Naked truth about the life of a crew member onboard a cruise ship
Parties and more parties
EPISODE ONE
Many people seeing my pictures around the world, always in a cool and exotic place, probably hated my luck, the chance to travel for free and explore the world. But there are so many things happening on board the cruise ships that many crew members prefer not to speak about in order not to ruin the glamour of the job either because they do not want to loose their jobs.
I've just read an article on one of the British online newspapers regarding life onboard cruise ships as crew members and I feel like I have to share some details with you as this article and many others are so inaccurate.
I have been working at sea for the past 5 years of my life, worked for two cruise companies, first one the best in leisure cruise sector and the second one of the topmost luxurious cruise lines in the industry.
First one was Royal Caribbean International in 2012. Was a late start for me and everybody told me that the golden age of being a crew member has passed. That the parties and tips onboard they were huge during "those old good days".
I will always remember the day I joined the ship, Navigator of the Seas, embarking from Kusadasi, Turkey. I have spent one night in a hotel so in the morning of embarking the ship when I have opened the windows of the balcony I have seen for the first time ever a cruise ship. And it was impressive, big, white and majestic. I was so nervous and even if I tried to imagine myself on-board with my creative imagination could not have a good enough scenario for what was next.
The first day was so hectic, the corridors looking like a labyrinth, meeting so many people, trying to remember names until I realised was an impossible task, everyone staring at me as I was "fresh meat", meeting my colleagues and seeing the office, almost overwhelming.
The same day in the evening as a christening celebration one of my colleagues, Italian girl called Tatiana introduced me to the crew bar. As it was a turnaround day most crew were already into pieces as that is the busiest and challenging day of the cruise, consequently crew bar was quite dull. This did not discourage us from drinking and partying, actually from what I recall after a few too many Cuba Libre's we actually danced on Latino music, which later on I found out to be the most popular theme party and music on board.
Next morning, big hangover and ready to have an early start, probably slept a couple of hours only my activity started at Shore Excursions desk. I am not going into details about the job itself, at least not now as I want to focus more on the life on board and the environment.
The first month was the best, meeting people from all over the world, learning so many new things, drinking and partying almost every day with my colleague Tatiana which was also my roommate, she was about 22-23 years old, I was 10 years older than her but it didn't matter. Onboard a cruise ship I've been taught that color, age, religion, language, country, size or sex does not matter as we all have equal rights and chances. Well, at least in theory.
The job was great, the team was nice, tried to learn as fast as I could as I had no previous experience. Was quite challenging to be part of a team that not only were from different countries and backgrounds but all team with cruise ship experience, except Tatiana, for her was as well the first contract, already a few months on board before me. And boy, she knew all the shortcuts!
One thing I will never forget as a woman all the attention you get on board which was overwhelming. Guys trying to conquest you every day, free drinks at the crew bar, flowers in the cabin every week, but once you have said NO, they will not be pushy as would be considered harassment and would get them to lose their job.
I had at that time a boyfriend at home and made a promise to behave, even though the relationship was toxic, I was used to saying NO, which actually got me more attention. I was hanging around with girls mostly or gay guys, made another friend, Italian girl called Ana so everyone was gossiping about me being lesbian. Which was fine by me because after a month on board was quite tiring and annoying with all the sexual innuendos and proposals around.
I had a predilection towards Italians girls as they seemed to be friendler and knew their way around, Romanians were cocky, always complaining about anything, snob and not very friendly. Actually, my own countrymen on board found out that I am Romanian after a month or so and it was the type of environment where anybody knew everybody.
With about 1300 crewmembers on board, about 100 were Romanians, but the majority were Filipinos and Indonesians. Reason being the workforce was cheaper in their country and they were not very picky about jobs and resistant to long hours of work. You would see them in the underworld of the vessel which was the low decks where you could find laundry, carpentry shop, engine department, galley, refrigeration rooms, incinerator and garbage room, water filtration system and storerooms.
One great thing about them was once you were friends with at least one Filipino or Indonesian you would get in their mafia system. And it was HUGE! Absolutely insane, better than Cosa Nostra on land. I had my own Filipino friend, Allan, a great buddy and even better skills.
On my the first week, I could not find the staff mess and kept getting lost on those maze corridors therefor I was more hungry than fed.
After the second week, it was more easy to find crew mess so I end up eating there with Filipinos, Indonesians, Latinos and some Europeans, all the non-stripe ones. The food there was mostly based on curry and pork fat soups or stews specific for the Asian countries and some salads, so my only options were the salads. After making friends with Allan I was eating almost every day shrimps, pizza, filet mignon and so on. What a blessing, I was not starving anymore.
The bad quality of food explains why you will always see always crew members in the proximity of the port in a restaurant with possibly high-speed Wi-Fi as on board is really expensive and slow. This is the explanation if you have a friend working on board a cruise ship why is posting pictures on social media with food all the time. He/she has no choice, it is not to brag about it but just the happy thought of seeing proper food. And some ports in certain countries it is just exquisite cuisine so you can't help it! Ok now, maybe it is a little bit about bragging as well.
Food on board for passengers is way better than for crew, it is very much depending on the company and the ship as well. At the beginning was quite difficult to adapt being used with the good fresh food from home and the flavours were so strange to me, so now you must understand the importance of a Filipino friend.
Next sector where you need to have a friend is at the bar, and here again, I was lucky because I was constantly receiving free bottles of Bacardi, Vodka or anything actually. My cabin looked like a crew bar, fully equipped with the best drinks and all for free and ready to party. And it happened for this reason because I had too much alcohol and couldn't drink by myself that I was having cabin/corridor parties quite often.
When you think that a crew cabin it is a 4 square meters space with toilet and a closet for 2 people as I was sharing, well on a party night in that cabin you could fit even 16 - 20 people and when the party was larger you extended your space on the corridor. Nobody was complaining as everyone was invited, free alcohol, snacks, and good music and if you had a Filipino friend even some spicy chicken wings as well. We all liked each other and could party very well together no matter the color of your skin, clothes or language, but the stripes were making the difference as the stripes had a different type of parties. Ours was so much better!
Speaking about the corridors, THE most important corridor was the I95, named after a highway in the USA, was the only corridor where you couldn't get lost as it crossed the whole ship straight from forward to aft, the one where if you had new souvenir hat, expensive new shoes or new girlfriend you would walk it as it was your own red carpet. The place when during an all crew party all the single guys would just hang around and stare at the girls just passing, the Champs Elysee of a cruise ship.
At the all crew party which was a huge event, happening every now and then (or once a month) everyone was there, stripes and non-stripes and drinks such as beer and wine were for free. It was the time when a crew member would put the best clothes brought to use that contract and feed him/her self in order to prepare the stomach for an alcoholic night.
And boy everyone was drinking! A lot, rivers of alcohol! Nothing unusual on land but onboard most of crew had also emergency/rescue side jobs which required sobriety and the tolerance of alcohol in your body as per company standards was no more than (BAC) 0.05% which was the equivalent of 2 bottles of beer per person if lucky. Not complying you were in risk of termination of your contract plus you would have had to pay your return flights.
If you were brave or curious enough to stay until the end of the party you were able to see drunk girls leaving with not so drunk guys to their cabins for a romantic one night stand. Men who wanted to get laid were smart enough not to drink to oblivion in order to be able to pick the girl. Next day they wouldn't even be saying hello or talking to each other probably till next party or till the end of their contract and seemed to be an unwritten rule to keep quiet about it.
Most of the contracts on board were for at least 5-6 months, understandable that even most married guy would have slipped at some point.
In the next episode I will be writing about sex with guests on board the cruise ships and a deceased crew member that was found after 3 days in his cabin.
EPISODE ONE
Many people seeing my pictures around the world, always in a cool and exotic place, probably hated my luck, the chance to travel for free and explore the world. But there are so many things happening on board the cruise ships that many crew members prefer not to speak about in order not to ruin the glamour of the job either because they do not want to loose their jobs.
I've just read an article on one of the British online newspapers regarding life onboard cruise ships as crew members and I feel like I have to share some details with you as this article and many others are so inaccurate.
I have been working at sea for the past 5 years of my life, worked for two cruise companies, first one the best in leisure cruise sector and the second one of the topmost luxurious cruise lines in the industry.
First one was Royal Caribbean International in 2012. Was a late start for me and everybody told me that the golden age of being a crew member has passed. That the parties and tips onboard they were huge during "those old good days".
 |
| The sight of my first ship seen from Kusadasi, Turkeey where I have embarked the first time |
I will always remember the day I joined the ship, Navigator of the Seas, embarking from Kusadasi, Turkey. I have spent one night in a hotel so in the morning of embarking the ship when I have opened the windows of the balcony I have seen for the first time ever a cruise ship. And it was impressive, big, white and majestic. I was so nervous and even if I tried to imagine myself on-board with my creative imagination could not have a good enough scenario for what was next.
The first day was so hectic, the corridors looking like a labyrinth, meeting so many people, trying to remember names until I realised was an impossible task, everyone staring at me as I was "fresh meat", meeting my colleagues and seeing the office, almost overwhelming.
The same day in the evening as a christening celebration one of my colleagues, Italian girl called Tatiana introduced me to the crew bar. As it was a turnaround day most crew were already into pieces as that is the busiest and challenging day of the cruise, consequently crew bar was quite dull. This did not discourage us from drinking and partying, actually from what I recall after a few too many Cuba Libre's we actually danced on Latino music, which later on I found out to be the most popular theme party and music on board.
Next morning, big hangover and ready to have an early start, probably slept a couple of hours only my activity started at Shore Excursions desk. I am not going into details about the job itself, at least not now as I want to focus more on the life on board and the environment.
The first month was the best, meeting people from all over the world, learning so many new things, drinking and partying almost every day with my colleague Tatiana which was also my roommate, she was about 22-23 years old, I was 10 years older than her but it didn't matter. Onboard a cruise ship I've been taught that color, age, religion, language, country, size or sex does not matter as we all have equal rights and chances. Well, at least in theory.
The job was great, the team was nice, tried to learn as fast as I could as I had no previous experience. Was quite challenging to be part of a team that not only were from different countries and backgrounds but all team with cruise ship experience, except Tatiana, for her was as well the first contract, already a few months on board before me. And boy, she knew all the shortcuts!
One thing I will never forget as a woman all the attention you get on board which was overwhelming. Guys trying to conquest you every day, free drinks at the crew bar, flowers in the cabin every week, but once you have said NO, they will not be pushy as would be considered harassment and would get them to lose their job.
I had at that time a boyfriend at home and made a promise to behave, even though the relationship was toxic, I was used to saying NO, which actually got me more attention. I was hanging around with girls mostly or gay guys, made another friend, Italian girl called Ana so everyone was gossiping about me being lesbian. Which was fine by me because after a month on board was quite tiring and annoying with all the sexual innuendos and proposals around.
I had a predilection towards Italians girls as they seemed to be friendler and knew their way around, Romanians were cocky, always complaining about anything, snob and not very friendly. Actually, my own countrymen on board found out that I am Romanian after a month or so and it was the type of environment where anybody knew everybody.
With about 1300 crewmembers on board, about 100 were Romanians, but the majority were Filipinos and Indonesians. Reason being the workforce was cheaper in their country and they were not very picky about jobs and resistant to long hours of work. You would see them in the underworld of the vessel which was the low decks where you could find laundry, carpentry shop, engine department, galley, refrigeration rooms, incinerator and garbage room, water filtration system and storerooms.
One great thing about them was once you were friends with at least one Filipino or Indonesian you would get in their mafia system. And it was HUGE! Absolutely insane, better than Cosa Nostra on land. I had my own Filipino friend, Allan, a great buddy and even better skills.
On my the first week, I could not find the staff mess and kept getting lost on those maze corridors therefor I was more hungry than fed.
After the second week, it was more easy to find crew mess so I end up eating there with Filipinos, Indonesians, Latinos and some Europeans, all the non-stripe ones. The food there was mostly based on curry and pork fat soups or stews specific for the Asian countries and some salads, so my only options were the salads. After making friends with Allan I was eating almost every day shrimps, pizza, filet mignon and so on. What a blessing, I was not starving anymore.
The bad quality of food explains why you will always see always crew members in the proximity of the port in a restaurant with possibly high-speed Wi-Fi as on board is really expensive and slow. This is the explanation if you have a friend working on board a cruise ship why is posting pictures on social media with food all the time. He/she has no choice, it is not to brag about it but just the happy thought of seeing proper food. And some ports in certain countries it is just exquisite cuisine so you can't help it! Ok now, maybe it is a little bit about bragging as well.
Food on board for passengers is way better than for crew, it is very much depending on the company and the ship as well. At the beginning was quite difficult to adapt being used with the good fresh food from home and the flavours were so strange to me, so now you must understand the importance of a Filipino friend.
Next sector where you need to have a friend is at the bar, and here again, I was lucky because I was constantly receiving free bottles of Bacardi, Vodka or anything actually. My cabin looked like a crew bar, fully equipped with the best drinks and all for free and ready to party. And it happened for this reason because I had too much alcohol and couldn't drink by myself that I was having cabin/corridor parties quite often.
When you think that a crew cabin it is a 4 square meters space with toilet and a closet for 2 people as I was sharing, well on a party night in that cabin you could fit even 16 - 20 people and when the party was larger you extended your space on the corridor. Nobody was complaining as everyone was invited, free alcohol, snacks, and good music and if you had a Filipino friend even some spicy chicken wings as well. We all liked each other and could party very well together no matter the color of your skin, clothes or language, but the stripes were making the difference as the stripes had a different type of parties. Ours was so much better!
Speaking about the corridors, THE most important corridor was the I95, named after a highway in the USA, was the only corridor where you couldn't get lost as it crossed the whole ship straight from forward to aft, the one where if you had new souvenir hat, expensive new shoes or new girlfriend you would walk it as it was your own red carpet. The place when during an all crew party all the single guys would just hang around and stare at the girls just passing, the Champs Elysee of a cruise ship.
At the all crew party which was a huge event, happening every now and then (or once a month) everyone was there, stripes and non-stripes and drinks such as beer and wine were for free. It was the time when a crew member would put the best clothes brought to use that contract and feed him/her self in order to prepare the stomach for an alcoholic night.
And boy everyone was drinking! A lot, rivers of alcohol! Nothing unusual on land but onboard most of crew had also emergency/rescue side jobs which required sobriety and the tolerance of alcohol in your body as per company standards was no more than (BAC) 0.05% which was the equivalent of 2 bottles of beer per person if lucky. Not complying you were in risk of termination of your contract plus you would have had to pay your return flights.
If you were brave or curious enough to stay until the end of the party you were able to see drunk girls leaving with not so drunk guys to their cabins for a romantic one night stand. Men who wanted to get laid were smart enough not to drink to oblivion in order to be able to pick the girl. Next day they wouldn't even be saying hello or talking to each other probably till next party or till the end of their contract and seemed to be an unwritten rule to keep quiet about it.
Most of the contracts on board were for at least 5-6 months, understandable that even most married guy would have slipped at some point.
In the next episode I will be writing about sex with guests on board the cruise ships and a deceased crew member that was found after 3 days in his cabin.
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| Me in work uniform |
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| Back deck exclusively crew area. Note the bottles on the table |
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| My first sunrise was in Crete, Greece |
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| First picture that I have sent to my family and friends with me and the ship |
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| All crew party and me smoking |
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| Some of my colleagues and crew at all crew party |
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