There couldn’t be a better time, than now, to apply for a cruise ship job. In 2018, there are 22 cruise ships scheduled to make their debut with another 26 vessels in 2019, and a further 17 ships in 2020. This equates to thousands of new jobs across all shipboard departments. Although the biggest cruise lines in the world have lots of job opportunities, smaller cruise lines also have ships coming out, requiring officers and crew.
Biggest Cruise Lines in the World
The cruise industry is strong and steadily growing. According to Cruise Industry News, in 2017 there were 365 cruise ships, carrying more than 25 million passengers. The biggest of the cruise lines include Carnival Cruise Line (25 ships), Royal Caribbean International (25 ships), Princess Cruises (18 ships), Norwegian Cruise Line (15 ships), Costa Crociere (15 ships), Holland America Line (14 ships), MSC Cruises (14 ships), Celebrity Cruises (12 ships), and AIDA Cruises (12 ships).
Cruise Lines Launching New Ships
Additionally, most of the major cruise lines have multiple ships coming out over the next five years. As well, some smaller lines and newcomers to the industry are also launching new ships. Here is a summary of when these cruise lines are debuting new ships:
AIDA Cruises – 2018 and 2021
American Cruise Lines – 2018 (2 ships), 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022
Carnival Cruise Line – 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022
Celebrity Cruises – 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
Coral Expeditions – 2019
Costa Cruises – 2019 (2 ships), 2020, and 2021
CroisiEurope – 2018
Crystal Cruises – 2018 (2 river vessels), 2019 (2 ships), 2020, 2021, 2022
Cunard Line – 2022
Disney Cruise Line – 2021, 2022, and 2023
Hapag Lloyd Cruises – 2019 (2 ships)
Holland America Line – 2021 and 2023
Hurtigruten – 2018 and 2019
Lindblad Expeditions – 2018 and 2020
MSC Cruises – 2018, 2019 (2 ships), 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025, and 2026
Mystic Cruises – 2018
Norwegian Cruise Line – 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025
Oceanwide Expeditions – 2019
P&O Cruises – 2020
Ponant – 2018 (2 ships) and 2019 (2 ships)
Princess Cruises – 2019, 2020, and 2022
Regent Seven Seas Cruises – 2020
Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection – 2019, 2021, and 2022
Royal Caribbean International – 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2024
Saga Cruises – 2019 and 2020
Scenic – 2018
Seabourn – 2018
Silversea Cruises – 2020
Star Clippers – 2018
Star Cruises – 2020 and 2021
Sunstone – 2019 (2 ships) and 2020 (2 ships)
TUI Cruises – 2018 and 2019
Viking Ocean Cruises – 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022
Virgin Voyages – 2020, 2021, and 2022
For more information about employment with these cruise lines, read Cruise Line Employment Info.