Guest Services Manager
Other Job Titles: Guest Services Manager (Carnival Cruise Lines), Customer Services Director (Princess Cruises), First Purser (past cruise industry title)
Job Description: Oversees the Customer Relations Manager, Financial Controller, and Shore Excursions Manager.
Experience and Skills Required: Candidate should have at least five years of management experience in a cruise line or luxury hotel environment.
Typical Rank: 3 to 3 1/2 stripes
Average Salary: $5,000 to $7,000 per month
Customer Relations Manager
Other Job Titles: Customer Relations Manager (Princess Cruises), Assistant Guest Services Manager (Carnival Cruise Lines), Guest Services Manager (Royal Caribbean)
Job Description: Manages the guest service team to achieve optimal passenger service. The Customer Relations Manager enforces policies and procedures for front desk cash handling.
Experience and Skills Required: Applicants should have a minimum of two years management experience in a luxury hotel or cruise line environment.
Typical Rank: 2-Striped Officer
Average Salary: $2,500 to $4,000 per month
Financial Controller
Job Description: Manages the financial controls and accounting functions of the vessel. This person provides the financial reporting to the Hotel Director. The Financial Controller manages credit card and cash transactions. This position oversees and trains the Front Desk Supervisor as well as the Night Manager/Auditor.
Experience and Skills Required: Applicants should have a minimum of two years management and financial accounting experience in a luxury hotel or cruise line environment.
Typical Rank: 2-striped officer
Average Salary: $2,500 to $4,000 per month
Shore Excursion Manager
Job Description: Manages the shore excursion desk; Books shore excursions for guests; Supervises the Shore Excursion Assistants; Handles and resolves guest complaints; Liaises with shoreside tour operators.
Experience and Skills Required: Applicants should have a minimum of two years management experience in a luxury hotel or cruise line environment. Candidate should also have experience working as a Shore Excursion Assistant or similar.
Typical Rank: 2-striped officer
Average Salary: $2,500 to $4,000 per month
Guest Services Supervisor
Other Job Titles: Guest Services Supervisor (Carnival Cruise Lines), Front Desk Supervisor (Princess Cruises), Front Desk Manager (Royal Caribbean).
Note: Most cruise lines also have a job called Night Manager or Night Auditor which a Guest Services Supervisor will rotate on.
Job Description: The Guest Services Supervisor addresses guest complaints and provides resolution; Supervises, trains and motivates the Guest Service Associates; Oversees administration duties that are complete by Guest Service Associates.
Experience and Skills Required: Minimum one year of front desk supervisory experience on a cruise ship or luxury hotel.
Typical Rank: One-striped officer
Average Salary: $1,800 to $3,000 per month
Documentation Officer
Other Job Titles: Documentation Officer (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises); Administration Officer (Princess Cruises)
Job Description: The Documentation Officer is responsible for preparing documents for port authorities such as Customs and Immigration. This position also prepares much of the correspondence that is sent to passenger staterooms such as disembarkation information.
Experience and Skills Required: Prior experience in the Customer Services Department of a cruise ship or a luxury hotel; Proficient with Microsoft Office.
Typical Rank: One-striped officer
Average Salary: $1,800 to $3,000 per month
Shore Excursion Assistant
Job Description: Sells and books tours for guests; Assists with the printing of tour tickets and distributing to passengers.
Experience and Skills Required: Knowledgeable about the tours offered; Customer service and sales experience required; Prior shipboard experience preferred.
Typical Rank: One-striped officer
Average Salary: $1,800 to $3,000
Dive Instructor
Other Titles: Dive Instructor (Royal Caribbean)
Job Description: The Dive Instructor coordinates the vessel’s Sea Trek program both on the ship and on the islands. This position guides tours, provides dive and snorkelling instruction, and promotes rental equipment on the RCCL private islands.
Experience and Skills Required: Candidates must have at least 50 scuba certifications that qualify for the PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor certificate.
Average Salary: $1,800 to $3,000 per month
International Host
Other Job Titles: International Host (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises), Multilingual Internship (NCL)
Job Description: The International Host assists passengers with translation services. This position provides translations for printed material such as shore excursion pamphlets, menus, and the onboard activities newsletter. The International Host also serves as a translator for public announcements and for communications between the Documentation Officer and customs and immigration officials.
Experience and Skills Required: Candidate must speak and write fluently in English, Spanish, Italian, German, and French. Previous customer service experience is an asset. Post secondary education is preferred.
Average Salary: $900 to $2,000 per month
Guest Services Officer
Other Job Titles: Guest Services Associate (Carnival Cruise Lines), Customer Services Agent (Princess Cruises), Junior Assistant Purser (old cruise industry title)
Job Description: Guest Services Officer’s goal is to provide guest satisfaction. They must answer guest questions, resolve passenger complaints and provide front desk services. Front desk services include registering guest credit cards, processing account payments, and exchanging currencies.
Experience and Skills Required: Candidate should have at least one year experience of cash handling and customer service in a banking, cruise line or luxury hotel environment; Applicants must have a good understanding of exchanging currency; Additional languages such as Spanish, French, Italian, German, or Portuguese is preferred.
Average Salary: $900 to $2,000 per month
Printer
Other Job Titles: Printer (Princess Cruises), Guest Communications Officer (Disney Cruise Line)
Job Description: This position is responsible for all print media such as daily ship newsletter, menus and shore excursion pamphlets.
Experience and Skills Required: At least four years of experience in desktop publishing coupled with a post-secondary school education in desktop publishing or computer graphics; Skills should include related computer software knowledge such as Indesign and Photoshop.
Average Salary: $1,000 to $2,000 per month
Inventory Manager
Other Job Titles: Inventory Manager (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises), Hotel Storekeeper (Princess Cruises)
Job Description: Manages the hotel operation’s inventory and storeroom to ensure the business needs of the ship.
Experience and Skills Required: Previous experience as a storeroom supervisor is preferred.
Average Salary: $2,000 to $3,000 per month
Assistant Inventory Manager
Other Job Titles: Assistant Inventory Manager (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises), Assistant Hotel Storekeeper (Princess Cruises)
Job Description: Assists the Inventory Manager with his duties.
Experience and Skills Required: Previous experience as a storeroom supervisor is preferred.
Average Salary: $800 to $1,000 per month
Bellboy
Job Description: Responsible for hand delivering the internal mail around the ship.
Experience and Skills Required: This person must be very organized and able to work independently.
Average Salary: $600 to $800 per month
Hotel Clerk
Job Description: Provides administrative assistance to the guest services department
Experience and Skills Required: This person must have above average administration skills as well as a fast typist; must be proficient on computers with experience in Microsoft Office.
Average Salary: $1,000 to $1,500 per month