Any cruise ship performers here?

[Gladius Official]

Solo flamenco fusion act here - trying to determine:

If cruise ships are a suitable market for me to pursue

So, how the best go about that process (reach out to Cruise lines directly? Shop for an agent? Etc..)

Any other experience or pointers you wish to share?  The pay? etc..

Your insight is appreciated!

[daddymack]

We do have a experienced cruise line performer here, let me see if I can get him to swing by...

I would think you should find out who books the talent for the cruise lines, and where they go....flamenco won't be a big sell on an Alaska or West Indies cruise, but the Panama Canal, or Playa Azul/Mexico routes could be a good fit.

 

[Notes_Norton]

I did Cruise Ships back in the late 1980s. Things may have changed since then, but this is how it went for me.

Flamenco Fusion ... I'd try the ships in Miami or Los Angeles first, as many of them go to Latin American ports. We were a duo doing a variety of genres.

I got my promo together, back then it was two Glossy 8x10” pictures, cassette tape, any other promo I had, and letters of recommendation from past gigs. I suspect all that should be on the Internet now. If it were me, I'd have my own website for that, and not a Facebook page.

Back then there were two options, either the main stage, or one of the side lounges. I approached them for one of the side lounges and got the gig (3 weeks with options lasted 3 years until I decided to get off). The music supervisor told me which agency he works with, and gave him a call telling him to expect a contact from me.

I think that call separated me from the other people trying to get on with that agency.

There could have been a better or worse approach, but that's what worked for me.

If you get on the ship, work the ship, this is how I made it work for us.

Here's what worked for us. The first thing we did was check out all the other lounges and tried to give something different. What was missing was 50s-70s rock.

Then we asked if we could be in the Introduction Show on the main stage, which happens the first night of the cruise. The Cruise Director said, “A duo never asked that before, but I'd love to have you."

The first week there, I noticed there was nothing scheduled at all on the ship after the introduction, so I told the guests we are having 50s-70s rock n roll party in our lounge after the show.

That got the guests into our side lounge. The guests usually go to the big rooms first, so they don't find the small ones until the end of the cruise. The ones that liked what we did, came back often during the one week, and we ended up breaking all-time revenue records on the ship for that lounge. The suits in Miami judged how good the band was by how much money was made. They figured if they were spending their money in that lounge, they must have liked the act.

We got rewarded with a passenger sized cabin with a porthole.

We didn't take breaks when the room was jamming, and in turn, on slow nights we made up for it. For example, on “passenger talent show” night, most of the passengers were in the main hall, so we drank coffee until the show was over.

Also, be nice to the crew and all the other employees – and of course to the passengers. If you have the rest of the ship's employees on your side, life is much easier on the ship.

We were new, and not as good and polished as we are now. The other acts on the ship were as good or better than us, so working the ship, trying to maximize the attendance in our lounge, worked to our benefit.

We worked 3 years on Carnival, and in the early 2,000s, when a hurricane closed the places we were gigging at, we did a couple of months on Celebrity. I loved Carnival, they treated us nice, and won't go back to Celebrity. They treated all their staff poorly.

Good luck, and let us know how it works out.

 

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

 

 

[Gladius Official]

Thank you very much for that detailed response, Notes_Norton 

[Notes_Norton]

On 8/11/2023 at 11:51 AM, Gladius Official said:

Thank you very much for that detailed response, Notes_Norton 

You're welcome. Good luck. I hope you get on, it's a good place to perform.

Notes ♫