Bored with the rat race Im looking to get work on cruise ships,Ive tried searching the net for U.K recruiters/agencies but keep turning up scammer firms or companies that have no real connection with cruise ship employment .
Im a Brit but prepared to work anywhere in the world so long as its a legit employer.
Can any Dopers help me out on this one ?
Cheers.
Sure you’ll be able to actually get a job given the identity crisis? 
I assume it’s a post from the wrong account.
Otherwise, I have nothing, other than to hear that it’s hard work, for not a lot of pay, and no actual enjoyment of the facilities that are on board for the guests.
Yank here, but some feedback-
Years ago my dad got an offer to work on a cruise ship. He was working as a Registered Nurse for some time, and a cruise line wanted to recruit him to work on the ship’s infirmary. He considered it because of the opportunity for travel, but eventually opted out.
My guess is that if you have some specific skill (medical license, engineering/electrical/etc skills) you might have a better chance of working on a ship like that without being a total ‘worker bee’.
Not to sound racist here, but on the cruises I’ve been on (Princess and Carnival) most of the busboys/maintenance/kitchen personell were Filipino. The British fellas there were the ones driving the ship, or filling some other critical/management function. It made me wonder if those more mundane jobs were only attractive to people who come from countries where the pay for a cruise ship busboy is relatively lucrative to what they might make in their home country.
FWIW, I’ve never heard anything good about working on a cruise ship, unless you’re the captain or on whatever they’re calling the executive staff. eg: Hotel manager, Restaurant manager, etc.
As an entry-level position, expect horribly long working hours and horribly low pay. (There are reasons most ships are registered in Panama or the Bahamas, rather than the UK or US, and loose labor laws are one of them!) Also, expect to be essentially confined to quarters when you’re not actively working. It’s rare for ship employees to be allowed topside when off duty.
Just found a blog entry from a line cook who is happy with this work schedule:
“I will work 7 days a week 10-14 hrs/day for 16-20 weeks at a time”
Frankly, that sounds terrible.
I’ve known some actors/dancers that worked cruise ships, performing in the shows.
They liked it a lot but it wasn’t really advancing their acting careers. Having ‘cruise ship show’ on your resume didn’t help getting jobs in NY/LA.
Apologies to mods and everyone especially Rico who just emailed me…This thread was actually started by my oft-dropping in friend Lust4life , who clearly forgot to log me out.
Actually, maybe it was deliberate on his part…he probably figured that you wouldn’t offer any advice that would get him a job on a cruise ship since he might not be able to post on the Dope for months if he successfully applies…
Filipino or Eastern European for the people we’d come across in everyday situaions, in my experience. That is, busboys/maintainance/waiters/stewards, etc.
Ed
Then we’ll only close this one instead of both.