It is wise, when considering employment with a cruise line to consider not only what the cruise line or ship can offer you, but what you can offer the varying cruise lines and ships so that you find the best match between you as prospective employee and the cruise line as an employer. This is how you are most likely to succeed in gaining employment with a cruise line.
Specifically, examine your proximity to a port that a cruise line's ships embark from (or to one of the cruise line's offices if you're considering a land job); what language skills you offer, what jobs you could fill; either on land or on a ship owned by that cruise line; what job experience or talents you have which relate to the jobs offered by the cruise line; and all of your travel and/or tourism experience. Look at everything you can offer to different cruise lines, then apply to those that you can give the most.
This manual will serve to help you decide what you can provide the different cruise lines as an employee and, also, what they can offer to you. See the job descriptions section for assistance in choosing the position you can fill most readily.
Training for cruise line positions, both on land and at sea, is given as part of the job. You will train on the job, usually with pay.
For on-board cruise ship jobs, cruise lines often hire a month to two weeks before a ship will leave port so that's the best time to apply for these positions.
Although it may be easiest to gain employment with the larger cruise lines simply because they have larger crews, the smaller lines also need crew members who are ready, able, and willing to work at any given time. Cruise lines hire both seasonal and career type personnel for on board ship positions.
Study the Ship Directory to make sure that various ships have facilities and activities related to what you want to do on board ship before you apply. Get a passport for an on-board ship job - most cruise lines require this of their applicants! Passport applicants can be obtained from any Passport Office, Post Office or most Travel Agents. Directions for passport pictures are given with the application and the completed application can be turned in at the Passport Office. Passport fees for adults 18 and over are $25.00 and you need not renew the passport for five years.
If you are seeking an on-land job with a cruise line company, you'll working out of that company's headquarters or other offices. Land positions include Reservations, Outside Sales and Internal Communications Management. Normally, these employees are hired locally rather than from different parts of the country (please note that sales personnel are hired for many areas). So, if you do not live in a city where these positions are offered, do not apply for these positions unless you are willing to pay for travel to your interview, and for relocation costs.
In reference to what a cruise line or ship can offer you, you may want to consider where the line travels, the size of it’s ship(s), and the duration of the cruises (particularly if you are looking for seasonal or short-term employment).
Most cruise lines use their ships for different routes during the four seasons. A line may travel to the West Indies in winter and to Alaska in the summer.
The benefits of working for a cruise line are similar from line to line including free and reduced rate cruises for on board ship and landside employees, medical insurance for all employees who have worked for the line six months to a year, fine dining and lodging accommodations, and land and water travel opportunities while on board ship—free!
It is easiest, as in most industries, to obtain an entry-level position when an applicant has no prior experience in the industry. Therefore, this manual provides instruction for gaining entry-level positions with cruise lines. Both on-board and "landlubber" positions are explained in detail in this section of the manual.
For all positions in the cruise industry, applicants must be at least 18 years of age or over and possess a high school diploma or GED equivalent.
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