What Are The Most Important Qualities Needed To Work On A Cruise Ship?

Working on a cruise ship is not for everyone – certain qualities and personality traits are definitely required, like every job. What are these traits? What will make a hirer for a cruise ship want to hire you? If you’re wanting to take to the high sea, though, here’s what they’re looking for:

Be Positive

Having a positive, ‘can do’ attitude, will go a long way in securing you a job on a cruise ship. An infectious, bubbly personality and a face that is always smiling will also be on any employer’s list of must-haves. Remember that you’ll be representing the ship, so you’ll need to be happy to help in whatever way you can, be easily approachable, and have all the information that you might need to give someone the right advice and make sure they have a great vacation.

Be Energetic

Being energetic has to be a prerequisite of any job on a cruise ship. You’ll be working seven days a week, and long hours too, and you’ll need to be as bubbly and happy in the evening as you were in the morning. If you can keep going and be fun and enjoyable to be around for pretty much the whole time, cruise ships could definitely be the ideal workplace for you. If you get grumpy when you don’t get enough sleep, and you want to hide away from everyone until you feel better, you should probably look for another line of work!

Be Fast Thinking

Sometimes things will go wrong on board a ship – passports will be lost, people will become ill, things will go missing… You need to be a fast-thinking problem solver so that you can keep everyone happy while solving their problems as best you can. If you’re an adaptable kind of person who thrives under pressure, you will do well on board a cruise ship, as long as you have all the other traits required too.

Be Entertaining

For many of the staff on a cruise ship, it’s not just about customer service; you could be part of the entertainment too. That means singing, dancing, putting on shows, maybe even magic tricks or working with the children in the kids’ club. Whatever you do, you need to be professional at all times. Never forget, the customers who are on board with you will be looking for high-class entertainment. These people may have booked Broadway shows like The Lion King through www.ticketsales.com and they will be expecting something that isn’t amateur.

Be A Team Player

The team you work with on a cruise ship will be a tightknit one – you will be living and working together for weeks at a time. It’s important that you know how to get along with, and work well with other people, and understand how working in a team will help everyone. There may be jobs you don’t enjoy doing, but if everyone pitches in it will be a much happier workplace overall.

Be Able To Sell

Another – perhaps surprising – requirement for someone working on a cruise ship is that they should be able to sell. This could be anything from tickets for excursions to items in the gift shop. You might even need to try to get people to book for their next vacation before they disembark. Whatever it is, a friendly, outgoing personality and being helpful at all times will certainly boost your sales figures.