Has anyone here ever worked on a Cruise Ship?

I want to travel and work during my gap year so I thought that working on a cruise ship would be an idea. I want to meet new people from all over the world, making people happy and visit new places giving me the confidence to travel for the second half of my gap. I want to work and save up my money for 6 or so months then backpack around countries for the remaining months.
I've heard that it's long hours, but I think this could really benefit me and train me to be a hard worker to prepare me for Uni.
I'm just interested if anyone here has worked on a Cruise Ship/ is planning to and what their experience was like/ why they want to :smile:

Also how easy is it to get a job on there, maybe as a waitress or staff?

Reply 1

moutonfou

14

I've heard the waitresses or entry level crew (cleaners etc) on cruise ships are treated terribly and bordering on illegally. They register the ships in dodgy countries so they only have to follow the employment law of that country. There have been several of those TV 'exposé' documentaries made on it - though obviously they probably try to exaggerate things for TV. You also have to pay if you want to leave - that certainly is true as I had a beauty therapist friend who went on the cruises, hated it, and had to pay in the thousands to leave.

I do know some people who've had a positive experience working on the cruise ships but they've largely been entertainers - that seems to be the more cushy side of cruise ship working. They get a lot of down time to enjoy the ship and to go on shore when the ship docks and enjoy the towns.

I would say only apply to a company and for a role that you have a positive account of from somebody else you trust.

Reply 2

elri

OP

Original post by moutonfou

I've heard the waitresses or entry level crew (cleaners etc) on cruise ships are treated terribly and bordering on illegally. They register the ships in dodgy countries so they only have to follow the employment law of that country. There have been several of those TV 'exposé' documentaries made on it - though obviously they probably try to exaggerate things for TV. You also have to pay if you want to leave - that certainly is true as I had a beauty therapist friend who went on the cruises, hated it, and had to pay in the thousands to leave.

I do know some people who've had a positive experience working on the cruise ships but they've largely been entertainers - that seems to be the more cushy side of cruise ship working. They get a lot of down time to enjoy the ship and to go on shore when the ship docks and enjoy the towns.

I would say only apply to a company and for a role that you have a positive account of from somebody else you trust.

Thank you, yes I've heard about how crew are treated badly and get little pay for working 100 hours a week. I might focus on trying to be staff as they work shorter hours for more pay, just depends how hard it is to get employed.
I know it's not a good job, but I think it might be for me even though there are many bad things about it.

Reply 3

ForgetMe

21

Original post by moutonfou

I've heard the waitresses or entry level crew (cleaners etc) on cruise ships are treated terribly and bordering on illegally. They register the ships in dodgy countries so they only have to follow the employment law of that country. There have been several of those TV 'exposé' documentaries made on it - though obviously they probably try to exaggerate things for TV. You also have to pay if you want to leave - that certainly is true as I had a beauty therapist friend who went on the cruises, hated it, and had to pay in the thousands to leave.

I do know some people who've had a positive experience working on the cruise ships but they've largely been entertainers - that seems to be the more cushy side of cruise ship working. They get a lot of down time to enjoy the ship and to go on shore when the ship docks and enjoy the towns.

I would say only apply to a company and for a role that you have a positive account of from somebody else you trust.

And I've applied for Housekeeping job on cruise ships :erm:

Has anyone here ever worked on a Cruise Ship?

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you