Royal Caribbean Cruises reservation center to hire 100

Royal Caribbean Cruises is hiring 100 new employees for its Wichita reservation center, located at 4729 S. Palisade. The hiring will be in four phases this fall and winter as it ramps up for the busy winter season, said Mike Semler, the company's director of trade support and services in Wichita.

"We're gearing up for 2012," Semler said. "Our first three months are our busiest times."

The jobs, which begin at $9.89 an hour with incentives available after 90 days, are entry-level reservations jobs for the company's Celebrity Cruises brand.

Twenty-five new workers will be added Oct. 24, with two shifts of 25 hired in November and a final shift in December.

Based in Miami, Royal Caribbean has more than 58,000 employees, including 550 in Wichita.

Currently, Royal Caribbean has about 500 applications for the jobs, Semler said, but is still accepting online applications. Visit jobs.rccl.com to apply.

The Wichita office handles all Celebrity Cruises calls from travel agents, along with other calls for Royal Caribbean.

"Our hiring comes in phases, but we haven't had this big of a hiring push in a few years," Semler said. "Celebrity does have some new ships coming onboard, and business has been pretty resilient to the economy. The good news is that people still value their vacation time."

New employees get discounted cruising after six months and a free cruise after a year, Semler said.

And they're eligible for the company's career progression plan, with Royal Caribbean emphasizing promoting from within. Promotion opportunities exist in the company's group sales, loyalty, corporate guest relations and management sectors.

"They're always eligible for other jobs once they learn the foundation of our business, which takes about three months," Semler said.

Royal Caribbean was formed in 1968 by Anders Wilhelmsen & Co., I.M. Skaugen & Co. and Gotaas Larsen, all Norwegian shipping companies. Its first cruise ship was launched in 1970.

Royal Caribbean's Wichita facility opened in 1997 as a backup for the company's reservation center in Miami.

The company reported $6.7 billion in revenue in 2010, according to Internet reports.

This story was originally published October 14, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Royal Caribbean Cruises reservation center to hire 100."