Cruise Ship Employment
For those interested in a career in cruising, it is
important to consider both small and large cruise ships. There are many
positions available with no experience necessary on many small cruise
ships, for example, as they are often American vessels with American
crew. These ships will probably be in the range of about 120 feet to a
little over 200 feet in length. Alaska Sightseeing/Cruise West, a line
based in Seattle, WA, and specializing in primarily domestic travel,
such as Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, is a good example of a small
ship cruise line.
On the other hand, most of the large ships that we
typically associate with cruising—vessels belonging to Holland America,
Princess and Celebrity just to name a few---are actually foreign flagged
and have three distinct levels of personnel. First, there is “the crew.”
These are, for example, the deck hands, cabin stewards, and waiters who
will interact with passengers only when they are working and who will
(if the ship is foreign flagged) typically not be American or from any
English-as-a-first-language country. Secondly, there are “the officers,”
a group including bridge officers, sometimes the hotel manager, etc, who
are usually not American either but often from a different country than
the crew. Finally, you have “the staff”—the entertainers, cruise
director and his assistant, youth program personnel, the hostess and any
athletic program personnel, for example. Basically, “the staff” is the
personnel expected to be primarily and constantly interacting with the
passengers. Still, “the staff”, not counting entertainers, is
relatively small and made up of primarily experienced people who rotate
through on contracts. Thus, getting started, or getting that first
contract, can be challenging. Once you have some experience, however,
like anything else, there are more possibilities. If the cruise line
likes you they will bring you back for additional contracts, and you
will get more and more seniority to choose the ships, assignments and
more exotic itineraries you really want, or even get promoted into a job
of increasing responsibility. Plus, once you have the experience, you
will be much more marketable to other cruise lines as well, so don’t
worry about where you get that first job. My best advice is, if you have
your heart set on working for a large ship cruise line, contact every
cruise line you can think of and send those resumes out. Also, if you
have experience with kids, here is a tip: many cruise lines take on
extra temporary staff to help with the kids for select periods—over
summer or Christmas for example, so that may offer a chance to get your
foot in the door.
In conclusion, I would just say this. You will not
get rich working on a cruise ship. In fact, you may not want to do the
math. You get paid per day, and I was usually working for far less than
minimum wage—about $3 an hour on my first job. You may or may not
receive tips in addition to your salary. However, the trade off is, you
have no living expenses. Your cabin (which you will probably share with
one or more people and which will be below deck) is provided, as is all
your onboard food and clothes washing facilities. Your uniform or parts
of it may or may not be provided free of charge. You will probably work
long hours and will be “on duty” any time a passenger can see you
(whether you are technically “on duty” or not) and you will most likely
have no life off of the ship, but you will also travel and see places
and things you never imagined or dreamed of, and every day will be an
adventure! Good luck!