Each day, millions of Americans make their daily commute. They spend hours in cars, riding buses, waiting for subways, or hopping on trains. They slowly trickle into the office, where they will spend most of their day in front of a computer screen. Given today’s economy, many people consider themselves lucky to be heading to work every day, and in some cases they are.

However there is hope for the adventurous soul who fears being trapped behind a desk most of the day. With a little know-how, persistence, spirit, and no known predisposition to sea sickness, anything is possible.

Life on a cruise ship provides a truly unusual experience. Most of the time, you are miles away from shore and any semblance to what many call a normal life. It may seem that you are riding on a floating amusement park, constantly surrounded by crowds of fun-seeking passengers, abundant amounts of food and alcoholic beverages, as well as new and exciting destinations every couple of days.

As a cruise-line employee, you get to travel to some of the most beautiful places in the world, without spending a dime. Maybe you’ve always wanted to island-hop in Greece, to taste authentic Pad Thai or Kimchi, or wander past the bright lights of Tokyo. Whatever your dream may be, you can travel halfway around the world, even if you have college loans or credit-card debt looming over your head.

With no living expenses, you save lots of money. For many positions, the pay isn’t too shabby, not to mention that many of the companies that hire are offshore, which means Uncle Sam won’t dip too deep into your paycheck.

The major employers in the cruise ship industry are Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, and Royal Caribbean International. Other employers to look out for are Disney Cruise Line, Crystal Cruises, Seabourn, and Holland America Line. Each employer, whether it is a theme cruise or luxury cruise, is different, but every single line has abundant jobs available from which to choose.

Possible job opportunities include: crew member, activities manager, cruise staff, childcare services, disc jockeys, stage and production managers, musicians, light, sound, and broadcast technicians, riggers, stage staff, open deck manager, sports staff, cruise program administrator, cruise director, and the list goes on.

Cruises want to ensure that their passengers are never bored; therefore, they need constant entertainment. Are you a yoga instructor? If so, apply! Are you a travel photographer looking for inexpensive transport to your next destination? If so, offer travel photography classes on board.

Depending on the job you obtain, your experience can vary greatly. Positions like Cruise Director are harder to come by, but Micha Berman, author of Permanent Passenger, My Life on a Cruise Ship was one of the lucky few to land the job. Berman recounts the time he spent aboard Carnival Cruise Lines as an Assistant Cruise Director.

He noted the dichotomy of the desires of many of his peers. Just like him, they found cruise life exciting and challenging; however, similar to the worker bee who sits in front of a computer all day, he always longed for more. There was a constant divide between the longing for adventure and the longing for stability. “Everyone on land wants to be adrift at sea and many at sea, dream of being on land. It was the aquatic Murphy’s Law,” he writes.

Despite the promise of an ever-changing horizon as well as the most amazing sights you could imagine, the reality is cruise ship jobs are not for the faint of heart. They are hard work and require lots of hours. For most employees, there are no days off while at sea. There is always something that needs to be done and guests that need to be entertained. If you complain about working a 40-hour work week, five days a week, imagine working a 70-hour work week, seven days a week. Depending on the company you work for, the route you are on, and the amount of passengers aboard the ship, you may get some free time when the ship docks. This is what makes this job worthwhile to many job seekers.

On a ship, employees must abide by certain rules: no gambling, no dancing at the clubs, and no engaging in romantic trysts with passengers. However many employees deceive their way into participating in the ship’s festivities.

Saskia Evers, currently a language teacher in Montreal, worked as a stewardess for the luxury cruise line Seabourn. On most routes, she traveled from Vancouver to Alaska, and eventually crossed the Pacific to Southeast Asia. She visited cities such as Hakodate, Osaka, Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul, and Hong Kong.

The exotic locales proved to be an amazing experience, but the job was strenuous. She worked for three months with no days off and worked anywhere from nine to 12-hour days. On the day of embarkation, she would work up to 16 hours. The long hours didn’t seem to bother her too much though.

Said Evers, “Everyday was intense, exciting, challenging and yes at times exhausting, but the advantages far outweighed the disadvantages.”

With Internet access on the ship, workers had the chance to send out an occasional e-mail, when time allowed. Phone booths at each port served as another means to contact family and friends back home. Evers attributes her adjustment to sea life as simple, mostly because she didn’t have much free time to worry. Her work schedule kept her very busy. After all, she was young, single, and had a great love for travel.

Most of the companies’ official websites provide information about employment, as well as links to separate employment websites where the job seeker can browse through available positions on the ship. Many companies do work through travel agencies and often list the agencies on the official website. If they do not, you should call the cruise line and find out with which agencies they work.

There are many fraudulent services advertised on the Internet that promise a dream job but have no connection to the cruise liners. Beware of these faulty promises. Once an applicant gives his “deposit” or money for a uniform, he no longer hears back from the fake travel agency. Therefore, always contact cruise line companies directly.

If you decide that the lifestyle at sea is for you, then you need to figure out just how to score a job on a cruise ship. Most cruise lines have similar basic requirements. First and foremost, you must be over 21, except for entertainers who can get away with being 18. Next, you must be in good health, since many companies require employees to pass a physical. Health facilities on board are minimal at best, and you may be hundreds of miles away from any medical facility on land. For your own safety, you should assess whether or not you are healthy enough to be away at sea.

Foreign language skills are always a plus, and English is usually essential. Customer service experience will give you an edge over other applicants. Although it seems obvious you will be surrounded by lots of people at all times. If you aren’t a people person, you need not apply. Most positions require an outgoing, friendly personality.

Space is also limited on board; therefore, you have to be able to handle the lack of privacy. More often than not, you will have a roommate and if you are lucky enough to have your own room expect it to be minuscule.

Above all else, you will need an adventurous spirit to get you through the day. Cruise ship jobs attract people with the desire to be constantly on the move, the desire to see all that can be seen. After all, most people want to travel the world, but who is willing to make the sacrifices to do so?

The hours are long, and you will be far from the stability of home, but choose your job wisely, and you won’t be in front of a computer all day. You will also be far from any desk and office building; rather, you will be sailing into the blue water backdrop on your way to the next port.

There are many opportunities to be a part of the voyage. All you need to do is contact human resources or the entertainment department and offer your services. With any luck, they could be hiring.