Working on a cruise ship

madison's_mum

Hi,

Has anyone done this & is it possible/feasible to take a three year old with you?

Thanks

lisyloo

What type of work are you talking about?

There are many jobs on a cruise ship from cleaning, serving, engine room (mostly all done by philipinos), finance, hairdressing, fitness intructor?

I've just been on a cruise and I have to say that they all work incredibly hard (on my cruise the fitness instructor was working all 7 days and started at 8 in the morning).

I would have thought it would be next to impossible to do with a 3 year old but it really depends on what line of work you are in.

The comedian and the classical musicians only seemed to work a few nights a week but most of the staff worked every day for many hours.

What type of work are you thinking of?

A lot of it is done by staff from the Philipines who are probably paid very low wages.

madison's_mum

i have seen a job advertised for a admin assistant so i was thinking it's probably going to be like what i do now just on a ship. I have no idea what the hours are tho, but i was thinking as i work full time now, if i was doing similar hours it wouldn't be too different for her as most of the ships seem to have on board nurseries.
I have no talents for anything else so def would be "back office" !

lisyloo

I think you need to find out from the cruise company.
I've just got back from a Fred Olsen cruise (older people) and there were very few children and no facilities for them.

The advantages would be

no travel or costs
very low costs (as food and accom are provided)

The disadvantages will be

Limited space available. If it's a shared cabin it may be a no-no.
No Chance to see family for a long time (The contracts are many months).
Limited experiences for your 3 year old on the ship.

What will happen if your child is ill?
What if there are problems and you have no family and friends around you?

I think you need to find out what the facilities are from the cruise company. If staff share cabins then a child is probably a no-no, on the other hand they may be able to accomodate a child very well.

Do you really want to be away from your family with a small child?
That would be my main concern as well as how you take care of any childhood illnesses and regular treatment.

Vampgirl

I've never worked on a cruise ship, but from talking to staff about their living conditions and contracts I'd say that it wouldn't be possible to take a child with you. Only the senior crew get their own cabin, all the other crew have to share very small cabins (to leave more room for guest cabins). Apart from anything else, your board and lodging might be included (or deducted from your wages) but who'd pay for your child's board and food - I doubt they'd give it away free (and I expect the creche would be for passengers only).

Do a google search for something like working on a cruise ship living conditions and have a read of the many articles that brings up, but I really don't think you'd be allowed to take your child with you, sorry.

Also have a read of this: http://cruises.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Cruise_Ship_Jobs it seems to cover most things.

Conor_3

madison's_mum wrote: »

i have seen a job advertised for a admin assistant so i was thinking it's probably going to be like what i do now just on a ship. I have no idea what the hours are tho, but i was thinking as i work full time now, if i was doing similar hours it wouldn't be too different for her as most of the ships seem to have on board nurseries.
I have no talents for anything else so def would be "back office" !

You'll get a whole new definition of the term "full time job". Try 60-70 hrs a week.