Employees on cruise ships

I was thinking about the workers on cruise ships and started coming up with a million questions. I would love to know more about the people that work so hard to make our experiences so great. If anyone can answer any of these questions, I would love to know the answers.

1. How hard is it to get a job on a cruise ship?

2. How do the cruise lines pick their employees?(My experience on NCL, all employees had their name on their name tags and the country they are from(Not sure if all cruise lines do this)) So are there only certain countrys they hire from?

3. How long do employees work on the ships before they get a day off?

4. Is it a full time position or do they only work on the ship for say 6 months then have to find another job?

5. Are they required to speak a certain language.(I assume English is the language of choice on cruise ships, which leads to my next question)

6. Not employee related specifically, but on ALL cruises do they primary speak English? Say if a cruise is departing out of Italy, is Italian the primary language spoken aboard the ship?

7. How much do they generally make? Are they paid by the hour? By the day? By the certain length of the cruise?

8. I have heard some of these guys work 12-15 hour days. How long generally are their shifts aboard ship?

Any other information would be FANTASTIC or if anyone else has any questions they want to post that maybe someone can answer, jump on board.

Again, for these people that dedicate a large portion of their lives to please us(the passengers) I would love to know more about them.

1. Most (all?) cruise lines work with one or more agencies who do the hiring.

2. I think the agencies tend to work in a small number of countries.

3. I don't believe they get a day off during their contract. The higher the position, the shorter the contract. So a Captain would work 2 or 3 months then get 2 months off. A junior waiter might work 10 months then get two off.

4. I think most use the time off to re-connect with family

5 & 6. Primary language depends on the target passengers for a ship. So Chinese, German, Spanish, and Italian are all primary on some. Probably other languages too.

7. Most are paid by tips with a minimum if tips are short.

8. They do work long hours.

I was thinking about the workers on cruise ships and started coming up with a million questions. I would love to know more about the people that work so hard to make our experiences so great. If anyone can answer any of these questions, I would love to know the answers.

 

1. How hard is it to get a job on a cruise ship?

2. How do the cruise lines pick their employees?(My experience on NCL, all employees had their name on their name tags and the country they are from(Not sure if all cruise lines do this)) So are there only certain countrys they hire from?

3. How long do employees work on the ships before they get a day off?

4. Is it a full time position or do they only work on the ship for say 6 months then have to find another job?

5. Are they required to speak a certain language.(I assume English is the language of choice on cruise ships, which leads to my next question)

6. Not employee related specifically, but on ALL cruises do they primary speak English? Say if a cruise is departing out of Italy, is Italian the primary language spoken aboard the ship?

7. How much do they generally make? Are they paid by the hour? By the day? By the certain length of the cruise?

8. I have heard some of these guys work 12-15 hour days. How long generally are their shifts aboard ship?

 

Any other information would be FANTASTIC or if anyone else has any questions they want to post that maybe someone can answer, jump on board.

 

Again, for these people that dedicate a large portion of their lives to please us(the passengers) I would love to know more about them.

I read the Book "Cruise Confidential: A Hit Below the Waterline: Where the Crew Lives, Eats, Wars, and Parties... One Crazy Year Working on Cruise Ships" (Travelers' Tales)

It is very interesting. The writer is an American who fell in love with a Romanian cruise ship worker while she was on vacation in Vegas.

Very interesting. Reading this book should answer most all of your questions.

I really enjoyed reading the book.

A few observations:

A woman I know is a member of the Cruise Director’s department. She answered an ad for waiters placed by a hiring agency in her home country. Her English and personality was so good that the agency arranged for her to be hired by Princess as an Ass’t CD. She generally works on 6 month contracts, and then gets 2 months off. Often the time off can be shortened, if she is required on a different ship. As an officer she works on salary, not tips.

Room stewards, waiters, bar servers, tend to work on long contracts maybe as long as 10 months. Their salary is very very low, more of a stipend. They survive on our tips.

On Princess, employees that work directly with passengers have to know English. Of course in certain markets, i.e. Japan, Princess will have front personnel that know Japanese.

Once an employee’s contract is completed they receive air fare back to their home. It is up to them if they wish to sign another contract. Some quit after one contract, some work for years and years.

Days off? Room Stewards never get a day off. It’s 7 days a week morning and night. This is one reason I provide them with a healthy cash tip in addition to the auto tip. Bar tenders, waiters may get a day, morning or afternoon off once every few weeks. Time off isn’t really time off, it’s just an extended time between their shifts or assigned activities.

12 hour days are common for everyone. They work until their work is done.

Thanks for all the answers. I think it's a double edge sword of a job. You're working on a cruise ship, but your WORKING on a cruise ship. :D

And culvercitycruiser, I'll have to check out that book. Sounds like it would be an interesting read. Thanks.

another option is to look up the facebook group "Princess Cruises Crew Members". There not much as far as answering your questions, moreso a lot of info about "hi, im going to be on contract on ____ in sept, who else is there, is it good?" but its interesting none the less.

Everyday must be Groundhog Day for most of the crew.

Everyday must be Groundhog Day for most of the crew.

I'm sure some crew hate it, but if it was SO bad, they wouldn't do it.

A crew member on the last cruise we were on said he had worked for 20 years and put all 5 of his kids through college.

Another said she had been doing it for 15 years and had purchased 14 houses in her homeland for her family with the money from it. It would have been 15, but the first year she spent most of what she earned at clubs and at bars on shore

Also remember that in many of these countries, the US dollar you tip is worth far more than an equivalent dollar of local currency.

another option is to look up the facebook group "Princess Cruises Crew Members".

Everyday must be Groundhog Day for most of the crew.

My daughter is currently on a Celebrity ship and this will be her 5th six month contract.

She works for the CD so her job is demanding. Passengers cruise ratings both for her ship and others in the fleet are constantly monitored and HQ don't like poor performance levels.

She doesn't get a single day off for six months and if ever sick she is immediately confined to her tiny cabin (which she shares) for a minimum of 24 hrs.

The pay isn't great but here in the UK the job market for young adults is awful so she is grateful to be gainfully employed.

Fortunately she enjoys dealing with passengers and her fellow crew mates make the best of what is available to them on board.

There are things she tells us that I could never repeat. Quite eye opening and dispel myths I read sometimes on here.

We miss her as contact is one sided. She can only call us! This will also be the third Christmas our family wont be complete

Thanks for that. Just joined and saw a purser say, "All OBC are refundable now." Hope that's true!

Theres also some discussion that crew are pretty unhappy with the Royal Princess

"there is no crew enough to handle that ship........ and the way they made the ship, makes everything difficult..... the ship needs a dry dock already.... I was from the Bar, with the new system in the Bar department, and all the problems of that ship, I sign off.... But before me, I heard about a lot of sign off in all departments, including the HR manager....."

Most of the hiring is done through agencies. CD and similar staff are typically sourced from Western Europe, other staff from primarily Asia, India and Africa. Different lines use different agencies which tend to focus on one region, which is why you tend to see clusters.

By US Standards, pay rates are disgustingly low (I have heard of stewards contracts that work out to 25 cents an hour US) so tips and hotel charges make up a large part of their income. (For example, assuming a whopping 50 cents an hour and 12 hour days, a steward would make $42 in base pay for a week long cruise). It is true that in some countries, that is still a relatively large amount of money, but part of that is HARD workdays and being away from family (we will not even discuss what folks like the laundry workers endure)

Most employees work on contract, which varies by position and demand - employees are constantly evaluated and if they do not meet standards theny are not renewed. And once no renewed for that reason it is almost impossible to get back on the agency's list.

The agencies have no problems filling ships, but that's not a reflection of the desire for the job as opposed to the relatively high wages and lack of job options in their home countries. Working 3 years on a cruise ship can completely fund a 4 year college education equivalent for the employee and perhaps their brothers and sisters!

Most of the hiring is done through agencies. CD and similar staff are typically sourced from Western Europe, other staff from primarily Asia, India and Africa. Different lines use different agencies which tend to focus on one region, which is why you tend to see clusters.

 

By US Standards, pay rates are disgustingly low (I have heard of stewards contracts that work out to 25 cents an hour US) so tips and hotel charges make up a large part of their income. (For example, assuming a whopping 50 cents an hour and 12 hour days, a steward would make $42 in base pay for a week long cruise). It is true that in some countries, that is still a relatively large amount of money, but part of that is HARD workdays and being away from family (we will not even discuss what folks like the laundry workers endure) Rates are low, but room and board is included, so its possible to live for free while on board and the tips are huge in comparison. Just so evereyone knows, its important to tip for good service, tip before and after the cruise! That extra $1 tip for bar service doesnt mean nearly as much to you as it does to these folks.

 

Most employees work on contract, which varies by position and demand - employees are constantly evaluated and if they do not meet standards theny are not renewed. And once no renewed for that reason it is almost impossible to get back on the agency's list. Pretty similar to many US employees. How many jobs have you worked where you aren't being constantly evaluated on your work? If you stopped producing quality work, how long would you last before you boss found someone else to replace you?

 

The agencies have no problems filling ships, but that's not a reflection of the desire for the job as opposed to the relatively high wages and lack of job options in their home countries. Working 3 years on a cruise ship can completely fund a 4 year college education equivalent for the employee and perhaps their brothers and sisters! High wages, and lack of job options locally create demand for cruise jobs. Less than 5% of the world 'love' the job that they do. If someone wanted to pay you 5x what you could make in your home country to serve food, clean rooms, but have to be away from your family, you'd probably consider it.

There a lot of people who return again and again and seem to have some fun with it, so while its a job and "crummy" by some standards, its better than the alternative at home, in a relatively safe environment, and you get to see the world.

Another good read... Chronicles of a Cruise Ship Crew Member by Joshua Kinser

After coming across but a single American crew member (who happens to be the CD on the Royal now) on our last cruise on the Ruby, during the UST I asked why that was to the Aussie who was accompanying us as our guide and he stated that frankly, American's are viewed as lazy and complain too much.

He also told us that workers from different countries/regions have differing contract lengths ranging from 6-10 months.

A few of the wait staff that we came to adore told us that they were married and their spouses was also on the same ship with them which made it easier.

Definitely a hard life, but for the most part the folks we came in contact with and forged some bonds with really seemed to enjoy what they did.

The long hours are also relative. I don't know too many office workers in the US who get by with less than 60 hours a week these days. I used to regularly work 80+. But add to that an hour commute each way, family and home care, and you can see that it's not at all unusual for people in the US to be working 100 hours a week at everything they do. (This is also why I find it laughable that people call US workers lazy. It's more appropriate to say that our cost of living demands a higher wage than the cruise ships pay).

Yes, the crew works hard, but their commute is 2 minutes and their other responsibilities while on a ship are minimal (personal care and communication with family). They don't have to rush home before dark to mow the lawn, or pick up the kids from day care before they start being charged $1 per minute for being late.

But the whole cruise economy is a fleeting thing. The more globalized the world's economies become, the less differentiation between US/UK, etc salaries and the salaries of the countries the crew comes from, the less willing they will be to leave home for months at a time to work at a wage that still fits into an affordable vacation for us.

The long hours are also relative. I don't know too many office workers in the US who get by with less than 60 hours a week these days. I used to regularly work 80+. But add to that an hour commute each way, family and home care, and you can see that it's not at all unusual for people in the US to be working 100 hours a week at everything they do. (This is also why I find it laughable that people call US workers lazy. It's more appropriate to say that our cost of living demands a higher wage than the cruise ships pay).

 

Yes, the crew works hard, but their commute is 2 minutes and their other responsibilities while on a ship are minimal (personal care and communication with family). They don't have to rush home before dark to mow the lawn, or pick up the kids from day care before they start being charged $1 per minute for being late.

 

But the whole cruise economy is a fleeting thing. The more globalized the world's economies become, the less differentiation between US/UK, etc salaries and the salaries of the countries the crew comes from, the less willing they will be to leave home for months at a time to work at a wage that still fits into an affordable vacation for us.

Jeannie is correct with everything she is saying here..I agree 100%.

On one of the recent cruises I took, one of our waitresses (who I believe was Indonesian) in the MDR said that her husband also worked in the same dining room. I don't recall how many contracts they had done, but they said they were most likely going to be done after that particular cruise.

There are another couple of points. Regarding the hours worked - On Princess all staff fill out a time sheet and are not permitted to work more than 70 hours in a 7 day period with a maximum of 14 hours in any 24 hours. As someone already said, they don't have to commute to and from work. I know a lot of working people who, with working hours plus commuting, put in much more than 70 hours in a week.

Time off - Most staff are rostered to have time off in some ports. Cabin stewards have the afternoon off after they finish around noon and can go ashore. Staff I have spoken to often say they prefer not to because they have been to the ports before and when they go ashore they only spend money they would prefer to save.

Their wage is a monthly amount for the length of their contract. They are transported to and from the ship and have free board, accommodation and medical services while on board. I do not believe the remuneration is as low is sometimes claimed. Indonesian waiters have said that after two contracts (each 10 months) they can buy a house at home.

I think the toughest thing would be separation from their families, but in a lot of countries there isn't much work, and if they weren't on a cruise ship they would probably be migrant workers on another country if they wanted a well-paying job. Waiters and stewards say quite definitely that they receive more money working on the ship than they would working at home. This is obvious - if it wasn't the case, they would all be working at home. :)

Theres also some discussion that crew are pretty unhappy with the Royal Princess

"there is no crew enough to handle that ship........ and the way they made the ship, makes everything difficult..... the ship needs a dry dock already.... I was from the Bar, with the new system in the Bar department, and all the problems of that ship, I sign off.... But before me, I heard about a lot of sign off in all departments, including the HR manager....."

We were on the Royal for the 19 days starting on june 16th. All the crew was great.

Don & joan

another option is to look up the facebook group "Princess Cruises Crew Members". There not much as far as answering your questions, moreso a lot of info about "hi, im going to be on contract on ____ in sept, who else is there, is it good?" but its interesting none the less.

I can't seem to find that on facebook. Can anyone help?

I can't seem to find that on facebook. Can anyone help?

I just cut and pasted the FB name in the above post and FB found it without a problem

another option is to look up the facebook group "Princess Cruises Crew Members". There not much as far as answering your questions, moreso a lot of info about "hi, im going to be on contract on ____ in sept, who else is there, is it good?" but its interesting none the less.

Thanks for posting this. I joined. Very interesting.

We were recently on another line's cruise ship that was being repositioned to serve the Chinese market.

Many of the crew we encountered (cabin steward, Purser's desk, dining room) were Chinese, hired to work in this new market area.

As the ship was not yet in Asia, most of the passengers had English as a first language. All of the Chinese personnel we encountered had an excellent knowledge of English. The staff at the Purser's desk were well trained and had no problem answering any question or knowing where to get the answers. In fact, we had less trouble communicaing with staff on this cruise than on other cruises with staff where English was not their first language.

I think the toughest thing would be separation from their families, but in a lot of countries there isn't much work, and if they weren't on a cruise ship they would probably be migrant workers on another country if they wanted a well-paying job. Waiters and stewards say quite definitely that they receive more money working on the ship than they would working at home. This is obvious - if it wasn't the case, they would all be working at home. :)

Another steward expressed that the job experience onboard ship would qualify him as a hotel manager back home.

It is not an easy life onboard, but apparently benefits outweigh what might appear to others as issues.