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Short-term appointees are not usually regarded as crew, although you may be assigned to a crew cabin. Check the cruise lines themselves and the agencies for expert jobs. One of the 74 recommendations of the Healthy Sail Panel is "Crew should be placed in single-occupancy crew cabins whenever possible to minimize extended periods of close contact with other crew members." Known as the crew mess, this restaurant offers prepared foods, ready-to-go foods, and ways to heat up food that crew members already have. It’s important to note that the benefits may vary depending on the cruise line and position.
Why work onboard a Princess Cruises ship?
It’s funny how times have changed and I really age myself in the book where I write about my first Christmas away. I called home from the cruise ship, and it was a 20 minute call and that was $240 — $12 a minute. It was hard that I couldn’t talk to family and friends on land, but at that time I was younger and a little more carefree. I wasn’t thinking about it as much and just enjoying every minute. I couldn’t believe I was essentially getting paid to travel and see the world. When I went to work on Disney, the third cruise ship, where I was in my life was a little different with the love of my life in Austria and me in Canada.
Q: What does a crew cabin look like?
Our cabins are essentially metal boxes, so magnets come in especially handy because you hang everything in your room from clothing to towels to photos. Initially, the thought of playing catch-up was pretty daunting, but I accepted the position and two weeks later, I made my way to the MTC Marine Training Center Hamburg GmbH. The day after my callback, my phone rang, and I got a job offer — with a slight twist. Every spring, performers from all over the world audition for a spot as an entertainer aboard one of AIDA's 13 passenger ships. We have two children, a son who’s 12 and a daughter who’s 11, and of course they want to go on a Disney cruise because they’re younger. I told my husband we should do it sooner rather than later because they’re only young for so long.
Working On a Cruise Ship Can Be a Dream Job -- Or a Nightmare at Sea
Recognizing the unique opportunities and being open to new experiences will contribute to a successful and rewarding career at sea. Anyone who has worked on a cruise ship has a wild horror story or two. Rumors spread like wildfire and it’s hard to discern what’s real and what isn’t. Strange and tragic things can happen too, like a person falling overboard. But you do work a lot, and it definitely depends on what position you do.
However, dining times may be limited due to the demanding nature of work on a ship, and you will need to accommodate your meal breaks accordingly. We also have a human-resources center for discussing needs regarding cabins, payroll, contracts, or crew life. There are crew cabins on several floors, from deck 00 — below sea level — to deck three, though the captain and bridge officers typically live adjacent to the bridge higher up. These courses are held at a variety of land-based training centers that are focused on different aspects of crew training. For example, Royal Caribbean sends some staff to a dedicated training center for safety, hospitality and catering courses that is situated close to Manila. During the courses, staff are provided with on-site accommodation and all meals.
You get to meet all of the different people from the ship, and it’s interesting the different friendships you form. Maybe it’s because people are away from home and want that interaction, but also, you’re all in the same mindframe and in close quarters. However, bringing the relationship back to land is completely different. Some ports are maybe not as fantastic unless you go into the city. Our port in Venezuela was La Guaira, and it’s better if you get out of the port and go explore Venezuela. On Renaissance Cruises I took lots of excursions as well, like I went to see the pyramids in Egypt.
Spa, salon and fitness center jobs are usually filled directly with the contractor that manages those facilities onboard. One Spa World is the contractor for more than three dozen cruise lines, including Seabourn, Oceania and Azamara. We found direct links for jobs on most of the mainstream cruise lines like Royal Caribbean, Carnival, NCL, Princess Cruises and Holland America. Jobs within the U.S. on Viking Mississippi are also posted directly with the cruise line. Cruise ship jobs are also posted on online job sites like Glassdoor, Indeed and LinkedIn.
Do Cruise Ship Employees Get Free Food?
For example, I met my partner on board, who's now my roommate, and that brings me a lot of comfort. Growing up, I was a military kid, which meant I moved almost every year of my life. When it came to my relationships, it was always a revolving door of people for me. If you're curious about what my job is like, here are four fun facts about working on a cruise ship.
Wi-Fi on cruise ships: What you need to know about internet use on board - The Points Guy
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They take orders, serve meals, mix drinks, and maintain cleanliness in the dining areas. It typically features more international foods — like Filipino, Indian, and Caribbean cuisine — than the guest buffet to represent the hundreds of staffers from different countries. Measuring around 120 square feet, crew cabins are typically tight and don't have windows. In theory, they could work four months, take two months off and then return to the ship for the second segment of the contract, but most choose to work all their required time all in one go.
It’s essential to carefully review and understand the salary and benefits package offered by the cruise line before accepting a job offer. This will ensure that your financial and personal needs are met, and that you can make the most of the opportunities available while working on a cruise ship. Fire is a major concern on cruise ships, so knowing what to do in these instances is crucial, considering no firefighters are on board. There are no police officers on the ship either, but there are security personnel who typically have law-enforcement or military experience. One of the worst onboard experiences has to be when there is a Code Red on the ship.
Romantic relationships among employees develop and end much faster than on land, which, along with frequent turnover, can make long-term relationships difficult. Some described their distaste for the food as a logistical issue. Others described food of poor quality, like chicken with a rubber-like texture or sauteed fish heads.
One of the perks of working in Japan was that I had week-long vacations three times a year. I’ve had many late nights out with early morning start times where I rolled out of bed ten minutes before I had to be at work and made it to my shift on time. Unlike life on land, there is no rent to be paid or monthly utility bills that need to be taken care of. But the truth is that more often than not, we somehow always come crawling back for just one more contract because once you get a taste for life at sea, living anywhere else isn’t the same. I'm always auditioning and recently, I recently auditioned to join another cruise-ship cast, so if everything works out, I might be living at sea again.
The majority of cruise companies offer the benefit that if you are a high enough ranking officer you can have your spouse or your children come sail with you on the ship. There are also some policies where you can bring other friends and family onboard. Over the last year my mom came to sail for a couple weeks in the Mediterannean and one of my friends came as my plus one for just over a week along the West Coast.
Depending on which job I was doing my days would fluctuate between 3-4 hours and hours depending on if we were in port, at sea, what itinerary we were on, various trainings, drills, and meetings. It certainly always averaged out to at least 8 hours every single day though. Some crew members work 9 months on and then have 2 to three months off. I never had a day off while working on a cruise ship – but the advantage was I would get months off for vacation.
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