Cruise Career Springboard helps third of cohort find jobs within travel sector

The Cruise Career Springboard has helped a third of last year’s cohort secure apprenticeships and jobs in the industry, more than double the previous year, its co-founder has said.

In 2024, a total of five students took up apprenticeships or jobs in the cruise sector, growing to 13 for the class of 2025 who are either in or taking up jobs with ongoing recruitment programmes.

Last year, a total of 36 travel and tourism students from three colleges took part in the nine-week, one-day-a-week course after Easter, including ship and office visits and mentoring.

Co-founder Edwina Lonsdale said it has “always been a challenge” to follow through with “actively finding jobs” for the programme’s attendees to apply for, but that the number of companies taking on apprentices in the industry “absolutely is increasing”.

“What we hope is that through the process of the Cruise Career Springboard, we’ve given the students the skills and the enthusiasm to put themselves out there and apply on the open market,” she said.

Lonsdale said the programme had seen “most success” so far with Itchen College in Southampton where a lot of cruise companies such as Carnival UK are based, adding that while the cruise giant did not have “a formalised apprenticeship programme”, several students had had success applying for entry-level jobs.

She said a LinkedIn network with the students, their mentors Jo Rzymowska, Graham Sadler, Peter Shanks and other contacts from the course were a key support for applications.

Looking ahead, she said there were more placements to come as the initiative was working with five cruise lines planning to recruit apprentices and they were also looking to “enhance” the programme for next year’s intake.

“We are looking at extending the course for next year by adding three or four weeks in the autumn term, so it is not so intense, and we keep students engaged for a longer period of time,” she added.

Lonsdale’s own company Mundy Cruising had also taken on a marketing apprentice, and Cruise2 has taken on its first apprentice.

Neal Hussey, Cruise2 head of commercial and business development, who started his career through work experience at Regent Seven Seas Cruises, said: “We are very, very keen to bring in young talent that is really hungry for a career within this industry, because that was me once.”

Hussey recommended any travel agency, tour operator or cruise line to work with the programme and called for more fam trips and ship visits designed for apprentices or those starting out in the industry to help them in their roles.

Lonsdale said she hoped companies would follow Iglu Cruise’s example of creating an apprenticeship programme out of its Portsmouth office, but said companies do not necessarily need to take on lots of people or create their own training to bring on apprentices.

She said the programme can “hold companies by the hand” throughout the process, which can “initially appear quite overwhelming and frightening”.

Lonsdale said: “Anyone can take on an apprentice and we can easily find them a training provider and create a training within that context that enhances or supports the job that they’ve offered.”