Fine-tuning shipboard entertainment
Who: It’s much easier it is to succeed at a job you love, says Eddie Castro, recently named manager of music direction for Carnival Cruise Line in Doral. The Deerfield Beach resident says music has always been his love long before it coincided with a paycheck. Over the years, he has played in benefit concerts to raise charitable dollars. And his employer has the same philosophy, he says. Carnival is the official celebration partner for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
What I do: Create a streamlined, entertainment experience across the fleet of 24 ships through vetting, auditioning, hiring. Each day, I’m plugged in at the very start — from meeting with colleagues on guest feedback and projects, to putting on headphones to listen to talent, to visiting our Coconut Creek studio.
Resume
Experience: Carnival Cruise Line, 2007-present; director of bands and orchestras, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, 2002-2007; Adjunct professor, world music, Florida State University, 2001.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in music, Florida State University
Myth-busting
Entertainers who can’t get work on land enter the cruise industry. That is a myth. Our ships are full of entertainers who seek contract after contract to work aboard our ships
due to benefits that include everything from a fun atmosphere and community, to vast exposure and competitive compensation that supplements any shore-side opportunities they seek to obtain between onboard contracts.
Career strategies
What’s new: Genres of music are constantly evolving, and I have endless thirst for monitoring these trends.
Musical training: It is what has gotten me this far — getting bused into inner-city magnet schools to study music as a youth; playing in the Seminoles band at FSU; performing onboard Carnival ships while I was in college.
Ckent@tribune.com or 954-356-4662, Google+ and Twitter @mindingyourbiz