If you’ve been on a cruise ship, chances are you’ve seen many employees bustling around, serving food, cleaning rooms and working in shops. You may wonder where they sleep or what their life is like. Fortunately, several crew members have opened up about their experiences on websites and social media platforms such as Reddit.
There are numerous jobs that the cruise ship staff, called crew, are needed to do. Some very high-ranking positions include the captain and officers, but very few people get roles like those. Most of the crew members are entertainers, stewards, bartenders, retail workers and other positions that the guests will likely see often. However, while guests won’t see a lot of other crew members, they sure will notice the work of the housekeepers and maintenance staff.
As part of the contract, the crew is provided with a room for free. Unless you are a high-ranking staff member such as a captain, officer or select entertainers, you will most likely have at least one roommate. If you are lower in rank, such as laundry or housekeeping staff, you may have up to three other roommates.
Food is another free amenity courtesy of the job. Crew members eat in the crew mess, a buffet-style dining hall. Since a large portion of crew members hail from East Asian countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines, rice is a staple for mealtimes. Other buffet staples include food such as pizza and pasta, as well as salad bars.
While the free housing, food, and access to the crew gym, lounge, shop and bar are nice benefits, the hours the crew works are very long. Several crew positions end up with 10 to 12 hour work days, and there are no days off. However, most positions find themselves able to get off the ship when it docks at a port for a few hours, and the long shifts include built-in breaks for mealtimes.
Contracts are usually at least six months, but they can sometimes last up to a year. Between contracts, crew members will find themselves with up to two months of vacation and rest time.
The pay on a cruise ship may seem low for the hours, with most people making around 1,500 dollars per month, but the free food and housing help balance finances and make it a lot easier to save money.
Often the reasons that people sign up to work as crew members include the aforementioned amenities as well as the ability to travel to all sorts of new locations. Some cruise ship port stops include the Bahamas, Europe, Australia and Alaska.
No matter the role on a cruise ship or reason for signing on, the crew members live very exciting and adventurous lives at sea and form special bonds with fellow employees.
