I work on 'independence of the seas'!

[mcatmcat]

Hi Chris, Independence of the seas has a women as cruise director right now do you think more women should follow her step or do you think this position suits better a men ?

 

 

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[tinkertwo]

Glad you enjoyed! Working on ships really did change my life. There's a small chance I might actually know who your friend is!

No, my friend was on DCL so its doubtful.

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

It’s an incredibly small world, I was reading your blog entries and looking at your photo of quad bikes in St. Kitts and I noticed that my husband and I are in your photo! We obviously were in the same excursion several years ago. That was an awesome excursion. Thanks for sharing your adventures.

 

 

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This is awesome! Can't believe we were on the same excursion, what are the chances?! Quad biking in St Kitts is still to this day, one of the best excursions I've ever done. It was so much fun!

 

Have you been on any other cruises since then? This must have been about nearly 4 years ago if I remember correctly.

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

Terrific blog.

 

Keith

 

Thanks Keith! I have a few more Royal Caribbean blog posts, that I think you will like. Check them out, and let me know your thoughts!

 

http://www.chriswongvlogs.com/travelblog

[kandj05]

Love your vlogs, Chris. Please keep sharing them. Is the Indy the only ship you have been on thus far?

 

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[rpp77]

Do your family members get a discount if they book a cruise during the time of your contract with Royal Caribbean?

[av8tr21]

Nice blog and insight to what goes on behind the scenes. We will be on Indy on March 10th!

[Pellaz]

What a great blog! Thanks for sharing your insights with us!

 

Were you onboard the Independence during either of its recent full-boat music charters? I was on the Feb. 1st sailing for the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise, which was....a lot different from a regular cruise. I'm not sure the Art Gallery was even open during the sailing!

If you were on board did you get to explore the port-stop, which was Grand Turk? Not too many Royal Caribbean ships' crews get to go there, since it's not an RCCL port.

 

Can two crew members who are married request a crew-cabin together?

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

Question--does the crew ever discuss unusual experiences of the day, such as "interesting" experiences with passengers? Do you get enough rest? I'm always afraid the crew is just exhausted and putting on a happy face for passengers.

 

This is a great question!

 

A strange encounter I've had, was a guest literally cried in front of me, when I told her we had sold out of ship models. Of course there are always sometimes slightly rude guests. I honestly believe, some guests enjoy complaining - just for the sake of it.

 

Getting enough rest, is something you definitely have to work around your schedule. Majority of the time during our breaks, we'll be eating and then napping. It does take some getting use to, especially the amount of hours we work, but after a while your body gets use to the routine. In fact, even when the ship is in port, and we have free time to explore, we'll be sleeping in our cabin instead.

[GalFitness19]

Hello Chris! I’ve heard that European citizens don’t have to pay taxes to their home countries while they’re working on a cruise ship, but the US cruise ship employees do have to pay American taxes. If this is true, it explains why we Americans hear so many British accents on board and meet so few US crew members. Is this true?

 

 

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[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

Hoping I'm not hijacking his thread too much, but I know that his position as a concessionaire is different from a lot of the crew, but again, international law requires a minimum of 10 hours rest per 24 hours, at least 6 of which must be uninterrupted. Further, a minimum of 77 hours of rest must be given during any 7 day period.

 

Honestly, we were never actually given a specific amount of hours we had to have. I never actually kept track of all my work hours and rest hours, you lose track of days when you work on a ship.

[chengkp75]

Honestly, we were never actually given a specific amount of hours we had to have. I never actually kept track of all my work hours and rest hours, you lose track of days when you work on a ship.

 

I know that being a concessionaire is different from crew, but it is the law, that the crew member is responsible for maintaining a record of work and rest hours, generally in electronic form provided by the cruise line (many times based on time clock software), and violations of the STCW work/rest hours can result in fines to the cruise line.

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

I get asked all the time, DO YOU EVER GET OFF THE SHIP?

 

Hey guys, I'm Chris from Liverpool, and I am a crew member onboard the Independence Of The Seas! I work in the Duty Free shops.

 

Guests often ask if us crew members are allowed off the ship, or is being a crew member like being a slave! In my blog post, I talk about all the cool stuff I got to do in my free time during the Caribbean season. Check it out and let me know your thoughts.

 

https://www.chriswongvlogs.com/my-royal-caribbean-adventure

This is by far some of the great perks of being a Royal Caribbean crew member!

Ask me any questions you have about working on cruise ships, and I will give you an honest answer - from someone who has been on the inside.

Edited February 27, 2018 by ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE

[rmf11699]

Describe your typical day for embarkation, sea day and disembarkation if you would please.

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

Wow you have been to some wonderful places. I'm glad workers get some time off to explore a bit. I'm considering a Norway fjord sailing on Indy. Two questions, have you had trips there that were complete washouts in terms of the weather, or is it more spotty rain? I see you've climbed up to Pulpit Rock. I'd love to do that but it seems a bit intimidating. Just how hard is it? I'm in my 50s, but active, good on indurance but maybe not so much on speed compared to you young ones.

 

I have experienced several cruises where ports have been cancelled due to rough seas. When this happens, it's basically another day at sea, often refereed to as a 'surprise sea day!' This is not what you want to hear as a crew member, as it's another full day of work.

 

From time to time, you may be unlucky with rain and choose not to venture off into port. But I've never experienced this for an entire cruise.

 

Yes, I highly recommend the Norway cruises! As long as you are active, hiking Pulpit Rock is not that difficult - but it does take a bit of time. Don't worry, it's not a race. Everyone on the tour will go at their own pace, just as long as you don't stop every 5 minutes. Just be aware of the time, so you don't miss the coach back to the ship.

[HicksRA]

While in Juneau, I saw a shuttle that took crew members to Costco and back.

[Ocean Boy]

Honestly, we were never actually given a specific amount of hours we had to have. I never actually kept track of all my work hours and rest hours, you lose track of days when you work on a ship.

You lose track of days when you vacation on a ship, too!:)

[davekathy]

You lose track of days when you vacation on a ship, too!:)

Agree. A good sign of having fun.(y):cool:(y) I don't take the elevators because I don't want to know what day of the week it is. ;)

Edited February 27, 2018 by davekathy

[poncho1973]

Awesome thread/blog Chris.

 

If you're still on board in May, I'll stop in and say hello.

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

Describe your typical day for embarkation, sea day and disembarkation if you would please.

 

Embarkation day is by far the busiest day of the entire cruise!

 

Deliveries start loading onto the ship early as 6:30am, and we all have to be fully awake ready to work. With our shop deliveries, huge pallets will be brought down to our stockroom. Each pallet will contain boxes of our stock, and we check each box individually to account for what's inside. This process can take hours.

 

Once all of our expected stock is onboard, we have to scan and price each individual piece of merchandise. This process can take a couple days to do. However, we can work out how much of the new stock we actually need to take into the shops to put on the shelves, for the guests to buy that day. So as long as we have priced enough stock to last the first few days, we're all good.

 

This will take us till lunch, and now we actually have some free time. We can use this time eat, relax, and even go off the ship. In England, embarkation port is Southampton. In Florida, embarkation port is Fort Lauderdale.

 

After a bit of free time, it's time to shower and get ready for passenger drill. Passenger drill will start at around 4pm, and majority of crew members will have drill duties.

 

After drill is complete, the ship will usually set sail at around 5pm, and everything on the ship is now open. The shops are open everyday untill 11pm.

 

11:15pm we are done for the day and can now relax, have a beer, and get some sleep - ready to work the next day!

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

We will be sailing on Indy starting this Thursday, hope to see you and say Hi! My hubs and I sail quite often, but this will be the first cruise for my dad (our treat for him). Awesome blog!

 

I'm excited for your cruise, this is such a nice gift for your dad! I hope he enjoys ship life! I'm really glad you enjoyed my blog! I'm not on the ship right now unfortunately, it would have been nice to say hello.

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

While in Juneau, I saw a shuttle that took crew members to Costco and back.

 

I will have been on that bus a couple times! There's also a shuttle to Wal Mart in Ketchikan!

[chengkp75]

Chris, as a concessionaire, has a different work schedule than most of the crew, and he is pretty lucky to get time off on turn-around day.

 

Bar staff typically gets mornings free, but handle luggage on turn-around day.

 

Wait staff may have some time off during the day, depending on which meal shifts they are working.

 

Cabin stewards usually get a break after morning cabin service, and before evening service, but not on turn-around day.

 

A large majority of the crew work "day shift" (0600-1800), like the deck and engine departments, the galley and laundry staffs, etc. These folks rarely get ashore enough to do little other than some shopping, and this is dependent on their supervisor granting time off. For those who can't get ashore, there is usually a "market" several days a week in the crew berthing areas, where the crew who did get ashore market sundries to those who couldn't, or barter it for services from those others, like haircuts and mending.

[shipshape sam]

Do you sleep on ship?

 

To be young again and have the opportunity to work and travel, make friends, create memories.

 

Enjoy! :)

[cb at sea]

Of course he sleeps on the ship! The ship is at sea every night!