Cruise lines entertainment departments offer the following positions aboard cruise ships

Guest/ Headline Entertainers - Comedy Variety, Magicians/ Illusionists, Jugglers, Specialty Acts, Variety Entertainers, Hypnotists, Mentalists, Impressionists, Ventriloquists, Musical Acts, Vocal Headliners, Vocal Impressionists, Instrumentalists.

Lounge Performers, Production Show Singers/ Lead Vocalists, Production Show Dancers, Stage/ Production Managers, Assistant Stage/ Production Managers,

Sound & Light Technicians/ Stage Staff, Show Band/ Orchestra Musicians (piano, saxophone/reeds, trumpet, trombone, bass, guitar, drums), Lounge Groups, Cocktail Pianist, Classical Trios/ String Quartets, Piano Bar Entertainer, High Tech / Sequenced Duos, Calypso / Island Band, Strolling Strings.

For more detailed info about cruise ship entertainment positions and salary ranges go to our Shipboard Entertainment Positions page.

Whatever your reasons to look for cruise ship entertainment job might be, enjoy this website and browse through the various sections, we believe that you will find the site resourceful and useful. We would appreciate your feedback, let us know what you think about any aspect of the website - design, navigation, content, our products (in case you order any). We would particularly like to receive comments from current crew members about employment conditions and environment, changes of policies and new developments considering the entertainment departments of any cruise line, which we can share with our visitors.

Finally, we would like to thank all the former and present cruise lines' musicians, dancers and entertainers, who have offered generously their expertise and have contributed to the creation of The Cruise Ship Entertainment Jobs Guide guide and the website itself. Without their help, collecting such of enormous amount of information would not be possible.

Click on the links below to review the various cruise lines profiles, cruise ships details and photos:

There is no business like show business or there are no jobs like cruise ship entertainment jobs?

The first of the two phrases is more popular, but does not quite apply today, considering the real situation of the entertainment industry worldwide. Places like Las Vegas and New York City are no longer heaven for musicians, dancers and entertainers. As a result of the present economic realities and all major budget cuts in almost every form of entertainment, the army of unemployed and "freelancing" (meaning without steady income) artists, musicians and entertainers has never been bigger. There is only one place left. where musicians, dancers, entertainers and production staff can find stable jobs and relatively bright future (at least for the next few years) - CRUISE SHIPS. No other industry has been growing so rapidly in the past fifteen years as the cruise industry (except software development and the Internet, of course). Just for the last four years all leading cruise lines have doubled their fleets and number of employees. Full scale Broadway and Las Vegas style production shows are performed aboard all cruise mega-ships. Many new cruise ship companies have emerged trying to get their share from the cruise market explosion. With all the cruise vessels currently under construction the number of cruise lines work force worldwide is expected to triple by the year 2014.

Working in the entertainment department on a luxury cruise liner offers numerous rewards, but the most common reasons for doing it are:

- steady income in the entertainment field, you do what you are trained for and what you like doing most.

- you can not only earn, but save a substantial amount of money for a short period of time, all your expenses are taken care of by the cruise line ( food, accommodation, medical care, airline ticket to the port of embarkation and back home, regardless which part of the world you live).

- as a member of the entertainment department, enjoy numerous privileges aboard (walk anywhere in passenger areas, use some of the passenger dining and recreation facilities, work reasonable amount of hours per week).

- citizens of certain countries do not have to pay taxes on the income they have earned at sea (U. S. citizens pay taxes if employed by U. S. based cruise line).

- travel in style around the world for free (even get paid for it).

- get away from a boring job, career or every-day-routine.

- discounted cruise rates for relatives and family members.

- cruise line jobs are the best form of overseas jobs, since aboard a cruise ship in fact you will be working in many different overseas countries and places instead of one. Other travel jobs can not offer you visits to such a variety of places, counties, climates and continents as cruise ship jobs offer.

While working for cruise lines you enjoy a wining combination - having a profitable and exciting job, traveling all over the world and always following the sun and the good weather, meeting crew members, passengers and local people and in the same time saving substantial amount of money (since you do not have to pay for accommodation and food). Cruise line jobs are in fact so addictive, that many crew members find it quite difficult to live on land after completing a contract aboard a cruise ship. It feels kind of strange to eat in a restaurantand to pay the bill after when you've been doing it for free for months while working aboard a cruise ship.