One Last Time. Maybe.

After an eight month absence I am once again back on the Baltic ships. I actually arrived in Finland just over a week ago. That’s been just enough time to settle in to the usual routine of mild alcoholism, poor quality sleep, contracting some kind of respiratory disease and not seeing any daylight for I think eight days now. As long as I don’t get the stomach flu that’s going around, I’ll be happy. I would like to get out more though. It’s perhaps not too much of a bad thing considering it’s the coldest time of the year here. For locals I know it’s nothing but for me, arriving off the plane into -10C is always a bit of a shock. That night it fell down to -20C which made the idea of meeting a friend for dinner seem like a really poor choice. Beer helped though.

All in all it’s mostly nice to be back. The reason for the break was mainly down to the incompetence of the cruise line’s entertainment department. They cancelled our previous November contract due to ships going into dry dock for maintenance. How they didn’t know about this well in advance is beyond me. It’s not the first time this has happened either, along with the occasional double booking. We also missed our usual summer slot as our now ex guitarist had other commitments and the rest of us fancied a bit of time off. A bad decision in hindsight, as apart from a two week contract in Monaco in October, work has been thin on the ground. Then a big chunk of my savings had to go towards paying tax. However, despite the current situation, we have finally decided to say what will hopefully be a final goodbye to the boats.

As a band and as individuals we’ve been wanting to move onto something new for a while now. We’ve all worked on these ships for several years. Considering the good reputation we have here though, as well as the reliable(ish), regular income we make, it’s been hard to make a real effort to look elsewhere. Plus there have been enough line-up changes to key members over the last two years that a fair amount of promo has had to be scrapped and redone, then scrapped again. We needed something to give us a little more motivation and that finally happened a couple of months ago.

I wrote in a previous post that the money here is pretty decent. It doesn’t seem it to some at first and that’s understandable. Especially with the amount of sets we play each night. I was happy with what I was getting though and for me that’s always what’s most important when it comes to making a decision on taking a contract. If someone makes more money than I do in the same band, or in another band, that’s ok with me, as long as it’s justified.

We’ve known for years that the local Finnish and Swedish bands get paid more than us. This was never a problem as we knew about and additional artist tax that needs to be paid here. Plus living costs are more expensive so it was all fair enough. But as I recently found out, the Finnish and Swedish musicians are actually earning as much as two to four times what I am per day. And it’s in no way justifiable. We are frequently told by the heads of the entertainment department that we are the best band they have. Every cruise manager from every ship we have ever played on has said the same thing. We even play more sets per day. Then there is the quality. I know music and its performance is all subjective but on this I can be totally confident in saying that the majority if these bands are poor. Some are full on shite.

In the past, our requests for small pay rises have been laughed off. Apparently literally in one case. And so since the chances of a meaningful rise happening are so slim, so is the likelihood of working here again after mid-March and that thought leaves me feeling a bit weird. I am a little sad about it. Which I suppose is understandable after being here for over seven years now. I find myself trying to savour the weirdest things. Like the dank smell of the staff corridors, the weird noises from the car deck below my cabin or even the crap mess food. I’ll now have seconds of something I’ve never particularly liked just to make sure I remember it. On the first ship I’m working there’s a nice sushi restaurant. I’ll no doubt have to go there several times before moving on. At least I sort of have an excuse for spending money in there this time I suppose.

I’m also feeling annoyed and maybe a little angry. Part of me can’t wait to get off and never come back. The thought that the cruise line is about to lose its best band sort of cheers me up. I don’t know why because it’s not as if by leaving we will make even the slightest dent in their profits. I imagine we’ll be forgotten about fairly quickly.

So now in the seven weeks that remain I really want to make the most of Helsinki and Stockholm. There are still some things here that I’ve wanted to see but have never got around to. Like the underground cave/church thing or the Vasa museum. Maybe I’ll wait until the ice melts first. I struggle to walk on it and it’s as embarrassing as it is painful when I fall. Or maybe I’ll still never get around to it as I’ll be knackered from playing six sets the previous night and/or have a hangover. It’s 6am as I’m writing this now and I still can’t sleep. Now is probably a good time to try again.

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