Carnival, SSTG or Maersk?

[reusch]

Hey guys! Decided to join up after lurking around for several weeks lol. Must say this place is full of information and has been a lot of help.

Thing is, I potentially have interviews with these three companies for an engine cadetship. Been thinking for a while which I would prefer and was hoping people could give me some opinions? I know I still have to pass the interview stage but I like to plan ahead.

Which offers the best training and better prospects for the future?

I've heard people say that the training onboard cruiseliners isn't as good as other vessels due to large amount of crew members and it takes longer to progress? On the other hand I've heard excellent things about the training Carnival gives..anyone have first hand experience?

And if SSTG or Maersk were to accept me then I would probably look at deep sea, containerships. Have my eye on OOCL and CMA in particular. Any thoughts on these?

Finally what can I expect after I complete the 3 year course, will opportunities be different for each company?

I know there have been arguements about working on cruiseliners, I'm not too bothered about the kind of lifestyle I'll have, just thinking about getting the best training during my 3 year course.

Sorry for so many questions! Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[GuinnessMan]

Hello and welcome. First off the bat, we're not recruitment specialists, all we have are our own opinions and we all know opinions are like arseholes (for the slow ones at the back, it's because we've all got one).

Anywho, when it comes to training, that will depend on the person doing the training and you yourself. Carnival could have the best training system in the world, but if the officer isnt willing to teach or your not willing to learn then it's useless.

The advice I would give to all cadets, get yourself on to a wet cargo ship. A tanker of some sort because once you've got your ticket, you can then transfer to whatever you like as it's much easier to go from wet cargo to dry cargo/cruise than it is to go the other way around.

To answer your question about what will happen at the end, who knows? The shipping industry has slowed down and isn't in the best of ways at the moment but there is hope and things are slowly starting to pick up again (or so the head sheds at my place tell us at any rate) so it's a "wait and see" job. However I doubt things will get any worse and there is always a demand for Engineers on ship or ashore so you won't be out of a job.

[EFC92]

In my opinion of course,

I am considering Maersk after my cadetship because they are a massively successful company with business ventures in oil, gas, offshore etc. They have a good variety of vessel types not just containers, and are investing heavily in growth of the company developing new vessel types along the way. For an engineer I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities galore (i'm a deckie). I'm sure there are also plenty of opportunities ashore with Maersk if you were to remain loyal to them, should you wish.

I'm also lead to believe that Maersk tend to take a greater than usual interest in cadet training, encouraging you to do projects in addition to and supporting the work based learning projects.

I'm not with Maersk although I did have an interview with them, (did well in the interview but failed the maths test by a few % so don't take your time lesiurely!)

Which ever one you decide i'm sure it'll be right for you. Firstly good luck with the interviews!

[nphelps30]

Hi there!

Like GuinessMan said we all have our own opinions, so I thought I'd share mine.

If you want the lifestyle that cruise ships have to offer go for it, I'm about to go away on my first trip and speaking to friends it would appear they are having the time of their lives! (we all work for Carnival UK by the way). But the lifestyle isn't just limited to cruise ships, from what little I know the deep sea industry offers much the same lifestyle. What really makes the difference is the people you are working with and for. At Carnival UK we have a really good cadet manager who is incredibly approachable and very friendly, which is fantastic when you are first phase cadet with about 1000 questions to ask.

Hope that has been of help!