Cruise Ship Jobs Blog

As the cold weather is taking over November, many of you may be starting to think, “I need to find a cruise ship job so that I can work in the Caribbean!”

For many crewmembers, this is one of the many reasons why working on cruise ships is so attractive. The thought of visiting the islands of the Caribbean, relaxing on the beach, and working on a tan are motivating factors to get hired before the snow starts to fall.

Royal Caribbean International will have 13 cruise ships in the Caribbean for the 2011/2012 winter season. Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Disney Cruises and many other cruise lines will also have a number of ships offering Caribbean cruises. Itineraries include stopping at islands such as U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Aruba and others.

Before committing to the dream of seeing yourself lying on a beach and getting paid, you must also realize that most cruise ship jobs require crewmembers to work long hours every day. The only time off is the time off between shifts. Everyday you’ll have to ask yourself, should I sleep or should I go to the beach? Then there’s the issue if you don’t get get placed on a ship in the Caribbean!

For more info, WorkOnCruiseShips.com has a Life Onboard section with articles such as:

Is Working on Cruise Ships Really for You?

Overcoming Homesickness when Working on a Cruise Ships

How Strict are Cruise Ship Rules?

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Another question that frequently comes up on the Work on Cruise Ships discussion forum is:

“Which is the best cruise line to work for?”

It really depends on who is answering this question because factors such as personal preference and the type of job you are applying for are elements of this equation. For example, someone that has worked for Royal Caribbean and loves everything about that company and their job may say something similar to someone that is a devoted Princess Cruises employee.

Each company has its own good points and negative points. Even each ship within a fleet may have a different environment and dynamic than other ships within the same fleet. New ships may have nicer cabins than older ships whereas smaller ships may have a closer knit onboard community. Unfortunately you can’t choose the ship to work on within a cruise line.

Another factor that can contribute to the choice of cruise line to work for may be the company that offers you the job first. You may apply to a few different cruise lines, but the one that offers you the interview first may also be the one that offers you the job first. Are you going to wait around and wait for the ‘perfect’ company to contact you? Probably not.

The best thing to do is start looking through the latest cruise job vacancies and start sending out your cover letters and resumes. Don’t wait another day!

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It takes a special person to be able to supervise, motivate and entertain the youngest guests on a cruise ship.  Kids can be demanding as can be the parents, as well.

First you must ask yourself if you are looking for a seasonal job or a full time job.  For example, many full-time teachers use their vacation period as a time to work onboard.

Taking a seasonal youth staff job is also a great way to get your foot in the door for a full time position if that’s what you’re looking for.

The first day of your contract you will meet with the Youth Director who will assign you to a particular age group for the cruise (which may turn into many cruises). There will already be a schedule of activities in place and it will be your job to follow the schedule.

For example, youth staff looking after the 3-5 age group may supervise activities such as story-telling, scavenger hunts and arts and crafts.

If you were a counsellor working for Carnival Cruise Lines you would be expected to change diapers (nappies), whereas on Disney Cruise Line and NCL the parent needs to change the diapers of their own children.

Some cruise lines (ie. P&O Cruises) organise daily pool games for kids aged 9 years of age and older play pool games daily. Whereas many cruise lines rarely take the kids out of the kids club.

Working with teens is much different than working with the younger kids.  Teens can come and go as they please without being signed in by a parent.  It’s the job of the teen staff to create an environment that is fun, entertaining, and easy to make new friends. Activities may include discos, pool parties, karaoke, sports tournaments and teen dinners.

Cruise ship jobs as youth staff vary from ship to ship, depending on facilities and demographics. Find out more at www/workoncruiseships.com

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Imagine yourself five years in the future. What will you be doing? What will your resume say? Will you be working on a cruise ship? Or, will you have cruise ship experience listed on your resume?

Picture what your future employers will think when they read your resume and it says, “Worked on luxury cruise ship visiting worldwide destinations.” Having a cruise job will definitely help your career on land…that is if you ever decide to switch back after getting a taste of working at sea!

But, for the same reasons that working on cruise ships is an asset to a resume, are the same reasons why some people just can’t handle ship’s life. The hours are long…we’re talking 10 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week. You will be away from your family and land-based friends. Not everyone survives this type of schedule or can overcome homesickness.

On the other hand you will meet and make new friends with people from all over the world. You will travel to some pretty amazing destinations. You will grow as a person and as a result it’s not just your resume that looks fantastic.

WorkOnCruiseShips.com provides a number of articles in our Life Onboard section about understanding if you are ready to work on a cruise ship and how to prepare yourself. If you imagine yourself working on a cruise ship in the near future, start the process today.

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It’s never too late to start the process of looking for a cruise job. Yet, contrary to what you may think, cruise ships have the same amount of passengers on their ships year round. As ships leave one itinerary they reposition to another itinerary, such as from the Mexican Riviera to Alaska. Crew members sign onto contracts for 4, 6, 8 or 10 months in length throughout the year.

The one department that does increase the number of crew during the summer is the Youth Department. Summer holidays means more families travelling together meaning a huge increase in kids needing to be supervised in onboard children and teen programs.

That holds true for all cruise lines that allow kids onboard (yes, there are some cruise lines that do not). Most cruise ships have year round youth staff (since kids travel throughout the year), but need to hire seasonal youth staff to handle the extra kids onboard. Many of these youth staff are teachers that are on summer break, university students on holidays or cruise applicants looking for a way to get their foot in the door.

Consider that once you sign on for a short summer contract, you just need to prove you can do a great job.  Then, you are now at the right place at the right time for a longer contract. On WorkOnCruiseShips.com we have the latest cruise ship vacancies in youth department jobs as well as many other cruise jobs that need to be filled.

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