Can’t afford a cruise? Then work on one

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/07/2009 (6136 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s high season on the west coast for Alaskan cruises and it is approaching high season for cruises on the east coast. All of those ships represent jobs for Canadians.

“It may take awhile, or you could get a call asking you to pack your bags and deploy in the next 48 hours,” said Gary Johnson who has worked for NCL, Celebrity, Carnival, Princess, and Holland America mainly as an onboard DJ.

Johnson has a no-nonsense blog, www.cruisegary.blogspot.com, where he offers his opinion on some of the better websites for cruise jobs and is adamant that “you don’t have to pay up front to get a job.”

Heather Hathorn, the owner of cruise ship hiring firm Page Marine Crews, does not ask for money up front from people applying for any of the positions posted on her website, www.pmcmarine.com. In business for over 30 years in Vancouver, her clients include Princess Cruise Lines, Cunard, P&O Australia and Holland America.

I asked Hathorn what sort of person applies for a cruise job. “It’s usually those who are young and have not yet settled down into life and family,” she said. “Some will go on to make it a career others will not.”

Hathorn’s own daughter is a “lifer” having been working with cruise lines for 10 years.

“Then we get those whose family has grown and the idea of a job at sea is intriguing,” she says. “I have many retired and working teachers that I’ve hired in the youth area. The need is greatest for youth workers during the summer, Christmas, and spring break when the ratio of children to adults onboard increases.”

Johnson says you have to have certain qualities in order to work on a ship. “You have to like people. You have to get along with your fellow employees, be able to share a cabin with a complete stranger and work in a multicultural environment.” Hathorn adds that you should have a flexible personality, high energy, and be physically fit.

Hathorn offered a list of some of the jobs available on her site: “Cruise staff, retail, computer officers, corporate trainers, photographers, videographers, youth staff as well as many more positions. We carry DVDs showing what each job entails.”

Those hired by her agency have their airfare paid to and from the ship if the contract is completed. Some contracts are short during the holiday period, but usually they are four months for managers and six months for other positions.

There are many agencies serving this market but you can also go directly to the cruise lines. Both of the websites mentioned above will have most of the information you will need.

“It’s a lot of hard work,” says Hathorn, “and some of the younger ones find themselves battling home sickness.”

Visit portsandbows.com for daily updates on the latest cruise news

— Canwest News Service

Phil’s Pick

Steve Whysall, a popular west-coast garden columnist, is hosting and lecturing on a cruise and tour of the great gardens of Italy. The unique part is that they are visiting these gardens from a cruise ship. The cruise sets sail on October 11, 2009 on Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas, departing and returning to Rome (Civitavecchia). All of the ports of call are in Italy except for Dubrovnik. The cruise includes, among other Italian ports, overnights in Livorno/Florence and Venice.

Using the ship as a base, the tour visits some of the finest gardens in Italy. Except for airfare, hotels are included in the package as well all land and garden components. Total length of the tour is 15 days.

Details at cruiseplus.ca or call at 1-800-854-9664.