Episode 72: How Cruise Gigs Turn Musicians Pro

Ready to turn your music into a steady income without losing your creative spark? I sit down with Lara from The International Musician, to break down the real world of cruise ship performing: who gets hired, how much you can earn, and how ship life can supercharge your skills in months. From orchestra pits to high-energy piano bars, we unpack the roles that exist at sea and the qualities agencies actually look for.

Lara explains the pay landscape in plain terms: around $2,000 per month for many roles, up to $6,000 for strong solo entertainers, tips on some American lines, and premium fees for guest acts. With accommodation, meals, and travel covered, performers can finally save while playing three focused 45-minute sets most days. She shares what success takes onboard: a versatile repertoire that spans decades, strong crowd work, reliable gear like an iPad for charts, and a professional mindset that respects ship culture and schedules.

We also explore the deeper payoff. Repetition and demand turn you into a sharper vocalist, faster accompanist, and more intuitive host. Taking requests night after night becomes a living masterclass in melody, lyric, and audience psychology. Lara traces her own journey from scraping by in London to seven contracts across UK, French, and US lines, and how those seasons at sea changed her voice, confidence, and network. If you’re curious about applying, she offers practical steps for building a two- to three-minute showreel, targeting agencies, and following up, plus details on her Cruise Musician Accelerator for structured guidance.

If you’ve been searching for a realistic, well-paid path that grows your craft and opens international doors, this conversation lays out the map. Subscribe to the show, share this episode with a musician who needs a boost, and leave a review with your biggest question about cruise life so we can tackle it next.

https://theinternationalmusician.com

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Episode Setup
• 0:54 Introducing Cruise Ship Music Careers
• 3:17 Lara’s Background And Roles Onboard
• 5:37 Pay, Contracts, And Daily Routine
• 9:48 Repertoire Depth And Set Structure
• 12:24 Contract Lengths And Act Types
• 14:43 Who Gets Hired And What They Need
• 18:56 The Emotional Reality Of Ship Life
• 23:02 Skills Growth And Post‑Cruise Trajectory
• 27:18 Lara’s Path Into Cruise Work

Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:12

Hello everybody and a very warm welcome to you. You're listening to the music business, buddy, with me, Johnny Amos, podcasting out of Birmingham in England. I'm the author of the book, The Music Business for Music Creators, available in hardback, paperback, and ebook format. I'm a music creator as a writer-producer with a variety of different credits. I'm a consultant, an artist manager, and a senior lecturer in both music business and music creation. Wherever you are and whatever you do, consider yourself welcome to this podcast and to a part of this community. I'm here to try and educate and inspire music creators from all over the world in their quest to achieving their goals by gaining a greater understanding of the business of music. Okay, so in this week's episode, I am talking to Lara from The International Musician about the role of a music performer on a cruise line or a cruise ship. Now, one of the things that I like to talk about on this podcast are pathways to turning professional, right? And there's lots of them, and I like to uncover different people's stories and different topics and understand them a little bit better. But one of the common denominators of people is to turn professional, right? To make a living from your hobby, right? To turn your hobby into your profession. And the pathways to do that are you know are multiple, right? There's loads and loads of different approaches. And today we're going to be looking at one specific route, which is being part of a cruise line, a cruise ship, right? And what that pathway looks like, what you can expect to get paid, what the lifestyle is like, etc. So there is nobody better to bring in to talk about this uh than Lara. Now, Lara, she's known to some as her artist name, right? That's uh as Safi, which is S-A-P-H-Y. Uh her details are in the description of the podcast. I think that she breaks down the understanding of what this looks like. She's done it for herself for many years, and she's now helping others to get into that. So if you are looking for a pathway into that route or just trying to understand a little bit more about it, or what you could expect to try and gauge, whether you think it's the right choice for you, then this is probably going to be a pretty useful episode for you. So I shall hand over to the interview with Laura now. Enjoy. Lara, welcome to the music business, buddy. It is good to have you here. How are you?

SPEAKER_00: 2:29

I'm good, thank you. How are you?

SPEAKER_02: 2:31

I'm very well, thank you. Um and you're in you're in France, right?

SPEAKER_00: 2:35

Yes, I'm in Lyon, France.

SPEAKER_02: 2:37

Beautiful part of the world. Ah, lovely. Um, okay, so Laura, one of the most common things, right, that people say to me when I say to people, you know, what do you want to do in your music career? I I'd be as bold as to say that the most common answer is to make a living, right? You know, as a musician. Um, and the thing that you've come to talk about today falls in line exactly with that, right? So, you know, the role um of a music performer um and a music creator on a cruise, right? What it what is that, what is that lifestyle like? And and also, you know, what can what can performers expect to earn typically as a as a as a cruise musician?

SPEAKER_00: 3:17

Okay, so a musician on cross ships, there are two different types of musicians. There are the reading musicians, so those are the musicians that are part of the orchestra or backing production shows. They play from sheet music, and uh they can uh like they support guest artists and theater style productions. And then the non-reading musicians are more like solo entertainers, so like what I've done, so like uh guitar vocalists, piano vocalists, and also uh you you have like duos, trios, and then party bands. Uh, in terms of uh like what we can earn on curships, it depends on the position, obviously. But as a like a regular musician, I would say it's around$2,000 per month. Um, it can be much more than that, it can be less than that, but usually it's around that. Uh duos and trios can get a little bit more than that, and then solo musicians or solo entertainers, we get more. Um, it can go up to like six thousand dollars per month. Um, and on American Lions, you also get tips as solo musicians. That's why I mainly help solo musicians because it's so much better and you have more privileges as well. And when you're a guest act or a tribute show, which is a completely different category, you get like$1,500 to$2,000 per show. So that's even better. And you play in the theater and all of that. And in terms of the living conditions, uh, you have like the accommodation, meals, and travel is fully covered. Um, so it's just so good to save money because you have so few expenses, and uh the lifestyle you you play Lupia, you play like three or four sets a day and 45 minutes. Um usually the sets are 45 minutes long. Um, and uh yes, you get like uh the days free for port visits, uh if you just want to chill. There are C days as well, obviously. Um, and you have one day off per week, uh, but that can depend on the position as well. And the contracts are usually between like two to eight months, um, depends on the offer. Uh so yeah, you constantly travel and you you wake up in a new country almost every day or or every week, if not every every day. So it's a really cool experience.

SPEAKER_02: 5:39

It sounds it sounds amazing. Um yeah, it really does. So you so you say three 45-minute sets a day. Would that would that be as a solo performer, for example, would that be the same set repeated, or would that be kind of three separate sets per day of completely different songs?

SPEAKER_00: 5:59

No, so that's why cruise musicians like we need to have very big repertoires because you're not supposed to play the same songs, at least not in the same evening. If you repeat songs during the cruise, the cruises are usually like one to two weeks, that's okay, but like you don't want guests to complain about repeating songs, so it would always be different songs that you have to play. This is as a resident musician. Then if you're a guest act and you have your own show, you know, then you're repeating the same show if you're doing it like twice a cruise, but that would not happen usually. So yeah, different songs. That's why you need a lot of songs.

SPEAKER_02: 6:35

If you're an act, that's fascinating. If you're an act in residence, then how long would you expect typically to be away on a cruise? Like are we talking sort of weeks or months?

SPEAKER_00: 6:46

Yeah, so usually it would be over two months. Um, so for bands, usually it's six months to eight eight months, so you're literally leaving home for half a year. Um, and then for solo musicians, it's more flexible. Sometimes, like I got contracts that were like two months, uh, three months, and I even got like very short contracts that were just replacements, so like two to three weeks. But that usually doesn't happen uh for yeah, for musicians who are you know wanting to go in there with other musicians as a party band or duo trio.

SPEAKER_02: 7:22

Got yeah, okay. Wow, that's so so let's think about the type of music creators in that tend to be most suitable. You mentioned about um you you book predominantly kind of solo uh performers, so that's people that can accompany themselves, like people that can play you know piano or guitar and sing. Is that right?

SPEAKER_00: 7:42

Yeah, exactly. So I work mainly with solo musicians, those who so it's singers who can play guitar or piano, and these are very easily hired on curships because they're cheaper and uh and yeah, they're just very adaptable as there is just one person, and much easier to get one person on board than four at the same time from different countries. Um, and what type of music creators are more suitable? So I'd say that the most successful profiles are like versatile performers um who are like flexible with genres and audience. Um and then reading musicians need to be very great, very good at site reading, timing, and and click tracks. Um, and also like reading musicians would need to adapt, you know, to guest entertainers. Sometimes like you get just an hour as a reading musician to they give you the charts just an hour before, and you have a show in one hour in front of 2,000 people. So you need yeah, and then as solo entertainers, you really need to be like energetic and confident, you know, and um outgoing, I would say, you know, using having a great sense of humor and you know, to be leading sing-alongs and taking requests, creating connection with the audience. That's mainly what agencies are looking for. And I'd I'd say in general, like having a professional mindset where you're reliable, you're punctual. This is the kind of things that agency can see at the beginning, like even just the way you apply if you follow instructions and these kind of things. Because you really need to understand like ship culture, it's like it's a whole different planet, and you really need to be disciplined because you know there's a hierarchy, and you know, there are rules to follow.

SPEAKER_02: 9:27

So, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that makes that makes a lot of sense. Um, just out of interest, I mean, what is it like to be um you know on a ship for that long and you're kind of going from like port to port, and all of a sudden you're in like a little island, uh beautiful little town, and like that must be very disorientating, but also amazing, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_00: 9:48

Yeah, definitely. It's like a roller coaster, I would say. Um like I'm a very different person when I'm on ships and when I'm on land for some reason. It it's just really weird because you you don't buy your food, you don't clean anything, you don't cook anything, you don't live like a normal person. Like you live on a massive like whole floating hotel, basically. At times it can feel a little bit like a floating prison if you're if you're a bit of a um like uncomfortable with closed spaces. Um but you know it is like it is weird because you get to see the same people every day, and the rhythm is just so different from land. Like your workplace and your your personal life is all in the same place, and I'd say it's it's an experience that would be great to live, but like I don't think it's something to do forever. It's like holidays that last long, especially if you're passionate about music, like going on there and and playing so many hours can really feel like a dream, and to some degree it does feel like a dream, but yeah, like not doing it forever, I think it's important. Uh, and to have to re you know, to have another plan for when you get back on land.

SPEAKER_02: 11:04

Yeah, absolutely. Um, do you know I'm I'm I'm just thinking back now, Laura, to a couple of people that I can think of that that that um that were vo both vocalists that that that were you know that were um worked on cruise cruise ships and um and and when they came back they were not the same singers, they were so much better. You know, um they'd become also they'd become better songwriters. Um I I I guess um when you're performing that regularly, um so many times a day, you know, all those different days, um, you know, you're kind of soaking in all these amazing hit record songs and you're performing them back, and all you you're you're inputting all those beautiful chords and melodies and lyrics, and you know, um effectively you're kind of studying songs a lot because it's just going through you all the time. And a couple of people that I can think of that that just it really improved them as as vocalists, as as songwriters, you know. What what kind of do you do you think that this um as a pathway is a kind of you know, is there a career trajectory afterwards for a lot of people, do you think, to kind of up their skill set and go on and use those skills elsewhere?

SPEAKER_00: 12:27

Yeah, so that's so interesting because on cruise ships I've met musicians who are just so grateful because that's their dream jobs, and they would have given anything to to get here, and they're just so happy and they they feel like the world has opened to them. And I felt this way, and then there are musicians who are just like, Oh, I've just given up everything I had on land, I don't know what else I can do apart from curses, and I they feel the complete opposite. And I think it's so great to be aware that again, like cross ships are for a certain period of time, but it's just not forever. And yes, as you said, like it can literally give you so much experience as a musician, and even if your goal is to create your own music, you know, because that's not on cross ships that you're gonna record like in a studio or play your own songs, even though you can play some songs, but like on the experience on the like the professionalism of becoming like a a performing musician, it's just so incredible, like what it gives you because you go and play whenever you you know, like every single day, even when you don't want to. You know, so many times I just didn't feel like it, and you know, even just like having to go there when you don't want to makes you a different kind of performer. It's really uncomfortable in the moment, but after a contract like even just one contract, you play hundreds of shows in just a couple of months, you grow so quickly as a musician, and you understand music completely differently afterwards. So I do believe that if you use Chris Chips as like a bridge to your bigger dreams, because at the end of the day, like we're all creators, we're all musicians, like around like around this podcast, I believe. And you know, like you have bigger goals, you have bigger dreams, you know, with your own music. But like seeing Chris Chips as a bridge to this, I think for me would be the answer because it it not only will it gives you so much money because you have nothing to pay, and and the peace of mind, you know, that we're all craving so much as musicians as well. Um, but you you get to understand yourself through music and and you you learn how to entertain, you learn how to how to host, you know, these are very important skills, even for your own shows later on. Um, and it can open so many doors for you as well. Like you, you know, like agents, um, other professionals, like musical directors, it opens so many doors. Like the agencies I was working with were also offering resort work or hotel work internationally. And on so many levels, if you use this as a bridge, it can get you to such a different place than where you are right now, even on the personal growth level.

SPEAKER_02: 15:07

Yeah, yeah, that's a that's a very good point. And you and you would know, Lara, right? Let's talk about let's talk about you. You um and your background, you know, you're a you're a you're a piano player and a vocalist, you've the things you're talking about, you know this because you've done it yourself. Um, you know. Uh what what led you into that pathway? Because I think there are a lot of people that don't necessarily know that it's even a viable part of their career. Um what what led you into it?

SPEAKER_00: 15:36

Yeah, so uh for me it's I was working uh in London. So I moved to London when I was 17 years old, and I just wanted to make music, I wanted to make a living, but I had no idea. You know, I hadn't I, you know, now I speak with very professional musicians who still don't know anything about cross chips, but like in my case, it was that I didn't know anything about like how to make money from music, and I was just trying to write songs and to play them in open mic nights and just hoping that things will work out, that I would be able to get gigs. But it just like for five years I tried so hard, but I just couldn't, you know, get m enough money to survive. And so I had to teach and I had to have side jobs, and I think as a musician, that's just the worst thing you you know you might have to do is just to get a side job when all you want to do is your music fully. Um, and so what happens to me is that I saw a Facebook ad saying that they were looking for uh piano vocalist for a ship, and I was just like, oh what is it like? Like I had no idea about this world uh at all. And I applied, I auditioned, and I got accepted, and that's how I got my first contract. And I had uh I did seven contracts in total. So I worked for three different companies. Um I was uh you know English company, I worked for an English cruise line, a French cruise line, and then the American cruise lines where it was more like piano bar entertaining, taking requests every night and handling a massive, like you know, crazy crowds, uh, you know, who really come on the cruise sometimes just for the piano bar. And um, so yeah, this is this is how I got into this world, and it truly changed my life because I was struggling so much and I was so passionate about music, and I became a professional musician. I would never have if I if it was not with cruise chips.

SPEAKER_02: 17:26

Wow, that's amazing. That's really inspiring, actually. Well done, you that's brilliant. Thank you. Um so you you I'm just thinking about that role there. So, like, you know, let's think about there being on one of those big American cruise liners, and you've got people coming up to you asking you for you know requests and and what you you must have to be like a like a musical jukebox, right? You know, like a human jukebox where you you must have to you must know so many songs.

SPEAKER_00: 17:54

Yeah, so I I now know 450 songs, but I have an iPad, right? So without the iPad, uh without the lyrics or the chords, I don't think I would be able to play everything. But like like how how good I got at singing, entertaining, playing the piano, it's just like it blows my mind, you know. And even thinking that this is like, you know, people pay for music schools and and the and music lessons and these kind of things. Well, go on a cruise chip and you pretty much have this every single day because you learn in real time. You don't have to study, like you learn in real time and you're paid for it and you get to travel. Like, it's just like to me, it's just crazy to think how far I've come. Um, and yeah, it's just crazy, you know, to get people. Uh it's very overwhelming at the beginning, of course, but like even as a person, I I I became so much more friendly and so much more confident and social because I was able to handle crowds and also to set boundaries with people sometimes because they're all drunk and they're all over the place sometimes. But like these amazing nights when people are just singing along and you you're literally hosting like something so much bigger than yourself at times, and I just have such great memories and such great videos now. You know, it's just so beautiful. And one thing that I did as well because handling requests was really scary to me, is I printed out all the songs that I knew, I put in the piano, and people were just requesting the songs that they wanted to hear, and that was my way of feeling good enough because I was always like I think it's a musician's thing as well, like to always feel like, oh, I'm not good enough. I struggled with this so much. But um, just to have all the songs, then people could see that I had a lot of songs because at times they would ask me for songs I didn't know, so I was like, Okay, this solution is perfect for me. I'm just gonna give them all my songs and they request whatever they want.

SPEAKER_02: 19:37

Oh, that's a great tip.

SPEAKER_00: 19:39

Yeah, and you get different tip, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 19:43

From that smart, okay. So then you're kind of never like overwhelmed by like, oh no, I don't know that song, or like, you know, or offending somebody for not knowing the song. Like that's a great, great, great way of doing it. Um, talking of uh talking of tips. I mean, what what tips would you give to anyone that's kind of you know listening to this right now, going, hey, you know, that that sounds like that could be me, you know. Uh what tips could you give to anyone that wishes to kind of um make this as a part of their career trajectory and portfolio?

SPEAKER_00: 20:16

So I'd say like just a couple of tips in terms of like applying to agencies. There are so many agencies, um, you can find them online. You could just Google them and you can apply and apply directly on their website for most of them. And you just need like a through two to three minutes show reel that clearly clearly shows your act, um, but the best at the beginning. That's like the first 10 seconds is the most important. Then build like a strong repertoire, um, especially like I'm talking for solo musicians mainly, right? For bands and then reading musicians is different, it's more auditions, but for solo musicians, just get like at least 150 songs that are songs that are known across genres and decades, um, and just know what you're applying for. I think that's the most important. I see so many musicians who are just sending their music and they have no idea what jobs there are on cross chefs. I do so many YouTube videos about this topic to educate people on what there is actually, because otherwise people don't know, and I didn't know at the beginning as well. Um, and in terms of applying, yeah, just contact multiple agencies and uh follow the instructions and follow up. I think following up is is really important. Um, and if anyone listening wants step-by-step help with this, like building materials, finding agencies, preparing for auditions, this is exactly what I do full-time now. I decided to, you know, to stop ships for a little while because I love being a musician and I love being on cruise ships, but I really have had this drive of building my own thing on land. And uh I built uh a program that's called the Cruise Musician Accelerator, and it helps musicians get hired faster and uh get international opportunities. And so, yeah, it's like a three-month program. Um, and um it's it's it's great, like you know, getting feedback on not not being alone in this process, you know, getting feedback, getting accountability, and you know, it can be emotional support as well, mindset work, um, and by the end of the program, like you know, being no having the confidence that you are getting the right materials to send to the agencies, um, and to feel the confidence as well that you are good enough for this, um, because it's not for like I didn't feel this way at the very beginning, um, and and start getting paid, literally doing what you love and getting that amazing experience, even if you just do one contract, it can truly change your life.

SPEAKER_02: 22:41

Absolutely. And so, so Laura, for those listening right now that think, yeah, I want to do that. Like, how would people find you and kind of connect with you on what you offer?

SPEAKER_00: 22:53

Yeah, so um you can find me at the international musician.com. Um, and on social media, I'm at Safi. Safi is my music name, so it's S-A-P-H-Y and Safi Lara. Um, so I'm I'm there on Instagram, on YouTube, I post consistently enough, you know, and I really try to give a lot for free. I have a free guide as well that helps you figure out if uh cruise life is right for you or not. Um, and yeah, my website, the international musician.com, um, where you can find all the information about the three months program. I also offer uh strategy sessions, which are just one hour to help musicians like come up with a strategy uh to get of their first cruise contract as soon as possible, and I give feedback as well on their materials. Um so yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 23:48

That's wonderful. That's so cool. I mean, you've you know, you've you've you've been out there, you've made something happen, right? And then you're kind of going, hey, here's a door, right? Come on, let me help you to get through this door. Because there are just so many people that that that would want to do this that just probably don't know it's a thing. So, you know, good for you, Lara, for kind of putting that together and for opening the door for others, right? That's that's really uh I love that. Good for you.

SPEAKER_00: 24:18

Yeah, thank you so much. I think you know, a lot of musicians who already are aware, especially in like in the English speaking world, like people are much more aware. But in France, like when I say to people, I was a musician on cruise ships for four years, you're like, What? Like, how does that work? They have never heard of it because like cruise ships in France is not a big thing, and so yeah, I found that some musicians struggle because they get rejected by agencies, but there's a massive pool of musicians who are just not even aware that like just getting a contract will give you so much stability and peace of mind, you know, where you can actually chill for 22 hours a day and play for the other two, and you have nothing else to do, and it's just such a great way to also like travel the world, pause and think about your life and your music career and what you want to do in the future. So I just really love the work I do, I truly do, and like seeing musicians evolve and you know get the confidence that they also can do it, and that you know, that can be the great bridge for them is also great to see.

SPEAKER_02: 25:21

So, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Do you know it's um it's funny, you know, because you you early just a few minutes ago you referred to being now I'm on land, uh you know. I thought, well, that's really interesting.

SPEAKER_00: 25:32

Yeah, the language.

SPEAKER_02: 25:34

I've never thought about that before. I just I'm so I'm so on land all the time that I just don't think about that mindset, which is also interesting because of course if you're out at sea and you're okay, you're you're busy working, you know, playing sets and and everything else, but you've got all that time off in between, and you're just seeing a different perspective, right? You're looking at uh a sunset over a beautiful mountain in a country that you may never have been to before. All these enriching life experiences will make you look at things a little bit differently and bring out the best in you to then you know strive forward with the rest of your life once you are back on land, you know. Um I think it's beautiful, absolutely wonderful. Uh Laura, thank you so much for coming on and for talking about this. Uh, it's greatly appreciated. I'll put um the in the description on the podcast, I'll put your hand your your social handles and the link to your website and all that kind of stuff as well, so people can click and click there and find you and stuff. Um, anything else you want to add?

SPEAKER_00: 26:32

Yeah, I'd just like to say thanks to you first because um it's such a great conversation, and I'm just so happy to be here and to I've listened to the podcast before, and uh, I think it's great, it's it's very authentic. I had I had a lot of fun um chatting with you um today. And yeah, just um encouraging anyone who's listening and who's feeling like that might be the right next step uh to them to get in touch with me and uh and maybe we can get on a call. I do free calls to you know to help you figure out if that's the right next step for you, if that's right for you, um, and encouraging everyone who's listening as well to keep going with their music career, whatever they're doing. It's not always easy, but like this passion for music is something that gather gathers everyone um around this podcast as well and musicians in the world. Um so keep keep it up, keep being the great creator that you are. And uh and thank you so much, Johnny, for having me on this amazing podcast.

SPEAKER_02: 27:30

Uh Laura, the pleasure is mine. Thank you. Ah, great lady. Uh you know, it's just useful, right, to get different perspectives on different pathways. You know, you want to become as good as you can possibly be as a musician, right? And sometimes the development path for that can be multiple different things, but maybe, just maybe, this particular route is a fast track to turning professional, to developing as a musician, because I should imagine I've never done it myself, but I can only imagine that coming off back to land as Lara refers to it, uh you'll come back a different musician, right? A better musician, um, one that's got a bit of money in the bank that can then invest in something else that they next want to do with their music, with their artist project, or whichever way you want to turn. So there you go, an introduction to a different, alternate, less known perhaps route into being a professional uh music uh creator or performer. Okay, that's enough from me today. Uh thank you to Lara for her wonderful contribution. Uh have a great day. Until next time, everybody, may the force be with you.