Helppppppppppp - Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Forum, Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers

pamphile · 08-12-2009, 06:46 PM

Ok my plan is to work on a cruise line as a counselor ( because of my extensive experience in that field) for 2 years and save enough to buy a house. Is that possible? Is the pay good enough? How do you actually get the job? What is the best cruise ship wo work for and why? what are the pros and cons? what our the hours like? Do you have to pay for your own food or do you eat for free?
so many questions...???? lol

me please

canarymoon · 08-12-2009, 07:41 PM

A counselor? Perhaps I do not understand your question, exactly. i am not aware of any counselling positioins on cruise ships...

pamphile · 08-12-2009, 08:46 PM

child care

pamphile · 08-12-2009, 08:46 PM

im ment child care...sorry

canarymoon · 08-12-2009, 08:51 PM

ah- that explains it!
When you said counsellor, it made me think of a psychologist!

canarymoon · 08-12-2009, 08:57 PM

The larger lines - royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Norweigan - all have official and well-developed children's programs.

Texashorselady · 08-12-2009, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pamphile

Ok my plan is to work on a cruise line as a counselor ( because of my extensive experience in that field) for 2 years and save enough to buy a house. Is that possible? Is the pay good enough? How do you actually get the job? What is the best cruise ship wo work for and why? what are the pros and cons? what our the hours like? Do you have to pay for your own food or do you eat for free?
so many questions...???? lol

me please

Wouldn't the Human Resources department of a cruiseline be able to answer the salary, job duties, and benefits questions? Have you checked to see if any of the cruiselines have a contact phone number for Human Resources? They probably wouldn't talk much about salary specifics but they might be able to give you a range.

I would guess...now this is just a guess...but I bet the luxury line cruises pay best !

canarymoon · 08-12-2009, 09:01 PM

For the positions I have heard people talk about, your cabin and meals are part of the package. The crew cabins are quite tiny, and shared, I hear. Most positios require you to sign on for a 4-6 month contract. This means you are onboard for 4 - 6 months before you go home to await the commencement of another contract.

I don''t know what the pay for the activities staff is, but one website I just looked at lists the pay for those working in the chilren's program to be around $1800-2200 / month.Here's a link to that site: Staff working on cruise ships

cruisin' chick · 08-14-2009, 03:30 AM

One more thing to consider is that the number of positions for the children's programs will be based on seasonal needs. I remember on our last cruise, one of the counselors told us that she was just working on our cruise (the last week of December and the first week of January) as the number of kids onboard would be low for the next sailing.I think there's some book about working on a cruiseship (is it Cruise Confidential?). One thing you could do, besides the link canarymoon gave you, is to check out the different websites for the cruiselines (carnival.com, etc.) and check out the info on jobs. There may be an address to send your resume to.

Torus34 · 08-14-2009, 07:56 AM

While the particular position you seek is not specifically listed [suggesting that it's a narrow and perhaps overcrowded job classification], you can get a general idea of salaries at:

Cruise Ship Jobs