I work on 'independence of the seas'!

[Miryam1234]

I'm glad you liked the blog! I'm excited for your cruise! I won't be there in March unfortunately.

 

Thanks for your blog - it is very interesting lifestyle and seems to work best if you are single and young. Something I would have wanted to do when I was young adult. My husband used to work on a ship as head of security and his father is was Chief Engineer (now retired). I didn't know my Hubby at that time - we met on shore.

 

Do you have current plans on going back to any of the ships and if so, when? Can you blog while working, or just between contracts?

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

I have spent 2 years as a crew member working on cruise ships, and 8 of those months have been cruising around Europe!

 

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

 

A huge perk of working on cruise ships, is that we get to explore the ports-of-call during our free time. Check out my blog post where I talk about my experience exploring Europe, during the Mediterranean cruises.

 

https://www.chriswongvlogs.com/exploring-europe-royal-caribbean

 

I think a lot of you guys will be able to relate to my experiences. Let me know your thoughts!

 

If you have any questions about working on cruise ships, and what really goes on behind-the-scenes, ask away!

[Zooguy]

All I saw was a low carb ad

 

 

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[seeriteR]

Good thread!

 

 

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[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

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?

 

I wasn't on for these music charters, but they sound awesome! Please tell me more about the Metal Cruise!

 

Yes, only if you are married can crew members request a cabin together. Just being boyfriend and girlfriend doesn't qualify, no matter how long you have been in a relationship for.

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

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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Yes this is true! I don't know the exact details, but being from the UK I didn't have to pay any tax, whilst my fellow American crew members did.

 

I guess that could be the reason for less US crew members. Majority of Americans are mainly the singers, dancers, and ice skaters.

[Hobiecat01]

Thanks for sharing your “tour of duty” with all of us. Most of us are very interested in the behind the scenes life on a cruise ship.

 

 

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[Barklee]

This is a fascinating thread and your Blog is great too. Thank You!

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

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.

 

Yes this is correct. Every evening, we would input our working hours into the system. But tbh, I only ever used it to punch in and out. I never actually took the time to look back at records to see how many hours I've accumulated. At the end of a busy day, it's the last thing you want to be doing.

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

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

 

Ha! In our line of work, we call this 'ship life'! It's completely different from the real world!

[shipgeeks]

Chris, I have a question for you.

Is there any value to the crew in half bottles of shampoo, sunscreen, etc. that passengers leave behind? Or are they just one more thing that has to be dumped?

I don't mean personal things like mouthwash or lipstick, and I definitely don't mean trinkets that passengers give as "gifts".

Just curious.

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

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. ;)

 

lol. When I'm working on ships, all I know is....

 

Day 1 of the cruise....

Day 2 of the cruise....

Day 3 of the cruise....

 

....all the way to the last day, and then it's Day 1 again.

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

Awesome thread/blog Chris.

 

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

 

Thank you so much! I probably won't be there in May, but do ask me anything you want to know about the ship!

[mcchane1]

We will be on the Indy next Monday. Maybe I will see you.

 

 

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[payitforward]

We recently saw that RCCL planned to give all employees a bonus and make major upgrades to all crew quarters and recreation areas. I understand you're not employed by RCCL, so we may not hear about a bonus. But, I would love to hear about when/if/how the upgrades happen and what impact they have on the crew.

[chengkp75]

We recently saw that RCCL planned to give all employees a bonus and make major upgrades to all crew quarters and recreation areas. I understand you're not employed by RCCL, so we may not hear about a bonus. But, I would love to hear about when/if/how the upgrades happen and what impact they have on the crew.

 

It sounds good, but from space, fire safety, and realities of construction, there really isn't a whole lot they can do to "upgrade" crew quarters. They may get new furniture for the crew bar, the lounge, and the gym for instance, but there really isn't a lot of ways they can improve quarters or recreational spaces on an existing ship. Cabins will still be small, many bathrooms will still be shared, most of the crew will still have steel furniture, and there will be no carpeting in cabins.

[waverley7]

Hi Chris, thank you for doing this. Wonderful information and wonderings from us cruisers~

[Tyron]

What's up guys! I thought some of you out there might find this interesting!

 

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

 

If any of you have ever wondered what being a Royal Caribbean crew member is like, give my blog post a read, and let me know if you recognise me or any of my friends.

 

I talk about my job, social life, travel, and overall ship life.

 

https://www.chriswongvlogs.com/work-on-a-cruise-ship-uk

 

More importantly, share this with anyone you know who wants to start working on cruise ships - or ask me any questions about Royal Caribbean ships in general. I can give you an honest opinion!

 

Excellent blog. I'm looking forward to the Indy on March 29 and the Christmas/NYE sailings. :cool::cool:

[zounds]

Thanks very much, Chris ! I am enjoying this very much and LOVE the photos. We won't be on RCI again until next Jan. steve

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

Chris,

 

I am loving your thread. We became addicted to cruising in 2007 and have thankfully been able to do this at least once a year (would love more, obviously). One thing I have been constantly amazed at is the true feeling of care, concern and friendliness of most to the crew we've encountered. I always feel it must 'roll down' from above, which speaks volumes. Especially since we wouldn't be able to enjoy our vacation without everyone who does so much. And if it were all 'fake' or 'slave' like conditions, we would feel to guilty to enjoy.

 

One common theme I always find is how many crew are from other countries and obviously have to leave family for long periods of time. I understand there are many things the cruise line does for the crew (like you mentioned, parties and the like). But I'm curious. Do crew have to pay extra for the internet and/or cell calls to family members? Or are those items included in your 'benefit packages'?

 

Thanx

Erika

 

Great question!

 

Firstly, thank you so much for your kind words towards us crew members. We really do appreciate when we hear guests say things like this. I'll admit, there are definitely other departments onboard that work a lot harder than I do. Overall, I have it pretty good.

 

Yes, the crew still have to pay for internet and calling-cards. But we do get them at a slightly cheaper price compared to the guests. Internet should be free in my opinion. It's not even fast enough to watch YouTube.

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

Just want to say I enjoyed your blog very much. Hope to be see you on the ship one day. We did the Independence but that was many years ago, which is probably before you started working there.

 

Yes, do say hello! Glad you liked my blog!

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

Thanks for your insight, and ditto to you Chief [you should honestly hold Q&A regularly!]

 

I might have to start making Q&A YouTube videos! There's so many in this thread, I had no idea this was going to be so popular!

[birdylady]

Great question!

 

Firstly, thank you so much for your kind words towards us crew members. We really do appreciate when we hear guests say things like this. I'll admit, there are definitely other departments onboard that work a lot harder than I do. Overall, I have it pretty good.

 

Yes, the crew still have to pay for internet and calling-cards. But we do get them at a slightly cheaper price compared to the guests. Internet should be free in my opinion. It's not even fast enough to watch YouTube.

You are more than welcome. We always give kudos to the excellent crew whenever possible. And I completely agree. Communication home should be free. If not unlimited, then at least a reasonable amount per week. Sure would help keep morale up, I bet.

Erika

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

Navigator is my favorite ship!

Ships I have been on :

Vision x 3

Explorer x4

Rhapsody x2

Jewel x 1

Legend x1

Serenade x2

Navigator x5

 

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

 

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Wow! This is beyond impressive. I hope to cruise like this one day.

[ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE]

Hi Chris, first time on RC Indy in May only 2 days :(

Can we prebook the escape room & trampolining thing?

Waves from not far from L’pool (wool) lol

 

 

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I'm excited for you. Is this a 2 day cruise?

 

From my understanding, activities like this are booked on the ship. Just make sure you book it as soon as you get onboard. These features aren't actually built yet, so I don't know the full details.

Edited February 28, 2018 by ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE