Ocean Realm

Many people who are stuck in their daily grind dream of adventure and fun. Many decide to go backpacking, from place to place. However their are many taking advantage of working for the many different cruise ship operators. Whilst backpacking usually entails staying in one spot and earning enough to move onto the next destination, working on cruise ships means you are getting paid to travel.

Working on a cruise ship often invokes images of adventure, fun, alcohol and lots of sex. Speaking as one who has done it all this and more is all true.

Being part of a cruise ship crew is an adventure where you sleep, eat and breathe the life of being on the seas. The advantages of being part of the crew is for the most part, you get free travel and get to go to some of the most exotic locations in the world and get paid for it, copious amounts of alcohol are consumed and is very cheap (as little as 1 dollar a drink), and you are travelling with allot of like minded individuals who more or less want the same thing fun and great times. Not to mention that there is a hell of allot of room swapping and sleep over’s with crew and passengers alike.

One of the great advantages of working on a cruise ship is that everything is paid for; your food, your board and the pay can be quite substantial. Individuals who have done it for a few years often one there houses outright and people who have made careers out of it could be considered quite wealthy.

Before you jump onto the application process, it must be considered that cruise ship life is not for every one, more than once a person has signed on only to catch the next plane home. However, people who are more relaxed and are willing to make a go out of it find they have the time of their lives. It’s not just an adventure you get, but you end up making friends with people all over the world. Another thing to remember is that life on a cruise ship can be intense. Most cruise ships work 7 days a week so you could find yourself having time off rather than whole days off. Most find this to be not an issue as they find their work on the cruise ship a totally enjoyable experience.

Another thing to consider is that different cruise ship companies allow different levels of freedom or privileges for crew on the ship. Disney for instance, as they are a Christian Family values type company can be quite restrictive on what crewmembers are allowed to do whilst living on their ships. For example I believe that you must be a non-smoker to be employed by Disney and the consumption of alcohol by crewmembers might be very restrictive. As far as I can tell, the best cruise ship to work for at this stage is Princess Cruises where they allow crewmembers the most freedom and the best pay rates.

If you find yourself thinking that working on cruise ships might be for you either for the money or adventure. It’s not a decision one should take lightly. You must weigh up the fact that there is an initial expense that includes getting a full medical, sea safety training as well as travelling expenses to meet up with the cruise ship, after this initial expense, the company generally pays all these expenses including flights to your home country and back if you choose to do another contract. You must remember that signing on means being separated from your friends and family for 6 - 8 months. (Although most cruise ship companies offer very cheap deals for family members to visit). If it still sounds enticing and you decide to take on the experience then you will surely have an experience of a lifetime.