do cruise ship workers work 7 days a week

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Working on a cruise ship: Pay, hours, conditions, and secrets

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work on a cruise ship? If so, you are obviously not alone. Even for those too young to remember “The Love Boat,” it looks like a glamorous and interesting job. Throw in all the “free” travel and it seems hard to beat, but cruise ships are also notorious for long hours and modest pay.

I’ve always wondered about all of this myself, so I recently asked a friend and fellow travel writer about her experiences after doing two 7-month contracts working on a cruise ship starting in Europe and ending in the Caribbean. Some of the answers are probably not what you’d expect, but it’s all interesting.

Take it away, Trekker…

Greetings everyone, I am Trekker, a lifelong traveler and pretty much a Jill of All Trades and Master of Nothing in Particular. At present I am working on cruise ships. I work for an Italian company and am the English Social Hostess.

The Social Host/Hostess is pretty much a ship’s ambassador for a specific language. We usually have the five main languages: English, Spanish, Italian, French, and German, covered by a native speaker of that language. Our job is to be there for guests when they need specific information as well as socialise with them and make sure they are having a good time.

We do the Embarkation and Disembarkation talks, translations, check the Daily Programs that are delivered to the guests each evening, support the Captain during Gala evenings, give ship tours etc…

So far I have done 2 contracts and am waiting on my 3rd. My first was 6 months long and on one of the smallest of our vessels, she can carry 2,300 guests and 700 crew. We sailed the Eastern Mediterranean, including Italy, Turkey, Israel Ukraine, and Greece.

The second was 7.5-months long and on the largest of our vessels, she can carry 4,300 guests and up to 1,700 crew. We sailed from Italy transatlantic to the Caribbean, spent 6 months there then sailed down to Rio De Jeneiro, Brazil. Even though the contracts are long and tiring, I am definitely interested in going back and just hope I get my requested location of South Africa.

How did you get the job?

do cruise ship workers work 7 days a week

As far as my journey, it involved lots of research and emailing and calling. When I visited the “boy” on the ship in Italy I also went to one of the offices there, but was told they could not help me as they only booked cruises.

I pretty much got the runaround for close to 10 or 20 phone calls. Finally I think I must have hit the limit of “gee she must be serious” and was given an email to send my resume and wait for an interview date. Also, most people at least have an idea of WHAT position they wanted to do. I, on the other hand, barely knew what positions there were. During the initial stages when asked what position I wanted, I just kept saying “something with guests.”

After about 6 months of runaround I was finally able to get a Skype interview. The interview lasted about 30 minutes and at the end I felt very confident. She had asked me all sorts of questions from my customer service background to how to answer a difficult guest without being disloyal to the company.

It took 2 weeks before I got my answer and, as you can see, if was affirmative, I would be embarking on a ship at the end of the year as the English Social Hostess. I was really excited, and honestly I hadn’t even known about this position when I started.

How many hours do you work per day and per week?

As the Social Hostess our hours vary from day to day depending on the kinds of duties we have. Our busiest days are embarkation days. We help with answering questions and collecting credit card bills (from 6am – 9.30am), in Europe we do the actual check in desk, we also help with disembarkation procedures, we often have ship visits and tours, not to mention embarkation welcome talks and much more. On those days we can be on the go almost non-stop from 6am to 11.30pm with only a few short breaks. You literally have to peel your uniform off on those days.

On most port days we work in the morning and evening (around 6-8 hours), if we go on excursion it can be an extra 3-11 hours, depending on the length of the excursion.

On sea days we have numerous odd jobs around the ship from lectures to quizzes to “walk the line” (essentially being a mobile guest service agent). Every day there is the mandatory translations, checking the daily program and socialising. In a nutshell our days most likely average between 6-10 hours but can be as many as 15 hours or more.

What about hours of other jobs?

Hours vary quite drastically from job to job. The Dance Instructors for example only worked about 5 hours a day, and perhaps 7 hours on sea days, if that.

The reception/guest service team had constant shifts of 8-12 hours, occasionally going to 14 hours if things were really busy.

Bar staff worked between 12-16 hours, sometimes more, they had some of the hardest work on the ship I believe.

Cabin Stewards and cleaning staff had set times to clean rooms a few times a day, but were pretty much on duty for most of the day in case one of their assigned guests called for a cleanup. Depending the size of the ship they could be designated between 10-20 rooms each.

Security would often work 24-hour shifts, sometimes longer on embarkation days.

For the most part I think the average number of hours in a day was around 10 for most crew members, but many times it would be a lot higher.

What were your living quarters like?

Most rooms for the normal crew were like inside cabins with bunk beds. On my first ship I was lucky because I got a porthole, natural light made a HUGE difference.

Most of us have one roommate but there are some cabins on the lower levels that 3 crew share.

Each room has a bathroom with a small shower, toilet and hand basin. Pretty much the cabins for crew have all your basic necessities but not much else.

The coolest thing was that all the walls in the ship are metal, so magnet collecting is a big hobby for crew members and decorating the room is always fun.

Common areas vary depending on ship. The smaller ship I was on only had 1 crew bar and it was a smoking bar. The larger ship had a crew bar (non smoking, with 2 tvs) and a crew disco (smoking with a dance floor and 2 tvs).

Finally there is a crew gym, with some basic equipment like weights, treadmill etc., that is open to crew most of the day and night.

Cafeterias, known as the mess, were split up depending on rank. Officers had their own, followed by staff and then crew. Each of the higher cafeterias had a small advantage, like an espresso machine in the Officer’s mess.

We had no kitchen where we could cook our own food, but we did have a microwave in the mess.

How well did you feel treated by the company?

This is the only cruise company I have worked for, so I don’t have much comparison. From what I have heard other companies do offer better perks, such as a fridge in the cabin, free beer and pizza at the crew party, free coffee and tea etc..

Just like any job we all wish we could make more money. I am making more as a Social Hostess compared to when I was a vet nurse, and since board and lodging are included I can save the majority of my pay.

We are one of the highest paying companies, from what I have heard, especially for the housekeeping, kitchen and wait staff. For most of the crew they also receive a bonus each month, after the “service charge” aka gratuity, that is automatically added to guests’ bills, is divided between them.

We have a lot of trainings, especially safety training. These include general emergency drills at least every 2 weeks, crowd control, boat drills, loading the life boats etc.

I think, just in general, some of these safety trainings should be more role play to simulate emergencies and dealing with guests, but it is also a tad difficult as we do these trainings when guests are onboard, and we wouldn’t want to freak any of them out.

Other trainings are job specific, for me there were a lot of customer service, presenting talks, phone etiquette, handling difficult situations etc.. There is often a lot of eye rolling during these trainings, but they are required and secretly we admit there is good info in some of them.

Time off is a tough one. In my position I did often get enough time off. Around 4-5 hours, sometimes more. In the middle of the day on port days meant we could go ashore and explore. Other crew were not that lucky, some of them never got to go off the ship. But a few departments do rotate a schedule to give half a day or a day off to their staff, if it does not conflict with service.

Most crew seem happy and we all end up making some amazing friends. The crew with the more hectic schedules tend to just barely get by, there are a lot of husbands or wives that do this to send a decent check home to the family. There are many who only get to see their children 2-3 months a year, but working on the ship provides a much better life for their families and so it seems like a fair trade.

There are many crew who become ship lifers, I have met folks who have worked in guest services or the restaurant for over 10 years. Once you get hooked to the relatively simple lifestyle (work, eat, sleep, and party) it can be very difficult to leave.

How is the food service for crew?

All food in the mess is free, buffet style with coffee (if you can call it that), tea and juice (we went through a period where there was only grapefruit juice….).

There are even days where you walk in and walk out to the crew store to buy some ramen. The food for crew is okay, but it could be better.

There is always plain rice and sambal for the Indian and Asian crew in the staff mess and in the Crew Mess they usually have (halal, kosher) options to meet cultural needs.

Luckily for some of us we can also go to the guest buffet to eat. But then again after 4 months even that food gets boring.

There is a crew store with a few basic things like hygiene, chocolates, ramen, canned products, medicine, even jewelry and watches.

What can you do during your time or day off?

Most likely if there was enough time off on a port day the crew would rush ashore in an attempt for free wifi and cheap food.

We could also do excursions, but often this was difficult to time with your schedule (unless it was part of your job like it was for me), and your supervisor had to contact the manager of the excursion dept and then if you went as an escort you needed the excursion uniform. There was a small discount for crew if they wanted to go as a normal guest, but it all depended on space.

Laundry was another off duty activity we performed.

Are there computers or wi-fi for crew on board?

Otherwise you could purchase internet time for your own device. Not as expensive as it is for the guests, but still up there (24 hours for $58). Often the ship wifi can be very slow or shut down half way through, so trying to make sure you logged out is very important.

Most of the ports had wifi, if guests asked where to go I told them to look for the crew members lining the sidewalk.

Considering room and board are included, how much do crew members need to spend and how much can they save?

Working on a cruise ship is a great way to save money and also a great way to spend money. I could save one third of my salary easily and have a decent amount to spend during the month before the next pay day.

Others like to buy all the latest gadgets, or the newest fashions, but for the most part if you had at least $200 to cover things like the occasional drink at crew bar, putting money on your laundry key and buying internet it still gave you a little to spend in each port.

There were many crew who would send their entire paycheck home.

Do crew members really get all those mandatory tips?

On every guest bill there is a service charge, usually US$12 per adult per day and US$6 for children. This is actually the gratuity that goes to the crew involved in the major service areas such as bar, restaurant and housekeeping.

Also included in this are the crew members who truly keep the ship going and who you never see, the cooks, the garbage guys, the laundry and many more. I have been told that the Captain also gets a small share, but as far as I know all of the service charge/gratuity goes to these crew members.

Departments such as Guest Services, Security and Entertainment (my department) do not take part.

While we do not recommend guests tip extra I have discovered there are usually 3 kinds, those who are happy to pay and leave it that, those who ask to have it removed as they wish to tip individuals (only problem with this is the support staff see none of those tips) and those who love the service so much that they tip above and beyond what is already on their bill.

There are also guests who tip bartenders for drinks as they go, usually more out of habit than anything else.

These tips can really make a difference to crew, often adding US$300 or more to their pay each month. However, if the crew have accrued warnings or had legitimate complaints against them, this “tip” money is partially withheld for that month’s pay.

Of course the departments left out would love to be on the recieving end of this bonus, but we make a lot more than the crew who do receive it, so ultimately it is fair.

What is the language situation like?

Even though our ship is an Italian company, English is the main language on board and all crew are required to have a working knowledge of the language. In fact, when we arrived in Miami all crew (1,300 of us) were interviewed one by one by a US corporate officer of the company to assess our English levels. We both giggled a bit when I went in for my interview and he asked me my position…luckily I passed!

For our company, especially, having a basic knowledge of Italian can also be helpful, but is not necessary. Crew who work for Guest Services are required to have at least 2 – 3 languages, but many have 5 or more that they are more than proficient at.

As the English Social Hostess I speak English and Afrikaans (the Dutch offshoot spoken in South Africa), I also have a basic understanding of a few other languages and am fairly good at using body language to understand and make myself understood (often resulting in quite a few laughs with guests).

How well does the crew get along and is there a social scene?

We have a weekly crew party, one in the crew disco and then, the following week, in a guest area with music played by crew who act as DJs and a bar with prices from the crew bar.

We also have things like crew bingo (not very popular), crew karaoke (quite popular) and very occasionally crew movies. Once every few months the theater entertainers perform one of their shows for us (which means they perform 3 times in one night) and maybe once every 6 months we have a talent show, you will be amazed at the talent our crew has.

I remember the first talent show I saw where one of my favorite buffet attendants (I called her my personal dessert chooser) sang and played the guitar, I didn’t even recognise her at first and my jaw hit the ground when I realised it was her.

Can you socialize with guests when off duty?

Socialising with guests outside of a work environment is not exactly encouraged, but if you are out and about and a guest invites you for a coffee there is nothing wrong with accepting.

I have made quite a few friends with the guests and even stayed in touch with a number of them. I have had repeaters on the ships who recognise me and get excited when they see me.

Other crew members will have regulars who often treat them like family and I have even seen some guests arrive and remember a crew member from years ago or request a certain waiter or cabin steward because they made a connection with that crew member on the last cruise.

In general how well do passengers treat the crew?

I would like to say that for the most part guests treat the crew equally and with respect, unfortunately this is not always so. We have our favorite amazing guests who treat us with respect and show appreciation, but there is an equal number of, well, assholes! The ones who yell at you and act like they are entitled royalty expecting you to bow to their every request.

I personally have had a passenger scrumple his bill up and throw it in my face when I did not speak German (I sighed and turned to the next person asking how I could help them). Another Italian passenger kept yelling me that it was my job to speak Italian, even though I was trying my best and could have answered his question if he had let me (I pointed to my name tag and stated that I was the ENGLISH Social Hostess).

The worst I think I have ever experienced was a couple who were so entitled I was almost in tears at how rude they were, they had also made complaints about every department on the ship claiming they “knew” people…. I really wanted to turn around and say “Attitude gives what attitude gets”, but had to take the high road and step back, way back, before I really told them what I thought.

The most amusing thing is, when faced with guests like these it is amazing how kind the guests behind them will be, feeling quite embarrassed that the previous person had acted like that.

I have not had anything too weird asked of me, that I can think of, occasionally a guest will ask me to go above and beyond, hunt down some luggage or research something for them. Of course there is always a crew member with some amusing story of a guest asking them to do something out of their job description.

How many crew members are ready to quit after their first contract?

There are a few number of crew who quit after their first contract shaking their heads and wondering why they ever thought working 15 hour shifts 7 days a week for 7-9 months seemed like a good idea. Others break part way through and run away screaming.

Others, like me, swear we will never do another contract, then once at home, sit impatiently at home waiting for news of which ship and location is next as we hear about all our friends embarking without us.

Then there are those who have been doing it for 10 years, 15 years or more, and I am not talking about an officer who has made this a career, I am talking about a cabin steward or waiter or butler, some just love the job and serving people, others provide for families back home, many come to sea to earn money and discover that time flies when out of the realm of “normality”.

An amusing tale of going back home was told to me by one of our captains who was heading home to Sorrento. We asked if his family was excited to see him, he said “they always are…for the first week, then it appears I interrupt their usual schedule and they look forward to me going back to sea.” He had been at sea for over 30 years.

What was the most surprising positive aspect about working on a cruise ship?

For me I would have to say the international dynamic onboard. Before I went to sea I would never have imagined meeting anyone from Slovenia or Macedonia, let alone discovering life long friends. Add to that a bunch of Romanian photographers, a group of South Africans, a Canadian, a couple of Mexicans, 2 Belgians, all the German hosts and hostesses I have met and many many more.

I have always seemed to feel more at home when I am faced with diversity and interacting with cultures other than what I am used to, and so I guess that the ship becomes a place that is more like home in many ways.

What was the most surprising negative aspect about working on a cruise ship?

One of the first things I was told by many experienced crew was “don’t trust anyone.” We all seem like friends but there are a number who will do anything to get ahead, in actuality it is very much like high school and there are a number of mean girls still out there.

Add to that the obvious sexual tension all over the ship, new meanings are given to statements like “come and watch a movie” or “let’s go somewhere and chat.” Hookups are left, right and center and honestly you can never trust that someone is being honest about their relationship status, and it’s not just ship boys!

In fact it is exactly like being back in high school, just in the enclosed environment of a ship. This could be bad, but it can also be amusing to sit back and watch.

Any quick tips for those considering work on a cruise ship?

Go through the company if possible, versus a recruiter.
If you love travel, give it a go at least once!
Never trust anyone but keep your mind open!
Explore as much of the ports as you can!
Sit and watch the sunset or sunrise as often as you can!
Talk and learn from your fellow crew members!
Life is never too short to do something crazy like spend 6 months working 15-hour shifts 7 days a week, you never know who you will meet or where you will go!

Follow Trekker’s new cruise ship adventures and more at her blog, Trailing Trekker’s Travels .

Working on a cruise ship: Pay, hours, conditions, and secrets " --> All Comments

Went to Norwegian JF, to work out of Hawaii. Pay not great, long hours, so not sure if I will proceed.

thats a friggin crazy lifestyle… thank you for your article, i dont think it is for me

I would like to work in cruise, i have 2 years of experience in IT field. For whom i have to contact for apply

I would like to work on a cruise ship, i am in brazil living in CABO DE SANTO AGOSTINHO – PE, i am a fully qualified hairdresser, and barber, have loads of experience in security and Managing staff, computer literate and touch typist, I am scottish so speak english fluent, does anyone know where or who I could ask???

I want to work on cruise ship how to app

It’s best to contact the cruise line you are interested in working for. They each have their own hiring departments. -Roger

Having just completed a short Princess Cruise I can only say the staff are lovely people, the problems are with ignorant other passengers, some don’t even wash).

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Onboard Employment FAQ

Are you interested in joining the thousands of worldwide employees who are proud to be part of the Princess Cruises family? We are committed to being an employer of choice and understand that our Consummate Hosts need to be supported, empowered, and recognized.

We also understand that working at sea can be a challenging new opportunity. Here are answers to some essential questions you might have when considering cruise ship employment.

What are the requirements to work onboard?

What is a C1/D visa?

How do i get a medical certificate, which ship will i be assigned to, how do i get to and from the ship i am assigned to, do i need travel insurance, how long will i be onboard, can i get off and go home during the contract, will i have my own room, what is the power voltage in my cabin, can i drink alcohol onboard, is there a drug policy, is there a curfew, can i bring a family member or friend onboard, will i have access to guest areas and amenities during my time off, once onboard, how do i stay in touch with my friends and family back home, can i have mail delivered to the ship, is there an atm onboard to use, will i have to pay taxes, can i send money home from onboard, how do i pay for items onboard, how do i do laundry, what if i miss the ship in port, what happens if i get sick while working onboard, can i visit the ports while working onboard, how do i apply to work onboard, what are the requirements for onboard employment.

While specific position requirements depend on the job you are interested in, there are some essential requirements that all crew must meet to work onboard:

Be 21 years of age or older
Be able to pass a criminal background check
Hold a valid passport
Have a US C1/D visa (if you are not a Canadian or US citizen/resident)
Have a Princess-specific pre-employment medical exam certificate
Meet the English fluency requirements relevant to your position

Also known as a seaman's visa, some nationalities need this to work onboard a ship and travel to certain countries. This visa normally lasts between two and five years. You will be required to make an appointment at your nearest US Embassy to gain this visa; all paperwork for the appointment will be supplied by your manning agency.

This extensive examination is at the employee's expense and can be conducted through one of Princess's recommended medical facilities—you'll be advised which one is closest to you. Once this is completed and approved by our corporate Medical department, you are cleared to travel and work onboard.

Shipboard employees are scheduled to vessels based on operational need. This means you could be assigned to any one of our vessels in the fleet depending on where a position is open at the time you are travel-ready. After your first assignment, we will be able to provide details about the next assignment after your leave period.

At the beginning of each contract Princess Cruises will provide flights from your designated airport to your assigned ship. At the completion of your contract, Princess will arrange for your travel back home as well. It is your responsibility to get to the airport from your home, but from there we will provide any necessary accommodations and/or transportation to and from the ship.

While you are covered medically in Los Angeles and onboard the vessel, we suggest you purchase basic travel insurance to cover the cost of lost luggage or injuries that could result from shoreside activities.

Contract lengths vary by position but range between four and ten months. After each contract you will receive approximately 60 days of vacation before your next assignment. Your daily work schedule while onboard will depend on your particular position, but you can expect to work seven days a week and anywhere between 10-13 hours per day.

Time off during the contract is not permitted. In case of family emergencies, Princess Cruises does understand that additional time at home may be needed and does accommodate these requests on a case-by-case basis.

Accommodations vary depending on the ship and position. Those in non-management positions generally share a cabin with one to three other roommates whereas those in most management positions are entitled to a single cabin. Cabins include a storage space, TV, and DVD player.

All vessels have 120v US power and some vessels also have 220v European power.

Yes, alcohol is available for purchase during time off. However, Princess Cruises has a strict alcohol limit and at no time can a crew member be intoxicated.

Princess has a zero-tolerance drug policy. All crew are subject to random and reasonable-suspicion drug testing. Violation of these policies will result in termination.

There is no set curfew. However, crew who are out late should be respectful of other crew members and guests nearby.

Crew members who meet specific length-of-service criteria have the option of requesting "relatives travel," a benefit that allows family members to sail onboard for a limited period of time. Some restrictions may apply.

While some officer-level positions do allow restricted access to guest areas, most facilities are for guests only. However, we have a variety of crew-only facilities, such as a crew pool, whirlpool, gym, bar, and Crew Club, which is a communal room where you can gather to watch movies, play games, sing karaoke, and much more!

Postal mail services are available while onboard. You will also have access to computers in the crew training areas. Wi-fi Internet is also available in the crew areas if you choose to bring your own laptop or tablet. Princess offers discounted rates for phone and Internet cards so you can stay in touch with those at home. But remember that satellite capabilities are sometimes limited while the ship is at sea.

You will be provided with mailing addresses for ports where mail can best be delivered.

There is an ATM in the guest areas; an ATM charge will apply. You can also cash checks in the Crew Office onboard to get cash.

US citizens will have federal taxes automatically deducted and may be required to pay state taxes, if applicable. All other nationalities are responsible for filing their own tax forms upon returning to their home countries (as they are self-employed).

You can wire money via the Crew Purser's office. Details are available onboard and rates may vary.

You will be provided with a bar account number, which is your personal number for the duration of your contract onboard each ship. As the entire vessel is cashless, even for guests, you will provide your account number at the bars, salon, and shops in guest areas. In the Crew Bar you can purchase a CrewCard and add money onto it for purchases. At the end of every month you will be required to settle your account.

There are crew laundry facilities where the washers and dryers are free of charge—you just provide the soap. You can also use the dry cleaning onboard, but there is a nominal cost.

Crew members who miss the ship should contact the ship's Agent who will be at the port (the address and phone number are always in the Princess Patter, a daily newsletter for our guests). The Port Agent will arrange transportation to the ship's next port of call. However, it is the responsibility of crew to pay these transportation costs. Crew may be disciplined for the offense and could be terminated. Depending on the port all crew members are required to be back onboard half an hour to an hour prior to sailing time.

While onboard, all crew are medically covered and can visit the Medical Clinic for health concerns. If you need to be medically disembarked during your contract, Princess will provide transportation to a land-based medical facility and repatriate you back home.

If you are not scheduled to work during the time the ship is in port, you can disembark the ship with your supervisor’s approval. Occasionally, there are crew-specific activities or tours to participate in.

Safety requirements dictate that a certain number of crew members be present on each vessel at all times. As such, there may occasionally be times when, although not scheduled to work, you will be required to remain onboard while the ship is in port.

Princess Cruises recruits globally through authorized hiring partners. Find a hiring partner located near you.

Once you contact the authorized hiring partner, you can get answers to questions regarding the application process and which positions are currently open in your region.

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Do Cruise Ship Employees Get Days Off?

Many passengers would ask me after a week-long cruise if I was going to get the weekend off. I was always a little shocked they didn’t know the truth about our schedules, and they were just as shocked when they found out the real answer.

Most cruise ship employees do not get any days off. They work 7 days a week with contracts that last between 5 to 9 months at a time. Instead of days off, they get a certain number of hours off each day, which varies depending on their position. The only exception is if they are sick or injured in some way that prevents them from working temporarily.

For example, as an Internet Cafe Manager, I worked an average of 9.5 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 5 month contracts. I would get 2 months of vacation time between contracts.

It’s hard for passengers to imagine we don’t get days off, but here are a number of reasons why this makes sense. And, there’s one unique position on board that does get days off, which you’ll see below….

Cruise ships only hire the minimal number of crew they need

You’d think cruise ships would hire a few extra people so crew members can take a few days off, but that’s just not the way it works.

Cruise ships won’t hire more crew than they absolutely need, and here’s why.

First, it keeps costs down. Each crew member represents another salary, more food, and administrative costs. The less crew, the more the cruise ship can save.

Second, there’s not a lot of space for crew members, especially cabin space . With 3 – 4 people per cabin, there just isn’t enough room to fit more.

So it stands to reason, if the absolute minimum number of crew are on board, there’s no chance to take a few days off here and there.

There’s little to no overlap in skills and duties

Another reason there are no days off for crew is that cruise ship jobs are very specific to the individual or department of crew members.

Cooks can’t do the passenger laundry, the cruise director isn’t qualified to fix a broken chair, and a carpenter isn’t going to be one of the dancers (though why not?)

The result is that if you’re not there to do your job, chances are no one else is going to be able to do it.

Cruise ships are a non-stop 24/7 machine

Passengers often think we’ll get a day off when the cruise is over, but most forget we’ve got a whole new group of passengers coming on board the same day, and sometimes in only a few hours.

This day is called ‘Turn Around Day” and can often be the busiest part of the whole cruise for many of the crew.

Imagine “resetting” an entire cruise ship in 4 – 5 hours, from disembarking 5000 passengers, restocking food and supplies, refueling, repairs, bringing on new crew, cleaning cabins and public areas, and so much more.

With such a quick turn around, the ship can’t afford to give crew days off.

But, some crew may get some extra time off on a Turn Around Day depending on their position. For example, a cook may not be needed until the evening meal, and can therefore spend a few more hours off.

Personally, as the Internet Manager, once I reset my passenger list and prepared the Internet room, I was free to leave until right before the new passengers came aboard – perfect for a little shopping in port.

You’d think crew members would never get bored while at sea, but it’s quite the opposite.

Many crew members have been to the same locations over and over and have lost their interest in exploring these same ports.

While on board, any downtime is spent either sleeping, hanging out with friends, or watching movies and TV shows in their cabins.

After months and months of this lifestyle, the crew would often complain of being bored while not on duty – as crazy as that seems.

So having days off would only add to that boredom for most.

Long vacations between contracts

As bad as not getting days off sounds, there is one major advantage – you get long vacation times.

Depending on the length of your cruise ship contract, you’ll most likely get between 1 to 2 months off at a time. This is perfect for going home to see your family and friends, doing errands of all kinds, and relaxing.

In fact, after a long contract, I’d usually crash for the first week and sleep for days.

The irony is that crew at sea very much long to be home, and once at home they long to be back at sea!

What cruise ship job does get days off?

If you work in the spa, you’ll usually get 1 day off every 2 weeks.

And I have no idea why!

Whether a fitness instructor, massage therapist, or hairstylist, you can count on either getting that full day off or taking part days.

Many spa employees would take full advantage of this on port days to help assist with tours or explore the ports on their own – what more could you ask for!

Is it worth working on a cruise ship if you’ll most likely never get a day off?

For me personally, I say yes! Even with the hours you’ll get off each day you’ll still see the world, and the friends you’ll make are more than worth it.

And, you’d be surprised how quickly you’ll adapt to working every day, making this lifestyle feel quite normal and routine.

A Little About the Author...

Rob Lilley is passionate about working on cruise ships, and spent 5 years of his life travelling the seven seas and touching ground on all 7 continents. With the experience of 2 different job positions in multiple contracts with different cruise lines, from explorer ships to full-sized cruise liners, Rob is keen to share his insider insights with all of those interested in working at sea! More…

How Fast is the Internet on Cruise Ships?

9 Tips for the Fastest Internet on Cruise Ships (from an Internet Manager!)

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14 Secrets of Cruise Ship Workers

By jessica hullinger | jun 6, 2019, 8:00 am edt.

From an outsider’s perspective, working on a cruise ship might seem like a dream job. What could be more glamorous than getting paid to travel the world by sea, without having to pay for housing or food? But as with many “dream” jobs, there are a few significant downsides to consider before you fill out an application. We spoke to a few cruise ship employees about what it’s like to live and work on a floating hotel.

1. Americans are the worst cruise workers.

On most large cruise liners, the majority of staff and crew are not American. “On any given contract, you’re working with about 64 nationalities,” says Kat, who spent three years working for a major cruise line. There are a number of possible drivers behind this statistic, but one is that cruise ship employees work really long hours and almost never get a day off, which isn’t particularly appealing to Americans used to a 40-hour workweek and relaxing on weekends. “On my worst contract, I was working close to 300 hours a month,” Kat says. “Yeah, you might be in beautiful places, but you’re so tired sometimes you don’t even want to go out and explore. A lot of times they won’t even hire Americans because the rate of people quitting is so high.”

Americans are also more expensive to employ, even if they do the same work as their counterparts from developing countries. Sam, who worked on Princess Cruises for two years, says her monthly salary of $1100 was higher than that of her Filipino boss. According to Sam, the official reason the ship gave was that the dollar is worth more to people from developing countries than it is to Americans.

2. Cruise ship workers are trained for pirate attacks.

It’s rare for pirates to take on a massive cruise ship, but it can happen, and if it does, the crew is prepared. Nolan, who worked for both Princess Cruises and Oceania Cruises, says he was trained to get all guests away from windows and spray the intruders with giant water cannons.

“Our ship can totally outrun their little dinghies,” he says. “We could spray them with water and they’d be helpless.” Other ships may be equipped with Long Range Acoustic Devices that emit loud, painful noises to deter attacks. That’s how a luxury cruise liner escaped a pirate attack off the coast of Africa in 2005.

3. Want to lose weight? Work on a cruise liner.

While passengers are feasting on steak and scrumptious seafood, the staff and crew aren’t so lucky. “Imagine eating at your high-school cafeteria three meals a day, seven days a week for a year,” writes one former cruise ship worker on Reddit. Kat recalls strange offerings like goat foot stew. The unappetizing food, combined with the many hours spent running the length of the ship, often mean crew members lose a significant amount of weight during their time at sea. “I would lose about 10 to 12 pounds per contract,” Kat says.

Gavin, who worked as a waiter for a major cruise line, said the crew would occasionally get treated to whatever leftovers remained from the passenger buffet, but “it would disappear so fast.”

4. Crew members sometimes mess with passengers.

Life at sea can get a bit monotonous. “It got mundane really fast,” writes one former worker on Reddit. “It was basically the same comedy of errors each day of the week, with a different ‘cast’ of passengers each week.”

Some crew members shake things up by getting a rise out of passengers in the form of good old practical jokes. According to another former crew member, “a favorite was while in a passenger area say to another crew member, loud enough to be heard by passengers, ‘Meet you in the bowling alley tonight!’” Of course, there wasn’t actually a bowling alley on board. “Then we'd wait for the comment cards to come in: ‘Why do crew get a bowling alley when we don't?’”

5. … and chance are the workers might be drunk.

When they’re not working, employees are probably drinking and partying. “We partied our asses off,” Gavin says. “We joked about how it makes a frat house look like a monastery.” The staff get their own designated watering holes on board, referred to as the crew bars, where the drinks are dirt cheap. “At the passenger bars they were charging like $15 for a drink and we’d go down into the crew bar and you could get a beer or mixed drinks for $1.25,” Sam says.

And what happens when you give copious amounts of cheap alcohol to people who are cooped up together for months at a time? “It seems like a cliche, but everyone was hooking up with each other,” Sam says. “In a lot of the crew areas there were these huge posters about STD prevention.”

The crew is regularly threatened with the possibility of random breathalyzer tests (and drug testing), but even this isn’t always enforced. “There was a strict limit on our ship of no more than .04 blood alcohol content at any time,” Gavin says, “but as long as you didn’t make a fool of yourself, you wouldn’t get randomly breathalyzed, so people would break that rule all the time.”

6. For the crew, hooking up with guests on the cruise is strictly forbidden.

So you spotted a cute crew member on your ship and are thinking of chatting them up? Good luck with that. Having sexual relations with a guest is one of the fastest ways for a crew member to get fired. This is mainly to protect the cruise line from reputation-damaging accusations of abuse. Ship security keeps a close eye on crew members day and night. That doesn’t mean hookups never happen, but if a crew member is caught in the act with a guest, they’re kicked off the ship at the next port.

7. Crew passengers are almost always being watched.

“It is safe to assume if you are outside of your cabin you are probably on camera,” Gavin says. “In the event of any kind of emergency, they could pull security footage at any time.”

8. Passengers have a lot of power over how much the crew gets paid.

At the end of a journey, you might be asked to rate your experience and share any praise or complaints on a comment card. These reviews are taken very seriously and often translate directly into salaries and bonuses for workers. “For most people, their salaries are quite low and they rely on those bonuses,” Kat says. So if you leave a bad review and mention someone by name, you can be sure they’ll feel the impact on their paycheck.

“The very best thing you can do for a crew member is to write a glowing review, mentioning them specifically on your comment card,” says a former cruise worker on Reddit. “Their superior’s superiors take note of that.”

9. Some cruise workers have double lives.

“You get a lot of married people that have their own separate lives on the cruise ship,” Kat says. “I’ve worked with couples that have wives at home and a whole different relationship while they’re on the cruise ship. It’s kind of like a don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy.”

Gavin says one of his fellow employees lived as an out-of-the-closet gay man while on board, but was still closeted on land.

10. They have no idea what’s going on in the world.

“You stop following news and sports and pop culture,” Gavin says. “You’re really kind of isolated out there.” It can be difficult (and expensive) to find an internet connection while at sea, so many ship workers completely lose track of current events while on contract.

11. They speak in code.

Crew members have shorthand codes for everything from fires to medical emergencies, which they can announce over the loudspeaker without alarming passengers.

Code Adam: a child is missing Code Alpha: there’s a medical emergency Code Oscar: man overboard Code Bravo: fire on the ship

12. The cruise ship has many mafias.

But not the kind that will make you an offer you can’t refuse. According to Sam, the crew members on her ship were split into “mafias” based on their country of origin, and each mafia dealt in specific goods. For example, the Indian mafia was in charge of getting good food for the crew parties, she says. Because Sam worked in the youth center, she was tasked with providing art supplies for crew costume parties. “That’s just one of the economies of the ship,” Sam says. “Everyone is always trying to figure out what they can get from another person.”

One former cruise ship worker says the Filipino mafia was known for getting good booze at all hours. “If you wanted anything after hours, they would get it for you! The crew bar would close around 1 or 2. If you wanted to keep drinking, but were out of booze, you would just go to the Filipino mafia and get what you needed. You paid a huge markup obviously, but it was still pretty cool!”

13. There’s a morgue on board.

Roughly 200 people die on cruise ships every year, and cruise lines need some place to store the bodies safely until they get back to shore. As a result, many ships have small morgues on board that can hold five or six bodies. “We definitely had a morgue on board,” one former ship employee told me. “Because the line was for older demographics, we had people die on the ship pretty regularly.”

14. They will leave you behind.

If you leave the ship for an on-land excursion, make sure you get back before departure time. Cruise lines pay massive fines if they overstay their port time, so chances are high the ship will leave without you if you’re running behind. “You’re on your own,” Kat says. “They won’t wait.”

This list first ran in 2016 and was republished in 2019.

17 hours a day, 7 days a week: Cruise-ship workers reveal the grueling conditions they face on the job

Business Insider spoke with 45 current and former cruise-ship employees whose tenures span from 1997 to the present day.
Some described grueling hours, low pay, and a strict hierarchy that influences where they eat, where they sleep, and the number of months they work without a day off.
The employees Business Insider spoke with reported working an average of about 11 hours per day, seven days per week, for an average of around six consecutive months.
Of the 39 current and former cruise-ship workers who told Business Insider their monthly earnings, 18 said they at one point made $2,000 or less per month.
Cruise lines are able to treat their workers in ways that might make land-based businesses in the US fearful of lawsuits or regulatory scrutiny by incorporating their businesses and registering their ships in countries that have lenient labor laws, Jim Walker, a maritime lawyer for Walker and O'Neill, said.
What's more, it's difficult for many cruise-ship employees to raise concerns about working conditions because the cruise line can simply decline to hire them again after their contracts expire, the Clemson associate professor William Terry said.
"The cruise industry is proud to report that the thousands of employed crew members are very satisfied with current jobs and opportunities for career advancement," a representative for the Cruise Lines International Association said. "In fact, employee-retention rates in the cruise industry are upwards of 80%. "
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .

One morning in July 2018, a guest-services employee for Norwegian Cruise Line heard a knock on her door. She opened it to find four US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials, a Norwegian Cruise Line security employee, and a drug-sniffing dog.

The guest-services employee, who is from Jamaica and worked for Norwegian from 2013 until November 2018, asked if they were conducting a random inspection, but they didn't respond. Instead, they told her to step outside her cabin before searching her phone and other belongings for the next 30 minutes. They interrogated her, asking her if she had over $10,000 in her cabin and if everything in the room belonged to her. She was humiliated and developed a headache that lasted until the next day, she said.

"I was traumatized," she said. "I couldn't sleep for three days. I was so depressed."

When the officers were finished searching her room, one told her that she was flagged to the agency by her ship's head of security because of a conversation she had with him a few weeks prior.

During that conversation, she asked the head of security for permission to buy a can of condensed milk once they stopped in Cozumel, Mexico, so that she could bring it on the ship with her. He said she could not, and she said that she understood. The CBP officer said he was told that she had asked the security head to buy powdered milk, not condensed milk.

She had followed Norwegian's rules, and they had responded by alerting law enforcement.

The experience led her to leave the company four months later. During her time with Norwegian, she made $1,600 per month and worked 70-hour weeks. She said she felt as if she was discriminated against for being black.

"Working on a cruise line, you have to be mentally prepared to be there. If you're not a strong person, you will not survive," she said.

Norwegian Cruise Line did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The cruise industry is a lucrative business for its major companies and their shareholders. In 2018, Carnival Corp. , which owns nine cruise lines, earned a $3.2 billion profit. Royal Caribbean Cruises , which owns six cruise lines, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, which owns three cruise lines, made profits of $1.8 billion and $954.8 million, respectively. Together, the three companies accounted for 72.2% of the cruise industry's revenue and 79.9% of its passengers in 2018. They made nearly $2 billion in combined profits during the first half of this year.

Their success comes at a steep cost to their workers.

Business Insider spoke with 45 current and former cruise-ship employees whose tenures span from 1997 to the present day. Some described grueling hours, low pay, and a strict hierarchy that influences where they eat, where they sleep, and the number of months they work without a day off. Most requested anonymity for fear of reprisal from their current or former employers.

Have you worked on a cruise ship? Do you have a story to share? Email this reporter at [email protected] .

17-hour days, 7 days per week

With few exceptions, even well-paid cruise-ship employees are subject to work schedules that rival those of notoriously time-intensive workplaces, like investment banks and restaurant kitchens. Instead of traditional five-day weeks, cruise-ship employees often work seven days a week for the duration of their contracts, which can range from about three to 10 months. (About six months was the most common contract length cited by those who spoke with Business Insider.) The hours can also be intense, ranging from about seven to 18 hours a day. (The employees Business Insider spoke with reported working an average of about 11 hours per day.)

Cruise-ship workers are subject to a strict hierarchy that determines their pay, living conditions, and contracts. At the top of the hierarchy are officers — managers and those responsible for navigation. In the middle are staff members, which include workers in entertainment, retail, and guest services. At the bottom are crew members, who are generally responsible for serving guests. They include servers, bartenders, and cleaning staff.

Crew and lower-paid staff members described more difficult working and living conditions than officers, and many reported monthly earnings of $2,000 or less. Of the 39 current and former cruise-ship workers who told Business Insider their monthly earnings, 18 said they at one point made $2,000 or less per month.

That's not uncommon, as Carnival and Royal Caribbean reported median annual earnings of less than $20,000 in 2018, while Norwegian reported median earnings just above $20,000. Those figures are significantly lower than the earnings of the median worker in the US, who made $32,838 last year, according to the Social Security Administration's estimate . And they're minuscule when compared with the compensation received by each company's chief executive. Norwegian CEO Frank Del Rio made $22.6 million last year, while Carnival CEO Arnold Donald made $13.5 million and Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain made $12.4 million.

The cruise-ship workers Business Insider spoke with who reported the highest monthly earnings, which fell between $5,000 and $10,000, tended to be from the US or Canada. Those who reported earnings of $2,000 or less tended to be from South America, Eastern Europe, or Southeast Asia.

A 2005 study from the Seafarers International Research Centre found that 70% of cruise-ship workers were from regions that didn't have what the International Monetary Fund calls "advanced" economies, like Latin America, Eastern Europe, and parts of Asia, while 30% of workers came from regions with advanced economies, like the US and Western Europe. Workers from advanced economies were much more likely to be officers than workers from nonadvanced economies, the study found.

William Terry, an associate professor at Clemson University who has studied the recruitment of cruise-ship employees, came to a similar conclusion after talking to hundreds of cruise-ship workers in 2007 and 2008.

"For so many people looking to get ahead, there's a reality that they're probably going to be locked out of certain positions simply because of where they come from," he said.

The cruise industry's labor force is a product of global economic inequalities , Terry said. Workers from countries without advanced economies told him they wouldn't have taken a cruise-ship job if they could have found work at home that paid even close to as well.

A representative for the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), a trade association whose members include Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian, told Business Insider that "some member lines have engaged in partnerships with training institutions in developing nations to increase their numbers in leadership positions."

The representative added that "cruise lines invest heavily to attract the best people, offering an extremely competitive package of wages and benefits, as well as ensuring crew members have the training to perform jobs skillfully and advance on a rewarding career path."

"We recognize all industries have a small number of unsatisfied employees; however, the cruise industry is proud to report that the thousands of employed crew members are very satisfied with current jobs and opportunities for career advancement," the representative said. "In fact, employee-retention rates in the cruise industry are upwards of 80%. "

Officers get favorable treatment, workers say

Aida Carvalho, who is from Brazil and was a human-resources manager for MSC Cruises, Viking Cruises, and Holland America Line from 2015 until February, said there was a large gap between the monthly pay of the highest and lowest-ranking employees. Galley workers, who are responsible for tasks related to cleaning and waste disposal in a ship's kitchen, could make less than $800 per month, while captains could make about $15,000 per month.

"It's not fair that someone will work 11 hours a day dealing with garbage and [get] only $700," she said.

Carvalho said she was fired from Holland America in February after an employee told her about an allegation that a captain was covering up unprofessional behavior from subordinates. Carvalho intended to investigate the allegation to determine if it had merit, but before she could do so, her supervisor, a human-resources manager from Holland America's corporate offices, told the captain about the planned investigation, Carvalho said. The supervisor then accused her of creating false time sheets and having poor English skills, and fired her, she said.

"Captains, they hate my position on board because we are the only ones that can stop them doing stupid things," she said. "The captains really believe they are the owners of that ship, so it's impossible to fight that."

Holland America Line did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

A former photographer for Royal Caribbean, who is from Colombia said she felt as if officers treated each other with more respect than the workers they supervised. The former Royal Caribbean photographer, who worked for the cruise line from 2016 until June 2018, said one of her managers would comment on her sexual orientation and tell her he didn't like that she wore the same hairstyle every day.

"Whenever it comes to an officer or a manager, they like to treat each other with respect. But if you're not a manager or an officer, they just see you as their slave," she said.

Royal Caribbean Cruises did not comment on the specifics of the former photographer's account, but a representative for the company said it "has zero tolerance for any form of discrimination or retaliation, and our employees are encouraged to report such conduct to management on the ships or to management at our headquarters."

Crew and lower-paid staff members were not the only ones who said there were differences in how officers and crew members are treated.

A former assistant food and beverage manager who is from Britain and worked for the Carnival subsidiary Princess Cruises between 2011 and 2013 was surprised by the working conditions of employees from developing countries like the Philippines, India, and Mexico, including their daily schedules, the length of their contracts, and the fact that they were not allowed on the ship's upper deck.

"Being an officer, I had it quite good, but I was shocked at the way the other employees were treated," he said.

Before they can serve passengers, some crew members, like cleaning staff, serve the ship's employees during their training period, the former assistant food and beverage manager said. He noticed that some staff members and officers would have crew members who were in training run personal errands for them, like picking up laundry, food, or alcohol.

"They're almost like slaves who live on these minuscule tips by the officers," he said. "It feels really colonial."

A disconnect between a CEO and his employees

Carnival Corp. CEO Donald said in a February interview with Business Insider that he didn't believe crew members were treated with less respect than staff members and officers, saying the working conditions on Carnival ships are "excellent." If crew members were subject to worse treatment, their displeasure would become clear to passengers, he said. When asked if some crew members might feel pressure to pretend they are happy because they cannot afford to lose their job, Donald said that would be impossible to sustain for the length of a contract.

"People cannot fake that long. You can't do it. A rare person could, but most people just can't fake that long," he said. "To say everybody's happy all the time would be Pollyannaish. Of course not. But overall, our crew are dedicated to exceeding guest expectations, and they love what they're doing."

Donald's assertion differs from how a restaurant hostess who worked for Carnival from 2018 until June described her experience to Business Insider.

The hostess who is from Colombia said she worked seven days per week while making around $1,000 per month. She said her job required her to always appear happy to guests, which she sometimes found exhausting. Last Christmas, she became homesick, retreated to a pantry, and started crying. Her boss found her and asked why she wasn't smiling.

Spending an average of 12 hours per day interacting with passengers dulled her emotions, she said.

"You see some doctors, some nurses; they don't feel no pain anymore. They don't feel any empathy," she said. "That happens to us."

A representative for Carnival Cruise Line's parent company, Carnival Corp., directed Business Insider to the employee feedback platform Great Place To Work , which gave Carnival Cruise Line its "great place to work" certification for the year spanning August 2019-20. According to Great Place To Work, 76% of Carnival Cruise Line employees said Carnival was a great company to work for, but the platform does not specify the number of employees included in the survey or the percentage of participants that work on the company's cruise ships, rather than its corporate offices. Great Place To Work declined Business Insider's request for that data.

"While no employer is the perfect fit for every candidate or employee, we think our track record and employee-satisfaction results outweigh the anecdotal examples that Business Insider likes to focus on," the Carnival Corp. representative said.

Not every crew and low-paid staff member described mistreatment or difficult working conditions. Some said their employers took care of them and were responsive to their concerns. And many said they enjoyed the ability to travel and make new friends.

Vanessa Figueiredo, an assistant bartender for Costa Cruises, which is owned by Carnival, makes between $2,200 and $3,000 per month and feels like her coworkers are her family, she said. She appreciates how Costa holds an event, like a karaoke night, for the ship's workers each week, and while she works 10 to 12 hours per day, seven days per week, during her seven-month contracts, she said she gets enough breaks during the day.

Nina Beader, who is from Macedonia and worked as a day-care staff member for Carnival Cruise Line from 2013 until 2017, felt the job was a significant growth opportunity for her, as it taught her skills related to customer service and self-discipline.

"It was great," she said of her experience working for Carnival.

Avoiding US labor laws

Cruise lines are able to treat their workers in ways that might make land-based businesses in the US fearful of lawsuits or regulatory scrutiny. Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian incorporate their businesses and register their ships in countries that have lower corporate taxes and more lenient labor laws than the US, like Panama and Bermuda, Jim Walker, a maritime lawyer for Walker and O'Neill, said.

"The cruise industry does not have to comply with US labor laws," he said.

When workers sign their contracts with cruise lines, they agree that they are subject to the law of the country their ship is registered in, and if they have a conflict with the cruise line, they settle it through arbitration rather than in court, Michael Winkleman, a maritime lawyer for Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina & Winkleman, said. (To his knowledge, Disney Cruise Line is the only cruise line that does not require arbitration.) Business Insider reached out to all the cruise lines mentioned in this story about their policies regarding arbitration, and none of them responded to a request for comment.

Settling a grievance through arbitration, rather than the US legal system, is likely to produce a worse outcome for the employee because the cruise line picks and pays for the arbitrator, Walker said. That means cruise lines can choose arbitrators who have given them favorable rulings in the past and who are likely to use the laws of a country with fewer worker protections than the US, like Panama or the Bahamas, to guide their decisions, he added.

"No arbitrator's going to bite the hand that feeds them," Walker said.

The International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations, sets guidelines for how many hours cruise-ship employees can work each day in its Maritime Labour Convention , which says employees should not work more than 14 hours in one day or 72 hours in one week. While a CLIA representative said its member cruise lines comply with the ILO's guidelines about working hours, 26 current and former cruise-ship employees told Business Insider they worked an average of over 72 hours per week. The CLIA representative described their descriptions of their schedules as "unverified."

It's difficult for many cruise-ship employees, particularly crew members, to raise concerns about working conditions. If they get hurt or complain too much, the cruise line could simply decline to hire them again after their contracts expire, the Clemson associate professor Terry said.

Small rooms and nasty food

One of the perks of living on a cruise ship is not having to find housing or pay rent. But for some, it comes with a price: small, spare living quarters . That's particularly true for crew and lower-paid staff members, some of whom said they didn't have much room to move in their cabins.

"I was sharing a cabin with another hostess, so obviously we'd have to get ready at the same time, and it was not possible," a former hostess who worked for Costa Cruises from 2014 to 2017 said. "We'd have to take turns."

Costa Cruises did not respond to a request for comment.

Crew and staff members often have one roommate, though they sometimes have three. Their rooms are furnished simply, giving occupants some combination of a bed, a desk, a closet, a few shelves, and a small bathroom. Workers may also share a bathroom with the room next to theirs or use a communal bathroom with the rest of their floor mates.

"Seafarers on cruise ships are indispensable to the industry and the cruise travel experience," a representative for CLIA said. "While space constraints are always something cruise lines have to keep in mind both from a crew and guest perspective, crew members almost always have access to other sections of the ship that are just for them, such as gyms, pools, dining areas, and lounges."

The cruise-ship hierarchy is even more severe when it comes to food, as crew, staff, and officers eat in different cafeterias. While officers and some staff members are allowed to eat in guest areas, many crew members are not.

Many crew and staff members said they were served food that was difficult to eat . Some described their displeasure as a logistical issue. Cruise ships tend to employ crew members from around the world, and the food served in the crew cafeteria reflects that variety, making it difficult for some to consistently find food similar to what they would eat at home. Others described food of poor quality, like chicken with a rubberlike texture or sauteed fish heads.

Jamile Viana, a former bar server and bartender for Island Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Costa Cruises, and Cunard Line from 2006 to 2016, said that, while working for Cunard, she often complained to the chef who cooked for crew members.

A representative for Carnival Corp., which owns Cunard Line, said the food options Cunard offers to crew members change every day and include dishes from a variety of national cuisines.

On Costa, crew members would sometimes eat just rice and watermelon because of the low quality of their other options, Viana said.

"The food for the crew is really bad," she said. "Sometimes, you cannot eat it."

A former shore-excursion employee who worked for Viking Cruises from 2010 to 2018 said he ate a lot of bread, butter, and salt because the other food, which was sometimes undercooked or consisted of vegetables leftover from passenger buffets, was unappealing.

"When it comes to the food, the quality was like really, really, really bad," he said.

But unappetizing food was not the former shore-excursion employee's biggest concern during his time with Viking. Near the end of his tenure, he got sick and struggled to get permission to return home so he could recover, he said.

Late one night in December 2017, the former Viking employee woke up with a fever that left him shaking and sweating. He called the ship's medical center, where a nurse remarked that he had woken her up and asked if he could wait before receiving medical attention. The former Viking employee said he needed to be seen immediately and went to the medical center wearing a winter jacket. The nurse told him he needed to be quarantined in his room.

The Viking employee didn't work for the next three days, and after the third day, the ship's doctor cleared him for work because his fever had subsided. The former Viking employee still felt weak, so he asked the company to allow him to end his contract early. Viking refused.

According to the former Viking employee, company policy dictated that he should have been sent home or to a hospital because his illness kept him from working for three days.

"I was begging the medical center to send me shoreside because I couldn't talk," he said.

The former employee worked for much of the next month as his colleagues grew increasingly concerned about him. While he no longer had a fever, his lungs hurt and he had trouble talking. In January 2018, the former Viking employee switched his contract with a colleague's and returned home to Mexico, where a doctor said he had pneumonia and ordered him to rest for the next two months.

While he was recovering, an employee of Kouzon Corp., a hiring agency that works with Viking, sent him a Facebook message asking if he could return to Viking earlier than the contract he had swapped for dictated. The former employee declined the request and expressed his frustration with how Viking handled his illness. The next day, the Kouzon employee said he wouldn't be allowed to work for Viking again.

"It's a very hard life to work on board," the former Viking employee said. "You get used to the money, but then it comes with a price, and the cost is very high."

Viking Cruises did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

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17 hours a day, 7 days a week: Cruise-ship workers describe the grueling conditions they face on the job

Business Insider spoke with 45 current and former cruise ship employees whose tenures span from 1997 to the present day.
Some described grueling hours, low pay, and a strict hierarchy that influences where they eat, where they sleep, and the number of months they work without a day off.
The employees Business Insider spoke with reported working an average of about 11 hours per day, seven days per week, for an average of around six consecutive months.
Of the 39 current and former cruise-ship workers who told Business Insider their monthly earnings, 18 said they at one point made $2,000 or less per month.
Cruise lines are able to treat their workers in ways that might make land-based businesses in the US fearful of lawsuits or regulatory scrutiny by incorporating their businesses and registering their ships in countries that have lenient labor laws, said Jim Walker, a maritime lawyer for Walker and O'Neill.
What's more, it's difficult for many cruise-ship employees to raise concerns about working conditions because the cruise line can simply decline to hire them again after their contract expires, the Clemson associate professor William Terry said.
"The cruise industry is proud to report that the thousands of employed crew members are very satisfied with current jobs and opportunities for career advancement," a representative for the Cruise Lines International Association said. "In fact, employee retention rates in the cruise industry are upwards of 80%. "
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .

The guest-services employee, who is from Jamaica and worked for Norwegian from 2013 until November 2018, asked if they were conducting a random inspection, but they didn't respond. Instead, they told her to step outside of her cabin before searching her phone and other belongings for the next 30 minutes. They interrogated her, asking her if she had over $10,000 in her cabin and if everything in the room belonged to her. She was humiliated and developed a headache that lasted until the next day, she said.

"I was traumatized," she said. "I couldn't sleep for three days. I was so depressed."

When the officers were finished searching her room, one told her that she was flagged to the agency by her ship's head of security because of a conversation she had with him a few weeks prior.

During that conversation, she asked the head of security for permission to buy a can of condensed milk once they stopped in Cozumel, Mexico so that she could bring it on the ship with her. He said she could not, and she said that she understood. The CBP officer said he was told that she had asked the security head to buy powdered milk, not condensed milk.

She had followed Norwegian's rules, and they had responded by alerting law enforcement.

"Working on a cruise line, you have to be mentally prepared to be there. If you're not a strong person, you will not survive," she said.

Norwegian Cruise Line did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The cruise industry is a lucrative business for its major companies and their shareholders. In 2018, Carnival Corporation , which owns nine cruise lines, earned a $3.2 billion profit. Royal Caribbean Cruises which, owns six cruise lines, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, which owns three cruise lines, made profits of $1.8 billion and $954.8 million, respectively. Together, the three companies accounted for 72.2% of the cruise industry's revenue and 79.9% of its passengers in 2018. They made nearly $2 billion in combined profits during the first half of this year.

Their success comes at a steep cost to their workers.

Business Insider spoke with 45 current and former cruise ship employees whose tenures span from 1997 to the present day. Some described grueling hours, low pay, and a strict hierarchy that influences where they eat, where they sleep, and the number of months they work without a day off. Most requested anonymity due to a fear of reprisal from their current or former employers.

Have you worked on a cruise ship? Do you have a story to share? Email this reporter at [email protected] .

17-hour days, seven days per week

With few exceptions, even well-paid cruise-ship employees are subject to work schedules that rival those of notoriously time-intensive workplaces like investment banks and restaurant kitchens. Instead of traditional five-day weeks, cruise-ship employees often work seven days a week for the duration of their contracts, which can range from about three to 10 months. (Around six months was the most common contract length cited by those who spoke with Business Insider.) The hours can also be intense, ranging from about seven to 18 hours a day. (The employees Business Insider spoke with reported working an average of about 11 hours per day.)

Cruise ship workers are subject to a strict hierarchy that determines their pay, living conditions, and contracts. At the top of the hierarchy are officers - managers and those responsible for navigation. In the middle are staff members, which include workers in entertainment, retail, and guest services. At the bottom are crew members, who are generally responsible for serving guests. They include waiters, bartenders, and cleaning staff.

That's not uncommon, as Carnival and Royal Caribbean reported median annual earnings of less than $20,000 in 2018, while Norwegian reported median earnings just above $20,000. Those figures are significantly lower than the earnings of the median worker in the US, who made $32,838 last year, according to the Social Security Administration's estimate . And they're minuscule when compared to the compensation received by each company's chief executive. Norwegian CEO Frank Del Rio made $22.6 million last year, while Carnival CEO Arnold Donald made $13.5 million and Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain made $12.4 million.

The cruise-ship workers Business Insider spoke with who reported the highest monthly earnings, which fell between around $5,000 and $10,000, tended to be from the United States or Canada. Those who reported earnings of $2,000 or less tended to be from South America, Eastern Europe, or Southeast Asia.

cruise company median annual earnings 2018 chart

A 2005 study from the Seafarers International Research Centre found that 70% of cruise ship workers were from regions that didn't have what the International Monetary Fund calls "advanced" economies, like Latin America, Eastern Europe, and parts of Asia, while 30% of workers came from regions with advanced economies, like the United States and Western Europe. Workers from advanced economies were much more likely to be officers than workers from non-advanced economies, the study found.

"For so many people looking to get ahead, there's a reality that they're probably going to be locked out of certain positions simply because of where they come from," he said.

The representative added that "cruise lines invest heavily to attract the best people, offering an extremely competitive package of wages and benefits as well as ensuring crew members have the training to perform jobs skillfully and advance on a rewarding career path."

"We recognize all industries have a small number of unsatisfied employees, however, the cruise industry is proud to report that the thousands of employed crew members are very satisfied with current jobs and opportunities for career advancement," the representative said. "In fact, employee retention rates in the cruise industry are upwards of 80%. "

Officers get favorable treatment, workers say

Aida Carvalho, who is from Brazil and was a human resources manager for MSC Cruises, Viking Cruises, and Holland America Line from 2015 until this February, said there was a large gap between the monthly pay of the highest and lowest-ranking employees. Galley workers, who are responsible for tasks related to cleaning and waste disposal in a ship's kitchen, could make less than $800 per month, while captains could make around $15,000 per month.

"It's not fair that someone will work 11 hours a day dealing with garbage and [get] only $700," she said.

Carvalho said she was fired from Holland America in February after an employee told her about an allegation that a captain was covering up unprofessional behavior from subordinates. Carvalho intended to investigate the allegation to determine if it had merit, but before she could do so, her supervisor, a human resources manager from Holland America's corporate offices, told the captain about the planned investigation, Carvalho said. The supervisor then accused her of creating false timesheets and having poor English skills and fired her, she said.

"Captains, they hate my position on board because we are the only ones that can stop them [from] doing stupid things," she said. "The captains really believe they are the owners of that ship, so it's impossible to fight that."

Holland America Line did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

A former photographer for Royal Caribbean who is from Colombia said she felt as if officers treated each other with more respect than the workers they supervised. The former Royal Caribbean photographer, who worked for the cruise line from 2016 until June 2018, said one of her managers would comment on her sexual orientation and tell her he didn't like that she wore the same hairstyle every day.

"Whenever it comes to an officer or a manager, they like to treat each other with respect. But if you're not a manager or an officer, they just see you as their slave," she said.

Crew and lower-paid staff members were not the only ones who noted the differences in how officers and crew members are treated.

"Being an officer, I had it quite good, but I was shocked at the way the other employees were treated," he said.

"They're almost like slaves who live on these minuscule tips by the officers," he said. "It feels really colonial."

A representative for Carnival Corp, which owns Princess Cruises, said Princess Cruises' company culture has led over 10,000 employees to spend more than a decade working for the cruise line. Like other companies, Princess Cruises gives different benefits to employees based on their rank, not their home country, the representative added.

A disconnect between a CEO and his employees

Carnival Corp CEO Arnold Donald said in a February interview with Business Insider that he didn't believe crew members were treated with less respect than staff members and officers, saying the working conditions on Carnival ships are "excellent." If crew members were subject to worse treatment, their displeasure would become clear to passengers, he said. When asked if some crew members might feel pressure to pretend they are happy because they cannot afford to lose their job, Donald said that would be impossible to sustain for the length of a contract.

Donald's assertion contrasts with how a restaurant hostess who worked for Carnival from 2018 until this June described her experience to Business Insider.

The hostess, who is from Colombia, said she worked seven days per week while making around $1,000 per month. She said her job required her to always appear happy to guests, which she sometimes found exhausting. Last Christmas, she became homesick, retreated to a pantry, and started crying. Her boss found her and asked why she wasn't smiling.

Spending an average of 12 hours per day interacting with passengers dulled her emotions, she said.

"You see some doctors, some nurses, they don't feel no pain anymore. They don't feel any empathy," she said. "That happens to us."

A representative for Carnival Cruise Line's parent company, Carnival Corp, directed Business Insider to the employee feedback platform Great Place to Work , which gave Carnival Cruise Line its "great place to work" certification for the year spanning August 2019 to August 2020. According to Great Place to Work, 76% of Carnival Cruise Line employees said Carnival is a great company to work for, but the platform does not specify the number of employees included in the survey or the percentage of participants that work on the company's cruise ships, rather than its corporate offices. Great Place to Work declined Business Insider's request for that data.

"While no employer is the perfect fit for every candidate or employee, we think our track record and employee satisfaction results outweigh the anecdotal examples that Business Insider likes to focus on," the Carnival Corp representative said.

Vanessa Figueiredo, an assistant bartender for Costa Cruises, which is owned by Carnival, makes between $2,200-$3,000 per month and said she feels like her co-workers are her family. She appreciates how Costa holds an event, like a karaoke night, for the ship's workers each week, and while she works 10-12 hours per day, seven days per week during her seven-month contracts, she said she gets enough breaks during the day.

Nina Beader, who is from Macedonia and worked as a daycare staff member for Carnival Cruise Line from 2013 until 2017, felt the job was a significant growth opportunity for her, as it taught her skills related to customer service and self-discipline.

"It was great," she said of her experience working for Carnival.

Avoiding US labor laws

Norwegian Cruise Line Norwegian Sea Bermuda

Cruise lines are able to treat their workers in ways that might make land-based businesses in the US fearful of lawsuits or regulatory scrutiny. Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian incorporate their businesses and register their ships in countries that have lower corporate taxes and more lenient labor laws than the US, like Panama and Bermuda, said Jim Walker, a maritime lawyer for Walker and O'Neill.

"The cruise industry does not have to comply with US labor laws," he said.

When workers sign their contracts with cruise lines, they agree that they are subject to the law of the country their ship is registered in, and if they have a conflict with the cruise line, they will settle it through arbitration rather than in court, said Michael Winkleman, a maritime lawyer for Lipcon, Marguiles, Alsina, and Winkleman. (To his knowledge, Disney Cruise Line is the only cruise line that does not require arbitration.) Business Insider reached out to all the cruise lines mentioned in this story about their policies regarding arbitration, and none of them responded to a request for comment.

"No arbitrator's going to bite the hand that feeds them," Walker said.

It's difficult for many cruise-ship employees, particularly crew members, to raise concerns about working conditions. If they get hurt or complain too much, the cruise line can simply decline to hire them again after their contract expires, the Clemson associate professor William Terry said.

Small rooms and nasty food

"I was sharing a cabin with another hostess, so obviously we'd have to get ready at the same time, and it was not possible," a former hostess who worked Costa Cruises from 2014 to 2017 said. "We'd have to take turns."

Costa Cruises did not respond to a request for comment.

"Seafarers on cruise ships are indispensable to the industry and the cruise travel experience," a representative for the CLIA said. "While space constraints are always something cruise lines have to keep in mind both from a crew and guest perspective, crew members almost always have access to other sections of the ship that are just for them, such as gyms, pools, dining areas, and lounges."

Jamile Viana, a former bar waitress and bartender for Island Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Costa Cruises, and Cunard Line from 2006 to 2016, said that, while working for Cunard, she often complained to the chef who cooked for crew members.

A representative for Carnival Corp, which owns Cunard Line, said the food options Cunard offers to crew members change every day and include dishes from a variety of national cuisines.

On Costa, crew members would sometimes eat just rice and watermelon due to the low quality of their other options, Viana said.

"The food for the crew is really bad," she said. "Sometimes, you cannot eat it."

A former shore excursion employee who worked for Viking Cruises from 2010 to 2018 said he ate a lot of bread, butter, and salt because the other food, which was sometimes undercooked or consisted of vegetables leftover from passenger buffets, was unappealing.

"When it comes to the food, the quality was like really, really, really bad," he said.

But unappetizing food was not the former shore-excursion employee's biggest concern during his time with Viking. Near the end of his tenure, he got sick, and said he struggled to get permission to return home so he could recover.

Late one night at the end of December 2017, the former Viking employee woke up with a fever that left him shaking and sweating. He called the ship's medical center, where a nurse remarked that he had woken her up and asked if he could wait before receiving medical attention. The former Viking employee said he needed to be seen immediately and went to the medical center wearing a winter jacket. The nurse told him he needed to be quarantined in his room.

The Viking employee didn't work for the next three days, and after the third day, the ship's doctor cleared him to work since his fever had subsided. The former Viking employee still felt weak, so he asked the company to allow him to end his contract early. Viking refused.

According to the former Viking employee, company policy dictated that he should have been sent home or to a hospital since his illness kept him from working for three days.

"I was begging the medical center to send me shoreside because I couldn't talk," he said.

The former employee worked for much of the next month as his colleagues grew increasingly concerned about him. While he no longer had a fever, his lungs hurt and he had trouble talking. Near the end of January 2018, the former Viking employee switched his contract with a colleague's and returned home to Mexico, where a doctor said he had pneumonia and ordered him to rest for the next two months.

While he was recovering, an employee of Kouzon Corp, a hiring agency that works with Viking, sent him a Facebook message asking if he could return to Viking earlier than the contract he had swapped for dictated. The former employee declined the request and expressed his frustration with how Viking handled his illness. The next day, the Kouzon employee said he wouldn't be allowed to work for Viking again.

"It's a very hard life to work on board," the former Viking employee said. "You get used to the money, but then it comes with a price, and the cost is very high."

Viking Cruises did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

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Carnival and Royal Caribbean paid their median employee less than $20,000 in 2018

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Expectations of Cruise Ship Employees

Another possible drawback is that you, as an employee on the cruise ship, must be “on” nearly twenty-four hours a day. Contracts are generally three to eight months long, depending on the position and the company. For all that time, you will be expected to represent your company to the public, which means that you must always show a sunny personality. For many passengers, the week or so that they spend on the ship is one of the best times of their lives, and you will be expected to share their enthusiasm. As one aerobics instructor for Norwegian Cruise Lines describes it, always being on duty is probably the most distinguishing characteristic of ship life:

Cruise Ship Employees are Representing the Cruise Liner Company Almost All the Time

“You’re always ‘on’ when you’re out of your quarters area, regardless of whether it’s your time off or not. We were part of the cruise staff, so after leading fitness classes all day, we had to greet people at shows and generally be available in public areas at least five nights per week. This wasn’t always hard work, though; it was kind of like socializing and getting paid for it. We even got a $75 per month bar allowance, to encourage us to mingle with passengers and buy them drinks. Eventually, though, we learned to avoid the public areas of the ship during our true time off, because it got tiring having passengers constantly approaching us and asking questions. And they ALL knew who we were, because the cruise staff was always introduced at the beginning of the cruise, and we had to wear uniforms and name tags anytime we were in the public areas.”

Because employees are considered on duty any time that they’re in public areas on the ship, off-duty recreation can be somewhat limited. However, you also don’t have to commute to work, cook a meal (unless that’s your job), or do laundry. All these needs are fulfilled for you, which means that the free time you have is completely your own and free of mundane chores. Activities also vary depending on whether the ship is at sea or in port:

“We didn’t have lots of free time, but when we did find some, we watched TV, took a lot of naps, and read. On ‘sea days’ we stayed away from public areas on our days off, because otherwise you were basically on duty. When we were in port, though, the passengers were pretty much off the ship, so if we didn’t have any shore duties, we could go hang out by the pool, sunbathe, or use the spa without our name tags and uniforms.”

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When you work in this industry, where you are largely responsible for the navigation and upkeep of a vessel, you have to consider that working conditions and working hours might not always be ideal and to your liking. These jobs can be hazardous and require people who are detail oriented and conscientious, which is something that you have to consider before applying to work on a vessel and training at a maritime school or academy.

While some jobs require more than one member of the same position to take shifts on board, some industries only employ one of each type of crew member. This all depends on the number of hours at sea, the size and type of vessel you are working on. Your working conditions will vary greatly. On cruise ships you will have relatively good accommodation and meals and meet lots of interesting people while you work. You get to work in a more luxurious setting and the environment is also more relaxed, while on a commercial fishing vessel you are under more stress, you have to navigate through dangerous waters, make excellent time, and the environment is not exactly luxurious. The facilities mean that if you are a deckhand or in another position on the deck you have to endure storms, high winds and extreme temperatures out in the open, completely at the mercy of all the elements.

Your working hours also vary greatly especially depending on your specific job title, but all the maritime jobs from Captain to Deckhand all consist of long working hours. Aside from this, the entire crew will have to work in case of any emergency when called upon, even if it is at 3 o’clock in the morning. Some jobs have longer hours in the summer season, and some positions will consist of 24 hour shifts that rotate, so you have one day on duty, and the following day off. Each of the following positions have very diverse working hours, and completely different schedules according to the employers, size of the vessel, and the type of industry.

Engineering Crew

Chief Engineer: The chief engineer usually works for 8 hours per day, but is always on call. When at sea for long periods of time the shift extends to weekends and holidays as well.

Designated Duty Engineer: This position sometimes requires you to work in 2 shifts of 4 hours each per day to perform various engine checks, but you will also work 8 to 16 hours or more 7 days per week depending on what vessel you are employed on and how long you are at sea for.

Assistant Engineers: You will work 8 or more hours in a day, working 7 days per week normally with a few days off in between, unless you are at sea, where you will work constantly for months and then receive a month or two off when you return to shore.

Engineer: The average for an engineer is 51 hours per week and this can be working in daily shifts, but also being on call.

Oiler and Wiper: These positions will be filled by more than one person usually giving you the opportunity to work in shifts of 12 hours each, although you will also be on call at all times if needed in an emergency situation.

Wheelhouse Crew

Master or Captain: As the leader of the entire vessel and its crew, captains are usually working full time for sometimes 3 months at sea, after which they will receive 3 months off. Sometimes masters will work very irregular hours depending on what is happening at any specific time at sea, and will rest whenever there is an opportunity.

First Mate, Chief Officer, or Chief Mate: This important job will also see you working irregular hours, but usually shifts are assigned, although you will be on call 24 hours a day. This job will also consist of sometimes 3 months at sea and then you will get 3 months leave.

Second and Third Mates: You will normally work in shifts while on board of about 12 to 16 hours per day, but are on call 24 hours a day.

Able Seaman Deckhand: There are various able seaman positions which means that shift work is offered and you can expect to be on duty for long hours, and can sometimes work for 4 to 7 days, and then get 3 days off (in a fishing environment).

Ordinary Seaman Deckhand: This position would also work in shifts of about 12 hours and you will get a certain number of days that you are on duty and then you get time off. This will normally depend on how long your time at sea is, but if you are on a cruise ship, you will still get time off after working for about 5 days, which you can spend on board, exploring ports, or you can spend them at home if possible.

Deckhands: On a commercial in-shore vessel, the deckhands can work anywhere from 5 hours to 16 hours per day and will normally get a day off during the week, especially if returning home each day. If you are based at sea, you will work for the duration you are at sea including weekends, and then you will receive a certain number of weeks or months off.

Required Maritime Skills

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Do Cruise Ship Crew Get Days Off?

Working on a cruise ship can seem like a dream – traveling the world and then getting months off for vacation in between contracts. But in all that time they’re at sea, sometimes for 8 or more months, do cruise ship crew get days off? And, what happens if they get sick, do cruise ship crew get sick days?

When you work on a cruise ship you find that everyone has an opinion (well founded or just made off of assumptions) about what life must be like at sea. Some assume that it’s the most fun you could have, traveling from country to country, getting months off in between. Others will ask if you ever feel “stuck” or “trapped” while away at sea. There will be the smattering of questions about working conditions, half with the assumption that you are living that Instagram filtered life of beaches, drinks, and romance and half assuming that you live in a tiny cabin with awful working conditions. Like with everything in life, parts of all of the above is true.

One thing that people consistently cannot get over is that most of the time cruise ship crew do not get days off.

All views are my own and do not represent those of my employer. *As an Amazon affiliate I may earn from eligible purchases.

Most Jobs Onboard a Cruise Ship You Work Every Single Day

The majority of jobs onboard you work from the day you join the ship until the day you leave the ship. Each job onboard is a bit different as to what their schedule looks like although there are rules that govern how much any ship employee can work if their ship (and the flag state of their ship) follows the MLC .

This means there are no weekends, there are no holidays, no Christmas day off, no long Labor Day weekend. Every day you’re onboard you are working. So when crew get to go home on vacation, usually for a couple of months, think of that time like all of those weekends, holidays, and vacation days all put together. For the most part crew talk about having hours off – not days off.

Port Days Vs Sea Days – But Not Actually Days Off

Some jobs will have nearly the exact same schedule every day, whereas other jobs will have easier days on port days. For passenger facing roles or jobs onboard that deal more directly with the guests, port days tend to be a bit lighter as most guests are ashore so there are less guests to feed, clean for, and entertain. These jobs will conversely be busier on sea days. This may mean that on a port day your work day is 6-8 hours versus 10 hours (for instance).

There are also jobs that are the opposite of that where port days are significantly more busy. These would be jobs like engineering officers doing propulsion maintenance, the sailors and officers that drive tender boats, security at the gangway, everyone involved in loading provisions onto the ship, window washers and exterior painters (to name a few). However, whether your role onboard has more hours on a port day or a sea day – regardless, you’ll most likely be working every day.

Want to know more about the difference between port days and sea days? Take a look at this post where we dive into it.

If You Have a Day Off – It Doesn’t Mean You Can Get Off The Ship

What? It’s my day off and the ship is in Honolulu and I can’t go ashore?! Yes, it’s real, it’s true, and it’s called “IPM” or in-port manning. IPM is the need to have a minimum number of crew member onboard to be able to respond should an emergency happen while the ship is in port. Most of the time this is done on a rotation between the various other crew in your emergency function, but at some point you will get stuck onboard on your day off. Relax, take a nap, catch up on sleep.

Want to know more about in-port manning? This post explains what it is and what to expect for in-port manning .

Why Don’t Most Crew Get Days Off?

For the most part every job on a ship happens every day. The dining room is open every day, the buffet is open every day. Every day people need to eat, rooms need to be cleaned, engines need to keep running, and the ship needs to go from A to B.

People that work at hotels get days off – so why don’t people on a ship? That mostly comes down to cabin space. Cabin space is at a premium. If crew were to have days off you would still need other crew to cover those responsibilities – this means more crew onboard taking up more cabin space. And, the more cabin space crew take up, the less space there is onboard the ship for passenger cabins. At the end of the day cruising is a business and it’s less expensive to have crew work every single day of their contract and then have a few months off then to have more crew onboard.

What If You Get Sick? Do Cruise Ship Crew Get Sick Days?

Sick days don’t work the same as a conventional job, but cruise ship crew do get sick days. There is no set amount of sick days that crew get though and you only get a sick day if the onboard medical team deems you unfit for duty. All those tricks that you might play on land – calling in and tossing in a fake cough here and there – don’t work on the ship. There is no option to call in sick to get extra time at the beach or in port. No, to get a sick day onboard medical has to determine that you are in fact sick enough to not work (or potentially contagious).

If they determine you can’t work because of a common cold you may get to spend the day lazing around in your pj’s in your cabin. However, depending on what you are sick with they might consider you at risk of spreading an infectious virus such as norovirus or coronavirus. If you show symptoms of a virus like this and you have a roommate you will be getting moved out of your cabin either into a quarantine cabin, another isolation cabin, or into the medical facility depending on which virus and what their protocols are to reduce the potential spread of the virus onboard.

There is no finite number of sick days that crew will get per contract and you won’t get fired for being sick. If you are really sick with something that needs to be treated off of the ship the company may deem that you are medically unfit to sail or that because of your need for treatment being onboard is unfeasible or unsafe for you.

Fun fact: While you won’t get fired for being sick – you could actually get fired if you are sick with a potentially infectious illness and do not report your symptoms.

There Are a Few Positions That Are More Likely to Get Days Off

There are a few jobs onboard that are known to pretty much always get a day off once a week or every other week – or are more likely to have big chunks of time off in port. For some of these positions it is written in their contract for one day off a week or every two weeks, or a day off may just a happenstance of the ships schedule.

Musicians & Entertainers

There are a lot of different types of musicians and entertainers that work onboard cruise ships. From the guest entertainers that come in to do one or two shows onboard to the in-house entertainment, it could range from magicians to acrobats to figure skaters to high divers and everything in between. And, as much variety as there is in type of performer there is that much variety in their contracts.

Many onboard musicians are granted one day off a week. Others will not have a designated “day off” but rather will have days off in between their performances and rehearsals. Those positions that do not have a contracted day off but rather an in-between their performances day off, they may be expected to work out in the gym or practice their instruments on their own. Any time a crew member works though those hours need to be accounted for due to strict maritime regulations about work/rest hours.

Casino & Shops

Local regulations will prohibit the shops and casino from being open while the ship is in port – there are even some areas where the ships sail that it’s close enough to port that they aren’t allowed to be open. Because of this people that work in the shops and casinos have very itinerary driven schedules. Sea days are hugely busy and long days for them, where as most of the time port days are much quieter.

This doesn’t mean they have every port day off though. Most jobs onboard involve both the part of the job that the passengers see and the part behind the scenes. Behind the scenes for these kind of jobs could involve things like bringing on inventory, organizing, working on various gaming machines, and trainings.

Art Auctioneer, Port Shopping Ambassador

Nearly every job on the ship will have very specific rules outlining the job, how the department is to run, and also how much money they’re expected to make. Some of the specific rules of the job might be how many hours they need to be at their desk in a day, how many art auctions to have, all the way down to how much and what information they can send to guests cabins. However, there aren’t always rules about having desk hours for some of these roles.

Even if there isn’t a requirement for “desk hours” given by the cruise line itself, there may be from the partner company. If there aren’t any written out rules for the role though, it’s possible that these positions could then have a “day off”. However, anyone that has ever worked a job based on commission knows that how much you earn is directly related to how hard you work and how much effort you put in. So, while they might be able to snag a day off, it’s probably not in their best interest.

This one may surprise you – I know I was a bit surprised to find out that the people working in the spa sometimes got days off. This is often over a two week or ten day rotation where they get one day off within that time. The other days they work are long though, easily averaging 10+ hour days.

The spa is allowed to be open while the ship is in port; however, as most guests choose to go ashore it is less busy. This means that if you work in the spa you will likely also have less hours to work on at least some port days.

For the Cruise Ship Crew That Don’t Get Days Off – Do They Ever Get to Have Some Fun?

Just because you don’t get a day off while onboard doesn’t mean you can’t have fun! It also doesn’t mean that you are going to miss out on big adventures ashore. It just means that it will likely take some more planning and coordinating with your team to make those special days happen.

Not every job will have the flexibility and not every manager will work with you to have the flexibility to go do incredible things every once in awhile. Whether that is working a little extra one day (although still not breaking work/rest hour rules) so that you can work a bit less another day to go climb the Great Wall of China or if it’s asking someone to switch watch with you so you can go snorkeling in Bora Bora, a lot of the time it is possible to get to do these things with some planning, coordination, and yes, having a good supervisor.

Working on a Ship wth No Days Off – Is It Worth It?

Working onboard a cruise ship is hard work. If you are in a job that works every day or if you are in one that gets a day off every once in awhile. Any way you slice it, if you work onboard a ship it is hard – time away from families, often long hours. Whether or not it is worth it is up to you, who you are, and your personality. But, if you go to work at sea, unless it’s written out in your contract for a day off, you should plan that you will work every single day of your contract.

What has your experience working onboard been? Have you gotten days off as a cruise ship crew member?

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Yes we have day off,every week ,we divided 2 group ,for example group no ,1 will be off in port, then the other group will take off in sea day ,then next week again group 2 will ttakein

Please I want to join and get the opportunity to work with you and am willing to work with you help me how can I get this opportunity

I worked in the shops onboard and we had to work all day on a sea day. We had two one hour breaks, our break was opposite from our cabin mate so we could have our own space. On port days we only worked when sailing (with some exceptions) that meant you worked for a few hours in the afternoon or evening. The exceptions were stock takes, then you take turns to have time off. There were also other jobs you had to fulfil onboard such as delivering flyers to cabins etc. Also two members of staff had to stay on board ship Incase of emergency, again it was rota based. Also if you weren’t working during this time you could use the onboard passenger facilities while they were quiet such as the spa or sunbathing or the pool. Or just catch up on laundry. Certain jobs didn’t really get much time off. If your job was to work all week with passengers is cabin steward then your time off the day new passengers were boarding. Other than that the room stewards usually covered for each other in turns so they could get a little time off. If you want to work on a cruise ship then it’s hard work and low pay but if you get certain jobs it can also be amazing way to see the world with lots of new friends. It isn’t easy to get a job onboard you usually have to go through an agency and be qualified or have experience in area of work applying for. Also cruise companies tend to hire in different countries for different jobs. When I got a job I had two types of retail experience, many of the other women had previously worked in Harrods or Macy’s. They used to like to pick people who had experience in department stores for the shops. The. People who worked in the spa had experience and degrees. Waiters came from upmarket restaurants. They also employed djs casino staff and baristas for the coffee shop onboard. They are many varied jobs. But at sometimes we only got $1.50 an hour because during inventory we were working 12 hour days. Also you only get paid at the end of the cruise. You have to live on tips and commission during. You also have to pay tips for dry cleaning, room stewards and food wait staff in serving areas. You may also need to buy stuff on shore such as toiletries. So you have to live on pocket money while aboard.

Why Some Smart Cruise Travelers Stay on the Ship During Port Days

W HEN SUSAN HARSELL, a travel adviser based in Basye, Va., arrives at a port during a cruise vacation, she runs through a mental checklist to decide whether she wants to get off the ship or not. She evaluates her ship’s arrival time (afternoon arrivals are less crowded than mornings), length of stay and the number and size of other ships already at port. Only when she’s confident she’ll have a rewarding, immersive visit ashore does she get off the ship.

Every cruise port call triggers this dilemma and few of us can weigh the options as professionally as Harsell can. Staying on deck can bring on unbearable levels of FOMO, but if you disembark with little sense of what you’re in for, you might end up packed into a tour bus, wishing you were on your third margarita on the ship’s deck instead. To make the most out of days off the ship—and to know when to stay put—it helps to do some leg work.

Know Your Ports

On “port days,” when the ship is docked, cruisers step out of the bubble of a cruise ship and stretch their legs. Some travelers view those days—and the ability to pop into multiple places—as the whole point of the trip.

But in certain ports, your ship might pull into a spot next to six other mega liners. The best strategy in these cases: Skip group activities and opt for an in-and-out approach. “Get off early, knock out what you want to do and then get back on the ship,” advised Doug Parker, host of Cruise Radio, a podcast about cruises.

Before Barry Maher, a motivational speaker based in Santa Barbara, Calif., steps foot on any ship, he studies its port stops. “I know which ones I want to hit,” he said, “and decide how I want to hit them,” whether on his own or as part of a ship tour.

If you value immersing yourself in a destination, or dislike traveling long distances on shore visits, think small. Smaller lines like Windstar Cruises and the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection can dock at less-crowded ports closer to the action. In Bermuda, big ships pull into the Royal Navy Dockyard, but a dock on Front Street in Hamilton caters to smaller ships and obviates the need for bus rides.

At the cruise terminal in Vancouver, you’re just steps from key attractions, like the Vancouver Lookout, which offers 360 views of downtown. In St. Maarten, you might have to travel a bit to get to Maho Beach, where planes buzz right overhead as they land, but for planespotters, it’s a no-brainer.

Think in terms of the value proposition, says Parker. Look at cost, personal interest, transit time and activity time. He might pass on, say, a crowded in-and-out tour, but happily take a break from the sun deck and hop into a bus for a new experience like learning to play Gaelic football in Cork, Ireland.

Know Yourself

Before you go ashore, get real about your fitness level. Port days can mean a lot of walking, especially in the Mediterranean, a region known for hot sun and long shore visits. Harsell advises her clients “to find whatever balance is right for them.” Most cruise concierges will happily provide a rundown of the terrain well in advance.

Cruisers with limited mobility, for instance, might not welcome the uneven cobblestone streets in Santorini. And a “tender port,” where you must take a small boat to go ashore, can prove challenging.

It’s not always clear when booking if a port is docked or tendered, so “I always call the cruise line during the booking process,” said Cory Lee, a wheelchair-travel expert who shares his experiences on his website, Curb Free with Cory Lee. Lee likes newer ships, like Virgin Voyages’ fleet, which offer greater accessibility.

If you’re the independent type who likes to skip the group tour and go out on your own, it’s up to you to make your way back to the ship on time. Synchronize your watch with the ship’s time, then set your phone to Airplane Mode, advised Parker. The local time might differ from the ship time or you might cross time zones on an excursion. Both make it too easy to miss the ship at day’s end.

Skip the Lines

If you’re strategic, port days can double as spa days. When you know you’re in for an underwhelming shore experience, stay on board and get pampered instead—and enjoy a discount to boot, typically at least 20% off on major cruise lines like Celebrity and Crystal Cruises when on-ship spa demand is low.

On sea days, the lines for ship amenities can be maddening, especially for in-demand activities, like roller coasters and waterslides. Knowing in advance which shore days you’ll skip can eliminate anxiety about missing out on those attractions. You can just give them a whirl when everyone else is loading into the tour bus.

Why Some Smart Cruise Travelers Stay on the Ship During Port Days

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COMMENTS

Cruise Ship Workers Reveal Their Grueling Schedules
Rather than working traditional five-day weeks, cruise-ship employees often work seven days a week for the duration of their contracts, which can range from about two months to 11 months. The ...
I Worked on a Cruise Ship, but the Pay and Schedule Weren't Worth It
But once the normal cruises began, we worked between nine and 11 ½ hours a day, depending on staffing levels. On a cruise ship, most crew don't get any days off. It's continuous work seven days a ...
Working on a cruise ship: Pay, hours, conditions, and secrets
The Dance Instructors for example only worked about 5 hours a day, and perhaps 7 hours on sea days, if that. The reception/guest service team had constant shifts of 8-12 hours, occasionally going to 14 hours if things were really busy. Bar staff worked between 12-16 hours, sometimes more, they had some of the hardest work on the ship I believe.
How Many Hours Are Cruise Ship Crew Allowed to Work?
2 hour rest - not long enough to meet requirement. 12.5 hours rest for the 24 hour period. 22:30-00:00. 1.5 hour work = 10 hours of work for the day. Only 10 hours of work on this day, but because of how they are split up (and the hour forward) this schedule would be in violation.
Cruise Ship Workers Reveal What Life Is Like at Sea
Rather than working traditional five-day weeks, cruise-ship employees often work seven days a week for the duration of their contracts, which can range from about two months to 11 months. Between ...
The truth about working on a cruise ship
01/25/2023. From 14-hour shifts to meager pay, working conditions on cruise ships are tough. No wonder it's becoming increasingly difficult to find staff. While passengers enjoy their cruise ...
How much do cruise ship workers make?
Do cruise ship employees get days off? Crew members work very hard onboard, and their schedule is different than the 9-to-5 schedule many Americans think of when it comes to a work day. Rather than getting full days off, crew members get large gaps in their schedule, but they work every day of their contract. This is because crew members work ...
Cruise Ship Employment FAQ
Contract lengths vary by position but range between four and ten months. After each contract you will receive approximately 60 days of vacation before your next assignment. Your daily work schedule while onboard will depend on your particular position, but you can expect to work seven days a week and anywhere between 10-13 hours per day.
FAQs
What makes cruise ship employment so unique? Working on a ship means you live and work onboard. This also means it is a 7-day work week with 10+ combined hours per day. Is this a full time job? Employment on a cruise ship is DEFINITELY a full time position. However, due to the intensity of shipboard work & life, it is on an assignment rotation ...
Do Cruise Ship Employees Get Days Off?
Most cruise ship employees do not get any days off. They work 7 days a week with contracts that last between 5 to 9 months at a time. Instead of days off, they get a certain number of hours off each day, which varies depending on their position. The only exception is if they are sick or injured in some way that prevents them from working ...
Navigating Different Work Schedules on a Cruise Ship: A Comprehensive
Conclusion: Working on a cruise ship can involve demanding schedules, but cruise companies generally offer compensation and benefits to ensure staff are fairly compensated for their work. Crew members should be conscious of the varying work schedules for different roles and stand up for themselves to guarantee fair compensation.
14 Secrets of Cruise Ship Workers
14. They will leave you behind. If you leave the ship for an on-land excursion, make sure you get back before departure time. Cruise lines pay massive fines if they overstay their port time, so ...
Cruise Employees Share What It's ACTUALLY Like To Work on a Cruise Ship
Olga355/istockphoto. 1. Long Working Hours. Cruise ship employees often work incredibly long hours, sometimes up to 12-14 hours a day without a day off for weeks. "Customers will treat you like a ...
Cruise-Ship Workers Describe Grueling Conditions on the Job
17 hours a day, 7 days a week: Cruise-ship workers reveal the grueling conditions they face on the job ... Instead of traditional five-day weeks, cruise-ship employees often work seven days a week ...
How Many Hours a Day Do Cruise Ship Workers Work?
Cruise ship workers typically work 8-hour shifts, but this can vary depending on the company and the position. Some positions may require 12-hour days or even longer depending on the needs of the cruise line. On average, cruise ship workers can expect to work 6 to 7 days each week for up to 8 hours a day.
17 hours a day, 7 days a week: Cruise-ship workers describe the
Instead of traditional five-day weeks, cruise-ship employees often work seven days a week for the duration of their contracts, which can range from about three to 10 months.
8 Interesting Facts About Working on a Cruise Ship
Regardless of the role employees take, they can expect to work hard throughout their contract. Crew members work every day of their contract, taking time off in hours rather than in full days. 7 ...
What Working on a Cruise Ship is Really Like
This truth is most cruise ship employees are getting paid a lot of cash to put up with life at sea. Astonishingly, Darling discloses that many cruise ship staff members get paid about $4,000 per ...
Cruise Ship Employee Work Schedules
Another possible drawback is that you, as an employee on the cruise ship, must be "on" nearly twenty-four hours a day. Contracts are generally three to eight months long, depending on the position and the company. For all that time, you will be expected to represent your company to the public, which means that you must always show a sunny ...
Maritime Work Hours and Conditions
Assistant Engineers: You will work 8 or more hours in a day, working 7 days per week normally with a few days off in between, unless you are at sea, where you will work constantly for months and then receive a month or two off when you return to shore. Engineer: The average for an engineer is 51 hours per week and this can be working in daily ...
r/Cruise on Reddit: How do cruises get away with working their workers
I work on a cruise ship: the lower-ranking service guys do 8-9 month contracts at 12-14 hour days 7 days a week. There's a reason our company sent out an email warning these guys against deserting. Tons and tons of cruise ship workers disappear illegally into the US bc human traffickers offer them better work in the US.
How Much Do Cruise Ship Workers Make?
A cruise ship crew member for Carnival, Royal Caribbean, or Norwegian Cruise Line can earn an annual average between $16,000 to $20,000. For leadership staff onboard cruise ships, the annual ...
Do Cruise Ship Crew Get Days Off?
This is often over a two week or ten day rotation where they get one day off within that time. The other days they work are long though, easily averaging 10+ hour days. The spa is allowed to be open while the ship is in port; however, as most guests choose to go ashore it is less busy.
Why Some Smart Cruise Travelers Stay on the Ship During Port Days
On "port days," when the ship is docked, cruisers step out of the bubble of a cruise ship and stretch their legs. Some travelers view those days—and the ability to pop into multiple places ...
Why Some Smart Cruise Travelers Stay on the Ship During Port Days
WHEN SUSAN HARSELL, a travel adviser based in Basye, Va., arrives at a port during a cruise vacation, she runs through a mental checklist to decide whether she wants to get off the ship or not ...

Working on a cruise ship: Pay, hours, conditions, and secrets

Take it away, Trekker…

How did you get the job?

How many hours do you work per day and per week?

What about hours of other jobs?

What were your living quarters like?

How well did you feel treated by the company?

How is the food service for crew?

What can you do during your time or day off?

Are there computers or wi-fi for crew on board?

Considering room and board are included, how much do crew members need to spend and how much can they save?

Do crew members really get all those mandatory tips?

What is the language situation like?

How well does the crew get along and is there a social scene?

Can you socialize with guests when off duty?

In general how well do passengers treat the crew?

How many crew members are ready to quit after their first contract?

What was the most surprising positive aspect about working on a cruise ship?

What was the most surprising negative aspect about working on a cruise ship?

Any quick tips for those considering work on a cruise ship?

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Onboard Employment FAQ

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Cruise ships only hire the minimal number of crew they need

There’s little to no overlap in skills and duties

Cruise ships are a non-stop 24/7 machine

Long vacations between contracts

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1. Americans are the worst cruise workers.

2. Cruise ship workers are trained for pirate attacks.

3. Want to lose weight? Work on a cruise liner.

4. Crew members sometimes mess with passengers.

5. … and chance are the workers might be drunk.

6. For the crew, hooking up with guests on the cruise is strictly forbidden.

7. Crew passengers are almost always being watched.

8. Passengers have a lot of power over how much the crew gets paid.

9. Some cruise workers have double lives.

10. They have no idea what’s going on in the world.

11. They speak in code.

12. The cruise ship has many mafias.

13. There’s a morgue on board.

14. They will leave you behind.

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17-hour days, 7 days per week

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17 hours a day, 7 days a week: Cruise-ship workers describe the grueling conditions they face on the job

17-hour days, seven days per week

Officers get favorable treatment, workers say

A disconnect between a CEO and his employees

Avoiding US labor laws

Small rooms and nasty food

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Engineering Crew

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Musicians & Entertainers

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What has your experience working onboard been? Have you gotten days off as a cruise ship crew member?

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