Americans on Cruise Ships

Professional Mariner Forum
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While most of what I see on this forum is from brown water guys and folks trying to make top dollar, I ask this with one eye closed for fear of the oncoming abuse about what’s wrong with me. Having said that, I have always liked the idea of working on cruise ships in the deck department, for a number of reasons; however, I have never pursued this ambition because it seems like foreigners (non-Americans) take up all the good jobs that go around the world. So here’s the question: anybody here with experience on cruise ships know where we Americans can travel to with deck officer credentials? A follow up question to that is whether or not obtaining Norwegian credentials as an American would open up any more doors?

Thanks and I look forward to your answers.

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@Trainman, I have experience working on-board cruise ships. There are only a handful of Americans working on the those beautiful cruise ships. No need to to get another license, many of the companies will get you the license for their flag. I have a USCG license but when working on board I was sailing on my Maltese license, and yes I did get time on my USCG license.

If you want to work on cruise ships, you will mostly likely work for Royal Caribbean, Norwegian or Celebrity. They prefer to hire Americans these days.

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Pride of America is the only and last us flag cruise ship. I think it’s operated by Norwegian cruise lines but is jones act and runs around the Hawaiian islands. Look into that before going foreign I’d say.

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There are a abundance of small cruise ships that sail out of Seattle for alaska in the summer and head to Baja for the winters. Safari cruises is a big one I think.

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[QUOTE=Still;140580]Pride of America is the only and last us flag cruise ship. I think it’s operated by Norwegian cruise lines but is jones act and runs around the Hawaiian islands. Look into that before going foreign I’d say.[/QUOTE]

Their deck department is SIU. Also look into “american cruise lines” i believe its called. Much smaller vessels but they do like coastal cruises and shit. I know they come to upstate NY for the fall foliage cruises. Small boats but its a foot in the door.

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From my understanding, a lot of work and a little pay. Think of how much of a pain it is to deal with 15-20 people on a boat… Now look at 2000 people! Most have little 7 day round trips and people grow tired of the same trip. If you’re single, there’s some benefits if you catch my drift, but over all, not worth it.

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The passengers are the cargo, so you are on constant ass kissing mode to keep them happy. Below decks you share a focsle with who ever they assign to you. below decks you have about 500-700 crew characters.You got the drugies,the gays, the philipinos, the arabs, the skanks, the gamblers, the list goes on and on. Add in the fack of being on a floating petre dish and god know what you will catch. I went on board one in Maui once to check it out. Went back down the gangway about after an hour and never looked back.
Oh yeah as someone mentioned the pay sucks.

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Thanks guys. I’m aware of Pride of America and last I heard it just island hops across Hawaii and yes that would get really boring really quick, which is why I have never bothered ringing them up. And as a deck officer, I wonder how much more of a pain in the ass working on a cruiser would be. Isn’t it still just 4 hours of staring at water only to repeat those 4 hours 8 hours later? Last I heard officers on a cruisers have room service. How can that be a bad thing? Yeah, there is a lot of reasons why the idea appeals, a major reason has been hinted at, and the one big reason I have never bothered is because if it’s foreign flagged, it usually doesn’t pay. Despite all that, I’m still itching to know if there are any Americans here who have gone have worked on a cruise ship.

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[QUOTE=RichM;140590] I went on board one in Maui once to check it out. Went back down the gangway about after an hour and never looked back.
[/QUOTE]

Wow, a real authority on cruise ships!

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Who cares that the pay sucks, the mates uniforms are so shiny!

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I have experience dealing with the large cruise lines (as a tech rep before going back to sea myself) like NCL, Carnival etc.

Unless you have a specific job in hotel services you are not going to mingle with the passengers much at all. Senior officers may have to attend formal dinners but for the most part, the passengers and crew lead separate lives with separate dining, recreation, and even their own bars. There have been problems with passengers and staff mixing it up and it frequently does not end well, so there you go.

Officers are generally European, unlicensed are from the Philippines, India, etc.

Hotel staff are non mariners generally and hail from many different countries but expect the chambermaids, busboys, prep cooks etc to be mainly from the Philippines. A lot of the security and purser’s staff appear to be Indian.

I have only met one engineer who was American in about four or five years of visiting cruise ships several times a year. I don’t know about the deck guys.

The contracts are long. The engineers I spoke to mentioned 10 months.

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I’m just stating the fact that it wasn’t suited for my desired employment.

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[QUOTE=Steamer;140612]Wow, a real authority on cruise ships![/QUOTE]

Just stating the fact that it was not suitable for my employment desires.

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[QUOTE=RichM;140590]The passengers are the cargo, so you are on constant ass kissing mode to keep them happy. Below decks you share a focsle with who ever they assign to you. below decks you have about 500-700 crew characters.You got the drugies,the gays, the philipinos, the arabs, the skanks, the gamblers, the list goes on and on. Add in the fack of being on a floating petre dish and god know what you will catch. I went on board one in Maui once to check it out. Went back down the gangway about after an hour and never looked back.
Oh yeah as someone mentioned the pay sucks.[/QUOTE]

Well, from someone who actually worked on multiple big & small cruise ships for over 10yrs, you sir have got it WRONG. I was an entertainer and most of my contracts were 6 months or longer.

First off, most of the big (900ft +) cruise ships have over 1000 crew members.

Passengers are cargo, but most of the crew have no direct dealings with them, or only for very short times. Hotel Staff, Front Desk, Dining Room, and Entertainment Staff have the most direct contact with the pax. Don’t confuse being polite as ass kissing.

Sure you share a cabin with someone you may not know, but that is no different than all the other ships I’ve worked on.

I’ve never seen a druggie onboard a cruise ship after my first one. Mandatory random drug tests for something like 10% of the crew a month, that actually happen every month. I’ve worked on an oil rig for 2yrs and haven’t heard of anyone even getting a drug test during that time. Cabin inspections every week make sure rooms are kept safe and clean.

Yes, you have gays, Filipinos, Arabs???, Skanks, and Gamblers. But, I’ve seen those kinds of people tons of places and not just on ships. So what is your point??? One of my ships had 1070 crew members from 47 countries and we all got along with ZERO issues between crew members. Can’t say the same for most of the ships I’ve worked on with just Americans.

As for being a “floating petre dish and god know what you will catch” most of the cases of Norovirus are directly related to the passengers that come onboard for that cruise. If I remember correctly in almost all the cases the first case of sickness is almost always a passenger.

Yes, the Deck and Engineering jobs are not the same as for the rest of the merchant marine and I know the pay is much less as well. But, most of these ships are foreign flagged and hiring foreign workers. I have no idea what the POA’s contracts are like or how much they pay.

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[QUOTE=Kingrobby;140639]Well, from someone who actually worked on multiple big & small cruise ships for over 10yrs, you sir have got it WRONG. I was an entertainer and most of my contracts were 6 months or longer.

First off, most of the big (900ft +) cruise ships have over 1000 crew members.

Passengers are cargo, but most of the crew have no direct dealings with them, or only for very short times. Hotel Staff, Front Desk, Dining Room, and Entertainment Staff have the most direct contact with the pax. Don’t confuse being polite as ass kissing.

Sure you share a cabin with someone you may not know, but that is no different than all the other ships I’ve worked on.

I’ve never seen a druggie onboard a cruise ship after my first one. Mandatory random drug tests for something like 10% of the crew a month, that actually happen every month. I’ve worked on an oil rig for 2yrs and haven’t heard of anyone even getting a drug test during that time. Cabin inspections every week make sure rooms are kept safe and clean.

Yes, you have gays, Filipinos, Arabs???, Skanks, and Gamblers. But, I’ve seen those kinds of people tons of places and not just on ships. So what is your point??? One of my ships had 1070 crew members from 47 countries and we all got along with ZERO issues between crew members. Can’t say the same for most of the ships I’ve worked on with just Americans.

As for being a “floating petre dish and god know what you will catch” most of the cases of Norovirus are directly related to the passengers that come onboard for that cruise. If I remember correctly in almost all the cases the first case of sickness is almost always a passenger.

Yes, the Deck and Engineering jobs are not the same as for the rest of the merchant marine and I know the pay is much less as well. But, most of these ships are foreign flagged and hiring foreign workers. I have no idea what the POA’s contracts are like or how much they pay.[/QUOTE]

Yep, you nailed it, it’s the pax who bring in the nasty little bugs with them. They think they are on vacation, therefore no hand washing after using the head…it’s really gross the way people behave. Sanitation is a big deal to these cruise lines, it’s money lost when people get sick!

And the drunks and druggies?? Pax again…

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Did a contract with NCL foreign flagged. No druggie crew members that I saw. Drunks, well most of the crew knew how to party, plus the crew bar had .50 cent heinekens, $3 bottle of wine. Deck and engine officer could not drink. The Staff Captain was American, as was the reefer engineer, bosun(surprisingly), 1st officer, hotel director, and the entertainment staff.

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As someone who has sailed as a deck officer on cruise ships, many of your replies to this topic are true.

Room Service: Yes (depending on the cruise line). Room service on the bridge at 0230 was on of the good things about 00-04
Room Service: Yes (depending on the cruise line). Daily service with new towels etc.
Dry Cleaning: Yes, you can pick up/drop off or your room steward can pick them up for you.
Dining: Crew mess served the same as any Lido Buffet. Any extra, just call and make a reservation or go when there isn’t a crowd. Specialty restaurants, you pay for those, but a 4-course meal will only run you $7-8.
Partying: No drinking, the companies that hire Americans have strict no drinking policy. That doesn’t mean you can’t go to the crew bar and pick up girls. When they hear you have a room to yourself and a normal size bed…it’s on.
Women: Many to choose from and many from all around the world, pursue and you will conquer. 50% of them will come too you because of the officer stripes, but treat em right because they know all of the other women and can hinder your future shenanigans.
Work: It ain’t easy. To be honest, it is the hardest job I have ever had. 8 hours of watch, 2-4 of overtime (Safety Inspections/Training/Misc).
Bridge Team: European. Greek/Romanian/Croatian. Like any ship, some were idiots and some were brilliant, it’s all a toss up.
Guests: Wash your hands, they do bring the sickness with them. Unless your working in guest areas, you will rarely see them, and when you do just have a conversation. Many are interested in what you do, they have questions, answer them. If you love your job and they are interested it’s usually a pleasure.
Power: The officer stripes do give you some leeway. Don’t belittle the crew/staff like so many do, if you give them a genuine smile and ask how their day is going they will remember you. Karma.

This is just a handful of things to mull over.

1 Like
17

One more here that did the cruise thing. I worked for both Celebrity and Oceania Cruises for around 4 years total in a deck officer position.

the negative comments above im sure come fron people with zero actual time working on one. Its definitely not for everyone and yes, the pay is less. But I was making around 90k a year so its not too bad. And that was 10hrs a day so actually less then I work now in the GoM.

Guest interation is encouraged but it is by no means all the time. If you dont want to see em, just stay in crew areas. And a lot of them are actually very nice. I was a senior officer- 1st officer environmental, but if its something you think you would like, go for it.

The thing I didnt like about it and why I got out are long hitches. My achedule was 4 months on, 2 off and had to stay 6 months one time. Overall im happy I did it… hell, im getting married to my canadian fiance next week who was a crew member so it could work out nicely for you lol

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Know a handful of officers who used to work NCL. Most of them worked a few years then grew up and moved on. From what they told me they had a blast. Sure the pay wasn’t the same as a box boat, but they made up for it in tang. Some of the company BS but that is with every type of boat. I say if you don’t need to make top dollar right now and are not married, give it a shot. I get young guys on my ship who wonder what it’s like and I tell them to do one trip and decide for themselves.

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I did my wiper time on SS Independence for AHC. The pay sucked and the living conditions were cramped. If you’re young and single it can be a blast.

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Years ago, I had a good friend that worked on the Constitution as 2nd Engineer, (If I remember correctly) any way he loved it but did say that after spending close to 6 months on there, he almost shit when he when to settle up his bar tab. Also, he always told a funny story about coming back drunk and winding up on the wrong ship as they were at the same dock.

He enjoyed it but decided to go back deep sea to make more money and to save his liver.