Looking to move from SC to FL to work corporate for one of the major cruise lines. Any advice? (Miami: rentals, insurance)

[CCUGal]

I am hoping someone can shed some light on working corporate for one of the main cruise corporations in Florida. I currently live in South Carolina, but it has been a dream of mine for several years to be in the cruise industry (land-based).

I will be honest and say I am not particularly fond of living in Florida (mostly because of the cost of living), but the other states that have cruise headquarters don’t appeal to me either. However, I am completely obsessed with the cruise industry and nothing is holding me back from moving there at the moment.

Can anyone shed some insight on living in the Ft Lauderdale/Miramar/Miami area? Does anyone know someone who works in the cruise industry (I am looking at Princess, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean) and has an opinion about it? I am hoping to start out in customer service/sales and work my way up from there.

Any help would be appreciated! And admins, if this post needs moved to another forum, please do so.

[Belmont_Boy]

Originally Posted by CCUGal

I am hoping someone can shed some light on working corporate for one of the main cruise corporations in Florida. I currently live in South Carolina, but it has been a dream of mine for several years to be in the cruise industry (land-based).

I will be honest and say I am not particularly fond of living in Florida (mostly because of the cost of living), but the other states that have cruise headquarters don’t appeal to me either. However, I am completely obsessed with the cruise industry and nothing is holding me back from moving there at the moment.

Can anyone shed some insight on living in the Ft Lauderdale/Miramar/Miami area? Does anyone know someone who works in the cruise industry (I am looking at Princess, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean) and has an opinion about it? I am hoping to start out in customer service/sales and work my way up from there.

Any help would be appreciated! And admins, if this post needs moved to another forum, please do so.

If you launch your career in the cruise industry on the service side (e.g., customer support, inside sales, guest relations, etc.), it's going to be a few years before you move up the corporate ladder to operations, but even that's no guarantee.

What is your level of education? I would think that if you have at least a bachelor's degree, you should investigate opportunities at the corporate level (e.g., marketing, finance, administration, etc.) vs. the service level. Those opportunities will most likely be more lucrative and provide for more and better opportunity for advancement.

If you are finishing a bachelor's or master's degree program in hospitality management or another business discipline, you might want to look into whether or not those cruise line companies offer rotational development or fellowship programs, whereby you have the opportunity to work for 1-2 yrs in various corporate divisions of business to determine which area the best fit for you as a future employee and organizational leader.

However, if you don't have an advanced degree, you will start off on the service side of the business and likely won't ascend the corporate ladder quickly, if at all. That, plus you'll probably be making around $10-12/hr, if you're lucky.

Consistent with most employment in the hospitality and tourism sector, cruise line companies generally pay low wages and offer poor healthcare and other benefits.

Be forewarned that, although salaries/wages in South Florida are largely on par with South Carolina, the COL in South Florida is much, much higher, especially with regard to housing and insurance costs. FWIW, I lived in South Florida and have a girlfriend who lives in Charleston, so I do have somewhat of a context for comparison.

Also, are you fluent in any other languages aside from English, in particular Spanish? Working for a multi-national corporation that conducts business in many different countries and is headquartered in a region of the country that's home to many people who are bilingual (English/Spanish), I would assume that you would be much more marketable if you were proficient to fluent in another language, most likely Spanish.

Would you consider other employment in the hospitality sector? If you don't have an advanced degree and aren't fluent in Spanish, you might be better off going to work for Walt Disney World or a resort company in the Orlando area. Plus, for someone making $10-15/hr, Orlando is a lot more affordable than Miami or Ft. Lauderdale.

Speaking to Disney specifically, as a company, they like to hire recent college grads, so it might be easier for you to secure employment with Disney, work for them for a few years to gain some experience in the hospitality industry and then apply for a management position with a cruise line. Food for thought.

[wizrap]

Piggy-backing on the Disney idea, the Disney cruise lines have a base in Port Canaveral, which is north of South Florida, on the Space Coast. That area generally has a lower cost of living than South Florida.

Out of Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Miramar, housing might be cheaper in Miramar, but gee, that city is on the southwest side of the county, far from the ports. At least with Miami and Fort Lauderdale, you can find something nice close to work, but I wouldn't be surprised if rents are at least $2k a month.

Good luck to you. A lot can be said for following your dreams and life is too short not to.

[rusty78]

You can apply for a position with any of the cruise lines - on line - Since you have nothing holding you back, if one of them offers you a job, you can pack up and move.

[Cynthetik]

Stay where you are. There's nothing for you in broward county.

[blueherons]

Originally Posted by CCUGal

I am hoping someone can shed some light on working corporate for one of the main cruise corporations in Florida. I currently live in South Carolina, but it has been a dream of mine for several years to be in the cruise industry (land-based).

I will be honest and say I am not particularly fond of living in Florida (mostly because of the cost of living), but the other states that have cruise headquarters don’t appeal to me either. However, I am completely obsessed with the cruise industry and nothing is holding me back from moving there at the moment.

Can anyone shed some insight on living in the Ft Lauderdale/Miramar/Miami area? Does anyone know someone who works in the cruise industry (I am looking at Princess, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean) and has an opinion about it? I am hoping to start out in customer service/sales and work my way up from there.

Any help would be appreciated! And admins, if this post needs moved to another forum, please do so.

Those jobs are impossible to get.

Do you have an in with any of the cruise lines?

Unless you know someone or are related to someone working within the cruise lines, you'll have a hard time getting hired.

Are you multi lingual? You have to have at least a second language.

Also, unless you have a Fort Lauderdale address, you will not get an interview.

I would start with the Maritime Professional Training Center. See if you can get somewhere from there.

FWIW, one of my friends worked on a cruise ship with Carnival for eight years and still couldn't get a job stateside. She eventually left the business.

https://www.mptusa.com/

[vigo]

Originally Posted by blueherons

Those jobs are impossible to get.

Do you have an in with any of the cruise lines?

Unless you know someone or are related to someone working within the cruise lines, you'll have a hard time getting hired.

Are you multi lingual? You have to have at least a second language.

Also, unless you have a Fort Lauderdale address, you will not get an interview.

I would start with the Maritime Professional Training Center. See if you can get somewhere from there.

FWIW, one of my friends worked on a cruise ship with Carnival for eight years and still couldn't get a job stateside. She eventually left the business.

https://www.mptusa.com/

That's 100% wrong, blueherons. It sounds like you think the OP is looking for a shipboard job but her post doesn't indicate that. She specifically mentioned "working corporate".

Here's a link to Royal Caribbean's shoreside job openings. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
You'll see several of them in the sales/customer service area. You don't need to speak another language, you don't need to know someone to get hired, you don't need to have a Ft. Lauderdale address to get an interview. You certainly don't need to go to a "maritime professional training center".

You can search for jobs at Carnival here - Cruise Ship Jobs | Career and Jobs Openings | Carnival Cruise Line

and Princess here - Land-Based Employment : Careers - Princess Cruises

Good luck!

[CCUGal]

Thank you to those with positive advice And for those that had nothing beneficial to say....no comment.

I do have a Bachelors in Business Management with experience in hospitality, logistics, customer service, administration, and sales. Again, I'm not looking for a onboard job. I also do not speak another language, but most positions do not require that.

Would it be best to try and stay out of Miami altogether? I see several job postings in Miramar. I know someone mentioned applying for Disney, but that cruiseline doesn't appeal to me as much. For a 20-something, single female, where would some safe areas be IF I were to get a job in the Miramar/Ft Lauderdale area? What is rent like? Someone compared it to Charleston (I used to live there) but where I'm living now, you can get a 2BR for $700/month. I know that will not be the case for Florida. And is that area really that unsafe? Or is it all rumors?

[wizrap]

The nicest section of Miramar is west of I75. It has the newer developments and is close to the nicest shopping.

You also might look at rentals in the Bonaventure section of Weston. I own a home in Weston and it is a nice, safe, well-manicured city and wouldn't be a far drive from Miramar. For a 1/1 you are probably looking at maybe $1500 a month in Bonaventure or Weston.

The east side of Fort Lauderdale is probably higher. It also would be farther to drive to work in Miramar, and although you'd be going against traffic most of the way, once you hit I75, especially with the construction, you'll be in traffic.

[Papillons2]

Originally Posted by wizrap

Good luck to you. A lot can be said for following your dreams and life is too short not to.

Great advice. Although I am not an expert on the cruise industry by any means, I have a hard time believing it's impossible to land a job on the corporate side if you don't live in South Florida or have connections (although those factors certainly can't hurt).

Carnival and Royal Caribbean are huge companies, and most operations their size are always on the lookout for top-notch talent on the corporate side.

In short: You'll never know whether you can land the job you really want unless you try. During a 34-year career, I've applied for (and landed) several positions that seemed out of reach. The only sure way you WON'T get that job of your dreams is to NOT pursue it.

As to the assertion that there's nothing for you in Broward County, I am sure you are intelligent enough to determine that on your own.