By William Ysaguirre (Freelance Writer)
BELIZE CITY, Wed. Aug. 20, 2025
The cruise ship industry has provided thousands of jobs for Belizean tour operators, tour guides, taxi drivers and other tourism professionals, as well as income-earning opportunities for thousands more in the food and entertainment sector, and handicraft artisans. Now, Carnival Cruises is inviting young Belizeans to join them and see the world, with exciting careers aboard ship.
Forty students from Anglican Cathedral College, Gwen Lizarraga High, Nazarene High, Sadie Vernon Technical High School, and the Hope Center after-school program were guests of the Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest cruise company, which hosted their visit aboard the Carnival Paradise cruise ship on Tuesday, August 19. They were able to observe daily cruise operations up close in their guided tour of the ship’s public guest areas, and they learnt of the various shipboard career opportunities available from Carnival’s learning and development manager, John Philip Ortega, who gave an overview of Carnival Cruise Line’s recruitment process.
The students were inspired by the experience, which gave them a firsthand look at cruise industry operations from Carnival’s perspective. They learned first-hand of the respective roles and functions of the senior officers aboard ship from Captain Ivan Vatovic; chief engineer, Domenico Bibita; hotel director, Vivek Menon; food and beverage director, Stephen Kim Reynolds; human resources director, Daniel Marques De Oliveira; and environmental officer Daniela Ramos Licon.
The Belize Tourism Board partnered with Carnival to organize the visit as part of an initiative to inspire the young people with the prospect of future careers in the maritime industry.
“Partnering with Carnival Corporation has supported us to expose Belizean youth to viable career paths within the tourism sector,” enthused BTB cruise relations specialist Kwame Scott. “When students can see firsthand how the cruise industry operates, it opens their minds to possibilities they may never have considered,” he said.
The Hope Center director, Julian Mortis, praised the program’s powerful educational value in an interview with 7News Belize. “The students got more than just a glimpse of life aboard a cruise ship, as they learned about the roles and requirements for the crew, which made them realize that a career on a ship was a real and achievable possibility for them, with the exciting opportunity to travel the world”, she said.
