Pros: free food, no rent, free travel, discounted drinks in the crew bar
Cons: the pay isn't great, the food and entertainment repeats each cruise, you're away from home for a long time (five months or more)
An interesting job, in which you travel a great deal, meet a lot of new and interesting people, and don't work too many hours when you're in port.
It's also a very seasonal job. On school breaks there are a lot of kids. When school is in, there are many slow weeks.
On a port day, you work 4-6 hours, and if you're unfortunate enough to work while in
– more... port, you don't have many kids.
On a sea day, you generally work 11 hours when there are a lot of kids. Depending on your manager (everyone rotates from ship to ship, contract to contract), you may work less hours when there are fewer kids.
Overall, a fun job, but a lot of time is spent away from home and you see the same people every day, as you all live and work so close together. This is great for the people you get along with, but if someone rubs you the wrong way, you're still stuck with them for the foreseeable future. – less