There is a large variety of jobs on a cruise ship and at the cruise lines corporate offices. The good news is that there is a good chance that a job that you have had in the past will give you enough experience to perform a number of the jobs onboard a cruise ship. Some examples include: previous jobs at hotels, restaurants, bars, night clubs, libraries, gift stores, boutiques, grocery stores, convenience stores, health clubs, beauty salons, museums, coffee shops, and just about any hospitality related job.

For a detailed list of Cruise Ship Job Positions, <<Click Here>>

Here are some of the positions that are commonly needed by cruise lines:

* Deck Department	* Casino Staff
* Cruise Directors	* Cruise Staff
* Disc Jockeys	* Entertainers
* Expedition Leaders	* Gentleman Host
* Hosts and Hostesses	* Lecturers
* Naturalists	* Production Managers
* Shore Excursion Managers	* Shore Excursion Staff
* Water Sports Instructors	* Lifeguards
* Youth Counselors	* Beauticians
* Cosmetologist	* Massage Therapists
* Fitness Directors	* Fitness Instructors
* Medical Staff	* Personal Trainers
* Air/Sea Reservation Agents	* Bar Stewards
* Bartenders	* Bedroom Stewards
* Gift Shop Positions	* Hospitality or Hotel Managers
* Photographers	* Deckhands
* Junior Assistant Pursers	* Pursers
* IT Staff	* Dance Instructors
* Administration Assistants	* Booking Agents
* Customer Service Representatives	* Sales and Marketing Positions

2008 will be an outstanding year to find jobs on cruise ships!

From 2000 to 2007, major cruise lines launched 84 new cruise ships! Each of these cruise ships employ between 500 and 1,500 crew members and support staff. That means over the last six years over 85,000 new cruise ship jobs have been created! In addition, cruise lines are planning on introducing another 23 new cruise ships over the next three years creating over 26,000 more cruise line jobs. All but one of these cruise ships scheduled to launch over the next four years are "mega" ships carrying over 2,000 passengers.

The cruise industry is absolutely booming. Last year there were 12.6 million embarkations from U.S. ports which was a 9.8 percent increase from the year before. It is estimated that over 14 million North Americans will take a cruise next year.

What does all this mean to you? That's simple; there has never been a better time to be looking for work in the cruise line industry. Whether you are looking to work on a cruise ship for a short-term job change or a long term career, the cruise industry has a place for you.

The average ratio between crew to guests is about one to two, meaning it takes about 1,000 crew members to man a cruise ship that carries 2,000 guests. In addition, for whatever reason, turnover on the cruise ships is generally pretty high, so cruise lines need to fill an awful lot of positions every year and thus they are ALWAYS HIRING!

Turnover is high because people get promoted, change ships, change cruise line companies, go on vacation, return to school, or just take their savings and settle down back on land. The average initial contract generally ranges from three to nine months. With all of your living expenses, medical insurance covered by the cruise line, a high percentage of your earnings can be banked, thus giving you a nice little nest egg after each contract.

Cruise line employees also usually get excellent perks and benefits. These benefits often include:

Free room on the cruise ship. Usually either a single stateroom or a shared stateroom with another employee.
Free meals
Air travel en-route and homeward bound
Free laundry
Free medical insurance (which is required by maritime law)
Discounts at ship board and often land based stores, bars and restaurants
Reduced cruise rates for family and friends

CruiseJobFinder will provide you will all of the resources you need to land an exciting career in the cruise industry.

Is A Cruise ship job for You?

Sometimes working aboard a cruise ship has nothing to do with entertaining passengers, visiting faraway shores, or relaxing during your free time. International law, fleet regulations, and a rich maritime tradition mandate that life at sea be quite different from life onshore. There is a military-like hierarchy of authority that must be respected and obeyed. Government and fleet regulations require constant safety and general emergency drills. Sanitation standards are applied with an almost religious zeal. It's not the Navy, but you can expect liberal doses of protocol, rigmarole, officers, stripes, and "yes sirs" from the crew. The captain of the ship has ultimate authority. He or she may remove or detain any crew member for any reason deemed necessary. The captain and the deck officers take their jobs very seriously, which is a good thing, since every year there are maritime mishaps. These rarely affect cruise vessels, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Sailing the Mighty Seas

The ocean itself is unpredictable. Even in the balmy Caribbean, swells can continue for weeks on end. Many new crew members are surprised by how much a ship bounces once it hits the open water. Ironically, rough seas and the regimen of maritime traditions are often more alluring to employees than the travel and entertainment aspects of the cruise industry. When it comes down to it, salt spray in the wind and orders from the captain are what going to sea is all about. Working on a ship will give you a sense of team participation that can't be replicated on land. We hope you are looking forward to the ship experience as much as anything else. Working on a cruise ship is less a job and more a way of life.

Cruise Ship Job Living Conditions

If someone came up to you on the street and asked if you would like to live in a twelve-by-twelve box with a total stranger for six months, you'd undoubtedly say, "No thanks." Yet, at sea, this is done willingly. It's true that accommodations are sometimes cramped, especially on smaller vessels, but the ship's company is generally interesting and friendly. Many people compare it to their first year in a college dorm, without the homework. On the larger cruise ships, most employees share cabins on one of the crew decks, and some people, especially the cruise staff, actually have living quarters in the plush passenger areas. Although some employees get single cabins, these are usually reserved for cruise staff with more seniority. Employees are usually separated by department, at least on the larger cruise ships. Cruise staff live on the same floor, kitchen and maintenance staff on another, and often the crew is further divided by nationality. Generally, the higher the quarters the better, since on some ships cabins below the water are somewhat noisy from the splash of water and hum of the engines. Food for the crew gets mixed reviews from most employees. Some crews on smaller ships actually eat the same food as the passengers, but on the large ships, the crew almost always has their own mess hall. According to one recent cruise worker:

"We had several different messes on the ship: one for the Koreans, one for the American and European crew, and a couple of others. The food wasn't very good and was always smothered in some sauce or another that I didn't recognize, but it was certainly bearable. The bright spot was that we got lots of leftover dessert from the regular passenger meals, and once a week we were allowed to eat dinner in the restaurant free of charge, though we did have to tip and buy a drink. I guess it couldn't have been too bad, because I still managed to gain some weight."

Another cruise ship worker explains the entertainment that was provided for employees:

"There were movies for the staff, crew bingo games, and live shows to see. After you've seen the same shows a few times, though, it's not so much fun anymore."

Some cruise ships provide extra amenities for employees, such as televisions for each room and special recreation lounges near the crew quarters. One employee even reported that her ship provided twelve new movies per week, all available on closed-circuit TV in the employee cabins.

Always Being "On"

Another possible drawback is that you, as an employee on the cruise ship, must be "on" nearly twenty-four hours a day. Contracts are generally three to eight months long, depending on the position and the company. For all that time, you will be expected to represent your company to the public, which means that you must always show a sunny personality. For many passengers, the week or so that they spend on the ship is one of the best times of their lives, and you will be expected to share their enthusiasm. As one aerobics instructor for Norwegian Cruise Lines describes it, always being on duty is probably the most distinguishing characteristic of ship life:

"You're always 'on' when you're out of your quarters area, regardless of whether it's your time off or not. We were part of the cruise staff, so after leading fitness classes all day, we had to greet people at shows and generally be available in public areas at least five nights per week. This wasn't always hard work, though; it was kind of like socializing and getting paid for it. We even got a $75 per month bar allowance, to encourage us to mingle with passengers and buy them drinks. "Eventually, though, we learned to avoid the public areas of the ship during our true time off, because it got tiring having passengers constantly approaching us and asking questions. And they ALL knew who we were, because the cruise staff was always introduced at the beginning of the cruise, and we had to wear uniforms and name tags anytime we were in the public areas."

Because employees are considered on duty any time that they're in public areas on the ship, off-duty recreation can be somewhat limited. However, you also don't have to commute to work, cook a meal (unless that's your job), or do laundry. All these needs are fulfilled for you, which means that the free time you have is completely your own and free of mundane chores. Activities also vary depending on whether the ship is at sea or in port:

"We didn't have lots of free time, but when we did find some, we watched TV, took a lot of naps, and read. On 'sea days' we stayed away from public areas on our days off, because otherwise you were basically on duty. When we were in port, though, the passengers were pretty much off the ship, so if we didn't have any shore duties, we could go hang out by the pool, sunbathe, or use the spa without our name tags and uniforms."

For more information on working on a cruise ship. Read Cruise Ship Worker Profile: Teen Director

Start your cruise ship job search today!