Cities at Sea, Lots of Fun Jobs?
Though cruise patrons used to be stereotyped as silver haired
folks with money, the cruise industry today caters to a much
wider demographic cross section of the population. There are
cruises that specifically cater to singles, to families, and
there is even a behemoth under construction now that is selling
apartments for permanent residents.
As of 1999, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines' Voyager was the
largest cruise ship at sea. Among Voyager's amazing attractions
are an ice rink and a rock climbing wall. They carry 3100 guests
and 1200 crew. Do the math, and you'll see that this is roughly
1 crewmember for every 2.5 passengers. The crews are the real
full time residents, usually signing 6 - 8 month contracts with
little or no time off for the entire period. The ship sails 50
weeks per year with a 24-hour turn around between trips.
Voyager, due to it's great size is able to offer it's
crewmembers more amenities than most cruise ships, including a
crew gym, crew mess hall, crew break room, crew stores with
special low crew pricing, crew internet caf