Disney Kids Club job. 70hrs a week. No days off.

Maybe let this be known on review sites for Disney cruises. Not that many people will think about how staff are treated when choosing a holiday or indeed many of their spending choices.

@cosmobrown What would her salary be??

Clearly the 4 months is going to be intense work but if the wage is good she might feel it’s worth it but she’s going to need to go in being very clear m re what she’d be doing and in exchange for what.

I once went for an interview for cruise ships in hospitality
No days off, a tiny tiny shared cabin and you weren’t allowed to use the ship’s facilities for entertainment
They seemed shocked when I told them that I wasn’t interested

If she’s working eg 8am-6pm then she’ll have the evening to relax.

There will not be much for her to do on a cruise ship as a staff member and so she may be thankful that she’s working as it will make the days go much faster.

I do think staff have parties and things but I can imagine getting quite bored if you weren’t kept busy.

It would be nice to have 1 day or even have a day off but I’d swap not having a day off for not having to cook, clean and go shopping etc any day.

Working on cruise ships can be incredibly challenging.

I believe the idea is to work long hours with no/few days off but then you have a couple months off, which for some people works better.

They would have less rooms available if they hired more staff to do fewer hours.

If I was younger/had no DCs then I’d definitely try it.
But as an adult, working isn’t the issue. Working is the easy part.

With the commute on top I do over those hours anyway but then I need to come home and be a mum, clean, cook, shop, do life admin etc whereas she will literally just be working and then everything else is on hand - that would be luxury for someone like me but for her she may struggle if she’s not used to it.

It's pretty standard for ships. I had a friend who worked on ships as medical support. She absolutely loved it ! Definitely something to do before having kids and commitments. I also have another friend who works as a cruise entertainer and does very well (He is on Disney at the moment) He is flown all over the world to board the ships at dock and then does a full on stint for a few weeks then has some time off. He met his partner on cruises too and they have a fantastic life ! I say go for it ! You'll only regret the things you didn't try.

If I was young again I’d do it!

Is it based in Singapore by any chance?

The latest Disney ship sails out of Singapore and then goes in circles for few days then goes back to Singapore.

Practically OP what would she do on a day off? If she is at sea she would not be able to go ashore.

Her room will probably be shared with someone else sleeping in bunks.

She will be limited to the crew areas, which usually have various canteens, a gym and often a pool.

4 months without one day off seems insane to me but I appreciate many PP seem to be saying it's the norm in the industry.

Is it very well paid?

Agreed it's all about the pay offs
I wish I'd done it when I was younger.
I have friends who did and they loved it

I'm not sure about the legal side, but a standard workweek is always 40 hours with 2 days off. This is totally wrong and insane.

If you can;t do 70 hours a week at that age, when can you - and plenty of people do for years. It's going to be great money great experience a good CV job, shoes resilience, adaptability etc etc - absolutely 100% take it and be proud.

Same here. I used to travel with my husband on cargo ships and oil tankers. You get time off but not whole days off.

it wasn't Disney, but the cruise I went on last year, the crew did get some breaks where they could go and rest in their room.

Let's hope this 'really good pay' would net considerably more than £6k these days as that would be an hourly rate that's less than half NMW, assuming the DD is at least 18.

I did a lot of PGL type jobs and we’d do similar hours but had one day a week off we’d mostly spend doing muddy laundry. Can she get her laundry done for her on board? I’d say it’ll be ok at her age but she’ll be really exhausted at the end so need a couple of weeks off before whatever she does next - especially if she’s going to uni for example.

My dd does 6 hours on 6 hours off when at sea, no days off, no alcohol allowed. Time off is in port when others are working instead.

A friend of mine took a job on a cruise ship years ago, as a waitress/bar tender/general duties. Cruises around the Bahamas iirc.
Everyone thinks its a glamorous lifestyle but the reality is very different.
The staff aren't enjoying a lovely holiday, they are working, and working very hard indeed.
My friend just did the minimum contract and then sacked it off with the words "never again!!"

My teacher friend took this exact job with Disney, aged 32. She wanted a career change.

She said she got paid really well and it was tax free. All food and soft drinks free. No accommodation costs either.

Kids club was fun, and rarely full. People didn't want their children in the club all day, as a Disney holiday is child friendly throughout.

She said she didn't really miss having a day off, as she was still able to do several of the excursions and saw some amazing places. And she often got downtime in the day when kids club was empty.

She's slowly worked her way up and now runs the whole ents dept on one of the ships.

I hope your DD has the most amazing time.

When I used to work on oil platforms in Saudi Arabia our technician's and support crew (usually Philippino) worked 12 hours per day, for one year solid.

My friend did this, no days off but when the ship docked she could leave and experience the destination for a few hours. She didn’t have to pay for the shared cabin, food or anything on board so would do a 4 month stint , travel the world and come home with 6k in her pocket. Hard work but worth it for her.

Cruise ships are long hours thouhh many companies offer days off whilst away. It encourages staff moral and stops staff burn out. However Disney are notoriously bad to work for. They can pick and choose staff so do but dont need to offer good terms so dont. Its legal because of where the ships are registered.

America… the land of the free.

It’s standard. But she’ll have an amazing time.

I mean, she will have to.like children who will be hyped up ALL day, it sounds hard work but fun, i would have loved to.have done this in my 20s.