Anyone worked on a Cruise Ship?

Question

Can you tell me how it was for you, and some advice.

Answer 1

I have talked with a girl who has been a massage therapist of a cruise line. She hated it. She was stuck in tight quarters all day long, working for pennies and had to put in an insane amount of hours. They told her that her pay was to "see the world", but she only got to port for one evening. She watched everyone get drunk, but she doesn't drink alcohol (practices what she preaches as a health care provider) and was mocked for living a healthier standard.

Her clients were all drunken revelers who wanted s*x. She got out of the business as soon as she could. She warned me but I already knew that was something I would never fall for.

Answer 2

No I haven't.

Answer 3

wow - Mike J's friend had a bad experience!  If you work in what they call 'commissions' ie: beauty salon, shop, photographer, you work for a third party company that the ship brings on board.  Pay is often low or comission based and you don't have all the perks of officer staff.  If you work on the Pursers (Reception) desk, restaurant or housekeeping, at officers level etc then you are normally employed directly by the cruise company and will enjoy better benefits.  It really depends where you want to work.  I worked as a Purser, had a nice cabin with a port hole, yes- I worked every day for 5 month contracts but if you're on a good ship they understand that people need time out so you will work split shifts etc so there is always time to get off and go ashore.  To be honest it's the best job I ever had!  I got to travel the world for free and work was more like fun!

If you're interested you should look at the individual company websites (NCL, Carnival, Festival, Disney etc) and go directly through their employment links.  DON'T waste your time sending away for any of those books that they advertise in the newspapers - they're usually just full of out of date addresses!  Remember - Cruise Ships are just normal companies - there's no great mystery to working on one - if you can, just ring the head office of the company direct and speak to the HR departement - you then get to send your CV to the RIGHT person and you'll be on your way.  For more names of companies, check out www.hcareers.com and search just cruise ship under the 'industry' category.  Good luck!