people boarding a cruise ship

Cruise Ship Jobs Abroad: 15 Open Positions, 8 Employers

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Fifteen cruise ship vacancies were open when we checked them on 7 November 2026, from Japanese-speaking waiters to a first mate on the Norwegian coast and a sponsored engine cadetship. For the hiring partners, training rules and pay data behind these ads, see our guide to cruise ship jobs. The ads come from eight employers and recruiters across ocean, river and coastal ships, and every ad was opened on its original page.

Last checked: 7 November 2026. Listings expire; if an ad has closed, try the cruise line’s careers page or the hiring partner for your country.

Hotel and guest services: seven roles

Most of these ads are posted on All Cruise Jobs by the cruise line itself, and the line then routes applicants to its hiring partner for their country. The same job can appear several times, once per partner, so apply through the version for your country of residence. Pay is rarely stated, and none of these employers should charge a recruitment fee.

Guest Services Officer (Japanese speaking), Princess Cruises, via Magsaysay, Philippines

Published 5 November 2026; closing date and salary not stated. This version routes applicants to Magsaysay, Princess’s hiring partner in the Philippines, and an otherwise identical ad sends South American applicants to Selection Partners. It asks for at least a year at the front desk of a four- or five-star hotel, resort or ship, plus good spoken and written English and Japanese. Apply through the Princess listing for Philippine applicants.

Waiter (Japanese speaking), Princess Cruises, fleetwide

Published 30 October 2026 as a fixed-term contract; closing date and salary not stated. It asks for two to five years in a cruise ship restaurant, or five years in fine dining at premium restaurants or five-star hotels, with wine service and point-of-sale skills. Japanese is required alongside English, and the ad lists a private double cabin and paid travel to the ship. See the Princess waiter ad.

Japanese-Speaking Waiter, Viking, ocean ships

Published 19 October 2026; closing date and salary not stated, though the ad refers to Viking’s gratuity guidelines. The waiter runs a service station and supervises two to four assistant waiters or café attendants. It asks for two years as a waiter in premium hospitality, shipboard experience in the position, fluent Japanese and English, and a minimum age of 21; visible tattoos are not permitted. Read the Viking Japan waiter ad.

River Stateroom Steward, Viking, Europe

Published 14 October 2026; closing date and salary not stated. The role covers stateroom and public-area housekeeping on Viking’s European river ships, and the ad mentions free lodging and meals, paid vacation and a “potential tax-free salary, depending on nationality.” It asks for a high school diploma, two years in a similar housekeeping job and good English. See the Viking river steward ad.

Stateroom Steward or Housekeeper, river cruise ships, Talent Odyssey, Europe

Updated 26 October 2026; closing date not stated. This is the only hotel ad in the list that states pay: €2,100 to €2,900 gross a month, which the recruiter puts at roughly €1,600 to €2,230 net. The cruise company is not named, and contracts are signed directly with it. Applicants need stateroom, hotel or cleaning experience and English, French or German. See the Talent Odyssey river cruise ad.

Guest Service Supervisor, Aroya Cruises, via Columbia Group, Saudi Arabia

Posting and closing dates not stated; the page was updated 7 November 2026 and asks for embarkation as soon as possible. The rotation is four months on and two months off, and the role reports to the guest service manager. It asks for front office leadership experience, preferably on a luxury ship or in a luxury hotel, and essential English, with Arabic a plus. Apply through Columbia’s Aroya vacancy page.

Assistant Purser, OSM Thome, Mediterranean cruise ship

Application deadline 20 November 2026; posting date and salary not stated. The cruise line is not named, and the ad is handled by OSM Thome’s recruitment office in the Philippines. It prefers cruise or hotel administration experience and asks for basic knowledge of shipboard paperwork and accounting, plus good written and spoken English. OSM Thome says it has no official WhatsApp account and never asks for payment. Apply on the OSM Thome job page.

Galley: three roles

Galley ads ask for documented experience in hotels or on ships with international food safety standards, and several require STCW safety training before joining rather than at application.

Line Cook, Celebrity Cruises (Royal Caribbean Group)

Updated 6 November 2026; closing date and salary not stated. It requires a culinary school degree and at least four years in an upscale hotel, resort, cruise ship or banquet operation, including two years as a line cook. Shipboard experience is preferred, and internal candidates need one completed contract as commis cook with a satisfactory rating. See the Celebrity line cook ad.

Commis I Hot Pot, MSC Cruises

Published 6 November 2026; closing date and salary not stated. It asks for at least two completed contracts in a similar role on a cruise ship or at a major hotel, or a record as a second cook in another section. Before joining, candidates need STCW 2010 certification, a health declaration from a recognized doctor, a criminal record check and a passport valid for at least six months. See the MSC hot pot commis ad.

Sous Chef, Viking China Outbound

Dated 5 November 2026 on the ad page; closing date and salary not stated. The role supports the executive chef on ships following Viking’s China Outbound standards and asks for a culinary qualification, three years in four- or five-star operations and Asian kitchen experience in a luxury hotel or restaurant. Excellent Mandarin and good English are required. Read the Viking China sous chef ad.

Deck, engine, technical and medical: five roles

Officer and nursing posts require national certificates or licenses on top of STCW training, so they are open only to qualified professionals. The two Hurtigruten roles are permanent posts with Norwegian pay agreements, unlike the fixed-term contracts elsewhere in this list.

First Mate (Navigation Officer), Hurtigruten, Tromsø, Norway

Applications close 18 November 2026; listing last changed 3 November. Hurtigruten wants two officers for year-round coastal voyages on a 22/22 or 28/28-day rotation, with pay set by the collective agreement and pension savings from 5 percent. Requirements include a class 3 deck officer certificate or higher, STCW crisis and passenger handling, a GOC radio certificate, ECDIS experience and a Scandinavian language. See the first mate ad on arbeidsplassen.no.

Second Engineer, Hurtigruten, Norway

Applications close 19 November 2026; listing last changed 3 November. The engineer stands night watches on a 22/22 or 28/28-day rotation and may be assigned to a ship or a resource pool, with pay set by the collective agreement. It requires a class 4 engine officer certificate or higher, with STCW crisis and passenger handling and advanced fire fighting before starting; Norwegian is the working language. Read the second engineer ad, in Norwegian.

Fitter Refrigeration, Princess Cruises

Published 31 October 2026 as a fixed-term contract; closing date and salary not stated. It asks for 24 months as a refrigeration technician, HVAC fitter or refrigeration mechanic, with hands-on work on cold rooms, freezers and ice machines and safe refrigerant recovery and charging. Experience on ships, in shipyards or in large hotels is desirable, not required. See the Princess refrigeration fitter ad.

Engine Cadet, MSC Cruises, United Kingdom

Published 5 October 2026 for a January or February 2027 intake; closing date not stated. The three-year sponsored cadetship splits training between an accredited UK nautical college and sea time on MSC ships, with tuition covered and a bursary of unstated size. Applicants need a British or Irish passport or at least a year of UK residency with the right to work, four GCSEs at grades 9 to 6 including maths, science and English, and an ENG1 medical. Read the MSC engine cadet ad.

Nurse, Royal Caribbean Group

Updated 16 October 2026; closing date not stated, and salary listed as negotiable. It requires a current registered nurse license, at least three years of post-graduate clinical experience with recent work in an ER, ICU, CCU or trauma unit, and current ACLS, PALS and BLS certifications. A year of practical experience in each of ACLS and BLS is also required. See the Royal Caribbean nurse ad.

Before you apply

Fake cruise offers often name a real cruise line, arrive unsolicited and ask for money for a visa, a work permit or a lawyer before any interview. Under the Maritime Labour Convention, seafarers may be charged only for their national medical certificate, seafarer’s book and passport, and visa costs fall on the shipowner. Check that an agency appears on the cruise line’s own list of hiring partners, and in the Philippines or India that it holds a current DMW or RPSL license.

The nearest deadlines are Hurtigruten’s first mate posts on 18 November 2026, its second engineer post on 19 November and OSM Thome’s assistant purser on 20 November. MSC’s engine cadets start their training in January or February 2027.

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