The musician, identified by the foreign ministry as Sandor Feher, 38, was "waiting for long minutes on the first floor to see what would happen," the Costa Concordia's pianist Jozsef Balogh told the Hungarian Blikk newspaper.
But after helping two distraught children put on their life jackets, Feher decided to go back for his violin to put it into its box and hide it behind the piano so it didn't break, Balogh said, the paper reported on its website.
According to witnesses, the violinist made it back to the surface and was last seen heading to the area where he was meant to get into the rescue boat, the paper said.
Eleven bodies have been recovered from the half-submerged hulk of the ship since it was wrecked off Italy's Tuscan coast on Friday.
Here is a YouTube video made by Feher to attract work.
