Have you worked on a cruise ship?

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Tivogal

i would contact the cruise lines themselves.
princess,carnival,carnival,holland america.
they could tell you the requirements.
i know that the people on the hotel staff work long long hours, and the pay is not much.
but you do get to travel. good luck to you.
cruiseclues.com
cruisecritic.com

ocean.denis

I think you should try the concessions that run the shops first.
The workload is a lot less stressful, the pay is good and 2 companies have the concessions in aprox 90% of all the cruise ships.
www.starboardcruise.com/
is bigger, some 80 ships, including the major lines like Carnival and Royal.
the workplace is not nice, they promote fierce competition among the sales reps, promotions are a lot harder and the also incentive people to rat on each other.
but its american, and huge.
www.hardingbors.co.uk
is your secong option.
they are UK based, interviews are over the phone, workplace is better, promotions are easy, they are always in need of assistant managers and shop managers.
they have both the high end ships, like Crystal, QM-2, Silverseas and Seabourne, as well as the bottom of the market ones like Island Cruises and Ocean Village.

on the site thereÂ´s a link to send your CV, after a couple of days they schedule a phone interviews, thats it.
If you pass you will need a medical, something called STCW-95 (basic fire fighting, first aid, crowd management and sea survival), yellow fever etc...

salaries are better on Hardings as well, 160 pounds a week + commission.

the big plus of working on the shops is that they are closed while the ships are in port, so you get your days off.
Also you are a staff member, not a crew member, and thereÂ´s a big difference, better restaurants, better cabins, etc...
(Guest relations, gift shops, spas, casino, photo are all staff positions)

I worked for Carnival before, as a receptionist, its not bad, lots of paperwork, but what once was a well payed job, now pays peanuts.

Avoid those cruise employment sites and agencies, they take your money and dont get you anywhere. Go directly to the source.
All cruise lines and concessions have HR departments.
Also, you will find on the web an ex-crew member who sells a book with addresses of the HR of the companies, its all old and not updated.

good luck

mizzou_pi

I think you may have to work for a company other than carnival. The only reason I am saying this is because NO Americans work on these ships. Everyone wears a name tag that tells were they are from. Thailand, Brazil, Eastern European countries etc. The ONLY American I saw was the golf pro up on the sports deck. There were a few Canadians but that's it. I don't know if the pay is so low Americans don't work them, or if the cruise ship has some kind of hiring issues with American citizens.

Jerry M

No, but I played one one. :)

You're young enough to discover what you enjoy, so my advice is to go for it and see how well it suits you for the duration of your tour. I doubt you'll get rich in that line of work, but there are other considerations that are just as important.

Sorry I can't offer the benefit of experience, but I will say it's a great way to meet people from all over the world as your co-workers and clientele.

Nmenna (men-uh) gosh darnit.....

that sounds like fun! i'm not sure. call information... go online...

justme

No, but a friend of my daughter's did, and she just had the most wonder time.

You get to see the world, and you get paid for it.

Do it. It will give you experience, and a good start for your CV.

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