American Cruise Lines Employee Reviews for Anonymous Employee

"The company is terrible. First off, if you’re a person will real bills and responsibilities that require a steady job, this is NOT the job for you. They flew us out to a boat in Portland, Oregon to train for about 3-4 days. I loved the people I met there who were also trainees. However, the training was just not for me. You're given all this information in a short time frame and expected to learn it. It felt very rushed and not thorough enough. I went back home and after a couple weeks, I figured I'd give it a try. I got sent to a boat the following week and it was probably the worst first 2 weeks I've ever worked at any job. I learned that majority of the bad reviews I've read were true. You’re ridiculously underpaid. The base starts at $7 per hour, and overtime is $12-13. For as much work you do, they should start out with at least $10 per hour. Even the managers are underpaid. As a steward, you work anywhere from 12-16 hours a day. Your day starts around 5-6 am to about 9 pm. The deckhands get a set pay of $90 per day regardless of how much overtime they work. The job is only temporary. You work for a 16 week period, then that’s it. You’re unable to reapply unless you’d like to come back as a manager. What they don’t tell you is that the 16 weeks are not consecutive. What I and a lot of other people didn’t know about until we got there, was about off seasons and boat closings. During my training, they made it seem as though you go to a boat and stay there for 16 weeks unless you take time off. They’ll email you saying they have a spot open on a boat and ask if you’re interested to fly out to that boats location without telling you you’d probably only be there for a couple weeks. So you could get sent to a boat and work for only 2 weeks not knowing the boats shutting down soon. It could take weeks, even months before you’re sent to another boat. This is why I say if you’re a person who needs a steady, reliable job, this is not for you. Be very cautious."