Cruise ship musician explains worst things about working on board despite huge hourly wage

A man who works for 10 months of the year on board a cruise ship has outlined the worst things about about trading a regular job for life at sea.

TikToker Jack Nolan spends the majority of the year working six days a week on a cruise ship as a musician, and has been travelling the world while working for nearly a decade now.

The bloke documents his journey on TikTok where he's garnered nearly 100k followers who are invested in his antics at sea.

Nolan has been opening up about everything and anything including the friendships he's made on board the ship and how much he earns from his job, as well as advising others who may be interested in bagging themselves a gig on a cruise ship too.

But he also talks about the negatives of life at sea, and has recently outlined the main five 'cons' of working on a cruise ship, as he admits it's 'not all it's cracked up to be'.

What is his hourly wage as a musician on a cruise ship?

In a previous video, Jack answered one of the questions on everybody's lips, which was just how much he's able to earn while spending 10 months of the year providing entertainment on the ship.

He explained that musicians earn around $4,000 (£3,129) a month while working for just 90 minutes a day, six days a week, which is making me sadder than ever that I wasn't blessed with any musical talent.

This means that he does just nine hours of 'work' each week, and just 36 hours a month, although of course he will no doubt put extra work in rehearsing for his shows.

“In other words that’s $111.11 an hour!” Jack explained. “And by the way, it’s an awesome job.”

What are the negatives of working on a cruise ship?

In a video where he sums up his biggest five pros and cons of working aboard a ship, Jack explains that despite his impressive wage and working hours, he also gets pretty much all his food, accommodation and travel paid for, so it's difficult to see at this point how there could ever be any negatives.

However, things look a little less glamorous when you realise his room is pretty tiny and he has to share his bathroom with another staff member, which certainly doesn't compare to the rich guests who've decided to rent out whole apartments on bigger cruise ships recently.

Jack also explains that while the idea in principle is to explore lots of new countries, he only gets a few hours each day to spend off the boat, which isn't good news if you get seasick.

While gyms on board are free to use and open 24/7, the idea of lifting weights or jogging in choppy waters isn't easy, and also they're usually pretty busy so when you stack it on the treadmill, there will be plenty of witnesses.

Again, food is free but you'll have to be wearing smart clothes even if you want to grab a snack, and some of the better food might only be available to guests.

Finally, the musician suggests that due to living where he works, it can sometimes feel like he's always working, and that there are a lot of crowds to navigate, which does sound like a bit of a nightmare.

Overall, Jack says: "To conclude, working on a ship has a lot of perks but also its downfalls. It's all about taking the rough with the smooth."

For that wage and that hourly rate, I think a lot of us would definitely enjoy it.

In the comments, Jack continued to answer fans' burning questions, including what the wifi is like on board for crew. "Depends which ship but mostly slow and expensive," he admitted in response.

Another viewer asked whether you needed 'GCSEs to work on a cruise ship', to which Jack simply clarified: "Nope".