SOUTHAMPTON’S biggest cruise line has launched a major recruiting drive to help with the surge in demand from people wanting to enjoy the high-life on the high-seas.

Up to 50 new jobs are being created at the landmark headquarters of Carnival UK as the city’s seemingly unstoppable growth of its multi-million pound cruising industry looks set to continue soaring next year.

Southampton’s cruising industry is one of the few business sectors bucking the present economic doom and gloom as more lavish vessels enter service, new shipping lines switch to the port, major increases in passenger numbers are recorded, together with a year-round programme of voyages, all combine to make 2011 a record-breaking year.

The new cruising season will have a dramatic start as on Wednesday, January 5, when, for the first time since the 1960s, a total of six ships will be in port with more than 19,000 passengers crossing the dockside in just a few hours.

In port will be P&O Cruises’ Arcadia, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, both operated by Cunard, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines’ Black Watch and Balmoral, together with Saga Cruises’ classic vessel, Saga Ruby.

Giles Hawke, sales and customer services director for Carnival UK, said: “The announcement of 50 new jobs has to be good news for the city and it is concrete example of how our cruise ships are making a strong contribution to the local economy.

“We are not necessarily looking to recruit those who are already in the travel trade as we will train everyone the company takes on, explain the differences between our brands, and we always take newcomers on tours of our vessels, so when they talk to customers they have personal knowledge of the ships.”

Carnival UK, the parent company of P&O Cruises, Cunard, Princess Cruises, and the Yachts of Seabourn, is looking to boost the number of people working in their award winning call centre based at Carnival House in Harbour Parade, just outside the Western Docks.

Among the new roles will be positions for senior team leaders as well as advisers to answer queries about cruising and specific ships, together with people handling holiday bookings and sales.

More than 150 employees already work in the call-centre, which, for the past three years, has consecutively been voted the best operation of its type in the UK.