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Christmas on Cruise Ships

General | Posted by Renee Ruggero

Dec 24 2011

Just as a cruise job is a unique career choice, Christmas on a cruise ship is definitely an unconventional way to spend the holidays, even for crewmembers.

A cruise vacation for passengers at Christmas is a way to relax and possibly get together with extended family members. On the other hand, for crewmembers, it’s just another cruise (aka: work week) with a few exceptions.

It certainly feels like Christmas on board. Santa (a dressed up crewmember) visits the ship. Turkey is served. And, decorations adorn the public spaces. But, just like any other cruise…passengers will complain about lost luggage, their cabin being too small, and not being able to find a deck chair on a sea day.

Thankfully, your new friends and colleagues will make Christmas feel special. There will be departmental Christmas parties, secret Santa gift exchanges and opportunities to spend Christmas in some exotic locale.

Imagine your email to your friends back home…’It’s Christmas today and the ship’s in Aruba. I had four hours off during the afternoon and I went to the beach with some friends. So, how’s the snow back home?’

Although it may feel strange to be away from home for Christmas when you work on a cruise ship, it’s definitely a memorable experience.

WorkOnCruiseShips.com members can read, “Christmas Cruises – Life Onboard“.

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Homesickness and Cruise Jobs

General | Posted by Renee Ruggero

Dec 23 2011

Working on a cruise ship comes with the reality that crewmembers must leave their friends and family for six or more months at a time. Yet, homesickness is more than just missing people that you are close to. Missing the comforts of home is actually what most crewmembers think about the most.

Homesickness can be missing sleeping in your own bed. Homesickness can be missing the taste of certain foods that you like. Homesickness can be the missing of the opportunity to drive your car. Homesickness can be missing the consent to party on a Friday night.

Working on a cruise ship means you have to give up your at-home lifestyle for the duration of your contract. You’ll need to adapt to a different bed and cabin mate each contract. You’ll have to adapt to the food that is served onboard. You’ll have to curb your after-hours partying because it could actually get you fired.

On the other hand, this new ship life can be an exciting adventure. You’ll quickly make new friends who will soon become like a family. You’ll appreciate the food onboard and consider passengers pay big bucks to cruise and eat the same gourmet food that you get to eat. Not to mention you don’t have to prepare your own meals. You’ll be travelling the world and most likely your contract will fly by.

Coincidently, back at home on leave you may actually start feeling “homesick” to get back onboard.

WorkOnCruiseShips.com members can also read, “Overcoming Homesickness When Working on a Cruise Ship“.

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Is a Cruise Job a Real Career Choice?

Cruise Job Tips, General | Posted by Renee Ruggero

Dec 18 2011

It’s true that many people are faced with negativity from their family, friends and ex-work colleagues about giving up a perfectly good job on land to pursue working on cruise ships. Beyond your motives for wanting to work onboard, you may also wonder, is a cruise job a real career choice?

Should You Give Up Your Career to Work on Cruise Ships is an article that points out that while a lot of people work on cruise ships for only a couple of fun and adventurous years, many make it a career. Probably one of the hardest things to do is actually make the step of packing in a good career on land to work on a cruise ship. You can read this testimonial.

You need to ask yourself where to you want to be in three of five years from now. Do you want to be doing the same boring job on land or do you want to find a career at sea? Turning a Cruise Ship Job into a Career is an article on the WorkOnCruiseShips.com website that explains how to make working on cruise ships a career choice.

Although you may have to start in an entry level cruise job, it is possible to get promoted quickly if you have the right skills, education and training. In fact many of our members on the Discussion Forum talk about how quickly they’ve been promoted. Don’t get too hung up on the negative criticism that you may face from family and friends. If you want to pursue a career on a cruise ship, go for it!

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Are Cruise Ships Sweat Shops?

General | Posted by Renee Ruggero

Dec 13 2011

The cruise industry has always been under suspicion for having crewmembers that work a ridiculous amount of hours for peanuts. So, the question arises, are cruise ships sweat shops? Why do all nationalities want so badly to work onboard if conditions were so horrible?

The fact is cruise job applicants find that the cruise industry is a highly competitive industry to get hired for. And, crew come from all over the world, considering themselves really lucky when they actually land such a job (check out the WorkOnCruiseShips.com Discussion Forum). It is no secret that cruise lines expect crew members to work a 70-hour work week. It’s also widely known that the salary of a crew member can be as low as $500 US per month.

Crew members are also entitled to all shipboard meals as well as medical care and prescriptions while working onboard. Still, some workers rights groups and lawyers would like to see the cruise lines exploited for what they interpret as unfair wages and compensation as compared to the United States.

Many crew come from India, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand to work for a wage that is much higher than what is paid in their home country. On the other hand, Americans, Canadians and Europeans also work onboard, and consider the compromise in salary worth it considering what they get in return. Experience, travel, new friends, you don’t have to cook (unless that’s your job), and who doesn’t want to say that they worked on a cruise ship and loved it!

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What Type of Person Works on Cruise Ships?

Cruise Job Tips, General | Posted by Renee Ruggero

Dec 11 2011

It’s easy to understand that travel is a motivating factor behind people choosing to work on cruise ships. But, what type of person is willing to leave their family, friends and life behind for a career at sea?

Some people are looking for a complete lifestyle change. Some may have just ended a relationship and want to get away and start fresh. Some think that having cruise ship experience on their resume may further their careers on land. And, some are just looking for a new adventure.

It does take a unique person to work and live on a cruise ship, though. Just because the motivating factors are there, it doesn’t mean that a life on board will work for everyone. It can be a daunting experience to meet, get to know, work and live with a new set of crewmembers each time you join a ship for a contract.

How adaptable and flexible are you? Can you work with multiple nationalities? How easy is it for you to start communication with someone you meet for the first time? Can you tolerate living with a cabin mate that is completely opposite from you? Will you suffer from homesickness? All of these questions determine the type of person that works onboard.

The WorkOnCruiseShips.com site has many resources to help potential cruise applicants understand if a life at sea is what they want. Members of the site can also read,

Are You Ready to Work Onboard a Cruise Ship?

Overcoming Homesickness

Coughing, Concoctions, and Cabin Sharing

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Life Onboard Through Crewmember Blogs

General | Posted by Renee Ruggero

Nov 28 2011

Many of our members at WorkOnCruiseShips.com find their dream cruise and then start a blog. It’s great to see their excitement and motivation of wanting to share with the internet world their journey.

Many times the crewmember’s blog starts out with entries about how they got their job. Then there are usually a few more posts about ship life or destinations that they have visited. Unfortunately for the blog viewing public, the frequent entries change to infrequent and then to never. But, that’s the reality of working onboard.

Although many crewmembers have great intentions of posting to their blogs regularly, there just isn’t enough time in the day. Or, the cost and speed of onboard internet becomes a deterrent. There are a few exceptions such the blog, Sasha’s at Sea. It is still one of my favorite crewmember blogs even though the crew member no longer works at sea. Stacy worked as an onboard internet cafe manager in 2008 and during that time posted over 200 blog entries.

One of the most popular crewmember blogs is the award- winning John Heald’s Blog. John works as a cruise director for Carnival Cruise Lines and he often provides funny stories about ship life. Another crew blog that has received recognition is the Princess Cruises blog, 50 Essential Experiences. The blog includes 50 entries written by 50 different Princess Cruises’ officers, crew and shore-side personnel.

For more examples, WorkOnCruiseShips.com provides a list of Crewmember Blogs for their members to link to.

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How Old is Too Old for a Cruise Job?

Cruise Job Tips, General | Posted by Renee Ruggero

Nov 20 2011

Wondering about working onboard a cruise ship but worried that you are too old to get hired? The age question is a common concern with our members at WorkOnCruiseShips.com that are over the age of 35. So, does age matter and how does an “older” applicant increase their chances of getting hired?

The truth is that there are some positions on cruise ships that are filled only by younger applicants. On the other hand there some cruise jobs that are actually better suited to more mature applicants.

Since the hours and days onboard are long and erratic, the trick is to convince the recruiter that you are not only full of energy but also more experienced than a younger applicant. You want to assure the recruiter that you are physically, mentally and medically fit to carry out your duties and responsibilities.

The WoCS forum is filled with threads from applicants over the age of 35 that have successfully landed their dream job. Typical jobs for mature cruise applicants include Future Cruise Sales Manager, Youth Staff, Port and Shopping Guide and Guest Entertainers.

For more info on getting hired over the age of 35, WoCS members can read, Getting a Cruise Job – Does Age Matter?

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Cruise Jobs that are Use Concessions to Get Hired

Cruise Job Tips, General | Posted by Renee Ruggero

Nov 19 2011

Many cruise jobs are recruited through concessions rather than directly through the cruise line. This means that for certain cruise jobs you could be wasting your time by sending your resume directly to a cruise line. Get to know which cruise jobs use concessions along with some resources at WorkOnCruiseShips.com on how to get hired for these types of jobs.

A concessionary company is not an agency rather it’s a third party vendor that sells services or merchandise onboard. Concessionaires are independent companies that recruit and train employees to work onboard the cruise ships that they partner with. Here are the onboard concessions along with the jobs they recruit for.

Onboard Gift Shops – The onboard shops sell items such as jewellery, watches, make-up, clothing, novelties and souvenirs. These concessions employ Sales Associates, Assistant Managers and Managers. For more info, read how to Get a Sales Job on a Cruise Ship .

Onboard Spa and Fitness Facilities – The onboard spa offers services including hair, makeup, nails, facials, and massage. They employ stylists, massage therapists, nail technicians, and spa receptionists. Under the umbrella of the spa are also the onboard fitness facilities which staff fitness trainers. For more info, read Overview of Spa, Salon, and Fitness Jobs and Get a Job with Steiner.

Other Onboard Concessions – Other cruise jobs that utilize concessions are Photographers and Videographers, Port and Shopping Guides, Art Auctioneers, and Internet Cafe Managers.

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Which Cruise Lines to Apply To

Cruise Job Tips, General | Posted by Renee Ruggero

Nov 14 2011

As you start your quest for a cruise job, you are probably familiar with the big cruise line corporations. You may be surprised to find out just how many cruise lines there are and that practically all of them are hiring on a constant basis.

You’ve probably seen TV advertising by Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International. These are just two of the big players in this industry. Other large lines are Norwegian Cruise Lines with eleven ships and two more to come by 2014. Princess Cruises has 16 cruise ships and another due out in 2013. And, Holland America Line has 15 cruise ships. That is just a small sampling!

To get started, do some basic research, to find out who the cruise lines are and what the cruise industry is all about. Excellent information can be found on the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) website (cruising.org).

Furthermore, WorkOnCruiseShips.com has comprehensive A-Z directories listing all the cruise lines, cruise agencies and cruise concessionaires. The website also provides round up articles that give an inside look at the types of cruise lines in the industry such as:

Do You Want to Work for a Large Cruise Line?

Do You Want to Work for a Small Cruise Line?

Do You Want to Work for a River Cruise Line?

Small Ship Cruise Jobs

Next blog….Applying Directly to a Cruise Line

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