The Cruise Ship Purser manages all administrative personnel on a cruise, answering to the Chief Purser and/or hotel manager, depending on the cruise line. The Purser and his or her staff ensure smooth and accurate onboard financial operations, including auditing, revenue, and money transactions; prompt processing of legal documents with port authorities; budgeting; coordination of payroll for onboard employees; and dealing with general accounting for the ship’s food and beverage operation.
This involves considerable bookkeeping, thus the need for familiarity with computer software programs. Pursers also take part in interviewing, hiring, training, promoting, and firing personnel. The Purser usually spends some time interacting with the passengers, particularly during meals and shore excursions.
The Purser’s office spends a great deal of time with immigration and customs issues, completing port papers for clearance. Until this work is done, neither passengers nor crew can disembark from the ship. Each country—and sometimes, different ports within the same country—can have different clearance requirements. The Purser must maintain an excellent rapport with the various port authority personnel to help speed up the clearance in each port.
Whenever a ship docks at a port for the first time (or for the first time of a new season), the clearance process can take an hour or more while the port authorities check the paperwork and have breakfast. With tighter security on cruise ships these days, this may also involve a shipboard search by drug-sniffing dogs. Maintaining good relationships with dockside workers is also important to facilitate loading and unloading hundreds, or even thousands, of suitcases when the ship reaches a turnaround port where passengers will be embarking and disembarking. This helps ensure that luggage being loaded onto the ship is the right luggage, something that can be a problem when there are a number of ships departing on the same day.
On a large cruise ship, deputy and assistant Pursers aid the Chief Purser and may be assigned to specific jobs, including the direct operation of the front desk where they handle accommodation problems, complaints, changing currency, selling postage, mailing correspondence, handling safe deposit boxes, and keeping track of the passengers’ statement (folio) of onboard charges (gift shop purchases, alcoholic beverages, spa treatments, or other items). They may also track credit card accounts and currency used onboard.
Many ships now use a cashless credit program, and all items and services purchased onboard are charged to the passenger’s account. All passengers must register with the Purser’s office during embarkation, completing an application form with a major credit card or checking account debit card that is registered with a major credit card. Those passengers who do not wish to use a credit card may leave a cash deposit and must be notified whenever their charges are near the limit of that deposit. The Purser’s office provides an up-to-date balance to the passenger when requested at any time during the cruise.
The Crew Purser handles the administration of the crew, including sign-on and sign-off, cabin assignments, and crew identification cards. Because employees may be from many countries and the ship visits numerous countries, payroll may be done in cash that can run into the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. If a crewmember is disembarking because of illness or is at the end of his or her contract, then special paperwork must be completed for that employee.
Occasionally a passenger will die onboard, and it may be up to the Purser’s office to complete the paperwork so the body can be taken ashore and to help comfort the family. Because this job requires weeks and months at sea, the Purser must not be prone to motion sickness (or take medication or wear seabands to offset the effects of motion sickness) and must be able to be away from friends and family for long periods of time.
Our website is not responsible for the information contained by this article. Articleinput.com is a free articles resource thus practically any visitor can submit an article. However if you notice any copyrighted material, please contact us and we will remove the article(s) in discussion right away.
Note: This article was sent to us by: Brandon H. Porter at 09292010
1. Innovators invest in research and development
All articles are property of their respective authors. Please read our Privacy Policy!
© 2009 ArticleInput.com.
Partners: Damenmode