Cruise Ship Workers: Job Description, Education, Skills and Duties, Earnings and Outlook
Submitted by: paula
Job Overview In the early times when airplanes have not yet been invented, travelling from one place to another separated by a body of water is accomplished through the use of boats, larges ships and vessels. Today, although airplanes are faster then the water vehicles and that many choose airfare than waterfare, ships are now being used as a wayt to spend leisure time travelling and cruising. Cruising provides travellers an experience of travelling by water with all the possible recreational activities on land. Restaurants are there, carnivals are there, entertainment as well as some shipboard activities are all available within the single vessel. We owe these experiences to the cruise ship workers. Those who are working in cruise ships who provide services to the passengers are called cruise ship worker. They facilitate and may assist in the operation of the ship. Some may also be assigned to do housekeeping services such as maintaining cabins and public areas. Others are assigned in the entertainment section, and food and beverage section. All in all, these comprise of the captain and the assistants, the medical team, the steward, the engine and machinery personnel, the housekeeping, the pursers, performers and auxilliary staff.
Education, Knowledge and Trainings Required
The educational requirements to be completed depend on the position or the job of the cruise ship workers in the ship. Take for example if the worker is from the housekeeping staff, the minimum requirement is to achieve a high school degree and some trainings and certification of professional housekeeping is hotels and restaurants. If the worker hold a position of the chief purser, or what we call the general manager of the guest and relations and services, a degree in Management or any degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management will be required. Bartendders should possess a certification in bartending and videographers should possess a training in visual arts specifically in videography and photography. Lastly, the captain of the ship should pass a certification on sea faring that can be taken in any of the maritime trade schools and collegee and some maritime academies.
Skills and Abilities
The skills that are needed in this industry are the skills in leadership and management most especially in supervisory positions. Equally important are the manipulative and mechanical skills involved in specific sets of tasks each of them is assigned to do. Communication skills and entertainment skills are needed most especially in the entertainment related departments, recreational departments and restaurants. These are especially needed by the performers, food servers and waitress as well as the housekeeping personnel. Artistic skills and interpersonal skills are needed in tasks related to photography and videography.
Duties
The duties of the cruise ship workers vary by positions and their roles in the cruise lines. The captain is the head of the ship and is in charge of overseeing its whole operations and the maneuvering of the ship. The restaurant workers such as the chef, the servers or waiters and waitresses cook the food, prepare them and serve them.
They also do the aftercare of their utensils and the venue. The entertainment personnel prepare the venue for their performances, set up the accessories to these such as the videos, sounds, lighting, and perform on stage to entertain people. Nurses and physicians aboard respond to medical emergencies. The houskeeping personnel maintain and keep the cabins, the lounges and the whole area clean and orderly.
Earnings and Job Outlook
The job outlook for this particular industry is predicted to move as fast as the average for the other professions. This is because more and more people are enjoying cruising as a form of a destressing activity and as a symbol of status and luxury. The salary of the cruise ship workers depend on the title that they hold in the ship and the scope of their work responsibility. The range of salary for this industry starts off from 12,000 to 16,000 U.S. dollars annually for the regular staff. As the income varies by job, positions in the supervisory and leader levels earn a salary that starts from 20,000 U.S. dollars per year and up.
Paula Hiz is a researcher and a human resource specialist who helps newly graduates, job applicants and post graduate professionals be aware of their job opportunities and available trainings for skills and practice upgrading.
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