Added: 02/08/2006 |
No other industry has been growing so rapidly in the past seven years as the cruise line industryNo other industry has been growing so rapidly in the past seven years as the cruise line industry. Just for the last four years all leading cruise lines have doubled their fleets and number of employees. Many new cruise ship companies have emerged trying to get their share from the cruise market explosion. With all the cruise vessels currently under construction the number of cruise lines work force worldwide is expected to triple by the year 2009.
Working in a luxury cruise line industry offers numerous rewards, but the most common reasons for doing that are:
- you can not only earn, but save a substantial amount of money for a short period of time, all your expenses are taken care of by the cruise line;
- citizens of certain countries do not have to pay taxes on the income they have earned at sea;
- travel in style around the world for free;
- getting away from a boring job, career or every day routine.
The groundwork for the modern day cruise line industry was laid down as far as the early 1950's. Following the arrival of air transportation service between Europe and North America, large transatlantic liner companies were forced to seek alternate usage for their ships. Shipping lines took advantage of the traveling public's immense desire for exotic travel and exploration, and thus slowly refitted their large transatlantic liners for leisure cruising and repositioned them to warmer climates, gentler seas and exotic ports of call.
In an effort to tap into a broader spectrum of the vacation market, the 1960's saw shipping lines offering shorter (7-10 days) and more moderately priced Caribbean cruises from new homeports ports in South Florida. The proximity of the Port of Miami and Port Everglades to the Caribbean islands proved the key for US-based cruise travel.
The early 1970's saw the creation of companies such as Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Lines and the arrival of European based companies such as Peninsular and Oriental (future Princess Cruises), Cunard and Chandris (future Celebrity). As Caribbean cruising became main-stream, cruise lines embarked on a ship-building race that would help them secure market share and establish their ships as the largest and most modern vessels afloat.
The 1980's saw the cruise industry mature and become a solid participant on the leisure and hospitality industries. As companies grew so did their ships. Up to the late 1970's the optimal ship was regarded to be 20,000 tons and able to carry 800-passengers. The "optimum" size would soon be reformulated. As competition within the cruise industry grew, prices were reduced in order to attract a broader mix of passengers. As expected, cruise lines sought out means to reduce their operational expenses and started designing larger ships to maximize the benefits of economies of scale. The early 1980's saw the arrival of 70,000-ton ships with capacities for 2000+ passengers. Lesser operational expenses and an increase in cruise and on-board revenues fueled the drive for bigger, more efficient and more appealing ships.
The cruise line industry is one of the fastest growing job sectors in the world. Ten to fifteen new luxury liners are being built every year, and with that growth there has been an equally impressive boom in the number of available cruise ship jobs. While many of these employment opportunities are aboard luxury liner cruise ships, you can also find employment on smaller vessels that include everything from eco-tour ships to the Amazon, steamboats that recall the grandeur of 19th-century America, and romantic sailing yachts cruising the Maine shoreline.
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