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Nurses generally rotate days off and on-call days with other staff. They may leave the ship if their day off falls on a day the ship is in port. Cruise ship nurse salary depends on the size of the ship and the number of passengers, as well as the professional’s level of nursing experience and scope of authority.
You will be tied into a contract.

A popular recruiter for cruise positions reports starting salaries for cruise ship nurses between $4,200 and $4,900 per month. As a cruise ship nurse, your compensation will depend on the type of ship, your job responsibilities, and your work experience and specialties. Nurse staffing agencies report that cruise ship nurses can earn between $4,000-$5,000 a month. For nurses who love to travel, a nursing job on a cruise ship or yacht may be the perfect job. Working with a typically small medical staff, nurses often have the opportunity to provide one-on-one medical care for the guests or team members on board the ship. While licensing requirements differ across the states, all nurses are responsible for keeping their licenses current.
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If you’re interested in travel and adventure, and don’t mind working under short-term contracts, find out how to become a cruise ship nurse and more. If you're interested in becoming a cruise ship nurse, check out different cruise line websites to look for open positions. Nurse staffing agencies might also know of cruise ship nurse opportunities that you haven't found. Missionary nurses travel overseas to deliver nursing care and Christian counseling.
BSN Degree
A career as a cruise ship nurseoffers RNs the unique opportunity to live at sea and travel the world while earning an attractive salary and saving on living expenses. These nurses work with small healthcare teams to provide an array of services, like routine wellness checks and emergency management. As registered nurses (RNs), cruise ship nurses earn an average annual salary of $77,600, with food and lodging included. They need strong communication and interpersonal skills, knowledge of maritime safety regulations, and clinical expertise. Payscale reports the current average salary for RNs in the U.S. as $68,820 annually, or $31.32 an hour.
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An active nursing license in any state is also required as well as current ACLS and Basic Life Support (BLS) certifications. Smaller cruise lines, such as Viking River Cruises, require only 2 years of nursing experience, yet hospitality and yachting experience is valued for the position. A work Visa will also be required when working as a nurse outside of the U.S. Nurses must also possess certification in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and have an active RN license. Qualified nurses who speak multiple languages such as Mandarin or Japanese are in high demand on cruise lines.
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Speaking a language in addition to English will boost your chances to land a position. Many RNs who choose to work as cruise ship nurses are motivated primarily by the opportunity to travel and the flexibility of short-term contracts. On the Royal Caribbean cruise line, nurses are required to have at least 3 years’ experience in an emergency or intensive care unit (ICU) setting.
Promote excellence in nursing by enabling future and current nurses with the education and employment resources they need to succeed. Integrity Network members typically work full time in their industry profession and review content for NurseJournal.org as a side project. All Integrity Network members are paid members of the Red Ventures Education Integrity Network. Some additional good news is that nurses usually get weeks or months off between contracts, allowing for plenty of vacation time.
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This guide covers the states, cities, specializations, and workplaces that offer the highest pay for RNs. NurseJournal.org is committed to delivering content that is objective and actionable. To that end, we have built a network of industry professionals across higher education to review our content and ensure we are providing the most helpful information to our readers. Prescriptive authority varies and depends on the state in which the NP is licensed. Some states confer full authority to prescribe; others limit prescriptive authority and require collaboration with a physician.
While cruise ship nurses do not need specialty certifications, the major cruise lines pay higher salaries for NPs with certifications in areas like coronary care and emergency and intensive care nursing. The working life of a nurse onboard a yacht or cruise ship is very different than most healthcare settings. Shifts can be anywhere from 4-12 hours along with the expectation of taking calls for emergencies after hours.
Cruise ship nurses get to enjoy life on the seas as well as decent salaries. ZipRecruiter estimates that cruise ship nurses earn an average of $81,396 per year, though ZipRecuriter also estimates that more than half of current cruise ship nurses earn less. Glassdoor reports that Royal Carribean nurses earn an estimated base pay of $97,894 per year. Note that contract conditions vary based on cruise line and experience, and first-time cruise ship nurses probably earn less than what ZipRecruiter and Glassdoor report. Very experienced RNs may find staff positions on privately owned luxury yachts, meeting the healthcare needs of a small number of guests. While salaries tend to run higher than cruise ship nursing, nurses working on yachts may have to perform supplemental duties as stewards, housekeepers, or deckhands.
Days off offer opportunities for exploration when the ship is in port. Cruise ship nurses typically work under temporary contracts and can take as much time off as they want between assignments. Major cruise lines also equip ships with full medical facilities, including labs, a pharmacy, X-ray equipment, and more. Of course, cruise ship nurses still must make due with what's available to them onboard the ship. At the RN level, expect to spend 1-4 years earning a diploma or degree and an additional 2-3 years working as a nurse in a clinical setting. Like any other nursing career, working as a cruise ship nurse comes with its ups and downs.
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Becoming an RN can be challenging, requiring good study skills and time management. Once you have earned your nursing degree and RN license, you will need to get at least two years of clinical experience before applying for cruise ship nursing positions. As the cruise industry recovers from the COVID-19 shutdown, more cruise ship positions will become available. Cruise ship nurses perform basic first aid and make triage decisions. Although shifts can last hours, most cruise ship nurses work in rotation with other healthcare staff, with scheduled time off on board and offshore.