Your Hired!

More than any other question I’ve been getting from readers and visitors to my website, is about working on a ship and where to find a job on a cruise ship. Well I’ve got lots of information in that department and it’s way too much for one blog. So what I’ve decided to do over the next few weeks begin discussing various careers at sea and I’ll provide the direct links on where you can apply. Wether it be for yourself, a recent grad you may know, a friend who needs a fresh start, or your man-child who you need to get out of the basement, working on a cruise ship is an amazing experience that can be incredibly beneficial to many different aspects of you or your loved ones life.

Today I’ll start by talking about a job that many don’t’ even realize exists at sea, Retail. That’s right every cruise ship has gift shops onboard that sell everything from “Toothpaste to Tanzanite”: Jewelry, T-Shirts, Alcohol, Tobacco, Candy, souvenirs you name it, it’s there and 99% of the time it’s all at tax and duty free prices. Gift shops at sea are big business and an important aspect to a cruise lines overall bottom line so these jobs aren’t going anywhere. In fact due to the staggering amount of new cruise ships being launched and considering with each new ship cruise lines only expand the onboard shopping experience retail crewmembers are more in demand than ever before.  Read on for what you should know before you apply or if you’re just interested in learning more about how cruise ships really work.

Working Retail at sea is not like on land. Even though they are the size of some malls the stores are called usually the gift shops and because of this there is a popular slang title for gift shop attendants, don’t’ mention this if you have an interview but from here forward I will use the slang; we call those that work in the gift shops “Shoppies”. Shoppies traditionally come from all over the world, Europe, India, South America, Canada, yet there are few Americans. This is most likely due to the fact that as an American working at sea you are taxed Federal Tax and therefore automatically make less money so that makes it less desirable for American’s. Also working retail at sea is much more difficult than land and you may disagree but American’s don’t have the best global reputation for work ethic. On land typically you show up to your retail job, fold some clothes, sell some stuff, cash out your drawer, maybe tidy up and then just go home and forget your day even happened. Well being a shoppie is more a way of life than a part time job. First of all, it’s only the Shoppies who work together to make the entire operation happen; they stock all the shelves, load and unload all the merchandise, and entirely manage the inventory. Its much more complex and labor intensive than showing up to the Gap and having a Sabarro on your lunch break. Shoppies often work 10-hour days, and they don’t make an hourly wage, overtime or get tips.

Okay, so I’ve sacred you a little, but it’s not slave labor. When you work on a cruise ship in general your pay check will be much less than on land, however you have to consider that you have basically zero living expenses and your opportunity to save money is much greater than on land. Also as a shoppie due to the port laws, you are off nearly every port of call. The gift shops close upon arrival and re-open when you leave port, so you have a great opportunity to explore the ports of call, actually better than most jobs at sea. However be aware on inventory loading day, usually the homeport, say Miami for instance, you will be working, arguably harder than most. This practice is commonly called “stores”. However, no job at sea is without its give and take and every job has it’s own “stores”.

What I also like about the shoppie position is that it’s a great way to start, get a leg up in your career, try something new, meet new people and there are great opportunities for career growth if you have the right attitude and work ethic.

The kind of experience you would need to be considered for a “shoppie” position would be retail experience obviously, and luckily for most that’s easy experience to obtain. Also foreign languages are a huge plus, so stay in that Spanish Class and get fluent. Additional skills and specialties that are coveted by employers are: high end jewelry sales experience, make-up and perfume specialist, university degrees, inventory experience, excellent health and the ability to lift 50 pounds, liquor and tobacco product knowledge, work ethic, positive attitude and most importantly customer service skills. Remember your there to serve the guests with a smile, every day, no matter what is happening with your personal life, a certain level of toughness is needed for anyone that wants to work on a cruise ship, it’s not for the weak and lazy.

Interesting to know, most all cruise lines actually contract out the gift shop operation to a third party, which means you would not be hired by the cruise line directly, however upon employment and assignment you are governed and held to all cruise line specific rules and regulations. There are actually three companies that I know of that have various contracts with the cruise lines. They are: Dufry worldwide, you may recognize that name from the duty free shops in the airport, same company. They also have land-based jobs in the Caribbean and around the world. Harding Brother’s Retail, a British Based company that has a few ships and cruise lines. Yet by far the largest company with the most retail jobs at sea is a company called Starboard Cruise Services, they have the most contracts with the cruise lines and hopefully for you lot’s of open positions.

So after carefully reading all this if you’re interested or have someone that you think might be a great candidate, get your resume together focus on highlighting the skills I’ve mentioned and follow the links below to apply directly to all the major players. Remember Starboard has the most positions, however I recommend applying to all three.

If you’re not interested in being a “shoppie” stay tuned because there are many more positions I’ll be opening the door to in the near future. Attention: Dancer’s, Singers’, Musicians, Child Care workers, Entertainer’s, Hairstylists, Massage Therapists, Waiters, Chef’s, Bartenders, your information is coming soon!

Good luck with all that you dare to dream and till next time…

Keep it on Cruise Control,

Andy Steinhauser

Links:

Starboard Cruise Services:

http://www.starboardcruise.com/shipboard-opportunities.php

Starboard Cruise Services
8052 N.W. 14th Street
Miami, FL 33126
Attention: Human Resources
Tel: (786) 845-7536 / Fax: (305) 715-9789

Harding Brothers:

http://hardingretail.co.uk/vacancies.aspx

Dufry Worldwide (not as many positions open)

http://careers.dufry.com/Search.aspx