This was our choice, good or bad, we made a decision to work on a cruise ship. Every crew member has his or her story to tell, as well as different reasons for his or her choice in working on a cruise ship. Main reasons for working on a cruise ship is to save money and to travel the world. 

Reasons NOT to work on a cruise ship:

• Long hours without days off, especially for galley and housekeeping.
• Constant and rigorous supervision which is very similar to military style discipline.
• Living in tight quarters with 2-3 strangers from all over the world.
• If employed as a crew, not staff or officers, it is a requirement to stay away from all guest areas when off duty.
• Being away from home for 6-8 months per contract.
• Spending lots of money on calling cards and Internet.

Reasons to work on a cruise ship:

• At the end of each contract you get long vacations.
• The vacations after each contract are unpaid, but it’s still awesome to have 2-3 months off at a time without the worry of whether or not you would have a job after the vacation.
• Working on a cruise ship gives you the opportunity to visit many places which you would normally not have the opportunity to visit and get paid! We think this is the number one reason people choose to work on a cruise ship.
• Free accommodation, but the cabins are very small.
• Save money. Working a cruise ship is a great way to save most of the pay crew members earn during one contract as there are very few expenses while on board.
• While most cruise ship positions won’t pay very much, it should still not come as a surprise how much a crew member can actually save.
• It's a blast. Cruise ship life is known for being a “work hard – play hard” environment. Meeting lots of people from many different countries.
• Crew parties and cheap drinks.
• No need to worry about what to wear because most of the time crew members are in their uniform.
• Make close friends from around the world.
• Working on a cruise ship gives crew members the opportunity to get very close to the people with whom they work and live.
• No cooking and cleaning. Everything is ready in crew or staff mess four times a day and you pay $20 for a cabin steward.
• A chance to go on free shore excursions as escort. Crew members sometimes have the opportunity to join one of the guest tours as a “tour escort” if there’s extra space and if the crew members have enough free time.
• Interact with guests with different professions and backgrounds.
• Amazing sunsets.
• Free Broadway style shows for staff and officers.
• Fall in love. Crew members work very hard, party harder, and spend all their days with the same people. Emotions can run high and sometimes it may happen that two people who work on the ship to fall crazy in love and start up a serious relationship.