Cruise is widely tipped as the fastest expanding sector of the travel industry, yet qualifications focused on this sector have been scarce. Southampton, Europe’s most popular port, was the natural place to buck that trend.

This year, levels two and three of the City & Guilds diploma in Travel and Tourism at Southampton City College have included cruise elements for the first time, with Clia director Andy Harmer involved in their creation.

Though cabin crew is still the career aim of the majority of students, cruise is also popular, says travel and tourism teacher Pippa Booker: “Because we’re in Southampton obviously we’re right on the ports, so a lot of students will go into cruising, and even if not directly, then perhaps something associated with it like the hotels.”

From September the level three course will include a tour-guiding unit, equipping students to ultimately lead shore excursions of Southampton.

Former students have gone on to work in sales for Holland America Line and as a planning coordinator for Cunard and P&O, helping recruit staff for the company’s new ship Britannia.

Student Chloe Perkins, 17, who has just completed level two, was inspired to study following work experience in a travel agency while studying tourism at GCSE level.

“That opened my mind; before that I was focused on cabin crew,” she says. “I was with Bath Travel, which is quite cruise-orientated. Cruise is much better known about than it used to be and it’s not just for older people anymore.”

Perkins, who enjoys customer-facing roles, has ambitions to work for Royal Caribbean International, Princess Cruises and Celebrity Cruises in the UK or even in Miami. She already has a seasonal job, checking in cruise passengers: “It’s made me 100% want to pursue cruise as a career. I love my job and it’s a foot in the door.”

Ex-navy recruit

Another student, Sarah Hayes, 35, has had a less than linear path into cruise. She’s worked in financial services but developed her cruising bug as a navy steward on HMS Invincible with postings from Iraq to Washington DC - where she served at a state dinner attended by Bill Clinton.

“That was really exciting,” she says, “and it gave me a taste for travel. I thought I might as well train in something I enjoy.”

“We’re in the right place, we work closely with the cruise lines and they really like what we’re doing”

Having discovered through the course that she has a flair for presenting, Hayes now has ambitions to be a port presenter, giving information about tours and accompanying passengers.

Both Hayes and Perkins say the chance to attend the Clia conference, which included ship visits of MSC Opera and others, was a course highlight. “Without the course I never would have had the opportunity,” says Perkins.

Hayes adds: “It gave me the opportunity to meet people and get my name out there, which will help when I’m looking for a job.”

Further cruise-specialist knowledge can be gained through the Clia Cruise Master Accreditation online training course, which is taught through webinars and ship visits and asks higher-level students to produce articles on their cruise experiences. Brooker recently became the first person to gain the top level, which took her a year around work commitments; Hayes is also working through the module.

Tourism degree

Southampton City College is also a feeder college for Southampton Solent University, where students can study for degrees in Tourism Management and International Tourism Management, both of which have recently gained a strong cruise content.

The degrees include six months of work experience with the likes of Royal Caribbean International, Regent Seven Seas and Norwegian Cruise Line. Most graduates will start with a land-based telesales job, but often progress to working as a guest services manager or a travel agent with a cruise specialism. One graduate with a first class degree is now on a world cruise with P&O, working as a services manager.

Senior lecturer in cruise tourism Patsy Morgan, who is doing her own PhD in cruise experiences management, says: “Southampton is the biggest port in northern Europe. We’re in the right place, we work closely with the cruise lines and they really like what we’re doing. What we hear is ‘it’s great that higher education is now beginning to cater for what the cruise industry wants’.”