Behind the scenes of working on a cruise ship, Part 3
This is the final instalment on what it’s really like to work on a cruise ship. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 on the things to love and hate about working on ships.
In this article I will go over what you need to know before you sign up for a cruise ship contract. Since contracts are 6 months long on average, you will be uprooting your life somewhat so you want to make sure you know what you are in for.
I always get a number of people telling me they would sign up to do anything on ships to travel for free…just tell me how to get a job. Well I would be very careful what you wish for. LOL. There are few desirable jobs, some pretty good jobs and more undesirable jobs. You want to know what the difference is, plus what class it is in. Yes, there is a “class” system of how much ship freedom you have among other things.
First off the Class System
There are three types of class: Crew, Staff and Officers. These are also the order in of lowest to highest of what class you want to be in.
Crew
These positions have the least amount of freedom on the ship. If it is a customer facing position, when their shift is done they are not allowed on passenger decks till their next shift. We do have a crew deck, crew bar, crew gym that everyone has access to. This is where you will be spending any time off.
The positions in the crew class are all the non customer facing jobs like laundry, cooks, etc. plus large customer facing departments like waiters, bartenders and cabin stewards. These are just a few main examples.
Staff
These positions have a medium amount of freedom on the ship. When their shift is done they are able to go to pre-determined areas on the ship. This usually includes most food areas (excluding the dining room and specialty pay restaurants) like the 24 hr buffet, hamburger bar, pizza parlour, passenger disco, movie theatre and you can also attend the shows at night. When you are paying for drinks in passenger areas, you pay passenger prices with a discount…but it is much cheaper to drink in the crew bar.
Positions in the staff class are the services on the ship like photographers, gift shop, spa, and casino.
Officers
These positions have the most freedom on the ship. They have all the same freedoms as the staff, but they can also go to the dining rooms by hosting a guest table, bigger discounts in passenger areas and usually have officer bars and can mingle at cocktail parties.
Positions in the officer class are a variety of areas. There are the bridge officers/navigators, engineers, purser department (hotel front desk), cruise staff, and dancers as some examples.
You really want to choose your position strategically so you can enjoy your time as much as you can.
Now there are two other types of positions that do not fall under any of these three classes.
Guest entertainers
These are the main singers in the shows and the guest acts. They get passenger status and are sometimes are allowed in crew areas (depending on the position, and the ship rules).
Enrichment speakers
These are the people who have a special skill and lead those activities during the cruise. This can include, kitting, special interest speakers, learning technology, the Internet café, and card games among a whole host of other things. Every ship will have their own variety of these positions. They get passenger status, with restrictions of course, like if it is busy in a restaurant the paying customers will always go in front of you, etc.
Unlike the guest entertainers, enrichment speakers are not paid, but get a free or inexpensive cruise/s depending on how you got the gig. They usually only get “contracts” that last a few cruises and they will usually allow an “assistant” but fights may only be covered for the main speaker. Still not a bad job for some free travel and only working a handful of hours through the cruise.
Let’s now talk about the ins and outs of working on ships.
There are rules and then there are rules
You need to know which rules can be broken and which ones you can’t. This will be different on each ship, but ask the people you work with questions. Things like crew cabin parties, food in your cabin, drinking will be slightly different depending on your ship/managers.
The other thing about rules is if you break some bigger ones the punishment can usually be determined by who you know, how well you are liked etc. which leads me into my next point…
Be nice to everyone
The more people you know and and the more people like you the easier and better time you’ll have on your contract. Plus when people like you they trust you more and you’ll get access to more things, like getting some of the good passenger food brought down to the crew area for you from waiters etc.
Barter where you can Also depending on the ship and the people working in the department, you could call and get room service food in exchange for a tip…you just picked it up in one of the service stairways. When we weren’t allowed to go to the pizza parlor, we could order it on the “sly” (even though everyone was doing it), and tip the guys making it. Again, pick it up in the service stairwell.
Drug testing Crimes Drug crimes that happen on board or any other serious crimes, if the ship does want to prosecute you, this will be done at the next port of call with that countries law. Depending where you are travelling this can be extremely grim outcomes. The same goes with any crimes that happen in port, the ship will leave you and you are left to your own devices if you commit a crime off the ship. These are things that do happen, and I’ve know a few people that were sent to jail in other countries, so do not take it lightly.
Make sure you leave a comment with any questions you have about ship life. If you want to learn how to travel like a pro, make sure you sign up to get your FREE Vacation Blueprint Starter Kit, and check out my travel courses to help you achieve your goals without the overwhelm.
If you are in a position to barter or pay for different things not always available do it. Some barter systems between departments are permanently set up. Being a photographer we had a barter system with the spa department where they would get free photos and we would get free spa services.
Tours
There are opportunities, for certain departments, to sign up/apply to be a tour guide on the passenger tours. These are not always available, it depends on a number of factors, but they are a great way to see some of the sights without paying for them. All that you need to do is help out the actual tour guide leading it, hold the “tour A” type signs, sometimes make announcements to the group and make sure you don’t lose anyone. When you see signup sheets for it, get your name on the list asap! This is also where “it’s all who you know” and “be nice to everyone” really comes into play.
There is random drug testing that goes on, and you never know if who it is going to be. It usually happens on turnaround day (the day when the current passengers disembark the ship and the new passengers arrive). I’ve had to do it a number of times, getting woken up to go pee in a cup, and especially in American ports, the coast guard can had have brought on drug dogs to sniff the crew areas.
Just because you are in your own little “town” onboard, it doesn’t mean it is always safe. Sexual assault does happen on ships so you want to be aware of the people who are around you and your drinking habits. The thing that is most shocking and horrible is the amount of times nothing gets done about it. It was and I think always will be a “boys club” and for the attacker, it comes down to whom you know. A lot are brushed under the rug on the ship with a “prove it” attitude for the victim.
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I found your article very interesting, but I hated all of the …Gif’s…in between each paragraph. It made it too annoying while reading your article. It would be much better if you only had a ‘few’ of them. But I really liked your article.
I’m glad you liked the article Janet, and thank you for your feedback 🙂