Want to travel the world without having to pay for housing or food? Of course you do! This is why the idea of being a cruise ship worker is so enticing, but there's a side to cruise ships none of us see. While you're relaxing by the pool or shoving your face full of all-you-can-eat pizza, there's someone stuck catering to your every need. Those hand towel animals don't just appear on your bed out of nowhere! Continue reading to learn more.
The Things The Crew Don't Want You To Know
A cruise ship is essentially a floating hotel, and working in the service and hospitality industry is never easy.
Before you decide to fill out a job application and set sail, read on for some behind-the-scenes secrets coming from former cruise workers themselves!
You're Constantly Being Watched
Gavin, a waiter who worked for a major cruise line told Mental Floss that Big Brother is super real. In other words: there are cameras literally everywhere. This is mostly for safety as you're literally on a giant boat in the middle of the ocean. Though the next Titanic is unlikely, crew members may have to review security footage in the event of an emergency.
“It is safe to assume if you are outside of your cabin you are probably on camera,” Gavin said. “In the event of any kind of emergency, they could pull security footage at any time.”
Disconnected From The World
Forget keeping up with Game of Thrones or your favorite TV programs. If you work on a cruise ship, you're lucky to keep up with the news in general. As much as it may pain you to not see your favorite team smash next season out of the park, sometimes it's impossible to tune in. Internet connections at sea are notoriously expensive and unreliable.
Oftentimes, you have to catch up when you dock, leaving days between when you get your news and not. For this reason, many cruise workers tend to stop following news, sports, and pop culture altogether.
Crew Workers Speak in Code
Crew members don't want to alarm passengers. Guests are on vacation and don't need to know about every little emergency – especially if it doesn't have to do with them. What sort of mass panic would it cause if every passenger suddenly knew there was a small fire on the ship? It'd be hectic! Because of this, crew workers use certain codes that they can announce on a loudspeaker without alarming passengers.
For example: "Code Adam" means a child is missing, "Code Alpha" means there's a medical emergency, "Code Oscar" means someone fell overboard, and "Code Bravo" means there's a fire on the ship. Pictured above is a case of a "Code Bravo" when the Star Princess cruise ship caught on fire in the middle of the night in 2006. The fire is thought to have been started with a discarded smoldering cigarette.
Crew Members Pull Pranks on Passengers
It can get pretty boring at sea. To break the monotony, cruise members pull pranks on passengers. The pranks are pretty innocuous, as messing with passengers too hard is a great way to get fired.
According to one anonymous cruise worker who spoke to Mental Floss, "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?’” Hysterical!
How Cruise Ships Fill Their Unsold Cabins
Cruise ships are staffed and prepared to leave port with a ship at full capacity. Any unsold cabins onboard mean that the cruise liner is losing money. Passengers can take advantage of this by shopping a cruiseline experience at a lower rate.
If you're willing and able to book only 1-2 months notice and okay with a cabin without a balcony it's a great deal for passengers. Find out about these marked down cabins by subscribing to cruise liners' mailing lists. Another tip, go online one week after the final payment is due for the cruise you want to go on. Perform a 'mock booking,' where you'll be able to see which cabins are available at a lower rate. This is when discounted cabins will pop up.
Crew Members Are Super Cliquey
A cruise ship can be pretty similar to high school. Not everyone hangs out in one big group and each ship tends to have different cliques. Oftentimes, these cliques have to do with the countries workers are from, since cruise ships often have a diverse array of workers from all over the world. Cruise workers call their groups "mafias" and each is known for a specific thing.
For example, one former cruise ship worker told Mental Floss that the Filipino mafia on their cruise ship was known for getting booze after hours (crew bars close around one or two). Of course, they'd sell it to you at a huge markup.
Emergencies Can Be Pretty Darn Gross
Everyone has heard of the urban legend of a cruise ship serving some bad shrimp and the entire ship getting food poisoning so severe it almost couldn't hold all the vomit. This is a wildly rare event but it can happen. In fact, it has happened.
In 2013, a Carnival cruise ship lost power after a fire in the engine room. Passengers were stranded in the Gulf of Mexico long enough for the sewage to get backed up. Raw sewage began bubbling up all over the boat, and it smelled so bad that people created a tent city away from toxic-smelling areas. Whoops.
The Crew Is Trained to Handle Pirate Attacks
We often don't think of pirates existing in our modern society but they definitely still do. It's incredibly rare for a pirate to take over a gigantic cruise ship (seriously, you've got strength in numbers). But in the event that it does happen, cruise workers are trained to fight back.
Cruises like Princess Cruises and Oceania Cruises train their crew to get guests away from the windows and spray intruders with giant water cannons. Because cruise ships are so big, the sheer amount of water used could overpower a tiny pirate ship. Some ships can even deter attacks with Long Range Acoustic Devices that emit loud, painful noises. In fact, in 2005, a luxury cruise liner used a Long Range Acoustic Device to escape a pirate attack off the coast of Africa.
You Get Amazing Tips
Much like being a bartender, the majority of a cruise ship worker's cash comes from tips. If you're not someone who has a bubbly, outgoing personality, it may be hard to rake in tips, but don't fret. Most cruise lines have a mandatory gratuity which is split among all the employees.
The pay is actually pretty good when it comes down to it. Many workers send money home to their families and save a lot of money. There are almost no expenses on board the ship, so living cheaply is quite easy. A little goes a long way.
You Don't Get Days Off
If you're the kind of person who savors your weekends, avoid working on a cruise ship at all costs. Most cruise ship workers don't get a single day off. Typically, they're contracted for nine months at a time and work straight through.
It's not absolutely terrible, though. The crew works every day but on a rotational basis. Instead of having full days off, workers get hours of downtime every day that they can spend on themselves. When their contract is up, they get a nice two-month-long vacation. Think of all the stuff you'd do if you had two months off.
The Crew Eats Your Leftovers
Crew members are the lowest on the food chain, meaning they get the scraps. It's like high school cafeteria food, but sometimes worse. The kitchen staff does get creative considering they don't have a whole lot to work with, but it's not necessarily something you'd want to eat all the time. Imagine having to eat weird offerings like goat foot stew on the regular!
Lucky cruise members get to eat passenger leftovers. At the end of a shift, they're allowed to eat what's left of a passenger buffet, though it's so good, it doesn't really last very long.
You Will Get Left Behind
The land excursions are the best part of a cruise. Who doesn't want to see all the gorgeous cities you port in? Guests (and crew members who have a couple of hours off) are free to explore as they please, but they better make sure to return on time. Cruise ships will leave without you.
Cruises are subject to massive fines if they stay longer than their allotted port time. For this reason, they won't wait if you're running late. If you happen to miss the departure time, you're totally on your own. Yikes!
Passenger Employee Relationships Forbidden
While relationships between employees are definitely discouraged. They absolutely do happen. Although, the opposite is true for passenger and employee relationships. These relationships are strictly forbidden by cruise lines around the world. If they do occur and the cruise line finds out about it, the employee is almost immediately fired.
Of course, this rule is in order to protect the company from facing any kind of lawsuits or general bad press. So, if you’re looking for love on a cruise, it’s best not to start with the crew! Or at least wait until everyone is land-locked before you contact them!
Heavy Drinking
Cruises are known for places to let loose, well for the passengers anyway, but did you know the same holds true for the employees? Cruise ship employees are notorious for heavy partying and heavy drinking. Typically, staff has their own designated drinking area, where they can partake out of sight from passengers.
While cruise ship drinks are notoriously expensive, at the crew bar they are much cheaper where you can buy a mixed drink for as low as a $1.25. We can certainly see why partying with the crew might be more desirable than partying above deck! Plus, alcohol would certainly be a way to distract from the cramped living quarters.
Big Brother Is Watching
At this point in time, cruise ships have to take precautions in order to protect themselves from being sued by passengers and crew members alike. A way for the cruise ship lines to protect themselves is to have A LOT of security cameras on board.
Actually, any time you are outside of your room it's more than likely that you are on a candid camera! While, this might freak some people out, rest assured that it is a good thing to have for your safety. A comparable practice is in the UK where CCTV is used across the board and has been instrumental in low crime rates.
There's a Morgue on Board
No one wants to think about someone dying on a cruise ship, but it happens. About 200 people die on cruise ships every year, and there has to be somewhere to store the bodies until the ship can dock. This is why many ships have small morgues on board that can hold around five bodies.
Morgues are even more common on cruise ships that cater to senior citizens. According to a ship employee, the line they worked on definitely had a morgue because they catered to an elderly population. Apparently, it's not even uncommon for people to die on board.
Comment Cards Are Important
If you have ever been on a cruise you know that at the end you are typically asked to fill out a comment card. There you are free to share your wonderful experience or any complaints that you might’ve had. While comment cards are standard throughout the service industry, some jobs don’t take them nearly as seriously as cruise lines.
On a cruise, the reviews are taken super seriously. Good or bad reviews can even account for an employee’s compensation, bonus, or in some cases their firing! So, if you take a cruise and have a good time, be sure to leave some positive feedback!
Americans Don't Typically Make Good Crew Members
The workday for crew members on a cruise is grueling. Employees work extremely long days and can often end up working 300 hours a month. This does not fit into the American idea of 40-hour work weeks and relaxing weekends, which is why cruise ships often employ the majority of their workers from other countries.
According to Kat, a cruise worker who spoke to Mental Floss, many cruise liners won't even hire American workers because the rate of people quitting is too high. Americans are also more expensive to employ because one American dollar is worth more to a person from a developing country that has a different system of currency. It still doesn't make it right.
There Are Still Laws To Follow
This one might seem obvious to most people, but just because you aren't on solid land doesn't mean there aren't any laws to adhere to while on a cruise. This is when something called "maritime law" comes into play.
Unfortunately Isabelle Lagacé and Melina Roberge (seen above) a couple of Canadian citizens on a cruise to Australia, apparently didn't get this memo when they attempted to smuggle 200 pounds of illegal substances worth approximately $23 million to sell down under. The two are now set to face trial and face a 20-year maximum prison sentence. Yikes!
Cruise Ship “War Room”?!
Apparently, most cruise ships have their own “war room” on board. Of course, the war rooms are meant to be used only for emergencies. And just like for the United States government, the war room on board the cruise ship is meant for planning, particularly in emergency situations.
For instance, the aforementioned pirate attack would most definitely warrant the use of the war room. On some cruises, the room is referred to as a “safety center”. Whatever the terminology used, the room is absolutely imperative during critical times in which the safety of passengers and crew might be at risk.
Rogue Wave Fears
A rogue wave is a massive wave that comes out of nowhere and can often cause immense damage to various seacrafts. They are also often referred to as “monster waves” or “freak waves”. The waves are considered rogue waves if they do not match the surrounding water patterns.
They are often considered to be accountable for some of the ships that have gone missing throughout the many years that ships have sailed the seas. Of course, for any crew member or passenger for that matter, rogue waves are a terrifying thought. Unfortunately, the ocean is an uncontrollable thing and many at sea have experienced the horrifying power.
Sharing A Dorm Like Cabin
Depending on the cruise, some crew members are forced to bunk in super tiny living quarters, while others have more spacious accommodations. However, for those with a larger living space also comes more people. Sometimes, cruise ships provide their crew with “dorm-like” accommodations where 11 people will stay together in one room.
While some former crew has said such arrangements get old really quick, others say that it’s a small price to pay for a job where you get to travel and have fun most of the time on board. We think it might sound better to stay on the passenger side of the experience!
Falling Off Ship?
In 2015, a man fell off a Royal Caribbean cruise ship while in the waters off of Cozumel, Mexico. The man was a 22-year old American and spent five hours in the water. Amazingly, another cruise ship was traveling through the area, the Disney Magic. The young man definitely had luck on his side as passengers on the Disney ship spotted him.
A passenger threw him several lifesavers in an attempt to save him and crew members were able to get him aboard. The man needed some medical attention but was, miraculously, in good condition. Authorities said the rescue was certainly magical, " Most people that experience that kind of fall break their neck. It's like hitting concrete.”