A comprehensive list of salaries for jobs in cruise ship entertainment?
Look no further.
Read on, and educate yourself!
There are loads of different roles for musicians on board, so let’s break it down by position.
Range for houseband (sight-reading instrumentalists): $2400-$3200/month
Range for instrumental soloists: $2600-$3400/month
Range for vocal-instrumental soloists: $3000-$5000/month
Range for groups (duos, trios, bands): $2300-$3500/month
Range for vocalists: $3000-4600/month
Bear in mind that salary varies from cruise line to cruise line, and factors like past experience, quality of promo reel / audition videos, years spent working for a particular cruise line, and demand or urgent need for a specific position all play a role in determining your salary.
Range for cast dancers: $2600-$3200/month
Range for cast vocalists: $4000-$5400/month
Similar to musicians, cast salaries vary from line to line, with factors like past experience, quality of promo reel / audition videos, years spent working for a particular cruise line, and demand or urgent need for a specific position all playing a role in salary determination.
Headliners – including vocalists, instrumentalists, variety acts, and more – typically earn between $1700-3400 per week on board.
Duos, trios, and quartets generally average $1500-2000 per member per week.
And local acts, who typically join the ship while in port, perform their act, and disembark prior to the ship’s sailing, tend to earn between $1000-$2000 for the day’s work.
Comedians – a specific subset of headliners – typically earn between $1300-$2600 per week on board.
Technicians – including sound techs, light techs, automation techs, backstage managers, and more – tend to earn between $2000-$3000 per month.
DJs generally earn salaries between $2100-$3500 per month on board. The considerable difference between the low end and high end of this range has to do with experience, mixing skills, emcee skills, repertoire, and the ability to truly perform and entertain during sets.
Once you join a ship and begin your first contract, you’ll learn so much about the world of cruise ships – information that’s not only specific to your job on board, but lots of general information about the entire entertainment department.
You might find that there’s a position on board that might actually be an even better fit for you than your current role. A sound tech might want to become a guitar soloist. A pianist might become interested in the piano bar entertainer gig. A houseband vocalist might watch a headliner perform and think “That’s what I was truly meant to do!”
There are also opportunities for promotion: musicians can become bandleaders and musical directors; dancers can become dance captains; techs can become A/V managers.
If you discover that the cruise ship lifestyle really resonates with you, and you can see yourself sailing for years to come, there are all sorts of ways to grow your career on board.
Assignments on board generally range from 2-7 months. Most cast contracts are 6+ months, whereas some musician contracts are as short as 2 or 3 months. Many lines will want a full-contract commitment – approximately 6 months – for a performer’s first time on board, but once they’ve proven themselves and have all the correct paperwork, there’s some flexibility in shortening subsequent contracts. As well, some contracts include land-based rehearsals, while others fly the performers or groups directly to the ship and have them begin working and performing right away.
It’s important to note that a contract is one continuous length of time, without any sort of vacation or work break in the middle. It’s sometimes possible to extend your contract, should you wish to work for longer than your assigned finish date, but you can decide that for yourself once you’ve spent some time on board.
It depends – sometimes you do, and sometimes you don’t. Certain lines only work with agencies. And certain positions require all hiring to be through agents; headliners are often a good example of this.
Other lines do hire performers directly, with no agency representation.
The many advantages of using an agency – especially one with many partners, both on land and at sea – include a larger number of job options and opportunities, guidance to create the best possible demo reel and overall application, dedicated assistance with onboarding paperwork [visas, medicals, Seaman’s Books, etc], preparation and advice prior to joining, and continuous support while on board.
Your costs will be minimal compared to a normal life on land, but will vary according to your lifestyle on the ship. Accommodation is completely free — no rent payments! As well, all services in crew areas (food, laundry, etc) are free, with the exception of discounted alcohol, soda, and bottled water sold specifically for crew members. Goods and services for passengers are usually also offered to crew members at discount prices, including items from the gift shop (jewellery, suntan lotion, cigarettes, etc), coffee and pastries from the coffee shop (you can make coffee in the crew cafeteria for free), massages and haircuts from the spa, and alcohol from the bars. However, if you choose to simply eat three meals from the crew cafeteria and stay away from the bar at night, you’ll probably spend close to $0 on a daily basis.
You will get paid once or twice per month. For most positions on most lines, the cruise line pays you via direct deposit. You’ll set up your account once on board, which can be accessed online, and then your paychecks are automatically deposited to that account; you’ll also receive an international debit card. There are ATMs on the ship for you to withdraw cash, and the online access makes money transfers and the managing of your account straightforward and easy. There are a handful of positions where we pay your salary; in these cases, we’ll transfer your salary directly to your bank account of choice. All of our partner cruise lines pay in US dollars.
It depends on your nationality and the country in which the cruise line conducts business. U.S. citizens working on U.S.-based cruise lines will usually have a percentage of their salary automatically deducted from each paycheck; most other nationalities will not, but may be required to pay taxes by their respective governments as long as they must declare their income. Non-U.S. citizens should check with an accountant from his or her own country for more information.
It depends! We can’t speak for other agencies, but we can talk about ourselves. Lime has many cruise line partners, and arrangements vary from line to line. Whenever possible, we don’t charge our performers, but sometimes, we do charge commission (a small percentage of one’s salary on board). In these cases, we do our best to increase our performers’ starting salaries to offset any commission owed. It’s also worth noting that we audition, confirm contracts, assist with all required documentation, and provide all pre-boarding information before our performers are required to pay a cent.
The many advantages of using an agency – especially one with many partners, both on land and at sea – include a larger number of job options and opportunities, guidance to create the best possible demo reel and overall application, dedicated assistance with onboarding paperwork [visas, medicals, Seaman’s Books, etc], preparation and advice prior to joining, and continuous support while on board.
Agencies vary greatly in their size, connections, opportunities, personal attention, and the kindness and care they show their performers – make sure to do your research!
