6 Common Cruise Ship Employment Questions Answered

Here are the questions most people interested in cruise ship employment want answered:

1. How long will it take Me to get a Job On a Cruise Ship?

From the time you send out your first application, it could take days, weeks or even months before you get hired. However, as with any job, the time it will take you will depend on the position you're applying for and the current demand for that position.

It will also depend on how much EFFORT you put into applying for such jobs. It goes without saying; Your chance of success is greatly enhanced if you spend time and attention on putting together excellent applications and sending out as many as possible. Having the right contacts will also help dramatically speed up the process.

2. What is the length of an employment contract on a cruise ship?

Contracts vary depending on the position and cruise line you're working for. Contracts can range from 4 to 10 months, but a typical contract length is 6 months.

3. What hours will I work?

There is no rough guide to the hours you will work as it will depend entirely on which department/job you work in and the itinerary of the ship you're on. However, you must be mentally prepared to work long hours and be completely flexible as your schedule will vary from day-to-day.

What I can tell you is that you will NOT be working 9 till 5 and you won't get weekends off.

4. Do I get time off in port?

All positions allow you time off in port. But the job you do will determine exactly how much time you get off. To get the maximum time off in port, apply for jobs in departments that only really function when the ship is at sea, including; gift shop, casino, entertainment, etc.

5. Can I choose which ship I work on?

This is a surprisingly common question. 99% of the time the answer is "no" for your first contract. You will be told which ship you're going to. Returning crewmembers sometimes have the privilege of choosing their next ship if there are availabilities.

6) How long should my CV / resume be?

Your CV/resume should never be longer than 1 or 2 pages, particularly in an industry where you're often competing against hundreds, even thousands of other applicants for the same positions.

I've seen applications sent through with as many as 6 pages. And know this for a fact, NO recruiter is going to read through so many pages. Not when she's got another 300 hundred waiting in her inbox to sift through!

So, if your resume is over 2 pages and filled with 'useless information', 'pointless waffle' or simply looks like it's going to be hard work to read it then it will almost never get looked at. Period.

For this reason, before you apply for any jobs on cruise ships I strongly suggest that you take some time out to produce a really clear, concise and powerful 1 or 2 page CV/resume.

Get rid of any unnecessary, unrelated information and put the MOST important stuff at the top of the first page. Make sure that your CV/resume is specifically tailored to the job you're going for.

By doing this you'll grab the attention and interest of most recruiters and encourage them to read your resume.

More importantly, doing this will give you an advantage of gaining cruise ship employment of over 90% of the applicants immediately.