Thursday, March 21, 2024

How Much Do Cruise Ship Workers Make

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Our Guide On How To Get A Job On A Cruise Line

HOW MUCH MONEY DO I EARN? | I Work On A Cruise Ship | Royal Caribbean Crew VLOG

With this 7-step guide you will be able to start your career on a ship:

  • Check online job boards.We particularly recommend All Cruise Jobs. It is the worlds leading online board for cruise jobs. Here you can find available jobs and apply after registration.
  • Visit cruise companies websites.More than ten big cruise companies, and more than twenty smaller ones, are sailing around the world. They all have corporate websites, which you can use to apply. Weve prepared a list of the best cruise lines in the world to seek work:
  • Royal Caribbean International. The companys fleet of 38 ships is sailing to fascinating destinations worldwide, including Dubai, Australia, Bahamas, Europe, and South America.
  • Carnival Cruise Lines. The whole Carnival group has over 120,000 employees from all parts of the world. Its one of the largest companies.
  • Norwegian Cruise Line. NCL is popular because of its modern fleet of cruise ships. They sail to Alaska, Bahamas, Caribbean, Europe, and many other destinations.
  • American Cruise Lines. This is a relatively small company, which has only six ships and offers cruises in the USA, including Alaska. Yet it is one of the most desired cruise lines for job seekers.
  • Attach some additional documentslike letters of recommendation from past jobs and copies of certificates/diplomas relevant to the applying position. This will increase your chances to sign a contract.
  • How Much Does A Cruise Ship Captain Earn

    The average salary for a cruise-liner captain jumped22.8 per cent last year to US$153,379, with wagerates for master mariners aboard less glamorous bulk carriers andcontainer ships receiving a 16 per cent boost to$110,981.

    Thereof, how much do cruise ship captains make?

    Cruise ship captain can earn on average between$110,981 and $153,000 a year in wages. They tend to work for twomonths on and two months off. Cruise ship captain salarywill depend on the size of the ship and the experience ofthe captain.

    Also, how do you become a cruise ship captain? You would need a high school diploma and a bachelor’s ormaster’s degree in marine science or marine engineering, preferablyfrom a maritime college or academy, to become a cruise shipcaptain.

    Moreover, how much money do cruise ship employees make?

    The majority of positions are based on an hourly wageand most employment opportunities on a cruise shipearn $1,200-$1,500 a month. There are though, a large number ofpositions that can make as much as $2,500 a monthequating to $13 an hour.

    How much does a cruise captain make on Royal Caribbean?

    The mediansalary for a Royal Caribbean Captain is 153,000$ a year. andrequires 10 to 15 years of education to achieve. You gotta knowyour stuff, sailing a ship that holds 3000+ pluspeople!

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    Cruise Ship Jobs Salary

    Not all employees that work in the same department and in the same position make the same salary. Each employment contract is different depending on crewmembers nationality. For example, a youth counsellor from the Philippines makes less than a youth counsellor from Canada. This also explains why some cruise lines hire a limited amount of counsellors from North America. Each employee must sign their employment agreement, agreeing to the specified salary.

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    How Are Tips Paid

    Cruise lines generally do not make any promises as to how much tips or gratuities will actually be paid. Some all-inclusive cruise lines pay a higher wage for cabin stewards and waiters because there is no tip pool. Alternatively, many cruise lines pay a lower wage because passengers do pay tips.

    Generally speaking, during each cruise on each ship, passengers pay gratuities which go into a pool that is divided between the crewmembers that are part of the hotel and dining pool. For many cruise lines, the gratuities are automatically deducted from the passengers onboard account to be paid out to the crew at the end of the month.

    How Much Does A Chef Make On A Cruise Ship

    How Much Do Cruise Ship Employees Make?

    The executive chef on a cruise ship will make up to $6,500 per month, depending on the ship. A Chef de Partie will make $3,200 to $4,600 per month. Trainee cruise ship cooks make from $800 per month with wages rising as they work their way up the ranks.

    Cruise ship chefs usually have several years experience working in similar roles in luxury hotels, restaurants or other high-volume food service facilities.

    Cruise ship chefs work long hours, usually at least ten hours per day, up to seven days per week.

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    How Do I Get Paidand How Often

    Cruise Ship Musicians are either employees or contractors.

    • Employees Most Cruise Lines offer direct deposit and/or a bank card. Funds are deposited directly to your bank account or to your bank card on the 1st and 15th of every month on board.
    • Contractors Contractors are paid every other week via PayPal or company check.

    What About Hours Of Other Jobs

    Hours vary quite drastically from job to job. The Dance Instructors for example only worked about 5 hours a day, and perhaps 7 hours on sea days, if that.

    The reception/guest service team had constant shifts of 8-12 hours, occasionally going to 14 hours if things were really busy.

    Bar staff worked between 12-16 hours, sometimes more, they had some of the hardest work on the ship I believe.

    Cabin Stewards and cleaning staff had set times to clean rooms a few times a day, but were pretty much on duty for most of the day in case one of their assigned guests called for a cleanup. Depending the size of the ship they could be designated between 10-20 rooms each.

    Security would often work 24-hour shifts, sometimes longer on embarkation days.

    For the most part I think the average number of hours in a day was around 10 for most crew members, but many times it would be a lot higher.

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    Working On A Cruise Ship: Pay Hours Conditions And Secrets

    Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work on a cruise ship? If so, you are obviously not alone. Even for those too young to remember The Love Boat, it looks like a glamorous and interesting job. Throw in all the free travel and it seems hard to beat, but cruise ships are also notorious for long hours and modest pay.

    I’ve always wondered about all of this myself, so I recently asked a friend and fellow travel writer about her experiences after doing two 7-month contracts working on a cruise ship starting in Europe and ending in the Caribbean. Some of the answers are probably not what you’d expect, but it’s all interesting.

    Contents

    Usa Today Takes A Look At Cruise Ship Gratuities

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    USA TODAY published an article today titled USA TODAYs Guide to Cruise Ship Gratuity Charges.

    This is a topic which we write about quite often, as the cruise lines try to maintain their high profits while building bigger and bigger cruise ships which are getting more expensive to operate.

    Any discussion involving cruise ship gratuities really involves three issues, in my view: cruise lines are dictating that everyone pay a gratuity of a certain amount, regardless of the level of the services, cruise line are diverting monies paid in gratuities to fund the salaries of crew members “behind the scenes” who typically do not receive gratuities, and/or cruise lines are diverting the income paid in gratuities into the cruise lines profits?

    The article addresses the first issue head-on and points to the general belief of the public that “tipping is a personal matter that should be left to passengers.” Many critics of mandatory/automatic gratuities say that a gratuity must be earned if the guest receives excellent service, they will tip well , but if the guest believes the service is bad, they will pay a lower amount or perhaps nothing at all.

    Many cruise lines permit the guests to adjust or remove the gratuities while they are on-board the ship. NCL requires its guests to go through a onerous process of filling out forms after the cruise before a gratuity can be lowered or removed.

    Have a thought? Please leave a comment below .

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    Who Can Work On A Cruise Ship

    A cruise liner is a separate community on the water that provides the highest level of service, following the international standards of hospitality for several thousands of passengers. Therefore, it needs an impressive number of workers for all the onboard hotels, restaurants, bars, shops, casinos, beauty salons, swimming pools, gyms and so on.

    Working on a cruise ship can be divided into several departments:

    The large number of available vacancies shows that anyone can find a job within their skillset on a ship.

    How Much Cruise Lines Profit

    All told, these costs eat into revenue, but there is still a healthy profit. How much so? Of the $1,560 in revenue generated from each passenger, 19.1% $298 ends up as profit. Below, weve broken down all the expenses the cruise line sees on the average fare per passenger :

    As you can see, a healthy small portion of the money taken in by Royal Caribbean goes down to the bottom line. All told, last year saw a profit of $1.815 billion or $4.96 million per day before adjustments.

    If youre a shareholder, thats great. The company has raised its dividend from $1.10 per share to $2.60 per share during the last five years.

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    Cruise Deals And Discounts

    Another benefit is getting cruise deals and discounts. Some cruise ships give perks to cruise ship employees, especially if they hit their one-year mark working on the ship. With these perks, you can take your family on a cruise for a very affordable price. Having discounted cruise fares will help you save money on vacations and will be able to try the cruise experience as a guest.

    Generally, the benefits and perks may vary from ship to ship, but the ones mentioned above are usually offered on most ships. Add to that the bonus of practically seeing so many countries and cities while working and meeting various people from different races and cultures.

    Take all of these benefits into major consideration if you want to work on a cruise ship. You cant get these benefits from other employment opportunities. Many experienced cruise ship employees say that they were able to save most of their basic pay because of these benefits and perks. If you total that over the years, it will add up to a substantial amount of savings.

    Do Cruise Ship Employees Live On The Ship

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    Since cruise ship employees work around the clock, theyve got to live on the ship and adjust to cruise ship life. But that doesnt mean that its the typical room and board experience.

    Incredibly, many cruise ship employees share tiny cabins on the boat. Bruns claims that his room aboard the ship was so small, that he couldnt even do a push up in it.

    Imagine trying to get ready for the day at the same time as your bunkmate! Thats not all. When you work on a cruise ship, your roommates come from all around the world. Nonetheless, they usually dont stay onboard the same ship for too long.

    Amazingly, Bruns divulges that you could have a different bunkmate by the time that you finished one shift at work.

    He continues that you cant even tell who your roommate is anymore when the curtain is closed in your bunk! Although cruise ship employees live together, that doesnt exactly mean that theyre all on the same level.

    Incredibly, theres a hierarchy of staff members at sea, with officers at the top of the list. Thats because they often receive the best meals, drinks, rooms, and outfits. They get more time off than regular staff members as well.

    Yes, you read that right. As if thats not enough, most officers dont even talk to lower-ranking cruise ship workers. The proof?

    Higher ranking cruise ship employees live on the higher floors of the boat, while employees with less clout have to live on the bottom levels of the ship. Were not through yet.

    Crazy, right?

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    Whats It Like To Work On A Cruise Ship

    In reality, its very lonely to be an employee on a cruise ship. Even though youre surrounded by thousands of guest and coworkers, Bruns shares that it can still be an isolating experience.

    It gets worse as Bruns calls his time working aboard the Carnival cruise ship as the loneliest hes ever felt in his entire life.

    Why does this matter? Because dozens of other cruise ship members are coming and going every couple of days. As a result, staff employees hardly know one another by the time that they finish out their contracts.

    How do you get used to such a high employee turnover? Bruns advice: you either work through it until the end of your contract or quit before your contract is up.

    But theres still hope. Bruns shares that its easier than ever to make friends with other cruise ship employees from all over the globe.

    Although the ship travels all over the world, most cruise ship employees get to experience different cultures through the friendships they make with international workers.

    Even though talking about religion and politics is normally frowned upon, thats usually what most cruise ship workers spend their time talking about.

    Incredibly, there can be up to 60 unique nationalities of cruise ship employees working on the same vessel!

    Uncovering Average Salaries On A Carnival Ship

    For our analysis, we looked through Carnival Corporations latest 10-K. This is an annual report that covers all 2016. Within this report are facts and figures about every aspect of the cruise lines business including what it pays employees.

    Digging through the report, we found the following passage regarding the cruise lines employees:

    Our shipboard and shoreside employees are sourced from over 100 countries. We employ an average of 84,600 crew members, including officers, onboard the 102 ships we currently operate, which excludes employees who are on leave.

    You read that right across more than 100 ships the cruise line has nearly 85,000 crew members, coming from over 100 countries! These workers range all the way from engineers that keep the ship running to the captain to the waitstaff in the dining rooms.

    So how much do these employees make?

    In another section of the report, we see exactly how much Carnival spent to pay these employees for all of 2016:

    This number is in millions, so the company spent $1,993,000,000 to pay its employees in last year.

    Meanwhile, the annual report also says exactly who is included in this payroll figure:

    Payroll and related costs, which represent all costs related to our shipboard personnel, including deck and engine officers and crew and hotel and administrative employees, while costs associated with our shoreside personnel are included in selling and administrative expenses

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    Do I Really Have To Pay The Auto

    Still, for many of us, crew member compensation is below our standards for a “going wage,” even for those living in developing countries where quality jobs are rare. A little cash on the side for a waiter or housekeeper is not only greatly appreciated, but it can make a big difference to a hardworking crew member who might have family back home to support.

    And for those who want to do something extra, there are ways beyond tip envelopes that can positively impact a crew member’s career. As a Holland America spokesperson explained:

    “Write a note to the hotel director and let them know who was great. Comments like that get placed in their record, and they’ll get called out for doing a great job. It may mean somebody gets moved up the chain. It’s not that they don’t want the tip, but that extra acknowledgement can mean a lot.”

    But don’t be a cheapskate — pay the gratuity. You may not agree with how the cruise line unbundles their employee compensation, but some crew members are depending on that tip for a fair wage.

    After all, as another old joke goes, “Denial is not a river in Egypt.”

    What Other Perks Do Cruise Captains Receive

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    In addition to salary cruise captains receive a number of other perks:

    • Accommodation on the ship free of charge
    • Family staying onboard
    • Laundry and Housekeeping
    • Discounts, often on cruises and/or shops onboard

    Because cruise captains live at home for long periods they are usually able to send the majority of their salary home and have very little onboard expenses. Another big perk to mention is that cruise ship captains get to visit some amazing places on their journeys.

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    How much did the Costa Concordia Captain Make?

    Its estimated that the captain of the Costa Concordia earned between $52,000 and $190,000 per year for this job as captain.

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    How Much Passengers Spend Per Person

    When it comes to cruise lines, the numbers are astonishing. Royal Caribbean and its subsidiary cruise lines carried nearly 6.1 million passengers on its ships located around the globe. In total, those passengers spent nearly $9.5 billion during the course of 2018.

    In other words, for every passenger Royal Caribbean carried, the average passenger spent $1,560 with the cruise line last year. This figure includes everything from cabin fares to buying drinks to souvenirs in the gift shop.

    Of that $1,560, 71.5% was spent on cruise fares and the remaining 28.5% was spent onboard for everything from booze to t-shirts in the gift shop.

    Now, it goes without saying that all that money being spent on cruising doesnt make it to the bottom line as profit. After all, cruise lines run major expenses, starting with the cost of the ship itself. Then there is the cost of all its employees, food, and even fuel to get the ship moving. Thats to say nothing of expenses like marketing and commissions to travel agents.

    Royal Caribbean identifies numerous different groups of expenses in its financial statements:

    Our cruise operating expenses are comprised of the following:

    In addition, the company has depreciation and amortization expenses, expenses, and other costs.

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