Placement Year

During my time at university we got the option to go on a placement year, the university helped out a lot during this process, for example giving advice for interviews, what to wear and bring, they also helped out with contacts and companies to apply for.
Orignally I applied for Carnival UK, there was 5 of us that was going for the 2 jobs that they were offering which was a cadet programme, unfortunately I didn’t get this one which then led me on to applying for Royal Carribean

The application process was a long process, firstly I had to apply online and undertake basic questions to get to know me and then I had to do a maths test, if I then passed that section I then had two interview which had to be done over skype because the head office for Royal Carribean is in Miami. Thankfully I passed the interview stage and I got the job as a Junior Guest Relations Officer, this job is more behind scenes and deals with people on the phone. The next process of this was then getting a medical and a visa, for the medical I had to go to Southampton because I was provided with different doctors that were verified by Celebrity Cruises, the nearest one being Southampton.

The visa was the longest process for the placement, luckily there was 2 other people on my course who had applied for the same company as me and was going though the same process. We all had to go up to London to the American Embassy to apply for a working visa, indivually. One this was completed things were becoming more surreal and before I knew it I had information about my first contract. The ship that I joined for my first contract was on Celebrity Reflection, I had to fly out to Rome on my own to join the ship, this is the most nerve racking part for me because I’d never flown to another country by myself.

My first contract was supposed to be for six months however, I only stayed for 21 days because I had decided that the job just wasn’t for me, working on a cruise ship itsn’t for everyone, but it was a great learning curve before at least I tried it before quiting without giving it a try and I was proud of myself for admitting that something that wasn’t for me rather then going ahead with a job I didn’t enjoy. Despite only being onboard for 21 days I did get the opportunity to see some great places as you can see in the photos below.

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