Skilled vs unskilled labor on cruise ships

But this is not all. The Passenger Service Act of 1886 imposes some more peculiar restriction besides the rules on staffing and registration. The foreign flagged ships cannot use any itinerary they wish, but fixed and eschewed paths due to this law. For example, a foreign ship which wants to travel from Tampa to Florida will have to take a detour to touch Cay Sal (a small island in Bahamas); ships that start from Los Angeles have to touch Mexico before they arrive in Hawaii, ships that go to Alaska will have to start from British Columbia, or Vancouver and not from Seattle, Washington.

There have been talks about lifting some of these unproductive restrictions on the foreign registered ships; but till it is done the present staffing trend will continue for the lack of alternatives. Once the restrictions are lifted, then American direct luxury liners can ply overnight journeys between cities such as New Orleans and Tampa or from San Diego to San Francisco, employing all American crews.

The employment of English speaking staff, i.e. Americans and Canadians will be reserved for the skilled position such as customer care, cruise staff, hosts and hostesses, clerks, bartenders, excursion guides, casino staff and so on. These jobs are much better paid than those of unskilled labor, carry a good number of perks and privileges and offer better quarters on the ship.

Since these jobs will require a certain amount of skills, you will have to be prepared to prove that you are capable to deliver what is required of you and that you do posses the required skills. Not only that, your English should be good, polished and suitable for interaction with distinguished passengers that are mostly guests of the large luxury cruise liners.

The chances for entry-level positions will be available to American staff only on smaller cruise liners. Here, the staff will have to be more versatile so as to take care of more than one task during the course of the day; hence, an English speaking crew is preferred to a non-English speaking one. However, be prepared to work some grueling 14-18 hours a day.

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