After landing a chance for a cruise ship job interview, you should take time to prepare for the questions that may be asked. It is important to think of the best answers to these questions to increase your chances of having your own cruise ship job. These preparations can also help you decide on whether a cruise ship career is for you as the questions are designed to tell the recruiter if your are fit for a job on board.

Questions to be asked are intended to help the interviewer find out whether you can do a cruise ship job and if you would be a good cruise crew. Some of the questions to be asked may include:

• Can you work and live as part of a team composed of people from different nationalities?

• Would you be able to live on board a high pressure and sometimes difficult environment?

• Do you get sea sick?

• Can you live away from home and family for at least six months?

• Are you adaptable and flexible?

• Can you live in a tiny cabin which may be shared with another crew member?

You can prove your readiness for the job by answering these questions positively and of course, honestly. Preparing for this kind of questions will provide you a huge advantage in securing a job on board.

Learning a second language is also another advantage that you may gain in improving your chances of getting hired. You don’t have to be an expert or fluent speaker, a reasonably and understandable proficiency is beneficial as cruise ships have passengers of many nationalities and visits different parts of the world that is why there is always a need for a crew with second language.

English is the most important language but the requirement for a crew member is to understand at least the basics of another language is increasing. It may be to offer directions, take orders, or anything else that a foreign passenger may request of you.

You can get the best help from experienced crew members with Cruise Line Job Guide. They offer a guide which can help you decide, prepare and actually get any of the cruise ship jobs that you desire.

A cruise ship can be floating and cruising in the water for days and weeks carrying passengers that are out for a good time. But what makes a cruise successful for these passengers? Is it the good facilities? The good sites? The cruise pleasure and experience? Or the people working to give the best service in a cruise ship?

All of these are considered in what we can call a good cruise along with the people that are in the ship. A ship can also be considered as a small city as a community is formed with in it. Strangers become friends, crews and clients interact and workers becomes tourists. Yes, workers on a cruise doesn’t just work all the time, they do enjoy and have fun as well as they are a part of that community. You too can be a part of the community wherein you are paid to travel. To give you a general idea of the types of cruise ship careers at cruise lines, here are a few detailed job description, qualifications and duties:

Cruise Ship Entertainment Jobs
Almost always synonymous with “cruise staff”, these positions are considered most glamorous jobs on the ship and are the most in demand career. Cruise ship entertainment jobs deals with anything relating to passengers entertainment. This may include hosts and hostesses, cruise  director jobs and staff, performers, disc jockeys, cruise ship musician, shore excursion staff and swimming instructors.

Cruise Ship Deck and Engineering Jobs
Responsible for maintaining and running the vessel, this department doesn’t usually accept entry-level positions and mostly only experienced merchant marines that include maintenance workers, deckhands, engineers and ship officers who are in charge of passenger safety. It is their task to sail the ship, maintain the ship performance and physical state and keep it in accordance with fleet regulations and international maritime laws.

Cruise Ship Service Jobs
Jobs on this department are concerned with managing the restaurants, bars and passenger cabins, as well as shipboard retail concessions like souvenir and gift shops. They are the ones who serves food, beverages or any kind of product that can generate them a good amount of tip from the passenger. The ship’s treasurer in charge of passenger accounts, currency exchange, ticketing and more, also called the purser, are also included in this category.

Cruise Ship Personal Care/Service Jobs
Fitness, beauty, spa and medical services are included in this category. This are very important jobs in a cruise ship since most passengers signed up for a cruise to enjoy themselves, relax, be comfortable and pamper themselves and the medical department are to render services in times of medical emergencies like simple cuts and bruises, allergies and being sea sick.

Cruise Ship Office Jobs
Office positions are generally for employees who works in the main office or branch arranging cruises, managing accounts or performing general office work onshore. Positions like administrative assistants, sales/marketing staff, clerical workers and booking agents are some of the jobs available in this category.

Different cruise lines uses different categories or department for the cruise jobs that are needed in their ships but the listed jobs above are the most used categories. For a more detailed job description and qualification for each job, visit Cruise Line Job Guide’s Cruise Ship Jobs.

Cruise lines are one of the biggest and fastest trend in tourism. The demand for new cruise ships has been increasing rapidly as more tourists prefer relaxing while on cruise and the need for cruise line employees are growing as well to provide better and faster services to the passengers.

Here are a few details about new cruise ships to be launched in 2009 along with some information on how many crew ship positions would be available.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines
Ship: Oasis of the sea
Launch Date: November 2009
Tour: Caribbean
Passengers: 6400
Cruise Crew Needed: 1650
Description: Includes an AquaTheater, two climbing walls and the first on board zip line and carousel, Oasis of the Seas will be the worlds largest ship.

Carnival Cruise Lines
Ship: Carnival Dream
Launch Date: September 21, 2009
Tour: Mediterranean, Caribbean
Passengers: 3646
Cruise Crew Needed: 1367
Description: A completely new design for Carnival and will be the largest Carnival Ship. Ensuring passenger comfort and best cruise experience as cruise ship crew ratio to passenger will be one for every 2.6 passenger.

Celebrity Cruises
Ship: Celebrity Equinox
Launch Date: Summer, 2009
Tour: North Europe, Mediterranean, Caribbean
Passengers: 2850
Cruise Crew Needed: 1500
Description: Offers a more spacious cabins than Celebrity ships, improvement in luxury and comfort is promised as one crew would be attending to passengers with a ratio of 1 crew for 2 passenger.

Silversea Cruises
Ship: Silver Spirit
Launch Date: December 2009
Tour: Worldwide
Passengers: 540
Cruise Crew Needed: 410
Description: Currently under construction at Fincantieri’s Ancona shipyard in Italy will become the company’s largest luxury vessel on its launch sometime December 2009.

Pearl Seas Cruises
Ship: Ship Unnamed
Launch Date: June 2009
Tour: Europe and Caribbean
Passengers: 210
Cruise Crew Needed: 135
Description: Second new build ship from new cruise company.

The Yachts of Seabourn
Ship: Seabourn Odyssey
Launch Date: June 2009
Tour: Worldwide
Passengers: 450
Cruise Crew Needed: 330
Description: With a size in GRT (Gross Register Tonnage) of 32,000, this new build ship is larger by standard of the Seabourn company. Even though more passengers would be accommodated, the same ratio will be the same for the crew to guest as it will still be one crew for every 1.5 guests.

Viking River Cruise
Ship: Viking Legend
Launch Date: May 2009
Tour: Grand European Tour
Passengers: 189
Cruise Crew Needed: 50
Description: Cruising along The Rhine, Main and Danube rivers as it sails from Amsterdam to Budapest, Viking Legend will be the longest in the Viking River Cruise fleet and one of the most state of the art river vessels.

AIDA Cruises
Ship: AIDAluna
Launch Date: April 2009
Tour: Europe
Passengers: 2050
Cruise Crew Needed: 1100
Description: Second new build from AIDA Cruises

Costa Cruises
Ship: Costa Luminosa
Launch Date: May 2009
Tour: Mediterranean, Arctic, North Europe, Atlantic Islands
Passengers: 2850
Cruise Crew Needed: 1500
Description: Although most cruise lines are devoted in making their vessels bigger, Costa Luminosa would be a new and smaller ship but will be better in contemporary design using technology to provide light and color effects on board.

Ship: Costa Pacifica
Launch Date: June 2009
Tour: Mediterranean
Passengers: 3780
Cruise Crew Needed: 1000
Description: One of the largest new Costa Cruises ships giving a ratio of one crew for every 2.8 passengers for better service.

Pearl Seas Cruises
Ship: Pearl Mist
Launch Date: First Quarter 2009
Tour: Canda, USA, Caribbean
Passengers: 210
Description: First cruise ship from new luxury line Pear Seas

MCS Cruises
Ship: Splendida
Launch Date: June 2009
Tour: Mediterranean
Passengers: 3300
Cruise Crew Needed: 1325
Description: One of MSC’s largest ships will offer a ratio of one crew to every 2.5 passengers.

With the addition of these twelve cruise ships to roam the oceans and seas, an estimated of 9500 to 10000 cruise ship jobs would be available before the ships delivers on its set date of launch.