Port Procedures

There are a great many aspects of life on a cruise ship that will be novel for most musicians. For this reason, the upcoming posts will deviate from music-related themes to familiarize future shipboard musicians with concepts and routines that will quickly become normal and even second-nature once on board. This particular post will deal with procedures associated with the various ports that make up a ship’s itinerary, and the following post will go into more detail about the ports themselves.

Most often, musicians will be allowed to get off the ship any time it is in port — that is, docked at a pier that’s a part of a city or island, or, in the case of a tender port, anchored in the water slightly beyond the coastline where smaller boats transport guests and crew to the pier (see paragraph 4 of this post). To disembark the ship, each crew member is required to scan his crew identification card, so that the ship’s system knows that he is no longer on board; the crew member retains possession of this card and must re-scan it upon returning to the ship, updating the ship’s system and confirming that he is indeed back on board. In addition to the crew ID, the international crew must also carry a document referred to as an I-95 — proof of their status as crew members that grants permission for their entry into a foreign country or territory. US citizens working on US-based cruise lines do not need this document but must bring a second form of ID in conjunction with their crew ID when leaving the ship.

Back-on-board’ time is posted at the gangway when disembarking the ship, and states the latest time that any guest or crew member can return to the ship before the gangway is closed and the ship prepares to set sail. Arrival and departure times can also be found at the guest services desk and the staff administration office; guests can usually get off the ship immediately after docking, with the crew following shortly after that, and back-on-board is generally a half-hour before the listed departure time. Crew members must return to the ship no later than the back-on-board time, or they will be met with punishments from the ship’s officers and may have their crew ID’s taken away (preventing those crew members from leaving the ship in future ports). It is rare that a crew member is so late that the ship sails without him, but it has happened before, so it is always important to synchronize time-keeping devices with the clocks onboard the ship (especially when sailing through different time zones), be aware of the back-on-board time and be sensible and responsible when off the ship to ensure a safe and punctual return.

Tender ports deviate slightly from normal pier port procedures. As mentioned earlier, tender ports exist because the sea bed is too shallow for a large cruise ship to sail all the way to a pier located at the shoreline; the ship, therefore, drops anchor as close to shore as possible and then either employ smaller boats belonging to the port or uses its lifeboats to shuttle passengers to and from the pier. Guests are given priority in disembarking the ship in these situations because the tendering only allows a certain number of people to leave the ship at a time (dependent on the number and capacity of the smaller tender boats). Crew ID’s are scanned as per normal, and then the gangway leads immediately to a tender boat which, when full, sails the short distance to the pier and lets guests and crew off. Instead of a back-on-board time, there is a similarly scheduled time when the last tender from the pier leaves for the cruise ship, and all guests and crew must be at the pier no later than that to return to the ship on time.

Of course, this post can’t cover every detail regarding the getting on and off of a cruise ship, but it should give future ship musicians a head start on port procedure information, and a good idea of what to expect. Stay tuned for an upcoming post that will similarly discuss homeports and ports of call — far more exciting than the procedures that surround them.

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American saxophonist Keith McKelley has spent a lot of time on the big stage, where he’s also made a name for himself with the Aerophone, Roland’s model of the EWI. Originally from Ohio, he moved to Los Angeles in 2013, where he’s worked as a live and session musician, as well as a producer.

Keith has shared the stage and the studio with an assortment of artists that includes Usher, Phillip Bailey, Mary J. Blige, Rapper Logic, Jhene Aiko, John Lindahl, Gin Wigmore, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, David Foster, Tyrese, Larry Dunn, Bob James, Harvey Mason, Raphael Saadiq, Andrew Gouche, Solange Knowles, Bill “The Buddha” Dickens, Micki Howard, Angela Bofill, Marcus Johnson, Marc de Clive-Lowe, and others. He’s also performed on Carnival Cruise Lines and released three original albums.

Keith continues to be an integral part of the LA music scene, always striving to create music that is at a high level, that will last, and that is absolutely heartfelt.

Portuguese guitarist Nuno Monteiro’s varied career includes musicals, tours, cruising, conservatory teaching, a degree in Flamenco guitar, and projects ranging from jazz to blues, pop to rock, and funk to Latin.

He has enjoyed collaborations with Steve Larkins, Kim Purling, Paul Baker, Mark Anthony, Glenn McNamara, Nijel Rawlins, John Bressler, the Corleone Big Band, and four years of touring with the international vocalist Jose Alberto Reis. He also toured as the lead guitarist for Mamma Mia! for two years, performing over one thousand shows for over two million people.

Nuno has also spent multiple contracts performing with Princess Cruises and traveling much of the world. He currently resides in Porto, where he continues to play, teach, and consistently produce tasty lines on his guitar.

Lewis Sutch is a British pianist who has performed all over the world, both solo and with various renowned acts. Conservatory-trained in both jazz and classical piano, he’s since broadened his scope with gigs ranging from pop to blues to rock, through everything from ships to tours to the circus.

Over the course of two seasons on tour with Giffords Circus in London, he performed to 80,000+ people across the UK, including notable celebrities such as Adele, Helena Bonham Carter, Mark Knopfler, Jennifer Saunders, Jamie Cullum, Hugh Grant and Vivianne Westwood. He’s also had the privilege of playing some of the top venues across England, including Blenheim Palace and Ronnie Scott’s.

Subsequently, Lewis has traveled to 6 continents as a pianist and musical director for Holland America Line and Royal Caribbean, most recently finishing a year-long run with Postmodern Jukebox on Deck. He currently splits time between the UK and the US, continuing to perform and hone his craft.

Oscar Cordero is a trumpet player with a wealth of professional experience, in styles ranging from classical to pop to jazz, and across three continents. He won the position of Associated Soloist at the National Philharmonic of Venezuela at the age of 17, and would eventually move to Europe for various performance opportunities.

Among the musicals he’s played are Les Miserables, Chicago, Saturday Night Fever, Beauty and the Beast, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Spamalot, and On Your Feet. And his performance and touring credits include international artists such as Ray Barreto, Cheo Feliciano, Adalberto Santiago, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Isaac Delgado, Paloma San Basilio, Malu, Luisito y Robert Quintero, and many others.

As has been the case in his native Venezuela as well as Spain, Oscar has become a top-call musician in the Netherlands, where he currently resides, performs, and continues to blast high notes for days.

Omer Idan is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and arranger from Eilat, Israel, and there are few places on the planet he hasn’t visited with a guitar or bass in hand. While studying jazz at the Rimon School in Ramat Hashasron, he formed the fusion ensemble The Boogie Knight, and would go on to tour with other groups such as Los Omres and the Groove Ambassadors.

Starting in 2015, Omer took his talents to the sea and spent several contracts as a musician and musical director with Holland America Line and Seabourn Cruises, during which time he performed on all seven continents, with hundreds of artists from all over the world, to audiences all around the world. He’s also had the pleasure of collaborating with Tararam, Laila Malcus, and many other artists.

Omer has settled back in Tel Aviv, where he continues to perform, produce, and create groovy, innovative music at an alarmingly high level.

Hailing from Texas, Mike Brehm is a trumpet player, arranger and composer whose wealth of gig experience ranges from cruise ships to the US Navy. After graduating from Texas State with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies, he went on to play lead trumpet for Carnival Cruise Lines and Princess Cruises for several years.

In 2016, he joined the ranks of the US Navy Fleet Bands, and has spent the past three years stationed outside of Seattle, Washington, performing and arranging for the Navy Band Northwest. Through his performing career he has played alongside Tony Vega, Rufus Reid, Bob Mintzer, Michael Philip Mossman, Bob Shephard, and Marvin Stamm.

Mike has recently accepted a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and will move cross-country with his rad family later this year to begin his Master’s degree in Jazz Performance and light up the northeast with his playing.

Argentinian-born Leandro Garcia is a pianist, arranger and composer who has performed on the stages of major cities all over the world, including Barcelona, Rome, Paris, London, Boston, and New York City, in addition to extensive touring and festivals in his native country.

He’s also familiar with much of the world’s waterways, having served as a bandleader for Holland America Line and Carnival Cruise Lines over the course of several years. His writing and composing during this time led to his recognition at the Fondo Nacional de las Artes, in the jazz category, for his solo album Despierta, in 2017.

Leandro also spent time in the Buenos Aires musical theater scene, where he has performed shows such as Chicago and Les Miserables; he’s also been featured as a pianist and vocalist in top jazz clubs around the city, and currently continues to teach, perform, and craft sweet lines on his piano.

Hailing from the country of Colombia, Mario Criales is a bassist, vocalist, composer and author who, after winning several awards for bass performance in his youth, has enjoyed a career of touring and performing that has taken him from Honduras to Kenya to Italy. He has also sailed much of the globe as a bandleader for Holland America Line, and is endorsed by Aguilar amps.

Much of Mario’s career has been spent as an ambassador of joropo, a hybrid style of music originating in his native Colombia. To this end, he has given masterclasses at prestigious institutions such as the Berklee School of Music, released an original album entitled Influencias, and published a book, El Bajo y el Joropo Llanero, in 2017.

That said, Mario’s passion for joropo has never compromised his love and dedication to other styles, from jazz to pop to classical. He currently resides in Amsterdam, where he continues to perform, teach, compose, and churn out intoxicatingly groovy bass lines.

Carl Mörner Ringström is a Swedish guitarist, arranger and composer. Since graduating with a masters from the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, Carl has offered up his musical wisdom through clinics, workshops and masterclasses, and has performed everywhere from tours to cruise ships to various other big stages around the world.

Notable collaborations include Henrik Linder of Dirty Loops fame, Louis Cole, Virgil Donati, David Binney, Wayne Krantz, Claudia Campagnol, Sidsel Storm, Malene Mortensen, Marius Neset, Snorre Kirk and Vivian Buczek. He was also nominated for a BMW World Jazz Award in 2015, and is endorsed by Yamaha and Line6.

After stints in Copenhagen and New York, Carl is currently based in Stockholm, where he continues to write, teach, perform, and transfix listeners with everything from adult chords to thrash metal solos.

Multi-instrumentalist Giacomo Riggi’s career has taken him all over the map, literally. He’s won many awards in his native Italy for both composition and performance in piano and classical percussion; toured Europe, Asia and the Americas with orchestras and jazz ensembles; and sailed around the world as a bandleader and musical director on cruise ships and with Cirque du Soleil.

He’s collaborated with a long list of artists that includes Danilo Rea, Mauro Grossi, Tony Scott, Garrison Fewell, Marlene VerPlanck, Paul McCandless, and others, and he’s sung with Bobby McFerrin multiple times. He’s also performed his show Sonic Odyssey as a headliner on Royal Caribbean cruises. And he’s released three albums as a leader, including Izevarm and Into My Life.

Giacomo is currently based in Tuscany, where he organizes concerts, explores the musical boundaries of everything from the vibraphone to the harpejji, and continues to learn, experiment, share, and stay curious.

Latin Grammy-nominated Felipe Castro is a saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist whose 26-year career spans performing, recording and arranging in a variety of styles — from jazz, bossa, merengue, and salsa, to pop, funk, gospel, and house music — for countless Spanish and international artists.

His touring credits include names like Tony Succar, Carlinhos Brown, Bonnie Tyler, Matthew Herbert, David Bisbal, Inna, Chino and Nacho, Mónica Naranjo, Ana Torroja, David Civera, Natalia Jiménez, Merche, Malú, and many others, and he has also performed his headlining show on P&O and Princess Cruises.

Felipe currently resides in Holland, where he continues to arrange, tour, and crank out earth-shattering solo after solo.

Ben Todd is a drummer, percussionist, composer and bandleader from Adelaide in South Australia. Over the past 10 years, he’s been touring the world with Cirque du Soleil as a featured drummer, percussionist and now-bandleader with 3 of their shows, Corteo, Kooza, and most recently, Volta. During this time, Ben has performed in Japan, Russia, the US, Spain, Canada, France, Belgium and England for a total of over 1500 shows.

Prior to joining Cirque, Ben performed with a wide range of artists back in Australia including Kate Cebrano, Paulini, Ben Folds, Doug Parkinson, Rhonda Burchmore, James Morrison, David Campbell, Barry Humphries and Glen Shorrok, as well as pit orchestra work for many musical theater shows including the Australia / New Zealand tour of Cats, Miss Saigon, Grease, Metro Street and The Candyman.

In 2007, Ben was selected as a James Morrison Jazz Scholarship finalist. The following year, he was a featured artist at Ultimate Drummers Weekend in Melbourne, Australia, and he would be asked back to perform again in 2015, this time in a duo format with multi-instrumentalist Adam Page. He’s also released three albums as a leader, including 20Ten and The Ben Todd Quintet. He continues to tour, perform, and do awesome things behind the drum kit.

Originally from central Michigan, Jim Lutz has appeared on stages, in recording studios, and in broadcast media across dozens of major cities around the world, with credits that include Cirque du Soleil, Disney, and the TONY® and EMMY® award-winning production “Blast!”

From 2010-2015, Jim was the music director and played trombones, keyboards, sequences, and effects on Cirque du Soleil’s Kooza. More recently, Jim was the associate conductor and trombonist for Cirque du Soleil’s Paramour in New York, served as associate music supervisor for Cirque du Soleil’s Paramour das Musical in Hamburg, Germany, and was the Ableton designer for Cirque du Soleil’s Twas The Night Before.

Jim currently resides in the greater NYC area and continues to perform, compose, produce and, as he sees it, tell stories, stir emotions, and help to bring a little bit more beauty into our world through music.

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