What it does: P&O Cruises is a British cruise line, serving trips worldwide—from the Caribbean to the Arctic.
Mission: Extraordinary travel experiences, designed in a distinctively British way.
Best known for: The Aurora cruise ship.
Size & presence: 120,000 employees representing more than 100 countries.
The good bits: Working on a cruise ship means you get to travel the world and have tight-knit relationships with your fellow co-workers.
The not-so-good bits: If you work on board the ship, you’ll be dealing with gruelling working hours and would rarely have the chance to go shoreside.
P&O Cruises was originally a subsidiary under P&O (The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company) a British maritime shipping and logistics company. In 2000, P&O Cruises became an independent company under P&O Princess Cruises, and not long after that, in 2003, the company merged with another cruise company, Carnival Corporation.
Since then P&O Cruises has continued to serve passengers worldwide, including those departing from and arriving on U.S. shores, operating as a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation.
As a cruise line operator, P&O Cruises shares many similarities to other cruise ship companies in terms of how they work. If you’re working on the ship, then you can expect to work on a shift-basis, for seven days. You will bond a lot with your co-workers since you will meet with them every day until your scheduled contract time is up.
In addition, you will have colleagues from various countries around the world, since, like many cruise lines, P&O Cruises recruits talents worldwide. If you enjoy a high-paced, international work environment, then you will be right at home at P&O Cruises.
P&O Cruises currently does not have openings for programs intended for recent university or college graduates. They also rarely advertise for internship openings—although they do have apprenticeships available for various roles.
However, it doesn’t mean it’s impossible to get a job in P&O Cruises as a recent university or college graduate. If you graduate with a degree in the field of hospitality, such as hotel management, or culinary, or if you have a degree in marine-related fields then you’ll probably have a greater chance of getting a position in P&O Cruises, working on board the ship.
The recruitment process for cruise ship jobs is slightly different from that of most companies since staffing agencies are often involved in non-shoreside job placements. This arrangement is partly due to the nature of the work itself; cruise ships hire individuals from locations worldwide, including P&O Cruises, and thus the company works with staffing agencies to find the best talent possible for their company.
However, positions for recent university or college graduates are sometimes handled by P&O themselves, especially for technical, medical, and office-based roles. However, if you graduated with degrees in the hospitality field, it might be best to reach out to their hiring partners in the U.S.
In general, selection processes tend to be pretty similar to that of other companies. You’ll have to submit an application, and will undergo several interview rounds before you receive an offer in the end.
Salaries at P&O Cruises vary widely depending on your role. As an illustration, a Chef could earn between $50,000 to $60,000 per year, but a Nurse could earn between $90,000 to $100,000 per year.
Aside from base pay, however, you also get tons of employee benefits when you work at P&O Cruises, including the following: free flights from home country to assigned port; deck privileges (depending on rank); free paid internet packages; free meals while onboard; paid-for entry visa (if needed); free yearly medical check-up; and free training.
Cruise ships are often under scrutiny for their waste management practices and fuel usage, and P&O Cruises strives to do well in both aspects by reducing their emissions and recycling resources whenever possible. A direct example of this is Iona, the first UK ship to be powered by liquefied natural gas, and is currently operating on one of P&O Cruise's routes.
Aside from that P&O Cruises, through their parent company Carnival Corporation, also operates two charitable foundations: The Carnival Foundation and The Costa Crociere Foundation. The Carnival Foundation provides yearly grants for non-profit organizations doing work in the following fields: arts, human needs, education, environment and health. As for The Costa Crociere Foundation, funds are granted for projects intended to impact the environment and marginalized communities worldwide.