Members Vito Corleone Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 So we were doing this wedding faire yesterday and our booth was set up next to a travel agent selling cruise packages. She asks us if we'd be interested in playing on a cruise ship. I explained to her all the reasons why we wouldn't---we're not the kind of band that can go out for 3 months at a time, and I've heard all the horror stories about how the bands are an employee stuffed in the bottom deck, not allow to commensurate with the paying passengers, etc etc. She's telling me no: they have deals where the band just does one cruise and is basically like any paying passenger: nice room, we can bring the family, do what we want all day long, etc etc. I'm thinking she can't possible know what the {censored} she is talking about. This sounds like a paid (or at the very least free??) vacation. Has anyone ever heard of this or done something like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 yes there is a band in my area that does this usually once a year. They go for about a week and its free they have to play (I believe) 3X during that week for about 2- 2 1/2 hours each time. The rest of the time its pretty much a vacation for them. Not sure but I think the catch is they much get enough "fans" to come along cuz every year they promote their "cruise with the band" event. I have been trying for years to get my band to agree on doing something similar but hasn't happened yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted April 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 yes there is a band in my area that does this usually once a year. They go for about a week and its free they have to play (I believe) 3X during that week for about 2- 2 1/2 hours each time. The rest of the time its pretty much a vacation for them. Not sure but I think the catch is they much get enough "fans" to come along cuz every year they promote their "cruise with the band" event. I have been trying for years to get my band to agree on doing something similar but hasn't happened yet. Yeah, she said something about playing 3X a week. I didn't ask her about money at the time and later it occurred to me that if what she said was for real, it must almost certainly be a "play in exchange for the free cruise" deal. Which would be cool. We couldn't provide any (many) paying cruisers to tag along with us, but if we could all take a cruise for a week and bring our spouses along, that's definately something we'd be into... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 yes there is a band in my area that does this usually once a year. They go for about a week and its free they have to play (I believe) 3X during that week for about 2- 2 1/2 hours each time. The rest of the time its pretty much a vacation for them. Not sure but I think the catch is they much get enough "fans" to come along cuz every year they promote their "cruise with the band" event. I have been trying for years to get my band to agree on doing something similar but hasn't happened yet. Yes... there are some smaller boutique cruise lines that ship out of NYC that work with an agency to book entertainment this way. But as Jeff said the band is on the hook to fill a block of rooms. In turn the rooms are offered as a 'group discount'. They are usually 3-5 day cruises and the band is setup in either a nightclub or banquet room. We've thought about doing one. We could just never coordinate schedules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIMKEYS Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 So we were doing this wedding faire yesterday and our booth was set up next to a travel agent selling cruise packages.She asks us if we'd be interested in playing on a cruise ship. I explained to her all the reasons why we wouldn't---we're not the kind of band that can go out for 3 months at a time, and I've heard all the horror stories about how the bands are an employee stuffed in the bottom deck, not allow to commensurate with the paying passengers, etc etc.She's telling me no: they have deals where the band just does one cruise and is basically like any paying passenger: nice room, we can bring the family, do what we want all day long, etc etc.I'm thinking she can't possible know what the {censored} she is talking about. This sounds like a paid (or at the very least free??) vacation. Has anyone ever heard of this or done something like this? Its called a music cruise. songwriters put them on for their fan bases. Larry joe taylor does one . Delbert M does one. I am sure quite a few people do them. Its a promo and good will type of thing for the fan base. I played one last jan. The nuts have enough of a fan base to get one started if you can get the fans off the dime for say 1500 a couple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jwlussow Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 We did a cruise like that back in the late 80's. We were treated like a regular guest and invited to all the regular parties. We played a couple of nights on a 5 night cruise to the Bahamas. We also played in Nassau and Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. We didn't get to play at the casino but that was fine with us. Our "land" gigs were outdoors in plazas of sort. I highly recommend doing this. Great experience but bring cash as the food is free but the Miami Whammys and the Bahama Mamas aren't. Yes, we lost a lot of money doing that gig but it was well worth it. I'm pretty sure we drank over twice what we got paid. It was an old ship, SS Emerald Seas, and not really sure whose flag they sailed under. The crew all had French & German accents. Sailed out of Miami. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted April 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 Its called a music cruise. songwriters put them on for their fan bases. Larry joe taylor does one . Delbert M does one. I am sure quite a few people do them. Its a promo and good will type of thing for the fan base. Ahh...requires a FAN BASE....lol....leaves us out then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIMKEYS Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 Ahh...requires a FAN BASE....lol....leaves us out then... I am sure you have a fan base , but may have a hard time connecting with them to get their names on the dotted line. PVT events like weddings tend to insulate you a little from the people in the room. They are there for the wedding. You are an accessory to the wedding, not the main event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marc G Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 I have a friend that worked on cruises in the Caribbean and in the Far East and from what he told me the musicians were treated better than the regular staff in that they didn't have the share rooms and they could go the "public" bars etc where the regualr staff were not allowed to go... at the same time they could go to the staff only locations etc.... that was about 10 years ago though... don't know if it's the same deal... he used to go 3-6 months at a time though.. not the one week deal the other guys are talking about here... I can tell you one thing... my wife and I went on a Cruise at the end of January this year and there was one band for the week we were there and they had a SERIOUS repertoire, we had to pass them going and coming to dinner each night in the casino and not once did I hear them play the same song twice and they played from Blondie to Eric Johnson... was crazy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIMKEYS Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 I have a friend that worked on cruises in the Caribbean and in the Far East and from what he told me the musicians were treated better than the regular staff in that they didn't have the share rooms and they could go the "public" bars etc where the regualr staff were not allowed to go... at the same time they could go to the staff only locations etc.... that was about 10 years ago though... don't know if it's the same deal... he used to go 3-6 months at a time though.. not the one week deal the other guys are talking about here... I can tell you one thing... my wife and I went on a Cruise at the end of January this year and there was one band for the week we were there and they had a SERIOUS repertoire, we had to pass them going and coming to dinner each night in the casino and not once did I hear them play the same song twice and they played from Blondie to Eric Johnson... was crazy... NO kidding on that one we did ,, the guys that worked for the boat spent a ton of time on stage. They must have played three shows. See them on the lido deck in the afternoon. then around the dinner hour ,, and on into the night. I bet they played 8 hours a day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kmart Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 Something to consider Guido... With all the super-bug debilitating viruses afflicting hundreds at a time becoming more and more common on cruises, I'm not sure I'd be interested in taking the risk of a couple days, much less a week on a floating petrie dish... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted April 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 Something to consider Guido... With all the super-bug debilitating viruses afflicting hundreds at a time becoming more and more common on cruises, I'm not sure I'd be interested in taking the risk of a couple days, much less a week on a floating petrie dish... Nah. I'm not a big worrier of that sort of stuff. Millions of people take cruises every year with no problem. A few hundred get sick and it makes the news. I'm a Nevadan; I'll play the numbers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jwlussow Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 ...look at kmart's avatar. He wears a gas mask just playing regular gigs.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Crustee Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 Something to consider Guido... With all the super-bug debilitating viruses afflicting hundreds at a time becoming more and more common on cruises, I'm not sure I'd be interested in taking the risk of a couple days, much less a week on a floating petrie dish... no {censored}. We did a 5 day last year. 3 days in, the wife gets sick as hell. Once we returned, I missed a week of work cuz she passed it on to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted April 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 Over 10 million people take cruise ships every year. The odds of getting sick on a cruise ship are no worse than spending any degree of time in any closed-in space like an office or a school. Wash your hands regularly and you should be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sbrett Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 If I skipped 'vacations' due to the off chance that I might get sick, then I'd probably never go on vacation. I've been on quite a few cruises with no problems. My wife did get sick one time, but that was probably more from kissing the frog statue at Senor Frog's in Cozumel ...the things you do when you start drinking real margaritas at 10 a.m. Anyway, I'd take a cruise gig in a heartbeat, and the possibility of getting sick wouldn't even be a factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted April 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 ...the things you do when you start drinking real margaritas at 10 a.m. I swear...it wasn't the ALCOHOL that made me sick...I got food poisoning or something.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sbrett Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 I swear...it wasn't the ALCOHOL that made me sick...I got food poisoning or something.... Ha, believe me...alcohol did not bring on what this poor lady got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tim_7string Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 ...look at kmart's avatar. He wears a gas mask just playing regular gigs.... That's actually Clem Burke from Blondie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIMKEYS Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 Ha, believe me...alcohol did not bring on what this poor lady got. I was sick two weeks with the {censored} I picked up on a carnival cruise. It kicked my ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jimiv Posted April 30, 2012 Members Share Posted April 30, 2012 no {censored}. We did a 5 day last year. 3 days in, the wife gets sick as hell. Once we returned, I missed a week of work cuz she passed it on to me. No, that's just a cleverly disguised bong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jcpatte2 Posted May 1, 2012 Members Share Posted May 1, 2012 I've been on half a dozen cruises, all through Carnival, and never got sick. Just saying. Except for a little motion sickness and too much drinky drink I've always been good. I wish my fanbase would pony up for something like this. It would be awesome not only to get a "free" vacation but just to have the down time to hang out with folks who come see you play but that you really don't know that well. My $0.02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted May 1, 2012 Moderators Share Posted May 1, 2012 If I skipped 'vacations' due to the off chance that I might get sick, then I'd probably never go on vacation. I've been on quite a few cruises with no problems. My wife did get sick one time, but that was probably more from kissing the frog statue at Senor Frog's in Cozumel ...the things you do when you start drinking real margaritas at 10 a.m. Anyway, I'd take a cruise gig in a heartbeat, and the possibility of getting sick wouldn't even be a factor. She probably caught it from me via the frog. I kissed him too. Well... I assume you mean the one on the mainland before you take the boat over to Cozumel? I made out ferociously with him and I was sick. So, yep, she probably caught it from me. Hot frog, btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted May 1, 2012 Members Share Posted May 1, 2012 My last sax player played a cruise gig for a few years. It depends on the cruise line, but as in his case, if you're hired as a permanent musician, you are indeed treated like an employee- below the waterline cabin, no fraternizing with guests, lots of boring hours between shows. The band would rehearse for big shows, the name entertainer would fly in on a helicopter, play the gig and leave. The band also played in smaller configurations around the ship.Doesn't sound like what you'd be doing, though. You would be a subcontracted entertainer exchanging services, not a hired cruise line employee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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