My experience as an Acupuncturist on a Cruise Ships

I also had a very different experience. What ship and what spa manager did you have??? I have completed two contracts and getting ready to do a third. Yes, its hard work, yes its demanding-however the rewards/positives definitely outweigh the negatives. I only worked 52 hours per week-I made sure of that. My first contract was more difficult than my second because I didn't understand ship life yet. Now I go on, and know what to expect and how to get around the negative factors.

I agree with the fact that there are little job opportunities for acupuncturists-and if I could have graduated and stepped into a full time practice making over $1000 per week, I would have. However that isn't the reality and I am happy that an opportunity exists somewhere. I have saved a great deal of money working on ships, and gained a lot of experience as well. I will open my own practice eventually, but with some money saved-experience earned-and confidence built. Instead of being negative, I am grateful that I can work within my field (instead of having to get a second job in an unrelated field like so many of my friends that graduated acupuncture school has had to do).

I have found it really easy to build a practice week after week with so many people on board wanting to try acupuncture. I wish it was this easy on land! I have had times that I felt like you, working so hard-but ultimately, I am happy making money doing what I love and I take very long vacations between contracts so that I can rest.

I have had an adventure of a lifetime out there. I am sorry you had such a bad experience. Although I have learned, it is what you make of it!

Hope things improve for you!

My experience as an acupuncturist with Steiner holds more pluses than minuses.

It seems obvious to me that there are a number of factors that could vary experience from one practitioner to another, other than just personality alone. The size of the ship, the itinerary & the resulting demographics all play a crucial role in how busy one will be.

I've only done two contracts, but it's been enough time spent on the same ship, seeing the changing faces of passengers on the ship - the age, the nationality, etc. A 10 day cruise leaving England for the Baltic in June will provide a dramatically different demographic than that of a 5-day Caribbean cruise leaving Florida in March. For acupuncture, the Baltic cruise will pack a lot more interest.

Describing life on a ship is difficult. It's so different. If you are an adaptable person you should be able to hack it. It has a harshness about it for sure, and I'll admit to having used St. John's Wort (which worked really well) on occasion for mild depression.

As far as dealing with management, you must realize that YOU are running a business. You must pull the reins on that business, see things in their place, identify where your attention will benefit your busyness. So there's no need to get caught up in all the hoopla, don't let someone else's pressure be your own.

One of the most crucial and rewarding aspects of your acupuncture practice on the ship will be promoting and giving seminars. This is where I pull in 95% of my clientele. If you can speak about your art and convince people it's worth trying, then you will be busy. These seminars do a world of good for promoting acupuncture overall and I'm sure land-based acupuncturists have benefited from them.

I've been lucky enough to have earned, on average, $4500-5000 per month. Depending on whether you gave a single treatment, it was a package deal, and if you got tipped, you receive $25-40/treatment. This is, for many of us, WITHOUT EXPENSES (maybe other than debt payments). You'd have a hard time beating all that cash on land, until you're well established in a good area. For those of us that are recently out of school it's one of the best opportunities for a single person.

Now is the cruise industry, is Steiner, taking advantage of it's workers. Well, this is a no-brainer. Are spa people overworked? Uh, yeah. Am I. Uh, no. I make my own schedule, work 40-50 hours/week. While that's already a lot of hours for me, it's different on the ship. You walk to work and all your meals are prepared for you.

So...... this can be a great opportunity AND there's always some drawback. But, hopefully, if you get in the right situation, you have a good outlook, can speak to people and attract them to your business, and you're adaptable, you can stay on the positive side as I have.

I'm going back for more.....

..... and i didn't even mention all of the beautiful places i've been to......................

Response to 2nd commentator who wrote "Wow that has not been my experience..."

First of all you are absolutely correct that Steiner can not control to make all ships potentially profitable for all Acupucnturists to earn $1000/week. I think that is exactly the point the original author was trying to make.

Secondly, there is a quota for how much product steiner demands to be sold for each worker including the Acupuncturist. This is a enormous pressure and if you fail to make quota continuously then ultimately the worker will be reprimanded with more useless training that make the worker even more over worked.

Thirdly, you can not be prepared enough for this job no matter who you are. It's a twelve hour shift with only 1.5 days off per week. Plus on the last night of the cuise week all workers including Acupuncturist must participate in port cleaning (cleaning treatment rooms) and mandatory meeting which make it become 14 to 15 hour shift on that day.

Additionally there are other miscelaneous mandatory chores for staff member of the ship to participate in drills and safety classes. Not to mention strict regulations that limits your freedom on the ship.

Also, the so called training Steiner provide is heavily focussed on selling there product line that has nothing to do with Acupuncture. Not to mention the outrageous prices they expect workers to sell it for. Like someone said this is a business and it is definitely geared toward making money at all cost to workers who was willing to have come so far to work for them (Steiner.)

The ship's life is nothing like you have ever experienced. It's operation is conducted in heirachecal manner ordered by officers and rest of the crew is treated as second or third class mates (citizens.) Ship's inside culture below the passengers deck is a domain where lines are clearly drawn between the have and have nots (of stripes.)

Finally the original commentators intention was to shed some light on matters that are not shared by Steiners recruitment to prevent negative image. If there is any negativity in the truth than it's certainly not the original commentators fault or intention. It's just the way truth is sometimes.

It's very suspicious to have someone seemingly so defensive and protective on Steiners behalf. If you really are currently working on the ship you should know how physically and emotionally draining it is to work at Steiners Spa. Employees are over worked and under paid and the major topic of many conversation among workers are feelings of animosity toward management and yearnings to return home.

Most workers at the Spa comes from econimically strained society and sure they are considered previliged compared to others back home but they are enormously strained by unrelenting demands to make more money for the Spa and being burned out is just matter of time and if you say you are immune to this condition then you must of been working for another company other than Steiner.

I think this issue can only seem negative to those who have a stake in protecting Steiners policy and position. I personally haven't met any Acupuncturist who haven't negative complaints toward Steiner.

Steiner provides a rare opportunity for work to some what jobless market for Acupuncturists but at the same time it's far from being a great career opportunity either. For the amount of same effort and time it can be more beneficial for the future cause to focuss on building you own practice on land where home belongs.

For those of you who are fresh out of school and adventurous with endless source of energy this opportunity might interest you,but it is definitely not for everyone and in order to determine that you need to know the negative as well as the positive. I don't see any wrong in shedding a light on negative issues. What is purpose of covering up the truth in first place. This world is not perfect and we are mature enough to know the raw truth if we are going to commit to a six month contract with Steiner.

Ofcourse during the course of your stay onboard there are wonderful opportunity to travel and meet people from all over the world and it's very fun and exciting at times spend time with new friends you'll make but at the end it has to be worth it to stay away so long from home and enduring a long contract that will eventually wear you out.

Let's not sweep the truth under the rug instead we should confront it face to face and make an informed decision about your own career path.

I totally agree and I think we may have had that short kinda fat British a-hole guy and his American ionerthermy girlfriend (she sleeps with the manager and they get free treatments from us when they want). I forgot their names. I was on Liberty of the Seas in 2007. You?

I worked on the Liberty of the Seas and loved it. I suppose everyone has a different experience. I met my fiance on board and now I arrange my contracts around him. I made average money, around $800 a week. I think I could have done better with a different itinerary, however that was enough for me to leave with a savings (and a husband!).

Working at sea can be difficult, but so can everything else. I think its what you make of it. Some people don't like to travel, and if that is the case, then I can see how this job could be difficult-as working on board really reminded me of traveling through Europe when I graduated college-always meeting new people and always feeling somewhat ungrounded-but always excited about each days adventure.

Reading the above blog really reminded me of how different peoples experience can be as I didn't experience anything like that and I lived on the Liberty for 6 months.For those interested, I recommend talking to a variety of different people that have worked on board. Everyone will give you a slightly different perspective-and all are important if you are thinking of making a commitment. It is a great opportunity for some of us, its just important to determine whether or not its a great opportunity for you.

hi!

it is quite amazing that steiner transocean do not cause many more comments from their previous employees at sea. it is not important if one were employed in their onboard spa/beauty/fitness centers as cosmetician (beauty th.) or podiatrist or massage th. or even a manager. most of the people were overworked, underappreiated and mistreated during the length of their contracts at sea.

reading this and some other experiences here on this site -- came to understanding that some people are meditating of organizing "union defence" or alike form of resistence to steiners prior signing employment contact with them or after once finding themselves aboard and starting work in their salons and other premises previously mentioned...

to kill this idea at first -- i would like to point that there is no such thing as "unionized" approach when dealing with them. these people... steiners are private owned company, their trust of firms is registered offshore, their owner is non-scroupulous, their office staff incapable and uninterested (parasites, whose salaries are payed from income made on the ships directly by seagoing employed staff)...

this company steiner is expanding year after year, acquiring other companies in business and eliminating them out of the biz game. they did that firstly with coiffeur transocean (company i started to work with back in the 90s), then in early 2000's they bought mandara spa. also greenhouse later on ,etc.

thing is -- they know how to do business of exploitation young, inexperienced, people with qualifications like massage th., hairdressing, fitness instr., and in newer time even people with college degrees like acupuncturists.

they use tricks and gimmicks making networks of international recruitment agents directly and a number of "cruise line employment agencies" indirectly to do this.

me, myself am physiotherapist with master's degree (msc pt) and have started to work as massage therapist with coiffeur transocean back in 1992. right after graduating from school. at that time masseurs have been payed a way better then now, and were not overworked like they are now with steiners.

i will not speak about percentages here as that is past tense. ships were smaller, older, pax. load less, we worked from 6-8hours daily and cleaning was out of pleasure and not out of being pushed to do it as it is now.

atmosphere: better, 6-12 people in salon/spa teams, i still remember so many nice details from that time.

i am still a friend with some people i met along working on the ships then.

team was mostly british, sa, kiwi, australian in origin and i was a rare breed coming from republic of slovenia, small country in middle/central europe.

anyway, when steiners took over, the new system of brain-drain, retail/lash/push was enforced and the most of all i hated -- steiner "managers". people who were educated to perform beauty/hair work, being promoted "from within" toward management positions leading teams without knowledge, style and finesse to do that.

most of the time i was the most educated person in the team and managed by beautician who get that position thanks to ability to sell a lot of steiner cosmetic products or having sex with decission maker.

steiner is really a company that can be explained like in previous sentence. selling.

services come third or not of significant importance.

people suffer and are attracted with false promises and get soon dissapointed. and willing to leave.

steiner charges for all expences includind "training" on their so-called "maritime training academy" in harrow weald in london. airfare, accomodation, uniforms are being payed out of employees pocket and one might feel more like buying a franchise doing this, then to get regular employment aboard !

situation with acupuncturists is as i see better then with the rest -- single cabin allotment, independence in work and a way higher percentage then the others 20% compared with 7,25%.

tip is a part that make the most of employees income for those working in service providing posts aboard cruise ship -- so the idea of that is something i will not be discussing here.

i will continue this writing as soon as i receive any comment from readers that will point me in some particular direction of their interest and i might be able to answer that based on experience and informations i might have.

in the meantime -- good luck and may your career decission be right :) !

cruise pt--

Wow, sounds like you had it bad, no doubt. Me, I&#39ve done 4 contracts and left on good terms with the company. No question about it, Steiner is a very exploitive, dysfunctional, 19th Century style of company. Managers can make or break your contract. Luckly I had pretty decent managers - all of them were younger than me and female, so we typically got along fairly well with me being a older male with a strong military leadership background.

Actually, I think having a military background at least mentally prepared me for the constraints (to put it politely) of ship life and spa life. I was definitely not the typical Acupuncturist on board as I was mid-career acupuncture-wise.

If this experience were for anyone, I&#39d say that its for those fresh-out-of-school, those looking to retire soon and travel cheap, or those who are suffering from stagnation of one sort or another.

You absolutely have to take control of your on-board practice, get it out of the hands of the manager who usually doesn&#39t have a clue one what to do with it anyway. I completely eliminated any "desk duty" by means of what I call "intentional incompetence" - I screwed up the bookings so bad that land-based management put a standing order of no more desk duty. That taken care of, I nailed down my schedule so that every manager followed my lead.

I really positioned myself as one person they didn&#39t have to worry about. So they left me alone.

The money was at times lacking, usually $800 - $1000 per week. I pretty much ignored the whole retail issue, using the herbs as appropriate. I managed to keep my dignity and itegrity during my time with Steiner.

If you are not a strong personality, just find something else, this is just not for you!

Can someone please tell me what sort disorders or dysfucntion does one come across on the cruise, since these are short trips the follows would be very difficult.

Thanks

Nilesh

Well, I wish I had read the reviews prior to working on the ships with Steiner. It is great in one way as I was straight out of a 4 years degree and the different conditions were excellent to treat. Being my second career I found myself conselling the Spa team and treating Carpal Tunnel and Shen disturbance continually.

When you arrive it is like strict high school with the military demands. You do learn to adjust after several people yelling at you...once I ate an apple in the I95 and was repremanded servely by security!?!!

Unlike the massage therapists who work way too many hours, if we as TCM Dr&#39s did not diagnose our brains would not function like theirs. Most are on too party and have a good time and your Manager can make or break you. Ours was fired for sexual harrassment and was, if I may say, an American Douche Bag!

My advice is the bigger the ship and the older the clietale/guests the better is it is for you. I now know the ropes and if I do decide to go again I will have a different game plan. If the contract is only 3 months it would be much better as I was contracted for 7. The time on the ship goes fast and it also goes very slow...you need a great itinery to make $$$. The cruise line makes all the difference...do your homework.

I hope that helps some people who are considering the work......and remember you can always leave. They tell you a fine must be paid, but everyone who left the ship never paid it to Steiner. We had people coming and going all the time in our spa...huge turnover.

thanks and good Qi to you

Jingmaster: ...haha you make a good point all around ! I am sure you can tell some great stories : ) !!

It really is amazing how different the experiences and perceptions are for those who worked on ships. My experience actually was glamorous because I got to travel all over the world, literally. I don&#39t just mean a few countries here, I was world cruising. I never once felt like I was pushing myself on people or pressing them for tips, or retail for that matter. When people were happy with the results, I just said, spread the word, tell your table, let people know that it helped you and that helps me. The other thing that was crucial was rebooking. Acupuncture is not a one treatment miracle so let people know up front. I told them that in my seminars. . . give it at least 3 sessions to see what it can do, bla bla bla. I was almost always the busiest person in the spa. I also kept my friends in the spa very busy, to the point I had people asking for trades because they wanted me to promote them. Yes I worked hard. Yes I was exhausted by the time I went on vacation. Yes I loved it anyway. Honestly, prove yourself on your first ship and you can soon find yourself in Egypt, Dubai, India, Myanmar, Antarctica, The Amazon, Austrailia, Jordan where ever! I went to every place I just mentioned, btw. I know a lot of people who haven&#39t even heard of some of the countries I have been too. If you love to travel and are looking for a way to do it, go for it. If you need tips on how to be successful and how to get good ships so you can actually go to all of these fun places, I am more than willing to give advice and share what worked for me.

I was interested in a postion on Steiners as an acupuncturist. After reading the comments I decided to do some homework. I contacted the company and asked questions that most therapists had issues with. My main concerns were about pay,hours,training and if I need to recruite clients. All of the complaints about this company are true. I do need to recruite my own clients. It is a commission based pay. I would not get paid for training or a hotel room. There are too many negatives for me to say " yes". I feel that a company that makes so much money IS taking advantage of their employees. Glad I checked this site first.

my daughter is experiencing the same treatment. She quit her 2 jobs, sold off most of her belongings and borrowed money from ME to fund this experience of a lifetime. She is a hairstylist and travelled to the UK to Steiners INFAMOUS Academy. When she arrived in the UK she was at the YMCA as told in her interview. The so called medical that she had to pay 250 pounds for consisted of a chest xray and listening to her lungs. That was it. After a week they put her in a "host home" i was never told about such living arrangements prior to her leaving. She was told by the "host home mother" that she was not allowed to be on SKYPE because it was noisey. She had a curfew of 10 pm even though the Y was 11. One night she was given permission to stay out past curfew because of a going away party for a classmate leaving for SHIP....she was then locked out of the host home and i had to put a hotel room on a credit card so that she would not have to sleep on the streets. STEINER doesn&#39t care about the safety of the girls. She was then dicked around constantly and people were arriving and getting placements within a week, girls far less superior with their skills. Because my daughter was a bit heavier and didn&#39t look as slutty as the others she was not given placement. After 5 weeks and no money left it was just her and the other, as she called "FAT" girl left in class. She was used to teach the classes while the instructor left the room to go do whatever. Incidentally in light of the Costa Concordia disaster i find it funny that STEINER does not do any training on ship safety. NOTHING cruisers..NOTHING....so when the staff arrive at the SHIP and are expected to work immediately they know nothing about safety procedures. They are immediately made to "guide" passengers to safety should a disaster occurr, just like on CONCORDIA.....the staff didnt&#39 know what to do. FINALLY she was given her ship, the instructor told her they had selected this ship just for her. She was flown to New York to board a plane the next day for her Port. She was picking up the Ship midway thru it&#39s journey. I had to foot the bill for the New York Hotel even though she was told they would pay and they didn&#39t. WHen she arrived at the Port she had 5 minutes to spare before the ship left port. Steiner had not informed the spa manager she was coming, or so she said. THe spa manager was EVIL to her from the get go. Treating her and others like lowlifes. She was harassed about her "appearance, her image wasn&#39t Steiner material" well then why the heck didn&#39t they weed her out at the initial interview. They wanted her money that&#39s why. She was treated in a manner that would have the employer charged with harrassment in Canada. I guess there are no laws at sea. She was threatened to be kicked off in foreign ports with no money , luggage or passport. Finally she was told by SHIP STAFF and note i have not used any cruise name YET.....because i did post something on their website and she was harrassed almost immediately. I&#39m sure they have "lurkers" on their pages who report back immediately. She was called to the ship office and told that they want her off the boat she is a trouble maker. I booked her a flight back to Canada which they approved only to be told 2 days later NO she coudl not board that flight and mUST book another that was a direct flight with no stopovers in teh USA.....I have now paid for 2 flights home for her with no chance of reimbursement. We are out thousands of dollars. All you people who think its glamourous...IT IS NOT.....my parents, her grandparents even surprised her on the ship.....we were all so excited about it. THey arrived for the spa tour, she saw her grandma&#39s face and burst out in tears with joy. She was told by the spa manager to "FIX HER MAKEUP THAT"S NOT A STEINER GIRL".....my mother went on to book her hair appointment only to have the manager say "we have many talented girls i can book you with" my mother wanted her GRANDDAUGHTER...the ()&&* spa manager was actually diverting clients away from my daughter, her own grandmother almost didn&#39t get a booking. SO GO TO HELL STEINER when you say these girls and guys can make lots of money, NOT if they don&#39t whore themselves out for you and adhere to all your brainwashing. Beware you have not heard the last of me or others. The media will be all over this in light of all the cruiseship crap lately...........you are low life bottom feeders STEINER>......

ACUPUNCTURE AT SEA

lastmonth I worked with Steiner for 15 days as an Acupuncturist on Disney Dream
Cruise to know their work procedure and environment, so that I should send the
Acupuncturists from my country to learn the skills in Acupuncture . They are
providing Acupuncture worldwide on cruise lines. Working on sea is a wonderful
experience for those who are new in Acupuncture and want to travel free of
cost. They are offering this service on the cruise along with their Spa
Department. The status of the Acupuncturist is of officer grade, so lot of
respect is given to the acupuncturist by the whole cruise staff. Free
accommodation and free food is available on board, which makes the journey
exciting. Lot of things to be learned during this period. You will learn how to
communicate with the new guests and to tell them about acupuncture, which makes
you perfect in your coming practice. Upper staff like Dan Brown (Director
Operations) and Stephanie (Manager) are very cooperative and you can discuss
your problems with them directly. Both are senior Acupuncturists, so can better
understand your woes. Sometimes differences with the Spa managers occur, but
you can consult with Dan Brown in this regard and the problem can be solved
easily

I worked on the different cruise lines with different managers and I do agree with all the comments and I can relate to all of them. Acupuncturist work under spa managers who has very little education and get their position with playing politics and creating connections with senior managements and giving sexual favors in return of getting the position. Acupuncturists get their position with education and don’t know how to play politics and usually spa managers are jealous of our education and wants to provoke us. In addition of my own experience and meeting with other acupuncturists that worked with steiner, I never heard of any Acupuncturist that don’t have a problem with management. You work in the spa with south african, jamaican, British hairstylist, nail tech, facialist massage therapist fitness instructor all of the sudden they become your boss and talk down to you and boss you around.

If you have a problem with a manager, steiner never gets the practitioner side almost all the time gets the managers side. It is very unfair.

Acudocs_Adventure = it is great you are enjoying your time but not all the acupuncturist are on their 60s like you and have grandchildren.

Mpahl02 = obviously you have worked with Steiner’s Acupuncture sales and revenue! if it is a great of an opportunity, you wouldn’t quit years ago already.

Danish= this page is about advising acupuncturists the truth not lies yes Dan and Stephanie can be helpful but they have a lot of supervisors and bosses. You only lasted 3 weeks on your first contract onboard Disney Dream because you had a problem with a manager who started on Disney painting little girl’s toes and all of the sudden became your manager and made your life miserable and took the acupuncturist cabin and gave it to the receptionist and no acupuncturist were able to get it back!! on every cruise line receptionist have to share a cabin.

If you are thinking about working on the cruise ship and you have a job opportunity on land, I recommend to stay on land and go on the cruise as a passenger. I work so much less on land and make much more money.