Advice/information about working on a cruise ship?

Question

I'm 20 years old and looking for a job where I can travel and save money at the same time. I've heard mixed reviews about working on a cruise ships. What are the hours, pay and accomadations like? Do you have time off the boat while docked? What are the requirements for an entry level postion in the kitchen or housekeeping department? Which cruise lines offer the best pay for entry level positions? Any help or advice on the subject would be great.

Answer 1

The question you have are best answered by the cruise line.  But I have been on many cruises and also talked with the staff about their jobs.  I know that you must sign on under a contract that lasts about 8 or 9 months.  During that time you work EVERY day and in many cases a split shift where you go on duty in the early morning and then have on some days time off during the day and then go back to work in the afternoon or evening.  After you complete your initial 8 or 9 month contract you get 2 or 3 months or so off and then come back under another contract.

The ship's crew does have the opportunity to get off ship in some ports some of the time.  But it's not like you can automatically get off at any or every port.  It depends in part on your work schedule.  And, sometimes the first time the ship gets  to a port you may not be able to get off, but then the next time you may be able to go ashore.

The pay on ships is very low, way below US minimum wage.  But you get free room and board and share a cabin with a couple or three  others, depending upon the ship.

You need to contact the cruise lines directly. On their web sites you will find a link to jobs, employment, human resources or some such link that will give you information about their positions. Some sites even have current vacancies they are recruiting for.

Don't go to the web sites that advertise "cruise line jobs" because they charge a fee. The cruise lines give you all you need without charging a fee.

Several cruise lines have new ships coming out soon so opportunities will be there. Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Disney and some others will have new ships launched in the next couple years.

Here are some links:

The luxury cruise lines are:

REGENT SEVEN SEAS:

http://www.rssc.com/

RADISSON:

http://www.cruisingluxury.com/Radisson.....

SILVER SEAS:

http://www.silversea.com/

CRYSTAL:

http://www.crystalcruises.com/home.asp.....

AZAMARA:

http://www.azamaracruises.com/07/azama.....

Other cruise lines that most people go on:

CUNARD:

http://www.cunard.com/

HOLLAND AMERICA

http://www.hollandamerica.com/

CELEBRITY:

http://www.celebritycruises.com/home .

ROYAL CARIBBEAN:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/gohome.d.....

NORWEGIAN:

http://www.ncl.com/

PRINCESS:

http://www.princess.com/index.html

CARNIVAL:

http://www.carnivalcruiselines.com/

DISNEY:

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/.....

Then there are some that operate out of Europe:

P&O:

http://www.pocruises.com/pocruising/Ho.....

STAR:

http://www.starcruises.com/newweb/main.....

COSTA:

http://www.costacruise.com/B2C/USA/Def.....

MSC:

http://www.msccruisesusa.com/

I know that on Royal Caribbean's site if you go to the bottom of their home page and click on OUR COMPANY it will take you to a page where career opportunities are listed by category: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/ourCompany...

Then there are more links that will let you see and download job requirements. Celebrity Cruise line is a RC affiliate and so you should be able to get similar information from them the same way. here's a link to their jobs page: http://www.celebritycruises.com/aboutcel...

Here's Norwegian Cruise line: http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cmsPag...