See the
world on someone else's dime.
Are you retired?
Between 40 and 68? A man? A big fan of the rhumba? Then do I have a job for
you.
Ten years ago, when I
was just a plucky young lass from England, I worked for Cunard aboard the Queen Mary 2 for the better part of a
year. We made several transatlantic crossings during the first few months, and
that meant seven long days and nights at sea before we reached New York or
Southampton.
During this period,
there were stage shows, celebrity lectures, classes and, each night, ballroom
dances accompanied by a full swing band.
After several trips
across the Atlantic, I noticed a small group of older men who were on every
cruise, which seemed unusual to me. It wasn’t like we were pitching up in the
Caribbean and enjoying the beaches, it was just endless days at sea.
I began to wonder,
who were these men? One night in the ballroom I asked a friend, a veteran
cruise employee, and he replied, “Oh, those are the gentleman hosts.”
Hired feet
As it turned out
these gentlemen, who were escorting women around the dance floor on a nightly
basis, were employees of the cruise line. Not employed in the tradition sense —
they weren’t earning a salary — but in exchange for their dancing feet, they
were given free accommodation and food.
The purpose of the
gentleman host is to make cruising more enjoyable for the solo female
travelers. Women outlive men, and many of the older women onboard during my
stint on the QM2 were either widowed or divorced. Cunard typically employs six
to eight gentlemen hosts on transatlantic crossings. They were present on all
three Cunard ships: the Queen Mary, Elizabeth and Victoria.
Gentleman hosts must
be single, between 40-68 years old, and “refined social dancers, cultivated and
distinguished gentlemen who enjoy enriching the lives of others.”
According to cruiseshipjobs.com gentleman
hosts must be single, between 40-68 years old, and “refined social dancers,
cultivated and distinguished gentlemen who enjoy enriching the lives of
others.”
Other requirements
are listed as “being sociable” and having “excellent manners.” They must also
be “good minglers who enjoy dining, dancing, games, shipboard activities, and
touring ashore with all guests.” Ideally they should have taken social ballroom
dance classes.
Hosts with benefits
Though there is no
salary and this is considered a volunteer position, some of the benefits
include passenger cabin accommodation, dining room privileges, beverage and
laundry allowance, round-trip airfare for some cruises, shore excursions,
gratuities allowance and of course, the chance to travel the world on someone
else’s dime.
It turns out the men
on my ship were enduring the transatlantic crossings because they were putting
in their time before we headed on the European leg of our voyage — a much more enjoyable
trip that they were hoping to be considered for.
Gents, it’s time to
dust off those dancing shoes. For more information about launching your
gentleman host career, take a look here.
Want to work at
Disney World?
If you’ve retired to
Florida, chances are you’re planning to spend many of your waking hours on a
boat anyway. Three of Disney’s major parks are accessible by water, so The
Mouse keeps an armada of ferries, cruisers, water taxis, and
riverboats fully staffed and running from port to port. If you
have boating experience and would love to tell the grandkids you spend your
weekdays making magic on the Friendship I, this is the right job for you.
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