Cruise ships want to hire workers from Saipan

Cruise ships based in Hawaii have expressed interest in hiring employees from Saipan, holding orientations and presentations on island as part of their recruitment process.

Recruiting officers for both the Pride of Aloha and Pride of America—cruise ships owned by Norwegian Cruise Line—were on island for the second time in a span of two months, most recently this past Wednesday, Nov. 3, to scout for potential employees.

“We’re looking for people to come to Hawaii and work on our cruise ship [Pride of Aloha] and another cruise ship coming out in May of next year [Pride of America],” said administrator Mike Bottema. “These are the first U.S. modern flag cruise ships in over 50 years.”

According to Bottema, the Pride of Aloha currently has a crew of 850 members in 219 different jobs. The Pride of America, for its part, offers 219 different positions that can accommodate 1,200 crew members.

The company recently established an office on Guam, which, Bottema said, would result in more visits to Saipan in the future.

“We’re continually looking and hiring and we’ll be back [on] Saipan, in about every month or month-and-a-half,” he said. “We need a lot of people. We can get as many from Saipan as possible. There is no limit as to how many people we can hire here. There’s a process that everybody has to go through, so some people will fall out.”

Bottema said their interest in Saipan is due to the island’s main industry—tourism. Also, majority of guests on the ships are from Asian countries, similar to most of Saipan’s tourists.

During their previous visit a month and a half ago, Bottema said about 90 people applied for jobs, with 30 later being selected for hiring.

“A lot are going to train in Hawaii,” he said. “It will be one week training in Oahu or Maryland. Those are the two places, but most likely, people from here will go to Hawaii.”

The starting salary is about $6.25 per hour. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or green card holders, or citizens of FSM, Marshall Islands, CNMI, American Samoa, or Palau.

In addition, Bottema said the company pays for medical screening, employment screening, background investigation with the U.S. Coast Guard, training, airfare to get to the training, transportation, meals, room and board, and reimbursement for passports of all employees.

Bottema and his partners accept individuals with general restaurant or hotel experience, particularly cooks, waiters, and housekeeping. Applications for other positions may also be taken, but would be referred to proper managers for the respective positions.

The ships, each hosting about 2,500 guests every trip, begins its course in Oahu before making for a seven-day sea voyage with stops at other Hawaiian islands along the way. The trip ends back in Oahu. Guests pay between $700 to $20,000 depending on the type of cabin they occupy on the ship.

“It’s a very busy operation, Bottema said. “We’re sold out until the end of next year in both Pride of Aloha and Pride of America.”

Norwegian Cruise Line is owned by Star Cruises, which operates about 21 cruise and gambling ships around the world.