Is there a career track for people there? Could someone make working on Disney crusies a career?
I suppose technically yes, although it would vary by role and department. For Youth Activities, counselors were promoted to supervisors, and occasionally from supervisors to “officers” (yes, they wore whites with fake epaulets, etc.) but for the most part, these leaders were drawn from hospitality and guest service backgrounds, not necessarily expertise in edutaining kids. I heard that former counselors had been hired by “shoreside,” the Celebration based team that came up with programs, etc., but pretty rarely.
Other roles were certainly career-track, like the real bridge officers worked their way up to captaincy. And I’m sure kitchenhands were promoted to line cooks, etc.
What cruise line/s do you recommend for two people in their 40s who don’t want a lot of noisy young people nor a bunch of old people playing shuffleboard?
The best way to avoid kids on cruises is go when school is in session. We made the mistake of doing Bermuda from Baltimore in August. The ship was overrun with kids. ugh.
My first cruise was 12 days to the eastern Caribbean in January - the number of walkers and scooters was unbelievable!! But I don’t think anyone played shuffleboard.
Just two data points, but it might give you something to think about.
My husband and I cruised last summer for the first time for our 20th anniversary. Went to Bermuda in July. We chose Celebrity Cruises and the ship Summit because it skews a bit older than Carnival and Norwegian, is smaller and attracts fewer young families. We didn’t feel at all overrun by kids but it definitely wasn’t the geriatric set.
Sorry, no idea. I am determined never to have anything to do with the industry again.
Did you have anything to do with the ‘proper’ ship’s crew? By that I mean the Captain, the engineering staff, navigation, etc.
Did you or any of the other workers/crewmembers ever get seasick?
How does this job compare to other jobs you’ve had? Was working on a cruise ship one of the better jobs you’ve had in your life, or one of the worse ones?
Who was the guy/gal who inspected the quarters? Full Metal Jacket-level inspections? Hide the porno-level? Mom-inspections?
I saw them around. I was trained to give tours of the bridge while we were in port, so there were sometimes officers up there who would say hi to the kids. There was a separate officers’ mess, so we didn’t socialize with them much.
I never did, but I assume others did on occasion. The ship is REALLY big, and has stabilizers which prevent roll, so you really only feel movement occasionally, where there was high seas, and for me, it was easy to adapt to. I used to (privately) roll my eyes at the guests with wrist bands and/or the patches behind their ears.
In case I haven’t made it clear enough, it was a TERRIBLE job, and the industry is disgusting.
I’m not sure, I don’t think I ever was in the cabin when it happened (since I worked all the time) - I think they were mostly checking for contraband, like food, booze, drugs. They were very thorough, and would look through our belongings, including toiletries, empty suitcases, underwear drawers.
It was an accepted part of life on board, I don’t remember anyone making a fuss about it, although thinking back, maybe we ought.
When I sailed on the QE2 35 years ago I was at a table with the Chief Engineer and Deputy Chief Engineer (they switched between First Class and Steerage where I was.) But I haven’t seen any officers at dinner lately.
Did you interact with the entertainers at all? One of my daughter’s acting friends was in a show on a cruise. She was young so her mother came too. It was not a very enjoyable gig.
Were there interpreters aboard to handle language issues with non-English-speaking passengers?
Sounds like a horrible job; what could passengers do to make it better for the crew? (other than being nice and giving big tips)?
Are many passengers old white retiree folks?
Yes, as I said, being Disney the onboard shows were of high quality, and I got to know some of the performers. Some of them played “face” characters and did meet and greet events, like the princesses. One obnoxious girl in particular who I remember “was friends with” Cinderella, and could often be seen in the crew mess wearing a shirt emblazoned with PRINCESS, in sparkly letters.
Once I turned a corner in a dimly-lit corridor and ran smack into Captain Hook. I’m embarrassed to say screamed, which the enterprising performer took as a great entrance cue, and came stalking out into the public space, little kids scattering and yelling all over the place.
Another time, I was in an elevator with Prince Charming, in his tux, on his way to the stage. He smelled very sweaty and not at all charming. I think the same guy played Tarzan, I wonder if his loincloth was equally stinky.
I don’t think there were official interpreters. All of the roles in guest areas required English, even if the job function didn’t include directly interacting with guests.
Honestly, as I said in the OP, if you care about social justice and/or your environmental impact, choose not to cruise at all.
Since I worked on a Disney ship, our guests were almost 100% families with children. We had occasional oldies, or, oddly, honeymooners, who had usually been married at Disney World. We thought they were crazy.
nm Didn’t read the OP carefully enough.
This is interesting, thanks for starting the thread!
So it sounds like this:
pretty much negated this:
I wonder if they’ve ever done a study to see if treating their workers better helped them to stay longer and be more of a benefit to the company? Or maybe I’m just spouting crazy talk. 
I’ve done a couple of Carnival cruises and assume they’re pretty similar to your experience. I’m not into the cruising scene anymore. The last ones we did was Windjammer Barefoot Cruises just before they had their ships confiscated. Very sad. Windjammer ruined all other cruise lines for me, so it’s sad that the owning family ran it into the ground.
When you were describing your cabin it made me think of Windjammer. Our cabin was very similar since it was a small ship. The bathroom was fun. It was pretty much a toilet in a shower stall, with the toilet paper mounted just out of spray range, and a mirror and tiny sink on the opposite wall from the sprayer. We joked that “You Know You’re a Windjammer when you shower and pee at the same time.”
The shifts we worked really varied. They could be early (8AM-6PM), split, or late (3PM-1AM - programming ended at midnight, so the last hour was cleaning and set-up for the next day.) No breaks, even for meals - we’d eat with the kids, lunch on an early or dinner on a late. Chicken fingers, broccoli, red jello. Shudder. Sometimes, on a good day, strawberries. If we weren’t on shift, meal times were strict in the mess, but there were snacks available if you missed out.
But you can see, if we had an early shift, we could have evening deck privileges, like seeing the 7PM show or a movie, or if we had a late, we could spend time in the cafe in the mornings. The worst shift timing was finishing one cruise on lates, then having to get up in time for an early the next day.
I don’t think reducing crew turnover was much of a consideration – there was always another warm body available to fill your shoes. Training a new crewmember was relatively cheap, since most jobs were low-skilled.
Yeah, the tiny bathrooms were functional, but that’s about it. No space to store your toiletries, either.
They say that as a musician, a cruise gig gives you two good reasons to vomit.