Working on a cruise ship?

[srlafleur]

I'm curious...what's it like to work in the retail shops on cruise ships? How are the living conditions? Since the shops are closed in port, are the retail workers off, or do they have other duties to perform during that time?

[cb at sea]

It's NOTHING like being a passenger, that's for sure! The pay isn't great....depending on what you do. You sign a contract for a specific amount of time that you'll be on the ship. You will share an inside crew cabin with someone else--you're assigned your roommate. Depending on the cruiseline, you may have to do other things in your "time off"....for instance, if you're working in a shop or casino that IS closed, you may have to assist in some other area.

You will be working ALOT. You do get some time to go into port, but it won't happen at EVERY port!

Like I said, it's not like being a vacationer!

[Aplmac]

We hope you're young, fit, keen and eager! :D

[WesW]

Here is Crystal Cruises Crew Facebook page, interesting comments from the

the Crystal Crew on ship life, jobs, etc.,

 

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=2257706017

[JanineM]

On our transAtlantic last year I spent quite a bit of time talking to the woman who was the "makeup artist" in the cosmetics store. She worked for one of the lines (I think it was Lancome), and had much shorter duration work segments. She worked long hours, but nothing like the regular retail workers. I don't think the pay was that great (she intimated that part of it was commission), but she did have her own cabin and was able to socialize in the restaurants and bars. It seemed like a lonely existence to me ... but if I was young and single I'd probably do it in a heartbeat. For that particular period she was sailing from San Juan over to Europe, then spending the summer doing cruises in the Med, then flying back home to Canada in September.

[koolforkatz]

When I worked on a ship most of us were jealous of both the shop and casino people. Boths shops and the casino were closed when in port so they had a lot of time off. On the other had, sometimes casino worked way into the night as did the shop people when they had to do inventory...

[ehfl]

Read Cruise Confidential if you want to know what life is like for the workers on a cruise ship.

[megr1125]

check these by a CCer who just finished a contract on NCLAmerica

 

www.shipblogger.com

 

www.twitter.com/cruiseshipcrew

 

he is currently on vacation but has been tweeting (is that it?? i'm not a twitter-er!:p) from Down Under....

[DarwinH]

People think that working on a cruise ship is a very easy job, but it is not so. You will have to work very hard. You have to share cabin with 2 or more fellow crew members and because of this, the cabin can get a little cramped. You will not be able to enjoy all the facilities that are available onboard.

[ovccruiser]

Working on a cruise ship would appear to be for the younger generation, having said that, on my last cruise a couple of weeks ago, one of the waiters workied his last day before retiring. He had been with P & O for 40 years. My last cruise on QM2, our waiter had worked for Cunard for 20 years. Surely to work that length of time the job can't be that bad.

[ovccruiser]

Double post

[lady_cruiser]

On our last cruise on a Carnival ship we met a young lady who was working in one of the shops. OF course she had only been on that ship for a month but she told us that if she could get out of her contract she would walk off the ship with us off and fly home.

 

Her cabin was tiny and right near the engine room so she got very little sleep because of all the noise. She missed her family back home, especially her handicapped son that was been taken care of by her mother.

 

She told me that she thought she could get more money to help provide for her son but that it wasn't worth it to "her." She said she knew others on the ship were happy with their lives on a cruise ship, it just wasn't for her.

 

I wish I could have remembered her name because I would have loved to keep in touch with her to give her a little encourgement and find out how she was doing. But it was our last night on the ship and we still had a lot of packing to do. So I just wished her luck and went back to my cabin.

[kitty9]

Working in the shops isn't just a simple thing of when the shops are open. There are a lot of other responsibilities that go with it. You have tons of forms you are responsible for, even US Customs forms, you have to take inventory quite often, you have to handle ordering merchandise and then you're supposed to handle cranky passengers and their complaints, which are many. It's not an easy job.

 

Then you share a very tiny cabin with maybe three others. It's rare that you have your own cabin or have just one room mate.