Landing Cruise Ship Jobs Through Maritime Concessionaires
Cruise ships employ a large number of people. Thousands of employees are needed to service anywhere from 3,000 to over 15,000 passengers. There are many opportunities there for anyone who wants the experience. But, all cruise ship jobs are not filled by employees of the cruise line.
Have you ever been to a concert or a baseball game? There are people all around who sell t-shirts, drinks, and other paraphernalia to fans. The companies that these people work for buy space from the venues to sell their wares. They work at the venue but are not their employees.
This is the same with cruise ships and even chartered mega-yachts. The companies that hire for these types of positions are called concessionaire companies or sometimes staffing agencies. The company has a contract with the cruise line or yacht management company to shipboard departments - food prep, bar, shore excursions, and so forth.
When you are hired by a concessionaire company, you will be working for them even though you are living on the cruise ship or yacht. Concessionaire companies typically hire for positions that require specific skills. A spa would hire licensed estheticians and masseuses. A gift shop needs people with prior retail experience. Unfortunately, you cannot tell by the company name whether it is a placement agency for the cruise line or a concessionaire company. The description of some of the jobs may give you a clue.
There are advantages to being in the employ of a concessionaire company. You work on the ship but you are not “on” all the time. Cruise ship workers are required to wear their name tags and interact with passengers whenever they are in public places. This fact keeps some workers in their staterooms during down time.
For concessionaire employees, when you are not on duty at your post, you are free to go ashore and sightsee. There is more freedom there when it comes to your off work hours and not being required to hobnob with the other passengers. This is especially true for people in yacht crewing jobs who work on smaller vessels.
On the other hand, depending on the size of the concessionaire company, they may only hire a few employees each year. Many stay on and move from ship to ship. That is good because it means that the benefits are great, but can be frustrating for someone trying to break into the cruise line business by working with a concessionaire company.
Concessionaires are also on their own when it comes to handling the business of their shops. When you work for the cruise line, each person has a job to do that often helps another department. As for concessionaire employees, you must help yourself. This means that when you place an order for supplies, it is the responsibility of the workers to take charge of those supplies when they are delivered to the ship.
Unloading and inventorying these items can take several hours of off-duty time each week. Many might say that this is the hardest part of their job. Many cruise line concessionaires can earn commissions on their sales. Being that there is not much to spend your money on (if you control your onshore spending) you can save a good deal of money.
Many cruise line concessionaires hire from all over the world. You could be working alongside people from Europe, South America, or Australia. The culture shock may require some adjustment at first, but you learn to find the adventure in living and working with a multi-national crew. Think of all the friends you will make. Also, play your cards and you could parlay your experience into a tour guide job in one of the ports-of-call you visited.
As new ships are commissioned each year, this means more and more specialized positions and more concessionaire companies bidding for contracts. These companies will be looking for new staff to fill these jobs. It could be your lucky break.
Tags: cruise line concessionaires | yacht management | shore excursions | shore excursions | mega-yachts | mega-yachts | cruise | staff | staff | ships | jobs | jobs
July 17th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Cruise ships are the best for traveling and holiday. I like them so much. I like Oasis of the Seas, Costa Concordia, Queen Victoria and etc. I like every time, when I visit cruise ship. It is great to be there.