Below deck… on a cruise ship! TikToking Virgin Voyages musician lifts the veil on life at sea

For most cruisers, what goes on below decks is a mystery, but a cruise ship musician lifts the veil on the experience.

Jack Nolanan artist on Virgin Voyages’ Valiant Lady, is gathering an impressive TikTok following by sharing eye-popping videos about his life at sea while doing what he says is “one of the best jobs in the world.”

Taking his audience behind the scenes on the ship, the 32-year-old show videos he met Virgin Voyages boss Richard Branson relaxing in his “tiny” windowless cabin and experienced dramatic weather on a transatlantic crossing, with footage of a huge waterspout swirling next to the ship.

In conversation with MailOnline Travel, the British singer and musician reveals that he has worked on cruise ships for the past seven years and was pleasantly surprised by “how much fun they can be if you are an extrovert.”

In one video, the musician — who has amassed more than 54,000 TikTok followers to date — reveals how the ship’s artists spend two weeks rehearsing in an Orlando studio before boarding the ship for a six-month season.

“It’s so small I can touch almost every wall at once,” Jack says of his cabin. The 32-year-old says he has “one of the best jobs in the world.”

“The best thing by far is that they put you up in a really cute hotel,” says Jack, filming the hotel’s hot tub and basketball courts. He adds: ‘It’s all paid for by the company. They even gave us a car to get around in.’

The artist says the crew gets “so much” downtime in Orlando when they’re not rehearsing, giving them a chance to explore the city and check out the bars and restaurants.

Aboard Valiant Lady, Jack gives a tour of his only cabin, remarking, “If you live in a small cabin with no porthole, of course there’s no natural sunlight, and it can really mess with your head if you spend too much time in there… it’s so small I can touch almost every wall at once.”

He has a neat trick to make the most of the space by using magnetic hooks – which stick when thrown against the cabin’s metal walls – to hold up his belongings.

Jack also points the camera at some of the areas where the crew spends their free time, capturing the crew’s dining area and buffet, the crew’s laundry room and the crew’s gym, which is open 24 hours a day and is free to use. use is. “If you’ve been trying to lift heavy weights on a moving ship, it’s no fun,” he notes.

Jack performs on Valiant Lady, Virgin Voyages’ second cruise ship (pictured)

Pictured on the left are the basketball courts at a hotel where Jack stayed while rehearsing with his band for a recent cruise season. “It’s all paid for by the company,” he says. Jack has a neat trick to make the most of the space in his cabin by using magnetic hooks (right) to hold up his belongings

Jack says he felt “lucky” to get a video selfie with Virgin Voyages boss Richard Branson. Pictured on the right is the pool for guests on the ship

Jack films the ‘secret’ berth (left) for the crew on the top deck of the ship. On the right of the photo, Jack sees his hair being cut by Shandy, the crew barber

The ‘secret’ upper deck berth reserved for the crew is also recorded, with Jack noting, ‘You can see most of the ship and you [get] some great views all around you.’

The crew’s hairdresser, Shandy, is shown cutting Jack’s hair in the crew’s stairwell. Jack also shows the crew receiving Amazon packages and having them delivered to the ship’s home port for pick up every weekend. “You can order pretty much anything you want,” he says. One of his recent purchases was a set of darts so he could play rounds of darts with his crew members.

The TikToker was surprised to see billionaire Branson mingling with the crew as he boarded the 2,770-passenger liner, which made its maiden voyage last year. He says in a video, “I’ve heard about his “workers come first” philosophies, but I didn’t expect him to one day walk into crew quarters and crew mess. I felt lucky enough to take a two-second video selfie with him.”

Other clips capture the “eight consecutive rocky sea days” of a transatlantic voyage aboard Valiant Lady. Jack films “the wreckage” left in the wake of the waterspout – tornadoes moving across the water – as it passed over the ship, leaving the lounge chairs upside down over the pool deck. “No one was hurt,” Jack notes.

Explaining how he spends his time at sea, Jack explains that as a musician he only performs at night so his days are free to disembark and explore.

One clip shows him enjoying Virgin Voyages’ private beach club in the Bahamas, while another captures him swimming in the sea in the south of France. “We’re really lucky to have that free time in port,” he says, adding, “I feel very fortunate that as a musician on board the hours are very favorable.”

As a musician, ‘making music every day is a party’, Jack admits

Pictured on the left is the crew gym, which is open twenty-four hours a day and is free to use. Jack shows how the crew can receive Amazon packages (right) during their time on the ship

A video shows dramatic weather on a transatlantic crossing, with a huge waterspout swirling next to the ship. In the photo on the right, Jack shows ‘the wreck’ on the left in the wake of the waterspout as it passed over the ship

Jack says he can “easily save thousands of dollars a month because two of life’s biggest expenses – rent and food – are completely free.” Above are desserts in the crew’s mess

Jack, who works on a cruise ship 10 months a year, reveals that there is great financial incentive to work on a cruise ship – he “could easily save thousands a month because two of life’s biggest expenses – rent and food – are completely free.”

Other top perks, he reveals, are travel opportunities and the chance to meet people from all over the world. Plus, as a musician, it’s “a pleasure to make music every day,” admits Jack.

Looking back at the low points of working in the cruise industry, he notes: ‘The food on ships is free, of course, but it can also be quite repetitive and boring.’

Another downside is the Wi-Fi, which can be “slow,” though Jack notes that since Virgin Voyages installed Elon Musk’s Starlink, “it’s a little faster than it used to be.”

One of the most unusual things about his job, he reveals, is waking up in a new place every day. He also says it can take some getting used to living where you work. He says, “During the day you see managers in suits at work, but at night chilling with a beer in the crew bar with everyone else.”

Being at sea for so long means there are many things Jack misses including his girlfriend, “good wifi”, his dog, home cooked food and his family. He notes that he also “misses the freedom of not having to be on board again” [the ship] on a certain moment’.

And the reaction to his videos? It was “mostly positive,” reveals Jack, adding, “A lot of people [are] curious and interested… also many [have been] ask how to get a job on a ship!’

Follow him for more videos from Jack TikTok, Instagram And YouTube.