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Cruise Ship Jobs Information

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The Basics 101 Modern cruise ships are truly floating cities, often carrying over 3,000 passengers and 1,000 crew. Virtually every occupation that you find ashore can be found on modern cruise vessels: photographers, waiters, bartenders, electricians, security officers, cooks, activities directors, fitness instructors, casino dealers, hairdressers, pursers, youth activities leaders, firemen, sanitation experts, room stewards, cleaners, busboys, and almost 100 occupations.
The Staff This is the category of employment where most Americans, British and Canadians will find opportunities. These jobs typically include cruise staff (activities directors), children's counselors, entertainers, musicians, shore excursion staff, casino personnel, pursers (similar to hotel front desk staff), masseuses, hairdressers, and gift shop attendants. Staff members often live in upgraded crew cabins (usually two employees per cabin) and are allowed to enjoy at least some of the passenger amenities of the ship. Many ships allow staff into public lounges, but prohibit staff from dancing, sitting on barstools, etc.... Most often staff are recruited from the United States, Canada, England, Australia and New Zealand.
The Officers Officers hold the most traditional seagoing occupations including the ship's navigators, engineering officers, and medical staff (doctors and nurses). Officers are the senior personnel aboard a cruise ship and typically enjoy single cabins. They often have a private dining room where they eat passenger quality food, often served by trainee waiters. Officers are often licensed professions required from traditional seagoing countries such as Italy, Norway, and Greece. American and Canadian officers are extremely rare other than on U.S. Flag cruise ships (currently American Hawaii is the only major U.S. flag cruise operator).

The Crew Crew positions include waiters and busboys, bar staff, cooks, cleaners, cabin stewards (housekeepers), carpenters, plumbers, deck hands, and able-bodied seamen (often called "A.B's"). Crew usually live in small shared cabins on the lowest decks of the ship. They are typically prohibited from mingling with passengers and are barred from most passenger areas of the ship except when working. Most ship's offer a crew bar for after-hours crew recreation. While most cruise lines are willing to hire any nationality for these positions, not many Americans, Canadians, or British are willing to accept the long hours, low wages and restricted living conditions. Crew are often recruited from a wide array of third world countries. Cruise ship crew jobs are highly coveted among persons from Latin American, the Caribbean, the Philippines, Indonesia and Eastern Europe.

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