I made it! I concluded a 6 months contract working as a Bar Steward on a Cruise Ship. It was actually harder than what I previously expected. And here are the conclusions I took about working in this industry and the reality behind working on a cruise ship.
You work way too much
Unless you work in entertainment department or shops, you will work at least 10 to 13 hours per day. The worst departments are the biggest, Restaurant and Bar (representing generally around 50% of the crew on a ship). The worse part is that you have absolutely no day-off. That means I worked for 180 days non-stop! Isn’t it insane?
You can save a lot of money in a short period
If you are smart, you can save all the money you receive. While working on a cruise ship you don’t have expenses with accommodation and food. In case you don’t spend your money with shopping or eating outside you can save from 6 to 12 thousand dollars in a 6 month contract, according to your position on board.
You have a huge list of rules to follow
A cruise ship is a little town on the water and to keep it organized there are a big set of rules that you must follow. Some rules are set because in case of emergency the crew has responsibilities such as evacuating public areas of the ship and helping passengers. Cabin inspections are frequent and things such as fresh food, drugs, spirits bottles are prohibited. In case they inspect your cabin and find some of those things, they send you home and you must deal with the logistic costs. There is a Drug Zero Tolerance Policy and a limit of 0.05% alcohol on the body. If they make the breathing test and you are over this limit, they send you home. A strict grooming standard is applied. In departments where the crew deal with food or drinks, any kind of jewelry (including wrist watch) are not allowed. Long hair, must be tied all times, the uniform needs to look neat, and beard shaved or trimmed in a daily basis. While on the ship you are obligated to wear a name tag ALL TIMES. Some public areas have restrict access according to the time of the day. Use of cellphone is prohibited on duty and off duty in public areas (while using uniform). Some companies, such as the one I worked do not allow any type of romantic involvement with guests or access to guest cabins. They send you home in case they catch you. And believe me or not, using the guest swimming pool is also a ticket home! The list of rules keeps going…
You will meet a bunch of people from all over the world
The company I worked for had 45 different nationalities working as a crew. In my ship the majority were from Philippines, Indonesia, Honduras, Nicaragua and Germany. But I remember meeting people from those following nationalities: Guatemala, Mexico, Argentina, Hungary, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Greece, China, Malaysia, Panama, Israel, Bosnia, Serbia, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, England, South Africa, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Tunisia, Mauritius, Iran, Pakistan, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia.
You have limited time to visit the destinations
Depending on your schedule you might not even be able to go out of the ship. If you work straight duty for example (8am to 6pm), when off duty the ship will be always in the open ocean (this kind of schedule is common in housekeeping department). Departments such as security rarely have the chance to go out since they work with security check while the ship is in the harbor. Departments such as bar has normally morning or night duties, allowing a break during the day from 2 to 5 hours. It is important to notice that sometimes the harbor is far from the city and you got to count the time on a shuttle bus for example. If you have a 5 hour break, you have to discount one to two hours for transport, security check, eating, changing uniform, etc.
You can party hard if you wish
If you are not really happy on the ship you can always party hard. Nothing better than a cold beer after a long day of work. All cruise ships provide entertainment areas for crew such as crew bar or crew disco. Discounts are applied and you can get beer in can for less than a dollar. Keep in mind that the alcohol rule limit still exists, so you better not kick the bucket!
