Cities at Sea, Lots of Fun Jobs

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Cities at Sea, Lots of Fun Jobs?

Author: Kim Davis

Though cruise patrons used to be stereotyped as silver haired
folks with money, the cruise industry today caters to a much
wider demographic cross section of the population. There are
cruises that specifically cater to singles, to families, and
there is even a behemoth under construction now that is selling
apartments for permanent residents.

As of 1999, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines' Voyager was the
largest cruise ship at sea. Among Voyager's amazing attractions
are an ice rink and a rock climbing wall. They carry 3100 guests
and 1200 crew. Do the math, and you'll see that this is roughly
1 crewmember for every 2.5 passengers. The crews are the real
full time residents, usually signing 6 - 8 month contracts with
little or no time off for the entire period. The ship sails 50
weeks per year with a 24-hour turn around between trips.

Voyager, due to it's great size is able to offer it's
crewmembers more amenities than most cruise ships, including a
crew gym, crew mess hall, crew break room, crew stores with
special low crew pricing, crew internet café, a crew movie
theater, $0.75 beer, and lots of crew parties. All this sounds
good, but you must remember that it is all designed to try and
keep the crew happy, and why do they have to try so hard to make
the crew happy? You got it, work on a cruise ship is long and
hard, and bears little resemblance to the glamorous "Love Boat"
ideal many people have when starting out in this profession. And
speaking of romance, if you sign on as a single person, you'd
best plan to remain that way for the full length of your
contract. Romance between crewmembers is strongly discouraged.

Here is a quick rundown of the contract crew positions,
(successful applicants are usually at least 21 years old):

Ship's Officers - should have studied navigation and/or
engineering at university. These positions are highly technical,
and salaries are high.

Head Chefs and Pursers - these positions are also well paid, and
require prior experience and training.

Other Jobs - waiter

sous-chef

kitchen staff

cabin stewards

deck hands

pool attendants, etc.

You'll find fierce competition for these jobs from nationals of
less developed countries. The salaries are very low. In fact
since the ships sail in international waters, there is no
minimum wage, but the tips can be quite good. Hours are long and
you won't get off the boat much. Accommodations tend to be
cramped with generally 4 to a cabin. Voyager is exceptional in
this respect with only two per cabin. I repeat, these jobs are
HARD WORK. Though you'll be traveling, you'll see
next-to-nothing of your destinations. These are jobs for people
looking to save or send home money, since room and board are
covered you can save most of your salary. TIP: If you take one
of these jobs, set a time limit on it.

Shipboard Services Staff Members - These employees staff the
shops, boutiques, work in the purser's office, in the bars and
casinos, beauty shops, discos, spas, gyms, etc. These are
perhaps more attainable positions for someone seeking a change
of pace for the term of one or two contracts. Their jobs are
basically the same as they're on land counterparts, with less
time off.

Cruise Director's Staff - Cruise Director

Assistant Directors

Special Hostesses

Children's Activities Director

Teen Activity Director, etc.

This entire group of employees spends their working hours
smiling and trying to make the passengers feel at home. If you
have to work at putting on a smile each day, this is not the job
for you. The job can be boring and repetitious for the employee,
though the passengers are playing the game for the first time
each time. People in these positions do sometimes get to go
ashore with the passengers.

Medical Staff - These are fully licensed and qualified
physicians and nurses. Some are on salary and some retain a
portion of their fees. Some are permanent full time employees
while others come aboard for only a few weeks at a time. These
can be great positions for retired health care professionals who
enjoy travel.

Enrichment Providers - All sorts of "experts" fill these short
term fun positions which allow them to expound on their areas of
expertise. They give talks, seminars and workshops. Generally
they'll be expected to speak for 40 minutes at a time and then
field questions for 10 minutes or so. They'll make one to three
presentations per week usually on days at sea. They get to then
spend the rest of their time enjoying the cruise. Talks or class
can be on just about anything. Terms of temporary employment
vary widely, with some cruise lines hiring enrichment providers
directly and some working through employment agencies. Some
lines pay a stipend, and some do not, or they may pay all air
fares, or pay air fares when the provider does two cruises back
to back, and some lines pay NO air fare. A few lines give the
provider free drinks, laundry service and even tips. The
majority of cruise lines do give the Enrichment Provider plus
his/her companion free cruise tickets. In addition, EP's nearly
always eat with the passengers and are given regular passenger
cabins. 10 - 24 day trips are common, and 4 month
round-the-world trips are occasionally available. Retirees can
do well in this area as can professors who have a semester off.

Here are some agencies that place enrichment providers:
International Voyager Media 11900 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 300
Miami, FL 33181 (305) 892-6644

Karp Enterprises, Inc. 1999 University Dr., Suite 213 Coral
Springs, FL 33071 (305) 341-9400

Lectures International P.O. Box 35446 Tucson, AZ 85740 (520)
297-1145

Lauretta Blake, The Working Vacation 4277 Lake Santa Clara Drive
Santa Clara, CA 95054-1330 (408) 727-9665

On Board Promotions 777 Arthur Godfrey Blvd., Suite 320 Miami
Beach, FL 33140 (305) 673-0400

Program Experts, Inc. P.O. Box 510 Cresskill, NJ 07626-0510
(210) 569-7950

Posh Talks P.O. Box 5417 Palm Springs, CA 92263 (619) 323-3205

Semester at Sea, Institute for Shipboard Education University of
Pittsburgh 811 William Pitt Union Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (800)
854-0194 shipboard@sas.ise.pitt.edu

Entertainers - are employed directly by large cruise lines, but
are contract temporary employees. It is also possible to get
gigs through agencies which keep a percentage of the
entertainer's salary. (My guitar teacher at university spent her
summers cruising back and forth to the Mediterranean while
playing jazz flute and guitar. In her spare time she combed the
hillside villages for makers of unique renaissance style
instruments which she taught her students to play each fall.)
Contracts can run from just a few days in length to several
months. You may work on 1 ship or rotate between several. If you
are a professional entertainer, one of the following agencies
should be able to assist you in finding a position on a cruise
ship.

Bramson Productions 1501 Broadway New York, NY 10036 (212)
354-9575

Fiesta Fantastica 230 S. W. Eighth St. Miami, FL 33130 (305)
854-2221

Jean Anne Ryan Productions 308 S. E. Fourteenth Street Ft.
Lauderdale, FL 33316 (305) 523-6399

Peter Grey Terhune Productions P.O. Box 715 Cape Canaveral, FL
32920 (407) 783-8745

Ray Kennedy Production Co. 244 S. Academy Street Mooresville, NC
28115 (704) 662-3501

Ship Services International, Inc. 370 W. Camino Gardens Blvd.,
3rd Floor Boca Raton, FL 33432 (407) 391-5500

Showmasters 3038-D N. Federal Highway Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33306
(305) 563-8028

There is one other short-term temporary position available on
many cruise ships, and I would be remiss if I failed to mention
it. There is sometimes a need for Male Escorts of a "certain
age". This role is best filled by gentlemen who are good
conversationalists and dancers. In exchange for keeping single
ladies company they earn free cruises. Contracts usually last 2
- 4 weeks. Applicants for this position should be well groomed,
out-going and courteous, with some ability on the dance floor.
Their health must be good, and they should not be heavy
drinkers. Contact the cruise lines directly to learn more and to
apply for jobs.

Here is a list of websites to contact if you are interested in
finding a job on a cruise ship:

actionjobs.com shipjobs.com cruiselinejobs.com jobsonships.com
travelwest.com cruise-jobs.com cruiseshipschool.co.uk
www.cooljobs.com

And finally, I found several books listed at amazon.com about
working on cruise ships:

Working on Cruise Ships, by Sandra Bow, 192 pages, $15.95 new,
$7.50 used

How to Get a Job With a Cruise Line: How to Sail Around the
World on Luxury Cruise Ships and Get Paid for It, by Mary Fallon
Miller, 352 pages, $11.87 new, $5.05 used

American and Canadian Cruise Ship Employment Manual, by John,
Degolacao Rodrigues, 120 pages, $19.95 new, $17.00 used

How to Get a Job on a Cruise Ship, by Steve Hines (editor), Don
H. Kennedy, 152 pages, $14.95 new, $10.64 used

Cruise Ship Jobs!, by Cynthia Ossenfort, 80 pages, $12.95 new

About the author:
(c)2002, Kim Davis Subscribe to her FREE e-zine for job seekers
in the adventure travel industry, "Extraordinary Jobs for
Ordinary People",
http://www.yahoogroups.com /groups/Extraordinary_Jobs