JD Moody is able to travel and work as cruise line server

When JD Moody graduated from Lewis County High School in 2011, he had a plan. He was going to attend Fairmont State University and study criminal justice. However, after graduating from FSU in 2013, he wasn’t quite as sure.

“I knew I didn’t want to do anything in my field,” Moody said. “So one day my dad suggested cruise ships.”

It was that one suggestion that set Moody on a new path. Moody has worked on various cruise lines since then, having gone to a job fair for Norwegian Cruise Lines right after his father’s suggestion.

“The next thing I know, I got the job interview and then I was sent to job training at High Point, Maryland,” Moody said. “That’s where I learned to be a firefighter, first-aid and all other kinds of very cool skills I can use in everyday life, and the training I need for the ship. After that, they sent me to Maui, Hawaii.”

On this cruise line, he would work for five months at a time, and then had five weeks off. But during the months he was working, it was “every day, seven days a week, for eight- to 12-hour shifts.”

“So it’s not for everybody, but if you have no problem with work and being around people, it’s truly amazing. And you get to see Hawaii,” Moody said. “You think eight to 12 hours every single day, you wouldn’t get to see a whole lot of Hawaii, but every single day, I had time to get off. We were in port every day, so the time you’re off you can run off the boat and explore all its beauty.”

Moody worked as a server during the Hawaiian cruise, but pointed out that of the 900 employees on the ship, only 200 were employed in restaurants.

“On a cruise line, it’s basically like a city. There are so many jobs. Navigation, housekeping, deckhand, mechanic, everything a city provides is on these big ships,” Moody said. “When I went to High Point for training, you can be on the firefighter team and be a server, or you can be on medical if you’re looking to be a traveling nurse or doctor. Anything you would see in big resort chain.”

He added that having worked at Stonewall Resort for a few years helped him dip his feet in the water and is one of the reasons he was able to become a server on the line.

“Places like American Cruise Line and Norwegian are desperate for skilled workers, so with that experience, it is super easy to get on — even people with good cooking experience. They always need cooks,” Moody said. “And as far as age limit goes, there is none whatsoever. I had a guy in my training class that was 60 years old, and he is still working out there to this day. There was an equal number of people in their 20s and people over the age of 40, so any one of any age can do it.”

Susan Moody, his mother, said that while JD’s job can be difficult, “he’s never been afraid of working hard.

“His first job was with the Division of Highways as a summer job, and that was 70 to 80 hours a week,” Susan said. “So working that many hours wasn’t something new. It’s something that he knows that if that’s what you want to do, it’s what you have to do.”

JD’s sister, Sarah, also lives abroad. Susan Moody said that while she’s not sure where the travel bug came from, she’s glad her children are able to explore the world.

“He’s living out a dream to go different places and see places while he’s young, and I think it’s a great thing. It’s a great opportunity,” said Susan Moody, who is also a teacher at St. Patrick School. “He came in and talked to some students when we had career day, and they were so excited to hear about it. It’s just something that’s unusual for around here. Not a lot of people do that.”

JD’s next stop is training for another cruise line in Seattle

“That’s where I’ll be going to on April 7 for a few weeks of training and getting the boat ready to go. We’ll be taking a boat from Seattle to Juneau, Alaska, which will be my main port for the summer,” he said. “I’ll be traveling around Alaska from April to October. It’s six weeks on, two weeks off all the way through the season, so I’m looking forward to it.”

JD Moody said that while many West Virginians wouldn’t consider life at sea, he strongly recommends those interested to take a deeper look.

“We focus on oil fields and coal and think that’s the only big money, but really when I was at the training, I learned the (seafarers) school is actually free, and you’re guaranteed a job after,” JD Moody said. “It’s not like you work throughout the whole year — it’s a few months on, few weeks off, and you can see so much of the world through that. It’s the easiest way to travel.”