Wang Yen Hsiang has been drumming for Royal Caribbean orchestras since 2019, performing aboard some of the line's largest ships — including Icon of the Seas, Odyssey of the Seas, and his current home, Symphony of the Seas. In a candid interview, Hsiang offered a rare look at what daily life actually looks like for a working musician at sea.
The pace is relentless and the pressure is real. Hsiang describes arriving to a new production show with just one tech run before performing that same night. For Broadway-style shows — Royal Caribbean stages full productions of titles like Mamma Mia!, The Wizard of Oz, Hairspray, Cats, Back to the Future, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Saturday Night Fever — musicians often receive their charts only during an afternoon rehearsal, then perform a few hours later. Big band and funk sets frequently go up with no rehearsal at all.
A typical day for Hsiang starts slowly: mornings are for reading and lunch, afternoons for practicing and the gym, evenings for the theater. After the show wraps, he unwinds with a book, meditates, and resets for the next day. When the ship is in port, he makes a point to get off and explore — something he credits with keeping burnout at bay. The hardest show in his rotation, he says, is a headliner set from classical pianist Craig Dahn, which runs twenty uninterrupted minutes of complex, fast-tempo charts.
For aspiring ship musicians, Hsiang's advice is practical: master every style, sharpen your sight-reading, and get comfortable playing both with and without a click track. As for breaking in, Royal Caribbean accepts applications directly through its website, works with talent agencies, and holds live auditions whose dates are posted on social media and gig listings. Hsiang notes that being from a smaller country was never a barrier — skill was what got him hired.
The full interview, including photos from Hsiang's time at sea, was originally published by Royal Caribbean Blog.
