Which Cruise Line is the Best to Work For? Questions to Ask Before Accepting a Job

Deciding which is the best cruise line to work for – even which cruise lines you want to apply to work for – should not be a simple decision to make. Just like there isn’t one cruise line that is right for all passengers, there isn’t one cruise line that is right for all crew. Different cruise lines have different vibes, company cultures, jobs onboard, and so much more to consider. So, which cruise line is the best to work for? Is there a best and worst cruise line for crew members? That depends on who you are and there is no one set answer for everyone. To help you find out which cruise line might be a good fit for you we’re going to break down questions to ask yourself (and possibly the company) before picking which is the best cruise line to work for – for you.

*Disclosure: All views are my own and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.*

What Is the Best Cruise Line to Work For?

There is a lot of information online about how fun working on a cruise ship is, the party atmosphere of the crew life, and the incredible opportunity to travel the world. There is also plenty of information out there about how hard working onboard a cruise ship is. Parts of all of that is true. It can be a lot of fun, the travel is incredible, but it’s also very hard work.

When thinking of working at sea it is easy to romanticize the experience or be nervous it will be too much money. It’s a job you’re applying for and it’s important to remember that most cruise lines are a part of giant corporations.Different cruise lines will have different rules for everything, so how do you find out which one is right for you? Ask the right questions, do some research, and trust your gut!

Let’s start with the basics…

What are the requirements to work on a cruise ship?

There is no quick answer to what the requirements are to work on a cruise ship. The requirements to work onboard are different for every position. There are some consistencies though:

Requirements for *nearly every job working onboard a cruise ship:

• *Must be 21 years of age
  • *Some internship’s (like cadets for instance) allow you to be onboard age 18+

• Pass a medical exam
  • Seafarer’s all need to have a medical certificate on file.
  • It’s basically a standard physical, but they will also often included elements like a chest x-ray and blood work.
  • These are specific medical certificates for seafarers.

• Have the required visas/ passports
  • Have a valid passport
  • For some crew working on a ship visiting the US will need a C1/D
  • Other countries may have additional requirements
    
• Have the required vaccinations:
  • Cruise ship crew are required to have various vaccines depending on where in the world they are travelling.
  • Cruise ship crew are currently required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with nearly every cruise line.
  • Additional vaccinations, such as yellow-fever, measles, mumps, and influenza will likely also be required.

• Speak the needed language onboard
  • Have a high enough Marlins Test Score (English proficiency)
  • Additional languages as necessary for certain positions

Position Specific Requirements to Work On a Cruise Ship

Some positions have additional requirements other than things like passing a medical exam. For instance, a doctor needs to have done things like go to medical school. Different jobs have different requirements and here are just a few examples.

Doctor/Nurse/Medical Staff:

To be a doctor or nurse onboard you need to be licensed as a doctor or nurse on land, too. This means they will need to have passed all the required licensing exams.

Additional STCW and lifesaving coursework and certificates.

What is required to be a Cruise Ship Captain? What is required to be a cruise ship Deck Officer or Engineering Officer?

There is so much to this and is deserving of an entire post on it’s own. For now though, we’re going to do the Clif notes version.

For each rank that you move up you have to have the corresponding schooling completed, have enough time at sea (sea time), as well as have the necessary certificates/licenses/tickets.

So, to be each rank there is typically a corresponding licensing exam as well as more sea time that has to be acquired to move up a rank.

Here is the super abbreviated list of position specific requirements needed by Deck and Engine Officers:

• Officer of the Watch license
• A special medical certificate specific to deck and engine officers
• STCW required courses like Firefighting, Sea Survival, etc. (there’s a lot of them)
• Whatever level license is required for the rank – example to be a 2nd engineering officer you would need to hold a 2nd Engineers license, to be a Captain you need to hold a Masters license, etc.
• Other certificates as required (e.g. high voltage certificate, crisis management, etc.)

Youth Staff/ Positions Working With Children

Any position working onboard a cruise ship with children will have to undergo specific background checks to adhere to child safeguarding rules and protocols.

Hotel Department Jobs – Various Requirements

Cruise lines are more and more focusing on what degree you have to get higher ranking hotel officer positions. Thus, if you want to be a Human Resource Manager onboard or the Business Manager or the Hotel Director they are looking more and more for people with those specific degrees or a lot of previous experience.

Other logical requirements like having some culinary experience to be a chef for instance also exist.

What Jobs Can I Get Onboard a Cruise Ship with No Experience?

That depends on the cruise line. Some websites will tell you that you don’t need any experience to get a job in various housekeeping or cleaning jobs; however, that depends a bit. Some of those positions are hired through hiring agencies so if you are not in with that particular hiring agency it might not work out.

How Do You Get a Job Onboard a Cruise Ship?

I first started working onboard over ten years ago and the process has changed even within those ten years. There’s also not one answer to the question. It depends on which kind of job you are applying for and what country your from. The reason for all of these differences has to do with recruiters that cruise lines use, different union-type agencies that exist, and the type of position.

For instance I worked in the kids club onboard. My position was part of the Entertainment Department and was hired directly through someone at the corporate office. Other positions will use recruitment agencies.

Getting a job on a cruise ship can also be kind of weird if you’ve had more traditional jobs because you might never actually meet the person that hires you, that assigns your contract, that – not to be too ominous – decides your fate within the company.

Each cruise lines website has a spot at the very bottom of the page that says “careers” or something similar. If you click on this it will give you a good place to start. Sometimes there are generic emails to send a resume into; other times it will direct you to different hiring partners.

If you’re really interested in a specific cruise line, get onto social media – from Twitter to LinkedIn, and, while you should follow the cruise line itself, they often also have a “careers” handle that you can follow that will let you know when different jobs are posted.

Certain Cruise Ship Jobs Use Companies to Hire Employees

If you are looking to work onboard the ship in the spa most likely you’ve heard of Steiner Corporation. Some departments onboard are hired by outside businesses and companies, such as Steiner Corporation for the spa.

Departments where this is common:

Spa – Steiner Leisure (which looks to have merged / been bought out by OneSpaWorld)

Art Auctions – Park West

Shops – Harding Retail, Dufry

Production Shows – Belinda King, RWS Entertainment,
– note, some cruise companies such as Norwegian and Royal Caribbean have their own entertainment production studios.

Cruise line Career Pages:

• Carnival Cruise Line
• Celebrity Cruise Line Careers Page
• Costa Cruises Careers Page
• Cunard Cruises
• Disney Cruise Line
• Holland America Line Careers
• MSC Cruises
• Norwegian Cruise Line
• P & O Cruises Careers Page
• Princess Cruises Careers
• Royal Caribbean Careers
• Seabourn Careers

Additionally, cruise lines use cruise specific job boards to post job openings.

Cruise Ship Job Boards:

• www.allcruisejobs.com
• www.cruiseshipjob.com

International Hiring Partners:

• Disney Hiring Partners
• Norwegian International Hiring Partners
• Viking Recruitment Limited
• United Philippine Lines, Inc. (UPL)
• PT Sumber Bakat Insani (SBI)
• Carnival Support Services India Pvt. Ltd (CSSI)
• CTI Group Worldwide Services, Inc. – Bangkok

How Do You Pick Which is the Best Cruise Line to Apply For?

The obvious answer to this is the one that has a job open! But, it’s not that simple and it really shouldn’t be that simple for you. Once you start working for a cruise line it can be hard to leave for another cruise line – think about all of your friends! So, picking the right cruise line for you from the beginning – if you can anyways – is good.

Is the Job You Want To Do On that Cruise Line?

Does the cruise line have the job you want to do? If you want to be an ice skater onboard and apply to work on a cruise line that doesn’t have any ships with any ice rinks. There are so many jobs onboard though, I am sure there is one that is right for you!

How Much Will They Pay You?

Where do you put this question on this list? When I first started working onboard I was so excited by the prospect of the adventure that I basically didn’t care how much I was getting paid. It was enough to cover my living expenses (while living with my mom at home) so I was happy. How long do you think it took me to realize that was unsustainable? How many times did I have to ask for a raise to get even close to where I should have probably started in my wage? (A long damn time.)

Does it all need to be about the money? While I would love to say no, and I hope not, I get that sometimes it is. I think there’s always a point where we realize that a little bit more money in one job is not worth doing that job. But, at the same time – working onboard is a huge adventure and there is a lot of fun but it is a job and often times a really hard job. Don’t sell yourself and your value short.

Salaries among cruise ship crew have a huge – and I truly mean huge – range. It’s like the wages from everyone in a city from the mail room to the board room. There’s that big of a difference in pay. There’s not a ton of transparency in cruise ship crew pay but websites like Glassdoor.com and Indeed.com can give you an idea (it’s kind of eye opening to be honest). Job posting websites are also starting to include some information, for instance, off of a AllCruiseJobs.com right now there is an International Front Desk Concierge position advertised at $2,050 per month. That works out to a little over $68 per day. It’s best not to figure it out per hour.

Luxury lines overall tend to pay their help slightly more. This is because they are expecting higher levels of quality interactions between all crew and guests. However, if you are in a position like Cruise Director you may find the highest pay on the largest ships.

Note – some cruise ship crew members onboard are part of various union type organizations that negotiate pay. But, in those situations you also know you’re getting paid comparatively to what others in your positions are getting paid.

If Travel Is the Main Point Of Working Onboard – Pick a Cruise Line With Great Itineraries

No offense to the cruise lines that only sail in one region but if you want to work on a cruise line to travel… doing the same 3 and 4 night itineraries in the Bahamas is going to be disappointing.

Have you dreamed of visiting Antarctica? Make sure that the cruise line you apply to work with sails there; likewise with places like Africa or Australia or the Middle East.

Keep in mind though, that often times the coolest itineraries go to crew that have been around for a bit or have great appraisals (or just got very lucky). When you work for a big cruise line with lots of ships you always run the chance of being on an unexciting contract to some of the same places. But, if you pay your dues most often you will get the chance to spend the summer in the Mediterranean or the winter in Australia. Also – if these are your dreams don’t forget to advocate for yourself when discussing future contracts!

What are the passengers like on that cruise line?

Passengers can be great and awesome, but they can also be a challenging. Each cruise line has a slightly different vibe and with that comes different types of passengers.

If you’re on a cruise that costs $2,000 a week you’re going to be dealing with a different type of passenger than those that are paying $200 for a 4 night weekend getaway. Neither is better than the other, and both types of cruises have challenges that come with it.

Do you want to get that party started? Or, perhaps discuss fancy wine in passing conversation. Maybe you absolutely can’t stand being around kids? There is no wrong answer, but there might be a wrong cruise line for you to work on.

If you have a primarily passenger facing role onboard, the passengers will have a big impact on your job satisfaction. Finding out which cruise line is the best to work for is about finding the place that is best for you – from the job itself to the other crew you are dealing with to the passengers you are interacting with.

Go on places like YouTube and find some reviews of cruises on different cruise lines and read some of the comments to try to get a vibe for the passengers you’ll be interacting with on a daily basis.

Will You Want You Family Or Friends to Ever Visit You As Passengers?

Think working on a luxury cruise line will be great? In a lot of ways it will be. Want your family and friends that cruise to take their cruise vacation on your ship? You might have priced them out of it. If this is a concern for you then be aware of it. However, your friends and family will likely only visit you once a year or once every few years. Your overall work experience is most likely more valuable than having your family and friends be able to sail as a passenger for a week.

But… can your family just sail with you? Let’s talk about benefits.

Which Cruise Line is the Best to Work For? Let’s look at Your Onboard Benefits…from Your Cabin to Where You Can Eat

Benefits onboard cruise ships differ vastly between cruise lines – often with the same position. I have friends that have worked in basically the same position on different cruise lines and had vastly different experiences. On one line they were able to eat in the passenger buffet and on another in was only in the crew mess, one they got quite a bit of shore leave and another hardly any.

This one can be a hard one to understand before you work on a cruise ship especially if you don’t know which questions to ask of the person hiring you. If you have the chance (and hopefully you would before you head to the ship for months at a time), ask them a few basic questions:

• Will I have a roommate?
  • If the answer to this is no, ask whether or not you will have a designated single cabin (meaning not bunk beds)?
  • If the answer to this is yes, ask how many roommates. If they say one roommate, ask if it is a shared bathroom with another crew cabin (this is a thing).
  • If you have roommate issues how is that handled?

• Can I get room service?
  • You might be surprised that this is an option for crew at all. This is offered by some cruise lines. There are limitations to it and it’s not available to all crew onboard, but find out ahead of time.

• Where will I eat?
  • Finding out about where you might eat onboard is important. Some positions can eat in passenger venues whereas others are only allowed to eat in crew areas.
  • That can be bad in both directions. If you are not a people person but end up with a job where you can only eat in passenger buffets means that your meal times will always be miserable. This is when knowing yourself is great. I love eating in passenger buffets, I know other people that if they had to eat around passengers all the time they would probably quit. (Passengers are great, but when it’s supposed to be your break sometimes it can be a lot of energy to just keep smiling.)

Onboard Perks

Some perks that different positions onboard might enjoy (aside from nicer cabins, etc.)

• Specialty Dining (sometimes for free!)
• Room service
• Access to a house account (this is not common)
• Access to more guest areas – such as dance clubs, bars, show lounges, etc.
• “Escort” on a shore excursion with guests for free
• Have friend/family/spouse-on-board. Some positions (mostly officer or if you have your own cabin and have been with the company long enough) are eligible to bring family and friends onboard to stay in their cabin in the crew area during their contract. This is a huge benefit (that is currently non-existent thanks to the pandemic.)

Cruise Line FAQ Pages:

To answer some of the above questions cruise lines have created pages of Frequently Asked Questions, or put together information on what life would be like living onboard. Here’s information from a few cruise lines that had FAQ’s.

• Carnival Cruise Line Working and Living onboard info
• Costa Cruises Careers FAQ
• MSC Is Life On Board for You?
• Norwegian Cruise Line Careers FAQ
• Princess Cruises FAQ
• P&O Cruises Life at Sea FAQ
• Seabourn FAQ

Most Cruise Lines are Giant Corporations – How Is There Company Culture?

Companies and corporations and all of it have started to realize that workers want decent places to work and while the phrasing of “company culture” might just be a passing phrase the concept is real. People want to work in places that feel good to them. Knowing the company culture is part of that.

Most websites have places that talk about their company culture. Here are a few from the major cruise lines to look through:

• Carnival Cruise Line “Who We Are”
• Celebrity Cruises Cares & Values
• Costa Cruises “Who We Are”
• Holland America Line Culture Framework
• MSC Cruises Our Values
• Norwegian Cruise Line About Us
• Princess Cruises Culture Framework
• P&O Cruises Vision and Framework
• Seabourn Culture

Which Cruise Line is the Best to Work For? Follow Different Cruise Lines on Social Media to Figure Out Their Vibe

If a company is looking to hire you, you will want to make sure your social media shows you in a positive light. You probably shouldn’t have pictures of yourself on social media doing tequila shots at 10:00am outside of a church while holding political signs.

Just like companies will search around at your social media to get an idea of who you are you should do the same to them. When you work onboard a ship you are going to work hard. What kind of vibe are they putting out in the world? Are they posh and poised or ready to party? Somewhere in between? What’s your personality? To be honest I tried for so long to make my cruise line fit with the cruise line I originally applied with and while I wouldn’t change it for the world (thanks to the friends I made and of course meeting my darling husband) I worked for the wrong company for my personality.

Understand Your Job Description

There are always going to be things that come up on the job that is unexpected. That’s part of having a job. However, the same job title can mean different things on different cruise lines. If there is something that you are expecting with your job that’s not specifically in the job description – ask! While you’ll never have a full understanding of the job until you are actually doing it, avoiding unnecessary disappointment, confusion, and misunderstanding could save you from doing a 4, 6, or 8 month contract in a job you truly despise.

Which is the Best Cruise Line to Work For? That Might be Determined by How Long Will Your Contract Be…and How Often are Contracts Extended?

Does one company offer 4 month on, 2 month off contract options whereas another is 6 months on and 2 months off? It’s worth knowing what the contract options are.

Different cruise lines with have different contract length requirements, sometimes for the same jobs. Some lines will typically have 9 month contract, while others might have options for shorter.

It’s not uncommon that at some point in your career the company will ask you to extend your contract. How these situations are handled can differ greatly. The more of an understanding you have of how this would be managed, the better.

Things are pretty good onboard for officers…but is the life as good as it seems?

Get Multiple Offers if You Can

Knowledge is power. Right now (2022) cruise ships need crew – it is an employee market where there are more jobs available than they have people to fill them. This is a great place to negotiate from. If you are planning to apply with more than one cruise line – try to look at both offers before accepting one.

I was recently chatting with a friend about what her experience was like applying to work onboard cruise ships as a crew member. She had applied for several cruise lines and had job offers from two cruise lines. The two job offers she received were vastly different. The first cruise line she heard back from offered a 9 month contract (with less pay per month), with a two month vacation. The other offered a 4 month on, two month off rotation (with more money). If she had taken the first offer that she got she would have been working 9 month contracts for significantly less money.

What If You Have a Family Tragedy Mid-Contract and Have To Go Home?

Cruise lines outline what the relation needs to be to you to be able to go home mid-contract without simply quitting. It’s typically not that extensive and pretty much just covers the “immediate” family category. If you are flying home mid-contract and returning to the ship you will likely be responsible for paying for your own flights. Additionally, if you are flying home for an emergency that has not been cleared by the company or the company doesn’t approve it you may have to literally quit your job and buy a plane ticket to get yourself home.

Find out how these kinds of situations are handled and what options there are. Additionally, if you’re already onboard and are curious the Human Resources Manager will be able to get this policy for you.

How Is Travel Arranged to and From the Ship?

Travel to and from the ship is something that is paid for by the cruise line. However, how nice that travel is and what kind of hotel you might have might differ between ranks. If you are a higher ranking officer, it’s worth asking about perks. Also, find out whether or not you will have a roommate in the hotel. I’ve known people who weren’t expecting a roommate and, umm, were not prepared for when they walked in the room.

Do Cruise Ship Crew Get Free Wi-Fi? What About Other Essentials?

Let’s talk about Wi-Fi. Let’s talk about how expensive it is on most lines. It’s paid per megabyte and it adds up – fast. There’s a reason that crew are known for spending their time ashore online and it’s not because there is nothing else fun to do. Internet is expensive.

Now, Virgin Cruises is making waves by including some essential items for crew like Wi-Fi and laundry detergent. Additionally, during the pandemic many cruise lines have been offering some amount of Wi-Fi for the crew for free.

Laundry detergent isn’t offered for free on most cruises but is available to buy through the crew store onboard, or try out these great laundry detergent sheets _^(affiliate) I found that take up hardly any space, can get shipped right to the ship, and are good for the planet.

Finding out what kind of extra perks like these are included for crew is important and can really add up.

Which is the Best Cruise Line to Work For? Check Out What Past Employees Have Said On Job Board Sites

It may be a bit tricky to take what you see on job board sites as complete fact for three reasons.

1. These corporations have more traditional office based jobs, too. The employees that are rating these companies are not strictly from the seagoing side of things and the experience between the land based employees and seagoing can differ greatly.
2. A lot of times the people that write into job boards to rate their companies are people that didn’t really like the company.
3. The number of reviews for these companies are vastly different. The US based companies have so many more reviews than those based in other countries.

Keeping those things in mind though, here are some company ratings from a few major cruise lines.

Based on all of these company reviews I still don’t think there is a definitive answer of what the one best cruise line that is to work for. And, as you read through more reviews you will see that most cruise lines have crew that loved working onboard and others that really didn’t.

So, Which is the Best Cruise Line to Work For?

Just like saying that one cruise line is better than another for passengers is subjective, it’s the same for crew! Figuring out which is the best cruise line to work for is likely different for everyone. It could be different because of the job they are doing onboard but also how well their personality matches up with the cruise line they’re working for.

Keep in mind that no job is ever going to be completely perfect. You can do all the research in the world but there will still be days that are challenging, things you weren’t prepared for, and times that you’re frustrated.

Working on a cruise ship can be one of the most fun and rewarding experiences you have. And – especially as the cruise industry recovers from the pandemic – there’s also nothing wrong with taking the first job at sea that you get offered. Getting your foot in the door and some experience could be what gives you the option to find your dream job down the road!

Want to know more about Crew Life? This page is full of articles about cruise ship crew life!

_{^{Background of cover Photo by Brandon Nelson courtesy of stock photo provider Unsplash}}