A good overseas recruitment agency can get you lucrative jobs that challenge your learned skill set while comprehensively expanding it for better avenues. When you already have educational qualifications in hospitality, how do you choose which career arena to explore – hotels or cruise ships?
Both have their own advantages and disadvantages, but knowing what to expect in land-based hospitality jobs and in cruise ship jobs makes you better prepared to rise in the industry. In land-based hospitality jobs, the volumes of everything – food, drink, people – are much less than on cruise lines.
This often means you have less pressure to deliver quality service in that kind of quantity. With smaller volumes, hotels and resorts offer a better chance at innovation and creativity from lower down the hierarchy chain. However, those who opt for cruise ship jobs often learn quicker from having to deal with high quality services in large volumes to strict deadlines.
In terms of variety, cruise ship jobs offer a great many options for restaurants, concierge services, guest relations and tours in port. Hotels and resorts, on the other hand, are restricted by their size, location and capacity in offering hospitality services. Working on cruise lines provide staff with opportunities to mix up their experience with each contract – an Italian restaurant to exotic Oriental fine dining; or guest relations in spas to concierge services. Land-based jobs often have staff working the same circuit for a longer period of time, but this allows them to fine tune skills in that specialisation.
Living at home when working in land-based hospitality jobs is comfortable and secure. It allows you to spend time with your family regularly and maintain social relationships. The 6-8 month contracts that come with cruise ship jobs mean extended time away from family and friends. But the international working environment offers opportunities to live, work and make new friends with people from around the world. Cruise lines also organise enviable social events for their staff during their time off when sailing.
When working on cruise ships, salaries and tips are usually much higher when compared to land-based jobs. But while staff gets many perks including free accommodation, food and tax-free salaries, they do not get paid while on leave for 3-4 months between contracts. Hotels and resorts offer lower pay, but more consistent income.
With a clear idea of what to expect, prepare for, and hope for, choosing between land-based hotel jobs and cruise line jobs becomes easier.