What Type of Job Interests You? For specific job descriptions, including duties and ideal qualifications refer: Job Descriptions from People on the Job: Personal Interviews with Employees.
2. Is it difficult to get a job aboard a cruise ship?
It is competitive! You need to know the inside story about the cruise industry to get your job: whom to write, what to say and how to follow up on your application. Competition for these glamour jobs is intense because almost everyone dreams of getting away from it all. A job where you travel around the world and get paid for it is a dream come true. If you are ready for adventure, follow the advice of employees, top executives and personnel directors. For money-saving advice on getting your job, refer the following: Tips From People in the Know, Personnel Directors and Executives: Winning Resume, Cover Letters and Applications, Job Descriptions and People on the Job: Personal Interviews, The Ten Best Ways to Apply for Your Job, Cruise Line Profiles, Appendices A & B: International Directories of Cruise Lines and Concessionaires (Employment Agencies) with addresses and telephone numbers.
3. Who are cruise lines looking for?
Students, Retirees and Career Changers: There are a variety of jobs that may need your skills, employment experience and talents. The cruise industry is a "People" business; requiring energetic, outgoing, friendly people-people. As a shipboard or shore side employee, you represent the cruise line's commitment to total passenger satisfaction. Your priority is a happy passenger. Consider how you can add to the "cruise experience" in the areas of entertainment, hospitality, travel and tourism.
What Type of Job Is Right for You? Refer: Job Descriptions and Personal Interviews with Cruise Line Employees.
Note: Trends in cruising create new job opportunities. You can take advantage of trends to get the job you want. Refer: The Cruise Industry is Booming, Trends that Create Jobs, Cruise Lines International Association's Industry Overview and Executive Summary, International Council of Cruise Lines' Survey of the Economic Impact of the Cruise Industry.
4. Are there part time and full time jobs? Or Christmas and summer positions?
Yes! Cruise lines hire year-round and for peak travel periods: Christmas Holidays, winter, spring and summer. It's useful to understand how seasonal patterns of travel create job opportunities. While fall has traditionally been an "off peak" or less popular season for travel, Cruise Line International Association CLIA, studies show more passengers are cruising year-round.
Whatever time of year you begin your job search - you are not too late. Start today and plan to work in the upcoming season.
To learn how seasonal travel patterns can mean a job for you, refer: The Cruise Industry is Booming: Trends that Create Jobs, Cruise Lines international Association's Industry Overview and Executive Summary.
5. What exciting places will I travel to?
As a cruise line employee, you'll have the opportunity to see the world! Destinations vary by the length of a cruise and by season. A three or four night cruise may take you to the Mexican Riviera, Bahamas, Key West and a tropical private island. On a seven night cruise you could sail the Eastern or Western Caribbean, Baltic, Alaska, the Mediterranean, or South Pacific. Enjoy Jamaica, St. Thomas, Cancun, the Greek Isles, Russia, Tahiti, Rio or Hawaii. And there's always a transatlantic crossing or a round the world voyage.
Where would you like to travel? Refer: Cruise Line Profiles for complete destinations for each fleet, The Cruise Industry is Booming: Trends that Create Jobs, CLIA Worldwide Cruise Destination Guide.
6. To which cruise lines should I apply?
We've done the homework for you! Cruise Line Profiles makes you the expert on more than 40 international cruise lines. You'll learn each cruise line's image, special programs and facilities, nationality of staff and crew, fleet of ships, type of clientele and destinations. Use these practical profiles to match your skills with job opportunities. For a complete list of destinations, refer CLIA Worldwide Cruise Destination Guide. For a complete list of programs and facilities, refer CLIA's Cruise Guide for Active Adults and Children.
This is your key to getting paid to travel. Study this information and you'll have what cruise line personnel directors want most: a working knowledge of the cruise industry.
7. What can I do with my time off?
Have Fun! Now is your chance to travel to the places you've always dreamed of. Time off varies according to your job and the ship's schedule. Imagine your new lifestyle: go sightseeing, shop till you drop, explore ancient and modem cities, relax on the beach, snorkel, scuba dive, parasail, horseback ride and dance to a calypso beat. No more wasted weekends, you're traveling with the jet-set. Take time to enjoy your new friends from around the world.
8. Where do I contact the cruise lines? Does it matter if I don't live in a port city?
It is not necessary to live in a port city to get a job with a cruise line. Job Descriptions gives you the inside story from cruise line employees: How they got hired and their advice to help you find the job you want. See International Directories of Cruise Lines and Concessionaires (Employment Agencies) with addresses and telephone numbers. Cruise lines are headquartered worldwide and their fleets sail from many ports, including: Acapulco, Anchorage, Antigua, Baltimore, Barbados, Boston, Charleston, SC, Copenhagen, Fort Lauderdale/Port Everglades, Genoa, Haddam, CT., Honolulu, Los Angeles, Martinique, Miami, Montego Bay, Montreal, Nassau, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Papeete, Philadelphia, Piraeus, Port Canaveral, St. Petersburg, FL, St Thomas, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan, Singapore, Southampton, Seattle, Sydney, Tampa, Vancouver and Whittier, Alaska.
9. How long will it take to get my job?
We've interviewed cruise line employees, personnel directors and top executives from all the major cruise lines and concessionaires. They say it depends on how, when and to whom you apply, your qualifications and the current demand for the position you are seeking. Several employees interviewed, received a job offer and were aboard ship within one week. Others applied repeatedly for months and then their ship came in. All personnel directors advised: Be persistent, patient and polite. You may be just what the cruise lines desire. See: The 10 Best Ways to Apply for Your Cruise Line Job: Tips on your resume, cover letter and application, The Top 5 First Jobs.
10. How do I get the job I want?
By purchasing How to Get a Job with a Cruise Line, you have taken the first step towards a new, exciting job in the cruise industry.
We've done the homework for you. Use this book and you'll be ahead of the crowd. Cruise line personnel directors, top executives and employees agree: learn as much as possible about the cruise industry and get to know yourself. Take a personal inventory of what you want from a cruise line job: travel adventure romance a steady paycheck. Next sell the cruise lines on how your skills, talents, work experience and education can contribute to the passenger's cruise experience.
