My Journey in the World of Cruise Ships

My name is Oli Edwards, and I am a professional drummer and music director from the UK. My career is a testament to the unexpected turns life can take, starting as a show band musician on cruise ships.

My journey into the world of music began in 2018. Fresh out of university with a degree in professional music performance, I found myself working in a music shop. I thought it was the perfect launching pad for my career, giving me a steady job while I gigged in the evenings. Little did I know, the long hours at the shop left me with almost no time to pursue my passion for drumming. Despite spending my days unpacking, setting up, and selling drums, my own sticks lay idle.

Frustrated, I realized that my life couldn’t revolve around selling instruments; I needed to play them. After years of rigorous training and practice, I knew there had to be a better path. I considered three potential routes and meticulously weighed the pros and cons of each.

First, I thought about joining a wedding band. The pay was decent, around £200-300 per gig, but it wasn’t enough to cover living expenses, especially with rent prices being what they were. Teaching was another option, but it didn’t appeal to me as I hadn’t yet immersed myself in the professional industry. It felt odd to teach something I hadn’t fully experienced.

Next, I dreamed of moving to London and making it big as a pop drummer. The idea of performing to tens of thousands of people was thrilling. However, without savings and with little professional experience, London seemed like a daunting and impractical move. I feared it would chew me up and spit me out.

Lastly, I considered cruise ships. This idea had been introduced to me during university by industry professionals. Initially, I dismissed it due to misconceptions about strict rules and limited growth opportunities. Ironically, these opinions came from people who had never worked on a cruise ship themselves. Despite my initial skepticism, the idea began to grow on me.

Considering that cruise ships offered not only a way to earn money but also a chance to travel the world and meet like-minded musicians, I thought this seemed like the best option. My next task was to figure out how to get the job. This led to many hours of research, learning about the various types of jobs on board and the skills needed for them. The role that stood out to me, allowing me to travel independently without a band, was that of a show band musician. This band performs in the main theater on board, working with production casts, guest entertainers, and also performing band sets in various venues. The challenge and opportunity to grow my abilities as a musician were incredibly appealing.

A fundamental skill needed for show band musicians is sight reading. Although I had taken sight reading classes during my degree, I had never mastered it and often felt out of my depth when reading something for the first time. Recognizing this gap, I dedicated myself to improving my sight reading skills. I focused on reading big band charts, knowing that show bands often played such music. After six months of rigorous practice, I felt ready to take the next step.

With improved skills, I began contacting agencies and auditioning for various cruise lines. Warshaw Entertainment stood out to me as the most promising agency. After reaching out to them, I received a positive response, and they started working on securing me an offer from a cruise line.

At the time, I was living back at my mum’s house. One night, at the age of 21, I received an email with the subject line “OFFER - CELEBRITY CRUISE LINE.” I had been offered a contract on board the Celebrity Solstice, embarking from Sydney, Australia. For a young musician who had only traveled a little for music, this was a mind-blowing opportunity. I knew I had to seize it.

This was an amazing opportunity which felt very overwhelming but exciting. That being said, I had a lot of work to do as even then I wasn’t sure my reading was strong enough for this kind of gig. I still had six months before the contract started which meant I had time to organize my medical documents and C1/D & B1/B2 USA visas, as well as my background checks and various other bits of documentation that were needed for a first-time crew member.

As I approached the contract, I was more and more anxious about reading the shows, and also what kinds of music I should be prepping ahead of time. So I emailed asking for the production show sheet music ahead of time so I could start figuring out what I needed to play. Luckily, the rehearsal musical director sent out all this information a few weeks before I flew. On Celebrity Solstice there were 3 Production shows, 1 Broadway cabaret, and a theme night that the band performed with. Rock City, Broken Strings, Amadé, Live @ Sky, and Broadway. It was quite overwhelming at first, looking at all this music, as I had never learnt this much music before, especially to the standard that would be required of me. I actually found the shows quite easy to prep for as they had given me rehearsal tracks, click tracks, and various notes which gave me a good heads-up on how to perform these shows.

Once I had done all the prep I could possibly do, it was time to fly to Miami in October 2018 to start a 2-week rehearsal in the Royal Caribbean rehearsal facility in North Miami. This facility was absolutely huge; I later found out it’s the largest rehearsal facility in the world (I think). Back then, musicians were still going to this rehearsal facility but since COVID-19, they now do prep and head straight to the ship with Celebrity.

At this facility, the company sorted everyone out with onsite accommodation. It was essentially a little apartment, which I shared with some of the other musicians in the show band. I arrived in the late afternoon, a transport from the airport picked me up and took me to the facility. I then checked in and got into my apartment. That night, I met some of the other musicians: Colton, the show band saxophonist, and Jane, the show band trumpeter. I was emailed my rehearsal times for the next day and then we started. When I think back to this moment, I don’t think I ever really realized the caliber of the gig I was on.

The next day, we met everyone in the band. It was made up of seven musicians: drums, guitar, bass, piano, trombone, trumpet, and reeds. The Music Director was the piano player. He was slightly older than everyone else and had been on ships for about 15 years, so I really respected him and thought, “I need to win this guy over.”

Rehearsals started that evening between 6-10 pm. This was the moment I realized I was NOT ready! Having not done a professional gig before, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. We started by running the music for the Broadway cabaret. For me, this music was so difficult as musical theatre has to be so sensitive to dynamics, articulation, and style—these were all things I had next to no experience in. My abilities up until this point were essentially developed in a loud indie rock band with my brother at home. Never had I performed anything with so much detail and finesse. As I was clearly struggling, the comments started. The MD at this point might as well have been screaming at me saying, “Why are you slowing down?” “OLI, you are LOST!!!”

After this rehearsal, I felt completely defeated and remember calling my mum and dad that night, crying down the phone, embarrassed and broken, saying, “I am definitely coming home, I think I’m getting fired.” All there was to do was to work through the problem. I think I was actually really lucky at this time; I was not on the ship, but I was in rehearsals. This gave me the time to build up my skills and actually overcome what seemed impossible.

The following day, rehearsal number two, I got called in early and had a pivotal moment—a moment that turned things around for me. I had a sit-down conversation with the rehearsal director, Brett, who explained to me that if I was sent directly to the ship, I would already be going home. But I wasn’t, and I wouldn’t. I now had an opportunity to fix my faults and develop some skills to keep my job.

The things that I really needed to build on were keeping time and the accuracy of my reading, at least enough to get through the music I was playing. Keeping time was a funny one for me and I definitely didn’t iron out this skill within the two-week rehearsals. I certainly improved a lot, but my reading accelerated like nothing you would believe. Suddenly, I could read phrases and construct sections of the music methodically. Although my MD never really eased up on me and I still faced intense scrutiny, I now understood the goal and the direction we were heading in.

Eventually, it was time to go to the ship. The company had organized flights to Sydney—a daunting 20-hour journey. For someone who hadn’t traveled much, this was a surreal experience.

We arrived on the ship and had a show that very same night. During the flight, one of the more experienced musicians explained the importance of guest entertainers, which was an eye-opener for me. I hadn’t realized that guest entertainers were a significant part of the job, requiring top-notch sight-reading skills. Guest entertainers come on board for short contracts, performing one or two shows with the show band. They could be tribute acts like Elton John or Queen, musical theatre singers, classical pianists—anything, really. This aspect of the job was both daunting and exciting, and I was eager to be a part of it.

The first show onboard went well. Although the kit was not in great shape, and the tuning wasn’t ideal, the show went fine. I felt like I belonged in the show band, and I enjoyed the work and the camaraderie with my bandmates. In addition to the main theater performances, we also played in various other venues on the ship, such as the pool deck, the main atrium, and more. This diversity kept the job engaging and exciting.

Eventually, we had guest entertainer Kym Purling, a jazz pianist with a demanding performance style. His music was complex and required a new level of skill and finesse from me. Working with him was an incredible learning experience. My abilities were pushed to their limits, and this experience significantly raised the bar for my performance.

After my time on the Celebrity Solstice, I moved on to the Celebrity Infinity. Although the challenges were fewer, I sought more growth and advancement. An opportunity arose for me to become a music director on the Celebrity Edge, a role I had aspired to for some time. However, just as I was preparing for this new role, the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of my contract.

During the lockdown, I took the opportunity to refine my skills further and practice extensively. After 18 months, I returned to cruise ships, initially as a show band musician before eventually assuming the role of music director on the Celebrity Equinox.

As one of the most experienced and versatile music directors in Celebrity’s fleet, my journey has been incredibly rewarding. I’ve grown significantly from those early days of struggling with sight-reading to leading bands and managing productions. Now, I’ve transitioned to a new role as a casting specialist, where I recruit exceptional talent for show band positions across major cruise lines.

Reflecting on my journey, I’m amazed at how far I’ve come from that tearful phone call with my parents. Life’s unexpected twists and turns have shaped my career in ways I could never have imagined. I’m excited to continue this journey in the world of cruise ships.

Thank you for joining me on this incredible ride!