Who Is the Typical Cruise Ship Passenger?

Cruise demographics can be an interesting thing.  I have been asked many times to describe the typical cruise passenger.  It's difficult because there are cruising options for everyone; it is not just a vacation for the super wealthy as it was generations ago.  A lot of people ask because they are curious about what to expect when they get onboard when they start to work on a cruise ship.

A line of guests waiting
to board the ship

For one area of musicians, the ship's orchestra, the guest demographics don't change how they do they job to much of an extent.  The ship's orchestra typically performs in the main theater, playing for the production shows along with the ship's singers and dancers as well as with guest entertainers.  Production shows are chosen by a corporate office and tend to stay onboard the same ship for several years.  The guest entertainers are also booked by somebody in the corporate office.  Because of that, the ship's orchestra generally just plays whatever shows they are assigned to perform.  There are a few extra performances around the ship (big band set, jazz jam sessions, singer sets, etc.) but those don't make up a majority of their performance schedule.

The lounge entertainers are where the passenger demographic can make or break their experience.  Whether they be solo entertainers such as in the piano bar or a solo guitarist, or a dance band, trio, or duo, they interact closely with the guests throughout the cruise.  Their freedom to make their own set lists and take specific requests means that the people onboard will impact their performances.  They are hired based on their ability to connect and interact with guests.

My first ship played host to quinceañera parties,
a coming-of-age party to celebrate a girl's 15th birthday.
They were extremely elaborate with gowns that rival
most wedding gowns.  The parties had hundreds of
people every cruise, changing the music preferences.

Cruising is a very diverse industry.  Most people who have cruised before know that the crew come from all corners of the world, typically somewhere between 40-50 different countries, even on a smaller ship.  But what they may not know is the same is usually true for the passengers onboard.  There have been cruises I worked on where there were nearly 40-50 different countries represented by the passengers.  While this makes for a nice collection of cultures, it can be stressful when you need to know what it is each one of them wants to hear.

There are a few generalizations that I have seen hold true over the years.  There will always be exceptions to the rule, but here is a general guide:

1) The longer the cruise, the older the crowd.  There aren't many 25-year-olds that can take off two weeks off from work at a time to go on a vacation.  So when you are looking at your upcoming itinerary and see a 17 day cruise, imagine a retirement home at sea (not everyone, but usually an overwhelming majority).  The same is true for repositioning cruises, which is when the ship changes locations for a season (i.e. Europe in summer and back to the Caribbean for winter).  The ship is at sea a lot and you usually don't see many younger people book a cruise to sit out by the pool all day every day.  The opposite is also true, there is usually a younger, party crowd on the 3 and 4 day cruises.

The sports area on a newer, larger ship.
Complete with rock climbing and basketball.

2) School breaks mean families and a LOT of kids.  The summer season can be brutal on a cruise ship.  The first ship I ever worked on carried on average 4,000 passengers every week.  During the school year we might have had 100 out of the 4,000 be under the age of 18.  But then come summertime and we had cruises with over 1,000 children on the ship.  While they might be well-behaved, that is still a lot of kids.  I remember at the end of summer and seeing the worn out youth staff ready for the school year to begin.  Having a large number of kids also holds true for other school breaks: spring break (which is different from school district to school district and high school to university, so that season is more spread out), Thanksgiving, and winter break.

3) The more expensive the cruise, the fewer children onboard.  The last contract I did was on a small (600 passengers), "luxury" ship and there were hardly any kids onboard, ever.  We didn't even have facilities for them.  The cruise fare was also considerably more than the average 7-day, mainstream cruise in the Caribbean.  Because of that, people didn't want to pay a huge amount to take their kids along with them.  The more kid-friendly, mainstream cruise lines (Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Princess, Norwegian) will usually have some amount of kids year round, as opposed to more upscale cruise lines (Azamara, Crystal, Seabourn, Regents) where kids are not as common at any time of the year.

A restaurant in Grand Cayman giving shots
to what I'm pretty sure where underage kids

4) The itinerary will impact the passengers onboard.  Imagine how many 25-year-olds are waiting in line to take a cruise to Alaska.  While some might, it is generally an older crowd for Alaska season.  Europe and Asia usually see a mix of ages as it is a more itinerary-driven group of passengers who are there to get off the ship and see the sights.  Then the Caribbean can be just about everything from the older people who want to escape the cold, to the younger crowds who want to head down to the beaches and party.  Other factors to consider are the ease of traveling to the home port and the visas required throughout the cruise.  When I was sailing out of Dubai as a home port, we had more British guests than American guests as there were easy, direct flights from the UK compared to the many hours of flying and connections from the US.  Caribbean itineraries will be dominated by passengers from North America looking for fun in the sun.

Do you see separate children's facilities?
Then expect to see kids onboard.

5) The ship will attract a certain demographic.  Stand-up surfing, basketball courts, rock climbing walls, ice skating rinks.  Those features are divisive items on cruise ships.  Some people would never cruise without them, some never cruise with them.  There is a ship for everyone.  Ship layouts are available online, so check them out and it will give you a hint to expect.  See children's facilities, then expect to find kids.  If you see basketball courts and ice skating rinks, expect to see families and an overall younger crowd.  Ships built for people with active lifestyles will attract more active people.


So what does all this mean if you are going to work on a cruise ship?  Do your homework beforehand and be prepared.  Cruise itineraries are available on each cruise line's website, so once you get an assignment, go look up where you will be going.  It will help not only with your performance, but also in knowing what to pack for your contract.  It is far easier to expand your repertoire at home where you have every resource at your fingertips (internet, music stores) than reacting after you are already on the ship where you may not have access to fast and unlimited internet and a good music store.

As a lounge entertainer, there are always songs that you will be asked to perform on a nightly basis (think Piano Man in the piano bar).  Those are hits that can be performed all over the world and can guarantee a connection with the audience.  But if you can learn some go-to songs to hit the specific passenger demographics, you can quickly become the hit of the cruise.

My next post will take a closer look at some suggestions to determine repertoire for a contract.

A staple of the mainstream cruise lines: the bellyflop competition.

The Darkness

This post will focus on one of the not-so-nice parts of working on cruise ships; it can affect all areas of the crew, but for some reason there seems to be a higher concentration amongst musicians.  While the job is really nice, I have found this darkness that can come out at time.  There is even a Facebook page dedicated to it called "Dark Showband Musicians."  I think at times we all experience it to a certain degree.  It is when people aren't happy with their jobs and it starts to take them over.

I have found specific times when "the darkness" tends to show itself.  The most common is at the end of a contract.  Spending 6-8 months onboard the same ship, seeing the same people, eating the same food, playing the same shows, this can lead to some burnout.  There is also a unique element to living where you work.  That nice meal in the mess (dining room) at the beginning of the contract starts to look inedible after so many months.  Even that nice crew member who always smiles when you pass by starts to get on that last nerve.

The other time can be more calendar related and that is around the holidays.  The holidays can be fun while working on a ship, but it can also be a reminder that you aren't around your family and friends at that time of year.  Many crew members call home or Skype home, ending the conversation with tears in their eyes, then have to go work with a smile on their face.  They sacrifice time with their own family to serve other families who are on their vacation.  Holidays are also the highest fares for a cruise, so there are a lot of added expectations for the crew and oftentimes extra work which can lead to more darkness.

Then there are other times that the darkness can come out at any random time.  While it can signal other problems in a person's life, I have found five common reasons for everyday darkness with ship musicians.

1) Playing on a cruise ship often has a lot of included downtime.  Even on a busy day, there are still hours to fill.  The problem lies with the people who don't have a healthy way to spend their downtime.  The happiest musicians I've seen have something else to do during their contract.  That can be sightseeing, photography, working out, arranging songs, working on a course, etc.  The people who don't enjoy their time usually sit in their cabin bored out of their mind, or spend every hour in the evening drinking at the crew bar.  If you are about to do a contract, make of list of things you want to accomplish during the time and stick to it.  And don't count on the internet for a way to spend time because first, it's extremely slow on a ship because it is a satellite based system, and second, crew pay for internet on the ship by the minute so the cost adds up quickly.

2) The musician isn't playing the music that they want to play.  Not to generalize, but I've seen this the most with the jazz guys.  Their ideal gig would be living in NYC and playing jazz all day, every day.  On a cruise ship there is jazz, but also many other genres from classical to rock to Broadway.  A side to this is not landing the gig that they want.  In their minds, some musicians believe that they are dumbing themselves down and lowering their standards by performing on a ship.  They are unhappy that they aren't working in NYC or LA.  Truth be told, I have performed with a lot of great musicians, performers, and sound techs who have had amazing gigs both before and after cruise ships.  I played with a lead trumpet from Maynard Ferguson's band, a trombone player who toured with Tom Jones, a sound tech who is now touring with the Rolling Stones, a singer who won the NBC show "The Sing Off" ... you get my point.  The gig is what you make it.

3) They are caught in a money trap with ships and don't know how to get out.  I have met so many people (not just musicians) who have said they are doing "one last contract" and then I see them a few months later signing back on the ship.  Some people are just really irresponsible with money.  While they work on ships to save money, but they spend too much (either too much shopping, drinking, or eating off the ship) and aren't left with enough savings to support themselves when they go back to land.  When they go home for a 6-8 vacation and don't work and only spend, they go back to their next contract with no money left in their bank account.  It's a viscous cycle that they just don't know how to break so working on a ship becomes a necessary evil to them.  Set savings goals and stick to them.  It's easy so save money by working on a ship; there is no rent, basic meals are paid for

4) Some people are just not meant for ship life.  It's not a bad thing, it's just a fact.  Ships are full of rules and schedules and some musicians aren't used to it and don't want that kind of structure.  There are rules for everything and all cruise lines have a strict, zero tolerance policy on drugs and abuse of alcohol.  Crew members must wear a uniform and name tag in a public areaI'm more of a rule follower myself, so I never had an issue in this regard, but I've seen a lot of "rebel" people that just can't cope with a lot of rules.  Another aspect of ship life that is not for everyone is having to leave family and friends behind for 6-8 months at a time.  It is a very big sacrifice, especially for parents who miss out on the major milestones of their children.

5) Finally, some people are just miserable no matter what and need something to complain about.  Call them grumpy curmudgeons or whatever you like, but unfortunately these people can be detrimental to an ensemble.  Darkness just breeds more darkness.  Give them $10,000 in cash and they will complain it's not $20,000.  I've worked with several of those people.  One time we were doing 7-day cruises with an overnight in Dubai every single cruise for almost 3 months.  One day I had to call a rehearsal in the late afternoon because of the theater schedule and we were doing a show with an entertainer at night.  The keyboard player stood up and cursed at me because I was taking away some of his port time.  He didn't figure it out that 1) he is working and work does come first, and 2) we were in Dubai for two days every week for three months, it's not like asking him to come back a couple of hours early was taking that much away from his Dubai experience.


To be honest, every single ship I have worked on has had people like this, but life is short and not worth wasting time on them.  The good news is that not everyone is like that.  I was usually lucky and could find people who were happy people.  Life is what you make of it and you have the choice in your own attitude.