What’s the best job on a cruise ship?

Hmmm…this is a difficult one….it’s easy to say the Captain, but with that goes a lot of responsibility, as is the case of course with all senior ship management, including Staff Captain, Chief Engineer and Hotel Director.  I enjoyed a great life onboard as one of the ‘department heads’, combining a respected position with good privileges, but also a balance of work and play time…such roles are Cruise Director, Casino Manager, Photo Manager, Spa Manager, Retail Manager, Chief Housekeeper, Bar Manager, Food and Beverage Manager.  The medical staff can earn well onboard, interestingly they earn the most when people are sick!  I remember some cruises where the ship’s Doctor earned far more than the Captain, purely because so many people were ill…

The waiters, bar staff, spa staff and cabin attendants can earn well, but they certainly work long hours for it.  Back room jobs like kitchens, laundry and rubbish disposal tend to be the least appealing.  I think the best balance of earnings and work vs play-time are to be had by working for either the casino, photo department, shops or cruise staff; if you work in either the casino or shops, you get most of your time in port off, as neither facility is permitted to open by law whilst in dock!

I think the overall best jobs for hours of work and decent pay are the entertainers, production and IT staff, or musicians, as these guys tend to have the most free time, but still get paid well.  Of course not everyone can, or wants to sing and dance, so if you can’t play an instrument and are no good with technology, you could always be an art auctioneer, port lecturer, or even the onboard future cruise consultant (basically the cruise line’s own travel agent); the world is literally your oyster!

Until next time….