How To Be A Cruise Ship Captain

You dont need a college degree to be the captain of any large ship including cruise ships.

How to be a cruise ship captain. Put in years of sailing time promote through the ranks. Requirements to Become a Cruise Ship Captain. Apply with a cruise company.

The educational requirements are different for each category. Make sure to develop leadership skills as the job of a captain on a cruise ship is not only about knowing how to drive a ship. Work hard and give proper time to your studies when at high school.

Your aim should be to finish amongst the top five students in your graduating class if you are to have a chance of joining the US. You will also need to pass a licensure competency like the CMM. Your license needs to be recognized by the flag state the ship is sailing under.

A cruise ship captain is on duty 24-hours a day and quite literally the master of the vessel. Captain Kate McCue the first American female cruise ship captain watches as construction continues on Celebrity Beyond at the Chantiers de lAtlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire France For Captain Kate the seed to be a captain was planted following a cruise the then-12-year-old McCue took with her family. Either that or he needs to have at least 1000 hours at a deckhand.

Normally the captain needs to have postsecondary education at a merchant maritime academy. Bureau of Labor Statistics. You need masters captain license unlimited tonnage.

Cruise ship captains must be highly qualified and experienced in order to keep everyone on the ship as safe as possible. Prospective captains need to complete a training program before starting in the field. They keep an eye on things like currents and wind speeds and they lead teams of crew members in making decisions for the ship.