Dentist Positions on Cruise Ships

All cruise lines need medical personnel in order to provide care to passengers and crew alike during their time onboard. The most common medical positions include Chief Doctor, Doctor and Registered Nurse. However, for cruise line jobs in the dental field, there are a limited number of positions available and most of them are on ships that go on world cruises or have very remote destination itineraries.

Yet, this is also one of the great things about a dental cruise job as it involves long cruises around the world along with the opportunity to visit unique and remote locations that many people never get to see. The first step to finding cruise ship employment as a dentist is to find out which cruise lines have dentists on staff.

There are several ways to go about finding this information. First, interested dentists could call individual cruise lines or visit the official website to find out if they employ dentists or are in need of any. Visit the Ships and Cruises Directory for official cruise line listings. Once you have located the official website, go to the website and search around for job postings. Most cruise line websites have a career center or job postings page. Once you have located several dentist positions, simply follow the application procedures as outlined on the website. If the cruise line does have a career center or job postings on its site, send a polished cover letter and resume to the cruise lines Human Resources Department. The Human Resources Department is typically located at the cruise lines headquarters. This information is usually listed on the cruise line website. It is important to include the position you are interested in so that it can be directed to the appropriate department manager.

Next, dentists could use a variety of online sources to look for cruise ship employment. Cruise jobs are often listed in various directories and this is true for medical positions as well. Crusieship Jobs 77 (www.cruiseshipjobs77.com) offers a rather comprehensive list of available medical positions on board ships. Another great resource is Cruise Ship Jobs (www.cruiselinejobs.com). Jobs on cruise ships are categorized by different headings. Dentist cruiseline jobs may be found under “medical” or under “personal care jobs.” If you would prefer to leave the job-hunting to the professionals, you might consider signing up with a placement agency. A placement agency will locate positions, submit your resume and credentials on your behalf, and schedule interviews. To read more about placemnt agencies and to find out which ones are the best to work with, click here to read our article about cruise ship placement agencies.

Many cruise jobs may not be listed as available when you are looking for employment. For example, the Holland America Cruise Line employs dentists but most often they are looking for doctors and nurses to fill their medical staffing needs. Since you never know when a cruise job for a dentist will become available, it is a good idea to make a list of the cruise lines that employ dentists, send in your application materials, and follow-up with the hiring staff regularly.

Dentists will often need to be on-call throughout the entire journey as there is usually only one dentist on board at any given time. Previous experience as a dentist is required along with the proper dental training, certifications, and licensing. Dentists will need to provide care to passengers and crew members. Pay is quite good and can range anywhere from $4,800 to $7,000 (US) per month. Additional benefits include free accommodations and meals, health insurance, and free air travel to and from the ship.