When most people think of cruise ships, they envision a giant, floating resort packed with thousands of passengers, 10 stories high, and equipped with every amenity imaginable.

As you probably know, the number of mega ships or "superliners" is increasing all the time. Not a year goes by without yet another contender for "world’s biggest cruise ship".

In fact, Royal Caribbean’s Project Genesis (right), due for launch in 2009, will carry up to 6,400 passengers, nearly 4,000 more than the largest cruise ship currently afloat!

Of course this is great news for you the cruise ship job seeker because it means that the opportunities to get paid to travel the world are increasing each year.

Not only that, working on superliners can be great fun! After all there are a lot more crew and passengers to meet, from a wider range of nationalities; more state-of-the-art facilities to use and often bigger and better cabins.

The problem with mega ships though, according to many experienced crewmembers, is that with it brings a much busier and less intimate atmosphere. In fact, these ships are so huge that you can meet someone onboard, and then go months or even an entire contract without seeing them again (which can also be a good thing ;-0)

However, there are other types of cruise ship that most cruise ship job seekers don’t really consider. These are the smaller ships operated by the lesser known cruise lines which are designed to provide a much more intimate experience for both passengers and crew.

Motorized sailboats, small yachts, exploration ships, large yachts, ferries, windjammers, sternwheelers, and river barges are all used in the cruise industry. These smaller vessels are often used for specialty cruises ranging from diving expeditions, river tours, environmental / naturalist cruises, or just sailing adventures.

Experienced crewmembers who have worked on both large and small cruise ships, often prefer the more intimate and relaxed atmosphere of living and working on smaller cruise ships. They’ve done the big ships and now they want a more intimate experience with both guests and fellow crew.

Not only that, smaller ships also have the benefit of being able to navigate to places where large ships can’t - meaning more exclusive, unique and exciting destinations! In Alaska for example, a smaller cruise ship doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of a big ship so it can navigate closer to glaciers and up smaller straits, visiting places where large cruise ships can’t.

What’s more, many of the jobs available on smaller cruise lines you won’t find on the larger cruises, including: Dive Masters and Naturalists.