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Working on Cruise Ships

Ever wondered how is it like to work on one of the biggest cruise ships in the world? This is my experience, my life and my view as an employee on one of the many cruise ships sailing around the world.

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Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Just because I am having a hangover

You will be amazed to know how much people can drink on a ship, both crew and guests. Some drink because it’s fun, some to forget, some because they miss their families, because it’s hard to sleep, frustration, stress and the list can go on and on.

They drink during the day, during their break, during the service, any moment is just as good as any, it does not matter as long as it makes you feel numb and another day goes by.

I am trying not to drink that much, but once I get to the back deck (that’s the crew bar onboard), I find myself in front of a Jake and Coke I cannot refuse. I ended up not being able to sleep unless I have something to drink….how pathetic…. I said to myself then “Ok Oana! If you must drink something, at least have a Corona, it’s less alcohol”. Yeah, right! It lasted 1 day and I was back to my good friend Jake.

Seems that there’s always someone or something to celebrate, and if you’re in the wrong company, you’ll most probably end up drinking every night, just like my friends. I figured it out that, if I want to slow down on the drinks, best thing to do is to avoid my friends and go straight to the cabin. And this is what I am doing!

But hey! I promised I will teach you guys about the life onboard ships, so…. Today’s lesson is about the alcohol consumption.

Royal Caribbean policy on alcohol consumption is zero tolerance. If a crewmember is found having more than 0.04% while on-duty or 0.08% while off-duty is most likely to be fired. Once they’ve tested you, there’s no going back. So what’s the solution? Quit drinking? You must be joking! Just get along with your supervisor and try and stand up straight while you’re on duty. Nobody will say anything as long as you don’t create any problems. All managers know what’s going on, they were doing it when they were crewmembers, and they are doing it right now.

It’s sad, but this is the reality onboard. Try and don’t get caught in this bad circle, stay away from the heavy buzz, don’t make it an habit to drink every day, try going straight to your cabin for a change. Believe me, it will be well worth it in the long run, and maybe you’ll make it to the end of your 6 months onboard…Maybe!

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posted by Ariana @ 11:46 PM  
6 Comments:
  • At June 8, 2008 at 10:51 PM, Blogger rohit pagey said…

    hey oana..thta a fantastic blog...and i honestly mean it..answers a lotta my questions..well i am a housekeeping management trainee at a five * hotel in india.. i have 2 questionas for u
    1)is it possible to get a supervisory or managerial job onboard?? i know its difficult but is it possible??
    2)are the ships really interested in takinh men for housekeeping jobs??

     
  • At June 13, 2008 at 11:10 AM, Blogger Ariana said…

    Hello Rohit,

    To answer your questions...yes it is possible to get a job here and because of the high turnover, they may actually accept you as a housekeeping supervisor.

    The Housekeeping department has both male and female workers. Actually, there are quite a lot of men working as stateroom attendants.

    If you want my advise, just go to an agency in india and apply for Housekeeping Supervisor and also apply on the Royal Caribbean official site.

    Good luck!

     
  • At June 15, 2008 at 10:58 AM, Blogger rohit pagey said…

    thnx again oana...well.. before i start applying for a cruise ship job at a supervisory level..how many yrs/months of work experience wud u suggest i should get here...to up my chances of getting a job on a cruise ships...also- r v required to do split shifts only or are there str8 shifts also??

     
  • At June 15, 2008 at 11:22 AM, Blogger rohit pagey said…

    sorry to be bothering you on a regular basis oana..but i recently came across these two articles related to the life and wages of workers on cruise ships and it has me really worried..the links are
    http://www.cruisejunkie.com/ot.html

    http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/special/maritime/96/09/29/crews.html

    would u say its all true? especially the wages part...do they really earn tht less
    that brings me to another question
    1)how much would a housekeeping supervisor make initially??
    2)if you could tell me vaguely the heirarchy in the housekeeping dept.
    3)how much time does it take to rise up the ladder if i join at the supervisory level?
    from wht i read on most of the sites the wages of supervisors ranges from 1500 to 2400 usd..but the two articles show a different opinion..which is true??
    i m no hurry take ur time to answer me.
    thnx.

     
  • At June 16, 2008 at 1:17 AM, Blogger Ariana said…

    This is a too long subject to be discussed in here. Actually, my next project was to discuss about the departments we have onboard and since you're interested in the housekeeping one, i will start with it.

    You should have your info in a few days .

    Take care.

     
  • At June 16, 2008 at 7:24 AM, Blogger rohit pagey said…

    thanks a ton oana...

     
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About Me
Name: Ariana
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About Me: Born in a small town, ended up working around the world. I love to socialize, see places, make new friends. Always there to help, even when nobody is asking for it :-)And now I am learning graphic design as well, check out my other blogs.
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