The cruise crew member said they worked in the role on one of the world’s biggest cruise lines. Musicians will usually play music in the ship’s restaurants or bars and can even appear in the lift on some of the larger lines.

On Reddit, a guest asked: “What do you do when there is no show/work, like helping the crew do something else?”

The musician said: “We did have additional responsibilities, but it did not include cross department assistance.

“It was actually against the rules for me to help with certain duties. For example, if I get hurt carrying something to help housekeeping or cut my hand helping in the galley, there is not another person to sit in for me while I heal.”

Cruise crew may not be allowed to help staff in other departments as it could go against health and safety rules.

The crew member added: “Different positions within different departments have varying access to guest area privileges.

“As a musician, I had the privilege to eat in guest areas. We also often ate in the crew mess. During our time off, we were able to be in guest areas or get off the ship in port.

“We could also stay in our room or go to any crew areas we had access to. As a musician, I don’t have access to the bridge or the engine rooms, or any places that required job-specific access.”

Crew privileges vary across cruise lines and positions, with some staff members allowed to access the guest areas.

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Staff in the entertainment team might be allowed to get off the ship more than other crew members, as they won’t work while the guests are onshore.

However, the entertainment staff will usually have to take part in rehearsals during the day so may not have time to explore.

A guest with the username ‘bacchus8408’ asked: “This may sound like an odd question, but can I tip you?”

They said they kept looking around for a tip jar on their last cruise but couldn’t find one and didn’t just want to walk up to the musician.

The crew member said: “You absolutely can tip. It’s very respectful of you to be cautious about approaching, but verbal praise would be more than welcomed and tips even more so!

“Also, it may seem small, but it goes a long way to leave comments about crew members that helped to make your experience great!”

They added: “I would usually try to play people’s requests, but if a tip was involved, I’d always make it happen.

“People sometimes passed a glass around the bar and collected tips. Sometimes they would just come up to us and hand it to us.

“One caveat to all of this is that requests should make sense. We play pop and rock and an elderly couple asked us to play a waltz, or a samba because that’s what they knew how to dance to. I wasn’t offended but I still laugh about that months later.”

Ship musicians won’t be able to play every request but may try to if guests ask politely or offer a tip.

Major cruise lines may have several musicians playing different types of music so guests may be able to get their requests played somewhere else.

Guests can also leave reviews or comments for staff members to show their appreciation for service.

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