Cruise ship workers enjoy vacation time, with contracts lasting between 2 and 11 months. They typically get a couple of months off between contracts to rest, recharge, and spend time with their families. However, there are no days off on ships, and each crew member has an employment contract specifying their salary. Entry-level positions can work up to five months with a scheduled, unpaid vacation, while management level positions work four months onboard.
Cruise ship crew members can earn an annual average between $16,000 to $20,000. For leadership staff, they can expect to receive approximately 60 days of vacation before their next assignment. Their daily work schedule will depend on their particular position, but they can expect to work seven days a week and anywhere between 10-13 hours per day. Shore leave is available when the ship docks for supplies and other necessities.
Cruise ship employees do not get any days off, working 7 days a week with contracts lasting between 5 to 9 months at a time. They must give up the lifestyle they had on land, but they can choose when they take the six- to eight-week break that automatically comes with longer vacation time. Paid to travel is another well-known perk of getting a job on a cruise ship, with an average of 2 weeks paid vacation and 5 days PTO/sick leave. Paid vacation does not increase until 5 years of service, though.
A cruise ship job is often a better opportunity than they would have in their homeland due to the long hours, low pay, and high expenses.
📹 HOW MUCH MONEY DO CRUISE SHIP EMPLOYEES MAKE?
This is easily one of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to Cruise Ship workers or Crew on board Cruise Ships.
📹 Cruise ship Vacation pay|Does cruise componies give vacation pay?(Cruise wali duniya)
Complete information about vacation pay on cruise ship. 1. link to apply for cruise line jobs : https://youtu.be/zShthPRc_fc 2.
I am amused when people condemn the cruise companies for paying service staff $500 per month and make them work 10 to 12 hours per day. I live in Thailand and I can assure you it is normal to work 10 to 12 hours a day 6 days a week for almost every person and most of them make the minimum wage of $240 per month or less than $500 per month. So in a developing Nation you can see how it job paying $500 per month with the ability to make extra with tips would be fantastic
One time i was on a cruise with my family and my uncle is a very successful man, there was a man from hong kong that got along really well with my uncle and they even hung out when he wasn’t working and got hammered at the bar on our last night on the cruise at the dinining hall my uncle tipped him 1,000 dollars and he started crying and hugged him and he used that money to create a bussiness here in the US at south florida and now works with my uncle. Always promote kindness like that to people you could find your next bussiness partner to make money and possibly like my uncle did a great friend
My wife and I recently went on a cruise two months ago. Many people working aboard the ship were from developing countries and gave THE BEST customer service. They worked long and hard and exceeded every expectation. They remembered my name as soon as they met me and remembered my drink as soon as I walk through the door. I became very personal with them and most of them were working to support families back at home. I tipped out each one of them that made it memorable and they have my upmost respect. Thank you for this informative article!
You are very right that it depends greatly on the cruise line and the position, as well as the tipping practice on board. My favorite server (we requested him each time we cruised that ship) had a Ph.D. in his home country and spoke 7 languages. He told me that he earned 3-4 times as much as a server on the ship as he could at home, and this enabled his wife to stay at home with the kids and for him to purchase his flat at home. As per his goal, he worked a couple contracts beyond what it took to buy the apartment, and then left to work for NATO using his language skills. As a server, he got $50 per month from the line along with usual things like uniforms, care of the uniforms, etc. But his cruise line did not pool or share tips, so he got 100% of what people at his tables tipped him. I also spoke with a person on deck who identified his job as an “engineer.” He said that he was working hard to improve his English so that he could move into an assistant server position because they earned a lot more money than people in his position did. Finally, I saw the actual pay slip from a theatre tech worker who had left the cruise line. I was frankly shocked at how low his pay was; basically at the level of minimum wage in the US! But, as he pointed out, he was single and the ship covered all his living expenses. He could live with his mother between contracts, and his home country charged no taxes on earnings outside the country. Many crew told us that the ship salary was a way that they could support extended family at home as well as save to provide for their own “after ship” lives, and that the hardest part was being away from family.
Good morning Jay: I enjoy the variety of information you provide. Over my time in cruising I have spoken with many crew members about this subject without getting into specific salary discussions. Most indicated that during the term of their contract they made as much or more than they would make in a year in their home country. Most were sacrificing time with family but most had goals they were seeking to achieve. One dealer told me he made enough to support his wife and two children and still save over half his pay which he was investing in rental property so when he decided to leave the ship he would be able to retire. One used his savings to pay to buy an egg farm to support and provide jobs for multiple family members. I had a neighbor who retired and moved to the Philippines and said he was able to “live like a king” on less than a third of what it cost in Connecticut. One of the benefits of cruising is meeting people from all over the world.
In the late 80s, I was a bartender on Cunard’s QE2 ocean liner, we were paid $900pm plus a share of the auto 15% gratuity added to all bar checks, this was shared between all bartenders as some worked service bars in the restaurants so never interacted with guests. On average we were making $2000 – $3500 depending on the cruise. We worked 10hrs a day, usually split shifts to get a break and the contracts were only 3mths. Think it’s changed a bit today. That was great money 35yrs ago as your room & food were included so you could save most of it.
I truly appreciate all your information. It’s good to know, it makes me appreciate you and everyone that works and has worked in cruise ships much more. I also like your transparency and letting us know how much you made when you worked in a cruise ship. I do realize you did not have to share this information with us. Thank you so much!
i worked as a bar waiter/bartender for carnival cruise lines, i did so for almost 3 years, after all that time you get to understand the basics of how ship life works and how the income is distributed, since my first contract i decided i was going to work until i had enough money to study on another country, as the work conditions are insane. i have so much to speak about it that i dont think it can fit this textbox, it has its pros and cons, fortunately i was able to move on, while theres workers that get “wet” (thats how some of them call it) and they simply get so used that they dont know what to do in land, even they have family and friends. Some say you got to be crazy to work for years on the cruises, and at certain degree that was true, its hard to find mental stability on a job where you work every single day for 6 – 10 months
Good info. Tipping is one of the hardest things to figure out. I know they need the money and you appreciate the work they have done but the cruise lines tack on the gratuity (should just include it in my opinion) then I wouldn’t feel like I am tipping double. Hard to do the right thing. Always a hearty discussion between my husband and I. 🤪
My wife and I still tip by US tipping norms. 20% of the total for on board spa or food services. We typically take $300-400 in cash for tips. On the Allure of the Seas we had the same waiter every night who fawned on us in Coastal Kitchen. When I looked up what we gave him as a comparison to his national average wage we basically gave him a week’s salary to bring is 3 diet Cokes a night and an extra dessert two nights. While I do have a tinge of guilt at the disparity between our nations if I were in their position I would be loving working in the most beautiful dining room on the ocean with passengers tipping me on average a 3 month’s salary a week instead of working a call center.
I work in health care and do 16 hour shifts almost daily. I can relate to long hours of back breaking work. For the foreign people on board the money on the ship is probably twice what they would make in their home country. There should be a more uniform pay scale but like many jobs in any country experience and education plays a role in pay. Even in the US wages vary across the country. High cost areas pay more than cheaper rural areas. There’s many factors like he mentioned in pay, plus workers aren’t usually paying for rent, food, utilities etc when working on board.
Two points: What does “NCO” mean in regard to your performing arts contract? Also, in all the discussions of pay for various positions, you didn’t mention that room and board are included or deducted for a small amount. So are these figures for pay net of room and board? And, if so, the pay should be discussed in that context. A person living in a city would have to pay rent, utilities, transportation and food. So even though the crew is captive to the confines of the ship during their contract, the crewmembers don’t have the same expenses of living in a city. This should be part of the discussion I think. Thank you for the article.
Can you do a article on things crew might have to pay for? I expect beverages in your pubs. What about laundry? income tax? Transfers home or to the ship? I have heard that some have WIFI and others not. Fees? or Time periods off peak? I am used to seeing crew finding free wifi at ports to call home etc. Basically, general information on crew conditions so passengers may understand and not treat them light “servants”.
As someone who is currently living on the edge of the Mojave desert in Southern California, If I had a job that paid $20 an hour full time I STILL wouldn’t have enough money to pay rent & live independently. If my partner & I both had the same income & lived together we could find somewhere okay to live but that would still be consuming the huge majority of our income. I’m now actively looking for work on cruise ships because I’d be able to come back with a good chunk of money for us to relocate somewhere much mor affordable like some places in Colorado we’ve been looking at. We both have career goals that take money to start & with the living expenses here, without me taking a cruise job I fear we’ll never be able to escape this rich-person state!!
I remember back in 2006 I had applied for the American Flag ship that sells around Hawaii and I think that’s Norwegian Cruise Line. Working in the kitchen I would have had 7 days a week at 10 hours a day and the pay would have been $7.50 an hour but in talking to an individual who was going to be on the wait staff they were getting paid $9 an hour plus tips and also a guy that was in the meeting with us his friend was a dishwasher on a cruise line and he was bringing about 1600 a month but he would get paid more on his next contract and that’s what the individual told us the guy who was holding the meeting that you can get paid more on your next contract and get more perks like working your way to a single person room of course I went to the medical and everything that had to be done but didn’t get the job although I had 20 years of restaurant experience because being a convicted felon you get short changed on some things but I wasn’t upset I moved over into Manufacturing and now here I am and I own my own business