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Cruise Ship
Jobs
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Ship
Jobs
Shipboard
personnel are ranked into three groups: Officers, Staff and Crew. The
ship's Master is the Captain. The Captain is the highest-ranking officer
and has absolute command and control of the ship, its passengers, staff
and crew. Here is a brief description of the three shipboard personnel
groups:
Officers
are licensed professionals hired to navigate, operate and
administrate the ship. They are considered senior personnel and
generally will have their own cabins.
Cruise
staff are directed by the Cruise Director and work with
passengers in the following areas: cruise programs, children's
activities, entertainment, casino, gift shops, fitness facilities
and spas. Cruise staff have the privilege of being allowed in
certain public areas when off duty, but they must adhere to the
shipboard rules and regulations that apply while in public
areas.
Crew
members are the many people that maintain the workings and
operations of and within the ship from the Food/Beverage and Steward
department to the Deck & Engine department. Crew members are not
allowed into public areas while off duty. They are free to spend
time in crew designated areas and in the ports of call. Crew
positions are usually filled by citizens of the flag country where
the ship is registered or by those hired through agencies in
non-industrialized countries where low wages prevail.
Each
cruise line has specific application procedures. If these procedures are
not exactly followed, you will just be wasting your time (and money if
you are mailing your application). As the crewing supervisor is
going through the resumes, he or she will weed out any applications that
did not meet the specific requirements. Among the first resumes to be
thrown out are those that are incorrect, incomplete or sent to the wrong
person. Not only is it important to send your resume to the appropriate
person, but also to know which positions are available for you.
As
earlier stated, crew positions are usually filled by those hired through
agencies in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Philippines, Indonesia and
Eastern Europe. Canadians, Americans and British may be hired for
crew positions, but long hours and low wages make it undesirable to even
consider such positions. Most Canadians, Americans and British on ships
hold positions in either the purser's office or in the cruise staff
department. I suggest targeting these two areas when applying for
your shipboard job. When you have found a position of interest,
confirm the title given by the cruise line for that position. Some
cruise lines will refer to an Assistant Purser as a Receptionist. Be
sure to use the proper position title to avoid confusion. An easy and
quick way to find out the position title is either by calling the cruise
line's employment line or by checking their website.
To
help you decide which position is right for you, think about your skills
and relate them to a position. It is important to have some experience
in the position that you wish to obtain for the cruise line to consider
your application. Think about it from their side, the less training that
they have to invest in you the better for them. It's all about their
advantages for hiring you. Also realize that if you haven't worked on a
ship before, it's unlikely that you will be hired for a high-ranking
position such as Cruise Director or Hotel Manager. The officers and
staff that hold these positions have worked hard to climb their way up
the ladder of stripes. Their pay is better, but the work hours can be
much longer and the responsibilities also much greater. These people are
often no longer interested by the excitement of traveling. They enjoy
their job but it is often the only life they know after so many years at
sea.
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