While the cruise industry has been booming over the last number of years, so has the evolution of cruise ship job scams. In short, job seekers become prey to these scam artists that promise a job on a cruise ship after fees are paid. Although most cruise lines rely on cruise recruitment agencies to pre-screen and interview job seekers, how does one differentiate the legit agencies over the scammers?
Cruise Lines Warn Against Fraudulent Cruise Job Offers
Hiring managers within the cruise industry are well aware that there are fraudulent entities around the world claiming to represent the cruise lines as recruitment partners. Cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Cunard Line, and Crystal Cruises all advise job seekers visiting their employment pages, to be aware of such scams.
Cruise lines encourage applicants to use only the hiring partners listed on their website and warn against other companies or agencies that charge a fee. For example, Disney Cruise Line states on their website that they “do not allow these companies to collect administrative fees, agency fees, or processing fees from candidates applying for a position, or in order to obtain an interview, position or ship assignment aboard a Disney Cruise Line ship.”
Royal Caribbean states on their website’s employment pages, “It’s important that you only apply for employment either through the Royal Caribbean website or through one of our official Hiring Partners…” The company further advises that the best way to protect yourself is to stay informed.
Tips to Identify a Cruise Ship Job Scam
Although this seems like a pretty comprehensive list, it is impossible to stay informed about every single cruise job scam. Unfortunately it’s not until a few unknowing job seekers are separated from their money that someone finally reports them and the scammer can be added to the lists provided by the cruise lines. Here are some tips to help you avoid falling victim to a cruise ship job scam.
1. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. How quick you get a cruise job depends on current available positions. So when someone or an agency says that you will get a job as soon as you send them payment, it should be a red flag that this is not right.
2. Legitimate cruise recruitment agencies do not solicit money from applicants. This is one of the biggest rules of thumb to understand if the agency is a scammer or not. Hiring partners and other legit cruise recruitment agencies do not collect fees from applicants in order to be considered for a cruise job. Nor do they collect money in advance for uniforms and medical expenses.
3. Legit cruise recruiters do not send emails offering a job before an application is filled out. In some job scams, an initial email is sent by the fraudster offering a cruise job. Once the prospective crewmember responds to this email offer, they are asked to complete a job application. This phony job application seeks private background information about the prospective employee which will be used for criminal purposes.
4. Cruise applicants do not need an immigration lawyer or a Green Card. Scammers may give the applicant a phony “employment contract” or “letter of employment”. Then, in later correspondence, they expect the applicant to submit a copy of their passport plus United States Dollars (or Euros, etc.) for the services of an immigration lawyer to process a work permit. This is not required or legal. Read Passports and Visas for Cruise Employment for more information on this.
5. Websites of cruise ship job scams are–often–unprofessional. One of the biggest litmus tests is the website itself. Blatant spelling, grammatical errors, poor English and punctuation errors may indicate that the website and agency is not legitimate. Plus, is the website littered with Google ads? Are the photos used on the site grainy and outdated? These are all red flags.
6. Understand which email accounts may be fraudulent. You don’t want to send your resume and personal information through an email account used by a scammer. To prevent yourself from making this mistake, beware of email addresses that end in Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL or any other web based, free, email account.
7. Get familiar with the cruise lines’ official hiring partners. Many fraudulent cruise job scammers use a name or email address that is similar to the cruise lines. They even use the names of agencies that are similar to the real hiring partners. Pay attention to these details when you receive correspondence. Better yet, stick with the agencies and email addresses that are authorized by the cruise lines so you won’t get into trouble.
The bottom line is this. Please use cruise recruitment agencies that are listed as authorized by the cruise lines themselves. Do not accept a job offer from an agency fraudulently representing a cruise line. And, only send your resume and personal information through a secure online application that mails to a legit email address.
Recent Cruise Job Scams
Here is a list of some of the most recent job scams that have been identified by a few of the cruise lines.
Carnival Cruise Lines alerts job seekers about fraudulent advertisements that are not endorsed by or affiliated with the cruise line. The scam ads provide a fax numbers and e-mail addresses where applicants can apply for a cruise ship job. Applicants are contacted by phone and advised that they have been hired by Carnival Cruise Lines. They are then asked to wire money to cover the cost of a “uniform deposit” which is actually a payment to the scammer.
Royal Caribbean International and their sister companies, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises alerts potential cruise job applicants about the following scam artists, websites and email addresses on their cruise jobs scam page, located here.
Scam Cruise Job Companies
Aftermath Shipping GH Ltd. (Ghana)
Agora Global Holdings (Malaysia)
Amble Boat Company, (USA) (NOT AmbleBoat. co. uk – a legitimate sail company based in the UK.)
American Cruise Ship Corporation (Canada)
ApolloShips
Arfha International (India)
Ausi Cruise Line (Malaysia)
Australasian Cruise Line International (Malaysia)
Australia Cruise Line International Corporation
Australia Crystal Cruise (NOT Crystal Cruises.)
Avalon Cruise Services (Canada)
Ballet Online Job Company (Russia)
Baltic Tourist Shipping Line (Ghana, UK)
Blue Sea Shipping Company (Ghana)
CTG Group London (NOT CTI Group)
Canadian Cruise Shipping (Canada, Malaysia)
Captains Shipping Line (Ghana)
Caribbean Princess Cruises (UK)
Carnival Seven Seas Cruise Line (Europe, Canada, Bermuda)
Centro Maritimo Panama
Coaster Shipping Company London (UK, United Arab Emirates)
Cool Jobs At Sea (Canada)
Crew File (crewfile. com)
Crown Cruise Liners, Malaysia
Crown Cruiseliners International (Malaysia)
Crown Recruitment – Marine Crewing & Traveling Consultancy Inc.
Cruise Canadian Line (Malaysia)
Cruise Careers (Canada)
Cruise Critic (NOT CruiseCritic. co. uk or CruiseCritic. com)
Cruise International (NB, Canada)
Cruise Line International (Malaysia)
Cruise Queenliner (Malaysia)
Cruise Services International (UK)
Cruise Services Unlimited
Cruise Ship Centers International (San Francisco USA)
Cruise Ship Global Canada (Canada, Malaysia)
Cruise Ship Jobs London (UK)
Expertassist
Express Cruise Tourist Shipping Lines (Canada, Malaysia)
Express Cruises and Shipping Company M. V.Custavia (UK, Australia, Ghana, UK)
Fileassist (NOT a brand or other non-related business.)
Fleewing International (CA, USA)
Fresh Princess Cruise Lines
Fresh Princess Cruises UK Limited (UK)
Frontline Consulting London (Ghana, UK)
Geoluxary Cruise Lines Int. (Malaysia)
Geoluxury Cruise Lines (Malaysia)
Getaway Abroad (Angola, South Africa, USA, UK)
Global Arrow Shipping Line (Ghana, UK)
Global Cruise Lines International
Global Cruise Shipping Services (Canada, USA)
Global Sea Shipping Line (Scotland, Ghana)
Gold Coast Shiping Campany (UK)
Goldline Shipping Cruise Ship Personnel
Goldline Shipping Ltd Cruise Ship Agency
Greenline Consults (Roland Botson, Mark Kyle) (Ghana, UK)
Hawks Marine Cruises International (Canada)
Highsea Shipping Line (Scotland, Ghana)
Infinity Cruise Lines International (Malaysia)
Intercontinental Cruises Company London (Ghana, UK)
Intercontinental Spirit Ship (Ghana)
International Cruise Ship Recruiters
International Transition Abroad – The New Era (South Africa, UK, USA)
Ivory Arrow Shipping (Ghana, UK)
Jdak Cruises and Shipping (Ghana)
Just Cruis’n Maritime – Crewing Recruitment & Traveling Consultancy Inc
K-Shipping (Ghana)
Kingdom Shipping GH Ltd (Ghana)
Kings of Oceans Cruiseliners
Kiwi-Ocean Shipping Line (Scotland, New Zealand, Taiwan)
Luxury Cruise Company (UK)
Luxury Yachts (jobsonluxuryyachts. com)
Malaysia Crystal Cruises (Malaysia, UK)
Mutus Cruises (Malaysia)
Nationwide Employment Services (“Mr. Peters”)
Natra Cruising Company (Ghana)
New World Cruise Ship Employment Agency (Canada)
Oax Rectruitment
Ocean International Cruises (UK)
Ocean Village Cruises (Malaysia)
Oceana International (Canada)
Oceania Cruise Company (UK, Malaysia)
Oceania Cruise Line (UK, Malaysia) (oceania-cruises. org)
Oceania Cruise Line International (Australia)
Pacific Cruise Corporation (USA)
Pacific International Shipping Line (UK, Ghana)
Princess Mariana Company
Ramos Cruise Shipping Company Inc. (USA)
Ramos Cruises Inc. (USA)
Recruiting Yacht Club (UK)
Rim Silver
Rocket Ship Cruiseline (UK)
Royal Atlantic Star Cruise Line (UK)
Royal Caribbean Cruise Shipping Company London
Royal Caribbean Global Hiring Network (globalrcclcrew@aol. com)
Royal Cruise Corporation of Canada
Royal Cruise Line Inc. (Canada, Malaysia)
Royal Cruise Liner (Canada, Malaysia)
Royal Cruiseliner (Canada, Malaysia)
Royal Festival Cruises International
Royal Ocean Village Cruise International (Malaysia, UK)
Royal Village Cruise London (UK)
Salsa Cruise (Malaysia)
San Marino Shipping (San Marino)
Sea Dream Liner Yacht Club (UK)
Sea Wave Cruise Liner (Malaysia)
Seafarers Maritime & Cruise Employment Placement Personnel
Sealife Crewing Recruitment & Traveling Consultancy Ltd (USA, UK)
Sealife Crewing Services
Sealink Shipping Company Limited (UK, Ghana)
Seek Work Consulting (UK, Ghana)
Sherri’s Employment (Ghana, UK)
Sherri’s Tourist Shipping Line (Ghana, UK)
Shipping Planet (Malaysia)
Silver Crown Cruises (UK)
Skylines Cruise International (Malaysia)
Starboard Crewing Manning & Recruitment Agency
Starboard Crewing Recruitment & Traveling Consultancy Inc
Starcruise (Malaysia)
Starline Cruises (Malaysia)
Sunborn Yacht Hotel (UK)
The New Era – International Transition Abroad (USA, UK, South Africa)
Thomas Cook Recruiter and Travel Agency
To Sea With Z (zammel@aol. com)
Cruise Ship Job Scam Websites
Note: This is NOT necessarily a complete list. Keep alert.
click-here-toapply. net/?304730
crewfile. com
cruisejob1.com
cruiselinejob. com (Seamax International)
cruiseshipjob. com (Seamax International) (NOT our website, CruiseShipJobs. com – note the “s” in jobs!)
Cruise Ship Job Scam Email Addresses
Note: There are more scam emails below in the Crystal Cruises section.
alanjeffers@consultant. com
apresiasi_indonesia@yahoo. co. id
awardnotification2009@gmail. com
fcostajobs@gmail. com
globalrcclcrew@aol. com
griessel. hannu@gmail. com
gulfeuropetourist@gmail. com
job4cruise@yahoo. co. uk
job@corbettqueen. com
jobs. cruiseshipjob@w. cn
jt. royalcaribbean@yahoo. de
justcruis. crewinginc@gmail. com
justcruis. maritime@gmail. com
justcruisn. recruiment@gmail. com
justcruisn. recruitment@gmail. com
khawarmalik15@gmail. com
mandaraspa. crewingpersonnel@gmail. com
rccl. career@job4u. com
rccl. career@techie. com
rccl. career@worker. com
rccl. career@workmail. com
rccl. cruiseshipjob@post. com
rccl. libertyofseas@socialworker. net
rccl. libertyofthesea@execs. com
rcclcruise. career@linuxmail. org
rcclhiring@workmail. com
rcclhiringdepartment@consultant. com
rccllibertyofsea@aol. com
rcclshiphiring@consultant. com
rcclshipjobcompany@consultant. com
rcemapa@gmail. com
rcinternational@ftml. net, royalcarribbean@ftml. net
rclcruise. career@linuxmail. org
recruitmentcemapa@gmail. com
royal. caribbean@rediffmail. com
royalcaribbean. crewstaff@royal. net
royalcaribbean@consultant. com
royalcaribbeancruiseshipl@yahoo. co. uk
royalcaribbeancruiseshipline@yahoo. co. uk
royalcaribbeaninternational@yahoo. co. uk
royalcaribbeanlondon@yahoo. com
royalcaribeanship@yahoo. co. uk
royalcarribeancruiseshipl@yahoo. co. uk
royalcarribeancruiseshiplinejobc@yahoo. co. uk
royalcruiseship_london@yahoo. co. uk
seafarers. crewing@gmail. com
smythercchr@gmail. com
starboardcrewing. inc@gmail. com
starboardcrewingagency@gmail. com
starboardmarine. crewingagency@gmail. com
starboardmarineagency@gmail. com
thomascooktravel@officeemail. net
uk-operation@london. com
ukimmigration_visa_dept@yahoo. co. uk
ukwork. permit@yahoo. co. uk
workpermitlabouroffice@yahoo. co. uk
Crystal Cruises (the legitimate yachting company) also warns applicants about companies making unauthorized offers of employment. They make clear on their website that offers for shipboard employment can be made only through the authorized agents listed on their website. Here are a number of fictitious companies, people and email addresses that have been known to send bogus employment offers claiming to represent Crystal Cruises: