cruise medical staff

Cruise Ship Medical Jobs

Healthcare cruise ship careers: nurse, doctor and paramedic jobs.

All medical personnel working for a cruise line meet or exceed the recruitment standards established by the cruise lines and have proven proficiency in emergency medicine . Healthcare jobs on cruise ships include a wide range of tasks and responsibilities . The medical team onboard manages acute medical emergencies, trauma patients, and a diverse general practice case load for a population of up to 6000 passengers and crew from over 100 nationalities.

MEDICAL NURSE

Pro Sea Staff agency is recruiting medical nurses for the following cruise ship companies: Princess Cruises, Holland America, P&O Australia, Seabourn, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity and Pullmantur. Cruise ship nurses work as a part of the onboard medical team to provide first class healthcare services to the passengers and the crew.

Contracts are 4 months on board and 2 months off Flights to and from ships are paid by the cruise lines Single cabin accommodation Meals and healthcare insurance provided by the company

MEDICAL DOCTOR

Pro Sea Staff recruitment agency works with Princess Cruises, Holland America, P&O Australia, Seabourn, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity and Pullmantur to employ medical doctors for their respective fleet of vessels. As a part of the onboard medical team cruise ship medical doctors provide first class healthcare services to the passengers and the crew.

Working for a cruise line as a Doctor, Nurse or Paramedic onboard a passenger cruise ship

Cruise ship medical wards on board.

The medical team onboard a cruise ship works in the   ship’s medical enter  with  facilities similar to most small hospitals on land.  These facilities include Intensive Care Units, High Dependency Units and general wards, several treatment and examination rooms, a well-stocked pharmacy, a comprehensive clinical laboratory and digital radiology.

Although medical evacuation of patients to land-based hospital facilities is sometimes necessary, the onboard medical centers are designed to enable assessment, investigation, and care for relatively long periods. Cruise line medical teams are able to provide treatment and diagnostic services comparable to most small hospitals and can admit acutely unwell cases if needed.

Types of clinical cases and emergencies

Clinical cases include non-urgent general practice pathologies, adult and pediatric emergency medicine cases such as acute coronary syndromes, cardiac and respiratory failure, infective processes, anaphylaxis, trauma, orthopedic injuries and acute surgical conditions as well as occupational health issues and public health issues. Critically ill patients may require onboard medical treatment for several days in the medical center ICU’s which are equipped with telemetry, cardiac pacing, CPAP, electronic infusion devices, and mechanical ventilators.

Cruise ship careers and job benefits

Along with a  challenging career  and worldwide  travel opportunities , cruise ship medical jobs offer many other benefits. Medical professionals onboard passenger ships are afforded  officer status , which ensures comfortable, individual accommodations (at no cost), and access to most passenger facilities.  Competitive remuneration packages  are augmented by a commitment to  continuing medical education . Travel to and from the ships to the nearest international airport is paid in addition to a uniform set. Once medical staff members are eligible, their spouse or partner and relatives may travel with them at certain times.

Cruise ship jobs salary for medical staff

The salary offered to medical personnel working onboard a cruise ship varies between cruise lines. In addition to the monthly salary paid by the cruise lines, all other expenses such as flights to and from the ship, single Officer status accommodations, uniforms are provided by the cruise lines at no cost.

Cruise ship doctor salary

Most cruise ship Doctors working on passenger cruise ships can expect a  salary between $8000 and $12000 monthly . Cruise ship physician’s salary may vary in the beginning of their career, in function of different parameters: factors such as previous ship experience, years of practice and certifications may be taken into consideration when determining the starting salary.

Cruise ship nurse salary

Most cruise ship nurses working on passenger cruise ships can expect a  salary between $4850 and $5000 monthly . Cruise ship RN (registered nurses) pay can vary slightly: factors such as previous ship experience, years of practice and certifications may be taken into consideration when determining the starting salary.

Cruise line medical job profiles

• Our Medical Team

Our ships provide a full spectrum of high quality, evidence-based medical care to guests and crew.

“I can now say that I have been to every continent and visited over 100 unique destinations, including Antarctica.”

“A challenging clinical setting and an extraordinary lifestyle make working onboard an adventure that not everyone gets to experience.”

“My realization about the joy of life-at-sea largely surpassed what I had imagined when my friends described their experiences working onboard.”

WHAT KIND OF MEDICAL CARE IS PROVIDED ONBOARD?

WHERE IN THE WORLD WILL I BE ASSIGNED?

HOW CAN I APPLY FOR A MEDICAL POSITION?

WHY CHOOSE US?

Embark your medical career on a new international voyage of discovery. Join our skilled Medical team working on any of our 90 ships across our nine brands: Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, Cunard, AIDA Cruises, Costa, P&O Cruises (UK) and P&O Australia. Our staff is passionate about providing quality healthcare to our guests and crew while they sail the world creating lasting memories.

90 SHIPS ACROSS 9 CRUISE LINES AND +8 NEW SHIPS COMING BY 2025

SAILING IN NORTH AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, EUROPE AND MORE

COMING SOON

“I knew I wanted to do something different, but I never expected just how much opportunity I could find working with Carnival. It’s more than an adventure – it’s the best career move I’ve ever made.”

"All of my past nursing experiences including working in intensive care and emergency settings were the foundation for success in this job. I love the variety of patient care opportunities that it affords, meanwhile traveling the world and interacting with fellow crew members from many countries"

“I never realized how broad my skillset was until I experienced working onboard cruise ships. Here I can go from a general practice consultation for someone with an UTI to intubating and sedating a patient, or administering thrombolysis to a patient, in just a single workday.”

“When I was working in the back of the ambulance, I gained the confidence and proficiency to care for my patients. Since working onboard, I developed my team dynamics skills, working along with the nurses and the physicians. They appreciate my skillset and I do value the multidisciplinary environment as a new way of improving my knowledge and skills.”

“Working onboard as a nurse is demanding at times. But the rewards of living on a cruise ship like this with a team like mine has been worth every moment.”

NEED A DOSE OF ADVENTURE? CLICK THROUGH THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Review our process and FAQs below to know what to expect at every step.

• Use our online application tool and set the pace of your application
• Review and acknowledge position requirements
• Complete your personal profile, educational background and work experience
• A Cover Letter and Resume
• Certified copies of your professional qualifications and certificates
• Proof of professional registration and license
• Details of specific clinical skills
• Professional and personal disclosures

• Allow us to share more detail through pre-recorded virtual introductions to our shore-side and shipboard teams
• Participate in an online screening interview, in your own time
• Listening, comprehension, English language skills for the position will be assessed
• Applicants that pass the screening interview, are invited to a Clinical assessment
• Successful applicants will receive a provisional offer, subject to review and validation of references, licenses etc.

Your current and recent employers (in supervising capacities) will be contacted for references.

Accepting an offer of employment, and all terms of and conditions, will allow us to start the onboarding process. As these next steps typically take place locally in your country of residence, your application may be handled by one of our local offices.

Our local administration offices will contact you with guidance on the next steps. These include, but are not limited to:

• Credentialing (review of your professional license to practice, educational background, certifications, employment history etc.)
• Pass a Regulatory Seafarer Medical Fitness examination
• Verifying specific Health Screening requirements for medical staff
• Obtain the necessary travel documents and visas (including C1D Visas for non-USA or Canadian applicants)
• Criminal background checks or Police Clearance
• Your start date availability
• Additional requirements may be imposed by certain countries, Flag states or regulatory bodies, dependent on your nationality and country of residence

• The onboarding process may take several months and once completed and you sign a legal contract, you will be ready to join your first ship
• Provisional assignment details may be shared during times of critical need to help you plan and prepare
• Always wait for instructions before engaging in any professional or personal arrangements in anticipation of joining a ship
• Depending on our operational staffing needs, you may need to wait several weeks or months for an assignment to be available

Cruise Ship Doctors Will Have a Tougher Job Than Ever Once Sailings Resume

By Cassie Shortsleeve

Cruise lines have always staffed medical crews who are held to high standards: American College of Emergency Physician guidelines require onboard staff to be on-call 24/7; physicians must have a minimum of three years of post-graduate experience in general and emergency medicine, or be board-certified in emergency, family, or internal medicine; all staff must be certified in advanced life support.

But today, amid the COVID-19 pandemic , the job of being a doctor or nurse at sea calls for more.

“The difference between then and now is not necessarily in the foundational level of medical training, expertise, credentials, or capabilities that our providers have, but rather in an increased focus around recognizing and initiating treatment for potential SARS CoV-2 infections,” says Calvin Johnson, M.D., chief medical officer for Royal Caribbean Group .

A full return to cruising has yet to happen . But there are already big changes in the ways that doctors and nurses on cruise ships do their jobs. There are also big changes in the ways you’ll seek out care if you need it when you're back onboard. Here, a glimpse of what to expect:

Medical staff will be more involved in pre-screening protocols

Pre-COVID, medical teams often collected health information via a verbal or written questionnaire from passengers and crew, mainly in an effort to identify possible sick passengers (those with gastrointestinal complaints or those with chronic illnesses who may need more assistance on-board). Now, that pre-screening process is more rigorous, including temperature checks , assessments about potential COVID-19 symptoms, and a negative test in the days before boarding. “Sometimes, this requires further participation of the physicians in terms of determining whether somebody should enter the vessel fully free to engage in all activities, if they should go into a quarantine period, or if in fact, boarding should be denied,” explains Edward Dees, M.D., fleet doctor for VIKAND . On the medical staff's part, this'll take more effort up front, but it's an important addition to the job. “The more effort we can put forward to be as effective as we can at preventing the virus from ever getting on the ship, the better,” says Dr. Johnson.

Call-aheads, appointments, and in-your-cabin care will replace drop-in visits

If your allergies kicked up or if you felt a bit flu-ish, it used to be that you’d simply drop into a ship’s medical facility. Today? In general, you’d give the medical facility a call first. (Of course, if there’s an emergency or an accident, ships have teams in place to respond ASAP.) For minor issues or standard care, lines like Royal Caribbean are also instituting new formal appointment processes where you can book a time to be seen via phone or app. It’s an effort to mitigate risk, sure, but one that’ll also (hopefully) help people enjoy their vacations more, Dr. Johnson says. (Read: You don't have to take time away from your trip to sit in a waiting room.)

If you ever noticed symptoms that were in-line with COVID-19 on-board? “The recommendation is going to be that people contact us remotely from their cabins,” says Dr. Dees. From there, a physician or nurse can conduct a telemedicine session and—if you needed it—even provide care in your cabin. “We have to think that if somebody has respiratory complaints, then it could be COVID—and there are precautions that have to be taken,” Dees says. 

In short: In a pre-pandemic world, medical professionals tended to focus on you (the one sick person). In the present environment, they'll take into account who you’ve been exposed to—or who you could be exposed to. And that’s a bit more complex.

On-ship medical centers have a new face

One of the biggest changes to the physical space of a ship’s medical facility is that there's no more common waiting room. Instead, you'll likely find two separate spaces: a control care area (for those with potentially infectious diseases) and another area for non-infectious patients. “It's all designed to limit contact between people who may be infectious or non-infectious,” explains Dr. Johnson. Some vessels have redesigned their medical centers to ensure specific isolation rooms, too, he says. Others have turned guest rooms into isolation rooms, stripping out the carpet in lieu of more easily cleanable flooring and negative pressure ventilation (so that air won’t leave the room and potentially spread to other areas).

There’s a potential need for more equipment

A cruise line’s medical department is like a small community hospital emergency department, and ships have always generally had essentials such as heart monitors, defibrillators, ventilators, X-ray machines, lab equipment, and minor surgical and orthopedic supplies. Typically, ships stock what’s known as “par” levels of equipment, Dr. Johnson says. The pandemic has forced medical staff to re-evaluate what equipment there might be an extra need for, such as personal protective equipment (PPE).

There’s likely more medical staff on-board

The size of a ship’s medical staff depends on the size of the ship itself, but it’s standard to have at least one physician and a nurse or two onboard, says Dr. Dees. On larger ships, you might have multiple medical centers on board, both of which are staffed by a doctor and a nurse or nurses. Since the pandemic, Dr. Dees says that extra nurses have been added to staff lists. “A cruise ship is not a hospital ship and we're not trying to turn it into a hospital ship,” says Johnson. “But we certainly are making sure that we have the on-board capabilities to take care of patients.”

The job is harder now

Being an essential worker during the coronavirus pandemic has brought with it all kinds of stressors, not the least of which is this: “The COVID environment heightens the threat to our own personal selves,” says Dr. Dees. It’s an added layer of stress for medical staff that comes with new job requirements such as the ability to manage a potential COVID-19 outbreak, an increased involvement with ship management and personnel, and working in an ever-changing environment. As scientific knowledge grows and experts continue to piece together what works (and what doesn’t) in the fight against COVID-19, ship policies and procedures change rapidly, too. “Sometimes that can bring with it a sense of being overwhelmed, but we're keeping up with it,” Dees says. “I just think, across the industry, working in a post-COVID world is not going to be as leisurely.”

We're reporting on how COVID-19 impacts travel on a daily basis. Find all of our coronavirus coverage and travel resources here.

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