What Its Like to Work on a Cruise Ship
Posted: 08/02/12 | August 2nd, 2012
Before I went on my cruise, a lot of people said they wouldn't cruise because of their poor labor practices. Cruises exploit workers, they said. I've heard nearly the long hours and depression pay that near cruise workers endure, but rather than assume, I turned to my friend Wandering Earl, who for a number of years working on cruise ships equally a tour director. Earl and I spoke almost what it's really like to be a member of the "coiffure" on a cruise send.
Nomadic Matt: How did you lot end up working on a cruise ship?
Wandering Earl: Back in 2000, I met a fellow traveler who told me nigh his experiences working onboard cruise ships. I was intrigued by his stories of waking upward one forenoon in Jamaica, the next morning in Barbados, and the next in Costa Rica. I also liked the idea of more than travel and vacation time.
He spoke of working with hundreds of crew members from around the world, of coiffure parties, of free activities in every port, and of a working/living/social environs that seemed like something I wanted to experience.
After I finished teaching in Thailand, I contacted him and he put me directly in affect with a vice president he knew at Carnival Cruise Lines.
Tell usa near your job(s) over the years. What practice you do exactly?
I began as an assistant tour manager, but during my first contract, I was promoted to bout managing director, a position I held for the remaining four.5 years I worked on ships. As a bout manager, I was in accuse of the bout part, which is the department that organizes land excursions for passengers in all the ports of call.
For me, my schedule involved being the start person off the ship in the morning, dispatching the tours for a few hours, enjoying some free fourth dimension in port, then returning to the office in the evening, where I would continue organizing the excursions for the post-obit ports and complete the necessary daily reports to be sent to the head office.
On days when the ship wasn't in port, I would exist in my office withal communicating with the tour operators, organizing the tours for hereafter voyages, and dealing with whatsoever number of unexpected situations that would arise.
During body of water days, I would also give presentations in the main theater, where I would talk about the ports the ship was scheduled to visit and which excursions we offered. [ Editor's notation: I don't remember any of these on my cruise!]
A lot of people criticize cruise liners for their poor working atmospheric condition. Accept you ever felt mistreated?
Not at all. While crew members exercise work long hours, the staff are treated quite well. Most ships these days offer very high-quality crew accommodation, along with several dining halls, coiffure bars, crew shops, Cyberspace cafés, coffee bars, crew gyms, and party areas, all specifically for the coiffure.
In that location are language courses you can have, and even business courses and other certifications available to all crew members. At that place are frequent movie nights, theme parties (cruise lines organize parties for the major holidays of every nationality working onboard the ship), and enough of other crew activities.
Out of the thousands of coiffure members I've interacted with, I've never heard of whatsoever major incident of a coiffure fellow member existence mistreated.
Have working conditions improved over the years?
Admittedly. There is simply no way in this 24-hour interval and age that cruise lines would be able to survive if the working conditions were poor. And with every new ship that is built, the crew areas are ever improved in order to ensure that the quality of life is as loftier as possible, something that is important when you are working in such an enclosed environment.
There are always very specific rules in place as to how many hours every crew member can work, how much free time they must receive each week, and what their specific duties entail.
And the safety of every crew member really is a priority, at least with the three cruise lines I worked for. In my experience, the officers in command of every ship do whatever it takes to ensure that the coiffure members are as happy equally possible.
Many people say most cruise liners rent people from developing nations because they are less likely to speak out, especially for lower-level positions. Thoughts?
In my opinion, the reason why many of the "lower" jobs are filled with people from developing nations is that the prowl lines can get abroad with paying them lower wages.
Nearly of the "lower" jobs receive very petty money from the prowl lines (maybe $200–500 USD per month), with gratuities making up the residuum of their salary. It would exist a lot harder to convince people from the Western world to have a job for such a small-scale base pay, but for those from developing countries, this corporeality is often much more than they would earn back at abode.
As for keeping crew members in control, every prowl ship I've worked on had a Crew Function that was serious almost listening to crew member issues and complaints, regardless of the position they held. And crew members were encouraged to speak out about anything they felt needed to be changed, whether it pertained to work safety, improved crew facilities, salaries, or anything else.
Equally a result, changes were fabricated on a regular footing, and crew members who suggested major changes that were indeed implemented were oftentimes rewarded for voicing their concerns in the first identify.
What are mutual misconceptions people accept about life on a prowl ship?
Most of the people I meet either call back that crew members work 24 hours per twenty-four hour period for half-dozen months straight, without whatever time off, or they think that coiffure members just party all the time because such piece of work is non actually "piece of work" at all.
But both of these are untrue.
Working on a cruise send involves long hours for sure, merely every coiffure member does have free time, and in that location are always coiffure activities organized to ensure that ship life involves much more than just work. As well, while at that place are crew parties organized every week or ii, working on a cruise ship does involve real responsibilities, and anyone who doesn't accept their job seriously will find themselves out of a job shortly.
Another misconception is that the pay onboard cruise ships is quite depression. And while some positions earn a depression base of operations salary, when combined with tips, usually these crew members are earning much more than they would earn in their habitation countries.
Also, for other positions, such as those in the forepart part, tour office, or entertainment department, the salaries can exist quite generous. And when you consider that crew members accept very few expenses during their contracts (room and board, health insurance, flights to/from the send, etc., are all taken care of), it is possible to save much more money during one contract than most people would save in a yr or more working a job back on country.
Actually? A guy in Haiti was telling me that after working eight months on a ship, his blood brother would bring domicile $v,000 USD. While that might be a lot for Haiti, it still seems like subhuman, sweatshop labor pay. How much did you make?
To bring home over $600 per month (which is more than the average bacon in dozens upon dozens of countries) while having all of your expenses paid for is quite a skilful setup, and any crew member is always free to leave if they feel the pay isn't worth it. That guy from Haiti can piece of work for v–x years on a cruise ship, get home and live quite well, and in many cases, retire. I can't tell you lot how many times fellow crew members from developing countries would show me photos of the brand new three-bedroom house, complete with a swimming pool and ocean views, that they just bought back domicile from their cruise ship salaries.
Equally for my salary, it varied depending on bonuses but was generally $iii,000–4,500 per month.
What'due south one of your "day from hell" stories?
This would be a tough call. Maybe information technology was the day our ship arrived in Panama, and I found out that our tour operator had to cancel the "Panama Culvert Tour" (which was the highlight of the cruise), a tour that 800 passengers had booked.
Later explaining the state of affairs to those 800 people from the phase of the transport's theater, I and so spent one 60 minutes being screamed at, existence called nasty names, having fruit thrown at me, having i man spit on me, being threatened, and having one guy leap over some seats to try and attack me. And the abuse continued for the rest of the cruise.
The best solar day on the chore was _____________.
The 24-hour interval I disembarked the send in lodge to escort a multi-day overland tour to Jordan and Egypt.
During our 2.five-calendar month world cruise on one particular ship, our department offered several of these extended excursions to our passengers, and each tour was to be escorted past a member of our team.
And so, I enjoyed a five-star, eight-twenty-four hour period trip through Egypt and Jordan, visiting Amman, Petra, Wadi Rum, Sharm el-Sheikh, the Sinai Desert, Cairo, and Luxor, all without having to spend a single dollar. It was definitely i of the all-time perks of my job.
For more than about Earl, life on prowl ships, and how you can work on cruise ships, check out Earl'southward phenomenal and detailed definitive book on getting a job on a cruise transport. It's an excellent resource for anyone looking to go into the cruise industry, and it's updated every year. Earl is the best expert I know on the bailiwick!
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Source: https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/whats-it-like-to-actually-work-on-a-cruise-ship/
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