Working for a cruise line seems romantic to a lot of people and aspects of it are. Leaving home for a life of adventure seems like a risk worth taking, but there’s a reason you don’t see Americans filling many positions on cruise ships.
The hours are long, and the pay is quite low by American standards. Some jobs come with very little time off, so while you may be traveling the world, you won’t actually get to see that much of it.
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Not all cruise ship jobs are created equal, and some positions come with more privileges and better time off. Popular YouTube Vlogger Chris Wong works for Royal Caribbean as an assistant casino host.
That’s a challenging job as on sea days, the casino may never close (or close after 3 a.m.). It is, however, a job that comes with one major advantage, as there are times when the casino cannot be open.
When ships are in most ports, the casino must remain closed. If the ship has a long call in a port, that’s time the casino staff can actually have time to see the world.
It’s not that simple, of course, crew members also have drills and trainings, but casino personnel do get to visit ports and see the world as part of their cruise ship adventure.
Wong’s latest video shared that Royal Caribbean is looking for more casino staff and offered tips on applying.
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Royal Caribbean is hiring
Transcript
What’s up you guys, welcome back to Chris Wong Vlogs and if this is the first ever video that you’re watching of mine, hi my name is Chris, welcome to my YouTube channel. I make videos about my life working on board a cruise ship as an active crew member. Now, in today’s video, I want to share with you this.
The Royal Caribbean Careers Facebook page posted a job opening for an assistant casino host. This is my job that I currently have now on board our Royal Caribbean ships. For those of you who have been watching me for a long time, this is your chance to now live a life like me.
“Play with us, we are looking for an assistant casino host. You should upsell and host casino tournaments, promotions, and events, serve as an ambassador of the casino loyalty rewards program, and build and maintain relationships with high-value players to enhance the overall casino experience. You must have a minimum of two years experience in sales or front-line guest service, strong communication and negotiation skills, and proficiency in MS Office products.”
Now after reading that description of the job, I found it to be a little vague. Even if you click on the link or scan the QR code that Royal has provided, the information about the job I feel like is still a little unclear as to exactly what it is that I actually do on board. And I know there is a lot of my audience who are aspiring seafarers or just people who think they’re in the process of thinking about maybe starting a career at sea.
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What does a Royal Caribbean assistant casino host do?
Let me explain to you in my own words what my job and what I do on a daily basis. As an assistant casino host, my role on board is centered around the casino loyalty program. Now the casino loyalty program Club Royale is completely separate from Crown & Anchor which is the cruise line’s loyalty program.
Club Royale is designed solely just for our casino players and it’s a loyalty program which is based on your gaming activity. It’s a points-based system based on your level of play. So the more you play, the more points you get, the more points you get, the more rewards you can get.
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Our job as part of the casino host team is to reward our players based on their level of play. Now you can actually go to the Royal Caribbean website and look up the casino section which actually explains to you our program in full detail. All the information is there in terms of the tier statuses and exactly what rewards you get from each level as you progress within the program.
But not only do casino host reward players, it is a big essential part of our job to provide a level of service that will make our players continue and want to keep cruising with the brand and continue to play, more importantly, in the casino. And of course, the job does require a lot of computer and admin work as well, and I hope this or my brief description of the job now gives you a bit more of an idea as to what it is that I do on board. Because yeah, like I said, the information on the careers website I found it to be a little vague and doesn’t really give you too much information.
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Consider all aspects of cruise ship working life
Now, over the five years I’ve been making YouTube videos, I think I have talked about the job enough for you guys to, you know, sort of understand what it is that I do onboard. A lot of you have had the privilege to meet me in person so you kind of know what I do on board on a day-to-day basis. But yes this is a very exciting opportunity for some of you out there who might want to live a life like me.
But please note before you apply make sure you do read the information on the careers website, make sure you qualify for the entry requirements to apply for the position, make sure you have the necessary work experience and background and make sure that you actually want this life. I think maybe through my YouTube channel, I’ve sort of glamorized the job a little bit or made it look a bit more exciting. But at the end of the day it is a job and you do have to work hard like you put in the hours.
This is a this is a job for for grown-ups okay. Maybe in my videos I’m coming across as oh look at me I’m living the best life kind of thing. Seriously in fact I will tell you my very first contract I worked so hard that I was losing weight like because I was working that much.
I was not eating properly, my diet was terrible, I wasn’t even going to the gym. I was there just working, excuse me when I say this, working my ass off learning everything that everything that I need to know for the role. And now I’m in a position where obviously I’m very experienced, and I’m in a position where I can document my life, and of course I glamorize, and I’m creating entertainment through my videos.
But yes this is a job that requires a lot of man hours, hard work, dedication, a lot of knowledge will be learned and consumed over the course of your career for as long as however you decide to do this position for. So just please be prepared to work hard if you do decide to take this role.
I don’t want to, what should I say, I don’t want to give the false idea because some of you may look at you know my life that I’ve perceived on YouTube and think oh yeah, I want to live just like Chris Wong and then as soon as you come on board you think oh my god like this is nothing that you know Chris said or showed in his videos this is completely different.
Of course, I’m only showing the highlights of my day or the best parts of my day, and sometimes I do talk about negative and bad things too, to a certain extent. There’s obviously a lot of confidential things that I will never be able to talk about and I will never be allowed to showcase that you know side of the job just like there is with every job and corporation in the world. This is no different okay this is a real job this is not a working holiday or a work abroad program that you just maybe try out for a year or something and then you decide you know what I don’t I kind of maybe just don’t want to do this anymore.
Try and look at this as you are dedicating at least a large period of time in order to, you know, build a career at sea because, yes, just like every other job in the world, there are good and bad things. This job has completely changed my life. It’s taken me to places that I never thought I would ever visit travel, and the friendships I’ve made now span the globe.
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The positives definitely outweigh the negatives, and I cannot emphasize enough if this is something you truly want to do if you want to change your life build a career with a huge corporation, work abroad like me create memories travel the world apply now click on the link in my description or head over to the Royal Caribbean Careers Facebook group and click on the link that they posted.
Today is the 5th of November 2024. I have no idea how long applications are open for I have no idea how many positions they are opening up to the public but just know that applications are not going to be open forever so do check the date as to when you’re actually watching my video.
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