Why don't Americans work on cruise ships?

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Basically, Americans have better options.

Cruise ships are different from regular resorts because they can hire people from ANYWHERE in the world. A regular resort can only hire people from that country or who have work permits.

As a result, cruise lines pick the best combination of skills + cost. For people the Philippines, Indonesia, etc., the jobs on cruise ships are MUCH better than what they could get at home.

So for a Filipino guy if he's making $20k (for example, depends on the job) that's AWESOME. Back home, most people make less than $5k and living is cheaper so he can buy a house for family, support his parents, etc.

But for an American, $20k isn't really worth leaving home and working 10 hours a day, 7 days a week.

FYI, you will sometimes find Americans in jobs where the cruise lines specifically want someone with a North American background (e.g., entertainers, physicians) or in a position where there aren't a lot of qualified candidates, or on US-flagged ships (e.g., NCL's Pride of America) where it's legally required.

Stacey A

they have a few..but really there r like 900 crew and i doubt u see all of them so I bet atleast 10 percent is american

ocean.denis

There are plently of Americans who work on ships. I've worked ships for 10 years and had many colleagues. You won't find any as a crew member, but rather as staff or officer. Crew are waiters, bar servers, bar tenders, cabin and deck personnel.
Americans can be found in the pursers dept, shops, casinos, entertainment, cruise directors and their staffs , etc. There are not many, that's true but still plenty.
The language is not an issue, otherwise you wouln't have British either and there's plenty of them.
A point that is never mentioned by all the people who never worked on ships but maybe cruise a lot is the fact that working onboard is almost a lifestyle. You don't do it only for the money. You do it because it's amazing. I've stopped last year mostly because I'm 42 and also diabetic, but my options shoreside pay me a lot more than I made there... I did it because I really like.
Most staff members are like that. At least for some time.
I was with Carnival for a few years, and sure enough had American colleages.

Jess

Most Americans don't speak many languages which is one issue. And no offense to my own country but a lot of us don't work half as hard as people from different countries work. Most Americans working on the ship also go for the entertainment jobs on board, wanting to have no association with the kitchen or waiting jobs. Plus, the international employment gives the ships a friendlier and more cultured feel. Also, Americans (some), don't really accept foreign people. We can be very cocky and selfish, and defensive about our country and our roots.

MomSezNo

Americans wouldn't work for the wages and under the conditions that most jobs on cruise ships require.

NCL does have at least one ship with American crew - and it gets universal complaints about service.

Johan from Sweden

In most cases its because the cruise lines dont like to pay the wages that americans want to have! But there are exceptions like most enterteinment folks could be from us. Johan.

Ali

I have been on 3 cruises soon to be 4 and havn't seen any Americans on there either. I have wondering the same the same thing.

johnrklinger

since cruise ships are almost always registered in other countries, US labor laws do not have to be followed. This means that the cruise lines can pay lower and have longer work days than most Americans are willing to accept.

svshrks73

I actually have a friend that work on a ship but it was one of the smaller ones. She said the worked 12-14hrs a day and did not leave the ship very often, pay was ok but you work the whole time so you miss out on a lot. The cabins are small and I hear that things happening... not good things but not on all them. She left her last boat assignment early.

Alison

Well, for one thing, the schedules are very rigorous...They work for six months at a stretch with no vacation/days off. The pay is not very high, and they're required to travel for long periods of time without returning home. And yeah, they do get treated like crap because we Americans have a very high sense of entitlement and we like to treat people like crap who we perceive as lower than us...

Angel

Funny you should ask this, I thought all the staff on cruise ships were British.

It's good that cruise ships give jobs to a wide range of people and as you may not be aware some of the Eastern European people are very keen to work in the UK in jobs the Brits don't want.

American and British people are probably the most spoiled in the world coming from countries with well entrenched human rights and a prosperous economy. One day when Eastern Europe grows in wealth we may well find more American and British people doing menial work and working on cruise ships.

Hope you enjoyed your cruise in spite of the lack of Americans on the staff.

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