The money is great by any standards

There might not be too many jobs you will find that can parallel the earnings drawn in a ship line. How many jobs on land will pay for your accommodation, food, laundry, gym, to-n-fro travel from your home town to the job and back, plus a hefty salary? I do not think you will come up with too many choices. The ship line offers you all this and more. Most of the big names will send you flight tickets from your home town to the departure port of the ship. While on the ship, you get your cabin free (sometimes on twin-sharing basis, and sometimes you get it on single occupancy), food is free, laundry is taken care of, and so is your toiletries such as soap, shampoo, etc. All you have to spend for, if you want to spend, is on perfume/ deodorant and alcoholic beverages. This makes for the in-kind remuneration.

As you move upwards, though the competition is usually quite fierce, you get higher salary so much so that it can touch US $7000 per month (as cruise directors) which is a great deal of money. Those who work in gift shops, bars and other consumer related places also collect a great deal in the form of tips. I have known people who used to get about US $300-400 per day in tips only.

Of course, both the salary and the tips will vastly depend upon the type of luxury liner you are serving on. However, most of them are indeed a mine of wealth and enjoyment for its crew as well as its passengers. The crew enjoys the pampering they are offered and kind of get used to saving their money. I have known many people who have a worked about five years in the ship line and then retired to start their own business in the home country.

Many people get addicted to being constantly on-the-job and get restless on a normal land job after working a few years on the ship. They also get addicted to the wonderful pay package which can never be matched by any land-based job. This is why the vast majority of the people who work on the ship, tend to return to their jobs after a brief break on land. They cannot adjust any longer to the vagaries of the land. The ship jobs are, indeed quite addictive.

There is a downside

The downside in the ship job is there. People cannot have a normal family life once they work on the ship. They are employed for 8-10 months at a stretch where they work 8-12 hours a day, and sometimes even more than that. They work hard, they earn well and in between these two there is no scope for anything else. Family takes a second position and the career hogs the first position. Hence, people tend to get homesick, missing their spouses, their children and their homes. This is, in fact, one of the most common factors for people leaving the ship jobs.

This job is actually best for fresh graduates who want to earn some cash and enjoy life before settling down with their families. This is a great way to build some bank balance as a base for your future on land.