Agents

Visiting the Acropolis in Athens, Greece

Now moving on to the other A in the series and that is Agents.  Musicians have a choice when applying to work as a musician on a cruise ship.  They can chose to audition for an agent who will represent them to the cruise line, or they can chose to audition for the cruise line directly and handle the process themselves.  I auditioned directly with the cruise line, mostly because I was ignorant and didn't even know that cruise ship agents existed.  I was actually applying for a range of different jobs and treated it like any other application process in that I tracked down the person in charge of hiring and sent a resume and cover letter.  But for those of you in a position to choose, there are pros and cons to each side.

Christmas in Egypt was an experience

Agents: the pro side to hiring an agent is that they will take care of the negotiations between you and the cruise line.  Not that negotiations are very in depth, but they will handle it.  When the musician is looking for their next contract, the agent will contact the cruise line to see what is available.  Communicating while at sea during a contract can sometimes be difficult, especially if there is a significant time different between the ship and the office, so an agent might have better success in that aspect.  The agents are experienced and know the right questions to ask and can help guide a musician through their first contract experience.  Also, the agencies have contacts in many different cruise lines, so the musician has a lot of possibilities to get work.  The bad side is that agents don't work for free.  Usually the agent will take a cut of the musicians salary for their work in representing them.  Some agencies claim that they get their money from the cruise line, kind of a finders fee.  Unfortunately in some countries, some agents were getting money from both sides and let's just say those agencies are not in business anymore.  Also negative side is that agents usually require the musician to sign a contract, so the agent is guaranteed a cut of all future contracts.

Visiting the Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai

Direct Hires: the pro side is that you keep 100% of the money you earn.  You can establish a relationship with the head office of the cruise line and can work together for many years.  I have found that the people in the office are good at communicating and they are really great people.  The negative side to being directly hired is that the musician has to also take care of the business side, which many musicians don't care to do.  Also, the musician will be responsible to make their own contacts, so after working for one cruise line, it would be starting over again to transfer to a different cruise line.  Also, communicating can sometimes prove difficult while at sea during a contract.

My wife and me at the Library of Celsus
in Ephesus, Turkey

My Experience: I have never regretted being directly hired by the cruise line.  I am familiar with the business side of music and completing my own paperwork.  Sometimes it meant that more work fell on my shoulders, but it was nothing that I couldn't handle.  When I was on a ship going to China, the office helped me through the process of securing a Chinese crew visa.  My primary, and only, language is English which is the only language of the main offices, so we have no problems with communication.    I have enjoyed working for the cruise line I have worked for, so I never wanted to look elsewhere and didn't need contacts in other cruise lines.  Also, since my wife and I have worked together during contracts, it was necessary to work with different departments to get placed on the same ship (which thankfully they did!).

Some countries don't have the luxury of choosing whether or not to have an agent, it is pretty much mandatory.  Also, while speaking fluent English is a job requirement (for safety reasons as well as interacting with guests and fellow crew members from all over the world), some musicians don't feel comfortable enough to do business in English.  That is where an agent had help bridge the gap.  The musician can deal with the agent in their native language and then the agent will communicate with the main office of the cruise line in English.  But all in all, my recommendation is to get directly hired if possible.

My wife and me at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem

Getting hired directly will take a little bit of work, but it's not an impossible task.  Also remember to be patient.  Most cruise lines have a whole fleet of ships and each ship may have anywhere from 15 to  30 or more musicians, so you an imagine the number of emails they receive on a daily basis.  Because there are so many people involved, there are lots of personnel issues happening around the world, all of which need their attention.  As for making that initial contact with the office, there are some people selling contact lists to know who to contact to get hired.  I used a much more basic way when I was going about it, I just Googled the cruise line name and their entertainment department.  For example, "Royal Caribbean entertainment" or "Princess cruises entertainment" or "Norwegian cruise line entertainment jobs" or something like that.  Most cruise lines have a separate website for their entertainment division, that is your best starting point.  Look for the person who hires and/or auditions musicians and send them an email with cover letter and resume.  If you don't hear back, follow up nicely but remember that they might be busy and it could take a couple of weeks.

In the end, it is up to each individual musician to make the decision of whether to represent themselves or to hire an agent to do it for them.  There are quite a few variables involved (knowing the business side, being self-sufficient, being good with communication and follow-up, and having adequate English skills, etc.) that go into making that decision.

That does it for the second A, Agents.  So far I have focused solely on the orchestra musicians.  In my next posts I will cover some basics on the other musicians positions available onboard a cruise ship.