haba kakatamad basahin ... anyway, madami opening ngayon sa cruise ship check ninyo kung andyan pa.

For my fellow Filipinos who are desperate and very eager to land a job in an international passenger or cruise ship. I’ll be giving some guidelines and tips that will surely make applicants qualified to apply even if they’re high school graduate or college undergraduate. Also, I’ll be giving guidelines on how not to be financially abused by some abusive manning agencies who more often than not take advantage on our poor kababayans whose only aim is to secure a Greener Pasteur for his/her family.

Before I start, I just want to refute a statement that “Working onboard a Cruise Ship is just for College Graduates” and that high school graduates don’t have any chance at all. This statement is totally FALSE.

(Sorry! Haba ng intro ko..)

For all those who want, wishing, desiring to work to work onboard international vessels e.g. Passenger and cruise ships, tanker, cargo and bulk ships the first major requirement is SIRB (Seafarer’s Identification Record Book) or simply called as Seaman’s book. Para makakuha kayo ng SIRB you need to undergo a SOLAS Training (Safety Of Life At Sea) or also known as BST with PSSR training (Basic Safety Training with Personal Safety and Social Responsibility). Anyone who is mentally stable and physically fit can take this training. It’s a 7 days training 6 days classroom lecture and 1 day practicum sa dagat or swimming pool. Training fee is around 4 to 6K pesos. Once you have the BST w/ PSSR certificate, you can now apply for SIRB (Seaman’s book). These are the requirements for SIRB application:

1. BST w/ PSSR certificate
2. NBI visa seaman
3. High school Diploma with Form 138 or College Diploma with TOR both documents kelangan ng CAV (Certification Authentication and Verification). For HS diploma sa DEPED kukuha ng CAV for College Diploma sa CHED.
4. Application form (libre ito at makukuha sa MARINA) – Marina is located in Taft Ave. near Kalaw
5. 2x2 picture with shoulder board
6. Fee: P850.00 to P1,500.00 (hindi ko na alam if how much na ang SIRB pero I’m sure not lower than 850 and not higher than 1,500)

Beware sa mga mag-ooffer ng non-appearance na certificate. I discouraged such activity. Very risk ito especially if ipapa authenticate na ang certificate.

Now you have an SIRB, you have completed 5% of your quest to work onboard an international vessel. Next step is checking job vacancies posted by a legitimate manning agency and assessing your qualifications (work experience, knowledge and skills etc.) against the job vacancies. I highly RECOMMEND and ADVISE all aspiring applicants to make yourself qualified first before applying. This will prevent you from incurring unwanted expenses like transportation expenses back and forth only to find out that you’re not qualified and were not selected. So make sure that you possess the right experience and trainings related to the position that you’re eyeing for.
If you’re applying for FO position, housekeeping, pool attendant or steward position, make sure you possess such working experience. Otherwise, your application will most likely be discarded. Unless you have an MBA (May Backer Ako) then that’s a different story. Very important to take note, almost all manning agency tend to give priority and select applicants (kahit undergard or highschool grad.) who has joined a vessel whether it was local or international route over applicants who have not boarded any vessel. Depending on the urgency of the job vacancy, some manning agency tend to consider applicants kahit na walang shipboard experience provided may SIRB,PASSPORT at related work experience and maritime training certificates (later we’ll talk about this training certificates). So how do you gain shipboard experience and make yourself shine over other applicants? Invest. If you are really serious in securing a work onboard a cruise ship, you need to invest to gain the necessary qualifications. If you’re undergrad or highschool graduate you need to invest in TESDA vocational maritime courses. It’s a 1 year course and at the end of the course students will be given a chance to work onboard a passenger ship as Front Office, Housekeeping crew, waiter, steward etc. This shipboard experience will be recorded in your SIRB and ALL manning agency considers it.

In my experience, we tend to hire applicants na may shipboard experience kahit highschool grad. or college undergrad against sa isang college graduate (pero wala naming shipboard experience) Reason behind this is that cruise ships enters US territories, so all crew must have a US Visa. US embassy tends to deny visa applications for seafarers na walang shipboard experience. Some agencies don’t want to take the risk, especially if the job vacancy is very urgent and the crew needs to be onboard asap. Thus, we normally choose applicants na may shipboard experience na atleast minimum 6 months regardless of your education. If the applicant’s visa application was denied after 6 months pa ulit sya pwedeng mag-apply. Sometimes there are some applicants na kahit walang shipboard experience, nakakalusot but very few. So you have the option, whether to take chances and trust your present qualifications or invest in short courses with shipboard training program increasing your chances of being hired. It’s up to you to decide. Tuition fee for this course is 12k to 15K per semester (2 semesters lang ito).

Now meron ka nang SIRB, Shipboard Experience you have completed 60% of your quest. Last thing that you will do is to take the minimum mandatory training certificates required by STCW (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) this is the bible of Maritime Training Certificates. Dito nakasaad ano-ano ang mga required training ng isang crew for a specific vessel. Bawat barko na sasakyan ng isang crew may specific maritime training which dapat icomply. For all crew na sasakay sa cruise ship, more or less nasa mga 4 to 8 training certificates ang dapat i-take. Again, you have 2 options: 1. Invest and take these trainings as early as possible 2. Wait to be selected and saka i-take ang training. Both have advantage and disadvantage, option 1 will expedite your application and will definitely have an edge over other applicants na wala pang training. Also for urgent job vacancies ikaw ang no.1 priority for line-up dahil complete kana sa requirements. Disadvantage lang is you have to spend na agad. Option 2 will save your money for the meantime, pwede mo pang magamit ang pera mo sa ibang bagay. Disadvantage is for urgent manpower requirements definitely you will not be selected. Be very cautious for some agencies which will require you to undergo numerous trainings. Some training is not really needed. Gusto lang nila magka commission at pagka kitaan ang applicant. So if you have completed this required trainings as early as possible then you achieved 85% of your quest. The remaining 15% is on how you carry yourself during the interview.

There are still a lot of tips and guidelines that I want to share. Maybe I’ll make another post 

oo..,.. compresed . anong compression tool ginamit mo ?..hehehe

Ako din gusto ko subukan sa sea-based sana makuha dami rin kasi nag aapply. pwede bang mag dala ng asawa galing dun kay gandang eva ?....hahaha alam muna yung ibig kong sabihin. nung una di ako naniniwala pero yung nakita ko yung nasa province ah wala ako masabi sa ganda panalo, ganda ng anak nya ngayon pre blue eyes. mabait naman yung girl nagloloto naman pero binilhan nya ng automatic washing machine at dahil dun sanay.

Siguro sa sea-based ka ano tulungan mo naman kami

Bwahahaha @paul, tulungan mo ako gagawin kitang ninong ...hahaha

Sya nga pala complete na ako ng requirements sa qualification kaya lang minsan ni txt ako for in interview sa port area for asian cruise-ship dito sa atin eh wrong timing naman nasa province area ako nag txt mga 6pm tapos interview 9am.

Apply ulit siguro ako

What is shipboard training program?

1. Is this applicable to what course only?
2. If I have this what will be the benefits / purpose?
3. Is this for free or with charge in training center?
4. Is there any site that I can check for all the braches located in Manila?
5. How much it will cost?

Thanks

This is in response to the PM I received from Eian - "This is indeed very informative. I like how you outlined things to do if we really wanted to work in a cruise ship.

Hingi lang po ako ng opinion nyo, kung oks lang kc po gusto ko rin ng ganitong work kaso wala po ako experience sa cruise ship or any 3-5 star hotels. lhat ng work ko call Center po for 7 years and im shifting career reason why i took and finished 2mos F&B course. Luckily may offer na po ako sa isang 5 star hotel sa MACAU as waiter. Ang contract ko po ay 1 year lang but renewable. Magagamit ko po b to kung sakaling mag apply ako ng cruise jobs pagbalik ko? i'll be 29 yrs old by then pero xempre, i plan to get seaman's book and undergo trainings na sinabi nyo pagbalik ko. may chance po kya ako makasakay?

Thank You in Advance and looking forward for your next post in relation to this thread"

@Eian Congrats! to your new career and I hope all is well pag dating mo sa Macau. Tungkol sa tanong mo kung magagamit mo ba ito sa pag apply mo for cruise ship jobs, absolutely YES. I just want to share my friend's experience in fulfilling his quest to work sa cruise ship. He used to be a land-based OFW and working sa Dubai as pool attendant. One day, after series of discussions we had, he finally decided to work sa cruise ship. When he took his annual vacation, he attended a SOLAS training and secured his SIRB. So pagbalik nya sa Dubai he now has a valid SIRB. I told him to visit magsaysay website and search a job for passenger and cruise ships. Everything was done online, he uploaded all his credentials, certificates including the copy of his SIRB. After 6 months he was selected. So he resigned and went back to the Phils. to process his application including the US visa. Take note he was considered eventhough he don't have shipboard experience. The reason for this is that, first he already has SIRB, second he already gained 8 years experience in various hotels both locally and internationally. Unless, you don't have solid experience sa hotel your chances of getting a US Visa is quite rare. Anong solution dito? two things: 1. Gain more experience or 2. Take a vocational maritime course under TESDA and complete your Shipboard Training. It's up to you to decide anong pipiliin mo. Actually, you can combine both. In your case, since 1 year ang contract mo after mo sa Macau kung pwede mong extend ang contract mo do so. File ka vacation, then pag balik mo ng pinas take your SOLAS and SIRB. Then do what my friend did.

If you want you can also directly enroll sa mga maritime training centers na nag-ooffer ng Actual Shipboard Training Program after mo makuha ang SIRB mo. This way magkakaroon ka agad ng shipboard experience which will be recorded sa SIRB mo. Pero konting tiis lang dahil 3 to 6 months kang naka onboard sa passenger ship na walang sweldo, meal allowance lang (habol mo lang dito is magkaron ng tatak ang SIRB mo). After you have completed your shipboard training program, then 95% most likely matatanggap kana for any cruise ship job. Why? Kasi meron ka ng 1 year land-based experience sa Macau at meron ka pang 6 months sea-based experience. Hindi lahat ng applicant may ganyang experience. Goodluck in your quest to "See the World for Free"

Thank you sir for guidance. I will definitely follow all of your advises. That's what i thought rin if ever na marenew contract ko, obtain SOLAS and SIRB and gain more experience before i make another attempt in applying for cruise jobs. Acquiring more experience and ready training certificates would mean higher chances of landing that dream job. This time mas-prepared ako and have competitive credentials.

Salamat po ulet sir paulzamil ...This is indeed of big help in planning my future. Thanks a lot!

Boss paulzamil,

Ano bang cruise ang pwedeng applyan na international? kasi nakikita ko available for asian .

Try mo sa jobstreet nag popost doon ang mga cruise dami nilang kailangan hindi ko sure kung may nurse pero I think kailangan yan dahil floating hotel sila. Dyan ko kasi nakuha yung sa akin kaya lang nga hindi ako nakapunta ng interview dahil sa nasa malayo ako di ako aabot.

But eppril marami rin akong source sa friends masmaganda kung may kalilala ka sa loob dahil palakasan din daw .

meron dito sa pinas cruise pero nung ni check ko asian cruise ang mga destination. meron din hindi asia pero hindi rito yung branch nila.

Goodluck sana swertihin ka maganda dyan sa cruise bubuti buhay mo dahil yung pinakilala sa akin na nag wowork sa cruise na tiga province umayos yung buhay nakabili ng mga truck at nag ka business na maayos.