individual practice, time spent creating and developing set lists and unique shows, time spent learning new material. Not to mention the training and practice that put a musician in a position to be able to land the gig. There is a lifetime of dedication to a craft that goes into getting a job like this. I’ve worked in a restaurant before and on my first day, I was taking tables. I’m not saying that is an easy job, but there is no previous training or experience required for many jobs on ships outside of entertainment and the bridge.

[@darrellq6954]

@@DavidPaigeMusic I took the NCL Encore last summer to Alaska from Seattle.....So beautiful....you are much appreciated when I hear music flow nightly