Ready?
Cruise Hotel Officer — your shift
Nobody leaves and nothing arrives. Contain it, solve it on board, and tell the bridge what they need to know. Look at who is in front of you, then tap the box they belong in.
Full screen — no distractions
What does a cruise hotel officer do?
You run a hotel that cannot call anybody for help, is full of people who cannot leave, and is moving.
Also called: hotel officer, guest services officer, purser.
A day looks like
- 1You are on a rota that does not stop — there is no closing time and no going home at the end of it.
- 2You solve a problem with whatever is on board, because the next shop is four days away.
- 3You do a safety drill, properly, again, and you know your muster station better than your cabin number.
- 4You deal with a guest complaint that in a hotel would end with them leaving, and here they are with you for another nine nights.
Hardest part
You cannot escalate and you cannot resupply. Ashore you ring somebody; at sea you are the person who was going to be rung, and the answer has to come out of what is already on the ship.
Best part
The crew. You live with them, and a ship's team is closer than any hotel team ashore ever gets.
How you actually become a cruise hotel officer
- At schoolHotel or cruise work ashore first — most officers did a season in a restaurant or on reception.
- TrainingCompany training plus mandatory STCW basic safety — firefighting, sea survival, first aid.
- How longA contract or two to learn the ship, several years to hold a senior hotel rank.
- Your first jobGuest services or receptionist on board, on a fixed-length contract.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a purser?
- The traditional name for the officer who handles a ship's money, paperwork and guest accounts. Modern cruise lines usually call the role a hotel officer or guest services officer, but the job is the same lineage.
- Is working on a ship like working in a hotel?
- The work is similar; the conditions are not. You live on board, you work most days of a contract that can run months, you cannot go home at the end of a shift, and there is no way to bring anything in that the ship does not already have.
- Why are the safety drills taken so seriously?
- Because international law requires them and because a ship's crew are the entire emergency service. Every crew member, including hotel staff, has an emergency role and is trained in firefighting and sea survival before they sail.
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