Massage Therapy job on a cruise line? HELP!?

Question

I have been searching the internet for a few weeks now on and off.. and it doesn't seem very easy to find job opportunities as a massage therapist. I am about to graduate massage school in Texas and after I get my state certification I would love to work on a cruise line! It seems like all people do online is try to sell you a book or make you may to even look for a job. Is this normal??? $50 to find a job?

If you have actually worked on a cruise ship please respond. I'm very frustrated trying to figure out how to get hired. Will they want me to have more experience? Do they really work you 10-12 hours a day doing massage?? All I seem to hear are rumors and speculations, so I would really like some solid answers, prefeably straight from the horses mouth.

So if you have worked as a therapist please answer! I'm confused about licensing regulations too. Is it different when you're out to sea? Or do I need to sail out of texas cause I am licensed here? HELP!

Answer 1

Not to be negative, but I heard from a few friends that it wasn't worth it. It sounds amazing you get to be on vacation, enjoying a view, meeting all kinds of people....

But, in reality this is what I was told...so this is second-hand knowledge...

You are on commission so you have to try and lure these people in to you for massages.

Many are non-tippers, because they have paid for their cruise and assume you make tons of money.

There is NO vacation. You work, go to your room to sleep/eat/shower/whatever, and then you are back to work the following morning.

People don't usually get massages over and over the entire week, so you don't have repeat clientele. They do it for the experience and luxury of it and then they move on.

You can go a whole day with no clients because if there is an event on the ship such as a dance or a concert, nobody is thinking about you!

Granted, there could be a thousand people on the ship, but you might only get about 2 handfuls in a week, depending on the way the waves roll....and how good your selling and upselling skills are.

If you are gone for a few months on the cruise ship you might get a mental drain because you are stuck on the ship and have no family or friends around. Depending on the weather, you might get a really bad rough sea trip and nobody wants to get a massage when the ship is bouncing around on the water. Because you are part of the crew you might get a "crew cabin" and they are the size of walk-in closets. You might not be able to participate in any of the cruise activities because you are "working" and are not allowed to party hard and get wild... You are expected to work long hours.

My opinions were only second-hand advice from fellow friends who did go the cruise-ship route.