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.
Travelling in Bulgaria, Sunny Beach - 5 tips on exchanging currency
I recently traveled to Bulgaria, Sunny Beach resort, for my honeymoon and as I always like to do, I made notes about my experience there so I can share it with all of you and maybe be of help to the ones planning to see this beautiful country. This will be a series of articles about my experiences in Bulgaria, Sunny Beach, some good, some not so good, but as always, I will try and keep it objective and to the point. For all of you complainers out there, please keep in mind that I am not advertising this as an absolute truth, I am merely putting my personal experiences and opinions on virtual paper. I would also like to note that although most of the things I will write about in these articles are related to the Sunny Beach resort, a lot of the information is general and can be applied to other Bulgarian seaside resorts. So, here we go....
Exchanging currency in Bulgaria, Sunny Beach
Most of the people nowadays use credit cards in their travels, but now and then you will find yourself with some cash you would like to exchange to the local currency. It happened the same to us and we had to learn the hard way what to do and what not to do when exchanging money in Bulgarian resorts.
So here are a few guidelines that will help you safely exchange your currency and avoid scammers:
Ideally, you should exchange enough currency while still home
That's the best practice in my opinion although even I forgot about it and then I just procrastinated and left it for when I reach Bulgaria. Needles to say that until we got at the hotel we had no money to pay for drinks or food or even taxi and we ended up paying in euros at double the price ( the taxi driver didn't want to take euros so we had to negotiate). Learn from my mistakes.
Use the local banks
The safest way to exchange currency in Bulgaria is to go to a local bank. If you can't find one, just ask at the reception clerks, they will guide you to the closest bank agency. Another plus is that the banks have the best exchange rate, well, they did in Sunny Beach anyways.
Use your hotel exchange office
Sometimes you just find out you need more money in the evening before going out and the banks are closed. So what can you do? Easy, use your hotel's exchange desk, it's just as safe as the banks are and the rates are not bad at all. If your hotel doesn't have one you can go to other hotels, we found out that all 4 & 5 stars hotels have an exchange office.
Never exchange currency at the people in the street
Not so often you will see people, mostly men, waiting at the corner street advertising currency exchange. This is a BIG no no, no matter in which country you are, 99.9% of the time you will find you were scammed and there is nothing you can do about it. You've been warned...
Avoid the yellow exchange cabins found at every corner
Almost at every crossroad you will see these yellow cabins with an exchange panel outside stating the currency rate, not two like you're used to at the bank, one for selling and one for buying, just one, written in big print. You'll also see that the rates are way more than what you will get at the bank. But wait! Look closer...can you see that written in very small print it says that they are buying the currency at those rates and not selling it? Well not everybody sees that and falls for the big exchange rate and when you get the money and notice that it's less than you thought you will get there is nothing you can do. The won't give you the money back and one tourist told me that they even ask the police nearby to intervene and got no reaction. My advise to you is to just pass by and ignore the yellow exchange cabins.
Only the major currencies are exchanged and sometimes the neighborhood countries' currency
Like in any country, the exchange offices will only exchange the major currencies. I would have expected for them to exchange the neighboring countries' currency as well, like Romanian currency, but i was surprised to find out not all of them did, well most of them didn't actually. Luckily we had some euros left we could exchange.
It's been such a long time since I updated this blog it seemed only fair to let everybody know what happened.
But first I want to say that this blog will NOT close, it is jut temporarily put on hold as I also took a longer break from working on ships. Might wonder why is that...well....I AM GETTING MARRIED :-) Yes, it finally happened and I found a wonderful man who puts up with me so we're getting married at the beginning of June.
Of course, after the wedding and the honeymoon we will be going back to working on ships, hence why this blog is not closing. Meanwhile, being home for over a year now, I had to keep myself busy so I started to learn graphic design, my new hobby and one day probably my new carrier.
I started creating graphic products for social game platforms, for now it's Second Life only, but since my SL Marketplace shop is doing so well, I am planing to expand to other platforms like Avination and also to stock photo websites like Shutterstock and alike.
I've also created a new blog where my customers can keep up to date with the latest releases called ..::RO!ACT::..DESIGNS, which is the name of the company i am creating under.
The best part of this all is that I can continue creating even when I will working on ships again, all I will be needing is an internet connection once a week. So check out my new blog, ..::RO!ACT::..DESIGNS and let me know what you think, I am sure you will find it interesting. And also, check out Second Life, it's a wonderful place to meet people and create, and the best part is that it's free.
So yes, this is what I was up to all this time and I promise, once I set foot back on the ship, I will start posting again and inform everybody interested of the real life that goes on there.
Out of the three divisions that the Food & Beverage Department holds, the Restaurant Division is the most popular when it comes to money. Its structure has changed recently, but it’s fairly simple and everyone knows who to report to. Described in a simple way, the structure goes like this:
1. Restaurant Operations Manager
He or she is a three stripe officer and is in charge with the entire restaurant operation. The Windjammer Manager, Portofino Manager and Assistant Dining Room Manager report directly to him or her and, of course, the position is got its own admin now.
The contract length is 4 months with 2 months off and, aside the thousands of dollars salary, he or she is got monthly bonuses from china and linen savings, wine gratuity and the big, fat bonus at the end of the fiscal year.
2. Windjammer Manager
The Windjammer Manager is a two and a half stripes officer and is in charge with Windjammer Buffet, Johnny Rockets (fast food outlet) and Café Promenade (coffee shop with snacks). Directly to him reports the following positions: Johnny Rockets Supervisor and Windjammer Supervisor.
Just like the Restaurant Operations Manager, the contract length is also 4 months on with 2 months off, and a big, fat bonus included.
3. Portofino Manager
Portofino Manager is in charge with the Italian specialty restaurant. Is a two stripes officer with a 6 months contract and sharing cabin. From 2 stripes below, no officer is entitled to the yearly bonus, but they got part of the cover charge. The Portofino waiters report directly to him.
4. Assistant Dining Room Manager
This position was introduced recently. It’s a 2 stripe position with a contract length of 6 months and sharing cabin. Their salary is based on tips, but don’t be fooled by it, they make a lot of money. There are 3 Assistant Dining Room Managers, each in charge with one Dining Room deck (our Dining Room has 3 decks/levels). They are responsible with the booking on their respective decks and the Headwaiters working in that deck report directly to them.
5. Restaurant Operation Admin
The admin reports directly to the Restaurant Operations Manager and basically does everything. He has 2 office boys/girls helping in the morning with paperwork. Is a one stripe officer with 6 months contract and sharing cabin.
6. Head Waiter
These guys are making more money than a 3 stripe officer because their salary is based on tips. They are one stripe officers, with 6 months contract length and a sharing cabin. Each of them has a station assigned (there are 3 stations on each Dining Room deck) and the waiters and assistant waiters working there report to him/her.
7. Johnny Rockets Supervisor
He or she is in charge with Café Promenade and Johnny Rockets and reports to the Windjammer Manager. This is a one stripe officer with a 6 months contract and sharing cabin. They get a fix salary with no gratuities. The Café Attendants and Johnny Rockets Attendants report to him/her.
8. Windjammer Supervisor
There are 2 Windjammer Supervisors onboard, both reporting to the Windjammer Manager. They are in charge with supervising the Windjammer operation and the Assistant Waiters working there are reporting to them. It’s a one stripe position, with fix salary, 6 months contract and sharing cabin.
9. Room Service Supervisor
The Room Service Supervisor reports directly to the Restaurant Operations Manager and is in charge with Room Service operation and Attendants working there. Is a one stripe position, with 6 months contract, fix salary and sharing cabin.
10. Room Service Operator
The position is pretty much self-explanatory. They are part of the crew with a 6 months contract, fix salary and sharing cabin. The Room Service Operator reports to Room Service Supervisor.
11. Mess Supervisor
The Mess Supervisor is in charge with both officer and crew messes and directly to him/her are reporting the Mess Attendants. Mess Supervisor is a one stripe position with a 6 months contract, fix salary and sharing cabin. He or she reports to Restaurant Operations Manager.
12. Mess Attendant 13. Dining Room Cleaner 14. Café Attendant 15. Johnny Rockets Attendant 16. Room Service Attendant
The above 5 positions are similar; the only difference is the place they work in. Except for the Johnny Rockets who get gratuities from the cover charges in the fast food outlet they work in, the rest have a fix salary and they also get gratuities from the beverages they sell (not too much though). They all have an eight months contract and sharing cabin.
17. Assistant Waiter
This is a much better position that the ones above because they have a salary based on tips. An average assistant waiter salary can be around $2000 or more a month. Also, the contract length is 6 months and they only work in the Dining Room or Windjammer during the dinner time and in Windjammer (during the day time).
During the diner time, they work 4 weeks in the Dining Room and one week in Windjammer. They get gratuities in the Dining Room, but in Windjammer they get only the gratuities from the beverages they sell. Might not make sense, but this is how the system is set up.
18. Waiter
Waiter position is a good position as well due to the amount of money they make and the 6 months contract length. An average waiter makes around $3000 and, during the diner time, works only in Dining Room (no free week in Windjammer).
As a first-timer, this structure might look confusing. Indeed there are a lot of positions in the Restaurant Division, but this is what makes it easier because everyone knows exactly what they are suppose to do.
When I decided I want to go back to working on cruise ships, first thing I had to decide is how to do that. I wanted an officer position and I was qualified for it, but unfortunately, most of the agencies are recruiting for entry level positions such as cooks, assistant waiters or bar servers. Few people are lucky enough to get an officer position from the first contract and that’s happening mostly because they come from a fist world country such as US, UK etc. or because they have connections either on the ship or at the agency. If you’re just a normal person, from a normal country, like I was, that’s very hard, and if you get it, you have to wait many months.
So I took the easy way in and I applied for a restaurant entry-level position, knowing that once I get there I will make my way up to a higher position. Well, lucky me, it took me one contract to accomplish that and only because the company requires that anyone who wants to apply for a different job within the company has to finish at least one contract in the current position. I did my 6 months and one day before going home in vacation the Food & Beverage Manager called me in the HR’s Office and gave me the good news. I got the job I applied for a couple of weeks before! Next day I unpacked my luggage, called my family and let them know I am not going home anymore and start working as a Yeoman.
Yeoman - strange name for an F&B Manager Assistant, don’t you think? To me it made no sense until one friend explained to me that long time ago, in England, they called yeoman the one who was in charge with the finances of the ships. That was me alright!
So, if it worked for me, it must work for you too! The cruise industry will always be in need of educated people that know more than just entry level English. Guys, you should be here to believe it! We get new hires that have no clue how to carry a basic conversation in English, not to say about writing it! We have old timers who made their way up because they have 5, 7 or even 10 years on ships, but when it comes to using computers or write a report, they are useless.
If you know how to use a computer for more than just playing games or sending emails, if you have a medium to high knowledge of spoken and written English and a hotel management or accounting degree, then you are most likely to get a higher than the entry level position. Three things you need to do to accomplish that:
1. Get on the ship
It doesn’t matter how you get there as long as you do. Food & Beverage Division is the easiest way to get onboard a cruise ship and once you’re there you can pursuit your goals.
You have to do a full contract and have a clean record before you can apply for a higher position. Many people here onboard started as a bar server or assistant waiter, just like me, and moved to Guest Relations Department, Crew Office or being the Food & Beverage Director’s Assistant.
In fact, I am currently looking for a reliever for when I am going in vacation and so far I could not find anyone qualified for this job. Every week I am looking at the list with sign ons hoping that “the one” will sign on. No luck so far!
2. Ask for what you want and prove that you can do it
Sometimes I go on the Back Deck for a smoke and sit with my old colleagues from the restaurant. Once, there was this assistant waiter, on his 4th contract, complaining that there are no promotion chances onboard for him. I asked him a simple question: “ Did you ever went to the Maitre D` and told him you want to be a waiter?” He looked at me with a dumb expression on his face and said nothing. His lack of words said everything!
Hey guys! Wake up! A ship has in average over 1000 crew, half of it being in the Food & Beverage Division. How do you think you’re boss will notice you if you’re not doing anything about it? Just go to your supervisor, or anyone you know in the office, and ask them what can you do or what you need to know to get the promotion/position. Is that easy!
Don’t assume that everyone knows what you know. Tell them your qualification, your education, your experience and what you want. Might not work with the first supervisor, but eventually you’ll find someone willing to help you.
3. Have patience and don’t loose your hope
The most important thing is not to lose faith in yourself. Hang in there, what ever is meant for you will come sooner or later. Sometimes there are no available positions and even though your manager wants to help you, there is nothing he or she can do for the moment.
Just make sure they have your CV and when a position will be made available, they will offer it to you if you’re qualified for it.
While Housekeeping Department’s responsibility to clean is in the inside of the cabins, cleaning the outside areas is Facilities Department’s job. That includes all the public areas the toilets, corridors, hallways, staircases, pools and jacuzzis. They are also in charge with the maintenance, from fixing a non-flushing toilet to upholstering furniture and refurbishing entire areas, guest and crew ones.
You won’t see many Europeans working in the Facilities Department unless they are part of the management because this department has the lowest salary level onboard. But that being said, the pay is still ok for some of the countries considering there’s no rent or food to pay.
So…who’s part of the Facilities Department? Let’s take the most important positions one by one.
1. Facilities Manager
The Facility Manager has the best contract deal out of the entire Hotel Department. He has 10 weeks on with 10 weeks off contract, fully paid vacation. Basically, while he or she is home, enjoying the vacation still gets paid full salary. The bad part is that the position doesn’t get a yearly bonus like the others, but I guess it compensates with the contract length and the salary, which is many thousands of dollars.
2. Cleaner
The cleaner maintains public and crew areas in a clean condition, including the public toilets. Also, he or she transports guests’ luggage to assigned areas during embarkation and disembarkation, and assists with specific loading. They have an 8 months contract and the salary is below $600 a month. Also, they need to pay for their uniforms, which I don’t consider being fair since they have such a low salary.
Many of them are taking up on side jobs helping out the Housekeepers during the embarkation day cleaning cabins, and many times, because they have to work at least 10 hours a day at their regular jobs, they fell asleep wherever they sit. I’ve seen cleaners sleeping in the staircase, in the changing room, in the crew bar, everywhere really, as long as the place is quiet and away from the supervisor’s eyes.
A Cleaner can be promoted to Head Cleaner, Assistant Cleaning Specialist and then to Cleaning Specialist.
3. Pool Attendant
The Pool Attendant position is similar to the Cleaner one. He or she maintains the pool area clean, provides towels to the guests, cleans the pools and, in embarkation day, they help with the luggage. They have an 8 months contract and the salary is the same as the Cleaner’s. A Pool Attendant’s next promotion is Head Pool Attendant.
4. Carpenter
Needless to explain what a carpenter does, I think it’s pretty much obvious. What I am going to tell you is how useful is to be friends with the Carpenter Supervisor.
As an officer, each of us has the same cabin assignment every contract and that cabin becomes your home far away from home. And like any other home, it needs to be a little bit personalized so we can feel comfortable in it.
In time, I personalized my cabin as well. The carpenters installed a nice big sofa in it which was left from refurbishing the guest’s cabins, they put a notice board on my wall so I can write my reminders, installed the cabin phone on the wall so I’ll have more room on my desk, installed a curtain that blocks the view when I keep my cabin door open to smoke and the list can go on and on.
A carpenter can be really useful and, if you tip him well, he will turn your cabin into a really cozy place where you can truly relax. They too take up on side jobs, aside from doing carpentry jobs for crew, because the salary isn’t that big. From what I’ve heard, they make around $1000 a month. Their contract is 8 months and, except the Carpenter Supervisor who has a single cabin, the rest are sharing.
5. Repairman
The Repairman, together with the Repair Supervisor, is responsible for the maintenance and repair of food preparation, galley equipment and machinery, plumbing and related equipment within the Hotel Department.
Both of the positions are on an 8 months contract, the only differences between the two being the salaries and the cabin assignments (the supervisor has a single cabin).
6. Dispatcher
The Dispatcher’s job is to answer and process the calls for maintenance from both crew and guests, and also acts as an admin for the Facilities Manager. The contract length is 6 months and he or she has to share the cabin. The pay is around $1600 a month.
7. Horticulturist
This position is in charge with all the plants onboard and also with the pest control. The contract length is 8 months and shares the cabin.
Whoever is interested in this department should know that they need to work hard and be patient, but the promotion opportunities are many and worthwhile. You don’t need to have a high education to be here, all you need, in my opinion, is to be able to deal with people and to learn fast since the procedures are changing constantly. All I can wish you is good luck!
Guest Services Department - Strong nerves and patience required!
For nothing in the world I would do this job. I don’t have the patience nor the nerves to put up with all the guest complains we receive daily, many of them that make no sense. The funniest complaint from a passenger I’ve heard of so far is regarding the alcohol policy we have onboard. This policy states that no alcohol should be brought from outside, and if the guest insists in bringing it, the security will take it and keep it safe until the guest disembarks. Well, from what I was told, this gentleman comes cruising and brings a bottle of Jack Daniels with him. Of course, the security officer takes it away and puts it safe until the end of the cruise. Next thing our gentleman does is to go straight to the Guest Services front desk and complains. What’s funny about this is what reason he came up to get his bottle of alcohol back. Apparently, his doctor recommended him to drink daily 1.5 oz of Jack Daniels and he needs his bottle otherwise he will get sick. When told he can buy onboard he said he has no money and of course he had no paper from his doctor. Needles to say that he didn’t get his bottle back until the end of the cruise. The human mind can be so creative sometimes, isn’t it?
Anyways, lets go back to our thing. The Guest Services Department takes care of all the guests’ needs. It doesn’t include, as you can see in the picture above, just the Guest Services Officers (regular hotel receptionists), but also the Printer, the Concierge, the Group Coordinator, the International Ambassador and the Guest Administration Officer.
I am going to briefly describe each position as some of you are not familiar with the terms, so…
1. Concierge
The Concierge provides personalized service for our “special” guests. A “special” guest is one who has a few cruises with Royal Caribbean. They can be part of the Crown & Anchor Society, or rated as a Platinum or Diamond guest, depending on how many cruises that guest took with our company. They get free drinks, tickets to the show and many more and it’s the Concierge’s job to make that happen for them. The Concierge is a one stripe officer, meaning that he has to share the cabin, but he makes good money since he gets tipped every end of the cruise.
2. Printer Well, it’s pretty much self-explanatory. The Printer takes care of all the printed material onboard. He’s a one stripe officer and he makes a fix salary which I am pretty sure is under $2000.
3. Group Coordinator
The Group Coordinator takes care of the organized groups onboard as well as the travel agents that come to visit the ship for the day. The salary is made of a fix salary plus gratuities. This position is a 2 stripe one, single cabin.
4. International Ambassador
Manages the FluentSeas program onboard the vessel to provide language assistance and translation to non-English speaking guests in order for them to understand and enjoy all aspects of the cruise experience.
5. Guest Administration Officer
This position is in charge with the legal part of the cruise. That includes the clearance of the ship in ports, the immigration paperwork of the guests etc. It’s a one stripe position, sharing the cabin, and makes probably under $2000 a month.
6. Guest Services Officer
This is a one stripe position and makes around $1600 a month. They are working on the front desk, handling the guests’ complaints.
All these positions are under the supervision of the Guest Services Manager, which is a 3 stripe position and makes thousands a month.
If you ask me, to get into this department, the easiest way is to apply for the Guest Services Officer. What is most required here is to have a nice personality and look and know at least 2 languages. Once you’re in, you can work your way up, just like in any other department, just like I did.
There always was a quiet competition between the Housekeeping and Food & Beverage Departments. Every week, when the ratings come in, first thing we do is to compare ours against them and damn it, most of the times they are better! We know they are doing the same because we meet the supervisors on the I95 and they smile and ask us if we saw already the ratings. We pleasantly smile back and say yes, congratulate them and move on, hoping next week we will be the one with the big green on the face. The Housekeeping Department includes the stateroom attendants and supervisors and the Laundry Division. I am not going to talk about the laundry guys because they are employed as contractors, all I can tell you about them is that they all come from Indonesia and, in my opinion, they do a poor job (unfortunately). They are not really Royal Caribbean employees, they just provide us with the service. So lets get back to more important things… The Housekeeping Department is one of the most stable one, with a low turnover rate and happy crew. The reasons are many, but the most important ones are:
1. Good money The Stateroom Attendant is a tip based position meaning that their salary depends entirely on how much the guest tip them at the end of the cruise. The base salary is $50, but don’t get fooled by it, in average, they make $2500-$3000 a month and sometimes even more. On the other hand, the middle management, the Housekeeping Supervisors, make only around $1800 a month but they have extra perks to keep them happy such as single cabins, access to guest areas etc. The Chief Housekeeper, 1st and 2nd Housekeepers make thousands a month.
2. Not such a hard job The only really hard day for the Stateroom Attendants is the embarkation day when they need to have the rooms ready by noon for the new guests, they need to get the luggage in the staterooms by evening and meet all their guests. They usually employ a helper that takes off some of their work in the morning. Other than that, on a regular day, they have to do the staterooms in the morning and in the evening, which is pretty easy since during the day the guests are off the ship and in the evening they are in the restaurant having their dinner.
3. Structure In the Housekeeping Department everyone knows exactly what to do. The organizational chart is pretty much simple and everyone knows who to report to. You can see it in the first picture on this post. Since the first day you embark until the last one, you are given a section of staterooms that you have to clean. On average, they get a 20 staterooms station, and only the ones who can not make it, the ones who are constantly getting bad rating, get a 15 stateroom station. There are few who get the officer cabins as an assignment, but don’t pity them, sometimes they make more money than the others and they only need to clean the cabins once a day or every other day (depending on how many stripes has the officers who lives in the cabin).
4. Good management (at least on this ship) After work, everybody gathers in the Back Deck (ship’s crew bar) for a drink and chat. In my two year career with this company, I never once heard a Stateroom Attendant complaining about his or hers supervisor. They mostly complain about how messy the guests can get, especially the really old ones who cannot make it to the toilet if you know what I mean, or the young ones who cannot hold their liquor. Other than that, they seem pretty happy with the job. The officers hardly complain about the system, and if you ever hear them complaining, it’s mostly because the company implements all kind of new things, but they never really prepare options in case they don’t work.
5. No competition against each other Everyone is doing their job in the Housekeeping Department and no one is looking in the neighbors’ back yard to see how is he or she doing. Most of them anyway. Because they get the same section for the entire contract, there’s no competition among the employee, they just have to do good in ratings (meaning they have to make the guest happy) not to be assigned to a smaller section, but that happens very rarely and mostly on request.
So what do you do when your manager doesn’t trust you, doesn’t back you up, nor respect you? If I were on land, I would have resigned immediately, but since I work on a cruise ship, I am just going to wait until his contract is done and hope he won’t come back on this ship.
I remember my first day onboard being so happy to be back and now, after a month, I am frustrated, upset and uncomfortable with the place I live and work and my manager, the one who suppose to protect me and help me, doesn’t care at all, which makes it even worse. I always believed in teamwork and reciprocal help, but looks like my new Italian manager likes to play alone. Why? I wonder….
You need examples? Here are some: 1. I asked him to order some water for the office as we work there all day and we need it, he replied that the food cost is too high and we cannot afford it. A couple of days later, I walk into his office only to find under his desk 2 cases of water and sodas. “I’ll be damn! What happened to the food cost????(By the way, it’s not the food cost that’s affected, but the bar cost…. but whatever…)”. Apparently, the cost matters only when it doesn’t involve him….
2. My office is next to him together with the bar offices and some of the restaurant. His is at the entrance, separate from us. Being unlocked during the night because the bar staff comes in to fill in their time cards, things disappear from the office all the time. Last time even my manager’s external hard drive went missing. I tried talking to him regarding this, in an attempt to have our office locked after hours and relocating the bar staff time cards somewhere else. All I got back were excuses and a big no, but of course, he had his office locked and instructed me not to have it open not even during the day, because things disappear. Oh really???!!!! How about my office??? Things don’t disappear from there as well? Of course they do, but the difference is that MY staff disappears from there and not HIS, so why should he care…
3. Since last contract, my job description changed dramatically and I got new extra things to do now. But still, he wants me to do things that now are taken off the job description and given to other positions. When I went to him to let him know that I am not supposed to do those things anymore and that I don’t have enough time to do everything, he just tactfully checked my time card and said: “I notice that you start 8:30 in the morning and you have a break in the afternoon. You can do the extra things during that period.” And now, from 9 hours a day, I jumped to 12, which might not seam much to you, but here’s my schedule and judge for yourself: 8-13, 16-23. Don’t I have a right to go outside just like everyone else? When am I supposed to take care of my personal stuff like going to the gym, doing laundry, relax a little bit? Am I am animal, or what?
4. Since I am an officer, I am supposed to share the cabin with another officer. Common sense, don’t you think? Well, not to him…. why? Because the policy doesn’t specifically say so…. Actually, since my position changed and now I am a 2 stripe officer, I shouldn’t share at all, but the ones in Miami office are a bit slow in changing the online policy and so far they only changed the salary and the stripes. Soon they will change the cabin allocation too, but it takes some time. First day onboard they put me with a Jamaican cook in a crew cabin (very small, under the water level). I went to him to tell him, but he didn’t want to listen and he sent me to the Executive Chef (my position and my manager’s belong to the galley department). Weird, since he’s the Executive Chef’s manager as well. Finally, after a week of complaining and even going to the Human Relations Manager, the crew office gave me an officer cabin, but I had to take the cook with me. This woman has a totally different schedule, sleeps all the time and because she works in the galley, my cabin stinks, but guess what? She is the one complaining about me that I watch TV when she’s sleeping and many other things not worth talking about. I spoke to him, since there are other free cabins, but just because they are single cabins and I have to share, he prefers to keep them empty and me with that cook. Why would he care? He has his comfortable cabin, that’s all that matters to him apparently. You may say rules are rules, but how come that rules apply when is convenient to him and don’t when is not? We are all human, and since those cabins are empty, where’s the harm?
So here I am, stuck in this awful situation, just because I really need the money to start building my house. But I wonder…. is it really worth the humiliation, disrespect and stress? I am beginning to think that it’s not and now I am really considering leaving this company and find another job. I wouldn’t be the only one since the turnover on this ship is pretty high.
Royal Caribbean is a really cool place to work, but people like my manager, and believe me, he’s not the only one to act this way, spoil all the fun. I use to go to work with pleasure, but now all I can think of is finishing my work and go. Not to my cabin though, since the stinky woman is for sure sleeping already, but to my friend’s cabin where I can relax. Finally, when I am totally exhausted, I crawl into my cabin and crush, happy that one more day went by and the day my manager is going home is closer….
Yesterday I went shopping, got what I wanted and came back home. Nothing wrong with that, is it? Well yeah, until my mother asked me how much I paid for the groceries and other stuff. When I told her she looked at me and said: “You know, people live with that kind of money for a month”.
Later on I start thinking about it and I realized that most of us that work on ships need a regular reality check. My mother was right. A lot of people live with 400 dollars a month in Romania and I just spent that kind of money in one day without even realizing how much they mean.
So what’s happening with us? Why we become so detached from the real world so much? After a lot of thinking I finally answered those questions. Ship life isn’t a real life. Not even close. We live 6 months in an enclosed environment where, even thought we have TVs in each cabin, we don’t have enough time to watch what’s going on in the world, and who’s dating who or any other gossip becomes news of the day.
If you go around and ask the crew members what date or day is, half of them will take seconds to give you an answer and most of the answers would be wrong. We are lost in time and space, sometimes we don’t even know where in the world we are, we just know it’s 6 am and we have to go back to work in our metal windowless offices, galley, pantries etc.
That’s the result of 6 months of constant work, 7 days a week, 10 or more hours a day, combined with a workplace that have no natural light, no means for us to realize if it’s light or day outside, if we are at sea or in a port. And then again is the time zone that messes out our internal clocks.
But yeah, we make good money and the best of all is that we can save up most of them. But there’s a catch there as well and most of us fail to realize it, just like me. We shuffle hundreds of dollars every day and slowly we forget that some people in our countries can live out of a 100 dollar bill for days, or even weeks. We are used to the prices in USA or Europe, and when we come back home it takes us a while to realize that the prices aren’t the same.
Did you know that you can have a chauffeur, maid, cook and cleaner for less than $150 a month? I didn’t…until one of my managers from Philippines told me he pays that much for it. Apparently, it is the same in India. Romania is a bit more expensive, but still, the medium salary per economy is around 400 dollars.
I find myself talking about thousands of dollars like it is nothing, then I see my friends’ faces change and I realize I do need a reality check. Or maybe I just need to get away from that kind of environment that ships represent. Something definitely needs to change. Maybe me...
Working on cruise ships is a wonderful job, especially if one is part of the middle management. You get to see places, meet people, work isn’t too hard, actually is enjoyable because I love what I do. But always the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.
I’ve seen many coming onboard with a big smile on their faces that says “God, I am so lucky to be here!” and after a contract (or less) going home and never come back. Why is that, you may wonder. Well, first of all, not everybody is made for this kind of life, always traveling from place to place, no day off for 6 months, working 10 hours or more a day. Second of all, they probably came to the same conclusion as I did, that money don’t bring happiness and peace of mind and being close to the ones you love and love you back is more important that counting money all alone in your cabin. Yes, money help you reach happiness, but without your family and close ones they mean nothing.
Main reason for resignations onboard the cruise ships isn’t money or work conditions as you might think, but loneliness and missing the loved ones. Being all alone is a big stress factor and no money in the world can fix that. Some are stronger and last for years working on the ships, some are weak and leave after a contract.
It is very frustrating wanting to be in somewhere and having to be somewhere else. Like me for example: in about 2 weeks I have to be back at work, but what I really want is to stay home. I am 28 years old and I want to start my own family, but this isn’t possible with the lifestyle I have, so soon I’ll be looking for a job in Romania and start building my dream home like I always wanted.
I already found the land and most likely I’ll be buying it this summer (photos to come :-)). And the house…..well….the house will follow, not sure how soon, but it will as I always get what I want sooner or later.
So the plan goes as follows:
1.finish this contract
2.apply for a job in Romania while onboard
3.hopefully getting a job when I come back in vacation
4.settle close to my loved ones
5.start building a social and love life
6.reorganizing my finances and investments, maybe sell some, so I can start building my house
7.start some kind of business (gosh, I have so many ideas)
If the step 3 doesn't work from the first time, I’ll keep repeating it until it will or until I’ll win the lottery :-).
So it looks like I am not part of the strong ones after all, even though I like to think so. To me, as the years passed by, money is not as important as it use to be, maybe because I got it already. Or maybe I am just in a bad mood because I just got together again with the man I always loved and now I have to leave him behind another 6 months. I hate it!
One thing I can tell you. If you plan working on a ship to save some money, don’t get involved with anyone back home, don’t give the opportunity to have your heart broken. Leave it for when you decide to stay home, it’ll be easier for you, trust me. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself at a crossroad where your mind will pull you to the left and your heart to the right. Which road you’re going to choose? I think I know which one to take now…
Yesterday we got the new car. It’s not much, just a Dacia Logan, local car, but it does the job. Our vacation house it way up in the mountains and the road is bad, to say the least. What feels great is that you realize your hard work pays off in the end. Last vacation was a new apartment, this vacation is another one and this car. Yeah, I have a big bank loan, but I can pay it and I would have never got so much money from the bank if it wasn’t for this job of mine. Long live the cruise ships!
Some achievements should be kept for yourself, some should be shared. It’s never a good idea to brag about the things you own or do to your colleagues. Why? Because, even thought you might think they will be happy for you, you’ll get the opposite effect, meaning, they will be jealous of you, start avoiding you, or even worse, they will start talking bad about you.
It doesn’t matter you are smart and do your job well, the only reason you got your promotion is because you slept with the boss. Who cares if the boss is gay (happens a lot on ships)? Doesn’t matter, your “friends” will still say you slept with him/her.
Got new expensive stuff? Of course, you must have done some shady business! It’s impossible for some of them to realize that you can actually save some money. Most of them just spend their wages on silly things such as dinner in the best restaurants, clothes from the best brand shops, taking the most expensive tours and end up home, after 6 months of hard work, with a big bag of clothes and an empty pocket. Then, after the vacation is over, they start all over again.
You’ll see a lot of them working on the ships. Irresponsible people who took that job just to have some fun. Having fun is ok, but remember, you’re there for a reason, and that is to make some money and settle comfortable home. Make an habit to put aside part of your salary and send it home to your bank account or family. If you don’t have it, you won’t spend it, right?
So, I was saying…it’s not good to show off, but sure feels great to do it. And I just couldn’t help it…
Name: Ariana Home: 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.
