I work on cruise ships 10 months a year, it's a very interesting life, please AMA

Do you guys have crew-only parties late at night? I'm imagining something like a cross between the Dirty Dancing party and the Titanic poor people party.

Hahaha,

Crew enjoy facilities crew-only, where they can socialize and have some fun. Usually crew parties are really nice, specially because we feel like a family.

Is crime (any crime) a problem while at sea? Do cruise liners employee security, uniformed and plain clothed, to deal with crime or enforce their by-laws? In your experience, what's the craziest/saddest crime you've had to deal with or were on the ship for?

Thanks for the question. Yes, law is enforce on cruise ships in a very serious level.

All ships have security staff for security purposes Uniformed staff that it's obvious they are from Security. Even though crimes are unlikely, they may happen, and they are very ready to respond.

Ships I have worked on are managed by US Laws, even though the ship does not call in US. Anyway, each port of call may have different regulations, and if somebody commit a crime, they may be discharge to the law authorities of the respective port of call.

As I mentioned, crimes are really unlikely, so I have not have experience with any serious things. And even though if happens, the Security staff is very efficient and discrete, may happens without any other crew knowing.

I realize they don't happen often, but when they do happen, what are the crimes?

Well, people some times find things that other people misplaced and try to keep it.

I once fingerbanged a girl I met on a carnival cruise on the top deck at 3am. What are the chances the security team was watching us on the cameras?

I could say 100% you get caught, but if you say you did that, I would say 99%.

I heard from last employees that crew members have sexual relations with each other a lot of the time. Is this true? Also what is the average pay if you do not mind me asking?

I'm not keeping track of sexual relationship onboard. I can tell lot of crew are onboard with their partners (wife, husband).

Wife and Husband? Go on....

Cruise companies usually encourage couples to apply to work together, as it will be easier for you guys to work and it's important for you.

They will accommodate you to the same cabin and ship. There's lots of couples working onboard.

I've never been on a cruise but I've considered working on one. Are you supposed to stay off the passenger decks or areas? And what's you're favorite place you've ever docked at?

Depends which company / ship you are on.

In small ships you have some limitations, passengers deck are smaller and usually crowded.

Big ships you may have more freedom.

After a while, anyway, you will rather to be on Crew area. We pretty much have everything we need, with our fellow crew.

What is your current job(s)? Have you held other jobs on the ship, and what is your favorite?

Hello, thank you for the question.

I started working in cruise ships as a restroom cleaner, as well pool attendant.

I had some unofficial experiences in other departments, but I officially moved to Guest Services in my second contract. Now I'm in charge of immigration procedures in every port of call. All positions have its pros and cons, but I really enjoyed my time in Guest Services. You really have the time to make a difference.

Nice. You do admin? Just signed off a big ship today in Grenada after a 2.5 week contract. Guest entertainer life. :/

Yes, I do admin. I signed off recently from China

Your response suggests there is lateral mobility, ie you can change to another job close to your skill level. Is this common? Is there a chance to train up into a higher skill (and pay) level?

This is the business I have work for with the highest probability of growth, with in-site training. Pretty much, skills you will learn there.

Is it OK to tip random crewmembers in cash or is that against protocols?

I can't tell of all companies/ships. But the ones that I have work for, it's totally fine. No issues with that.

What is better? Sex with passengers or sex with crew?

Sorry, I don't know how to answer this question.

Really curious - how much sex is there between crew, and between passengers and crew?

Well, I don't happen to be counting how much people have sex. Crewmembers will never have any personal interactions with guests as is strictly prohibited and unprofessional. So I don't think that've ever happened.

Have you ever dealt with an overboard passenger? What's that like?

I had a situation where a passenger fell overboard, I think was intoxicated. Crewmember spotted the passenger and acted rapidly, the guest was retrieve from the water safely.

Did the ship need to come to a full stop, or where they able to deploy a small boat?

The ship must full stop, and small boats go to rescue. As soon as the crewmember notice the passenger, threw a life ring near to the passenger which allowed him to keep a float.

I recommend, anyway, do not fell into the water on a ship.

Are you a robot? Your answers look liike they have been prescreened from a PR person. Just the facts. No story telling.

There was an AMA. Questions were asked. Answers were acurate. The crewmember departed.

Do you have any question?

Do you miss family?

Yes I do, some times most of others.

I don't have any kids, and I'm not married. It's easy for me to consider my friends onboard my new family. We really support each other and pretty much you see them everyday, live with them, share with them. They really become a good support in those times. After a while, you still miss them but you don't feel bad.

People that have kids, may find it much more difficult. Anyway, companies hire couples, and crew have the chance to invite family onboard as well. It's pretty nice how they accommodate the crew in this matter.

10 months is a long time. What do you do in your spare time? Movies? Series?

Well, I personally enjoy a lot watching movies, series and videogames. I usually load my computer with plenty stuff on vacation before I join. Anyway you would be surprise how socializing become a main thing in your life onboard. It's amazing to be in a small place with 20 people where everybody comes from a different country. It's just interesting even for me that I'm not very social and quite shy among strangers.

Going out in ports also take big time of your spare time. Exploring, eating in the ports it's a lot of fun.

That great to hear man. Do you get internet connectivity there?

Sure,

The latest ships have high speed internet. Both for crew and passengers, the speed in the highest at sea.

Anyway, we also have simcard that work at sea with fair rates, as well, phone service.

What is the pay like for the different positions, considering you are on board for the entire time. Also, how much do tips play a factor with the restaurant/cleaning staff? Do guest services (and further up the chain) get paid more overall or just hourly?

Depends of the company you work for,

Some positions may rely in tips others not really.

Cleaning staff usually have their salary, and receive little to no tips because people usually don't notice them.

Restaurant staff is front of the house, taking care of you at the restaurant, they may receive good tips all the time.

So are you just earning money for 10 months without expenses? (Rent, Food etc?)

Rent, food, etc are covered, it's a huge opportunity to save.

Do you get a lot of free time? What do you do in your free time?

Well, I'm very efficient in my job, so I do get spare time. Time on the ship I enjoying socializing, playing videogames and participating in crew activities.

How long does one crew member typically work each day?

It depends a lot of the job you have.

In my experience, work hours are fair enough, from 8 to 10 hours depending. Take in consideration that those are duty hours, not necessarily worked hours.

The industry is a 24 hours business, but we are not being slaved haha.

Hi, OP!

My question for you is this:

What is the highest position a member of staff onboard a cruise ship can attain? Thanks.

The first in command in the ship is the Captain.

Anyway, cruise ships manage very differently than other ships, broken up into main divisions that manage the ship.

The Marines, the Hotel and Engine.

Each one of those have their top in command, being anyway the Captain, the highest of all.

Marines?

Haha, sorry, Marine division. That's the Captian, Staff, navigational officers

Thanks for doing this ama. Have you worked on royal Caribbean when 70000 tons of metal is on board? If so what was it like?

What you mean, 70,000 tons of metal onboard?

A lot of cruises have a certain theme or appeal to a particular group people; what was your favorite group of passengers to work with?

I remember once group of LGBTQ joined a ship, they rented the whole ship. That was amazing.

The WHOLE Ship!? Jesus I can't imagine how much that cost.

Me neither, but happens often. Different groups. I remember one group of Harley Davidson riders. Pretty dope

How long does it take you to adjust to the shore life after being on a boat for so long? I personally still feel that rocking floor feeling a good 4 days after a week long voyage at sea.

I don't feel I can live in land anymore. Two months vacation for me it's getting way too much.

Where do you live during your 2 months when you're not working on the cruise ship? And what do you do during your time off the ship?

I live in Dominican Republic.

Once in my country, I lay low and try to be at home, spending time with my mother and sister and dogs. My love ones.

I usually plan internal tourism with my family, visit different places within the country.

Have you ever had to deal with a norovirus outbreak? Do outbreaks happen more or less often than people think?

Norovirus outbreak are very, very unlikely. Media help to spread the word like terrorism.

In my 5 years working, I probably have deal with, 3 serious cases.

Do you ever get sea sick? How does your job limit your time for relation ships?

I don't get sea-sick, never. My job does not limit my time for relations with my fellow crew.

What is the most scandalous thing that has happened on a ship?

Finding people lost at sea

Are the same entertainers used on every cruise, or are different performers used each trip? Which one is/was your favorite?

Depends of the itinerary, the entertainers can change often or less often. Also depend of the ship.

Big ships as Allure or Oasis are big enough to hold many entertainers for several cruises, and even consecutive cruisers won't have the time to enjoy it all. Other ships usually change very often.

I can't recall one specific entertainer, but I have to tell that I personally love all shows being held onboard. I have witnessed great Broadway shows as Chicago and Mamma Mia. The crew is very talented and entertaining. Original shows like Live, Love, Legs and Pixel are amazing as well.

Is the experience of working on cruise ship be valuable in any other job (in ships ). what are the skills one must know in order to get a job on cruise ship? have you found "one piece" yet?

Well,

You will need the same skills you need working in any 5-star hotel. Depends of the department you want to work in. Sorry I don't get the "one piece" thing.

Is it worth spending more money on a room with a balcony? Do you ever get to get off of the boat when it docks and enjoy yourself or are you chained to the boat for the entire voyage?

It is worth it. Take in consideration how much time you plan to spend on your stateroom.

For cruises with a lot of ports, it doesn't really matter, every day you will be ashore. For cruises with many seadays, balcony is like having a personal pool area.

Crew are allow to go out in every port of call. So yes, we go out a lot and have fun.

Is it true that every ship has a morgue?

I haven't see it myself, but I think by law, they must have it.

Did you ever have to deal with getting sea sick? If so, how did you overcome it/what are ways to enjoy a cruise without resorting to taking gravol all the time?

Green apples help greatly. As well fresh air and standing in the pool area and see far to the horizon helps. At this point, I don't feel any sea-sick never.

What's the happiest thing you've ever witnessed in a cruise?

Second marriage of an old couple, after 50 years of marriage.

Do people act like Titanic (the I'm flying scene)?

No, people don't do those silly things.

Interesting stuff. Seems like it'd be fun to work on a cruise ship for a bit.

As for a question, what is the money like? I'm guessing salary depends on your position on the ship. Do you need to pay for living expenses (food, cabin, gym, etc) or is that all a part of the job?

Depends of where you from, salary can be from competitive to extremely good.

Anyway, I know many people who can make more money staying at home, still they somehow love the ships' life.

What was the level of strictness towards underage drinking on the cruise? Also, were minors ever caught with fake ids and gotten in trouble?

Underage drinking is a zero tolerance. They cannot really get any drinks or enter bars at adult hours. You don't get to show any fake ID's because you are issue a card with your info on it.

What's the humour like on board these ships? Like the navy?

Better. We have different way of talking and slangs in different languages that you may never heard before.

How many times have you watched the Titanic while on a cruise ship or at work?

Never, I did watch Captain Phillips though

How big is your ship compared to the Titanic?

https://goo.gl/images/bUKyeI Have a look

What happens as a cruise worker if your fired during the cruise? Do you get locked up or get to participate as a guest untill it's over?

You will disembark in the next port of call. You won't be a guest because you got fired haha

I've heard that when a paying customer pays for their gratuities up front, that either:

1 - the gratuities never make it into the staff members hands

2 - only some people (wait staff and bar staff) get the money.

Is this true?

Also, would it be better for customers to cash-tip those who interact with us frequently?

thanks for all that you do to make our vacations awesome - I understand it's hard to be away from family with limited contact and very long hours with little time off so that you!!!!

Thanks for the questions,

In the companies I have work for, grats always reach the staff members without fail.

Automatic gratuities are the best way to pay the grats, because everybody is covered, even those that work hard and you may not see (there's a whole world besides the drink you order) not just that one in the front.

I recommend tipping in cash as an additional thank if desired, but never removing the automatic ones.

In the companies I have worked for, grats always reach the staff members without fail.

Automatic gratuities covers those people you see and those that you don't (believe me, there's lots of hard workers behind that drink you just ordered). I never recommend anybody to remove the Automatic grats and tip cash, because those people you don't see won't get anything then.

I do advise people to tip cash as an additional thank if desired.

Are there jobs for software developers on a cruise ship?

No, but in the headquaters yes.

Hi. I take it that it's a very different life, you're away from home and family most of the year? How do you deal, is this a long term plan? Do you find that what drew you to this profession is similar to your crewmates ?

I'm away 8 to 10 months from home. At the beginning it's hard, but you'd be surprise what you can get used to.

For me, it is a great opportunity to know places, and save money. All crewmember have a very specific story to tell that drew them to work on ships. Each story it's amazing. Anyway being far it's just a temporary sacrifice we must do to improve our lifes in our countries. This companies help us to do that with very convenient salaries.

I have 2 questions...

How does someone get a job on a cruise ship?

I have physical limitations due to illness, so are there jobs that are not physically demanding and have flexibility to allow for physical limitations?

For safety reasons, all crew must comply with some physical requirements. In the case of an emergency, you must be helpful.

I'm about to go on my first cruise this January, any tips or tricks for while I'm out there?

Be safe, don't forget you are on a ship. Don't yell at anybody.

Have fun.

what are your favorite videogames? 🎮

I enjoy single-player open world games for myself. When with friends, usually we play shooters or fighting. Cannot play multiplayer while overseas.

Since the crew is from all different countries, do you find that cliques form that may be detrimental to camaraderie? Is it easy enough to get along with people who speak different languages than you? And are all crew required to know English or just those that interact with guests?

All are required to speak english. That's a must.

Usually, it's pretty easy to get along with everyone. Even though we all have different cultures, there's a lot of equality. At the end, we are all with the same purpose. We support each other and don't judge.

Is the captain shown to passenger a real captain of the ship? Been on cruise a couple of times and the captain presented on the welcome dinner always looks sooo movie-like. I thought that these were just actors to meet passengers' expectations.

Yeah, that's the real captain, and yes, they look so movie-like lol

If I have experience as both big city DJ and bartender, how can I get a job at sea?

Applying from the official webpage of the company.

I'm thinking of getting a job being a plumber or maintenance. I am currently a journeyman plumber. I dont know If you would know this but do Plumbers just unclog toilets all day?

I wish I would know, I have never work in the Maintenance department myself.

Anyway, maintenance is part of the marine division. There's a huge chance of professional growth in that division.

Are there any employees which you would consider to be "overpaid"?

Haha,

Not really. I think the salary its very fair compared with your responsibilities.

I haven't seen anyone ask this, but what is your housing like? Do you own a house? Are you housed and fed at no cost?

Accomodations vary per ship, company, position as well.

Usually are small, shared.

Nothing that I have to complaint about it. Everything is covered. No cost.

Hi!

I was looking into working on a cruise ship as well.

What kind of qualifications and experience did you have when you started?

I noticed that most companies require at least a year hotel or cruise experience for most of the positions.

Do you think that if I am less experienced I would have more success at a smaller cruise company?

I highly recommend big cruise companies. They are in constant grow and new ships coming all the time, which results in quicker promotion opportunities. I joined without experience, but again, I was restroom cleaner. Anyway it just took me one contract to be promoted.

I know you mentioned there's an American law forcing cruise ship personnel with a criminal history to stay at sea unless they want to be doubly prosecuted - you mentioned you also had some records, would you mind telling us how many more years you have to be at sea because of this law to not be prosecuted?

Edit: letters

10 more years.

[deleted]

My family, all the time.

I live in the UK and have worked as a bartender before. After uni I'd like to work bar or do waiting on a cruise ship. What's the best way to get started?

I think must companies have office in UK. Anyway you can visit the official webpage of the cruise line you want to apply for. Bartender is good money.

Hi, cook here, I have been thinking of joining a cruise ship as a cook. Do you have any advice on applying and what to prepare for when starting a cruise ship job?

Get ready, cooking at land is very different that working on a ship. You will have lots of fun, as well, lot to do. Keep your mind ready for a big change.

Which cruise line has been your favorite to work for? Or is it more about the atmosphere of the specific ship as opposed to the cruise line?

Well, overall, Royal Caribbean it's the most pleasant place to work in the ones I have work for. The ship does matter, but overall that's the very best.

How did you start working on cruise ships? What was your first job on them? Least favorite job/Favorite job?

I applied as a restroom cleaner. I have enjoy every position I have had since then.

What is the pay and benefits like?

You spend no money. That's the good thing. Even you can get the same money back home, you won't spend anything onboard, so, pretty much is clean money every month to your pocket. Great for savingsl

I want to work on a cruise ship what is the best way to go about getting a job on a ship?

Official webpage of the company you want to work with.

Have you ever had to deal with old men passing away on the cruise ships?

No myself. But I know it has happen.

How often do crew members play tummysticks?

I haven't ask.

How often do people die on a cruise? Is there really a morgue on the lower floors?

I've heard old people flock to cruises when they know their time is close like a salmon to their birthplace

When that happens, is managed in a very discrete way so we may not even notice it.

I haven't see a morgue myself. But, I think by law, all ships must have it.