Random Cruise Ship Employees Reveal What Day-To-Day Is Like (17 items)

• (#1) 'High School Mixed With Jail'

  From Redditor /u/JMPBass:

  Cruise ship musician here... Ship life is basically high school mixed with jail.

  Remember high school, where everyone knew everything about everyone's business? Who was [with] whom, cheating on so-and-so, doing this-and-that, being a such-and-such? Well, that's ship life in a nutshell. The bar is where we all congregate, it's where we all commiserate, and it's our only meat market option, because sleeping with guests is not tolerated. Oh, and cheap booze is great...

  Now, let's add in the jail factor: you're in a tin can and you can't leave. Some people can never get off in port because their jobs don't allow for it. I was lucky - musicians have an evening schedule that revolves around guest schedules, so we could easily get off in port as long as we weren't working on skeleton crew that day. Oh, and that involved us staying in and doing nothing (or laundry) unless a fire broke out somewhere, and even then we'd stand at a staircase and lead people to a muster station...

  Now, my gig was always easy... We'd go, play for a few hours, then off to the bar or for food.

  Speaking of food - crew mess was always horrible. It's mostly geared toward the crew who are from Asia/India. It's not always bad, per se, but it's not what you always want. We had access to the guest buffet, where we'd normally eat. Some ships give more; some give less. 

  Ships are a very classist system! I can't stress that enough. If you're into social justice, it's a case study worth exploring. Sometimes, the work is exploitative, other times it's demeaning, but these crew have to support their families somehow, and often it's better than what's at home. I've tried to curb my entitlement each time I've been on board.

  My last contract featured the party band doing a '20s/30s-style party. We'd take newer songs and put them to a swing beat and a walking bass line... Another party was back-to-school style, where we'd dress up in stereotypical prep school uniforms and play 1960s-2000s tunes. Sometimes it was a bore; sometimes it was awesome...

  Our job is basically to drive bar sales and make people want to stay. If we failed, they'd have to run extra events in the lounges, which meant more work for the bar staff and the entertainment staff... and then the band would get in some heavy sh*t...

  I made good bank on both ships, more than most musicians and entertainers. I didn't mind it because I knew what other jobs people had and how much they made in other departments, and when you take in to account how few actual hours we worked on board, it was best not to complain...
• (#2) 'Every Night Is A Friday Night'

  From Redditor /u/rmmyyz:

  We had a saying: "Every night is a Friday night and every morning is a Monday morning. Every day is Groundhog Day."
• (#3) '14-Hour Days And Next To No Internet'

  From a former Redditor:

  Don't remind me of the countless 14-hour days and next to no Internet. Ugh.

  The only thing to do was drink after my daily report.
• (#4) ' I Literally Traveled The World'

  From Redditor /u/Seastar321:

  Long working hours, very small shared cabin with walls thinner than paper so you can hear everything your neighbors are doing, [and] crew food is bloody awful unless you like living on boiled rice. Crew bar is very cheap, but also full of creepy guys hitting on everyone and insanely gorgeous girls sneering at everyone. But none of that matters... in five years on cruise ships I literally traveled the world.

  I went to Europe; Canada; North, South, and Central America, including Alaska and Hawaii; Asia, including China, Japan, and India; [and] Africa. I basically visited every continent except Antarctica, and went to over 75 countries. I took a sled dog ride in Alaska; [went] whitewater rafting along a river through the jungles of Costa Rica; visited Alcatraz; had an authentic curry in Mumbai, spent a day on a luxury yacht sailing around the Caribbean; snorkeled at the Great Barrier Reef; visited the great pyramids in Egypt; went to the lost city of Petra; spent days in Barcelona, Athens, Rome, Kyiv; and so, so, so much more.

  None of the bullsh*t you have to put up with on board matters compared to that.
• (#5) 'There Is Almost A Caste System In Place'

  From Redditor /u/TickleMafia:

  [T]hings are very divided by position. There is almost a caste system in place with officers at the top, then entertainment (this includes everything from musicians to photographers, and - for some reason  the shop workers), then front of house (wait staff and concierge), then back of house (engine room and cleaners). These groups are usually divided by nationality, too, so there isn't a lot of interaction between them. For example, on one of my ships all the officers were Norwegian, all the entertainment was from the English-speaking world, all the front of house was Indian, and all the back of house was Filipino.

  As an entertainer that's what I know most, but my experience was vastly different [from] the Indian waiters and the Norwegian officers who mainly kept to themselves. Nearly all of my friends were under the "entertainment" umbrella, so that's what I'm familiar with.
• (#6) 'Relationships Happen Really Fast'

  From a former Redditor:

  You will never be alone.

  Relationships happen really fast.

  Your body clock changes.

  Grudges can fester.

  Everyone higher [in] rank than you is an idiot.

  If you have a solo room, then you might as well write a blank booty check.
• (#7) 'If You Don't Find Good Friends... You'll Hate Life In About Two Months'

  From Redditor /u/Shynxie:

  The best way I could describe it is this: work hard, play hard, work harder, play harder... and do that cycle for almost a year.

  If you don't find good friends and things to keep you occupied and happy (that isn't sleeping and drinking), you'll hate life in about two months. I enjoyed my time there, don't wanna go back, but I had a ton of fun, and loved the experience I got from it.
• (#8) 'US Citizens... Aren't Paid Well'

  From Redditor /u/MirtaGev:

  Everyone sleeps with everyone.

  The food for crew is nearly inedible.

  You will never find a free washer unless you camp out in the laundry room for a few hours. There are usually about five to 15 washers/dryers, and anywhere from 1,000 to 2,500 crew members.

  The rooms are tiny, and your shower curtain will always be trying to get to know you biblically.

  [United States] citizens aren't paid [very] well, but some countries, where the conversion rate is really good, make some serious bank. South Africa, especially.

  We do get to get off in port and go have a good time. Many ports have crew discounts for food and drink. However, most contracts last for around six to eight months, so after a while, the same old ports every week start to really wear on you.

  There is a crew-only bar, and beers are $1.50. Some ships have a crew-only hot tub.
• (#9) 'I Was An Officer, And This Brought The Benefits Of A Large Cabin'

  From a former Redditor:

  I worked on cruise ships as an engineer for three years and it was some of the best fun I've had in my life.

  I worked 10 hours per day every day for four months, but the social life was enough to keep you going. My first trip was largely uneventful, however, as I spent my time focused on work. I wanted to make a good impression, but in my last month of that contract I met a cool Italian guy who was an absolute player and he took me under his wing.

  I was/am an officer, and this brought the benefits of a large cabin with double bed and windows (windows are rare for crew as they mostly have internal cabins)...

  The traveling was fantastic and I traveled the world. My favorite part [was] the very north of Norway, where in the summer the sun didn't set and there was sunlight all day long.

  Alcohol (including spirits with my company) was very cheap, and you would often find yourself buying drinks for an entire room of people for very little cost.

  I could, as an officer, order room service, and there were even some crew cooking in their cabins and selling it to other hungry crew members.

  All in all, it's a hard lifestyle to maintain, and sleep is limited if you're social and want to go ashore at the same time, but in my opinion, totally worth it - if for a few years...
• (#10) 'Stop Smoking Weed'

  From Redditor /u/daftsnuts:

  You have to take a somewhat intense physical before getting on board. This includes a test [for illicit substances]. Random... tests also happen while on board.

  Moral of the story? If you want a cruise ship job, stop smoking weed three weeks ago.
• (#11) 'As A Musician You Get A Ton Of Free Time To Do Whatever You Want'

  From Redditor /u/TickleMafia:

  I'm a musician who has done a bunch of contracts on cruises...

  The cruise life sucks you in. I'm a freelance musician on land, teaching and taking gigs. When I came back from my first three-month-long contract, my bands had replaced me, and I had lost about half my private students. I had to start from scratch to build up all the work I had before I left, and it was several months before I was back to the amount of work I had before the cruise.

  I've seen entertainers [who] come back after a six- or eight-month contract and find out all their work is gone. They can't rebuild their careers fast enough and burn through the money they've saved from the ship. When they end up broke and out of work, the only answer for them is to get another contract on a ship.

  I'm super lucky because I've seen this coming and have been able to take progressively shorter and shorter contracts (the last one I was asked to do was a week), but a lot of the cruise entertainers have kind of been roped into it. Some of the older guys have been in exactly the same position for decades and are super jaded.

  As for the lifestyle, it's a mix of fantastic and terrible.

  Paying zero rent or bills is a great deal, and I've been incredibly lucky... that is an option, but... the pay is almost always less then what you make on land, and if you lose work on land it can be a wash. Some lines also try and suck the crew dry, charging extra for necessities like toilet paper [and] drinking water, or overcharging for internet...

  You don't get more than a taste of the ports you stop in and it almost never feels authentic. About a third of the time in port you have to spend on the ship as a job requirement, and very often you are required to work during the ports even when nearly all the passengers are onshore...

  On land you spend tons of time making sure you have all the musicians lined up for the next show. You stress about getting there on time, making sure you have all the correct gear, and that the venue is actually going to pay you. If you do original music, you are constantly worried about drawing people to your shows, and all the other miscellaneous nonsense that goes into being a professional musician. At sea, however, there is none of this. You are never more than 10 minutes away from your stage, there's no worrying about traffic, or whether or not enough people are coming to see you. All you have to worry about is showing up on time dressed right.

  But... by the same token you are doing exactly the same goddamn thing over and over again. You play the same music in exactly the same way at exactly the same tempos night after night, and it wears on you. After about a week you start to run on auto-pilot and after a month of playing the same songs, the thrill you got from performing - the thrill that led you to be a professional musician in the first place -is gone... The same low stress that felt so great at the beginning can lead to... inertia.

  Although this isn't true at all of the other jobs, as a musician you get a ton of free time to do whatever you want. An average workday is usually around three hours, and the rest of the time is completely mine. Cruise contracts are always a super productive time for me. I get a ton of practice time, and do a bunch of recording, writing, and video projects... I work out every day, get tons of sleep, and have plenty of time to read.

  It's a great lifestyle, but... all that free time can get really boring, really fast... When you don't have an outlet to perform your original music, why bother writing? When you play the same material you've already played day in and day out, why bother practicing?...
• (#12) 'Work Weeks Are 70 Hours'

  From Redditor /u/teddersman:

  I worked on a major cruise line out of a port in Florida.

  [The] crew bar has cheap drinks, but you're technically never supposed to be drunk. You can find most crew there usually always smoking..., drinking beers. and getting a little too drunk (not much else to do when the ship is at sea). Most crew members have families back home and a lot have girlfriends on board as well. That is just a part of ship life.

  Crew members are super hardworking, and work weeks are 70 hours... without a single day off for six to eight months at a time. Most crew members rely on tips for their wages. My position was salaried for $58 a day. I was an officer on board working in the guest services office. Came out to roughly $1,400 a month after taxes. No one else is taxed besides Americans on board.

  The best way to describe no days off is [that] waking up to your alarm... every single day feels like a Monday morning...

  [Y]our position on board determined if you had guest area privileges. I was allowed in guest areas, but after spending all day with the guests that's the last thing I wanted to do. You're always on duty and your supervisors have 24-hour access to you at all times by just ringing your phone and waking you up in your cabin. Sleep was very limited, so every off hour was spent trying to catch up...
• (#13) 'Fighting For An Open Washer Or Dryer In The Laundry Room Is Hell'

  From Redditor /u/too-tsunami:

  Worked on a cruise ship for three years. Some key points:

  • If you're American, you are a minority. My ship had over 2,100 crew members, and only about 40 of us were American...

  • Fighting for an open washer or dryer in the laundry room is hell on earth... 

  • Food is provided, but the two most common ethnicities on my ship were [Filipino] and [Indian], so the crew cafeteria was usually full of food I wasn't used to... I ate a lot of salad and mashed potatoes on my contracts.

  • Think of a time you did something embarrassing while drunk at a bar. Now imagine having to see every single person who saw you do that embarrassing drunk thing, every day for months and months. That's what ship life is like.

  It was awesome, though. You travel for free, drink for cheap, and save a lot of money since you aren't really paying for anything unless you want to. I'd suggest it to anyone who has no strings attached, and is willing to work hard for six to eight months at a time.
• (#14) 'There Is A Lot Of Training... Onboard'

  From a former Redditor :

  I worked for two cruise lines and... on seven ships.

  • There are three classes of people on the ship, the top rank which is officers. They have their own dining hall, and better food gets served there than [to] the other two, which are staff mess and crew mess. Staff are the entertainment team, child care team, photography, and shore excursion - any type of nonofficer management and guest service team. Crew are the sh*tty jobs like room stewards, deckhands, bartenders, cooks, etc.

  • The food is not the same as what the guests eat in both messes. In staff mess we have waiters, and if you don't see what you like, you can order an egg on a bun, or a hamburger, or something like that. In the crew mess, the food is more Asian-palate based. Some days there will be fish head soup; some days you will have normal cream of mushroom soup. There will always be some sort of chicken that's been sitting out too long and not hot, and some sort of cold cooked veggies, salad, pasta, dessert, and fruit. This does not sound bad, and for the first month on board it is not. But it ends up being the same food constantly... 

  • When you first get on, you will... get assigned a room. This room will most likely change after a few cruises. They like putting departments together. For example, I was a sound tech, and once the previous sound tech was gone, I moved into his... room with the light tech. The rooms are close to 4 meters by 2 meters wide including a desk, TV, bunk bed, very small closet for two, and a bathroom, which is... super small...

  • There are discounts when working on the ships. In the watch store I got a $700 dollar watch for $350...

  • There are days I have worked for 14 hours and there are days I worked for 15 minutes. It varies by the day and what's happening... A typical day for me would be to wake up around 10 [and] go do a lounge walk to make sure all background music was playing in each area. Go check out the bikinis on lido. Go back to my room to play Xbox. Go get lunch. Set up shop talk for shopping in the ports. Get bingo ready after that. When bingo is done, turn off projector, go back to my room, and have a nap. Once nap is done, go get ready for the show. Replace batteries in microphones, load up show on soundboard... Run down to eat dinner. Run back up to get background music playing, then do show No. 1. After show No. 1, talk to performers, make adjustments, [and] do show No. 2. Run from main theater to back lounge at the other end of ship and set up live band karaoke or comedy, depending on the day. Do that until 12:30 am-ish. Go to crew bar or crew party. Drink, then go to bed.

  • There is a lot of training to do when you get onboard: crowd management, life saving, other ones... I forget. Every three months all crew have to go through immigration. If you are in an American port and are foreign you need a [form] called an I-95 to get off. You get it after your first cruise. It will be renewed every three months. Every now and then you will have to do lifeboat tests and see how many people can fit in the lifeboat. They bring it down to the water... There are random boat drills every few weeks...

  • The days we go by are not Monday to Sunday. It's home port, sea day 1, Cozumel, sea day 2, home port, for example. It's very easy to lose track of [the] day and month. You will get fired if you get caught sleeping with a guest. To get around this you just get a hotel room in port...

  • Speaking of people falling overboard, it happens more than you think. One cruise we had a production singer thinking it was a great idea to do a handstand on the railing. He fell over, we spent hours looking for him, and he was never to be seen again... Drunk people fall off the balconies into lifeboats or into the water about one per contract. It's sad.
• (#15) 'Problems Are Magnified Because There’s Nowhere To Go’

  From Redditor /u/RaboKarabek:

  Currently working for a major cruise ship company. Sitting in an Italian coffee shop presently while I have a few hours off.

  From reading all these replies, I'd say that experiences vary greatly. If you're 21 on a cruise ship, you're going to look for the party scene, and you'll find it, or you'll create it. If you're 40, you're going to probably look forward to getting off the ship, seeing places, saving money, getting rest, etc.

  It is a totally different world out here... It's really like you've gone to a different planet. You can choose your own adventure. Any problems are magnified because there's nowhere to go. Crew welfare has come a long way in the last few years and there usually is someone you can talk to. Also, they really don't want you jumping off the ship (it happens).

  I work in the entertainment department, so I have my days free and work at night. It's nice. The crew food is pretty good, which seems to be in stark contrast to others working on different ships/lines. Also, we can eat in the guest buffet, which is really quite nice.

  There [are] a lot of dark people here. You don't really have to be socially successful to be on a ship. For many it's a place to come to escape to. So, I try to stay away from those people. It's important to be as positive as I can be.

  It's a good life, but it's not for everyone, and it's not forever. I'm enjoying it.
• (#16) 'Any Vice That You Have... You Will Do More Of It' 

  From Redditor /u/PowdrdToastMan21:

  So here are snippets of my experience, based on a one-year stint back in 2011:

  • You are in very close proximity to anywhere from 1,000 to 2,500 crew members (depending on ship size), and these people become your friends, family, lovers, and enemies. There is no such thing as division, and there is no such thing as private time unless you are one of the few lucky ones who have a private cabin...

  • Any vice that you have, whether it be drinking, smoking, [hooking up] - you will do more of it. Alcohol is super cheap in the crew bar, and there really is no such thing as being cut off (as long as you don't get caught in a guest area being very drunk). Cigarettes can be purchased duty free and at really reasonable prices, meaning you can smoke as much as you really want. And most people are lonely and craving human interaction, making for the perfect opportunity to sleep with just about whomever you want...

  • You will learn a TON about other cultures, pick up phrases in other languages, and really respect the lives that people have left behind to be there.

  • Most of the guests think they are far wittier and funnier than they actually are. They will inundate you with questions that make you wonder what time they chose to turn off all common sense. Some of my favorites... "Do these stairs go up?" "Will this elevator take me to the front of the ship? "Do they accept US dollars in Alaska?" "Does the staff live on the ship?"

  • At the end of the day, you will meet some amazing people (the crew primarily, though there are some guests who are genuinely good people as well), see some amazing places, and be humbled by the work ethic of others and just how much you are capable of enduring yourself.
• (#17) ‘It’s Like The United Nations’ 

  From Redditor /u/rothmaniac:

  I worked on a ship with my girlfriend (now wife). Over 16 months, I spent 12 or so on ships. I am from Canada. A few things people find interesting:

  • It's like the United Nations on ships - people from all over the world. Hiring is localized, so different jobs employee people only from specific countries. On my ship, crews staff was from North America, security was from India, photographers were from Australia, cleaners were from Thailand, etc... Wages are also normalized. So,what I made in a day ($50) might be what someone made in a week.

  • Depending on your role, contracts can be from three months (entertainers) to a year (house cleaners)...

  • This is opinion, but I found a lot of the "lifers" were trying to escape something - divorce or alcohol or something.

  Overall, it was a great experience. I would have a lot of trouble going on a cruise as a passenger now, but I know many people who worked on ships who still go on cruises.

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