As long as you have no other irons in the fire, are properly located, don't mind a heavy workload (relative of course) and are comfortable living in close quarters, doing cruise ship work in entertainment can be loads of fun. The talent does need to perform everyday, sometimes multiple shows, they also (depending on the contract) may need to perform other non-entertainment duties aboard ship, which is not always to their liking. Living quarters can range from a very small single berth (the lucky ones) to very small group rooms... often the schedule has you out for 4~6 weeks at a time, then one week off. This is detrimental to people who have other gigs, and, excepting for the lack of driving, can be as rigorous as a touring schedule. Most cruise lines require that people get themselves to the port of departure on their own dime, so if you do not live close it is easy to rack up considerable travel expenses trying to get home on down time.
I have done a couple Jam Cruises as an audio engineer (working for talent, not jamCruise or the cruise line) , and was approached later by a couple cruise lines to come on board (pun intended
) It was not a good fit for me, as I was already beyond the scope of work and remuneration that they were able to offer. Had I been 15 years younger and newer in my career, I would most likely have signed on for at least a 6 month or a year contract. The simple fact that cruise lines go to cool places around the world is a huge enticement, and getting paid to do it is even better. certainly can be a fine stepping stone for people trying to transition from local work to regional or national work, whether they be artist or tech.
Food and board are included while onboard, and as long as people like what you are playing, and you don't rock the boat (again...), the stability is there. The new batch of passengers has no idea that the band they are seeing has played the same room for the last year...