luke101:
Alright...working on a cruise ship. I am a dive instructor with Norwegian Cruise Lines, currently on the Norwegian Dream. I have been employed with NCL for a little over a year now. The job is part of the Shore Excursion Department. We book all types of Shore Excursions. There are two types of employee in the dept. There is the Shore Excursion Staff and then there are the same staff but also certified as dive instructors. They both do the same job as far as excursions go. The dive instructors are also responsible for doing snorkeling demonstrations in the deck pool, maintaining the snorkeling equipment onboard, escorting and guiding snorkel trips in the ports of call, and sometimes....sometimes excorting dive trips as quality control. In the 14 months I have been with NCL, I have been diving 10 times. That's pretty sad for an instructor but the benefits are great. I have one of the best jobs in the world I can honestly say. I get paid to sell these excursions which means I have to go on the excursions to test them out and familiarize myself with them. Obviously that means, all excursions are free for me and maybe a "close friend". I have been on helicopter tours in Hawaii, dive trips in Hawaii, Bermuda, Western Caribbean and other places. I get to go to some of the most beautiful places not only when I work but when I have free time as well. I make connections with some of the best tour operators that are more than happy to take us out and treat us to a day of alcohol and food on a beautiful beach (tomorrow in Cozumel). I meet the most interesting people and have some great experiences. I may not get to dive much but it's very hard to beat the lifestyle onboard. It's very different than a lifestyle anywhere else. I get tired of being away from all of my loved ones for so long but I meet great friends onboard as well. As far as pay...NCL starts dive instructors at around $2000/month usually. That's where I started with only one job in the field before that. That's pretty good for an instructor considering all of your room and board is included...plus the benefits mentioned above. All in all, it's a great job with experience you can't buy anywhere. I would recommend it to anyone who has a few months to get away from everything. Typically our contracts are about 3.5-4 months. I just happened to get a 5 month contract this time that ends in 2 weeks and 5 days. (Jumping for joy). Anyway, that's an idea of what I do here. I enjoy what I do. I hope this helps. Good luck!
Colin Lemon
