Working as an Officer

[Doc2725]

Hi Everyone,

 

I am looking into a job on a cruise ship, preferable an officer position. I am not looking at Deck Officer positions, as I have no experience in that area. But I do have experience in guest services, marketing, money handling, HR, etc. Looking at the job boards and cruise line websites, I can't tell which positions are officers and which are not. I see a lot that have 'Manager' after the title. Are these officers?

 

Here is an example about some of the postings I am referring to. Any help would be appreciated, thank you!

 

http://www.royalcareersatsea.com/jobs/search

[LHT28]

most office position they are officers even the nurses are considered officers

[Hlitner]

I guess everyone wants to start out as an officer :). And it does not hurt to try. But there are Officers...and then there are officers. While the staff at Guest Relations are technically officers (at least they wear the uniform) they are very low on the pecking order and essentially similar to desk clerks in hotels. The more senior Guest Services jobs such as the Guest Services Supervisor are true officers in the normal sense. And the highest ranking Guest Services job...which is usually called the Hotel Manager is truly an Senior Officer Position that is in charge of the majority of the ships staff (which can number over 1000 on the larger ships). And the road to becoming a Hotel Manager is kind of interesting in that it can be strange. Many Hotel Managers come from major hotel chains where they held very responsible jobs. But one of the youngest Hotel Managers (he got the job in his late 30s) in the entire Mass Market industry (he works on one of the larger Celebrity ships) actually started his career working for a contractor as a clerk in a cruise ship shop. And in about 15 years he went from a shop clerk to running the entire Hotel Operation (and this includes all food service, cabin service, entertainment, etc) on one of Celebrity's newest and largest ships. We told him he should write a book about how he achieved this meteoric rise, but he just laughed. He pointed out that as man yet to reach 40, he had already reached to highest possible position (for a non marine department person) on a cruise ship. There would never be another promotion for him unless he wanted to work in an office on land (which he does not want to do). Somebody else suggested that having achieved all of his career goals before the age of 40 he should simply retire :)

 

Hank

[alexspepa]

There was a very good post by someone (was it you Hlitner?) that described the pecking order and the different perks based on what your rank was - larger cabins, able to eat in certain areas, etc. Maybe someone could point it out?

[Capt_BJ]

there are officers .... and then there are officers .....

 

On one hand "officer" relates to the stripes on a sleeve, cabin size and basically equates to 'pay grade'

 

Then there are the licensed officers ... those required to hold a license to stand a watch on the bridge or the engine room or be Captain/Master

 

On a recent cruise they introduced the laundry master who wore 3 stripes on her sleeves

[kitty9]

There are two kinds of ship officers, bridge officers and hotel officers. You can tell the difference because bridge officers have black between their gold stripes and hotel officers have white stripes (medical personnel have red stripes between their gold stripes).

 

I don't think anyone can just jump into being a hotel officer. You have to pay your dues doing different jobs. I know a couple of people who are two gold stripe hotel officers, one is in accounting on the ship, and the other is an assistant beverage manager. Both started in different ways, neither very glamorous. It took them 5 years before they earned one gold stripe. And both had college degrees.

 

If you're determined, just go for it, but don't expect to be wearing a uniform the minute you step on the ship.

[CruiserBruce]

There are two kinds of ship officers, bridge officers and hotel officers. You can tell the difference because bridge officers have black between their gold stripes and hotel officers have white stripes (medical personnel have red stripes between their gold stripes).

 

 

Not exactly. I guess the Engineering officers will pipe up here any time now. When you go to a Merchant Marine Academy, you are asked to specialize either in Deck, or Engineering.

 

At our lifeboat drill last month, on HAL's Noordam, a husband in front of us was answering his wife's questions on what the stripes on shoulders mean.

 

He finished his answer with "there is only one with 4 stripes". Wrong. On HAL, there is the Captain, Staff Captain, Hotel Director, and Chief Engineer, all of whom wear 4 stripes. Of course, the Captain is the one in charge.

Edited March 12, 2014 by CruiserBruce

[Doc2725]

I'm reading "The Truth About Cruise Ships" by Jay Herring and he started off as an officer in I/S (IT). While it was a low officer, I was thinking something along these lines.

[sail7seas]

Not exactly. I guess the Engineering officers will pipe up here any time now. When you go to a Merchant Marine Academy, you are asked to specialize either in Deck, or Engineering.

 

At our lifeboat drill last month, on HAL's Noordam, a husband in front of us was answering his wife's questions on what the stripes on shoulders mean.

 

He finished his answer with "there is only one with 4 stripes". Wrong. On HAL, there is the Captain, Staff Captain, Hotel Director, and Chief Engineer, all of whom wear 4 stripes. Of course, the Captain is the one in charge.

 

 

Do the HAL Captain's stripes have a different loop? (loupe ?)

 

Edited March 13, 2014 by sail7seas

[CruiserBruce]

Do the HAL Captain's stripes have a different loop? (loupe ?)

 

 

I was never able to figure out the system with the loop (loupe). I saw one , two and three stripers with loops as well. I think the guys doing their 3rd year sea time had a thinner loop.

 

The Captain does have a star on his most formal dress uniform, collar/lapel.

Edited March 13, 2014 by CruiserBruce

[Gunner22aa]

The policies differ between cruise lines when it comes to hiring. RCL advertizes "officer" level positions that can be applied for. On the Princess site they clearly state that they offer entry level positions only and promote 100% from within. When it comes to certain speciality staff such as medical almost all the cruise lines contract this out to a specialist third party. After one tour of the infirmiry on the Golden Princess my wife now gets between 3 and 5 calls yearly asking if she would like to nurse on board.

[Doc2725]

Hmm, so no concrete response on this?

[notentirelynormal]

Hmm, so no concrete response on this?

 

You've had "concrete" responses. They just are as specific as you would like because the answer isn't specific. As stated, it depends on the cruise line, the position and the circumstances. What more do you want? You didn't state your experience or the position that you were looking for. Pretty hard for everyone to read your mind in what you are looking for. I mean, seriously, everyone wants to start at the top!

[Doc2725]

Ok, let me be more specific. Using the link I posted (Royal Caribbean Jobs Board). Which of those positions are considered Officers? Even low ranked.

[Doc2725]

There was a very good post by someone (was it you Hlitner?) that described the pecking order and the different perks based on what your rank was - larger cabins, able to eat in certain areas, etc. Maybe someone could point it out?

 

I'd love to see that if you have the link.

[LHT28]

Ok, let me be more specific. Using the link I posted (Royal Caribbean Jobs Board). Which of those positions are considered Officers? Even low ranked.

 

Most above deck positions are considered Officers in one form or another

[alexspepa]

I'd love to see that if you have the link.

sorry - i don't have it - i tried to search buy could not locate it.

 

basically said that officer life was all about the perks, and that you got more perks the more stripes you had.

[deladypilot]

NCL has a link on their website that shows what positions are open. I would imagine that all the cruise lines have the same thing some where on their sites too. Such as this

 

http://www.ncl.com/about/careers/overview

[Gunner22aa]

If you see the word Manager in the job description then it is an officer position. But know that you will be lower than whale dung at the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the officer pecking order and pay.

[Capt_BJ]

let ME put it this way

 

when I boarded a ship and said "I want to speak to the Captain" .... they often told me the Captain left yesterday on a fast boat ...... and AWAY WE GO . . .

[Eng23]

Ok, let me be more specific. Using the link I posted (Royal Caribbean Jobs Board). Which of those positions are considered Officers? Even low ranked.

It's hard to say if any of those positions are officer positions (except the ones that specifically state officer in the job title) without reading the job description for the positions. Have you tried looking at the position descriptions for those jobs?

 

There is also a good possibility that many of those postions will be filled from within the company and only leave entry level positions that were just vacated due to a promotion. You may have experience in those career fields but the lower level people that can get promoted from within will probably have the first shot at those "officer" positions. Good luck anyways!

[jcl410]

Ok, let me be more specific. Using the link I posted (Royal Caribbean Jobs Board). Which of those positions are considered Officers? Even low ranked.

 

 

Well, managers would be one obvious example.. But even someone like the International Ambassador will have a uniform with one stripe - which would indicate an "officer"

 

But let's back up a step... What do you think an officer gets that you are wanting? Extra money, Ability to eat with passengers, etc?

 

Aloha,

 

John

[candycaramel]

Using the link I posted (Royal Caribbean Jobs Board). Which of those positions are considered Officers? Even low ranked.

 

How about the position that say Deck - 2nd Officer

or the one that says Guest Services Officer?

None of the others are Officers just managers.

Edited March 15, 2014 by candycaramel